Show h e R 0 ax by E phillips oppenheim Oppen hemi copyright by little brown h co CHAPTER IX continued 11 the words were almost a dismissal gerald made his way back through the passage and took a sent seat in the lounge of the hotel within the time promised tt a transformed monsieur made his appearance gelald found it difficult to restrain ills his r ur prize prise hla His dinner suit was faultlessly cut ills black pearl studs were marvelous ile he had bad been carefully shaved and his hair had been trimmed he carried white kid gloves in his hand a glossy silk hat and a malacca cane crowned with math malachite lie ile came over at once to gerald and signed to a walter waiter who was ivas hovering about with a bottle upon a tray you will mill give me three minutes he begged 1 I was interested in it a series of numbers nod and I 1 forgot to dine I 1 have ordered a bottle of m wine ine you mill perl perhaps iRps join me cne very good of you gerald replied it Is rather between for me ill have a fine champagne if I 1 may monsieur bowed gravely and the brandy was brought without turning a hair he drank two turn tum bler fuls of the wine then lie he turned courteously to his companion if you have no objection he proposed we will mill walk outside to the sporting club the distance Is the same baine and the air Is fresher gerald assented readily and they started off side by side the russian was walking with ills his shoulders back like a man on parade and gerald sod suddenly felt that ills his own stature had become insignificant all the way his companion seemed to be reciting to himself in some foreign tongue reciting something which now and then fremed to have the swing of blink verse As they reached the steps which led up ro the sporting chub he be came to a full stop and glanced around youns young man lie he said facin facing geraid 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 de roulede and the trustee of as much as aa Is left of her revenues I 1 came here ashamed of their scantiness and the wild idea of enlarging them at the tables occurred to me I 1 hive tailed failed there Is a volture here you see gee by my side and the commission alre Is there to help you I 1 apologize tor for the trouble I 1 nm am giving I 1 charge you to deliver the expression of my undying devotion to madame and mademoiselle ills his right hand which had been tumbling fumbling in the pocket of his dinner coat shot out like lightning A small revolver flashing in the electric liget was pressed to his temple there were two tire almost simultaneous rep oits rumors were already floating about the club when gerald hurried in five fire minutes later both women looked at him in half fearful inquiry gerald geraid was very grave madame he be announced 11 1 I bring bad levs new s madame unfurled her black lace fan and fanned herself slowly one hears that a man has shot himself outside she said it Is perhaps the man whom I 1 sent you to seek it Is he be gerald acknowledged madame de confere rose to her feet she was an ugly woman whom up to that moment gerald had detested ile he found himself now admiring her profoundly fo she leaned a little upon the stick which she carried in her left hand iler her right she extended towards gerald it if you will give me the support of your arm downstairs lord dombey I 1 shall be glad site she continued 1 I am an old woman moman and these shocks become more poignant with the years zubin was a faithful servant of my house I 1 am affected they made their slow progress from the room madame held her head bead high mademoiselle was a little paler than usual but her good night to the commissionaire commission alre was as clear and gracious as ever no signs of any remained outside monte carlo knew bow to deal with these things their automobile was already in attendance and the two women took their places at once we are much obliged for your assistance si lord dombey madame declared 1 I regret that we should have given you so an all errand you will permit me to call perhaps at the villa gerald begged 1 I shall not be receiving for several days madame replied if you are so BO gracious as to leave a card my ser will mill tell you when I 1 am disposed to see friends the car glided ofle off madame benned back with closed eyes gerald caught just a taint glimpse of paulines profile ivory pale a gleam of terror in her eyes as though slie she knew hat they were mere passing over the spot where had died chapter X it was otter after dinner at the villa acacia and lady mary and chresto pher hardiest handiest har diest of the little gathering were strolling back and forth on the th terrace in the violet darkness tin two were old enough friends to speak intimately on many topics they were wen talking tonight of gerald gerald as a rule his sitter sister de d lari gailred is if elmost over candid alou about ills love affairs this Is certainly the first time I 1 remember him to have been mysterious 1 I dont think he has seen anything of mademoiselle de since tile the tragedy at the sporting club christopher remarked really mary sighed 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 gerald Is behaving beaving like a lunatic about this young fo foreign woman has gerald told you of the latest developments with will regard to myrelle Myr christopher inquired 1 I have some friends in london who have promised to take 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 ga n to tear into small pieces the sprig of oleander which she was holding her face seemed suddenly to have become very white and tired 1 I am sere sure that gerald Is not christopher answered As for me well mell I 1 that sort of thing Is a little out of my line it the most serious part of the situation Is that I 1 am afraid the child Is in loe lo 10 e with gerald she will get over that mary said dryly most of the girls I 1 know have been in love with gerald at some time or another sooner or later the wise ones find him out and the butterfly ones lit flit away somewhere else it may seem but I 1 ara am more concerned cc 11 about you christopher than gerald lie he passed ills his arm through hers bers an action which their increasing antl intimacy acy seemed to render perfectly Da natural tural mary he began you are just the one person in the world to whom I 1 could confess an impulse of folly and this Is I 1 suppose the one place I 1 could do it in I 1 frankly dont understand hat you mean by being in love when I 1 have thought thou glit of marriage it has been in connection with some dear wet woman dan friend who would make a home tor for me and be a companion of course I 1 expected to care for her and all that but promise jou you won wont laugh at me met 1 I shall not laugh mary promised for the first time in my life that child has made roe me think of other things christopher acknowledged simply 1 I dont know that it amounts a b J r 5 are either of you in lovs love with her mary asked to anything I 1 dare say really it is an unsuspected vein of kindness which she bhe has touched but there it Is I 1 have an absurd feeling of fondness for her the idea of her becoming a plaything for gerald or anybody makes a madman of tile me and she elie looks upon me as a kind person but an intolerable nuisance she dreams of nobody but gerald it if he lifts his little finger cuger she Is ills Re really 1 mary drawled coldly please ilease dont judge her too harshly christopher begged myrelle Myr Is tem permanently incapable of a mean or an immoral action she Is just a child of nature only instead of being swayed by the lower lomer instincts she is swayed by the higher ones slie she loves iones gerald and nothing else counts with her she would have thrown herself lier self into tile the aker sooner than have given herself in marriage to the innkeeper she Is equally capable of giving her life and her soul to gerald it if lie requires the sacrifice mary turned her head towards the window 1 I think that father wants ills his game of backgammon she observed we had bad better go in I 1 am ain afraid we roust must talk of tills this again bottle borne time will you go first and say that eliat I 1 shall be there directly christopher stepped obediently through the window and mary passed on to the farther end of the terrace where the shadows were deeper for a moment her self belt control slipped away mer her fingers gripped the ivy stalks fe icely there were tears in her eyes her rather firm but sensitive little mouth quivered passionately it seemed so 10 many years since cliris christopher had first represented to her all that the she desired in manhood a man ot of chariw a worker a mm when the time came always ambitious always ready to pit his brain against others she find fancied him in parliament a cabinet minister later late in life perhaps she had thought with happiness of the many ways in which she could further his career had bad dreamed with pleasure of playing hostess for him film in a joint establish ment she had bad known that the consummation of her wish was I 1 inevitable evitable n unless something should come between and something had bad most unexpectedly come between this peasant girl this 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 tor for all her gracious ways and although she refused to find anything final in ills his attitude the pain that she suffered in those few moments was not only of the heart beart christopher and his host in the intervals of their game talked of tile the latest suicide with the usual amazing secrecy of the local press not one ona word had appeared in tiny any paper published to in the vicinity 1 I feel a grent great deal of sympathy for our neighbors lord remarked old colonel Ilus kinson whom I 1 met on the terrace this morning told be that the man was bringing them money for some estates he be had bad sold which were practically their only means of subsistence lord Hinter leys picked up ills his cards mary came in from the terrace and seated herself by geralds side the quietness of the evening however was almost immediately disturbed the butler threw open the door announcing guests guest the ladles ladies victoria and millacent cromwell mr james cromwell lady esselen Es seden they all trooped in intimates of the young people of the house we want you to come doi down n to the club for an hour or two lady victoria who mile was always t the lie leading spirit suggested dads just paid my dress allowance and im dying to lose it and jimmys going to give us supper and take us to dance somewhere afterward 11 added to which hex her sister lady millicent went on we have brought you news we know all about the man who committed suicide tile the other night there was a dead silence a most effective background for lady victorias announcement they tried hard to keep it secret she said but tin an english journalist discovered the truth the mans I 1 name was and lie was the steward of two unfortunate ladles who live near you ue ile tied had just arrived from russia mith a large sum of money tor for them went into the rooms gambled with it and 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 0 0 0 0 christopher and gerald were taking an early morning stroll and displaying an almost feminine partiality for the shop windows when the former suddenly felt ills his friends hand tIgh tighten tn upon his arm they had paused to look through the plate glass window Indo vr of a jewelers Jem elers shop in the rue lie de paris what Is it old hapl christopher asked gerald pointed to a pearl necklace which hung in the window you see that he exclaimed tragically Ici illy that belonged to pauline to mademoiselle de Pun tere and that marquise ring below I 1 am perfectly certain her aunt was aearl wearing g walt wait a moment old fellow gerald entered tho the shop hastily A very suave frenchman came forward to meet him can you tell me anything about that pearl necklace and the rings below gerald inquired hut but certainly sir the man replied one moment ile he unfastened the window and brought out the stand on which the necklace rested tile the color of the was wonderful they were not large but they had bad an almost pink glow 1 I have no doubt monsieur Is a judge and I 1 need say little about these pearls the began 1 I would point out to you however that they were mere matched tor for royalty itself and the quality of each one Is superlative if monsieur la Is a purchaser I 1 could quote him seven thousand pounds and for that surn bum there Is not such another necklace in the world 1 I recognize tile necklace gerald admitted 1 I might under certain circumstances cum cuni stances be induced to buy it I 1 came in however to ask aou ou how bow you obtained possession of it and the rings below the mans manner changed I 1 monsieur Mon bleur lie he said 1 I am not able to explain exactly how tills ills jewelry cattle came into our hands there lire are certain confidences which in the interests of our clients we are forced to respect TO BE CONTINUED |