Show THE HUSBANDS OF EDITH bu GEORGE BARR BARE bl bi dodd mead co CHAPTER X now see here lie he began without preliminary P apology 1 I wont hoar hear of a divoff divo fp nil all rubbish perfect rot pon my soul the use bilang it nil mrs alm rodney the odds 0 d ds ao long ions ns its nil parties are con tented we ran ean stand it hv jovo if they van can dont yon volt know W we cant regulate tit alio love affairs of tit the ind vei ii lae dv im not going oan to stand kiy li v 11 1 ml I vp cp a friend dragged dressed into it ab thing tir nf tili 4 sort A milond fric exclaimed his difo well its possible my dear that tant ho he IM N it n friend I 1 know so many limps elmalis lin ps in ili london who int maht lit hp be joing tills sort of alinur dont don you know V IID hut ani tile pimp alios writing ili her thes letters may la 11 one of tur my lat t friends Is it ds nt liiv to tak uiko 11 li aik on oil it I 1 wont hp hear ir to it it if Mcd NINI croft Oft known and id ills hl bif knows wid miss lower low pr knows wity why tit alio deave should we hothir our heads it last night I 1 heard taw N IH crift infant its hil linss liz out I 1 hire but did I 1 pro go in and take 1 n I hand ili n out thi the poor loor little beggar not 1 I by tile the same sallie token token why should I 1 or anybody else presume to step in ili and try to astl out tile troubles of its parents rents 0 ity its useless interference either cither way you take it 1 I think its all very entertaining und and dive diverting rd aig said mrs odell carney carelessly slie site yawned dawned do you really think so asked the doubting mrs airs rodney ri 11 was so afraid mind your position in society my dear mrs airs my ily position in society mrs Is rod ney faa fayweather fan wed weather taher the t tempest at to you u predict cc said mrs odell carney with a smile that went to 0 mrs llod marrow oh if if you really dont mind she bho mumbled apologetically not at all my dear madam remarked odell carney carefully adjusting his eyeglass its quite immaterial I 1 assure you CHAPTER XI other relations aw T Is but natural to presume after IT the foregoing that the affairs of the Med crofts were under close and careful scrutiny from that confidential hour the odell carneys carleys were conspicuously nice and agreeable to the Med crofts and miss fowler it may ay be said indeed that mr odell carney went considerably out of his way to be agreeable to mrs Med croft so BO much so in fact that she made it a point to have some one else with her whenever she seemed likely to be left alone with him the struggled bravely and no doubt conscientiously to emulate the example set by the odell carneys carleys but it was hardly to be expected that they could see new things through old world eyes they grow grew very stiff and ceremonious that is the rodney ladies did it was their prerogative of course were they not cousins of the ts four or five days of uneasy pretense passed with w alth a swiftness that irritated certain members of the party and a slowness that distressed the others days never were so short as those which the now recklessly infatuated brock was spending he was valiantly earning his way into the heart of constance a process that tried his patience exceedingly for she was blithely unimpressionable if one were to judge by the calmness with which she fended bended off the inevitable though tardy assault she kept him at arms length appearances pe arances demanded a discreetness no matter how she may secretly have felt toward the good looking husband of hot her sister to say that site she was enjoying herself would be putting it much tou too tamely site she was reveling el in tho the fun full of thi the thing it mattered little to tier her that people tier her own cousins in particular were looking upon her with cold unit critical eyes she know knew down in her lielet that she could throw it a bomb among them at any time by the met incao utterance of a single word it mattered watt ered its as little that edith E adith was beginning to chafe miserably under the strain of waiting and deception the novelty had worn off for the wife of love filkin nn air aws is I 1 I 1 1 I cuing when al incon olind ld ini real Ills instead wild or if jiva is itis Col connie lille she would olit i 1 dozen times it dav its gi oghig tin best bearable ra ble oil how I 1 wish visit tile the thred weeks were von ended then I 1 could have my KoK bury und you could inive my illy other jox bury and vivi body woul dilt fie be pi pitying ine and ea cavilling villing ahyou because im unhappily led why do you volt siy say I 1 could have your other Kox bury T lier her sister sister on 01 on one occasion yo yon dorcet et father expects mv me to marry tit the viscount I 1 V you sire re so po tire tiresome soine connie dont worry tile me with your love affairs abfalt I 1 dont want to he hear arthem them theres vs mr it brock waiting vol ting rot for you volt in ili the garden 1 I 1 know it my iny dear res lies been waiting for an hour I 1 think thin it Is good for him to wait st said ald tile the other with airy confidence what does doea roxy rosy say in itis his letter this morning ile he says it will all be over in a day or two dear me how I 1 wish it were over now I 1 I 1 cant endure cousin marys much longer lind and as for katherine Kather lne my mv dear I 1 hate that girl ashes been very nice lately edith ever since freddie dropped me so 0 completely ry by the waln wn burton was telling me today that odell carney had been asking tier lier some very curious and staggering questions about tootles and your most private affairs 1 I 1 know my dear groaned edith ile ete very politely remarked to me last night that tootles made him film think very strangely of a rilend friend ri lend of tits his in ili london IT tie mention tile the fellows name ile fie only smiled mile and said nevah mind my dear lies it a en effend fend ed handsome dog doer I 1 daresay ile he meant that as it a compliment for Too tips slie ly Is pretty dont you think so dear ashes just like you volt edith sald said constance who understood things 1 I quite clearly then in heavens name connie why are thoy they staring at tier so lm im all of them its she Is FO goodness edith dant let epry bavery little thing worry you 1011 1 ai wrinkles vi inkles and pray gray hulls halm soon enough it its ill all very nice for you roll to talk grumbled edith vin im going mad igind aith loneliness you volt lieve li ive it a lover you roil all tit the time hes bilili mud about you yon what have I 1 im utterly alone no one loves nio me no not a 1 I soul you yon wont tot let them thein love you edith constance Jann jauntily tily they all want to love lore you volt all of them 1 I hartt men announced mrs ailed broft 0 of f a most refractory o hn racier sivi swooped opel down upon at it the very mid of tile the sojourn nJ ourn in inns bi tivit every avry one had heun he un to rejoice that tile the fortnight avii ans almost over overend all hat flint they could RO go their different w ways tys without having anything really ct table to carry bovay thein the rodneyy weve were io lo 10 paris the mul led crofts to london bondon tile the odell carleys carneys after out mit where the others were benti to ostend preddie faddle ulster volt suddenly announced ills his dotel delerm lna tion to remain rei tit at tile the tirol for 1 a I week or two longer that very cr v day lit he had bad been introduced to it a mile le brun a 1 I fas fascinating eina ting youn Faris loii stopping ut at the tirol with her mother all ellve ondi enard d well vell haid it not been for tile the unfortunate circumstance 1 of odell purchase 0 of r the london standard stend instead iii of if the div times as ita was tits his custom ills ilis lar 0 i lations over this piece of 1 LY i were ut short by the lie discovery cOvelT of un astonishing article upon the editorial page pae or of the pa paper p a an a article 1 which II willell elo created abed within him a bonse of g perplexity lie ile read tile the ile headlines thrice and glanced through the text tex t twive twice delther neit lier time dine with tiny any very dell nite idea of what lie he wa was s re siding reading nis ills finders S shook ns he held tle the sheet nearer tit the window for it a final fligl effort to untangle igle the incredible thins thing that lay lav before him in simple unimpeachable black and white to be continued i |