Show the rh e mystery M v road R 09 d by E phillips oppenheim copyright by buttle brown A co CHAPTER IX continued 11 the words worda were almost a dismissal gerald made his bla way back through the passage and took j a seat la in the lounge of the hotel within the time promised a transformed monsieur zubin made his appearance bemid found it difficult to restrain his aur vr prise his dinne suit stilt was faultlessly cut ills his black pearl studs were marvelous he had been carefully shaved and his hair had been trimmed he carried white kid gloves in his hand a glossy silk hat but and a malacca enne cane crowned with malachite he came ner ever at once to gerald and signed to a waiter who was hovering about with a bottle upon a tray you will give me ile three minutes ral nute he begged 1 I was interested in a series of numbers and I 1 forgot to dine I 1 have ordered a bottle of wine you will perhaps join roe me very good of you gerald replied it Is rather between times for me ru ell have a fine champagne it if I 1 may monsieur zubin bowed gravely and the brandy was brought without turning a hair he drunk drank two tum bler fuls of the then he be turned courteously to his companion it if you have no objection lie he proposed we will walk outside to the sporting club the distance Is the same came and the air Is fresher gerald assented readily and they started off side by side the russian was walking with his shoulders back like a man on parade and gerald suddenly felt that his own stature lind bud become insignificant all the way his sei lemed nied to be reciting to himself in some foreign tongue reciting something which now and then seemed to have the swing of blink verse As they reached the steps which led up to the sporting club lie he crime to a full stop and glanced around young mm he said facing ger ald you are probably a little curious about me this Is the truth let those know it who may be interested I 1 am the steward of madame rie and the trustee of ns as much us as la Is left of her revenues I 1 canne came here of their scantiness and the wild idea of enlarging ithe them im at af the tables oc occurred currad to me I 1 have failed there Is a here you see by my side and the alre Is there to help you I 1 apologize for the trouble I 1 am giving I 1 cli chiric irge you to deliver the expression of my undying undoing devotion demotion to madame and mademoiselle his right hand which had been fumbling in the pocket of his dinner cont shot out like lightning A small revolver flashing in the electric llant was pressed to his temple te there were two almost simultaneous rep oits rumors were flouting floating about the club when gerald hurried in five minutes laer hiler both women looked nt at hint him in half fearful inquiry gerold gerald was very en grave Af mid adame line lie announced 11 1 I bring bit bifid news Alad nine unfurled her hinck lace fun fill all herself slowly slob one hears li irs that lint a 1 inan imn ha hns 4 shot himself olit outs side fU she felic gilld it Is pei pe imps rImps the lie man whom I 1 sent you iou to seek se k it Is 19 lie he gerald Alad nine ie de rose lose to hir her feet slie she ans nn ugly up to that lint moment gerald flit tind detested ile he found himself now admiring her profoundly fo slie she leaned a little upon die stick which site she carried in tier lier left hand iier her right she extended towards gerrild if you vou will give me the support of your orm arm downstairs lord donahey Doin Don hey they I 1 shall he be girl gand slie she continued 1 am an old vo inan ond these shocks become more poignant with the years eairs was a faithful servant sen tint of tiny my house I 1 nm affected they ninde made their slow progress from file lie room held tier her hend head high was a little paler libin than usual hut but her good night to the was ns as clear and gracious us its ever no of tiny disturbance outside I 1 monte carlo knew how to deal with ailiese things their automobile was til ready in attendance and the two women took their places at once we are arc much obliged for your ua its istance lord dombey madame de dared 1 I regret that we should have given you yon so an erlind you will permit me to call perhaps st bt the gerald begged 1 I shall not be receiving for beveral days madame adanie in replied if you are so BO grat gracious gr IOUS as to leave a card my servants will tel fell you when I 1 am disposed di to see tri friends ends the ear car glided iff leaned buck with closed eyes gerald caught just a glimpse of Paull ned yra arb file avory pale a glearn gleam or of terror la in lier her icyel ea as an though she knew that h T 1 h they were passing over the spot where j had ad died chapter X it was after dinner ut at the villa Ac acacia ticia and lady mary and christopher handiest hardiest har lard diest lest of the little gathering were strolling back und and forth on the terrace in the violet darkness the two were old enough friends to speak intimately on many topics they were talking tonight of gerald gerald as a rule his sister declared la Is elmost almost over candid about his love affairs this to la certainly the first time I 1 remember him to have been mysterious 1 I dont think he has seen anything of mademoiselle de since the tragedy at the sporting club christopher remarked really beally mary al sighed glied you young men who should be our greatest comfort are actually our greatest responsibility lity first of all you pick up a peasant girl on the road over whom you both seem to have lost your heads more or less and now now gerald Is behaving like a lunatic about this young foreign woman 1 line has gerald told you of the latest developments with regard to myrtile Myr christopher inquired 1 I have some friends in london who have promised to take tahe her for a nursery governess are either of you in love with her mary asked raising her eyes and looking her companion in the face christopher hesitated for several moments before answering mary began to tear into small pieces the sprig of oleander which she was holding her fuce face seemed suddenly to have become very white and tired 1 I nin sure that gerald Is not christopher answered As for me well that sort of thing Is a little out of my line it the most serious part of the situation la Is eliat I 1 am abrald the child Is in love with gerald she will get over that mary said dryly must of the girls I 1 know have been in love with gerali gerald at some time or another sooner or later inter the lie wise ones find him out and the lie butterfly ones flit away somewhere else it may seem but I 1 nm am more concerned about you jou christopher than gerald genii d ile he passed his arm through hers an action which their Ili increasing creasing intimacy t to 0 render perfectly natural mary he begun began you are just the one person in the world to whom I 1 could confess an impulse of folly and tills this Is I 1 suppose the one place I 1 cluid do it in ill I 1 frankly dont understand what you mean by being in love when I 1 have thought of marriage it lifts lias been in fit connection with some dear woman friend flond who would make a home for we me and be a companion of course I 1 expected to cure care for tier her and all that but promise you wont laugh at me 1 I shull shrill not laugh mary promised lor for tle the first time in my life that child has made nie me think of other things christopher acknowledged simply slin pl 1 I dont know that it 11 amounts biou U t 8 to anything an tiling I 1 dare city cay really it Is an unsuspected vein of kindness which slip ims touched tou died but there it Is I 1 lime have mi all abrury feeling of fondness for her i lie iden of her becoming a 0 play thing for gerald or anybody makes a nin in adm dimin in of me ine and nd slie sile 1 look I boks 3 hulmn nie me as it kind person but nn an intolerable rai nuisance Nance slie she dreams of nobody but gerald derild Ger ild if lie he lifts ills his little linger flie Is ie ills his ll eally aenry drawled coldly ph use dont judge her too harshly christopher begged la Is tempt permanently incapable of a meun mean or an immoral action she Is just a child of nature only instead of being swayed by the lie lower instincts slie site Is swayed by the he higher ones ties she loves gerald and notting else counts with her slie she would ifould have thrown herself into the river sooner than linn hae bave glen given herself in marriage age to the she Is equally equal capable of giving her life and tier her soul son to geraid Gei ild if lie requires the alary turned her head bead tow ards the window 1 I think that fattier wants lils ills game of she observed we I 1 bad better go 0 o in I 1 am afraid we of this again some line vill you 11 go first and say that I 1 shall be there christopher stepped obediently through Kli the ibe window and mury mary passed on to 1 the alie farther end of the terrace ter nice when the hie shadows dows were deeper fo for ft a her self control slipped away tier her fingers gripped the hie ivy stalks fiercely there were tears in her eyes her rather firm but little mouth quivered passionately it seemed so many years sine chris aber had first represented to her all lint hat she desired in maul manhood lood a fairi of ter a worker a sportsman when the time came always ambitious always ready to pit ole brain against others she had fancied nun alm in parliament a cabinet 13 minister later in life persapa per hapa she bad thought with tap happiness of the lie many ways in which she could further his bis career lind had dreamed with pleasure of playing hostess for him in a joint establishment she had known that the consummation of tier her wish was inevitable unless something should come between and something had roost most unexpectedly come between thle this peasant girl ils birth of a spurious sentiment nothing in a man like gerald but very much to be dreaded in a person of poise and steadfastness she was a proud young woman for all her gracious ways and although site she refused to find anything final in his attitude the pain that site she suffered buffered in those few moments was not only of the heart christopher and his host in the intervals of their game talked of the latest suicide with the usual anming secrecy of the local press not one word had bad appeared in any paper published in the vicinity 1 I feel a great deal of sympathy tor for our neighbors lord Hinter leys remarked old colonel huskinson kinson whom I 1 met on the terrace this morning told be that the man was bringing them money for some estates he had sold which were practically their only means of subsistence lord picked dp his cards mary come came in from the terrace and seated herself by geralds side the quietness of the ho evening however wits was almost immediately disturbed the butler threw open the door announcing guests the ladles ladies victoria and cromwell mr james cromwell lady Essed cn they all trooped in intimates of the young people of the house we want you to come down to the club for an hour or two lady victoria who was always the leading spirit suggested dads just paid my dress allowance and im dying to lose I 1 it il and jimmys going to give us supper and take us to dance somewhere afterward added to which her sister ludy lady millicent went on we e have brought you news we know all about the man who committed suicide the other night there ans was a dead silence a most effective background for lady vie vic tor lorans lits announcement they tried hard to keel it secret site she said but an english journalist discovered the truth the mans name was zubin and lie ho was the ateward of two unfortunate indies who live near you lie he had just arrived from russia with a large sum of money for them went into the rooms gambled with it a and nd lost the lot they say that it was nearly three million francs and that it was every penny those poor women had in the world 0 christopher and gerald were tak taking I 1 ng an early morning stroll and displaying nn fin almost feminine partiality for the shop windows when the former suddenly felt his friends hand tighten upon his arm they had paused to look through the he plate glass window of a jewelers shop in the rue de paris what Is it old chup 7 christopher asked gerald pointed to a peurl pearl necklace which hung in the window you see sec that lie he exclaimed tr tra leally that belonged to Paul to mademoiselle do Pon lere and that I 1 marquise D I 1 ring below I 1 nin perfect perfectly t ly certain tier aunt was wearing walt wait n R moment old fellow derahl entered the lie shop hastily A very suave frenchman cattle for forward vard to meet him can you tell me anything about that pearl necklace the rings below gerald inquired allut but certainly sir the man replied one moment lie he unfastened the window and brought out the stand on which the necklace lace rested the color of the pearls was wonderful they were not large hut but they had an almost pink glow 1 I have no doubt monsieur Is a judge jude and I 1 need say bay little about these pearls the lie shop nian begun began 1 I would point out to you however that they were vere matched for royalty itself and the quality of each one Is superlative if monsieur Is a purchaser I 1 could quote him hill seven thousand pounds and for that aliat suni sum there Is not such another necklace in the world 1 I recognize the necklace gerald admitted 1 I rii inight tit under certain clr be induced to buy it IL I 1 came in hoN however vever to ask you how bow you obtained possession of it and the rings below the mans manner changed Blons monsieur leur lie he said 1 I nin am not able to explain exactly how his jewelry came into our hands there are euln confidences which in the tie interests of our clients we are forced to respect TO BE CONTINUED |