Show S RIAL STORY a man a 0 a a a ills aft aft gas r an 0 did a ven on 0 0 21 loin 0 pin an by marie van vorst author of a on amanda of the mill a 0 aliss Destri ond as etc etc pin 0 copyright by J B Up comp company 6 SYNOPSIS basil tempest worlds greatest novelist and poet refusing to be further lionized shuts himself up in craven his country home his hia gloomy meditations are broken by his housekeeper who has disobeyed his orders not to admit any one the visitor Is lucy carew an american who has come to england to write a study of 0 the author but more especially to get a synopsis of his new suite or of poems having been promised a good position with a magazine it if successful tempest in anger declares lie ho will write n no 0 more an and asks her to go repenting or of hla his rudeness in sending her out in the rain at night lie follows but bilt she refuses to return to craven with him and takes lodging with gitil a cottager next morning lucy rec receives elves a note from tempest offering to assist her in writing her essay tempest dictates to lucy who listens spellbound as slie she writes tempest calls at the cotta cottage e and discovers that lucy has left to take a train for london he overtakes her and induces s her to stay over and read the manuscript to him he invites her to dine with him she declines but says saya she will call the follow s ing day angry and disappointed tem pest pent goes to london CHAPTER ill III continued V ile he shrugged impatiently you know how little the last would affect me I 1 am going away on a longer journey than four weeks and I 1 want you to come with me she withdrew her hand which he still hold held not snatched it but slowly and meditatively withdrew it tempest felt sensitively her complexion of mind lie he had surprised but not shocked her leaning towards her in a low tone he pleaded with her bar storming etor ming her citadel whose wea weakness kiles s he knew afterwards she thought in reviewing the moment that ho had pleaded as one for life as for a raft to be thrown to a drowning man was it possible he be loved her lik ethis do you realize what you are ask ing ingae me to do she sald said in a pause yes he said shortly give up a london and a husband whose life is notorious whose existence is a plague to you a reputation amongst those who have none themselves a false situation for or a sincere one for a life with the man whom you say you love ormond will divorce you and I 1 will marry you at once lady ormond had believed the original tempest who had made her forget everything but himself could not return with the old charm and imperious challenge she had been wrong then in her belief for lie he was talking her over again out of herself and beyond her control why are you like this she murmured with some emotion will you be like this always if I 1 thought it I 1 could not hesitate at her tone certainly not the one of brusque dental denial he had bad anticipated tempest experienced a curious mingling of exultant victory and of sincere regret tomorrow to morrow letty he said and took her hand again you mu must st come with me ine tomorrow to marrow morrow in her utter surprise lady ormond was finding herself equal to tempests demands she did adt hesitate for one moment to make a concession he had never asked before lie he was rich would be bc richer famous not yet in the zenith of ills his celebrity there was in sharing his life just one sacrifice flee and that she determined not to make it if she could avoid it basil she he leaned towards him lifted her head in a way to reveal the clear pure lines of her neck and chin her bar face like a flower turned to the sun basil I 1 am ain not cavilling but you are so impetuous and impracticable let me got get the divorce from ormond it is merely a form on one e I 1 can have for the asking you dont wish to sacrifice me needlessly do you you are not so that you mus must t beeme see me humiliated are you you are not vain really you know wont you let me got get out decently he smiled and sighed decently he repeated with some scorn can you letty 1 I will see my lawyers tomorrow to morrows morrow he frowned and hurried then you refuse to come with me no she nodded determinedly 1 I dont refuse it if you are set on ruining my reputation for a whim why I 1 wont stand inthe in the way of your egoism he capitulated well you have surprised me letty but then you are a perfect type and I 1 flatter myself now that I 1 can predict the rest you shall take the narrow and more reputable way as you think it to be but you wont come with me letty you wont come nonsense she laughed and covered ered his lips with her hand you have my word under the hand which he be held to his lips he murmured something it was goodby good by no respite lady ormond was filled with sat satisfaction I 1 s she harl had been equal to the supreme occasion with tempest she was not an ordinary woman then she had proved her mettle and distinction and was worth the gred greatest test man of the hour tempest took his cleaye early went to his club and wrote her a note which she found on her dressing tab tabe 16 when she went very shortly after home anti and to her room tempest was sitting in the smoking room of the carlton when a note was brought and every eye was turned to him as the pages voice called mr basil tempest he becho beckoned the boy and took the letter which he thrust into his pocket and went up to his apartment for a few seconds he turned the letter over in his hands as if lie he wished to defer certainty his 1 face gloomy curious and still mocking then than going close to the electric light so that all its force shone on the page he goolt too the single sheet of paper from the envelope 1 I dont know whether to blame you or myself you for dreaming a woman can share the life you write of I 1 for refusing I 1 know you still too well to discuss what you say to advise or suggest but I 1 am not equal to the sacrifice ball bah he said and before he had ended tore it in shreds and let the pieces fall as they would on the hotel carpet 1 I know people too well he said there are no surprises for me its a curse to understand your kind I 1 wish I 1 were a fool its only when a mans a tool or in love that he has any chance for happiness he stood thinking a second or two wounded in his vanity it if not brokenhearted then made his preparations for taking the next train for shire CHAPTER IV when at three the following afternoon miss carew arrived at craven she was met by mrs henly who bustling in before her said youre to be so good as to wait miss in the mornin room ive a fire laid there and I 1 am to see you yon have books and papers and whatever you will like mr tempest telegraphed with her last words she threw open the doors of a room whose atmosphere greeted with its brightness the color and light of it seemed to extend hands with native habit of assigning ranks and places to mr air tempests familiars mrs henly had estimated this sudden guest by her simplicity and her grace to be of as high breeding and as worthy blood as the savage united states can provide the housekeeper the dearest and sweetest creature one could find in cameos and black silk and caps in the responsible position of head of any bachelor gent lemans household watched her masters af faires de coeur with an interest and sometimes a jealousy as strong as im potent mrs henly talked only with her superiors peri ors she sh e knew she had them her equals by reason of being a unique specimen of her type she had not as yet recognized servants were servants to her she never spoke to them save to give orders or to minister to one in trouble by them she was seen to be a very grande dame indeed by tempest to be quite the most flawless pearl of womankind living as she did very isolated at craven she was now faintly flushed with appreciative anticipation of the few moments chat with miss carew before the master should appear miss carew had come from the land of freedom but whilst she suggested its delicious liberty she lost with it no quality mrs henrys old eyes regarded the figure of the american with favor miss carew asked mr tempest has telegraphed is he away he was obliged to run up to london yesterday of a sudden just after shorter fetched in your note As though the sight of the mast s instructions might beguile the guest mrs henly spread out the pink bit of paper on the table under her hand and read miss carew arrives at three make her welcome give her books and papers I 1 shall be up by the express which means mrs henly explained pla ined he left london at six aix this mornin moran ats its a nine hours run ive sent the motor to billings poke pok its a bit shorter by rail mr baell does hate bate rail travel miss carew did not remark that with apparent ease lie he took 18 hours out of the 24 for the matter of a short time in town the dispatch with its minute instructions read in itself a welcome to her and it was a charming place in which to wait cravens e empire morn morning ing room open ed on a terraced flower garden where to trees already nearly leaness leafless a few november roses clung the walls hung in yellow brocade extended to the dullest day a sense of glow and light the few pieces of furniture veritable treasures even in ii their old epoch indicated the faultless taste and virtuosity of odthe the selector before the lire fire in the same yellow satin a small divan with bronze on shining legs and back a few stiff digi unified fauteuils faut euils eulls a long center table a i mirror screen on the mantel a clock and candelabra whose graceful infantile subjects suggested the design to have been intended to please the little king of rome a biscuit group a candle lamp with vivid green shade these were all its a pretty little room mrs henly said indulgently all the sun there ever is comes here but today to day its a bit chilly it so I 1 had the fire lit ht early she was before it with the bellows urging the flame As she raised her matronly self up she said its lady monds ormondo Or style she was never content until mr basil had torn the old things out its like a sweet box to my th inkin and a bit bare it needs people to set it off she criticised criticized un consciously paying the proper artistic tribute to the style of the period the room represented created to display and to serve as background for the first birst empire elegance and simplicity city but miss carew only caught at the name lady ormond she had seen it often in the apers pe you know her ladyship no mrs henly took for granted in a frame on whose mahogany border buzzed buzed the napoleonic bee in bronze was the 4 photograph of a lady in ball dress mrs henly lifted it lady ormond at the last court ball the girls eyes were mot by a pair of eyes handsome hand some and mocking hard and cold as her own wore were soft anif sweet 1 I A professional beauty mrs henly ranked her but and she connected her with the room as she glanced around lady monds ormondo Or creation at a trifle cou cold miss carew replaced the picture the proud beauty liar her cape of velvet i and sable falling fr from om one bare baie shout shoulder seemed deemed to reign over the room miss carow carew no longer felt the warmth of its greeting it had assumed a personality in which she had no part the personages had come to people it it suffocated liar hor and she walked mechanically over to the window and stood there looking out on the dreary aspect of bare trees the whirl at 0 withered leaves along the gardes garden paths and tho the few last roses more wintry and melancholy in their desolation than the specter leaves that had already passed through death she said hesitatingly since mr hr tempest has telegraphed I 1 suppose it will be best for me to wait a little but mrs henly interrupted her aj wait why mr basil hear of you not waiting miss hed think I 1 had not made you comfortable what can I 1 get you she lingered perhaps miss carew understood something of the womans comans interest im IBS herself her natural curiosity perhaps lady ormond in her frame the boldness baldness of her sway at craven made V avs american say lifting to the P faccia english face her clear dark eyes im here for the first time in england engy I 1 came from m my y country expressly to write a study of mr tempest for america the old housekeeper smiled JL study of mr basil slie she echoed why my dear I 1 had him at tes J X V t L she walked mechanically over to th window and stood there years old for my own on as I 1 might say and I 1 study him its like le arnin a now language every day hes never the same its his charm oh I 1 daresay mrs mra henly was doubtful there being moods she had right to remember as not possessing that characteristic but hell not tell you anything miss he wont fee be written ive seen them who would study him as you ral PAt come am aas go chiefly no one ever stayed ax an you have she paused youre ai a writer too 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