Show 1 it V le I 1 nt ute NU S aa DODD COPY IGHT ir helen R martin CHAPTER VIII continued 19 my cousin Is a baronet sir john EL BL croix and his sons death left no to his title so that it would have died out with him but that the king conferred on hla his daughter syl sylvia 0 the title of baroness and the right of continuance ti nuance of the title in direct line so that her oldest son will bear the title of f baron As marvin manin stated these facts hla his efforts orta to watch his companions taco face rendered his driving rather eccentric oh she exclaimed Is that the english titled lady they say around here you refuse to carryl marry 1 nothing could have been more impersonal than her tone though he noted that her cheeks were flushed has that gossip reached youl you have dodged the she smiled by the way I 1 believe you told me the first time I 1 met you you that been jilted only once what for what yd rd like to knowl know I 1 can you understand a mans deliberately and of his own free will and choice osing losing the chance to annex me for tife why she abruptly inquired did you jilt your cousin that baroness 1 1 I I 1 was never really en caged to her our parents had a sort of understanding did the noble lady fall in with it 01 1 I never heard that she objected then dont you think you rather let tier her down not so much in my mi opinion as a darlage de convenance conveyance con venance would let her dowal anyway my brother whom shell bell probably find much more to her taste Is going to marry her Is he it if shell have him and you think she will like him better than you it if ever met him you aask asal I 1 oh why hes a ladles ladies man has prettier manners than I 1 have and better clothes some girls dont care tor for a ladles ladies 1 11 man well it if she turns him down I 1 ml might ht begin to be interested in her myself why if she could be so disinterested my brother has a big income from my father I 1 have only what I 1 earn you a very high opinion of girls have your you what makes you think so you seem to think no sense pre preferring ferriD manners and clothes to a man I 1 marvin felt a tingling sensation along his arm that made it difficult cult for or him to keep his hand on the wheel uch euch an urgent pull was on it to her to him and kiss the lips that paid him such a tribute he be was not used to compliments from girls because he was not used to girls at all but the necessity at this moment of finding a parking spot in front of sun burys best hotel prevented his replying tie ie been wondering meely said as their waiter arrived with oysters are you going to make this educational job your life work sir mr crelghton or are you using it as a step ping stone to other ambitions she wickedly suggested have you any idea he seriously replied ilow how hard it Is to find a job aa honest man can do pledge yourself to absolute honesty in this world and starve to death or rot in jail I 1 public school positions are political jobs controlled by a bunch of exploiters show me one profession or business in which a man cau can be entirely honest the church it Is to smile I 1 ask any pastor 1 journalism ask toha swinton one of americas most beloved journalists medicine read bead arrowsmith V I 1 the law ask judge teaching ask scott near eng I 1 well what la Is one to do about it darned it if i see any solution for a fellow fallow that was born with a twist like min elnel e I 1 mo most A people born to great riches as youve been certainly are not troubled with your difficulties mr ive always been poor so I 1 cant quite feet feel your plight all roy my life ive felt bitterly the hoggishness of 0 our fam ilys living in luxury on the labor of others who live on an the ragged edge of poverty you take life as seriously as I 1 did at sixteen ent 1 grow up cp and be a cynic like me then be happy though rich can it matter to the vast universe how hov we worms on this tiny earth behave not to the vast universe but to us widle were here got to have traffic laws you know unless you can get ov off the high road to a road no one else uses where of course have i rl bt to drive yourself to death it if you wanted to but can you find such a road can you nis ills voice trailed off cit into silence as he sat staring at her absently tor for while he had been talking he had become conscious as he looked at lier her of 0 seeing a face within a face the childish face of that photograph of his english cousin looking out tit at him from the mature intelligent countenance of this young woman that photograph was at this moment in his inside breast pocket an almost irresistible temptation seized him to take it out and compare it with the living face before his eyes or to suddenly confront her with it and note the effect why on earth do you keep staring at me like that she inquired in astonishment ish ment lie ile came to himself with a short laugh welt well ive seen worse chiomos than your facet face I 1 oh dont be so impersonal I 1 they laughed gayly as having finished their luncheon they rose to go out to their waiting car CHAPTER IX four on monday afternoon at which hour beely though not aware of the fact was booked for something of a reception at her fw schoolhouse chool house found her dismissing her pupils alt with almost frantic expedition that she might be alone to answer a letter she had received that morning which J p 40 fo 4 1 11 marvin felt a tingling sensation along his arm that made it cult for him to keep his hand on the tha wheel cried or rather shrieked for an answer and not a moment had she had all day to write it her mother was in need distressing need her own dear ro otherl so the little sum which in the few months of deachin teaching 91 she had amassed toward her trip to hollywood must be sacrificed and the trip indefinitely postponed she had been writing rapidly for only a few minutes however when her ear was caught hy by the sound of a car stopping outside the schoolhouse marvin crelghton creighton even he was unwelcome while tier her letter remained unwritten tind and she would have t to 0 tell him so A knock on the door which one could not have called hesitating it was on the contrary peremptory followed immediately by the entrance of an elderly ruddy faced white haired man who seemed on sight an anachronism achron ism in this schoolroom for allely saw at once that he was a pros berous looking gentleman of a rather courtly beatin bearing not one of the act school ool trustees slie she had met them nil all not the father of one of tier bior pennsylvania dutch pupils tats was a man of the town suddenly her heart begun began to bent beat faster aster no one else about here could possibly look like this except yes it must be the elder sir mr crelin on what on earth did he want he came to the platform and at as she rose he be held out his hand ufa hia manner though courteous was distant and hla his countenance grave grato and rather forbidding this Is miss ton yes res she bhe said interrogatively mr crelghton creighton he introduced himself im glad I 1 find you still here iwas I 1 was afraid you would have gone you wanted to see met was wag her rather superfluous question her heart was waa quaking and she made a desperate effort to get herself in hand band the man looked formidable I 1 drawing a chair to the desk he motioned her to be seated and sat down beside her 1 I am planning a little gift to this school miss ton A christmas gift electric lights I 1 wanted to ask you when the men can work in here without interfering with you she placed a blotter over her letter which lay under his very eyes she did not believe this electric light stuff he needed an excuse to come here to see her what for fort the schoolhouse Is empty every day after four she replied and all day saturday any day after four he reflected the schoolhouse Is always empty after fourr four today Is an exception 7 stopped to write a letter ah to write a letter he repeated and the she heard the skepticism in his tone then youre not in the habit of receiving visitors after school hours youre my first now you surprise me mel I 1 I 1 was under the impression that er my son sometimes visited you here after school hours 1 lie he looked so coldly disapproving as he be spoke that meely never for a an I 1 instant supposed he be referred to his elder son whose visits being strictly professional would of course be beyond criticism it must be that some garbled rumor of her intimacy with st croix had reached the man and he was here today to put a stop to it but how exciting eluting I 1 what would he do about it try to bribe her buy her off oh surely that sort of thing was only a movie device it really happen she had never in the whole course of her life met any one who had bought off any one or who had bad been bought off 1 it if only she could have known he was coming she would have made up for the part rouged gouged and powdered like a real tough enhanced her price as a menace to st croix why she could have made herself look so go dangerous mr crelghton creighton would have paid anything to be rid of her enough to finance her needy family for or a year perhaps while she worked herself in at hollywood cut but the way she was looking just now lie he ran must st be finding tier her perplexing that was why probably ho he seemed so dazed lie he had heard she was a common little hussy and he found her looking respectable as respectable as his own wife I 1 sir air crelghton creighton was indeed feeling as dazed as he looked for st croix told him that the girl was illiterate vulgar talked the dialect of the county and here was a girt girl who looked not only like a lady but whose sophisticated bearing and gerfe perfectly ti good english so astonished him that for the moment he was disconcerted a sensation to which bich he be was for t the lie most part a stranger the bare idea idea of suggesting to her that he be would buy her off pay her to go away turned him cold ile he had no least difficulty in understanding Mar earvins marvins vins falling tor for her im not mistaken am 1 I in taking you for or the teacher he asked im the noble martyr she admitted dont I 1 look it ile he checked the gallant retort which rose involuntarily to his llor I 1 hed spoil everything if he watch himself the girl was fetching their attention was caught at this instant by the noise of another motor stopping before the schoolhouse meely gieely thought with a thrill what a situation it if marvin walks in here and finds his father warning me off st oh kyl she was puzzled by the a accusing look with which mr crelghton creighton was wag regarding her did he think it was st croix car out there and she had just denied that she ever had visitors here at her school I 1 no wonder be looked at her accusingly TO BE CONTINUED |