Show virela Us amm now PARA D U 1 L I by y J 6 i evelyn lyn j i campbell i 0 a borvice a g by evelyn Camp campbelll boll I 1 CHAPTER IX continued 15 she answered with effort ido I do io not dare to say that you told me you yol led tier her voice was lost there ins us nothing slie site could say when ile he looked at tier her like that ile her r face drooped tier lier clasped hands 1 I told file lie you wanted me to lo epli the thing you wanted to believe lie ile shrug shrugged e d in zile ilie beginning you vere nere no doubt credulous but my ms deric young lady you were seventeen then tin find ignorance Is rha at ft flint age you are now twenty four twenty live A lady who has hag trav aled tar far you must have learned learn pil from all this adventure ills his calmness took all the rebellion out of her L and when ile he went on after one of those devastating pauses she listened iab with a muted face the personal noto was vanishing from between them and ills his words lashing as they wert were 1 failed to sting her ber soul with the shame his naked eyes had put upon her lie ile sit struck uck another match to his interminable cigarette you must ahne learned he went on slowly that everything has its price its give and take you ton must have klonin that those these years have formed a tie not to be broken easily it Is broken now lie ile gave gale her a long steady look loo from which passion had evaporated then he ald you are more selfish than most women io nien linda ilow how did you learn it you were a sweet child onre once but I 1 dont suppose that you realize what br breaking enkIng with me means yet what are you going to to do she shook lier bet head 1 I 1 dont know slie site wis was thinking of 0 conse ilU guemes fiKes slie site was its driven by an lr in reis re lIble furie to destroy one by one aimse ties of iila whim lie he had spoken she hall had to be free of him at any co cost col L it was vias like climbing a black tortuous mountain to meet a summit lighted hy by it a marvelous secret glow clow onre once this was ever there would he be something for her reward for loneliness for the coldness of her night ile he looked inched tit at her again and smiled tie he could tilde bide his time slie she was a little mad just now dow as women are when alje they fancy a man lie he would have to wait a little longer you will not let the lie hoy marry the right woman then he said you tire determined to interfere well lips hes frightfully poor you know he fie cant afford to play piny around with women like you and youve got to he careful it if you want him to get on ruin him film in a week site klie smiled as his eyes questioned her flow little ile he knew converses on verses voice took on a note of exasperation chod G d dl I 1 women can he be minis when they choose I 1 believe aoud marry the young fool slie she opened her eyes widely and closed them again the room the wort world was lull full of rosy light slie she had find sensed that glow a long way orr off but she had not known it for what it was kill but now she wa wat was t nt at the lie top ot ol the lite mount mountain nin ond could look otter oer into the valley beyond and she knew yes I 1 am going to warry him she said 0 0 0 6 0 0 there was the secret bet between een thoin thern in hie file gay hurry harry of cr crowds across the ili dinner tiner table where daisy of flosse S sacs ws made tier lier ruffle futile hid for what vital neer could he hers their eyes alif spoke he to one line another there was no opportunity for more than a timid clasp or a swift word or willi without tout begin ning nine or end hir but carrying with it II till alir of his heart to hers they stood upon the lie brink or 0 this it tre men dinis hesitating to grasp what was thefts sometimes slie site read doubt in It flins e eyes ies and I 1 this was sweeter than as assurance surane she was as jealous of tier her power only rite die could disI dissipate pate that doubt make mahe him hati lwy she lid did nothing to avold avoid wh what at must come rite but still she preen prevented ted it a vilh fill that resistless foi force ce which women bring to hear upon their slie site could not understand tier her own passivity flap happiness lily lay iri in tier her hall hand aul v she would win not clasp her lingers fingers and make it tier own she was alk like a sleeper shielding alding tier lier lyes from the first of it fit DIP sun morning was hers hem the ahe long ions perfect illy was of tier her yet she tiling citing to oblivion 11 she khe watched brian find and together their seemed ideal hut but now slie site knew and simon pentress 1 knew that it would never ile he more diore lhnn it wits was you are arc a happy woman the in mil lion llo alre said to tier her one lay day and rou roil hate never been happy before what Is it 1 I 1 leave learned to look lit it lile life dit dif ferentzy ferent ly slie site told film ile he shook his hend brad A efty pl ty you wre were so fo f o api fait as you acre ere are you arta that you can changey ile he had wondered roure more than one it if there could be anything in ID the talk that connected tier her name with converse surely not lint for if site she hall had been sub a woman he fie could haie hae tier lier more lhnn these other two and site she load had not been by ills ol of vions eions preference she fhe tind lind tier hor moments of 01 panic what vias ns she about to do dol the stop step was a tremendous one if ways and means were to he considered there wits money to be thought of bill I 1 linda inda was in that exalted suite state when poverty Is hung with the lie sparkle of div day dreams she ile begun began to be ambitious tier her mind clear and alert sprang to meet the future anil and searched exell edlY finning among its possibilities slie she knew every one the lla con cm lection reach far As linda roth in tier her self chosen isolation they had avoided her with that ley icy acknowledgment of tier her existence more cutting culling than actual exclusion put but she knew very well hut as brian anstess An wife their influence would belong to tier her they did dia nut dot know brian ills his name meant nothing but it stood for all elial such people hold dear respect res ability solidity they would make laake him then she remembered how much tie he hall had resented influence ile he had hated to know that hint his appointment appoint mt nt came through simon fentress len tress because he sensed through it tile the power of vi wealth enith put dut site she dismissed this thought quick auids ly bilau was not worldly and she loved him for that she loved his ideals with the indulgence of one who knows flint most ideals are wade made of papier kaelie no one suspected tier her secret but simon fentress that small dry person sf sighed hed when he saw her so go beautiful so enger eager shy as his own girl was shy lie ile wondered why things thin had to be that way brian bad made tills this woman love him without lifting his linger and another man would have done far better tor for her but he knew better than to hint this to ills his brian had accepted aid with rather bad grace from the lie first and of them all if he was as the only one who did not suspect the real reason for the fentress interest but daisy was as good a loser as her father not by one word did she betray the blank sense 0 of loss that spoiled her young world perhaps Ier haps something will happen yet her rather father thought watching her her face and watching lindas not knowing which to pity most CHAPTER X 1 I am linda roth happiness 1 linda before her mirror dressing for a dance saw a strange fare face looking back at tier her it had been sears nears since she had seen that face those eyes that smile the child inan haverhill hod owned them alt all it la Is not given to many women to step hack back into girlhood with nil fill its fragrant hope and joy but in a single hour these had been given back to her tonight lie would ask her to marry him tonight she say yes there hid had been no promises and no appointment but she did not need this to know wha auld happen it was coming as as the hours nothing hold it back no subterfuge ter fuge no hesitation site she a long white frock glittering with crystals that clung ell ing to her slender limbs like frost wreathing lily illy steins tier her delicate long arms emerged from brorn all this whiten whiteness and spar sparkle e like the sleepy stamens of a flower tier her face behind all its beauty and still happiness asked for something more without knowing it her eyes asked that tills this happiness should last not long iong before a hotel maid anid had fastened her frock and done those thoe little tasks for tier her that must be done and hat had athen then been sent away this was a precious hour she leaned between the candelabra to look at her reflection critically happiness in tier her eyes happiness lifting the erners orners of tier her mouth but tier her lips were too pole pale sho she touched them lightly with rouge and then s saw w that this accentuated the pallor of tier her cheeks flow foolish I 1 LIM am wily why I 1 am trembling I 1 she steadied herself against thi th i dressing table was a vase of white gardenias digging dinging heinila beauly t to 0 thick groan gm en stalks on a close by and she thought hint the scent of these flowers must have overcome tier A moment before slie she had bad bee been III rat radiant lit and now this TO BE CONTINUED |