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Show ,i LOKNE'S 1 V'i riMsii.Mi.Nr. i?f C .,..,. tjxtu uTjTjTjuxnxLrijiririxLrLr ' J I; , I s-Ait Hi)VAltI i,km1 be- 1 1 I-"rnc, pleading I I with her for a word of , -V ll"M'. UK HlC condemned Ull L2i I might plead for hr nt the loot ul me gllllnw. Accustomed na she waa to audi thing, even she waa atnrtlod by the Hit cluquciuc of l he Impaaaloned words I .in l mi from hla hps. "I niniiot glo you wiiiii ,o not poa. i'M,M Klip wiUI, coldly, withdrawing her linn. I from hla t.io anient clasp. 1 have no heart. Don't mistake me," alio added, im kii noted I he tierce Jealousy nroiiM.il by Hicae word,, -it la nut thiil I huvc bestowed It on any one. 1 have no heart l.i give. I don't think I ever hml any. Men hnve come to me, asking of mi- what you auk, nd telling im- I he sum., alorjr. They Spoke, aa you have apnkon, of feeling and enintlnua which are utterly In. comprohonalble to mo, nnd In which I could wit ahnre If I would. " young Howard turned hla oyea stend-11 stend-11 upon tlio fueo of the speaker; o rarely beautiful In outline and coloring, color-ing, but aa mini and passionless aa iiiiilncr lake. Ho mined IiIk band to heaven, aa If Invoking upon Iter bead a voiceless curse. "Your time will come!" The door clonal tipon the speaker, liut there wna something In t tin t bag-Itard bag-Itard fare. In those despairing eyes, that haunted lKiihel for aome months after. "I wonder If t ahntl ever love?" ahe murmured, aa, drawing down the aofa cuahlon tinder her bend, aim anttled heraelf for the afternoon nap with which ahe usually refreshed heraelf for the evening. "I hope not, tf It la going to affect me aa It doea moat people." ... ,-:r "now Tory allocking!" The sun bad dlanppenred behind the Weatern bllla. nnd refreshed by the quiet aleep ahe had, Isnhol alepped cut upon the veranda when thla exclamation ex-clamation fell tiMin her ear, uttered by one of the excited group that had gathered In one corner of It. "What la It?" "Young Howard linn almt himself!" Fortunately, the gathering shades of twilight cnneenled the fnee that and-tlonly and-tlonly blnnebed nt those worda, and tboae present were too much absorbed In their own feelings of aatnniahment nd horror to notice the unafonfllnoa 1 In laabel'a Tolee, na alio anld. ' 1 ' "What could have Induced him to do 1 tliatr "lie waa. without question, lnanne," aid grave, pnuioiia loooklng man among the group. "Insanity la hereditary hered-itary In bla family; bla mother died Insane." Isabel drew a long algh of relief. I "Ob, that accounta for It, then." "Who la he?" Again Isabel's oyea wandered ncrnsa the room to where a plainly drcsaod man wna ataudlng. rather distinguished looking, nnd yet not aulllelently ao to warrant the attention nnd Intereat he eemed to eiclte. There wna nn tinmlatnknble air of triumph In Mr. Fane' manner, na ahe replied: "I-a! my denr. don't you know? li'a Maurice Dudley, the new arrival. Ho charming, nnd yet auch an oddity! Half the women are crnr.y after him. though Ifa eaally aeon that he doean't care for them. And he doean't mind their knowing It. either. Whnt do yon think he aald to Mra. Illnda, the oilier evening, when ahe offered to Introduce Intro-duce blm to yon-'the rclgiilnt belle,' aa ahe called yon?" lanbel aaw and felt the malice that lurked boueath thnae amonth. dulcet (wor (la. "How ahoiild I know?" ahe aald. -IUl an air of Indifference thnt waa feigned, aa Mra. Kane well knew. "'I've no eapeclnl liking for reigning tiollea,' ho anld. aa grnn.l na the tirnnd Mogul blmaelf. Waan't thnt nn odd peeeh, my denr?" "I auppnan bo meant It to be odil," retorted Isabel, unnlile wholly to con cenl the wound her vanity hml received from the malicious oyea (lint wer.-watching wer.-watching her. "Il'a the height of aome people'a nnililllnn to be odd. I don't ace anything very n binning nboul Mm. I can point you to half a dozen men In our own act butter looking than ho." "Ah! but yon abnuld hear him talk! ITe'a been everywhere, I ahonld aay. And then ho baa auch a niuaii nl voire. nd auch exprcnaive oyea! Tnko him altogether, he la the moat fnacliintlng man I ever met, though you might Hud aeore thnt are hnndaomer." With theao worda Mra. Kane walked way, taking with her the plenannt aaurance thnt ahe had left her "dear friend" aa uncomfortable na alio could doalre. Not thnt aha had any eape-clal eape-clal ennae or 111 will, except Ianbel'a Superior peraonnl iittrnctlnna, though perhapa our feminine reailera will con Ider thnt to be enuao enough. After thla. lanbel met Mr. Dudley often or rnther. nw lilm: for. much to her chagrin nnd mortllleatlon. he atlll continued to decline, lit lenst tacitly, tacit-ly, her acquaintance, which moat men who wore thrown within the aphere of tier Influence were ao eager to obtain. Htlmulntcd by thla unwonted opposition, oppo-sition, lanbel determined to bring about n Introduction, nor doubting thnt then the way would bo clear to her for avenging the alight that had been offered of-fered her. Tlila being effected, alio loat nn time In calling Into play the aeductlve Charms with which nature bad ao !avll.ly endowed her, never doubling that they would prove Irresistible. lint her an.-,,, was fur from flattering. flat-tering. After the III st few worda, dictated dic-tated by i-o.mnoii rminciy. Mr. Dudley Dud-ley aeenied scarcely aware of ber proa-once. proa-once. Ho arcnatnmed waa Isabel to homnge and adulation thnt alio Inwardly resented re-sented thla na n pera.uuil wrong, nnd alio redoubled Hie nrta and allure- liienta Hint had never I n cxerclsco, vainly until now. Not that their object ob-ject accuii'd altogether Inaonalble to tliem; they were tluiea when he even aought ber aoloty. caualug ber heart to acknowledge the woudroua fnael-nation, fnael-nation, not only In hla converaatlnn, but In every look and lone. Hut ahe notlcod-wltli a tierce Jonlooay at ber heart of which ahe had not aupiioacd heraelf capable how enally be could turn from her to any oilier, forgetting, forget-ting, apparently, her very eilalenee. Hhe cm!. I not but know that he took a atrong Intereat In her, but of whnt nature thla Intereat wna ahe tortured heraelf vainly to determine. She often cuught hla ryea II led Intently upon ber, a al range, Inacrutnble look In them, which mnde her heart flutter Willi the vague and delightful nope to which It gave rlae. Mr, Dudlcy'a mooda wore very variable, vari-able, to any the lea at. ttometliiioa he aaw her aluioat dully, nnd then absent, ed blmaelf for dnya at a time: aome-timea aome-timea he came Into the room where ahe waa without apcaklng to or even looking look-ing at her, and then he waa almost lover like In hla looka and uinnner. In thla way laabel waa kept for aome weeka In a atiile of alternate hope and four, thus experiencing the tor-nieiita tor-nieiita ahe had heraelf indicted ao often and ao remoraelcaaly. "I thought that you did not bcllove In lover The two-laabel and Mr. Dudley-were Dudley-were alone together, which seldom occurred. oc-curred. Ianbel'a heart bent fnat; there wna something In the look and tone of the aponker thnt strengthened her hnpoa almost to certniuty. Hhe determined to bring mattera to a crista. "That waa before" the eyoa lifted to thoao thnt wore regarding her ao Intently, woro wondroualy bright "before "be-fore I met you, Maurice." "And ao you do love mo, laabel?" A awlft, burning tluah swept up over neck and boanm, even to the temples. "More than life better than my own anul!" Tlio alienee thnt followed fell coldly on the heart that gave iitternnce to thla pnaalouiitu outburst, and the look which met the rpicatlnnlng glnnee thnt lanbel lifted to thnt dark, atern face, struck more colder atlll. Hut she hnd gone Too fur to retreat uow, "I. ven aa I believe-na 1 must bcllove you love mo." "Did I ever any that I loved yon?" lanbel waa silent for aomo momenta, lie never hnd, na ahe aa humbled and alck at heart fo reuieuiber. "Not lu worda, perhaps, but there are ways, there are looks, far more eloquent" "True. Hut did you never look a love Hint you did not feel? tilling the cup of hope nnd Joy to the very brim, unit daahlug It to earth as It was rained to the enger lip?" hho had done thla tniiiiy. many tlmea. na ahe well knew. Hut alio bud no thought for thla now. "You do love me, Maurice?" Not many men could have realatod Hint appealing look. Taking a locket from hla breast, Man-rice Man-rice Dudley touched the spring, re-venllng re-venllng a fair young fare, nlmoat Infantine In-fantine In Ita Innocence nnd beauty. "Thla la all thnt reinnliia to me of the only womnn 1 hnve ever loved Hint I cverahall love. It therenre such tbluga na augela. ahe la one now." The fierce jealousy thnt had taken possession of Ianbel'a heart waa followed fol-lowed by a aenae of relief at the concluding con-cluding sentence. She mnde no effort to disguise the Joy thnt Unshed from the suddenly lifted eyes. "DendT' "Murdered! And by lunula aa soft, and white, and beautiful aa yours, Indy." lanbel ahrnnk. she aearcely knew why, from Hint burning gaxe, "I low how terrible!"! alio faltered. "Ay, It was terrHde. na ymi will find. Woman, It wna you that murdered mur-dered ber:" "IV" "You! Do you remember Oscar II.w-nrd, II.w-nrd, bo whom your vile arts ilrovo to dcupalr. to mnilueaa, to death? Ho waa her brother, ber only brother, nnd when the terrible tidings reached ber. her gentle heart broke. Now, farewell. To-morrow, nt thla time, I ahull he ninny inllea from here." The despair, the agony In lanbel Lome's fai'o waa something terrible lo look upon. "Hut you will relurn? Oh. Maurice. I repent I repent! Do not utterly foranke me!" "I ahntl never relurn! My work here la done. In your victim' letter lo hla slater be related your worda to him the laat time he aaw you. I came to revenge bla dentil and here, who fell by your band aa well; to tench you that you have a heart that enn feel, and love, and suffer aa other hearts do. May thla knowledge make you n better, If not a happier, woman, karcwcll forever." New York Weekly. |