Show edw LOVE t W IY 1 1 rG ELETT 5 aft ar EAY f 2 MOM a Y ulcess SYNOPSIS to Dont atelle artist photographer prepare for the day day a work ork in him hi studio pres I lodle maiher hi his assistant aule tant remind reminds him 0 ot a party he in I 1 to give gie la in the aludio that ind that his hi bubines buil nee 11 I 1 in bail bad financial sha chap mr bremus attorney and ant luitich 0 4 0 gr the th call calls and informs hall that his hl unc uncle race e jo john no will haj hu left him on con condition dlton that he marry before fore hia his twenty eighth birthday whick which be bellna inn at midnight that night MIT iten rena I 1 royalton lloy alton rail calls et at the studio halt eks asks her to marry him she agree agrees to give himan anwer answer at the party that night mia miss carolyn farolyn dally dallys call calla hall proposes to her bho she agrees to give bim an an ewer at the th part party Hoe amund oale gale art adel model call con hall 1111 tries to ruth rush her into an immediate marriage she too deter deters her answer until I 1 the evening I 1 ale lodle trie tries to a how haal a certain way out ot of the but he la in obtuse jona jonas ll assing b bury 11 1 hr heir to the million D ns in to came halt hall 1 fala 1 11 to marry on lima t with alodis to block hall a marriage to any IL 0 t the three thre women before midnight flodia 1 m ar fr to have kail three Intend eds meet at the th studio aa as it if by chance carolyn and rosamund Itoi amund come in first and compare note notes CHAPTER VH continued rosamund flonc flinched ed but recovered to sneer well then what answer did you give him I 1 id d like to know P I 1 caroln carol n was for a moment non pluses oh ene the replied finally i I 1 want to throw him down too bard hard you know I 1 aid said I 1 id d let hira him know later so that I 1 could break it 10 lo to him gently exactly so id ild 11 triumphant scrambled upon carolyn lifeboat but I 1 dont intend to break I 1 to him vry vecy gently alter after thial I 1 no carolyn reflected grimly we ought to make it juat just a little bard f him don it you think we might even torture hira him a betit bit it possible the question Is bow how to do it she contemplated mund musing on revenge 1 I 1 dont understand it at iiii hoea rosa mund complained I 1 why in tb world should a man act like that my dear liss gale I 1 dont don t know but I 1 do know that it is juit ilka like mea men you can tell what they 11 do you think you know them you think you re perfectly sato years go by and they seem perfectly human and ra lional and then they elpide explode no woman yet has ever solved the mystery mye tery rosamunde Ros amunds suavity waa was perfect aa as she looked carolyn over ly funny yau you let hall Dont etelle se go so far with you gasn wasn jaent t ut say he must have shocked you now see herel beret aid said carolyn orm 1 putting her hand on rosamunde arm arni theres The ree no use in oar our bicker In ln glike jIlke this dont you realize that were la in the rame boat now you say sar ou dont went want to marry maffy atall I 1 id d like to be sure though before I 1 go any further oh lob you needa t worry cried rosa round mund you con have him so far as I 1 aixa m concerned 1 carolyn keep fro railing smiling now rosamund waa was too much for her ob oh thank you very much but I 1 haye other plane plans for him and we to try to find out what in ir 4 the world he s up to do you suppose it could possibly be b a joke rosamund noe amund asked ant ax bously it looke looks to me said carolyn te reflecting ting aa u tt it somebody ome body bad had lipped slipped a powder or r something into hie his coffee or it may way be a disease diee dis aeo easo incipient in sanity perhaps no doubt hes going about proposing prop to everyone today and carolyn paused the door was wa open ing mrs royalton lloy alton entered CHAPTER vill mrs in an too lold vivid ls alade of purple wae was in bart contrast Bt rt to the two rather excited 1000 al ready there calia calm cool aad othet otH nt were going very well with ath rena she ho hai had ft it oil man in ia in her pocket rena a wa was getting on thirty are ave had truck struck if its warning bell if f she be were going to be married again why not now hall Doni atella handsome ban deome desat t he well wall IMM and bred neria bud bad thought him over ever and decided to accept him she en tn term terea therefore ther ere in a moat most becomingly diablo stute of mind lotty lofty and same what detached fet ached to carolyn he the give a emiller emill rr but suspicious uty hello Caro carolyn lynt I 1 you herer and to rosamund the quick unconscious tribute due the natural blonde her iter eyes returned to carolyn a little troubled ai 1 I expect aspect to lee you again to oani my dcarl the he ela sald stog oe amund was staring at the prototype of the portrait which had bad started the of hall cles carolyn noticing inam danced her rosamund homeyer ho bo weyer did not interest henu new royalton eo so much us carolyn herself whets ie in mr Donle liller she he as asked ked oh hea bes out ax a enal usual eld aid carolyn 11 1 I expect miss ill fisher will at tend to you though i mn mrs shrugged her dra flebus will hardly do 40 for what I 1 want eb she mid said im abrald III bayo iff 19 bev W mr pontella lc 1 clr rosamund frowned but carolyn only raised her eye eyebrows broWL oh well I 1 expect hall will sill be back before long said carolyn mrs airs noy royalton aiton placid ae as R cow eyed her for a moment then remarked lowly slowly meditating you call bilm jall don dont t you I 1 I 1 bada t known you were so intimate oh lord yes I 1 alay alays call him hall carolyn wae was beginning to be amused rosamund tossed her head and crossed her feet watching the new comer sharply well eald said mrs royalton primly ironical im delighted that you know him bui so well ell my dearl well now I 1 cocoe come to think of it rena I 1 dont know that I 1 do know him quite so well ell a as I 1 thought after all she exchanged a smile with aith Rou mund who laughed aloud barsh ly causing mrs royalton to turn and stare stars at her im afraid I 1 fall tall to eee see the joke he be eald said haughtily out but of course hall tall non latelle lent tout at all the eort sort of man one sees through at a glance stance you know ilea lies deep a very subtle per con son in fact however How evir she he smiled complacently 1 1 I flatter myself that I 1 understand tand him a little batter better than I 1 did carolyn shot lier her a si salo inai glance why she he demanded made any recent discoveries mrs royalton noy alton deliberately nodded up and down and smiled cryptically oh I 1 dont know 1 fancy he ha has something on his hi mind in fact I 1 know ho he hae has there theres a we ell a 4 eort sort of crisis yea yes I 1 suppose he would appear a little excited but of course I 1 i really have no business buat ceas discussing dIe it what in the world are you talking about renat rena carolyn caroly why im talking about hall boni donis telle tells of courbet cou reet well youre not saying much 11 never mind carolyn dear it lent because I 1 anything to bayl you dont expect te to go about rei pealing amoss be he he eald said to me in I 1 confidence do you oh ohl I 1 aid said carolyn tan taff owing her eyes then hall liall hai has been confiding in to you too haa ban he het 1 by this time rosamund was bard hard on the scent having almost caught up to carolyn s she eald said nothing but her eyel u were hot and shim ing aa as she bh hn urs royalton face lee see here bald said ca clyn now th thor r hughly interested 1 I dont don t see ee why 1 I a right to know I 1 in a pretty good mend of hall s you know that and 1 think you ought to be able to trust nw me well it ln ernly trotting trusting you mr urs royalton looked significantly at rosamund Roe amund sulkily listening wel I 1 de declare eald said carolyn calel rena royalton either youre making king sia a awful tool toot of yourself youre elf or else hall Bon latelle bat has actually she got no tur further ther flodde head up with it busy air hurtled bustled into the room carrying a handful of prints she topped stopped suddenly with a line tine imitation of aar priM and gated at mrs royal to ton ab anra Royal noyal toni the he exclaimed why you let me know you were here herel ive rye got your proofs all ready or you I 1 think they are asplen plen dial she handed them over oyer a sip carolyn with two other proofs here ire are youre yours miss vallys im georry to have a kept yoo you waiting eo so long she returned to mrs noy royalton oh bow I 1 dread to look at hat that lady waa was saying she wa was may ert beless penning them bun carolyn meanwhile bad stridden aero the he room mom to rosamund and the two girls conspired ae as mrs royalton ift hermit in n her portraits port ratte oh I 1 dont like that one really why I 1 took a hundred yeara years olal therel more like me which one do you like beet best fisher no do you why I 1 think its it awaul AV ml eye eyes ar am eo so hard bard to take right you wt get set the cou soul in them eo chow oh I 1 think I 1 ought to try anther kitting sitting dott doLt you i say where Is I 1 hr bont telle tells anyway any there came a ang at th the a telephone flodde I 1 damped to natch snatch up IV the be receiver aitelli tee yes why what the matter ob naturally welt wilt jut just a minute pl cleasel easel flodde topped stopped and held her bind ove the transmitter oh miss daily dallys duld you aua ML 14 gale mind bot talking quite eo so loud for a minute I 1 cant can t bear very well there wae was a long pause and the three women all studying elu dying Flod rodlee les flicht saw a doxen dozen different expressions pass pa over it in quck q lck succession then she he spoke ap asala aln really oh you know mr ir well personally I 1 loathe them ob I 1 dot know now W ut a bl bh diamond Is 1 so fanny 1321 mr rome some bow what then oh yes til till I 1 know oh but it a awful to pawn that I 1 why it was your ar fa wain it 0 well of arse you know bet best oh didat you well I 1 might send it by ibo the janitor abero did aou a leave lesve it when will III you be here all good byl by I 1 mra mrs royalton Hoy alton and rosamind Resa rosamund mInd still till bat aa as if entranced but carolyn dally dallys rose impatiently now and glanced about as if it ID in search of aa excuse the room was tensely charged iab electricity it as evident that in another minute the explosion must come out but first bow how to get rid of this important busy little misa miss fisher flaher flodde henelt herself answered anew ered the un voiced yoked question lon t the she aa an deahr ous ou any of then to bring ibo the thing to a head yea yen mo the he must ly fly and leave the field of battle clear still smiling the he disappeared into the stockroom she left tho the door alar airs 1 royalton rose with a smile well carolyn ibe eald said 1 I suppose III have to tell you now it ta in most unfortunate that mica miss fisher wasat more filtered discreet in her conversation nut but so long its abo bo has let the cat out ot of the bag beg I 1 might an well in form you that the ring the he as a talk ine inc to hall about ie Is for thie this fin fingerle gerl she held up her left hand her thumb pointing to her jaird bird anger carolyn with a hoop whoop fell into ami arms and the two laughed until they tried mra mrs Hoyal tod bared as it if they bad had suddenly gone W mad ad then the she ex claimed angrily 1114 id like to know what here there Is I 1 to laugh ati at I 1 I 1 dont see any thing particularly amusing in the fact that im going to marry hall coni boul stelle et ellel V ob oh dont you carolyn cu gurgled reed miss gale do you iee see anything funny I 1 in it funnye F ita its a cresma cre smi rosamund Roe Ito amund d shouted with ith mirth be the next one 0 oh ob the more the merr leri cried carolyn rend rena royalton drew herself ut ur proudly I 1 think youre exceedingly impertinent I 1 she he replied carolyn dried her eye eyes on a lace late handkerchief rena ehe she aid said still giggling 1 I dont know whether it a too true to be tunny funny or too tunny funny to be true but you ought to be in on this joke really my dear it will inter eat you I well I 1 dont call it a joke its an out outrage ragel t cried rosamund Roe amund say miss gale carol caroln n turned confidentially ayou know kno we ought really to fora form A society of the gur ur divora you know renaa renas the oldest and we 11 elect her preel dentt mrs royalton stared from one to the other her temper rising finally she he remarked cuttingly I 1 must say ay f I 1 yes ye why the mat mattert terr Caru carolyn lyp I 1 always thought you were are a lady and ehe she walked dittly swiftly toward the door oh dont go yell yet I 1 carolyn called out youve got a laugh coming to you too rena you heard our new news detill mra mrs royalton trembled on the ahn athold your new news what ayou dinean mean bitten listen here bore sali aa rosamund Roi amund walk ing over to her coolly hull ii wal int telle stelle proposed prop oed to mir miss dally dallys at ten thirty this morning and he proposed proponed to me we at a quarter to cloven now ahalt time did ho he propose to you lire airs royalton Roy atton put plit out a hand trem bung bling with appeal Caro carolynl lynt she be implored carolyn nodded pathetically mrs royalton Royal tob dropped into a chair speechless find slid bunt burst into teara tears carolyn walked up to her and ibid idd a band hand on the heaving beaving purple houlder shoulder brace 40 she he aid laid it wont hurt but a bee see here rena were you carried op off your feet by his wild wooing or did you take notice of the time timea Why hore here thie this morning carolyn air royalton sobbed 1 I left just before you came it wa was lt it wa was before that ifer tm s poured form afresh carolyn nodded to make maka it ten fifteen then I 1 expect he proposes every quarter of aa sm hour rain or shine but I 1 dont see aid said rosamund Rot amund it she he accepted him why be he ever proposed fo to ul TO BB E CONTINUED |