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Show ' Hititimtmmimiiiiitiimitiitiitiiimtim I HARRIET PIPER I I By KATHLEEN NORRIS 1 CopyrltfittryKathlaenNoTTt s iilllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllill CHAPTER XIII Continued. 13 "Nlnn," he snld, tenderly, "Is warmhearted. warm-hearted. And n clinncu allusion to iny financial position, which I thought I oed her, has distressed her unnccetf-Htf. unnccetf-Htf. Ii will, truly, be, out' of the question for me to travel, ns wo lind planned. The unfortiinnto speculations specula-tions of my friend" - "Whose rinnic you withhold," Richard Rich-ard Interrupted tho musical , volc,e ,t,o, say, dryly. , "Ilccntisc of n 'promise 1" Royal flashed promptly. "Rut," he resumed, turning to Ilnrrlct, "I shall he nhlu to ncgotlato this huslncss, as I assure Mr. Carter, without nny assistance from him or his daughter," his Up ! ( curled scornfully, "and I do not pro- ! - pose to give her up for any three ' yenrs or three weeks 1" Harriet could only look at him fixedly, fix-edly, with an ashen face. ' - "God help me," she breathed In her i fcoul. "God help mul" ; "Well," said Richard with wenry I impatience, "we did not call you down . to bore you with this I I asked to see you, Harriet, because Mr. Rlondln has t made tho statement to me, Just now, thnt you were heartily In accord with - his plans for Nina and thnt you np-' np-' proved of, the affair 1" - The prayer In Ilnrrjet's heart did I v not stop as she moved her wretched I1 eyes to Rlondln. ' ' "I believed thn't you and she had not seen ench other since December," i. she reminded htm. "I lost no chance to ndvlso her against the engagement I I thought It was all over 1" "Well I" Rlchnrd said, with a breath of relief. He had been watching her closely, now ho settled back In his chnlr and moved his contemptuous scrutiny to Rlondln. "One moment I" Royal Rlondln said, gently. Rut he was also pale. "You believe that I would make Nina n good ' husband, don't you?" he asked Harriet directly and quietly. J She was not looking at him. Her ' eyes were on Rlchnrd Carter. I - "I believe you would ruin her life!" i she said, deliberately. ' "Thank you," Rlchnrd said. "I think ' thnt Is nil, Mr. Rlondln. I was aware " tjfut you had-rinlsuiiilerstood Mrs. i i Carter wheiT4u'"1rnrtdo thai state- If inent i" "Not quite nil," Rlondln persisted. , "You believe that Nina would be wiser 1( not to marry me?" bo asked Harriet. "You" She cleared her throat. i "You know that I think sol" she snld. Rlondln laughed. "And now. Mr. Rlondln, you will kindly leave my house I" said Richard. The other man was watching Ilnrrlct, Ilnr-rlct, with n menncc In his narrowed 'j eyes. White lines had drawn them selves about his tightly closed lips, i .yet ho was smiling. He had lost the game, truly, but she knew he would piny Ills last card, just tho sumo. The isunvlty, the calm of yenrs fell from him, and his voice deepened Into n sort of cold and quiet fury as he said : "One moment, Mr. Carter. Why don't you ask your wife what makes her think I won't mnke Nina n good husband? Why don't you nsk her If she has been hiding something from you nil this time? Why don't you ask j her If she herself wasn't madly In love and with met when she was Nina's age, and whether slip was married In I my studio, to me, ten yenrs ago 1" i He bad shot the phrases at her with a distinctness almost violent. Now "Atk Her She'll Tell You I Ask Herl" i his dry voice stopped, but his swift, yniorr.sta look went from tho silent ityri nt the desk to the silent woman w3 stood before him. Reforo cither ' liTovwl or spoke he spoke again. "Ask her she'll tell you I Ask herl" "Re quiet I" Richard snld. "I don't believe one word of It I" And then ub , the girl noltlier rulsul her eyes nor , attempted to speak, ho asked her, en- ( cournglngly and qutcHly: "Hnrrlet, 1 will yru tell. him that nol one word of - -that Is true,?" t' ' Harriet had risen, and wus standing, hi thu bnck of the carved black chair J j ; : iiiiimiiiiiiumiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiii with both her hands resting upon It. Sho had looked quietly nt Rlondln, when he began to speak, and the beautiful beau-tiful white breast that her black evening eve-ning gown left bnrc had risen once or twice on a swift Impulse to Interrupt him. Rut now she Was looking down at her laced fingers, with something despairing and helpless In the droop of her bright bend and lowered lashes. It had had Its times of seeming frightful to her, this secret, In- the troubled musings of the past year, Rut It had never loomed so horrible and so momentous ns now, In tho silent library, libra-ry, with the eyes of the man she loved Used anxiously upon her. Ho had trusted, he was beginning to admire her, and like his wife, and his difuglw ter and his mother, she had failed him. "Harriet?" he said In quick uneasiness. uneasi-ness. She raised her head now, and looked nt him with weary eyes devoid of any expression except bewilderment and pnln. "Yes," sho snld, simply. "That Is nil quite true. It sounds " she hesitated, hes-itated, and groped for words "It sounds ns if " she began and stopped again. "Rut It Is nil quite true!" sho finished, in the troubled tone of a child who Is misunderstood. CHAPTER XIV. Tho curtains at the French windows In the library at Crownlnnds stirred In the breeze of the wnrm summer night, the pendulum of the big clock behind Rlchnrd Carter moved to and fro, but for u long time there wns no other sound In the library. Richard had dropped his eyes, was Idly staring at the' blank sheet of paper before him. Roynl Rlondln, who had folded his arms, for a moment studied Hnrrlet Hnr-rlet between half-closed lids, but presently pres-ently his eyes fell, too, nnd with n rather troubled expression be studied the pnttern of the greut oriental rug. Harriet stood motionless, turned to stone. If there wns anything to bo said In her behalf, she could not say It now. For the first line the full measure of her responsibility nnd the full measure of her deceit smote her. nnd In utter sickness of spirit she could advance no excuse. It was not that she had failed Rlondln, or that she nnd failed Richard, hut tho extent of her failure townrd herself appalled her. She was not tho good, brnve, cultivated cul-tivated woman she had liked to think herself; sho was one more egotist, with Nlnn, nnd Isnbelle, nnd Ida, unscrupulously un-scrupulously playing her own game for her own ends. "I'm extremely sorry," Rlchnrd said, presently, in a somewhat lifeless tone. "I Imagine that If my daughter had known this, she might have been spared some suffering nnd some humiliation. hu-miliation. Rut wo needn't consider that now." Ho wns silent, frowning faintly. IIo put up n fine hand nnd adjusted his eyeglasses with a little Impatient muscular twitching of his whole fnce that Harriet knew to be characteristic of his worried moods. "Mr. Rlondln," be said, wearily and politely, "I have had a great deal on my mind, lately, and have perhaps been hasty In my condemnation of you. However, this does not particularly help your cause with my daughter. There are n great many aspects to the matter, and I I must t'nko time to consider con-sider them. Nlnn must be my first consideration, poor child I Her mother failed her wo have all failed her! She has a right to know of this conversation con-versation " Harriet stirred, nnd his eyes moved to her. Without u word, and with n stricken look In her beautiful, ashen face, she turned, nnd went si iwly toward the door. When she reached It, she steadied herself a second by pressing ono fine hand against the dark wood, then she opened It and was gone. "I'm very sorry " Rlondln snld hesitatingly, hesi-tatingly, when the men were alone. "Mrs. Carter," Rlchnrd said, got-ting got-ting to hi feet, and very definitely Indicating nn end to the conversation, "before she consented to the arrangement arrange-ment Into which wa entered, of course took me Into her confidence In this matter 1" ".She she did?" Royal stammered. "Certainly she did," Rlchnrd said, harshly. And looking at him the other man saw that his face looked haggard nnd colorless. "Sho did not mention your name, I presume out of a sense of generosity to you. I could have wished," he added, "thnt you had been similarly generous, nnd had seen fit to leave her, and leave my daughter alone. I think I must nsk you to excuse ex-cuse me," snld Rlchnrd nt the door. Ills tone wns one of absolute suffocation. suffoca-tion. "I can see no object In your frankness tonight, unless to distress nnd humiliate Mrs. Carter. My daughter, daugh-ter, nnd not myself, Is the one entitled to your confidence, nnd you uro well aware of my feeling where sho Is concerned! con-cerned! I would to God," said Richard, Rich-ard, with bitterness, "that I had never seen your face ! Mrs. Carter has been a useful and indlspensnble ! member of this fnmllr for many years; If thero was In hertiBt some unpleasant and painful event, . thnt is her own affair af-fair 1" J, v " "Not when she mnrrles a man who iiiliiiiillliillillllillllllililiiiliiiiiiiiiimmiii Is unaware of it," Rlondln suggested, In ids pleasant, soft tones. "Thnt Is mine I" Richard snld, sternly. stern-ly. And ho opened the library door. "Good evening I" he said. "Good evening I" Rlondln, with his light, loitering step, crossed the threshold, thresh-old, nnd Rlchnrd closed' the door. Ho took Ids chair again and reached townrd tho bell thnt would have brought Rottomley 'to summon Nlnn In turn. Rut halfway to the bell bis rosiriutlon wavered, disappeared. Instead, In-stead, ho rested his elbows' on the table, and his head In his hands, and there sounded from his chest n grcnt sigh that wns almost n groan. Oh, he wns tired ho wns tired he wns tired ! It wns nil a mess the boy. the girl, their mother, his own arrangements ar-rangements for their protccitnn and Biifety. All n mess. She had been beautiful, thnt girl, with her golden hnlr In the lamplight, nnd her white amis a little raised to rest her locked hands on thu chnlr. Like some superb nctress of tragedy, sofnc splendid nnd sullen prisoner nt the bar. The slender figure In the dtdl wrapping of satin, nnd the white bosom, bos-om, had looked so young, so virginal, the blue eyes were ho honestly frightened fright-ened nnd nshamed. And she hnd been thnt bounder's wife In bis nrms! Divorced! Di-vorced! Harriet Field 7 Poor girl, cornered by this unscrupulous scoundrel, scoun-drel, this bully, with nil tho ugly past dragged up like the muddy bottom of a river, staining nnd clouding the elenr waters, And what n look she had given him, there under the lnmpt "It's a funny code," he mused. "Rnr-barlans, "Rnr-barlans, that's what we are, when It comes to women. Nlnn, Ida, Isubellc, Hnrrlet all of them pny for the man-made man-made rule I I shouldn't have forced her hand In this business marriage; It was taking nn advantage of her. No woman wants to marry for anything but love, nnd if she had married for love, sho would have made a clean breast of this old affair, of course. I didn't exact that. We've mnd.o a nice mess of It, nil around 1 "I-mustn't let her work herself Into n fever over nil this!" ho found himself him-self thinking. Rut Nlnn must bo the first consldcr-utlon. consldcr-utlon. He must plan for Nina." He brought his thought bnck resolutely his daughter must break her engagement engage-ment now, there was that much gained. And for tlie Journey to Rio "Rut why didn't sho tell mo!" he Interrupted himself, suddenly. The reference wns not to Nlnn. Again ho saw the superb white shoulders In the soft Hood of lamplight, and the Hash of the blue eyes that turned toward llhflidln. "She could hnve killed him!" Richard Rich-ard said. "My God I how sho will love when she does love!" Meanwhile, to Harriet had como the bitterest hour of her life. She had renched n crossroads, and with steady fingers and nn nngulshed henrt she prepnred for the only step thnt to her whirling brain nnd shamed soul seemed possible. She must disappear. There was no alternative. She hnd harmed them nil, they could only think of her now as mi unscrupulous unscrupu-lous nnd mischievous woman who hud by chance entered their lives when they were nil In desperntu need of wis-dom wis-dom and guidance, who hnd played her own contemptible game, nnd added one more hurt to the hurt reputation of tho house of Carter. Harriet got out of her evening gown and Into a loose wrapper. She went about somewhnt aimlessly, yet the suitcases, spread open on tho bed, were gradually filled, and her personal per-sonal possessions gradually disappeared disap-peared from tallies and walls. Now mid then she stopped short, heartsick and trembling; once her lips quivered and her eyes filled, but for the most part she did not pause. Nlnn, nt about eleven, hnd come to the door between their rooms, and opened It. The girl wus undressed, and for n few moments she watched Hnrrlet scowllngly, with mtrrowed eyes. "Are you going nwny?" she said, presently. Hnrrlet brought heavy eyes to meet hers, nnd stood considering consider-ing n minute, ns If bringing her thoughts back a long distance. "I going nwey? Yes," she said, slowly. "Yes, I may." Nlnn Mood watching, which seemed vaguely to trouble Harriet, who gave her a restless glance now nnd then us she went to nnd fro. Presently she spoke to Nlnn again. "Good-night, Nlnn !" "flood-night 1" snapped Nlnn, nnd the door slammed. Harriet continued to move about for perhaps half an hour before Nina's odd mniiner recurred to her, on n wave (if memory, nnd she seemed to hear agnlu Nlun's ungracious tone. "He told herl" she said, suddenly. "She saw Royal, nnd he told her ! Poor child" And she went to Nina's mom, with a vague Idea that she would sit beside tho weeping girl for awhile, one heavy heart close to tho other, even If no 'words could pass between them. IUit Nina lay sleeping peacefully, nnd Ilnrrjct, after watching her for a few minutes,' went back to hqr own lllilliiiilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll room. She went to the open window, nnd stood staring nbsentty out nt the dark summer night, the grent branches of the trees moving In the restless wind, and the oblong of dull light that still fell from the library window. Sho could not see tho Mirror ns Richard saw It : she couhr not seo herself her-self ns only n mistaken woman, a woman with youth, beaut', and intelligence intel-ligence pleading for her, ono problem more in his life, It Is true, hut only ono among many, nnd not tho greatest. She did not sec him ns he snw himself, his family ns tho somuwhnt troublesome, trouble-some, and yet .qulto understnndnhle, group of selfish human beings in whoso perplexities he hnd nlwnys played tho part of arbiter. To Harriet the thing loomed momentous, momen-tous, unforgiving, Incalculable. It assumed as-sumed to her the proportions of a murder. mur-der. Rlchnrd, In her estimation, wns not what he thought himself, n Bomo- "Where Have You Been7" Said Richard, Sharply, Then, "You Look llll" ivyhut ordinary nion In the "forties whoso life had already held poverty and disillusionment nnd wholesomo disappointment, whose nature hnd been tempered to humor and generosity generos-ity nnd philosophy; to Hnrrlet, he was the richest, tho finest, the most deserving deserv-ing of men, and she the adventuress who had brought Ids ujuno down to shame and dishonor. Until two o'clock she wns wretchedly wretched-ly busy In soul nnd body. When the Inst of her personal possessions wns pneked, and when she wns aching from head to foot, sho took a hot bath, and crept Into bed. Rut not to sleep. Tho feverish agonies of shame nnd reproach held her. Sho was pleading with Rlchnrd, she wns talking to Nlnn she wus nink-Ing nink-Ing little of It mnking much of It-she It-she was saying n reluctant "yes yes yes!" to their questioning. At four o'clock she dressed herself again, half-mad with headache and fatigue, and went out Into n world thnt wns Just beginning to brighten Into In-to faint shapes nnd colors. A steamer moved mnjestlcally up the river, the smoothly widening wake spread from shore to shore; pink light showed nt one cabin window; and Into Harriet's somber thoughts cnine unbidden unbid-den the picture of n yawning cook, stuirihllng about Hinld his soot-blackened pots nnd pans. With the morning, the peace of a conquered spirit fell upon her. She had thought It nil to an ending nt Inst. It seemed to Hnrrlet that never In her life had she thought so clearly, so truly, so bravely. Her duty to Richard, to his children, to Linda; she had faced them without fear and without with-out deception, tasting the humiliating truth to Its bitter dregs, planning the few short Interviews that must precede pre-cede her leaving them nil forever. For Hnrrlet emerged from the fur-mice fur-mice the mistress of her own soul. She hnd been wrong; she hnd been weak; she had been contemptible, hu not so wrong or weak or contemptible as they would think her. She would go on her way now, the braver for the lesson nnd the shame. And what they thought of her must never shake again her own knowledge of her own Innocence. In-nocence. Go on her wny to what? She did not know. Rut she neither feared what the future might bold nor doubted It. She could muke her own wny from n new beginning. "Rut before I go," snld Harriet, resolutely, "I must toll him that I'm sorry. And I must ask Nina to forgive me." She turned, and burled her face in tho thick, soft sleeve of her coat. Rut sho did not cry long, nnd when Jen-sen, Jen-sen, the boatman, came out on the dock ut seven, the lady he knew to be his new mistress was sitting composedly enough on her bench, studying tho now glittering and sparkling river with quiet eyes. Harriet nodded to him, nnd rose somewhat stiffly, to go up to the house. .She mounted the brick steps with a iiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiri thoughtfully dropped head tha straight shafts of tho sunlight were making It impossible to fnce the house, In any enst and so was within three feet of Richard Carter before sho savy him. Ho looked fresh, hard, even young, In ids white flannels. They stood looking look-ing at each other for a moment without with-out speaking. "Where have you been?" snld Richard, Rich-ard, sharply, then, "You look ill I" Tears, despite her desperate resolution, resolu-tion, suddenly stung Harriot's eye And yet her heart leaped with hope. "I wanted to seo you, Mr. Carter," sho faltered. "I couldn't sleep very well. I've been down at tho shore. Rut lateiv-any time will dol" "You couhlu'L Bleep 1" ho exclaimed with quick sympathy. Ho looked from her about him, as if for a shelter for her emotion. "Here," he snld, "como down the steps n bit. I wns going down to the court for n llttlo tennis; Wnrd may follow me, but ho won't be dressed for bnlf an hour yet. Sit down here; wo can tnlk." They hnd come to tho marble bench on the terrace, where Isnhello and Anthony An-thony Pope, sheltered by theso samo towering trees nnd low brick walls, bad had their talk n year ago. Harriet, Har-riet, to her own consternation, felt that she wus In danger of tenrs. "I I hnrdly know how to sny it," sho began. "Rut but you know hov ashamed I ami" "1 know I know how you fecll" Richard snld with a sort of brief sympathy. sym-pathy. "I'm sorry 1 Rut you know you mustn't take this nil too hard. I didn't I wns thinking of this Inst night; I didn't nsk you for well, nny more than you gave me, In this marriage mar-riage of ours. Your divorce was your own affair " The girl's tired eyes Unshed. "Thero was no divorce I" she Bald, quickly. "No divorce?" he echoed with a pur.-7.1od pur.-7.1od frown. "I want to tell you about Itl" she said. Rut tho tears would como again. "I'm tired!" Hnrrlet snld, childishly, trying to smile, "I've been up walk-lug. walk-lug. I couldn't sleep I" The consciousness thnt he hnd been able to forget the whole tangle, and sleep soundly, gave Richard's voice a little compunction as ho snld: "You don't have to tell mo now. We'll find n wny out of It that Is easy for every one " "No, but let me tnlk I" Hnrrlet, In her engcrness, Inld her fingers on his wrist, and he wns shocked to feel thnt they were Icy cold. "I want to tell you the whole thing I want you to understand !" she snld, eagerly. Richard Rich-ard looked nt her In some nnxlety; thero was no acting here. The rich hnlr was pushed carelessly from tho troubled forehead. She was huddled In the enveloping coat, a different figure fig-ure Indeed from his memory of tho superb nnd angry girl of Inst night In the library lamplight. "Mr. Carter, I never know my mother moth-er " sho began. Rut ho Interrupted her. "My denr," he snld, In n tone ho might hnve used to Nlnn. Ho laid his warm, fine hand on hers, nnd patted It soothingly. "My denr girl, If you feel that you would like to go to that motherly sister of yours If you feel that It would bo wiser " "Oh, I nm going to Linda nt once!" Hnrrlet snld, feverishly, hurt to the soul. "I had planned thntl Rut hut won't you let me tell you?" sho plead-ed. plead-ed. Site had framed tho sentences a hundred times In the long night; they fulled her utterly now, and she groped for words. "I was only three years old when my mother died," she snld. "Of course I don't remember her I only remember Linda. I wus shy, my father wns n professor, we were too poor to hnve very much soclnl life. I lived In books, lived In my fnther's shabby little study really; I never had nn Intimate girl friend I Llndn wns always good angelically good talking talk-ing of the Armenian sufferers, nnd of th outrages In the Congo, and of tho poor In New York's lower Knst side she neer cured thnt we were poor, anil t lint wo hadn't clothes!" "1 know I know!" Richard's eyes were smiling, ns If ho knew the picture, pic-ture, and liked It. "Well, Llndn married when I wns ten, anil Josephine came, and then .Tiilln came. I still lived for hooks nnd babies. Rut, unlike Llndn, I cured." Harriet's whole face glowed; sho looked off Into spnee, and her voice hnd u longing note. "I cured for clothes and good times!" sho snld. "I adored tho children, hut I dreamed of carriages innlds glory achievements! achieve-ments! I knew thnt other women did it" (TO IU2 CONTINUED.) |