Show WN FJ PARADE I 1 by evelyn campbell i I 1 f I 1 service I 1 S copyright by evelyn campbell I 1 S alland CHAPTER IX conti continued aued 15 she answered with effort do not dale date to say thit you lou told me you I 1 I 1 ed her voice voke was lost tl TI ere was noth ng sl st e c uld say when he looked at her like tt it her ter face drooped ul U on her clisi ed hands I 1 told tie tl e lie ile you ou wanted me to tell the thing you ou wanted to believe he ile shrugged shrug ed in he be beginning inning you I 1 were no d abt credulous rut but ms my dea young lady you were seventeen then and ignorance Is charming at a that age you are now twenty four twenty tive A lady who has trav tray aled far you must have learned from all this adventure its calm ness took all the rebellion out of her and when he went on after one of those devastating pauses she listened with ith a muted face TI tie e personal note was vanishing from between them and his words lashing as they were failed to sting her soul with the st sl ame time hib bib naked eyes had put upon her he ile struck another match to his interminable cigarette ion on must hive learned he went on slowly that everything has its price it s give and take you must hae have known that these years have formed a tie not to be broken easily it Is broken now he ile gave her a long steady loot look from which passion had evaporated tl TI en ell he said cald you are more selfish than most women I 1 inda how flow did you learn it you were a sweet child once but I 1 don dont t suppose that you realize what bi caking breaking with me means yet what are ion you going to do she shook her t e id I 1 don t know S SI e was n t thinking of conse couse quel ces es she v as driven by an ir tr res force t dt one by one tl ti abt aleh u of 1 I itch ich he had spoken sl SI c hid to be free of him at any cost it was III e climbing a black tortuous to meet a summit lighted by a marcelus marv mar ekus velus secret atlow once this was ever there would be son ething for her revard re vard for lonell ness for the coldness of her night he ile 1001 ed at her agila and smiled he tie could bide his time she was a little mid just now as women are when they fenev a man he tie would have to wait a little longer lou oa will not let ti tie e boy marry the right woman noman then he said you are determined to interfere well hes frightfully poor you know he cant can t afford to play around with women like you and you ou ve got to be careful if it you want him to get on you d ri in him in a week she limited as I 1 Is eyes questioned her how little he knew anverse s voice took on a note of exasperation food G dl di women can he be idiots when they choose I 1 believe aoud oud marry tie young foell ale sl e opened her eyes widely and cl sed them again the room the worl wort I 1 was full of rosy light she had sensed that gl w a long way off but she had not known it for what it was but now she was at the top of tte tie mountain and coul I 1 lo 10 k over into the vallea beyond and she knew I 1 ses es I 1 am going to marry him she said there was the secret between them in the gay h irry of crow is aan ss the linner honer table alere I 1 ere dily prettiest of h busses male ter I 1 er fuelle bid for whit never could he be hers their eyes qi s ke to one an ther 1 here I I 1 ere was wag n opportunity f r more thin a t land and desp cl asp or a swift word without begin ning r end bit b it carrying with it tl ti i il britlon of his feirt to hers they stood upon the hr of this tw tre mer met I 1 us its experience hesitating to griep alit I it was theirs sometimes times sl st e reid re id d abt in brians eyes an ills was as sweeter than assurance she aris as jealous of her power only she zhe could dissipate that doubt m mike mihe him h oy she did nothing to avoid wl at must come bit still sa s1 s e prevented it with that res force wt leb women arli g to heir beir up n tl ti air ultimatums she could not understand her own passivity hai flat liy ny in I 1 I 1 er han hall 1 hut ut sl st e w nid n I 1 her fingers lingers and n anke a ke it I 1 I 1 er own sl st e was like a 11 sleeper shielding her eyes from tie tl e first rays of the sun morning was hers tl tt e lor lot gp g perfect erfert diy daiy was ahe I 1 of her yet st e clung to obI lilon ale sl e witched Nil hed birlin and daisy to better er their c beeme J I 1 leil but no i she knew and simon I 1 entress en tress knew ti flat at it woul I 1 never I 1 c p more tl it an it was you are a hippy bonan the in mil lion leonaire llo alre gild to her one day ant an vou oil hie never been happy before allt lit is 19 it 1 I I 1 1 ie learned to look at life dit dif feren she told I 1 fro he sl 1 its 1 is teal 1 ea 1 A pity you ere so I 1 ie e feet as you were ere are you certain that you can ch chancel angel 46 lj v he ile had wondered more than once if 11 there here could be anything in to the talk that connected ter t er name with con ver verse S surely not for if she had been se a woman he could have offered her more than these other two and 1 sl I e I 1 1 ad not nt been tempted by his obvious preference st ste e I 1 id her moments ot of panic what was sl ale e abut to do the step was vas a tremendous one if it ways and means were to be considered there wae was amney to be thought of but I 1 inda finds was in that exalted state wl I 1 n I 1 werty Is hung with the sparkle of if day dreams she bean to be abbt bious her tier mind clear and alert apran to meet the future and searched excite ily among its p she knew every one the haverhill Haver hlll con nation reich reach far As I 1 inda loth in her self tl cl sen sell isolation they had avoided her with that icy ley eden ent of her existence more cutting tt it an actuel exclusion but she knew very well tint list as brian anstess wife their influence would belong to her hey iley did not know brian his name me nt n thing but it stood for all thit such people I 1 old dear respect ah lity solidity they would make him then she remembered how much he I 1 ad resented influence he had hated to know that his appointment came through simon ren fentress tress because he sensed through it the power of wealth but she cism ased this thought quick ly IY brian was not worldly and she loved him for that she loved his ideals with the indulgence of one who knows that most ideals are made of papier mache no one suspected her secret but simon fentress that small dry per son sighed when he saw her so beau ticul so eager shy as his own girl was shy he ile wondered why things had to be that way brian had made this woman love him without lifting his finger and another man would bae baie done far better for her but he knew better than to hint this to his brian had ac cepter aid with rather bad grace from the first and of them all he waa was the only one who did not suspect the real reas n for the fentress interest but daisy was as good a loser as her father not by one word did she be tray the blank sense of loss that spoiled her young world perhaps pert aps s bething met liing will happen yet her father thought watching her face and watching linda s not know ing which to pity most CHAPTER X 1 I am linda roth happiness I 1 linda before her mir dressing for a dance saw a strange face looking lookin g back at her it had been years since she had seen that face those eyes that smile the child linda haverhill Haver hlll had owned them all tt it Is not given to many women to step back into girlhood with all its fragrant hope and joy but in a single hur these had been given back to her tonight he would ask her to marry him tonight say yes there had been no promises and no appoint ment but she did not need this to know wl at would happen it was coming as inevitably as the hours nothing could hold it back no sub no hesitation she wore a long white frock gilt bering with crystals that clung to her slender limbs like frost wreathing illy stems her delicate long arms emerged from front all this whiteness and sparkle like the sleepy stamens of a flower her tier face behind all its beauty and still happiness asked for something more without knowing it her eves asked that this happiness should last hot not long before a hotel mild had fastened her tr fr ck and done those little tasks for her that must be don dom i and had then been nen sent away this was a precious h ur she leaned between the candelabra to look at her reflection critically happiness in her eyes happiness lift ing the corners of her mouth month but her lips were too pale she touched them lightly with rouge and then saw that this accentuated the pallor of her cheeks how foolish I 1 am why I 1 am trembling I 1 she steidley ste idled herself against thi th i dressing table there was a vase of white gardenias clinging heavily to it alick leb green stalks on a close by and she thought tl at the scent of these flowers must have overcome her A moment before she had been radi radl ant and now this I 1 TO BE CONTINUED |