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produce in his hearers the mood in which he wishes them to receive what he has to say so the poet by hia melody by the form of ma verse by his ringing or long melting by hia rhyme or his pauses is to interpret the ideas he expresses as surely as he is by the statements he makes the truth which the teacher knows that not the effect is really of more value and significance than the ideas stated is naturally for the most part too deep for the comprehension of pupils at this stage it would only a class to go so far as this but if we are to study poetry we must have at least a working definition of what poetry is and one which shall commend itself to the children with whom we are working as a mere suggestion which may be of practical use to some teachers would call attention to what may be done by comparing certain pieces of prose with the poems which have grown out of them i know of nothing better for thia use than s ballad of the revenge and the prose version of sir walter from which it is taken in many parts the is almost identical â but with the differences between robust prose and a stirring the teacher who can make a class see what the distinction is what the ballad that has not attempted will have made clear by example what poetry does and why it is written another example is s destruction of com talks on literature with the version of the incident as given in the bible it may seem to some teachers that i am going rather deep but to such i should simply the question what they understand by the study of poetry the natural error of the mind is to d the intellectual content of a poem as its reason for being and to foster such an error as this is to make forever improbable if not impossible any intelligent or genuine insight into poetry whatever if we are not to protect children against this mistake fatal as it is to any perception of the real province and nature of poetic art what do wa expect to accomplish in all the extensive attention which is under the present system devoted to the works of the masters that so many boys failed to answer satisfactorily in this matter of between prose and poetry is of course not evidence either of general ignorance or of conscious fault on the part of boys often fail in attempts to state distinctions about which they are yet reasonably clear in their minds and it may well be that many who gave replies would have no difficulty in between verse and prose â at least when verse fulfilled the of the candidate who wrote a jagged is the main form of blank verse each is a separate line and every other sentence is a quarter of an inch literary it would be interesting to present to pupils who have finished the study of the college half a dozen brief some prose and some poetry but all printed in solid the number of students who could accurately and confidently distinguish in every case would be a not unfair test of the extent to which the distinction is understood teachers probably fail to make this matter clear because they not assume that of course any intelligent lad in his must know the distinction between prose and poetry natural as such an assumption may be however it is often â indeed i am tempted to say generally â wrong he chief business of the modem teacher is after all the of pupils in things which they would naturally be supposed to know already it is certainly safer never to assume in any grade that a student knows anything whatever until he has given absolute proof the points in the education of the modern student are certainly those which are continually taken for granted one of the most obstacles in the way of bringing young people to understand excellence and to appreciate literary value is the difficulty of having school work done with proper deliberation it is doubtful if any process in education can be hurried it is certain that nothing of worth can be done in the study of literature which is not conducted in a leisurely manner the first care of an in this delicate talks on and branch must be to a genial an of tranquillity and of serenity no matter how tall a heap of prescribed books block tbe way to the end of the school year each that is dealt with should be treated with deference and an amount of time not to its number of pages but to the speed with which the class can its worth and beauty it worst comes to worst i would have a teacher say honestly to his pupils we have taken up almost all of the term by treating what we have studied as literature instead of through it as a mechanical task for the sake of we are forced to crowd the other books in the process b not fair to them or to you so do not make the mistake of supposing that this is the proper way of treating real books children who have been properly trained will understand the situation and will appreciate the justice of the proposition in this connection is of interest the remark of an who said that he his first impression of style and of the of words from i suppose the truth is he explained with intelligence that in english i never read slowly enough to get anything more than the story or what was said when i was things out line by line and word by word i at last got an idea of what my teachers had meant when they talked about the effect of the choice

2Charles Dickens

of words many of us can look to the days literary when we learned from latin rather than from english although we had been over much the same thing in our own tongue in the foreign language we had to go deliberately and we had to apply the principles we learned only when the student ia treating literature so slowly and thoroughly that these conditions are does he come to any comprehension of style or indeed of the real value of literature of all ages naturally and read anything the first time for the intellectual content for the story for the information for that meaning in short which is the appeal to the intellectual the great majority are entirely satisfied to go no farther they do not indeed perceive the reason for going farther and they are too often left in ignorance of the fact that they have entirely missed the qualities which what they have read to be considered literature in the higher sense in this they are often encouraged moreover by the unhappy practice of making the of ia to me nothing less than a it the work of art in the mind of the child and the mental principle that poetry exists solely because it expresses what cannot be said in any other way a bears the same relation to a for instance that a drop of water does to the of which it was once the the old cry against the selection of talks on teaching literature from milton for exercises in bo l with triple force against the use of as material for children to from of the poet into their own feeble the was by far the lesser evil it ia often necessary to have an explanation of passages but this should be always expressly presented as simply a means to help the child to get at the real significance of a a sort oâ ladder to climb by any aad explaining should be carefully held to its place as an inadequate and necessity the class never be allowed to think that any really represents a poet or that it is to be regarded in any light but that of in this matter of as everywhere in the process of dealing with literature much depends upon the character of the class much must always be left and much is always wisely left even often the teacher must go farther in individual cases than would naturally have been the case in a given grade because questions will be asked which lead on it ia often necessary for instance to explain that the crowding forward of events made by stage conditions is not a of truth but a to the truth of art a lad will object that things could not move forward so rapidly and it is then wise to show him that dramatic truth does not include to time but may con literary dense the of days into an hour so long as it m true to human nature and to the effects those events would have had if at intervals however great again children will object in a tale that the incidents are not likely to have happened and it is then necessary to make clear the distinction â between probability and possibility and how may deal with either matters however are to be left to the intelligence of the individual if he cannot them wisely without advice he cannot do it with arbitrary rules for a last word on the matter of training students in tlie appreciation of literary form and i should offer a warning against attempting too much something is certainly but of it is well to exercise what calls a wise and neglect literary language must be learned or all intelligent work is utterly impossible since form is an important element in all artistic language it is not possible to this the extent to which work can and should go in the study of form in a given class is one of the matters which the to decide and when be has decided it he must resolutely refuse to allow himself to be unhappy because in the great realm oâ literature are so many noble tracts of which he has not even hinted to his class the existence if he has done the lesser work well he has at least put his students in a condition to do the gi for themselves if he had attempted more he might have accomplished nothing xvi q how far the biography oâ authors shall be a part of the school work is a question which attention i began these talks by calling attention to the fact that it is so much easier to teach details about the life of a writer than it is to train the youthful mind to a true appreciation of literature itself teachers naturally and almost unconsciously fall into the habit of over this division of the history of literature and questions about the lives of authors are easy to for or for paper nothing however should be allowed to obscure the idea that the work and not the is the thing with which study should be concerned and everybody would agree that in theory the limit to in study is the extent to which a knowledge of an author s career or personality to the understanding of what he has to say this however is much like the question like a good deal that for argument it only puts the problem in other words for we are at once confronted with the doubt how far a pupil in the secondary school is likely to be literary biography by knowing about the facts of a writer s l at the of the spectator remarks i have observed that a reader seldom a book â with pleasure till he whether the writer of it be a or a fair man of n mild or married or a bachelor with

2Charles Dickens

other of the like nature that very much to the right ing of an author i may frankly confess that this is so entirely of myself that i am perhaps not a fair judge for others since it is to me a matter almost of indifference who wrote a book where or when he lived what he was and what he did i have not perhaps estimated rightly the effect of biography on children i am firm in my belief however that for making literature more clear more vivid more attractive the effect of a knowledge of the author s life is with children apt to be practically nothing if they are interested in a book they may on that account like to know something of the man who wrote it but i have yet to find a student who really cared for a piece of literature because he had been made to facts about the author that a book was written in a given age will account to him for fashions of thought strange to day but he is seldom able to carry such analysis beyond the most general idea in regard to helping scholars in the secondary schools to understand a given piece of literature by them about the personality of the â k talks on literature writer i am quite as lt may be that one lad in a hundred may come to a better appreciation of a book from what he knows of the temperament of the it is possible to point this out in occasional instances if a boy read a modest proposal a teacher naturally calls attention to the character of swift as having determined the ferocious form which this plea for humanity has taken in dealing with the journal of the plague year it is that the in speak of the tendency of which led him to write on topics which were at the moment before the public in either case the result is not important in the sense of going much beyond what the student may be made to feel without any mention of the writer or the writer s peculiarities i it is very easy to ourselves into feeling i that we are being when in reality we are simply being if our pupils were so far advanced as to be able to perceive the subtle relations between character and literature between the nature of a writer and the interpretation we are to put upon what he has written they would in most cases be better fitted to instruct us than to receive any instruction we are able to furnish it is sometimes well to ve pupils things which we are aware they cannot grasp to show them the existence of lines of thought which they are not yet qualified to carry out our aim in this is to their and to direct them toward truths which later they may investigate for themselves in the secondary however very little ot this sort can te done in connection with anything so complex and subtle as the relation of the character of an author to bis young people must take literature at its c so to say and in teaching them to do this is more than room for all the energies a teacher in these can bring to bear the history of literature its development its relations to the of human thought should all be as far as possible familiar to the teacher and no with knowledge and enthusiasm is likely to any of these in dealing with they must all however be brought forward with care for it is easy to the mind of the young especially in an age like the present when a child goes to school with attention already strained by the imperative and calls of daily life students on leaving the high school should be familiar witb the place in the centuries of authors they have especially studied and of the score or so of writers most important in english literature from down with tbe exact details of biography they need not have been concerned if they have had curiosity enough to look these up as a matter of individual interest it is well although i am not sure that anything is gained by encouraging this to know of shakespeare of and of milton for instance what may be put into a dozen lines d â u l tales f literature and of writers to have in â formation seems to me ample the work and not the is of importance the book and not the f author the poem and not the poet many teachers will not agree with me in giving to the personality and the of writers so small a place every man must judge by hia own experience and i can only say that every year i deal with classes in literature i find myself deliberately giving less attention to the history of literature i have insisted already upon the danger that study shall take the place of the consideration of literature itself and i have now attempted to ce that thought by stating definitely what it seems to me wise to attempt in the secondary schools i do not desire to be however and here as elsewhere the conclusion of the whole matter is that while the question of the wisdom of giving extended instruction in literary history or biography is to be carefully considered each must frame the answer according to personal experience and the individual needs of any given class bead k no teacher who is really concerned with the development of the pupil s mind can afford to outside indeed even were a teacher conceivable who or unconsciously cared only to drag scholars over the prescribed course he would yet be forced to take into account the effect of every day life and circumstance and under existing conditions every teacher is sure to find that he is to a

2Charles Dickens

great extent obliged to do the work of the home in all that relates to the training of a large number of children in teaching literature it is not only wise but it is easy to discover and to a large extent to influence whatever reading pupils do of their own will outside of the required work thoroughly to a all that a teacher desires or even all that is often expected of him would be possible only to the gods and it is evident enough that no can exercise complete parental over all the life of the pupils under him certain things in the training of the young are accomplished at home or go forever undone perhaps the most serious difficulty in this whole complicated business of education is talks on that tho is so largely called upon to undo what is done outside the he may at least be thankful that in the matter of he is dealing with something something in which so many of his flock may with skilful management be in a published under the of the new england association of teachers of english the voluntary of high school scholars professor w c of brown university comments on the fact that the mind of the young person is likely to perceive little relation between the literature administered at school and the books voluntarily read outside he says many of onr youth leading a double life in things literary in the class room doctor the lofty of or paradise lost mr in the yellow and the novel and in many cases doctor does not even realize that he has changed into another and lower being the in making boys and girls realize a connection between school work and actual life is familiar to every teacher i am personally convinced that one reason for this â although obviously not the only one â is the modern tendency to the sense of value and necessity by too much yielding to the inclination of the child along the line of the least resistance is sure to produce an effective even if hardly conscious indifference which is far less healthy than the temper voluntary reading of mind bred bj upon progress along the line oâ duty be that as it may however the modern scholar generally regards school as one thing and life as practically another books read in the class room books studied discussed as a part of formal and required work are felt to be remote from daily existence and almost as something a bit unreal they may be even enjoyed and yet seem to the youthful mind as having a certain quality which sets them apart from any vital connection with the life of youth it is not uncommon i believe for a boy to like a book in his private capacity reading it for simple and unaffected pleasure and yet to feel it almost a duty to be bored by the same book when it comes up as a part of the work of the school room very likely a hint of the explanation of the whole matter is to be found in this last fact in the first place the work of the however gently administered represents and we have trained the rising generation to feel that is a thing to be perhaps nothing could ever make school work the same as the life which is voluntary and spontaneous but modem have generally not succeeded in this difficulty in the second place teachers ai e too often or unable to soften the differences between reading without responsibility of and reading with the consciousness that class room may lie beyond almost any child has tlie power of treat talks on tea literature ing a book or a poem as a friend when he reads for pleasure and of regarding same book sa an enemy it becomes a lesson the thing is normal and not but it is to be reckoned with and in hie brief discussion of the matter goes on to remark that where the and attitude of mind exists â which to some degree i believe would be in every pupil â the first task of the ig la make the pupil fully realize it and to urge upon him the necessity of in voluntary reading for this purpose ridicule of by name and praise of good with why they am good may well fill the part of a period now and then even though the routine work suffer a little for the same purpose it is very that more of the best modern literature be made a part of the english course especially in the earlier years when the pupil s taste is forming for it is easier to bring such works into close relation with his voluntary reading the teacher of may also consider himself if be does not give his class about the reading of magazines and how to read the newspapers with the spirit oâ this i agree entirely the letter does not seem to me entirely satisfactory i have learned to be a little afraid of ridicule as a means of the minds of the young in any direction it is the easiest of methods but no less is it the one which requires the most prudence and delicacy it is till one which is most surely open to the error of the point of view if the teacher tries voluntary reading to lessen the inclination of pupils for specific books by ridicule he can do no good unless he is able to make the class feel that these books arc ridiculous not only according to the standards of the teacher but according to the standard of the child to prove that from the s point of view a book is poor and silly to little if the work really appeals to the young no more ia effected than would be accomplished if the teacher told lads that to

2Charles Dickens

him playing ball seemed a foolish form of amusement they appreciate at once that he is speaking from a point of view which ia not theirs and which they have no wish to share he must be able to make it evident that the book in question with attractions which he must frankly acknowledge ia poor when judged by standards which the pupils feel to be true and which belong to the sphere of boyhood i confess with that in my zeal for good literature i have in earlier days spoken contemptuously of popular and books which i had reason to think my boys probably enjoyed and admired i believe i was wrong now i do not hesitate to say what i think about any book when a student me but i make it a rule never in to attack specific books or authors for anything but and that question is hardly likely to arise in the secondary schools i cannot afford to run the risk of the sympathies of my pupils and of a feeling that my point of view is far removed from theirs that they can talks on literature not trust my opinions to be the normal attitude of the child toward the is likely enough to be that of believing grown to ba so far from what children really care for as to be entirely in the selection of reading the child or the judgments of his not on abstract grounds but merely from an feeling that do not look at from his i of view always fear lest by an unwise condemnation of a book a lad enjoyed i may be this perfectly natural and inevitably conviction the first and moat important means of outside reading is by upon the child s mind the idea that he is studying literature chiefly for the sake of reading to himself and for himself about this should be no doubt or uncertainty no child should for a moment be allowed to suppose that such dealing with books as is possible in the school room can be chiefly for its own sake can be so much an and as a means to allow him to suppose that the few works he goes over can be held to represent the great literary treasures of the race or that he can be supposed to do more to learn how to deal with literature for himself is at once to make instruction in this branch more an injury than a benefit it would be no more reasonable than to allow him to think that he the for the sake of his school sums rather than voluntary that he may have an effective tool to help him in the practical affairs of life to influence outside work of any sort is difficult especially in city schools where the pupils are subject to so many the teacher is generally obliged to make his effort in this direction almost entirely individual treating no two exactly in the same way and he is not obliged to employ a considerable amount of in the process when i wish to talk to john smith about his reading a clever teacher said in my hearing i send to him to see me about his or his handwriting or anything to give an excuse for a chat then i bring in the thing i am at as if by accident the number of possessed of the the time and the patience for this sort of is probably not large but much may be done by words dropped apparently by chance if only the has the matter earnestly at heart how far the relation of books in the required reading to books read voluntarily may be insisted upon in class must depend largely upon the particular pupils involved every teacher will certainly do well to find out what his students are reading outside if they are reading anything and he should then consider what to make of his knowledge the very fact that he concerns himself about the matter will call the attention of the class to the fact that a connection exists and that it is real enough to be worth any wise j talks on teaching literature teacher will i l an advantage in indications of the natural tastes and inclinations of those ho is trying to train and to know what the boys and girls really like to read will often correct a tendency to speak of the required in a tone that is outside tlie range of the of the scholars if he knows that the girls are fond of weeping over the broken heart of the that the boys in the bloody that both find mrs pigs of the exquisitely amusing he sees at once that he must be cautious in dwelling on the pathos of the romance of the flight of a tribe or the of charles lamb children fed on intellectual so coarse would find real and must be trained with frank acceptance of that fact to say that teachers may also often do something in the way of parents to do their p i in guiding the reading of children is to go somewhat outside of my field the public asks so much of teachers already that any hint of labor in the homes of pupils â and in many cases would be â nothing less than the suggestion of an impossibility if i were to urge the matter i should do it purely on the ground that teachers may sometimes greatly lessen the difficulty of the task they undertake in the school room by a little judicious labor in the home in the public schools to day many children perhaps even a majority come from homes wherein no literary standard is voluntary reading apparent and where for the most part none exists they are being given a training which their parents did not have and they feel themselves better able to direct

2Charles Dickens

their elders in things intellectual than their fathers and mothers are to advise them in these cases certainly very the teacher must accept the inevitable and do what he can by his pupils to talk with him about their outside reading where parents are more cultivated much may often be effected by the simple request or suggestion that the young folk be a little in the choice of books the teacher must of course use tact in doing anything in this line especially in those cases where such a request is most needed parents who pay least attention to such matters are especially likely to resent interference with their of their children though they may generally be reached by the flattery of a carefully request for few things are more delicate to handle than neglected duties and the fathers and mothers who all responsibility for the mental training of their offspring must be approached as if they tried to leave nothing in this line for any teacher to do the most common fault of young people to day in connection with reading is the neglect of books altogether or the devouring of fiction of a poor quality to urge boys and to read good books or to to avoid poor ones is seldom likely to effect much such direct and general r talks on literature appeal is sure to seem to them part of the teacher s professional work and not to alter their or to make any especial difference with their practice children are led to care for good reading only by being made acquainted witli books that appeal to them aod they are protected against poor or reading only by being given a taste for what is better this up of the situation is easily made but how to make children acquainted in a vital and v pleasant fashion with good books and how to i the taste ia really the whole problem which j we are studying this is the aim and the substance of all genuine teaching of literature and everything in these talks is an attempt to help toward an answer when the problem of voluntary reading has been satisfactorily solved the work of the teacher is practically done for the pupil is sure to go forward in the right direction whether he is led or not all that treatment of literature which for convenience i have called is directly in the line of developing and raising the taste of young and beyond this i do not see that specific rules can be given personal in is after all what tells and the most that can be done here is to call attention to the fact that in so far as a teacher can influence and direct the voluntary reading of a pupil he has secured a most ef aid to his school work in literature in general throughout these talks i lave tried to deal with the teaching of literature in practical fashion not letting theory lead me to forget the conditions actually existing to consider an ideal state of things might be interesting but it would hardly help the teacher by the difficulties of every day school work have intended always to keep well within the field of ordinary experience and to make to average teaching how well i have succeeded can be judged better by teachers than by me but i wish in closing to insist that at least i believe that what i have is every day common hate throughout assumed always tliat no teacher worthy of the name can be content with merely formal or conventional results but will be determined that pupils shall be brought to some understanding of what literature really is and of why it is worthy of attention â to some appreciation in a word of literature as an art if an could be satisfied with fitting boys and girls for nothing could be or easier but i am sure that i am right in believing that our public school are eagerly anxious talks on literature to make of this study that is possible in the line and their pupils every earnest teacher knows that literature cannot be taught by arbitrary methods the handling of classes studying the of genius must be shaped by the knowledge and the inspiration of the individual teacher or it ia naught neither i nor another may give a receipt for the imagination for taste for enthusiasm all that any book of this sort can effect and all that i have endeavored to do is to protest against methods that are formal and to offer suggestions which may â even if only by â help to make definite the teacher s individual ideas and to warn against dangers which beset the path of all of us to whom ia committed the high of teaching this noble art lie idea which i have hoped most strongly to enforce is the possibility of in children in bred without or intellectual an appreciation of the spirit and the of the great writers a love for good books which may lead them to go on with the study after they have passed beyond the school room the best literature is bo essentially human it so truly and so irresistibly appeals to natural instincts and interests that for its appreciation nothing is needed but that it be understood to produce and to such understanding should be i believe the chief aim of any course in literature m general s the understanding and the appreciation must of course vary according to the temperament and the of the child miracles are not to be expected no teacher need suppose that the street and the will he down with brown ing and rise up with that sally and will give up for shakespeare or that tom dick harry will prefer to in hia own way and to his own degree however each child will enjoy whatever literature he has

2Charles Dickens

comprehended as far as he can be made to care for anything not directly personal or appealing to the he may be made to care for this nature has taken care of the matter of fitting children to understand and to love literature as it has prepared them to desire hfe to bring the young into appreciation of the best that has been thought and by man there is but one way make them familiar with it it is a mistake to suppose moreover that an especial sort of books is needed for children a selection there he and it is necessary to exercise common sense in choice of works for study a class that will be deeply interested in would he simply puzzled and bored by and childish games for the intellect there may be as there are childish amusements for the body but bo far as serious training is concerned there is neither literature nor literature but simply literature the range of the mind of a child is limited and talks on teaching literature the experience demanded for the simplest comprehension of a work may be necessarily beyond the possible reach of child life the of youth have however and should have the same effect in as in life they the comprehension and the of the facts of existence and equally they the comprehension and the appreciation of the facts in what is read the impressions which the child takes from what he sees or from what he reads are not those of his elders although this is less generally true i of emotions than of facts the important point is that the impressions shall he vital and wholesome and above all else that they be with the actual of human experience we all commit errors in the conclusions we draw from hfe and children will mate mistakes in the lessons they draw from books books which are wise and sane however sooner or later correct any they just as life in time makes clear the false conclusions which life itself has produced i have spoken more or about the enjoyment of this study by children and it is difficult if not impossible to conceive that ii a class is rightly handled moat children will not find the work a pleasure it is necessary however to be a little on our guard in the practical application of lie principle that children get nothing out of literature unless they enjoy it they certainly cannot enjoy it they get something out of it but it will i see pages in general hardly do to make tbe of a class too entirely the test by which to decide what work the class shall do pupils should be stimulated to solid in the way of application and and i have already pointed out that in the difficulties of literary language they should be made to do whatever is needed whether they are inclined to it or not they cannot moreover read with intelligence anything with real thought in it until they have learned of mind children like their elders t ue most what has cost something to attain and enjoyment may mean after iu difference the of enthusiasm is one of the means by which children are most surely induced to put forth their best efforts to understand and to if the teacher is enthusiastic in his love for a even if this be something that might seem to be over the heads of the en he them in a way impossible of by any other means a boy once said to me with that which is characteristic of youth my teacher did n t like that book and we all knew it by the way she praised it sham enthusiasm does not deceive children but they are always impressed by the genuine and no influence is more powerful the most serious obstacle which teachers of literature to day meet with i am inclined to think is the difficulty children have in seizing abstract i so long as study and instruction are see page tales on literature to the and tlie particular the pupil works with good will intelligence the moment the boundary ia crossed into the region of the general he becomes confused baffled and unable to follow the of life is too much for the brain which is accustomed to deal only with definite what is evidently needed all along tha line is the cultivation of the reasoning powers in the ability to deal with abstract thought personally i believe that this could be best secured by the of the work in the lower and by the introduction of thorough in grammar and the old fashioned mental if some forty per cent of the present could be suppressed altogether and then ten per cent of the time gained given to these two admirable branches the results of training in the lower i am convinced would show an enormous improvement i may be wrong in this and in any case we must deal with things as they exist and the teacher oâ literature must accept the fact that he has largely to train his class in breadth of thinking he will be able to deal with only so far as he is assured that his students will grasp them and this wiu generally mean so far as he b able to teach them to deal with this class of ideas this book has stretched beyond the limits which in the beginning were set for it and in the in general end tbe one thing of which i am most is of having accomplished the of the of the of work with which it ia concerned if i have done nothing more than that i have discouraged where i meant to help and i can only hope that at least the lines if not in the actual statements may be found by the earnest and hard working teachers of the land â

2Charles Dickens

in her lips that were parted just then in a of silent delighted mirth she stood on the top steps of the prospect hotel waiting for the coach to come round and looking across the hotel gardens to the picturesque stray beyond upon which a unique game of was just then going forward to the intense diversion of all two little boys had evidently started it on their own hook by the fate of and a variety of had dropped in to bear a hand the most distinguished of these being a who in full war paint and with deep lace falling over his hands was showing all his white teeth and with a that kept the whole field in action i hope won t get his cracked said the girl half aloud as the four drew up with a flourish and the usual bustle on the steps began good morning george and she nodded brightly to the good looking driver who beamed all over and touched his hat for the girl had to many a pleasant drive beside him during the past fortnight box seat again snapped a female voice behind her i wonder she is allowed to the best seat as she does day after day the girl laughed as giving a brief glimpse of a soft mass of whiteness above silken she swung lightly up to the perch that was indeed wide enough to accommodate three persons though the privilege of occupying the third lay entirely within george s and was never save to an old favorite accorded â where are we going to day she said as she settled herself comfortably and a big tan color not to any of those tiresome show places i hope i m so tired of them by no miss said george who refused even in the teeth of to recognize her as anything but a slip of a girl we re going for a drive of my own just about a bit like and nowhere in particular jolly she said up the pure air as if she loved it and with that quality of enjoyment in her voice which acts like an on surrounding company do you know i mean to come up here every year to drink the waters for i ve got to love the place george looked delighted as he glanced round to see if all his cargo was aboard but as usual was waiting for the inevitable person who is always late and who will probably be late for his own funeral if he can possibly manage it most people who come here once come again miss said george twisting the lash of his whip into a knot there s one gentleman who never a season and i was going to ask you as a favor if you d mind his coming on the box seat this morning he most always had it last year i told him i must ask a lady s consent so we re to pick him up outside the pump room if you re quite agreeable is he fat said the girl and feeling that her drive would be quite spoiled he s as slight as a said george his face up and he s a gentleman miss by the fate of ell a and you can t say more than that there s so few of em about nowadays the cargo was now complete the miscellaneous crowd that daily assembled to witness the departure of the coach fell back the horses stretched out into a gallop and the hotel garden with its lounging seats and cheerful rounded the corner with a flourish emerging on the stray with a musical horn blowing that made in the distance hold up his little flushed face to his mother and wave the bat he was so very seldom allowed to use the girl waved and kissed her hand lovingly to the boy and the the compliment to himself and promptly returning the same while he also tried to combine business and pleasure by a ball lost his balance and sat down in a large quaint and varied were the aspects of life afforded by the stray that curious piece of ground secured to the forever that in some parts almost a fair while in others ancient trees shut in stately houses that have all the dignity and peace of a cathedral close in the open a band was playing were performing children played old maids fortune plied their craft and old couples sat side by side like warming themselves in the sun even in this inevitable groaning salvation army and by lads were there piety and wealth with that which is so feature of their peculiar and the thoroughly english scene so full of human life and through and through with such a glory of september air and sunshine as even summer had not dared to promise or even tried to gave extraordinary pleasure to the heart making one feel with that he who has grown weary of remaining at home often goes forth and suddenly returns inasmuch as he perceived he is nothing better for being abroad down the steep incline in george s style past the crown hotel that should surely be at the top of the hill not the bottom and so to the pump room where with a clash and a clatter he draws up the crowd of people who having drunk their inside are and in true fashion before they the girl does not take the trouble to look at any of them not even when george touches his hat and says here my lord then there is the sensation as of a person ascending the coach on her side she indignantly notes so that she hastily whispers couldn t he go on your other side george very sorry miss but couldn t drive that way and then she draws her skirts close to her with head turned aside

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as her unwelcome by the fa te of coach fellow himself into the seat beside her she is so slight so small that after all there is ample room and to spare especially as he answers to the graceful description of him furnished by the driver do you call this a new drive she says to george as they rattle past the lovely valley gardens and up the steep ascent to the why exclaimed a voice beside her two aghast young faces looked into each other then the girl recovering herself first said pray how do you come here and what brings you he retorted what are you laughing at she said haven t i got ancestors didn t they drink october ale by the and old port by the and i ve got to pay the for i never heard of the liquor them but talking of ancestors i ve got such a lovely story to tell you there is a fat vulgar woman at our hotel and you know there are only two things in this sinful world that give me real fits â and vulgarity well this woman never for one single meal lets anybody forget her and out at the top of her dreadful by voice a my people are cavalry people and what do you think her uncle keeps a pork shop not far from here so after all she s perfectly right in her boast only the cavalry are â pigs frank laughed you are as bad as ever i see he said and then glanced at the driver who had averted his head as much as possible george said putting a little face round his shoulder could you â would you mind putting a bit of cotton wool in your ear on this side because i want to talk to â to lord francis ive got a bit in my pocket somewhere i know george s face as he expressed himself quite agreeable but was rather surprised as people usually talk before their as if they more hearing and understanding faculties than tables or chairs when the wool was produced out of a smart little pocket he proceeded to his ear gravely and even it down hard to show that his intentions were strictly honorable this business over turned round and showed a little laughing face that seemed to have caught all the sunshine of the day aye and held it fast i always carry a bit in my pocket for she said as he gets a touch of sometimes what s that they can hear us behind oh no the trot of the horses feet up by the fa te of our voices let them talk they will say i picked you up so you did do you know any of them heaven forbid a woman my dear who never sits in the drawing room with the other ladies said a sour female voice there must be something wrong about her and so there is she added below her breath and for a moment the little face grew hard how is said frank he is very well she said poor man isn t it a good job he isn t a girl and he hasn t begun to grow ugly and horrid and masculine yet â he is all mine mine the mother s love in her rang out triumphantly and her face grew very tender we have such good times together he and i she went on happily he is not with me today because he is playing at the present moment we go down to the stray with the bat and and round for a scratch team i took a hand myself the other day and actually out a butcher s boy frank laughed then shook his head you are quite as mad as ever he said where is your companion i hope said calmly that she is dead i didn t try to polish off any of the other ones because they meant well in spite of their by but she was downright wicked so i led her a life she concluded looking as triumphantly happy as a child who plays on a glorious day with a of and burnt frank shook his head sadly why won t you be good he said you could be so easily i always am said promptly and nodded her curly head close to his nose i take and regularly i get up every morning at half past seven just think of that it s a fearful scramble because never will wake up he sleeps just like you for ever and ever she stopped and colored vividly then dashed on again and of course it takes some time to dress him you have no nurse no maid he exclaimed in amazement no she replied with great i like a free hand and no woman can have that with a female up her heels and wearing her silk stockings and i love to wait on â to wash and dress him and make him look sweet of course she added anxiously he isn t always clean â the a boy is the he is â but he is perfectly happy you should see us run down the hill to the though has done long before we get there and then we eat such a breakfast by lo the fate of we ve a dear little fat waiter who simply himself to us and for us all the eggs but he had an awful accident yesterday said turning tragic eyes on frank what do you think it was he fell in love with you began to laugh in that low which was so like the sound of a cheerful brook do you remember you said that about my and how i said i thought it would really have come cheaper in the end if i had married him i always thought that rather neat myself

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but i never told you what the accident was he broke four hundred plates yesterday very greedy of him if he did it all at once it was all at once the of the lift broke as he was them up poor devil said frank they were quite away from the houses now and the brisk pure air the pleasant from the and the swift movement to the music of the horses feet and perhaps some other sources of satisfaction within brought a light to s eyes and a rose soft color to her cheek that made her altogether and sweet and pray said frank looking at her eagerly unwillingly as at forbidden fruit that sorely tempted him do you talk to any of the fellows at the hotel by ii no she said they talk to me you see they are all so fond of no doubt said frank and significantly but i pretend not to hear stay â there is one man whom i talk to who is he said frank grimly and looking straight between the horses ears oh nobody in particular said rather faintly but you see he has a small nephew here and it seems he and met at the in the country and are quite friends so the and i have got quite frank sat mute as a fish he is of the type i rather admire she said with a suspicious note in her voice you know frank she lifted a impudent grave little face to his i always did like a dark clean shaven man frank himself was as dark and clean shaven as it was possible to be and the corners of his mouth trembled at her audacity as he turned away he told me such a delicious story yesterday she went on her face breaking up into it was about a little girl upon whose mother a horrid old woman was calling when the old woman got up to depart she said to the child you ll come and see me my dear won t you oh yes said the child but you don t know by the fate of where i live yes i do said the child nodding i know who is your next door neighbor who is that says the old woman why mother says you are next door to a fool but frank did not smile it is curious that a man s sense of humor is usually entirely in when matters of stern import him while a woman s is usually at its keenest when tragedy is in the air what do people think at the hotel he burst out in the both had maintained throughout the conversation that i am a widow she said coolly that is to say if they turn up the hotel list of visitors what name have you inscribed he said coldly i suppose i have a right to my own name and the child s what are your about he broke out with subdued passion shrugged her slender shoulders and laughed i was twenty four years old yesterday she said with apparent did you remember i remembered he said talking of she said will you ever forget the talk and fuss and documents that day at house terrace i couldn t help by ij thinking of lady lamb and how when she and her husband were required to sign the deed of separation the pair of them could nowhere be found when discovered at last lady was on her husband s knee feeding him with bread and butter but though they parted he loved her all the time went on the little mocking voice grown suddenly wistful and it was on his faithful breast that she her dying head at last and his kind voice that sped her on her way yes said frank in a strained voice her faults were more of head than heart but some women have not even hearts for faults to be bred in why did you do it he said suddenly with a mist before his own eyes that him from seeing the tears in hers hi i say shouted a voice that seemed to come from beneath the horses feet and both the young people peeped over to see a fat little man in white linen clothes standing on on the road and blowing out his cheeks like a s why cried frank what are you doing there walking down my fat dear boy i was looking and saw you coming where do you hang out water rotten eggs rusty iron and a dash of old nick oh i say catching sight of not quite hidden by by t the fate f her is that really â well you know really â i am astonished â and delighted too i always said drive on roared frank and on they went upon the instant and frank turned to look at she was very pale and very angry with all the summer gladness gone out of her eyes and lips frank she said never will i submit to be made ridiculous by to morrow this time the story will be all over the london clubs drive back to with you i will not and either you get down or i will frank never mt george yes my lady she stamped her little foot how dare you call me that she said in a furious put me down george never an inch the trot trot of the horses feet her and she sprang up said frank winding his arm round her waist if you don t sit tight til put you on my knee and keep you there and then kiss you by chapter ii by h m p but ah that spring should vanish with the rose that youth s sweet scented manuscript should close awoke from his reverie with a start and stared at the speaker he had quite forgotten where he was

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through the gray smoke of his he had as from some magic an face â a girl s face â with eyes and wonderful tan colored hair he had been in and now he was only in the gardens of the hotel and instead of his exquisite vision he found facing him a fat little man in white linen who looked very hot and very jolly i say don t you remember me did not remember at least fully he had a dim consciousness that the fat little figure ought to be familiar to him but he could not remember where or why he had not quite collected himself yet and he was slightly annoyed at the x by i the of interruption to his day dream also he was annoyed at being annoyed and being by anything no witness no hostile counsel no judge had ever been known to s but then no vision with tan colored hair and eyes had ever come into court with him he looked at the fat white figure and shook his gravely but i say hang it all don t you remember that night in and the dancing girls and the den and the row and all the rest of it memory asserted herself in s mind he did remember a night in when a party of young fellows from s set out to see something of the queer the fat little man was of the party he was in white then too remembered he remembered too how the little man had enjoyed everything from the â well the of the dancing girls to the in the den and even to the final in the gambling hell when by a stroke saved his fat companion from being by a rogue who had been detected in there was an awful row afterward he remembered that too and an awkward business before the authorities next morning but the names of his friends and his own legal reputation settled the by j us tin ff m p i matter yes he remembered the fat little man now he got up with on his dark face and held out his hand how are you lord lord laughed that was his way he went through life laughing as if everything were the best joke in the world i m glad you haven t forgotten me he said by jove i haven t forgotten you and that turn of the wrist which sent that devil s spinning well and how are you the men had sat down beside each other on the garden chair produced a â case almost as fat as himself on which a girl try one he said they are sent them to me himself he got them from the took a lit it from the end of his own watching him all the time with the most expression you re not looking very fit he said those confounded courts i suppose by jove i shouldn t like to be a lawyer oh i m all right said i m not taking the waters here my sister lives here and i ve a little nephew i only came here for a rest i don t quite know why i came here just now though i suppose by l the fate of as he spoke that same vision of face and hair and eyes floated up before him laughed more than ever ah the dear old word yes i suppose it s fate that makes us do most of the things which we seem to do for no particular reason has brought you here inquired you seem fit enough at all events fit my dear fellow not at all it was one of s little with life to consider himself likely at any moment to become a confirmed invalid i was up in and i picked up an english paper which said that was looking lovely and somehow i felt and and all that sort of thing so i just cut the east and came slap on here do you know said gravely that there are moments when i feel much more inclined to cut the west and go as you say slap on to some sleepy eastern place â perhaps or â and dream away the rest of my life the rest of your life you talk as if you were ninety and his fat little leg merrily don t you know what the man at arms says in s ballad replied wait till you come to forty year well i have come to forty year pretty nearly i was thirty nine by h m p t three weeks ago â and do you know there are times when fm tired of the whole business by jove what would the judges say if they heard the famous talking like this my dear fellow fm not famous and if i were what s the good of being famous at the price of becoming a do you know said with a grin i believe you must be on somebody or other by jove i do if you talk before had finished his sentence he became aware that was not paying him much attention in fact s gaze seemed to be directed very intently toward the end of the garden and s mind appeared to be giving no heed whatever to s amiable so following the direction of his friend s glance saw in the distance a woman s form a form that was familiar to him a form that he had already seen that da by jove said to himself softly he had no time to say more even to himself for had jumped to his feet and was bidding him good by glad to have met you hope to see you soon again these were the words was saying with a confusion curiously at with his habitual composure he shook by pat op warmly by the hand

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and moved away so rapidly that s why my dear boy of course you will i shall stop here for ever so long was delivered to the empty air by jove said again this time aloud as he watched s rapid advance in the direction of the girl by jove he s struck like all the lot poor devil til stay here and give him a hint presently oh poor devil poor devil and s jolly face expressed as much honest as its ruddy permitted in the meantime walking rapidly had met the girl she smiled a welcome to him and stopped as he stopped her face seemed troubled he thought in spite of its smile how grave you look he began for of anything better to say how grave you look she retorted with a flash of the familiar audacity as she looked up into his grave dark face i have something to say to you said the remark was commonplace enough but he felt his voice fail as he said it and he knew by the sudden heat in his face that the blood was filling his pale cheeks the sound of his voice evidently impressed the girl for she looked up at him with a sudden start and her reply was girlish and puzzled what is it then as if she felt suddenly by h m p conscious of a blunder or of unexpected knowledge she tried to add other words â i mean of course â i do not understand â i am looking for is quite safe said gravely he is still at with what i have to say does concern him though a little concern there was a genuine note of alarm in the girl s fresh voice and she looked up at with a wistful trouble in her eyes concern why what have you to say about can you give me a few moments he asked it is quiet here he pointed to a pathway more secluded than the rest a pathway with a rustic garden chair a deserted pathway shall we sit here for a minute he said and they walked to the rustic seat and sat down side by side there was a curious look of alarm in the colored eyes but did not notice it for he was looking down tracing a word upon the ground with his stick and the word that he traced was the word he h ad used but now what do you want to say to me he could hear a hard ring in her voice and looking up he saw a hardness in her eyes and his lips trembled we have been very good friends he began and faltered she caught him up we have been good friends she said if by the fate of you wish us to be good friends any more you will not say what it is just possible that you may think of saying there are some words which will us for ever looked at her how exquisitely lovely she looked like some angel of youth some vision of summer in that garden his heart seemed to be beating very fast his eyes were hot and his lips dry and his hands trembled listen he said and as he spoke his own voice sounded far away and like the voice of some shadow encountered in a dream listen i love you with all my heart hush let me say what i have got to say â for she had turned to him half appealing as if to interrupt his declaration â i you may think it very audacious of me to love you â or at least for i could not help loving you to tell you so i know that you are beautiful enough and good enough to be addressed by better men than l i should have been content with my secret love and held my peace but i couldn t â i couldn t he paused for a moment she laid her hand on his gently and he trembled at her touch i am very sorry she began but he went on again wildly i am not quite a fool men who are not quite fools either say that i have a great career before me i have made something of a name as it is by ff m p although i may still almost speak of myself as a young man you shall be proud of me indeed i promise you that if you will only let me serve you life is all a game of chances but if you will take this chance i do not think that you will regret it your lover will not be quite unworthy of your love i am very very sorry she said but you have said the words which must divide us i did like you i do like you very much but we cannot be friends any more you cannot love me he said slowly i cannot love you â and i know we cannot be friends you are not that kind of man it would tear your heart to pieces better one at once and be done with it and i am not the kind of woman to accept friendship that i knew was only a mask for love you cannot love me he asked again like a man repeating some set i cannot love you i have played with my life in my own way and as i have played so i will pay now good by i know you too well and trust you too well to fear that you will trouble me at all you will go away i suppose yes said i will go away thank you and good by she moved away swiftly and he stood there staring after her until she disappeared inside the hotel by the fate of walked back into the garden and stared sullenly at the

3Edith Wharton

bright sky if the autumn day so warm that it might have been had suddenly changed to winter it could not have looked colder or more dismal to his eyes he shrugged his shoulders so that s all over he said to himself bitterly you have played your stake and you have lost and now you must remember that it is your duty to play the man and not the fool thrusting his hands into his pockets he began to walk slowly down the garden path feeling very dull and dizzy like a man who has had a heavy fall he was thinking or trying to think of things which interested him so deeply once and which now seemed so strangely uninteresting when his meditations were interrupted he found himself confronted by who was him old man said you saved my life once and though it wasn t much worth saving i m devilish grateful to you all the same so i d like to do you a good turn now if i can you can t do me any good answered there s nothing the matter with me don t talk rot there s a good fellow there s a great deal the matter with you and i can do you good answered i can tell you all about that woman by chapter iii by how it strikes a contemporary bat this case is so plain that nothing can obscure it but to use too many words about it â lord doubtless did not literally believe that he could tell his friend all about that woman but he probably was possessed with the conviction that when he should have said what he had to say there would remain little more worth telling we smile with a kind of fatigued contempt at the venerable classical joke of the fool who wishing to sell his house carried about a brick from it as a specimen we know better how to judge of houses but we are willing â sometimes â to pick off a very small fragment of human life and to exclaim look here tell you what it is made of â lord s well meant offer was not received with gratitude what woman growled taking one hand out of his pocket to his hat a little more over his eyes â by the fate of why mrs â miss â lady â by jove i scarcely know what to call her that s a good beginning said no no my dear fellow i really do know all about her only it s â it s a little where to begin why begin the fat little gentleman and frowned then his good nature and his sense of obligation to the other man and his pity for him which perhaps rendered the sense of obligation easier to bear conquered the momentary irritation the fact is he said i consider it my duty to tell you the story of no one knows it better than i do you may hear it told by a score of men in town who will be a deal harder on the girl than i am i have no against her poor little fool â none in the world in fact i rather like her very gratifying to the lady but â excuse me â not of interest to me good by i think i shall go for a long spin stop a moment did you never hear of lady francis turned round sharply and looked at him lady francis he repeated putting his hand to his forehead and looking as though he were trying to recall some half recollections by e lady francis she was a daughter of colonel of and she married frank when she was only seventeen and three years afterward they were separated is that the that is the woman she looks such a child i told you she was married when she was only seventeen but he â lord francis â he is alive very much so at least he looked alive enough when i saw him about half an hour ago he is here yes look here just let us take a turn somewhere here this is a quiet path and no not there said drawing back roughly as lord laid his hand on his arm it was the pathway where he had just been speaking with i don t know why i should listen to you at all what does it matter nothing you can say will do any good nevertheless he did listen what man would not have listened that he should believe it when it was told was another matter was a clever man a man of brilliant talents and rising reputation in his profession he had also certain special gifts which were not so generally by the fate of recognized he had a keen and almost insight into character and a steady power of incredulity as to a vast proportion of the stories in the best society on the best authority at first sight this may seem no very extraordinary power and perhaps it is not extraordinary but it is certainly not common the gossip of the smoking room the little of the clubs penetrate as a fine rain one s clothing into the consciousness of most men men may declare that they give no heed to that sort of gossip but as a rule their minds are and do not resist it with persons who pride themselves on knowing the world has almost come to signify believing good of men s neighbors but had often been amused by the childish with which a knot of men at his club would swallow evil stories improbable and supported by no of evidence that he would have dared to offer to the least enlightened of merely because they were evil for these gentlemen knew the world something he dimly remembered hearing of the separation which had taken place between

3Edith Wharton

lord and lady francis but nothing clearly he had not lived in their world he did not now live in it by he had a poor opinion of lord s intellect but he believed him to be as truthful as he knew how to be was quite capable of a story against a woman even though she were young beautiful full of impulsive high spirit and separated from her husband and even although he had not happened to be in love with her he did not intend to break a lance on her behalf he was not given to such breaking of for he also knew the world but neither was he going to accept lord s statements with the faith that lord seemed to expect nevertheless he listened she was an only child you know said lord himself on to his companion s arm so as to speak in his ear as they walked up and down by her father her mother died when she was a small child so she was left to take pretty much her own way ever since she was six years old got some old woman or other to look after her as she grew older â a kind of you know but as to her it was a mere farce did as she pleased with the colonel and the colonel did as he pleased with everybody else for he was a and never allowed any member of his household to contradict him â always with the one exception you know and so the end of it was that every man by the fate of woman and child about the place had to be miss s very humble servant or had to go she was the wildest little beggar used to go tearing about the country on a little horse she had once she took it into her head to ride to hounds and by george sir she went flying over everything that came in her way and was in at the death the only woman there just think of that a child not fifteen riding to hounds quite alone for the old groom who used to trot about after her could no more keep up with her than if he d been mounted on a a vision of the slight straight fearless young creature with a wave of hair floating behind her the wonderful eyes shining and the delicate cheeks glowing like roses came vividly before mr s mind as he listened i know that story s true continued old lord who was master at that time and had been hunting the county for twenty years told me it himself and said he d never seen anything like it however he called next day on her father and then did put a stop to the hunting he wouldn t quite stand that well said after a pause well that s just a specimen of the way she was brought up but there were worse things than the hunting a sight by e what things growled flashing a dark side glance at his companion s round face i â upon my soul i think they may be all up in one word â of all the outrageous audacious little that ever were born for the of mankind i suppose is about the com specimen poor mankind sneered drawing down the corners of his mouth my dear fellow she began when she was in short i ve no doubt the man where she bought her and was in love with her and when she began to grow up it was a general not of the however muttered s place was in not quite out of reach by a drive from although it was a long pull by road and before she was sixteen had over the whole garrison i believe the local expected a order for the day her engagement to frank was announced said his fat little at his own wit where did she meet him at a garrison ball in it was supposed to be a case of love at first sight by the fa te of regular and business don t you know oh she loved him said between his set teeth god knows she said she did any way and made him believe it as for him he was desperately and so â and so they married but didn t live happy ever after no by george it didn t last long for the first year or two it was all and they took a little place in and gave themselves up to and domestic old used to spend half his time there with em and when s boy was born they had a story that the colonel was seen a about the garden and a feeding bottle it did seem as though had begun to put a good deal of water in her wine as the say they hadn t been married three years when colonel died suddenly i was not in england at the time i was in a very low state â all to pieces in fact sir has since confessed that he thought my nervous system â however that will probably not interest you i set off on a long sea voyage which they said was my best chance and in point of fact i about for more than a year and a half it was in that i got hold of an old times by with the announcement of s death thought i to myself my lady francis will come in for a nice little pile she had something when she married and of course left her everything he had in the world then lord francis hadn t made a bad thing of it a very good thing of it â from the financial point of view that is he was a duke s son but i needn t tell you that a duke s fifth

3Edith Wharton

son can t expect to marry a lady from or new york with millions of dollars in pigs or of course not that s reserved for his said lord laughed but he did not quite like this little speech he considered himself the least of men about his rank but there was something in s words â a not only of bitterness but of contempt â which lord inwardly pronounced to be bad form but was sore poor wretch terribly sore however his compressed his narrative somewhat as being very doubtful what criticism might be lurking in the s mind well the main point of the story is what happened after the colonel s death and when frank and his wife went up to town only i thought it well to give you a glimpse of the by the fate of sort of life the girl had been allowed to lead because it to some degree explains a good deal of her reckless way of carrying on lord fancied he heard under his breath poor child but the clean shaven firmly jaw looked set and grim when he glanced at it and a countenance less expressive of any of sentiment than the countenance of at law as it appeared in that moment it would be difficult to imagine lady francis made one of the biggest sensations i can remember when she began to get into the swing of london society she had been presented on her marriage of course but then frank had carried her off to the cottage in and the world had seen no more of her so that now she appeared as a novelty and she is â well you know what she is to look at i know of women by line and rule but there s something about that i never saw and then the old game began again fellows were mad about her and she in the wildest way the and passion having meanwhile died a natural death said staring straight before him oh i suppose so the fact is she is a butterfly kind of creature that no man ought ever to have taken seriously by and the husband frank was â well the fact is frank acted like a fool he was very young too you know they were like a couple of children together and used to and kiss and make it up like children frank never had the least suspicion of jealousy about her though never â until exactly exclaimed with a nod of the head well whether his aunt old lady put it into his head or whether he saw something for himself that he didn t like â the fact is frank made a scene one night when they came home from a ball at the and â who is the s own daughter when she s roused i can tell you isn t in it â up and there was in short the devil to pay it seems had been secretly up a little private jealousy on her own part there was a certain madame â her name don t matter and she has returned to or wherever she came from long ago â a certain woman pretty nearly old enough to be frank s mother but a fascinating sort of whom you met about everywhere that season and turned round and declared that frank had been making her miserable by his on with that vile woman all her foolish fancy of course said suddenly looking at the other man with by the fate of a penetrating gaze from beneath his frowning black brows oh â well â you know â oh i dare say frank had to some extent been making an ass of himself but of course the case was totally different oh of course talked like a wild indian you know it couldn t be supposed that because lord francis kicked up his heels rather more than was exactly pretty lady francis was to be allowed to follow suit he had taken exception to a certain man â military to one of the â and forbade to dance with him or receive him in her drawing room needless to say that made a point of with him the next night and of giving him a standing invitation to five o clock tea more rows family aunt as peace maker i think that was the last straw insisted on a separation she was as obstinate as possible she would take her boy and leave him as to the money he might keep it all and that sort of wild nonsense but she carried her point she left him how was it possible that he let her go my dear friend the idea of talking of letting or not letting do anything she had set her will on is she by threatened them that if they did not consent to an arrangement she would bring legal proceedings on account of the and make a scandal well the hate the name of a scandal as a mad dog hates water or as a burnt child the fire put in at any rate among them they up the deed of separation and there is poor frank with a wife and no wife and the boy â he was devoted to the little chap â taken away from him at any rate for some years and there is lady francis with a husband and no husband upon my soul i believe she s happier without him upon my soul i do all she cares for in life is to to some wretched fellow into a desperate state about her and then to turn him off with an impudent little assumption of innocence and declare she meant nothing people said there was more in that affair of the military attach than her usual but i don t know i don t believe she has it in her power to care

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for any man however very few of those who saw the little drama being acted before their eyes take a view of s conduct i felt bound to open your eyes the woman is as dangerous as a of course she s gone and made a hideous of by the fate of her own life but she has done worse than that to other people s lives and she ll go on doing it i saw her just now sitting up on the of the coach beside her husband and beside whom beside her husband frank there s nothing she hasn t impudence enough for it wouldn t surprise me if they were to come together again and that said walking away by himself is what calls telling me all about that woman i don t know whom she loves nor whether she loves anyone at this present moment but that there are depths of feeling in that girl of which old is about as well able to judge as a of the system â but what s the good of it i have played my stake and lost it i â i must get out of this place if i m to keep any hold over myself at all how could a raw lad like frank value her or understand her of course he was selfish and unreasonable and dull to all the finer part of her nature like a boy as he is â or was at any rate when he married her he went up to his room and dragged out a he must get away there was no use in or delay flight instant flight was the only thing for him but when he had opened the and dragged out a few clothes from the chest of drawers he sat down by the bedside and by buried his face in the pillow i love her i love her he moaned out and then he hated himself for his folly at this moment a little childish footstep was heard up the stairs tap â tap â tap â tap climbing up with much exertion but with eager haste and then a sweet little childish voice said mr mr are you there opened the door with a wildly beating â heart could she have sent him a message what is it my man he said looking down upon the child s curly hair and bright innocent eyes that were so like his mother s cried surveying the and the litter of clothes on the floor are you going away yes old boy is going too no not what do you want i want you not to go away anything else yes why can t you come with us if you are going away come with you where with me and says we shall go to a place than this and i may play i wanted you to come and play with me and but i s pose you can t by the fate of if you re packing your clothes they in a jolly mess lifted the child up in his arms and kissed him good by he said in a queer choking voice and then he set the little fellow outside the door and shut it prepared to make the descent of the staircase holding tight to the he put one little finger up to his cheek and looked at it said he very gravely my face is all wet by chapter iv by a between two fires happier is he who the fire and the flood than he who hath a jealous woman on either side of him â fourth the single short drive on the coach had re awakened all frank s passion for the capricious and beautiful woman whom he had made his wife his weak and nature was one which could readily forget and after a few weeks of dull pain his separation had ceased to be a grief to him and he had devoted himself to the turf and the green table with an energy which had driven his matrimonial troubles from his mind that had at the least been in the case of the count de was beyond all question further she had allowed her to be known and commented upon domestic is ill to bear but worse still is it to see pitying eyes turned upon one in society to read little two edged in papers or in a club smoking room to see heads incline toward by the fate of each other while a swift malicious whisper passes from man to man all this is bad to bear and yet it had been lord francis s lot to bear it it had his mind and hardened his heart at the time of his separation but every wound will heal and this one also had over when in the morning he had seen the girlish figure of his wife perched upon the box seat with her yellow hair curling from under the dainty hat and looked into the eyes which still shone with the old provoking mischievous twinkle he had felt his heart go out to her and had loved her once more even as he loved her on that first night when he had his to her after the garrison ball at it him now to find that with all the fire of his love he could not any answering spark in her had she turned away from him treated him coldly or him for his conduct then indeed he might have had hopes a quarrel might lead to a reconciliation but that she should treat him as an acquaintance gossip with him about trivial matters and break small with him that was indeed intolerable in vain through the long drive he strove to pass the barrier at every allusion to their married life or to their quarrel she either retired into absolute silence or else with quick feminine

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tact turned the conversation into other channels if he had for by a con an given her there was no sign that she in turn had forgiven him and who was there who knew better than himself that there was much to forgive if her name had been coupled with that of the count de had not his been equally and even more openly associated with the notorious de he might have doubts as to his wife s guilt but he could have none as to his own if he had been subjected to the degradation of the pity of his fellow men had not she undergone as much or more he remembered now with grief and how day after day and evening after evening he had deserted his wife in favor of the society of the fascinating he remembered too how patient she had been at first then how her patience had gradually changed to surprise surprise to suspicion suspicion to anger and anger to revenge in the shape of the which had brought about the separation who was he to blame her he had himself been the first to sin now he was the first to forgive would she follow him in the one as in the other alas it seemed that she would not â that the breach was too broad to be ever again over through the bright summer morning as they rattled past the lines of trees and through the pleasant lanes he and fretted but in vain his sin had been too by the fate of deep to be forgiven as he handed her down when they arrived once more at the prospect hotel he pressed her little hands in his feverish grasp and looked into her eyes there was no answering softness in their glance â nothing but amusement and something akin to contempt he turned away with a sigh and wandered slowly off in the direction of the gardens walking with bent head and the steps of a melancholy man had his eyes not been downcast he might have noticed that he was not alone on the hedge lined walk which curved down through the pleasant gardens a woman was walking toward him moving slowly through the rich yellow sunshine and glancing from right to left with the air of one who is a visitor and a sight her light cream dress her dainty pink and her broad shady hat with its curling snow white feather made a pleasant picture to the eye which was by no means diminished by her approach for she was a woman of singular beauty though past her first youth the lines of her figure were as graceful and perfect as an artist could desire while her face with its dark southern beauty its clear cut delicate features and imperious eyes spoke of a passionate and impetuous nature such as is seldom to be found among our cold and self contained northern races by a approaching from different ends of the walk the two had almost passed each other before lord francis looked up and their eyes met he sprang back with a cry of surprise and of something approaching to dismay while she stood quietly looking at him out of eyes he gasped you are the last person whom i expected to see in but i am not surprised she answered speaking with a slight french which added a charm to her rich deep voice i knew that you were in that is why i came but why do you wish to follow me what good can come of it what good all good is not love good and do i not love you ah frank you taught me to love you and how can i it it is happiness to me to see you and to speak to you but see the misery that it has caused we must part if you truly love me you will help me to my life and not to wreck it further ah cried she with a quick flash in her dark eyes you have seen her you have been speaking with your wife again yes i saw her to day by chance yes by chance and you are friends again by the oe no not friends ah you wished it but she would not have it i can see it in your face o frank how could you humble yourself to such a woman how could you to hold out your hand to her and to be refused degradation see how she has treated you â she who is not worthy to be the wife of any honest man the color sprang to s pale cheeks it was one thing to know his wife s faults and it was another to hear about them that is an old story he said we may let that drop an old story why she was with de last week in london was yes i saw them with my own eyes riding together in the row lord francis started as if he had been stung come here he said there was a garden bench in a little recess and he threw himself down upon it de seated herself beside him and a triumphant smile played over her dark and beautiful face as she marked with a glance the anger and which her companion s features is this true he cried i tell you frank that i saw them with my own eyes it is not my custom to say what is not true by a they were riding together yes and talking talking and laughing by heavens will see that fellow de i will shoot him it is not our custom in england to but he is a foreigner he will meet me i have wished to avoid a scandal but if they court one why should i spare them in the row you say yes and just when all the world

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was there heavens it is he sank his face in his hands and groaned aloud and what matter after all said she laying one delicately hand upon his wrist why should you trouble what is she to you now she is unworthy and that is an end est you are a free man and may let her go her way while you go yours which way will be yours frank the blood in his head he felt her warm hand upon his wrist her soft voice and the delicate perfume which came from her dress seemed to lull the misery which had torn him already in her presence the fierce longing for his wife which had possessed him was growing more faint here was a woman beautiful and tender who did indeed love him why should his heart still dwell upon by b the fate of that other one who had brought and disgrace to him which way will be yours frank the same as yours ah at last she cried throwing her arms about him did i not know that i should win you back a sharp cry a cry as from a stricken heart and a dark shadow fell between the pair lord francis started to his feet was standing in front of them her hands thrown out her eyes blazing with anger you villain she gasped you false villain she put her hands to her throat and struggled with her words like a choking woman lord francis looked down while the blood flushed to his temple de stood beside him her hands folded across each other and a look of defiance and anger upon her face i came out here to tell that i had forgiven you do you hear that i had forgiven you and this is how i find you oh i shall never forgive you â never never never why were you so nice to me this morning if you meant to treat me so one word cried answer me one question and if i have wronged you i will go down on my knees to you tell by me and on your honor were you in the company of de last week and if i were sir were you or were you not i was you were with him in the park i was then that is enough i have no more to say madame let me offer you my arm he walked past his wife with her rival and the dresses of the two women would have touched had not sprung back with a cry of disgust as one who from a poisonous thing de laughed and her proud sparkling eyes told of the triumph which filled her soul stood for an instant in the middle of the walk her little right hand clenched with anger her gaze turned toward the retreating figures then a sudden lurid thought flashed into her mind and she started off as rapidly as she could in the direction of the railway station s train did not leave for ten minutes had told her of the hour of his departure the was standing moody and upon the platform when he felt a light touch upon his shoulder and looking round saw a flushed little woman with sparkling eyes looking up at him he cried by so the fate oe yes you must not go not go no you must come back you bid me yes i bid you you must come back to the hotel but it was you who this very morning drove me away from it foi et it many things have happened since then will you not come of course i will come then give me your arm and so it happened that as lord francis and de stood at the door of the prospect hotel after their walk they perceived lady francis and a gentleman whom neither of them had seen before coming toward them arm in arm and engaged in the most intimate conversation by chapter v by may weep not my wanton smile upon my knee when thou art old there s grief enough for thee the smiled wept mother cried baby more he more we cried nature could not sorrow hide i ve for him imparted in a startling burst of confidence and i got up early and ran down to the telegraph office my goodness stared in dismay at her sparkling eyes well you have made a nice now the girl laid a hand on his arm don t look so furious and do â do stand by me in everything as you promised remember you are my only friend here â except i have promised he said solemnly but you might consult me as a friend and why do anything so rash â mad because all my life i have taken my own way because if he comes here to vex me when we were all quite happy â she set her small white â by ji op teeth â and that creature before my very face i will show him the red rag he hates worst for the goose is for the not always take care besides i want to convince you â â that on my side there is nothing to blame nothing â while frank â oh there â with a pathetic little break in her voice that makes wretched â after having forgotten this miserable business very nearly â i hardly slept last night â thinking you are fond of him still then said very low no no i hate him now she exclaimed passionately the rocks and trees around i should like to divorce him and â and â see that poisonous serpent crushed alive come don t say such terrible things and divorce is no such easy matter s heart beat hard as he soothed the girl if she were indeed free down down wild hope was he not her true friend

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and faithful so this accounts for your silence as we drove here you meant to spring this surprise on me nodded mischief simply over in her suddenly transformed little face if i get into a scrape youve got to get me out it s a you see between four of us with you and lord for seconds and i by may z come of a fighting family her feet breaking under her into a few steps of war dance h look there her shriek rang far and shrill through the rocks as suddenly to stone she stood with outstretched arms her straining eyes gazing up at the cliff a small object had through some overhead and rolling downward was now stopped half way it was a little boy clinging desperately to a bush at which he had caught before the last sounds had left her parted lips bounded forward and was springing as best he could up from to ledge many holidays of mountain climbing stood him in good stead higher still â ah there the bush is giving way slowly at the roots a little shower of earth falls down on s face she has somehow with knees onward safe â safe just as the terrified child feels his hold giving way a strong arm catches him round the waist thank god a well known man s voice feels a little group about her summoned by her echoing shriek but her vision sees nothing till is placed pale but in her arms presently with the boy her neck and her own tight grasp proving he has no bones broken she turns to find by the fate of frank looking strangely excited holding out a hand to let me thank you that â was splendidly done you saved the boy s life and i am â i he stammered and stopped no thanks are needed i could not tell but that it was my own little of a nephew where is answered looking round he had driven and the two boys out here because she wished to avoid meeting her husband and his probable companion and lo fate had drawn these two hither as by some irresistible attraction was meanwhile looking on with intense apprehension the child â the child was the sole remaining link between this man and wife but that one how strong she must interfere rapidly next moment she had dropped on her knees beside who now stood leaning against his mother and had tenderly lifted his hand poor infant â he is bleeding see and she softly wiped some drops from a on the childish fist how dare you leave my child alone blazed out withdrawing as if from the touch of a rose with an air of dignified humility and looked full at with surely a sudden moisture in her beautiful dark eyes i have made a mistake it is true but i am may a woman and only remembered that a child was hurt â your child the last words were murmured only for his ear come away said briefly but a very thunder cloud charged with the end of one of the long dinner tables in the prospect hotel that evening lord presided at the foot the post of honor on his right hand seated thus low as new guests were lord francis and by jove de herself to his left faithful to his place beside who had asked the head waiter some days ago not to move her seat higher in usual hotel opposite a sour faced set of ladies with and warming pan who whispered about herself that as a diversion she had then innocently preferred new so looked at four faces four pairs of eyes up in for a storm he chuckled to himself rubbing his plump hands under the table but who is my lady keeping that empty place for on her other side just then a slight young man with curls thickly on his head well and a slightly foreign military air by s the fate of about the cut of his clothes and the of his shoulders came down the long room with a step s eyes gleamed as she held out her hand in greeting which the pressed with that mingled homage and betraying a stranger to english customs s dark face grew suddenly livid with passion he made a movement as if about to rise but was restrained by an imploring touch on his arm and a murmured entreaty from his companion to be calm you i obeyed your message on the instant said the to in an audible in the fell silence around last week you said don t come â it is now you say come ah but we have had some new visitors since then and it is much more amusing after which really impudent remark back and with a look of innocence on her face indicated i want to make you two acquainted i like my friends to like each other mr â count de the two men s eyes met s gaze gravely observant de taken then bowing with gay readiness as who should say a rival come on measure swords next be looked across and started by may s it was only a slight start yet s cheeks at once puffed with suppressed mirth gave the faintest inclination of her handsome dark head but laying his arms on the table with a cool superiority that in a less well bred man might be offensive stared at his enemy full not stirring a muscle the cut was direct cutting de short in an instinctively begun bow of politely cold recognition a brilliant smile instantly lightened the young s face he had suspected a trap but now he knew his ground an awkward silence ensued then demanded in nervous accents what fish is this eh tom answered the recently imported with readiness a little of talk began at once the spell

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was under cover of this bent forward irresistibly to confide in i say what a game would you think de is one of the greatest going and a tremendous that boy he looks as if dancing was his strong point so it is he is a favorite leader of â invented that figure for lady s ball of shooting with s bows and arrows â you know by s the fate of no i don t i am too old for much answered the meanwhile though never once looked his way she felt that her husband s eyes were her with glances like it hurt but she had the sweet revenge of knowing she was his pride in return though the false by his side might try to pour in so looking a picture of girlish sweetness in her delicious white gown so simple seemingly so costly â white bud of a little creature in to the darker charms of her handsome rival she listened with apparent eagerness to de yes i should regret not going to this summer if i were not here you do not know it ah how i should like to show you our and the life the how you would enjoy it do you know asked de of in clear tones as if her neighbors were it is â how do you say it in english â la la in europe at the that this abandoned capital will suit herself in madame s evident opinion s pale small cheeks take a sudden rosy tint her eyes gleam with quite a flash she throws up her head to dare countenance the insult by may but frank s french is that of and he merely an ah quarrels are so to one s was s thought yet not for anything would he have missed the human interest of the scene which was as good as a play still the lull of talk was ominous so he desperately addressed the only person from whom no explosion was to be feared what is coming next waiter pig sir responded the gentle german s curly appearing on a level with the table cloth and between his mother and was a welcome diversion all eyes turned with relief on the rosy face alone unconscious of hidden trouble among them it will soon be time i may stay t i the child confidently then to the time he produced some glass from his pocket at the where his friend and sent them back with her arm around her son was to de rejoicing inwardly in her immense superiority over her opposite foes in possessing a ball escaping the latter s fingers off a dish and flew straight into madame s lap with a secret glance at she feigned to detain it by o the fate of no you mustn t that would be stealing and then you would be put in prison remonstrated the child then looking at her with the sweet familiarity of one of s were you ever in prison de who was just lifting a full glass of to her lips started so that some wine was she raised her delicate brows with a glance of charming dismay at s gloomy face and noticing the accident exchanged surprised looks but no more that red splash than if he had over his glass of milk announced in joyous tones because i was â very nearly and me were very naughty once and his nurse tried to give us to a p but we pulled at her dress so hard she couldn t and the p shook his finger at me and said next time â oh i say suddenly so that his little body s grasp to her surprise he rushed round the table and flung himself against frank who had the marble and was it in his own pocket give it me it s mine you must please frank held the treasure nearer then embracing the boy s shoulders with one caressing arm stooped and deliberately kissed the sweet childish face by i take it there why you will soon be old enough to go to school raising his head he looked straight at with such defiance that the jealousy boiling within her at so a show of authority suddenly cooled with a shiver at the warning she nevertheless had spirit to retort with cool decisive command come here you must stay by me dear and not go to â other people then she from the table with superb displeasure at frank s liberty both de and sprang up too in quick as her they were soon followed by who found it poor fun to watch only s lowering face and as he secretly politely de before the hotel door the night was still and cool stars had begun to twinkle in the blue deep so you have to suffer such de whispers in s ear let me you ah you did right to send for me no no you must not take your own way to help me i must just ask mr to do something for me then i will come back and talk to you murmurs frightened therefore sweetly then drawing her apart while eagerly on the prey she has left she help me by z the fate of keep the count and frank from fighting anything but that for goodness sake get rid of de he is so how can i after bringing him here a long journey to day can i whistle him away to morrow she with indignation it is as bad as putting back the bottle then you â some of us must leave the situation is too strained you advise flight and i who am just for a fight as the irish say she was actually laughing again it was too bad if you will stay let me make you acquainted with my sister s mother said softly pity stirring his

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heart strings for this young creature she is a good sort â a genuine woman thank you said looking round what is the count about and where is by chapter vl by r c the next morning called upon his sister and explained to her that he wished her to extend a helping hand to lady francis he had told that his sister was a good sort â a genuine woman and he was therefore surprised when he found the view that lady took of the situation lady francis she said raising her eyebrows she is separated from her husband is she not yes but it is not her fault answered quickly treated her very badly i remember something about it said his sister i think there was a kind of shuffling of the cards and a new deal lord francis took up with a and his wife consoled herself with m de is not that the story it is a account of it lady francis was perfectly innocent said hotly i have no doubt but all the same i think i would rather have nothing to say to her it is always a foolish thing to interfere between husband and wife by the fate of i do not ask for your interference said her brother i merely ask you to let me introduce you to lady francis and i should like you to be kind to her why are you interested in her because i think she has been treated and because she is an impulsive reckless little woman who will benefit much from your advice i dislike impulsive reckless little women said and i would much rather not know her you are very unkind dear and quite unlike your usual self lady francis has got herself into a fix and you must really get her out of it â to please me what fix has she got herself into well i will tell you her husband is here as of course you know and immediately after his arrival de appeared on the scene poor lady francis who is naturally outraged at his conduct to de to come down and this will of course make things look black for her if you do not give her your help and moral support she does not know any ladies here and of course she has acted yes she has acted and it only my impression that i would rather not know her said his sister but she is very young and she has no one to advise her by f c s she has you to advise her laughed and as you are a clever rising i should have thought you would have been wise enough to have prevented her for her lover he is not her lover shouted loudly as to her extreme youth pursued his sister unmoved at his interruption she has a child old enough to play on the green with the and the and the butcher boys of the place she must surely be out of her and if she does not know how to behave herself now i am afraid she never will why are you so hard he asked looking at his sister in surprise i am not hard she answered but i really fail to see why you require my aid lady francis seems quite able to take care of herself the fact is she continued you must know as well as i do that the does not apply to husbands and wives it is only in quite the lower classes that the wife throws back the sugar basin at her husband when he has aimed at her with the men have a certain license with regard to which has always been denied to women it may be wrong â i dare say it is â but i am not going to head any movement to bring about a change i think she would listen to you if you would ask her to send m de back to town said by the fate of as it is they fear there may be a and you want me to myself up in all this business she exclaimed really you are very unreasonable i am very sorry for lady francis he said in a low voice and i suppose you are in love with her nothing else could explain your strange you are very foolish and you are wasting your time if the woman cares for anyone i suppose it is for her curly headed attach it is evident that you are only being made use of and i am certainly not going to follow your ridiculous example lady francis possesses no possible interest for me i consider her wanting in and tact and quite the last person for whom i could have any sympathy she has been cruelly treated said so have thousands of other women but they manage to bear their cruel treatment and behave with better taste than lady francis what am i to say to her said almost angrily she is waiting in the garden i told her that you would call upon her this afternoon then you took a very liberty said his sister i will not call upon her i should advise you to tell her to send de away at once by f c and then will you call upon her he asked eagerly no i won t answered his sister i headed little women who get on well with any man except their husband there will be an one day and i don t mean to be mixed up in it i had no idea you were so he said with genuine surprise i am not the least she said but you must admit that lady francis has everything against her appearances may be against her he said doubtfully and appearances in society count for everything said his sister if women wish to be original and what you

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call reckless and impulsive they must give up society for you may be quite sure that they will meet with the cold shoulder wherever they go you have certainly shown it to lady francis he said bitterly for the reason i have told you as for your sentimental rubbish about her ill treatment from her husband she cannot have suffered so very dreadfully as she has always had count de to console her thank you you have said quite enough i am sorry i attempted to your sympathy and i am doubly sorry that i men by the fate op you to lady francis i don t know what i shall say to hen you have placed me in a very awkward position you have placed yourself in one she said why not leave at once you are only being made a tool of and you had better let the e sort itself as best it may felt terribly perplexed and he could scarcely help feeling that there was a certain amount of truth â a certain amount of worldly wisdom â in what his sister had said of course did not care for him and never would had warned him against her and it was very foolish of him to indulge a wild dream which could never be anything but a wild dream he was perfectly convinced of her innocence with respect to de but evidently it was difficult to get others to share his and why should they believe that she was innocent when she allowed the man to come and stay in the hotel with her in defiance not only of her husband s wishes but also of all the laws of society and good taste his sister s words had been very severe and but he almost felt as if he must agree with her and this feeling added to his annoyance and depression what could he say to the poor little woman who was waiting for him to her from her difficulties how could he possibly explain to her that his sister had refused to by f a make her acquaintance when he had told her that she might count upon her assistance and sympathy he walked out of the house in a furious frame of mind he was angry with his sister and still more so with himself for being influenced by what she had said he went straight to his with lady francis and when she caught sight of him she started up and came forward with outstretched hands at once his doubts disappeared it only needed one look from her pleading brown eyes for all his old confidence and to be restored how kind you are said with gratitude beaming in her face have you been all this time with your sister when am i to see her then felt extremely uncomfortable and looked down and kicked about the gravel unable to answer the questions which were put to him what did your sister say pursued did you explain everything to her yes i explained everything he said awkwardly but not so well as i can explain it she continued and then am sure i shall like your sister â that is to say if she is like you she is not like me he said she is altogether different never mind she said brightly i shall like her all the same by o the fate of i am afraid he began yes what are you afraid of she asked you see my sister is going away very shortly in fact she may leave any day he answered oh i am so sorry she said simply yes he continued desperately and of course as her stay here is going to be so very short she thinks â i mean she fears well go on said calmly she fears that she could not be of much assistance to you but i myself am not going to stay long she said but it will be very kind of her to let me see something of her before she leaves it will silence the evil tongues she feels that it will be scarcely worth while to make your acquaintance said with a final violent kick at the gravel i understand said in altogether a different voice and the light went out of her face i can assure you said but stopped him you need say no more she said your sister refuses to know me i she is right then there was an awkward silence could find no excuses ready and was inwardly very indignant at last she managed to subdue her emotion sufficiently to say to him by f c i must thank you for the effort you have made on my behalf you have been very kind and whatever happens to me i will never forget your still found nothing to say and scarcely before he had realized it had turned from him and was hastily running toward the hotel by chapter vii by so so far away i never think but to regret i know too much the hush and silence had fallen over the outer world beyond and about the great hotel and something of its hush and mystery too in the deserted and public rooms of the building itself perhaps one or two of its inmates â so strangely thrown together â would have given almost every earthly possession for the power to gaze unknown â unseen â into one of those locked chambers a room where a woman sat alone with all the light and laughter and mischief gone from her face and the shadows of and regret resting like memories in her veiled and sorrowful eyes this was not lady francis as the world knew her â as the men whom she and tormented and with in so audacious a fashion knew her no this was a woman by self reproach and regrets fired with jealous hatred of

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a rival and filled to the heart s by core with the memories and the that one voice one face alone in all the world had power to awaken and had awakened to day she had thrown on a loose muslin and the soft lace and pale tinted ribbons seemed to cling lovingly around the figure the snowy throat and arms the long glass opposite reflected her as she raised her drooping head with its wreath of hair and the sorrowful eyes that met her own struck sharply on her senses as a surprise â so unlike they were to the eyes she was used to see oh what a fool i have been she cried with an impatience and of herself that was the more by reason of its vain remorse and yet i suppose i should do it again to morrow under the same circumstances yet o frank frank how i loved you once â how you seemed to love me she looked down again at the table by which she was seated on it lay an open photograph case containing a photograph the dark eyes smiled at her â the handsome gay young face looked radiant in its happy youth and supreme content with life her own intent gaze seemed to drink in every line every feature well as she knew them all he doesn t look happy â now she said and a little sob broke from her impatiently she closed the case and began to pace up and down the room in a stormy by the fate of ous dashing the tears from her wet lashes though they only thronged back fast and swift in very mockery of her efforts to deny their weakness how could i expect it to be different isn t it always the always always she repeated passionately love doesn t last it can t and there were so many temptations and then the excitement of conquest and the vanity of wishing to show him i could still charm others though he seemed to think i had no right to try but it was all so false so â so foolish if he had only trusted if he had only spoken gently kindly â as he used to speak and then that hateful woman that french serpent â â heavens how i hated her how i hate her still if i thought he cared really cared â if i thought he had ever held her to his heart â kissed her as he used to kiss me â if â oh i could i her she broke off abruptly pressing her hand to her heart while the blood rushed in a crimson torrent to her face oh he can t she moaned throwing herself face downward on the cushions of the couch and yet i believed it â once and i ve never even let any man s lips touch my hand never with all my and follies and allowed myself to forget that i am frank s wife but he doesn t care any longer how could i expect it and yet if he had only spoken one by â word to day â one little word i would have thrown myself at his feet and said o frank i love you â ive never ceased loving you oh take me back and let us forget all this miserable frank she raised her head and shook back the rich soft hair impatiently and stretched longing arms out to the empty silence frank she whispered more loudly why don t you come to me why don t you feel i want you as â as surely â sometimes â you want me frank she rose supporting herself by one hand that rested on the back of the couch her face had grown strangely white her eyes had a look of intensity that spoke of strained mental force if i dared go to him she said still in that strange whisper i ve never said i was wrong â or â or sorry but i am frank â god knows i am don t drive me desperate fm too unhappy and too reckless to be always patient but if you swear you never loved any other woman frank i â i will swear i never loved or thought of any man save you never dear heart â never still with that strained look intense and far off as that of a sleep still with face in its rigid whiteness she moved across the room the loose shower of hair seemed to annoy her by its weight she paused an instant before the table and took up a curious looking silver dagger by the fate of then hastily twisting the hair into a thick she fastened it with the dagger and turned toward the door â â â â â will she read it muttered lord francis to himself as he looked at the closely covered pages of the letter in his hand oh if she would only believe if she would only let me know what she really feels it is to be placed in such a position to see her playing fast and loose with reputation to have no more right to kiss her lips or touch her hand than the stranger to be here now to night the same roof covering us not half a dozen walls dividing us and yet not dare he broke off abruptly his eyes grew dark with stormy passions the pain and fever of aroused memories wildly in his heart and thrilled his veins anew with love and longing as once her light step and sweet low laugh had thrilled him his heart cried o god are our lives to be forever wrecked and spoiled by this miserable folly child surely you know i love you that all other women are but as shadows to me oh how my heart for you surely you feel

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it â you can t have forgotten â you can t he looked again at the letter then placed it in an envelope and sealed it hastily by will go to her â i know her room i can slip it under the door if â if she is asleep but perhaps he did not finish that thought audibly only opened the door and looked down the dark and silent corridor beyond how still it was he heard a clock striking somewhere in the silence two hours after midnight a strange chill â a feeling of half shame half uncertainty â held him there on the threshold there seemed something guilty and wrong about the simple action he intended to think he muttered to himself that a man should actually feel there was something improper in leaving a letter at his own wife s door yet if i were seen who would believe it he drew the door after him the whole corridor was in darkness at the further end stood a marble statue surrounded by tall palms he had noticed it already during the day the room next to it was the one he had seen lady francis enter he moved softly down the long passage suddenly he paused and shrank back into a doorway close at hand that door beside the statue and the palms was thrown open a slender white figure stood revealed by the light within the room at the same moment another figure â the figure of a man â advanced rapidly and spoke in a low hurried voice by the op the stood as if turned to stone he saw the woman retreat backward step by step into the room she had just quitted he saw the man attempt to follow her the door shut again all was darkness and silence for one hateful throbbing moment that seemed to hold a lifetime of agony in its passage lord francis stood there gazing at the closed door at last with trembling limbs and face as the dead he staggered back to his own room and sank down on the chair where he had written that letter with its pleading for love and reconciliation too late he cried o heaven to think my own eyes should be the witness of my own eternal shame and â hers his head fell on his arms he was as one dazed and stunned by the consciousness of misery of despite those cold and silent years moment after moment passed one hour and then another dropped into the gulf of time that is no more still he never stirred consciousness of anything besides his own misery â besides the living recognition of his own shame â was dead within him dead as youth was dead and hope and truth and all things fair and sweet in life â slain by a woman s hand the dawn was brightening into daylight as at by last lord francis roused himself from his long stupor what had happened he thought had he been ill had he done anything a hideous dread seized and appalled him in those brief hours he seemed to have lived a lifetime why did i not kill him he muttered lifting his haggard young face up to the faint rose light that through the curtains kill him aye and in her arms â kill him and her too heaven a strange hoarse laugh escaped him i shall go mad if i stay under the same roof with them he began to move about putting things together and tossing his clothes into his he was possessed but by one idea â to leave a place made hateful by this discovery to get away from these men and women with their tongues and malicious smiles who all guessed or knew of his disgrace it had been so public so she had summoned this man to her side she had her preference for him before his very face and now he cursed her in his heart as still with haste and strange impetuous movements he gathered together his few possessions then he locked his box and wrote a hurried note to the manager of the hotel a check and by so the j op ing that the would be sent for later on a hurried glance around â a glance which passed over the letter he had written but a few brief hours before it lay where it had fallen from his hand when he sank into the chair by his writing table â lay there so innocent yet so with power to work remorse or in days that were to come the gray light of the early dawn gleamed like a pale over the shadowy corridor and lit with mystery the white statue and the dusky palms he shuddered as his eyes fell on them how significant they had become then with a smothered oath that breathed vengeance for the future he rushed down the staircase and past the sleeping porter in the entrance hall and in another moment was standing in the fresh sweet atmosphere of life and light that god and nature have so freely given to the eyes of men how that day passed lord francis never knew it seemed to him when his senses grew clearer that weeks and months must have gone by since that awful moment that had brought to him the full and complete knowledge of his wife s yet there had been a strange and consistent purpose in all his actions he had walked for miles and miles before taking the train he by had reached london and driven straight to his chambers to the no small dismay and discomfiture of his man who had been a brief spell of leisure not as wisely as he might have done he had given orders to this man to pack up clothes sufficient for a long journey paid his wages arranged with his usual to

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remain in the chambers then departed for cross to catch the train en route for paris all this he remembered afterward remembered vaguely as if every action had been performed by apart and outside of himself as if he had been spectator instead of actor remembered even as he remembered the crowded station the flashing lights the hoarse cries of the the bustle and confusion on the platform and high above all the shrill voice of the crying out the news of the evening papers â pall james or star latest edition mysterious murder of a foreign count in a hotel latest special he threw himself back on the seat of his carriage what mattered or to him in heart he knew himself a murderer by desire and fierce hatred â in reality his life had turned to tragedy deep and bitter and terrible with a that the coming years could never and the dawn of hope would never bless by the fate of the shrill whistle of the engine sounded above all the the train moved slowly out of the station and still clear and distinct those words reached him like a echo murder of a foreign count mysterious occurrence special edition special edition by chapter viii by joseph out out damned spot â it was during these hours that had dropped one by one into the gulf of time that the miserable count had been done to death by as fierce a murderer as had ever nature s unconscious of his deed while mind and body had so far as lord francis knew been absorbed in sleep both had been cruelly awake under a strange or influence the wrong by which his soul was vexed had carried him out of himself and brought him under the control of what people call sleep walking with or impulse have found in this condition new examples of unconscious of the mind but it is not our business to describe or investigate the various discoveries which in the direction of trance or have of late occupied public attention we have merely to record the facts that in this present history are stranger than fiction by the j ate oe illustrations of the possibilities of a have been given to the world in the case of and but sleep walking is as old as the hills and give the subject the original impulse of a bitter wrong sufficient to excite a desire then such a deed as that which was proclaimed by the as lord francis left his chambers to take the train to paris is quite conceivable the victim of the dream in action the â the subject of the â comes out of his trance of his adventures and thus it was with lord francis but what a crime he had unconsciously committed and with what heroic self denial the wife had taken upon herself all the responsibility of the criminal s act the male figure which lord francis had seen stealing toward his wife s room was the count de in this lord francis was not mistaken but was we know how at the moment her heart was yearning for its lord but de little thought that lady francis had taken him for frank her feelings had been so wrought up to the pitch of hope that leaving her room to find her husband and throw herself at his feet she fancied him in a similar frame of mind â as indeed he was â and love interpreted the approach of the count into that of her husband by joseph ha alas if she had only resented the presence of the count in the hearing of lord francis if he could have heard the overwhelming rebuke of the true wife as the lover flung himself upon his knees before her what a world of misery had been spared him and her not that the death of the count was any loss to society or the world it was not there was no feature in his character he had worked his way into s confidence by subtle lies he had won his position in society such as it was by the meanest arts not to mention the of his purse on more than one occasion by doubtful play at cards even when invited to the best houses in short the count was an man but he was fascinating to women and could boast and did of his many such as this may be successful for a time but it not has a violent ending in the case of count de his career was cut short at the moment when he was as he thought on the eve of his most daring and success if his death cast a shadow upon the reputation of since it occurred in her chamber it threw around her the of a devotion not unworthy of the classic days of classic virtue it is only the reader however of the present history who can understand all that is meant by by the fate of this revelation of and love like many another wife had sought to amuse herself with a would be lover she had also played him off against the supposed indifference of her husband in a careless of his harmless when the police entered the chamber of lady francis they found the count lying dead on the floor looking to her for some explanation she drew herself to her full height and flinging upon the body the silver dagger she had worn in her hair she said this man attempted my life and i killed him it is curious how situations of a kindred character often inspire similar explanation it will be remembered by many that when the in the dead heart drew the attention of the guard to the dead he did so in words quite similar to those used by lady it was a most pathetic figure â the slim pale woman as

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she drew her gown about her and fixed her expressive eyes on the police lord francis little dreamed of what had occurred as he fled from the hotel and yet it was he whom his wife was in her strange confession it was lord francis himself who had slain the count and in her presence it is known that great discoveries have been made during so called sleep men have made long journeys in their dreams and awakened by joseph ha unconscious of their travels others have arisen refreshed with a new sense of knowledge and power louis has confessed that he dreams his stories and then writes them out there was in a recent academy the picture of a young girl walking with closed eyes amid and the present writer has experienced in his own career an incident of sleep or trance during which he went forth in very truth with knife and pistol to commit as it seemed some great crime and was only prevented by the kindly guidance of a loving arm that held his own and led him back to the couch from which he had risen and thus it was when lord francis exclaimed too late o heaven to think my own eyes should be witness of my own eternal shame and â hers the hand of fate was stretched out against the and vicious count de for as lord francis staggered back to his room dazed stunned the cold tears up into his eyes his head on his arms his whole form limp with shattered nerves a new and terrible power was created within him he fell into a chair entirely overcome and for a little while appeared to sleep but it was the sleep that the sleep that walks and acts the dream sleep that takes possession of body and mind such sleep as that which afflicted lady after the murder of by the fate of hardly had de surprised the startled than lord francis arose from the chair and his steps toward his wife s room while all that he knew of himself was asleep nature in one of its strangest him forth back sir how dare you come here lady francis was exclaiming as he entered the room de had just risen from his knees and in s hand raised above her head was a gleaming dagger but my dear listen said the count back i say touch me and i will kill you oh this is foolish the frenchman answered another word and i will alarm the house that would only be to ruin your reputation said the daring lover god knows i have not much reputation to lose in the eyes of the world since it seems i have given you sufficient encouragement to bring you here well then why be cruel now you know i love you dearly as he made this last appeal stood her eyes no longer upon his but gazing as it seemed on hush she whispered her eyes fixed her figure rigid with fear she saw her husband steal into the room noted his face his lips blue his by joseph ha eyes piercing bright he seemed to toward her like an animal creeping upon its prey ah you said the count approaching her with loving action at which the apparition of the husband paused for a moment lady francis thought it was an apparition the unreal creation of her fears but as it came crouching on again as if ready to spring she realized the dreadful situation and in response to the count in his fool s paradise she whispered hush your hour has come and mine and o heaven he will never know i am innocent the next moment the stealthy figure rose up and seemed to the count as an might there was no noise no blow but a great iron grip held him by the throat and in a moment later the dagger was taken from the hand of lady francis and was thrust into the heart of the already dying man presently the deed was done and the murderer stood face to face with his wife he looked at her as if he saw her not she spoke he did not seem to hear her i am innocent frank she said but oh kill me too for you can never believe me i was seeking you when he came to me i had myself and determined to ask your forgiveness for my neglect of you but oh for nothing more as heaven is my judge but kill by the fa te of me you can never again think me a true and honest wife for a moment the stood and gazed at her but surely saw her not he is mad she said mad or have i lost my senses frank frank i will save you i am to blame i will accept the responsibility she did not move as she spoke nor did he they both looked steadily at each other she thought he was about to answer her when he moved away his steps from the room as stealthily as he had entered it she watched him with a strange fascination and without the power to move until he disappeared and then with a moaning cry she sank upon her knees and put out her hand toward the ghastly heap upon the floor in the hope that she was only dreaming and that all she had seen was mere but the carpet was wet and there was blood upon her hand why did i not kill him he had exclaimed as we know when he had returned to his own room and passed out of his sleep to life and consciousness he knew nothing of the scene in which he had played so terrible a part â knew nothing of the bleeding body lying in a hideous heap with its pale companion looking down upon it and

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the light piercing in through the window with fingers by joseph ha watched the first of the morning pointing airy fingers here and there one trembling sun glance falling upon the silver of the red dagger another seeking as it were to find out the hideous face of the dead man but she uttered no word only stood there still and quiet like some strangely statue waiting to be called to life â as she was presently called by an of police and the manager of the hotel after she had given the alarm aroused to action she took upon herself all the of her husband s deed â took it upon herself with the queen like dignity of an angel this man attempted my life and i killed and they knew those common men that when she said her life she meant her honor to her that was her life and they were conscious of her great beauty even as she stood before them pale as a ghost and with hot burning eyes the officer noticed that there was no evidence of a struggle not a curtain was no chair was out of its place the carpet was the room was neat and trim as if nothing unusual had taken place before touching the body he wrote these facts down in his book then laying his hand upon the bundle of clothes he exposed the dead face of the count and requested the hotel manager to admit his two attendant by the fate of one he for a doctor to the other he confided the of lady francis i charge you formally madam with the murder of this man on your own confession which i have written down and i warn you that anything else you may say will be given in evidence against you yes said he attempted my life and i killed him you are my prisoner my lady said the but you may call in any friend you wish to see at the same time i again warn you that anything you may say will be taken down and may be given in evidence against you i will do my duty as as possible but i have a duty to perform and that of course you will understand the first of the newspapers gave conflicting reports of the count s death for a time the public did not understand whether the count had been murdered in his bed by whether he was the victim of vengeance or whether he had committed suicide but on the morning following the tragedy they were with all the strange story and much more besides the confession of lady francis was a text upon which everybody had a sermon to preach but it was speedily a point of comment by joseph ha that the marks upon the throat of the dead man suggested a more powerful grip than that of there was something in the condition of the body which puzzled the this was no ordinary murder everybody agreed nor indeed was it as we know at the the medical testimony showed that death might have been caused either by or by the various that the body it seemed to the that the man had been done to death by some person far more powerful than the prisoner the marks on the throat were almost as strong and the and depression of the as great as would be caused by hanging the man had been by a powerful hand while the had been given with a force that had left the impression of the handle upon the flesh the witnesses were few but they were sufficient to show that a murder had been committed though the jury and the public had evidently grave doubts about the of the prisoner lady francis one of the had asked a pointed question as to the possibility of the deceased having committed suicide this was however only a kindly suggestion in the direction of lady francis s innocence the count had been killed by other hands than his own there was no doubt about that by the fate of what irritated the public in regard to the first day s inquiry was that while there were hints at scandal nothing came out that might be called of course there was the fact that the count was in lady s bedroom at midnight but none of the details that led up to this piece of audacity â if it were audacity â were disclosed the in a mild rebuke administered to the of the jury said the court was assembled to inquire into the death of count de but it was not a court of social investigation it was not an charged with a mission to scandal or to the life and manners of a section of her majesty s subjects while he would take any evidence that bore upon the case however painful that evidence might be to the private feelings or public reputation of even the highest in the land he would not allow that court to be in matters that could only satisfy the and taste of that wretched section of the public which found its chief amusement in french novels and the of vanity fair poor he lived to regret those words even some of the very best newspapers condemned them and the worst called for the s instant dismissal as a to the aristocracy and unfit to over a court of any kind by joseph ha on the first day of the the asked why lord francis was not present the question created an expectant hush which was maintained while mr cook of the firm of cook son the family lawyers of the explained that lord francis was somewhere abroad â where they did not know when did lord francis quit the hotel where the count was killed asked the of the jury i do not know was the lawyer s

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reply i believe he left very early and suddenly for london and then went on to paris is that so i really cannot say was the lawyer s answer i do not know that these questions are in order mr said the may be not mr replied the but there is a good deal it strikes me in the conduct of lord francis in this matter that requires explanation mr said the lawyer if you will permit me to say so lord francis will i am quite sure be quite ready to answer any questions that this honorable court may desire to ask him but i think in his absence that certainly said the interrupting mr cook of the firm of cook son i am sure the will feel that it is not within our province at the moment to refer to the conduct of lord francis his by the op will no doubt present himself before us in due course if wanted if necessary i will order his attendance at this there was some applause in court and mr cook rose to remark with all deference that he thought the s observation for whereupon the reminded mr cook that he was only there by courtesy and that he must request him not to offer any further criticism of a personal nature in regard to the conduct of the court mr cook bowed and the proceedings went on without any further interruption the prisoner who was dressed in a quiet gown of gray sat placidly in an near mr cook she was pale but quite the evidence of the police seemed to interest her very much as he related with careful regard to detail how he was sent for and what he saw and heard in the prisoner s room how he her and what he said when he took her into an observant thought he detected a peculiar smile pass over the features of lady francis when the first medical witness suggested the impossibility of a woman having made the marks on the throat of the dead man but no doubt when the case comes to be to its very and the counsel has to reply to this medical criticism he will by joseph ha r be able to instances of the enormous strength that comes with passion or is the of some great act of revenge and so on that is if lady francis should have to take her trial for murder though the s ended with her condemnation the case has still to go before the police magistrate and already public opinion has decided that if lady francis did kill the would be she is only guilty of by her own confession upon which she was originally charged the man sought her life and she killed him it was remarked by many that in america she would have easily if she had been arrested and that if she had ever come before a court for trial she would have been promptly is a verdict not unknown to the english law many wise persons also remarked meanwhile lady francis was on her way in a police van to be charged in the police court and a had been told off at scotland yard to keep his eye upon lord francis by chapter ix by mrs and my soul from out that shadow that h es floating on the floor shall be lifted â she was free â free to go where she pleased â to do as she liked the hideous nightmare of the trial was over a jury of her countrymen had brought in a verdict of the laws of her country had given her back her liberty and was a free woman perhaps the jury had not been altogether by the pale loveliness of the unhappy girl who had stood before them as prisoner in the dock during those two terrible days perhaps the sight of the small pale face of the piteous brown eyes of the childish rosy lips that quivered a little yet that never in that one statement that they repeated through all the weary examination and cross examination may have influenced those rough men who held her life in their hands more than they had any idea of i confess it i killed him he attempted my life and i killed him in self by mrs when you say your life you mean probably more do you not inquired the who was examining her and she answered him simply i do â i mean that which to a woman is dearer than life itself and at the words a sort of shiver of suppressed excitement ran through that packed and crowded court â a shiver that made as though one heart throb of sympathy and of admiration but more than all else did owe her salvation to the man who stood up for a whole hour to defend her it was said afterward made his professional reputation over the of lady francis he had been known to be clever he had been reckoned among the rising men of his day but never until now had the world quite realized the power that was in him he had all the eloquence the fire the passionate pleading of a man whose whole soul was in the cause that he and his arguments carried all before them by the sheer force of will and talent no one who saw the dark passionate the eyes that shone with righteous wrath â who listened to the strong words that seemed to burn into the hearts of his hearers as they fell like living fire from his lips ever forgot as he was that day and when at the last he looked round the court and after a moment of silence more eloquent than words began with a deep and low i see by loo the of around me here a crowd of men â fathers husbands and

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brothers â men who have women they love at home and whose honor lies in the hands of those women which of us my brothers â my fellow men he cried suddenly aloud stretching forth his right arm in a passionate appeal to those before him which of us all did those women whom we love stand where my unfortunate stood upon that fatal night alone in the darkness with no arm to defend her no ear to hear her cry with nothing but a certain and a shameful before her â which of us i say would not desire that the women we love and hold sacred you and i and every true man in all england should do as this woman did and save her honor at all costs there was a murmur of applause that ran round the court as he sat down then the judge up strongly in her favor there had been no evidence to contradict the prisoner s own statement no eye save her own had been in that chamber of death in the darkness of the night something indeed had been said about signs of more force having been used than it was in the power of a woman s frail hands to employ but there had been no evidence in support of that theory not a of any other presence in the prisoner s chamber save that of her had come to light and the jury must bear in mind that a desperate woman is by mrs loi often given an almost miraculous strength in such moments of horror and of fear and that if the blow with the silver dagger had been as it appeared struck first the victim would necessarily have become much weakened and was probably in a partial state of there was much more of it but it was all in her favor and almost before the jury retired it was felt that their decision was a conclusion no one could condemn a woman to death for murder who had taken a man s life under such circumstances as these so the horror of it all came to an end and lady francis was told that she was free that she could go where she pleased and do as she liked one thing there was however that not all the judges and the in the land could do for her they could not wash the stain of blood from her hands it was when came that night to visit her at her hotel in street she had left for london immediately after the trial that this terrible fact first came home to her in all its dreadful reality as he entered the room she ran gladly to meet him reaching out both her small hands to him it is to you i owe my life she cried it is you who have saved me how can i ever repay you or ever thank you enough by i the fate of but stood with a grave sad face and downcast eyes and arms folded together across his breast and took no notice whatever of those little white hands stretched out to him a dull sense of dismay crept over her something â she hardly knew why or wherefore â struck a cold chill to her heart and her hands sank down again to her side won t you shake hands with me mr â you who have just saved my life if i have saved you it is because it was my duty and because â because â alas i love you and i shall love you to my dying day that is why if i can serve you i will do so if i can be of use to you you can command me now and always but i cannot take your hand for there is blood on it and he averted his face gloomily there was a moment of terrible silence between them in the old days would have out at him â would have heaped abuse and rage and anger upon his head but now she said not one single word â not one the events of the last month had broken her down and crushed her to the earth and her tongue was tied she could not deny the charge nor tell the truth she had taken this blood upon her soul to save him she loved â and to the end she must bear it â to the end only she had not realized before how dreadful it would be to bear that by mrs who had the very ground she stood upon should refuse to touch her hand was vâ ry terrible to her she sat down there was a moment of intense silence then she asked why have you come here then to see you â to help and advise you if you will take my help and to tell you about ah she cried at him with a sudden eagerness while a pink flush her pale cheeks where is i must have him will you bring him to me now â at once â this very night my dear lady francis i want you to be very reasonable and sensible and to listen to me i never was reasonable and sensible in my life she began â with a little and a shrug of her shoulders that reminded him almost too painfully of her own self â but i will listen if you like she added humbly i want you to let be where he is â for the present at least he is with my sister and with her boy his old i think it would be good for them both to be left together my nephew has an excellent and can share his lessons my sister has taken them both down to the country to her home in she was very hard to you but she is not really

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a bad hearted woman and she was very very sorry for poor by i the fa te of little when â when it all happened â and when â you were taken from him let be where he is but i want him i want him she cried he is all i have on earth â why should i be parted from him â for his own good it is best for a child to be with his mother he looked at her but very sadly and seriously do you think so he asked slowly â in this case then she understood understood that because of the brand of upon her brow the world would not think it good for her boy to be brought up by his own mother her cup of woe was indeed full she bowed her head â the bright brown head that he would have died to serve â upon her hands and wept aloud don t he said a little don t give way be brave as you always have been my dear live down this story â this stain upon your life go to other countries where no one will know you make new friends who will have heard nothing the world is before you leave england and do not come back to your boy till time has covered up with its kindly mantle this wretched episode of your life shall be well cared for i will look after him and write t by mrs to you constantly about him only â for his own sake â separate yourself entirely from him until he is old enough to know and to choose he waited for a moment looking at her and anxiously but the bowed head never stirred then in the silence and gloom of the bare and half lit room he turned and left her alone in her sorrow and her desolation thirty six hours later stood by herself upon the deck of a channel steamer watching the white cliffs of england as they further and further into the distance she was quite alone in the world â she had not even taken a maid with her she had made up her mind that she would break every connection of her former life and start entirely anew there should not be even a servant about her to remind her of her past it was for this reason that she had decided to go to the channel islands â for a time at least until she could settle her further plans was a quiet and comparatively secluded place and she was not likely to meet any of her friends and acquaintances there and it would be easy to go on to france from there should she feel inclined to do so entirely approved of her idea and went down himself with her to to see her off to be with her in so close a friendship and yet to be unable even to take her hand as a friend should do was painful to him by io the fate of yet he did not shrink from sacrificing his own feelings in order to serve her whom in spite of everything he still loved and admired more than any woman on earth i have treated you very badly she said to him once on the train i led you on and with you and made you fall in love with me and all for nothing but the pleasure of making an empty conquest i played with your heart as i have done with that of of others but i think you will allow that i have been punished for it he could not answer her the punishment her own folly had brought upon her was terrible and yet he did not know one half of the burden she had to bear nor did he guess at her hopeless and helpless love for the husband for whose crime she was suffering that seemed to have sprung up into new life in her heart during these last three weeks of peril and of well nigh despair where was he for whom she had suffered so much for whose sin her own life had been in this was the question she asked of herself wildly and as she over the of the steamer and watched the green waves as they hurried by and dashed themselves into foam against the side of the vessel who that had known the wild reckless girl of by mrs old the lady francis who had and laughed and danced who had shocked her acquaintances and terrified her best friends by her mad and foolish â who would have recognized lady francis in the sad eyed mrs in her dark and simplicity of dress who stood mournfully alone upon the steamer and looked her last upon her native shores it is a week later a little furnished house standing in a garden that runs down to the edge of the cliff about a mile out of st peter s port has been taken by a quiet but very lovely little lady who apparently is a widow and who has given her name to the house agent as mrs she has engaged a couple of maids and filled her tiny house with the flowers for which is famous and that are so cheap that not to have flowers in every corner is not to have the very breath of life the window of her little sitting room looks over the blue sea that is than any other sea in english waters out there is the low land of and all the little rocky islands glittering and shining like jewels set in the blue and far away the long straight line of with her steep cliffs and jagged rocks filling in the picture on the horizon while in the there are countless little sails of snowy whiteness that move to and fro upon the crisp

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by lo the fate of and waters mrs sits watching it all from her garden lawn it her vaguely and quietly but she has nothing to do and it is very dull and quiet at prospect cottage it gives her quite a little excitement when a beautiful turns into the bay with all her sails set and makes as straight as wind and tide can take her for the entrance of the harbor thought she would run down to the to see her come in she was glad of an excuse to go into the town so she started off quite in good spirits having attired herself quickly in a smart little sailor hat and a trim jacket i can call at the post office and see if there are any letters from or she thought and so she started off little knowing that she was starting to meet a new in her fate the beautiful came in nearer and nearer to port â her sails came down with a ringing noise and from the shore one could hear the cries and the songs of the sailors upon the deck stood among the crowd upon the watching her what is that she asked of a respectable looking individual in the blue garments of a man who stood next to her she s the a hundred and twenty ton replied the man and to whom does she belong to lord by mrs started to lord t she repeated ay ay but he aboard her now he have lent her i hear to a friend who has had her for the last six weeks she started from this very port did the six weeks ago bound for and the islands where she have been about ever since and now she have come home again to the very day as she was expected to do you are quite sure lord is not on her inquired earnestly sure miss â they always called her miss she was so young and girlish â his was to the south of france the day she started and that s how he came to lend his to his friend breathed anew and the friend s name she inquired after a minute but her acquaintance had already moved away from her side and was talking to some of his own further on the had settled down to her in the dock the crowd began to â there seemed nothing more to wait for and with the rest moved away she had an errand or two to do in the town before going home and so she up the steep irregular picturesque little street and went about her small just as she was about by no the fate of to turn into a baker s shop half way up the hill a man s tall slender figure in a blue suit and cloth cap suddenly darkened the narrow doorway frank she gasped falling back a step my god â he said and for a moment they stood there â pale speechless gazing with horror and despair into each other s faces by chapter x by lord francis lifted his cap the action was an instinctive one for he was face to face with a lady but he was half dazed with the unexpected meeting and could not collect his thoughts he only remembered that when he had last seen his wife she was opening the door of her chamber to de for weeks he had been himself for such a meeting for he knew that on his return such might at any time occur but now when the moment had come and unexpectedly the old pain of his shame overwhelmed him anew his face grew white â white till it seemed to that it was of the of death she knew that she had been so far guilty of what had happened that the murder had been the of her previous acts she knew also that her husband was ignorant of his part in the deed â and her horror of the man blood guilty in such a way was down by the sense of her own partial guilt the trial with all its consequent pain to a proud and sensitive woman had softened her and she grasped at any hope the by the fate op sight of frank his gaunt cheeks which told their tale of and now the deadly awoke all the feeling which is a part of a woman s love it was with her whole soul in her voice that she said again frank his voice was stern as well as sad as he answered her what is it her heart went cold but she frank i must have a word with you â i must for god s sake for s sake do not deny me she did not know that as yet frank was in ignorance of de s death and when his answer came it seemed more hard than even he intended do you wish to speak of that night in a faint voice she answered i do then looking in his eyes and seeing the hard look becoming harder still â for a man is seldom generous with a woman where his honor is concerned she added o heaven frank you do not think me guilty no no not you not you that would be too cruel frank paused and said god help me but i do and he turned away his head his wife of course thought that he alluded to the murder and not to her sin against him as he saw it and with a low moan she turned away and hid her face in her by hands then with an effort she drew herself up and without a word or a single movement to show that she even recognized his presence she passed on up the street frank stood for a few moments watching her retreating figure and

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then went across the street and turned the next corner on his way to the post office for which he had been inquiring when he met his wife at the door he was stopped by a cheery voice and an outstretched hand the two men shook hands warmly i see you did not get my said lord it is waiting for you at the post office what to tell you that i was on my way here from london i went in your interest old fellow i thought you would like full particulars â the newspapers are so vague what papers my interest tell me all i am ignorant of all that has passed for the last six weeks a e shadowy fear began to creep over his spirits s voice was full of sympathy as he answered then you have not heard of â but stay it is a long story come back to the i was just going to join you there we shall be all alone by the fate of and i can tell you all i have the newspapers here for you he to a roll under his arm the two went down to the harbor and finding the sailor waiting with the boat at the steps were rowed to the and got on board here the two men were all alone then with a preliminary clearing of his voice began his story frank â better get the worst over at once â just after you went away from your wife was tried for murder and my god tried for murder whose murder that scoundrel de it seems he went into her room in the night and attempted violence so she him stopped in amazement for a look of radiance came over frank s face as he murmured thank god recalled to himself by s silence for he was too amazed to go on frank said i have a reason old fellow i shall tell it to you later but go on tell me all the facts or let me read the papers remember i am as yet quite ignorant of it all and i am full of anxiety without a word handed him the papers and lighting a fresh cigar sat down with his back to him and presently yielded to the sun and fresh air and fell into a by i is frank took the papers and read carefully from end to end the account of the trial of his wife for the murder of de when he had finished he sat with the folded paper in his hand and his eyes had the same far away look in them which they had had on that fatal night the trance was on him again presently he rose and with stealthy steps approached his sleeping friend murmuring why did i not kill him he struck with the folded paper as though with a dagger the form before him who had sunk into a pleasant sleep and whose fat face was with a smile was annoyed at the rude awakening what the devil he began angrily and then stopped as his eyes met the face of his friend and he realized that he was in some sort of trance he grew very pale as he saw frank and and again there was a certain in the the man in such terrible earnest in his mind committing murder while his real weapon was but a folded paper as he he why did i not kill him why did i not kill him then he went through a series of movements as though he were softly pulling an imaginary door shut behind him and so back to his own chair where he sat down hiding his face in his hands sat looking at him in amazement and then murmured to himself by ii the of they thought it was stronger than whose g made those marks on the dead man s throat he suddenly looked round to see that no one but himself had observed what had happened and then being satisfied on this point murmured again a noble woman by jove a noble woman he called out â frank â frank wake up man raised his head as a man does when suddenly awakened and smiled as he said what is it old man have i been asleep it was quite evident that he had no recollection of what had just passed came and sat down beside him and his kindly face was grave as he asked you have read the papers i have now tell me â you offered to do so â why you said thank god when i told you that your wife had killed de frank paused although the memory of what he had thought to be his shame had been with him daily and nightly until he had become with it it was another thing to speak of it even to such a friend as even now when it was apparent from the issue of the trial that his wife had so dreadfully the attempt upon her honor he felt it hard to speak on the subject saw the by br am doubt and struggle in his mind which was reflected in his face and said earnestly as he laid his hand upon his shoulder do not hesitate to tell me frank i do not ask out of mere curiosity i am perhaps a better friend than you think in helping to clear up a certain doubt which i see before me i think you know i am a friend one of the best a man ever had said frank as he took the other s hand then turning away his head he said slowly you were surprised because i was glad killed that scoundrel i can tell you but i would not tell anyone else it was because i saw him enter her room and god forgive me i thought at

3Edith Wharton

the time that it was by her wish that is why i came away from that night that is what kept me away how could i go back and face my friends with such a shame fresh upon me it was your me your old man that made life possible when i was by myself through the of the bay of and among the great of the atlantic i began to be able to bear i had myself i thought and when i heard that so far from my wife being guilty of such a shame she actually killed the man that attempted her honor is it any wonder that i felt joyful after a pause asked by il the fate of how did you come to see â to see it why did you take no step to prevent it forgive me old fellow but i want to understand frank went to the rail and leaned over when he came back saw that his eyes were wet with what cheerfulness he could assume he answered on that very night i had made up my mind to try to win back my wife s love i wrote a letter to her a letter in which poured out my whole soul and i left my room to put it under her door so that she would get it in the morning but â here he paused and then said slowly but when in the corridor i saw her door open and at the same moment de appeared did she seem surprised not at first but a moment after a look of amazement crossed her face and she stepped back into the room he following her as he said this he put his head between his hands and groaned and then added his friend and then i hardly know what happened my mind seems full of a dim memory of a blank existence and then a series of wild whirling thoughts something like that last moment after death in s picture i think i must have slept for it was two o clock when i saw and the clock was striking five when i crossed the bridge after i had left the hotel by and the letter what became of it frank started the letter i never thought of it stay i must have left it on the table in my room i remember seeing it there a little while before i came away how was it addressed do not think me inquisitive but i cannot help thinking that that letter may yet be of some great importance frank smiled a sad smile enough as he answered by the pet name i had for â mrs right i used to her because she always defended her position when we argued and so when i wanted to her i called her mrs right was it written on hotel paper no i was going to write on some but i thought it would be better to use the sort we had when â when we were first married there were a few sheets in my writing case so i took one that was headed somewhere in was it not yes near it was a pretty place too called the fell in love with it and made me buy it right away is anyone living there now it is let to i don t think that i heard the name the agent knows when the trouble came i told him to do what he could with it and not to bother me with it any more after by i the fate of a while he wrote and asked if i would mind it being let to a foreigner i told him he might let it to a devil so long as he did not worry me lord paused awhile and asked the next question in a hesitating way he felt embarrassed and showed it tell me one thing more old fellow â if â if you don t mind my dear til tell you anything you like how did you sign the letter s face looked sad as he answered i signed it by another old pet name we both understood we had pet names â people always have when they are first married he added with embarrassment of course murmured the sympathetic one such name lasted a time an old friend of my father s came to see us and in a playful moment he said i was a sad dog took it up and used to call me and i often signed myself frank â as men usually do of course again murmured as if such a signature was a customary thing then he added and on this occasion on this occasion i used the name that seemed full of happiest memories frank may by i i i seem to an but to and myself it might mean much the two men sat silent awhile and then asked softly i suppose it may be taken for granted that lady francis never got the letter i take it it is so but it is no matter now i refused to speak with her just before i met you i did not know then what i know now â and she will never speak to me again he sighed as he spoke and turned away then he went to the rail of the and leaned over with his head down looking into the still blue water beneath him poor old frank said to himself i can t but think that this matter may come right yet i must find out what became of that letter in case lady francis never got it it would prove to her that frank his train of thought suddenly stopped a new idea seemed to strike him so forcibly that it quite upset him who had come over from the rail noticed it i say what is wrong with you

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you have got quite white about the nothing â nothing he answered hastily i am subject to it they call it heart pardon me for a bit til go to my and lie down and he went below in truth he wa overwhelmed by the thought by the fate of which had just struck him if his were true that in a trance as he had almost proved by its had killed de where then was s heroism after all true that she had taken the blame on herself but might it not have been that she was morally guilty all the same why then had she taken the blame was it not because she feared that her husband might have refused to screen her shame or because she feared that if any less heroic aspect of the tragedy was presented to the public her own fair fame might suffer in greater degree could it indeed be that was not a heroine but only a calculating woman of exceeding then again if frank believed that his wife had her honor was it wise to disturb such belief he might think if once the suggestion were made to him that his honor was preserved only by his own unconscious act was it then wise to disturb existing relations between the husband and wife sad though they were did they come together again they might in mutual confidence arrive at a real knowledge of the facts and then â and then what would be the result and besides might there not be some danger in any suggestion made as to his suspicion of who struck the blow it was true that lady francis had been of the crime although she confessed to the killing but her husband might still by be and if tried what then would be the result of the discovery of the missing letter on which he had been building such hopes the problem was too much for lord his life had been too sunny and easy going to allow of familiarity with great emotions and such a problem as this was to him overwhelming the issue was too big for him and revolving in bis own mind all that belonged to it he glided into sleep he was by the sound of oars and voices drifting in through the open port by chapter xl by de s revenge revenge is sweet â especially to women â perhaps of all the visitors who were in the prospect hotel on the night of de s murder the one to be most perplexed was de to her lord francis s mysterious disappearance was at first inexplicable yesterday he had been her lover full of of affection and ready as she believed to fly with her anywhere to day he had flown by himself and without leaving a word of explanation behind him but as the whole of the circumstances came to light when lady francis was dragged away from the hotel in on the charge of the count s murder de thought she had solved the riddle she had no belief in s account of the of her honor she sneered at the idea with an incredulous smile but she rf v think that lord francis had found his wife and count de together and had killed his rival before her eyes or perhaps injured him so much with his muscular english by fists that he had died from the effects and then the wife preferring to stand her trial for sooner than confess her had taken the crime or the accident or whatever you may like to call it on her own shoulders but for no love of the absent husband who would probably refuse ever to see her again so far s intelligence which had not in an entirely moral atmosphere had led her pretty near the truth but her conclusion was like a broken watch useless because the was missing for she did not stop there she completed the story for herself lord francis had flown not for his wife s sake nor his own â but in order not to drag her whom he loved into the miserable of his married life he would remain away until everything was concluded and then he would seek her out again and they would be happy such a terrible would surely be followed by a divorce after which he would be free to put her in the place left vacant by his wife s but the trial of lady francis took place as has been related and yet no intelligence came of her missing husband when she had left and the child had been taken away de became tired of being left behind she returned to london and went down to thinking lord francis might be lying in his country home but all she found by the op there was a large board stating that the was to be let furnished and that were to be addressed to mr of lane quick as thought she resolved if possible to take it she had no love for the country nor for a secluded life but to settle in his very home must be she argued the best way by which to come in contact with lord francis even if he did not come there he must sooner or later learn the name of his tenant and be drawn into the circle of her love again she found no difficulty in the matter her were the best of all â ready cash â and mr had been instructed to let the as soon as possible her foreign accent somewhat puzzled him and he had mentioned her to his as told lord simply as a foreigner perhaps she had tried to increase his by speaking as and writing as as she could anyway she secured the and took possession of it how much she at first in the thought that she was living

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in the house which lord francis called his own using the same furniture and walking in the same garden that he had been used to walk in before long she hoped that he would be there too watching the moon rise above the of the fine old trees she searched the house for some of him â a cast off by marry at glove a faded flower but the s had been too busy and the was from to only in a little drawer in his looking glass stand she had found a few of his visiting cards evidently forgotten or overlooked lord francis the and on the other side the pall how sweet the words looked the â woman raised them to her lips as she thought that some day she might own a corresponding to society meantime de did not enjoy her solitude long while the man she dreamed of was hiding himself in paris and on the others of her acquaintance her to the and their presence upon her de was too beautiful and unfortunately too notorious to conceal herself successfully she had had many admirers besides lord francis and before she had been many weeks at they commenced to run down from london to call upon her and she was pleased to see them she had not been used to the company of her own thoughts they proved ugly company to her on occasions â she had not always the courage to look back â and she earnestly hoped to make for herself a future on which the past should have no power to so the return of by i s ttie of pe lord francis she was glad to welcome the various friends who considered it worth their while to travel down to see her among them was colonel b a from the united states who had made a large fortune over railway iron and was trying to spend it in the old country he had been an ardent admirer of de from the first day of their acquaintance and would have proposed to her long before had not lord francis s claims stood in his way but now the colonel thought he saw his opportunity the first evening he dined with and she took him after dinner into the garden his heart and he was able to contain himself no longer mrs der he commenced loo â if i may call you so â there is no man in the united states that can boast of a bigger pile than your obedient servant i am not a lord ma am i would disdain to be one neither am i perhaps an but in point of dollars mrs der you will not find my superior and they and i are at your service to day and forever if you will only say the word de looked at him with surprise mingled with a degree of contempt she was a magnificent woman towering several inches above the new york with a finely figure large dark eyes features and a by mouth she looked like a regarding a human rat colonel she replied you astonish me surely i have never encouraged you to address me in such an extraordinary manner i have not the slightest intention of marrying again and i must beg you never to refer to the subject very well mrs der replied the say no more about it i thought you might have liked the pile ma am if you didn t admire the man but it won t go begging mrs der you may bet your bottom dollar upon that i do not wish to bet anything colonel said nor should i take money into consideration on a question of marriage but i am quite content with my life as it is and have no desire to alter it ah you re waiting for a title mrs der replied the that s where it is you ll never tell me that a fine woman like yourself means to remain single for the rest of her life but you re gone on these english like the in my country and nothing will satisfy you but to be a or a colonel your remarks are positively offensive and i must entreat you to turn your conversation to something else i thank by ti of you for your offer but i can never accept it come indoors and let me give you a song i had a parcel of new ones down from london last week she drew her lace wrap about her as she spoke and turned to re enter the house her handsome face looked proud and cold under the moonlight but her heart was throbbing warmly against lord francis s card which she carried in her bosom she was not really faithful or affectionate but she had set her mind upon and holding this man as a woman sometimes sets her mind upon a or a bonnet and would not rest until she had achieved her purpose in like manner the american had set his mind upon her but he would not break his heart over her refusal he had thought she would make a splendid picture at the head of his new york table and an wife to present to his friends but if she couldn t accept his pile of dollars he concluded that some other lady would so they parted on their usual terms and even asked him to repeat his visit on the first opportunity the next morning when her maid brought her letters into her room with her coffee she was struck by the appearance among them of a pale letter stamped on the top on h m service and on the bottom dead letter office what is that rose she cried i do not know madame but it was left here by with the other letters so i thought i had better bring it up to you

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had by this time seized the envelope and read the frank esq the how strange she laughed who is mr frank and why do they send his letters here shall i return it to the madame no it would be useless i will keep it a little while it may be inquired for so the maid retired leaving the letter behind her it seemed to though she had the morning papers and several letters of her own to her eyes kept turning toward the envelope with marked curiosity until she took it up again and examined it carefully what right had mr to have the name of frank â that name above all others so dear to her the fact alone seemed to make the letter her property it had come from the dead letter office that showed that all reasonable inquiries had been made for the owner without avail there could be no harm then in her reading it for the more she regarded it the more curious she became to learn its contents so without further she tore it open it contained an envelope addressed to mrs right prospect hotel and all over both in red and black ink and by the of in various with the words not known here gone away no such person etc this was the letter as may be remembered that lord francis wrote with such a beating heart to his wife on the night of s murder and left in his subsequent horror and confusion on the table in his bedroom when he had gone the servants carried it to the landlord who knowing no one of the name of right had delivered it over to the post office and so it had gone the round of being everywhere and finally found its way to london and was opened and returned to the address engraved on the note paper mrs right and mr de laughed at the strange of names as she prepared to find out what and right had to say to each other but she did not laugh long the first words her eyes lit upon made the color fade from her cheek while her hand clenched savagely over the paper they were the words frank had poured forth in the anguish of his soul at s feet my darling â my own darling for that you must ever be to me let who will come between us why will you make us both so unhappy i know you are not happy can read it in your face hear it in each tone of your voice those were not the looks and tones that made the first years of our married life one by marry at long dream of bliss and i am miserable more so than yourself for i have more against you than you have against me i confess it dear love i prostrate myself before you and i cry for forgiveness can you not forgive me will you not take me to your heart again and let me try to for all the past my life is so barren without you and my darling child do you suppose that anything can me for your loss as for de v she is nothing to me â less than nothing a toy to pass away the time that goes so slowly without you an that for a moment makes me forget my pain and sometimes even while i seem to yield to her i her because she has come between us but it shall never be again dear love if you but say the word come back to me and i will swear to wipe her and all like her out of my life as surely as i would kill the that lay across your path oh when i think of all that she has cost me how bitterly i hate her there was much more in the same strain but this was sufficient for who lay back on her pillow with the paper crushed in her hand and jealousy and revenge gleaming from her eyes this was how he thought of her then this was how he wrote and spoke of her to his wife â his wife â the by her own account of count de the unworthy by the fate of mother of his child â the creature to whom he might after ail return â so contemptible and and mean spirited were men how could she be on them both on him for so deceiving herself and on her for retaining her power over him de did not weep her temperament was not of the weeping order but she her teeth with impotent fury as she lay with her face buried in her pillow and thought out her best means of revenge her maid was surprised to find how long a time elapsed before her usual services were required but after the lapse of two hours she was summoned to her mistress s side was up and engaged in writing tell george to take this into at once she exclaimed handing it to her it was addressed to colonel and ran as follows if not engaged dine with me this evening when de had arrived at this decision she tried to calm herself but it was a difficult task all day she against providence and the treachery of the man she had trusted in but when the evening came she arrayed herself in her most becoming costume to meet the she had made up her mind by that she had refused him simply on account of her fatal by s passion for lord francis but that was over now â as effectually as though it had never been â and she was determined not to let the colonel s dollars slip through her fingers a second time for many reasons too america would suit her better than england how could she have been such a

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fool as to think of giving it up for a foolish love dream she looked more than handsome â she looked as she advanced with a soft luminous gaze to meet and asked his pardon for the trouble she had given him but something has occurred since last night my dear friend she said that makes it necessary for me to take a short sea voyage my doctor is rather alarmed about my health and on my obedience so as i have always had a supreme longing to visit your delightful country i have decided to go to america for the autumn and want you to tell me the best means of getting there you must know so much she concluded as she slipped her arm through his ah mrs der exclaimed the colonel patting her little hand why can t you make up your mind to let me take you there you should travel like a queen loo and there s a house waiting for you in new york city that might satisfy an say the word by the fate of mrs der say the word and you ll make me the happiest man in the united states but there is an obstacle to our marriage she whispered perhaps an one had it not been so i should have said yes last night dollars can overcome all obstacles replied the colonel what is it i guess it ll make no difference between us i have a little nephew the orphan child of an only sister now deceased and i will marry no man who asks me to leave him behind that man won t be myself mrs der bring him along by all means there s room in the states for another boy or two and i ll do by him as if he were my own oh you are too good too good exclaimed fervently as she pressed his hand the was not young and in no mind to wait besides which he was anxious to get back to his own country so as the lady s wishes appeared to with his own they arranged matters to their mutual satisfaction that evening and in a fortnight were married at a s office in london without anyone but themselves being the wiser for the transaction had pleaded for secrecy lest her friends should interfere to prevent her leaving england and the colonel had arrived at that age when a man all and fuss so de was transformed into mrs colonel as if by by marry at magic and went home to the hotel with her husband as if they had been married for twenty years four days after a well known steamer was to start from liverpool for new york and their were already secured on board of her and now said with a winning smile the day before they started you must let me run down into colonel and fetch my little nephew that s a long way said colonel hadn t i better go for you oh no no i couldn t hear of it the little fellow would be frightened out of his senses at the sight of a stranger he is terribly sensitive i can never him away but by pretending we are going to meet his poor dear mother very well mrs have it your own way replied the colonel who was beaming with pride in the possession of so handsome a wife so armed with lord francis s card down on the following day to where s sister mrs was staying with her own son and little this was the s revenge she had heard while at of s destination and knew that in so small a place she would experience little difficulty in finding out which house was occupied by mrs by the fa te of she disliked children as most women of her stamp do but she felt she could no vengeance on lord francis and his wife than by them of their son and heir so dearly loved by both of them her marriage had been conducted so secretly that she was most unlikely to be recognized as mrs and once she had got the boy to america she believed that he would be lost what was to follow after that or whether the game would be worth the candle to her she never stayed to consider mrs while engaged over her midday meal with the children was much surprised to hear that a lady wished to speak to her still more so when on entering the drawing room she saw the attired mrs you are doubtless surprised to receive a call from a perfect stranger madam commenced with her charming accent but time did not permit me to prepare you for my appearance i come as a messenger from lord francis i am an intimate friend of his and of his poor dear wife indeed said mrs gravely her first opinion of s conduct had been to horror when the news of the murder and the trial were made public and she had only taken charge of under protest â he urgent of her er â and by marry at because she had felt it to be a christian duty to keep the poor child as far as possible from hearing the terrible things that were said of his mother but her dislike of the subject was so great that when said she was an intimate friend of the she shrunk from her with ill concealed aversion indeed she slowly yes and have been so for years this has been a terribly sad affair for them both but let us hope the worst is over lord francis feels naturally that it is best they should spend the next few years at least out of england therefore they start for the to morrow and wish naturally to take with them lord francis is then reconciled to his wife oh yes

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why should he not be the unfortunate affair of count de s death really to her credit and what preceded it was only a foolish misunderstanding of course if lord francis is satisfied no one has a right to at his decision you come from him you say yes he asked me to fetch home for him he would have come himself but he had no time here is his card which he begged me to present to you with a thousand thanks for your kindness to his child mrs knew what to do he by i the fate of disliked delivering into the charge of a stranger and yet she felt she had no right to keep the boy against his parents wishes she kept turning the card over and over in her hands as she considered the matter did you say they sailed to morrow she asked presently yes to morrow at four in the afternoon it is a very sudden resolution not at all they have contemplated it for weeks past but lady francis health has prevented them carrying it out now they have a sudden opportunity of which they wish to avail themselves how long will it take to get ready to go back with me oh that can be done in half an hour but i wish my brother who put him in my charge had written me word that his parents wished to resume their i know nothing of that snapped all lord francis told me was to come down to and take back his boy to him at all costs and i should think a parent s wish was imperative certainly replied mrs and i should not dream of it if you will kindly wait here for a few minutes i will bring to you she left the room as she spoke and felt that she bad and her revenge would by marry at complete she remembered how had over this boy how lord francis had written of him as his darling child and smiled to herself as she thought what they would both say and do when they found he had gone beyond recall in a short time the door opened again and mrs appeared with he recognized at once as the lady he had seen at the table d at i know you he said coming forward with a shy outstretched hand you were with my papa at and with your mamma of course we were all there together but mamma wants you sadly she has been terribly for her boy we are going back to her together going back to oh i am glad i have wanted her so said trying hard to keep back his tears it s been very jolly with of course and mrs s been ever so good to me â but i ve missed every day shall we go at once tm all ready and my box is packed and shall i see her today oh do let us make haste and go he thrust his hand in that of as he spoke who rose smiling and addressed you see madame the ties of nature those of friendship please to accept the best thanks of the parents of this boy for your care by t thk fa te op of him at a very trying moment to which i must add my own and wish you farewell good afternoon said mrs stiffly as she watched them get into the fly which was in waiting and drive away to the station and before she had time to with the circumstance still with the expectation of meeting his mother was far away on the broad atlantic by chapter by frank row faster man row faster move â no sit where you are but give me the other oars pull pull he said as if you were getting away from hell and with white set lips with gleaming eyes lord francis his words by his actions and the boat with all the strength of which he was capable across the blue waters that kept him from his feet pressed against the wood the muscles of his arms standing out like iron the youth in him dying under the strain his very brain ceasing to act and his heart almost standing still he tried by physical exertion to that burning mental pain that seized him as he felt saw heard and under the sense that he had wronged her wronged wronged the woman who always was and always would be the one woman on earth for him wronged the girl love that had lain on his breast believed and loved him the child who had grown to womanhood in his arms â his wife and at last the of the boat on the shore â by the fate of he had sat still while lord had spoken of the trial once the news had overwhelmed him he had become an and not a man sea and sky melted into each other and mechanically from his mouth issued the empty sentences but then the hours passed on slept the lay at its and then â then a glimmer of reason and sense penetrated the dull of that first shock he said it was a moan a cry not a human being asking for his wife but a soul in anguish crying to its god did you call sir asked the mate coming forward touching his gold cap did you call with blood shot eyes frank looked at him saw beyond him any part of sir i must get back i must get back all that he was capable of was a wish to get back to see her face again to fling himself down on his knees before her see that fair sweet face that child s face they had called her he had called her o heaven and she was his wife and he and then he was in

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again she sat at her window still white silent the hours had crushed heavily over her and spared her nothing not until now did she know not until now did she realize all that her husband had by k v t s been to her all that she had looked for from him all the hope that had the dark days of her imprisonment lit up her bare cell flushed its soft light over the court house that dreadful day the day that until now had been the most dreadful day of all her life a hundred eyes had been upon her had burnt into her soul â curious eyes searching eyes eyes all around all the air was alive with voices r voices that rose and fell monotonous persistent dreadful what were they saying now a sentence itself now another the prisoner guilty my lord the prisoner how curious it sounded the prisoner how should she know anything of prisoners dreadful creatures shameful lowering hideous she had dreamed of them in her happy childhood and shuddering had hidden her face in nurse s breast or been soothed to rest again in father s arms the prisoner is separated from her husband went on that monotonous voice how strange was separated from her husband strange she should be like the prisoner a shameful disgraced prisoner and dreaming she smiled smiled in the dock with a hundred opera glasses her fair pale face and a hundred naked eyes burning into her secrets but the smile woke her she had always smiled but now now it was a long time since she had by t the f smiled what was she smiling at then she woke to the knowledge of her surroundings and she shuddered in the dock the sweet face grew white and suddenly she burst out crying crying aloud poor child poor child who had meant to play through life and woke from her playing â here all alive and awake she was for the rest of that horrible day quivering and trembling and sobbing half child half woman as the trial wore on ever and again the crimson flushed into her cheek her eyes her head bent in a very agony of shame she heard horrible questions horrible answers she felt herself before these eyes and shrinking drawing her cloak round her with shaking hands she would try and hide her poor hot face but as the day wore on something of hope crept in warm about her heart if frank were here he would not let them talk so â frank her lover she heard again the passionate of their short she felt again his lips against hers she was back again in the golden days when the sun flush of love was over all her life and sun queen in those hours she had played with her happiness and the tremulous lips murmured if frank were here he would not let them hurt me if frank were here what a strange complicated ar by for murder she pleaded guilty guilty though her hands were clean with the generosity of a child she did a woman s deed with a man s heart she took her husband s guilt upon herself and cried it was i while yet the horror of his act was through her frame she had not counted the cost could not but if all the sum of those dreadful hours and days had been spread out before her with shining eyes she would have it and still have called out generously it was i but her heart was larger than her brain her brain failed her a little at the last she was dim confused frightened she forgot so much these men who were there to judge her noting the crouching weeping girl with golden hair eyes weak and shrinking thinking her y pronounced her innocent and sent her forth free free but what a freedom where was frank where was anybody who was there to take her in his strong arms let her hide her face upon his breast weep there until her shame had died away and the memory of her degradation was washed clean who indeed the man who had defended her who had been her lover who had been her friend came to her and he â he would not take her hand he had spoken to her of her boy and the cold by u the of of her heart ached with the sudden rush of her emotion as she cried out with outstretched arms my boy bring me my boy to press the child in her arms to feel the soft down of his cheek against hers to hear the dear from his lips to have his arms about her â this this would save her reason she felt her reason going felt her mind darkened the path before her no longer clear she was in a gloomy world groping helplessly for a warm human clasp of fellowship her friend answered her mother cry answered and left her then he brought her here here to this beautiful lonely wind sea island and left her to strain her eyes out into the sea that said nothing to her the sky was empty for her the flowers it seemed to her faded as she looked poor beauty poor light hearted then she met frank in the street and light flashed back to her and memory and understanding in a rush of emotion she saw him as a lover as husband as murderer she knew what he had done she knew too what she had done to save him frank the words rushed to her lips words of love of forgiveness of and he her ice cold on her heart he lay his dead love his living contempt and she who would have died for him seemed as if she died by him by frank v he killed her not physically

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she still lived moved breathed but her faith was dead and her hope and her youth she staggered home to her old seat by the window she felt sick and giddy and dazed as from an earthquake all her world was in ruins it was only now she realized the hope on which she had lived all this time only now she knew that frank had been the on which she rested the light toward which she had looked that though she was past reason and had not asked why he had delayed she had felt he would come and that in his eyes she would read his love for her that had never his faith in her that would answer for all things his gratitude to her gratitude that she would put away and not let him linger over but would banish and forget and it should be forgotten nothing should be between them any more but love he would bring her back he and she and would be together always and then they had met and he had her rejected her looked upon her coldly she was hopeless she looked out over the blue sea the rocks the sails the harbor but there was a before her eyes all things were darkened even the face of nature would never smile upon her again hope was dead then he came back he knelt at her feet he called her by a thousand names he kissed her hands the hem of her s she sat by iso the fate of there dumb stricken as a statue the darkening before her eyes and her brain throb throbbing like the screw of a steam engine my wife my darling for heaven s sake listen to me don t look at me like that my darling hear me i never knew i swear i never knew i was ill i heard nothing knew nothing until an hour ago my sweet what you must have suffered speak â a word a little word sweetheart think of our childhood and then a little moan came from her a little sighing moan and she fell half forward he caught her in his arms darling he said again passionately only hear me ah it was too late was it too late she lay in his arms white and cold and silent frank kissing those pale cold lips those dead hands murmuring over her a thousand caressing names distracted with despair desperately put away the fear and called for help in tones then the women came in and were busy about her and there were moaning and but still she heard not was not dead but she was ill â terribly ill the silver cord was not broken but it was strained to its last weeks went by weeks when she lay in the little cottage at and frank crept about with eyes and on the from the we by frank y during which with the gold locks short and the sweet face fever flushed and lay in bed and shrieked in her delirium that frank did not do it that she did that frank hated her because she had done it but she had not done it there was blood on her hands horrible blood human blood there was blood on his hands but she would kiss them she was swimming in blood drowning in blood but frank would save her was on the shore waiting for her bright faced waiting to kiss away the from them both and then she would call out again that she was drowning and call for frank always for frank in shrieks doctor doctor he held him with hands grown thin and wasted spoke to him in a voice all broken with tears looked at him with eyes dim with wild crying will she live will she live the doctor was a man who had studied humanity as well as i think so he answered there is room for hope every day gained brings us nearer to it if once she sleeps sleeps naturally i think â she is saved he hesitated and frank hanging on his words pressed him further she will wake to reason â to mental lie a he d l his patient ii by the fate of her delirium she had a history this beautiful young woman who called herself mrs and over whom lord francis watched with such care she had a history but he did not know it â did not seek to know it no idle curiosity prompted his question but if she woke and woke to trouble then â then he could not answer for the consequences will you let me tell you before dr could say yes or no frank had dragged him back into the room and was pouring out quickly the whole miserable story their courtship their married life their and the interference of relatives their separation his jealousy the murder that even now he could not account for or remember â everything everything the doctor listened grave sympathetic frank paused she has a child you say â a little child did she care for that did she love it she him as fool that i have been not to have seen it only a good woman could love her child frank s jealousy was dead forever then bring her child here let her wake amid her natural surroundings â her husband by her side her child s voice ringing in her ears the life of the home about her let the past be forgotten by her let peace be her healing and by frank y i s love her medicine you will be her doctor not i when there is recognition in eyes and she is struggling back to a world that has been so cruel to her he took up his hat he had spoken they must wait the hour by chapter xiii by mrs edward the remained

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when lord francis listened to dr s advice he resolved to act upon it without loss of time especially as he sadly realized that in the present condition of affairs he could do nothing to his wife s recovery the issue lay in god s hands he felt this keenly at his helplessness during the many hours spent in the chamber of the sick woman he his past life with bitter repentance little by little he distinctly perceived how unworthy had been his own conduct and how much he was to blame for the terrible which had recently taken place when he recalled as she was when they were first married he found it impossible to hold himself however and childish she might have been in those days no one could doubt her purity and innocence moreover she loved him and a man does not lose a woman s love without some cause now she lay stained and crushed upon a bed of pain like a white lily stricken to earth by mrs edward her name was in all men s mouths the of her reputation had departed never to return she might have been a happy wife and mother and now what was she a creature by her kind fallen from her and blackened by crime ah it was pitiful to think of still more pitiful to trace the folly vanity and wrong doing which had brought about such a result why could they not have rested content with one another s love what a unnatural existence theirs had been of late years he smiled a wan smile as it occurred to him that their histories contained an unwonted amount of sensation and their experiences would form a strange narrative once long ago had loved him truly and well of that he felt morally certain if he had only exercised a little patience with his beautiful child wife and sought to correct her errors by example rather than by preaching and criticism how differently things might have turned out she was young her faults were chiefly those of youth and ignorance combined with the natural craving for admiration of a pretty woman but there was no harm in her â then she might have been guided a girl in her is made of material her character is not firmly set as a rule either for good or evil it was in his power to have influenced her and to have developed the finer side of her nature but instead of this what had he by the fa te of done in of the responsibility which he assumed by taking the life of another into his keeping he had sought to justify his own by hers and them if she he if she were foolish he was doubly so was that the way for the head of a family to behave when her irritated him he looked for consolation elsewhere and eventually allowed himself to fall completely under the spell of a middle aged woman remarkable rather for her beauty than her virtue and then when resented his conduct and in forcible language pointed out that the marriage ceremony should be as binding for the husband as the wife what reply did he make he answered in the false unjust voice of the world no you labor under a very great mistake in me and have no ground whatever to stand upon society has that a man may do as he likes be as within certain limits as he pleases but you are totally different a woman cannot go out of bounds without getting the worst of it therefore once for all you had better recognize your position he could see the hot blood rush to her cheek but this is monstrous no matter what society has may i ask frank if such is the law by which you intend to shape your conduct in the future by mrs edward ard with shame he remembered his answer yes right or wrong it is the law of every man of the world and from that day they had become more and more until at last their reached a pitch and by mutual desire they determined to separate but had they been happier apart than together he for one could answer that question in the negative in the midst of the wildest the scene his heart had ached and ever in his memory there dwelt the recollection of loving words and looks which no effort on his part could banish looking back on the past he saw that he was even more to blame than she there had been faults on both sides but mainly on his as he sank on his knees by s bedside he admitted the fact freely and without reserve and thus kneeling a flood of tenderness and remorse swept over his spirit and he who had not prayed for years and was in the habit of denying the existence of a deity bowed down his head humbly meekly like a little child and prayed oh good god he cried be merciful spare her to me if only that i may for all my past errors by a life of devotion we have stood on the brink of a precipice almost she and i have fallen into a pit for in our blindness we turned our backs upon thee by fate of but now oh great all father strengthen us and counsel us in this our sore necessity he arose from his knees but calm then he stooped kissed s burning brow and went forth to seek his son â the little innocent boy with the curly head and clear eyes the very thought of whom made his heart grow big there are seasons in the lives of all of us when the best of which we are capable rises to the surface â when the resolutions which we make for the future are not based on an

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and worthless foundation but on a fixed and permanent one such a time had come to lord francis he left a but a better man determined henceforth to lead a new and purer life the journey seemed interminable the tedious hours dragged on and steam and machinery were unable to convey him fast enough to his destination at last he reached and hurried to mrs s residence philip grand was related to the family lord francis had seen a great deal of his wife before his marriage and they called each other by their christian names he cried as mrs taken by his unexpected visit and haggard appearance stared at him as at an apparition where is i want to see by mrs edward bring him to me at once murmured in her delirium that he was with you have you not sailed you and lady francis have not started then for after all she asked in bewilderment no he answered impatiently i haven t the least idea what you are talking about there never was any question of our going to is lying at death s door and i have come here to fetch away but frank has gone you yourself sent for him surely you must remember having done so sent to fetch have you taken leave of your senses and he her hard by the wrist don t frank shaking him off and fearing for his reason as she looked into his wild eyes â you hurt me i sent no one to take away he said with increasing excitement do you mean to say that the child is not here no left us several days ago i made sure that you knew lord francis staggered the intelligence fairly him for a moment or two he could not speak then in a hoarse voice he said of course you know where the boy has gone you can tell me where to find him it is of the utmost importance that i should by i o the fate of take him back to with me at once his mother s life may depend upon s presence mrs s countenance assumed an expression of sore perplexity she felt that lord francis held her responsible for his son unfortunately she said i have not the least idea where he has gone the other day a lady came here a lady he interrupted eagerly what kind of a one describe her personal appearance it may give me a she was not exactly a young woman frank nevertheless she was very beautiful in a southern majestic style her eyes and hair were almost coal black and she spoke with a foreign accent in short she looked like an italian or the wretched man groaned aloud too well he knew who his boy s was and his conscience told him that de s conduct was by motives of revenge she resented his desertion and took this means of telling him so he to a chair and sinking down on it hid his face in his hands were the consequences of his ever to pursue him oh it was horrible horrible frank said mrs gazing at him in alarm do you know the lady is she an acquaintance of yours he shuddered for my sins yes would by l l to god she were not i have to thank de for all my misery if i had never set eyes on that woman and i might have been living happily together at this moment it was she who came between us curse her de exclaimed with a red flush in her cheek o frank if only i had known nothing on earth would have induced me to give up into her charge poor dear little why she is an odious woman â an abominable woman i quite agree he but abuse cannot alter the fact of her having stolen my boy i can t think though how you let him go she came here frank continued mrs in self and some instinct warned me against her i refused at first to to her request but she was so urgent that at last i believed she was really by you to take away see here is your card which she produced in token of the of her errand and so saying turned to the and showed frank his card he looked at it then snatched up his hat and prepared to leave this is a bad business he said a very bad business indeed i would not have had it happen for a year s income but perhaps you can tell me where de is to be found by t i tm op fm alas no she left no address and i haven t the faintest notion where she but stay putting her hand up to her forehead if i remember rightly de did hint at abroad and taking a long journey why frank how impetuous you are as her visitor opened the door where are you going going he replied his face all working with emotion i am going straight to london to engage a to hunt out de s whereabouts and after that i intend returning to is lying ill of brain fever we do not know what turn her illness may take the doctor thought that the sight of might do her good but now â now breaking down suddenly i must go back alone so help me god and without wishing mrs good by he rushed downstairs looked after his retreating form with the tears springing to her eyes poor frank she sighed how he loves and yet she has completely spoilt his life he was such a bright nice boy once upon a time it quite makes one s heart ache to see as he is now by chapter xiv by richard when lord francis found himself in the train on his way up to london from his mind was

3Edith Wharton

in a condition on frenzy the wife of his youth the wife of his choice the only woman to whom his heart had ever gone forth with joy and lay at death s door from which one hope existed of her back â the touch of their child s tiny hand and now at this moment of supreme crisis cursed fate stepped in and took the child from his sight snatched the possible from his arms cursed fate or or call it what one might there was the fact the overwhelming act of that foreign woman whom once in his malignant he thought he loved who over and over again swore she loved him and only him granted he had treated her badly had he attempted her life why then should she attempt his why should she seek to kill him through the hearts he x by i op held most dear because he had made love to her and ridden away great heavens was his sin against her a seed to the whole world in comparison to this attempt on s life from the beginning of their acquaintance knew he was married â at no time of their acquaintance did he know much of her she had her dark eyes and her mystery and her history â these were parts of her fascination she had him as a or wine might him for a time but she had never touched the essence of his being â that was for for only when he reached london he drove straight to scotland yard if he had been in a normal state he would no doubt have paid a visit to his first but he was in no normal state he could not have told when he ate last or where he had slept what day of the week or month it was all that was usual was worthless and only the quest he was on worthy of heed at scotland yard he was at once shown into the presence of brown his father s position made his name illustrious the murder trial had made himself notorious my child â my boy of six â has been stolen his mother lady francis is in danger of death from illness and the instant recovery of the boy is a matter of life and death she is in brain by richard dow ling fever and the doctor says if her boy is at her bedside when she her senses it may save her life whatever sum of money may be necessary to recover the boy double it it it if you only find him for me and at once he cried out to the all in a breath the recovery of the child does not unfortunately depend on mere money my lord on what then on possibility if it is possible to be done it will be done and whether we succeed or fail you may rely on no time being lost will your kindly give me all the particulars the father told the history of the boy s as mrs had given it to him and this foreign handsome lady who took the child away do you happen to know her name did he happen to know s name good heavens how strange such a question seemed but it was one thing to know her name and vow hatred of her and another thing to give to the police the name of a woman he once made love to he hesitated the looked up from the sheet of paper on which he had been taking down the particulars the believing the other had not beard repeated the question by l the fate of thought lord francis why should i hesitate she has not hesitated to lie and to steal and s life is in the scales he said aloud the lady is french the writing her name is de the looked up again this time with a start laid down his pen and cleared his throat as though to clear his mind may i ask your to repeat the name de â de do you know anything of her perhaps said the touching an electric bell a policeman in uniform entered the handed the man a slip of paper the withdrew in a few moments he returned handed some documents to his superior officer and retired does your happen to know anything of this de before she came to england a few years ago absolutely nothing i suppose we are talking of the same lady â the looked down at his papers â a tall strikingly handsome dark woman of about thirty five or forty now she was in the prospect hotel at the time of the late tragic occurrence there though she was not herself brought into the case by richard yes that is the lady well we do know something of her here we have been keeping an eye on her for a little time at the request of the french police a french has been over here about her it was not until the day before yesterday when instructions came from paris to act that we knew she had left the country left the country cried lord francis falling back on his chair in consternation sailed for new york from liverpool four days ago she is wanted in france for connection with some of a bank in four or five years ago we lost sight of her for a little while lately but that we have just explained by the fact that she recently went through a form of marriage at a with a rich american colonel i say went through a form of marriage for her husband one of the clerks in the bank is now in the hands of the french police my lord you may make your mind easy about your boy no doubt he is the child who sailed with colonel and mrs four days ago

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as mrs s nephew aged six what is to be done now cried lord francis relieved at getting a to his boy and in despair at finding the child must already be across the atlantic by l the fate of she will be arrested on landing and brought back but the boy my son â if you wish it we can cable and have him looked after for you there will be a few days lost in legal in new york ril follow the boy til go by the next boat and with this resolution and no thought of anything else he rushed away from scotland yard for his chambers at his chambers he found everything as he had left it weeks ago into a couple of he some clothes â any no matter what he could put his hands on then he sat down to think his brain was in a whirl only one thought had any value any place in his mind â the recovery of on that depended all on that depended the life of and his own power of making to her for all she had gone through he had forgotten one thing at scotland yard the had said they could cable to have the boy taken care of for him he had not asked the to do so he sat down and with a hand that shook so that he could hardly hold the pen he wrote to the begging that a message might be sent by cable bidding them look after on his behalf in new york he marked the envelope private for there was plenty of time for the cable and he by richard wished the whole affair to be kept as quiet as possible then he had nothing to do but to get forward he did not think of looking to see or of inquiring when the next boat left was the point nearest to america and by the irish mail that night he started for cork it was not until he had been six hours plunging through the atlantic toward the new world in the huge ocean steamer that he remembered he had sent no word to but he dismissed the from his mind as a matter of no moment for thought he all the messages in the world would not serve my poor girl as she now is and i am going to fetch the of life for her â our s voice at the moment that lord francis was soothing his mind and cheering his way with this encouraging reflection brown of scotland yard was writing to him as follows my lord i hasten to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the day before yesterday which came after i left it was marked private and consequently was not opened in the ordinary course i was absent on duty yesterday and only got it just now hence i could not answer it sooner the french authorities have decided that having secured the so called de s husband and she having got off to america they will not follow her further for the present she will therefore walk ashore free out of the steamer and in the absence of formal instructions we shall be powerless to stop her hoping this may reach you in i am my lord your humble servant by the fate of meanwhile the struggle for life in that cottage room in had turned in favor of the doctor had given a guarded opinion when lord francis made his frantic appeal to him before her husband the western ocean the wasted sufferer opened her eyes and once more looked out through the glance of reason on the world where she had endured so much for a day or two she hung between life and death she looked too frail for this world but she had store of the best of in her own blood â youth â and she began to mend rapidly happily when she came to herself she did not clearly remember the dreadful past all was dim and shadowy the doctor was careful to say nothing that could renew her sorrow he was aware that her husband had set off to recover the boy but since lord francis dashed out of the place no word had come from him and as the patient made no inquiries the doctor held his peace the nurse knew nothing and herself had a vague feeling that the past whatever was in it had better be let alone she was too weak for conflict for even thought hour after hour she lay weak and silent and gentle the ghost of her former self all the old audacious vanished she took what they gave her and spoke when she was spoken to and resisted nothing the c people around by richard i ordained for her she did not ask questions she had no memory of her husband s visit no means of knowing that he had gone to fetch their child the doctor seeing that she was in no distress left her in the hands of beneficent nature peace was the finest cordial his patient could taste now and if she showed no sign of she was easy and at rest s brain being free of the fever her splendid constitution and her youth asserted their to lead her to health and the kindly doctor stood amazed at the progress she made toward you have nothing to do now but get well said he and you are getting well as if getting well were a fever in full power you are building up as fast â ay faster â than you lost she answered only with a smile she took no particular interest in getting well or in anything else for that matter although the brain may have been relieved from the of active disease it was lifeless the fountains of memory were still frozen or dried up she knew

3Edith Wharton

she lay at her cottage in but she did not realize why she was there she felt that if she made a great effort she could tell herself the story of her presence upon the island but she was languid and took no interest in anything not even n h r by the fate of you may sit up for an hour to morrow said the doctor one day she said thank you doctor he was careful not to call her by any name and he told the nurse and maids not to address her as mrs let us get the body strong first thought he until word comes from lord francis we have nothing pleasant to say to her and she may forget that she was ever mrs so day slid into morrow and brought no news â no word of any kind â and lord francis was a whole week gone and the sufferer was allowed to move about a little the good doctor concluded that lord francis had changed his intention again and for some reason or other to the condition of mind he had been in when he borrowed lord s and took himself away into southern seas beyond the voice of england on the eighth day a letter came from london it was addressed in a hand it was the first letter that had come for since she had fallen ill she was sitting in an by the fire when she took it from the doctor for he had given strict orders she was to get no letter except from his hand the was in such commonplace writing that the good doctor made sure that it was some ordinary business one from her lawyer or or by t some other person connected with the routine of her affairs she was now strong enough to stroll a short distance out of doors and had taken a turn in the garden the day before and was to walk a mile along the road later to day when the sun grew stronger a letter from some of your business people said the man of science i hope it brings you good news a little rousing would not come amiss to the lovely invalid it was addressed to mrs she broke the cover it contained a brief note from her lawyer and a letter the writing of which a woman s was to her the lawyer s letter ran dear madam i a letter which reaches me from an unknown source with an request that it may be forwarded to you i am dear madam yours faithfully john the letter was addressed to lady francis she broke the cover of that it too was short it ran your husband has left you forever and i have taken care you shall never see your child again de that was all by chapter xv by mrs rose to her feet there had been one terrible moment when all things faded from her but she overcame that she would not faint she turned to the doctor who watching her anxiously now came a step nearer to her in truth her face always was now ghastly but there was a sudden strength in her eyes her whole that as it were a new life within her lately so weak she had been she had fainted at any small thing that fell into her path threatening to annoy her but now when she had reached the most momentous point of her life her returned to her and the old sweet girlish that might almost be termed audacity developed into a courage true and noble this was no time for weakness now was the hour to rise and assert herself if this devilish letter meant that evil were at work to deprive her of her husband and her child now was the time to fling aside all considerations and fight for her own â by mrs i s her own they her own a terrible remembrance of the past when he frank had been to her returned again what if he should be again and again with that woman her heart for a second died within her but another thought restored her to herself her child her darling her he at least was all her own she need fear no rival in his affections there was something so tragic in the expression of her young beautiful face that the old doctor went closer to her and touched her arm as though to rouse her what is it my dear asked he nervously he had grown very fond of her during these past weeks when she hovered between life and death read that said she holding out to him the fatal letter she let her eyes rest full on his â the lovely eyes now so much too large for the pale small face her long white robe fell to her feet showing but too plainly the of her figure she looked like some tall sad saint with her white clinging garments and her of red brown hair good heavens said the kind little doctor letting the letter flutter to his feet but what can this mean your husband â so devoted as he seemed â and who is this woman then this de a said softly bitterly but by the fate of i shall overcome her yet give me a paper a form ink â i â excitedly â i have a friend who will help me one friend she turned and looked at the old man i have only one friend in all the world said she and he â me you have another said the good old doctor stoutly in me and i do not distrust you come come now my dear take courage here are pens and paper let us telegraph to this if useful friend of yours wrote rapidly and handed the to the doctor he read it aloud come to

3Edith Wharton

me at once great trouble make no delay i you having read it he went back to the address â â a distinguished man one almost they say now i congratulate you if you have him on your side ah but you forget tut â when he comes i shall speak to him i shall all doubts said the little man kindly and now to this at once i shall take it myself if you will promise to lie down and try to rest for awhile i promise said she meekly but it was a promise vain indeed the door once closed behind him she began her dreadful walk up and down up and down the room she felt half mad by mrs rd l t her child â her little one in that woman s power it was noticeable that in this hour all her thoughts went to the child this you by jove what mad haste not even a word for an old friend why what brings you here folly folly only if it must be told said lord sentiment is folly isn t it yet a sentimental desire to know how the are going on is driving me back to â a spot i quitted a week ago to why that is where i am going too have you heard anything he looked eagerly at his companion do you know anything i have had a from â from her can you explain it a when a few hours ago look here i honestly think you are a friend of lady francis s â read this i am a friend of both the said deliberately he meant what he said he took the and glanced at it same old game said he at last lifting his brows another quarrel i suppose i thought when they came together this time that they meant business but it seems not how few married people are suited to each other j by i th j at op i never thought much of said slowly a weak character at all times i suppose nobody would dispute the fact of his having been to his wife with de there were faults on both sides on de s and his certainly not at all on his and lady francis she certainly led him a life a life he deserved he â married to he looked suddenly at his companion and the touch of passion in his eyes revealed all things to that poor sweet pretty girl he to play fast and loose with her a child just out of her it â he paused and commanded himself â in my opinion it was contemptible you give yourself away a good deal said who looked amused â who looked indeed as if he would like to laugh he had a great affection for who was rather a special sort of man and in spite of his mirth felt sorry for him are i presume on the side of lady francis that would be an impertinence from any man but you said there is no need to go into it however whether i love her or not is no matter it â miserably â can never matter now what i do is â to pity her with all my soul because of her marriage by m s looked at him as if hesitating for that too said he deliberately she married in my opinion the last man in the world who would have made her really happy but my pity did not run that way i was thinking of that miserable trial and its consequences yes she was a trifle too there said believing the other knew all about it it would have been better to my way of thinking if she had told the broad truth and let take his chance his chance said staring at him certainly it wasn t so bad a chance he might he positively would have got off all right but she chose to take the guilt on her own shoulders and now she has created an very difficult of solution you mean paused he seemed gasping for breath i mean suddenly lord grew silent and gazed at his companion with a troubled countenance do you mean said he that you didn t know why you conducted the case for her i know nothing said with great agitation if you can throw any honest light on the matter do it i entreat you i hardly know whether i should i â drew back from him â i was so sure you knew by iso the fate op that my dear fellow pray forget what i have said i shall forget nothing said i should advise you not to forget either look here catching his arm is it advisable to forget who knows what this may mean we are both friends of hers are you a friend of no why should i disguise the truth i have told you before how i regard him but what has that got to do with it you are prejudiced i am not if you have anything to disclose disclose it i may be of use to you he hesitated well considering she has sent for you i suppose she means to tell you herself said and reluctantly it is well you should know beforehand what there is to know though i am surprised that she has not already told you to him there was but one certainty and that was that had betrayed to the part he took in the fatal night s work that murdered de probably had resented what she told him and it and she had then sent for her lawyer what else could demand so imperative a on the instant he opened his heart to and told him all his belief all his doubts i could never forget said he how he looked by mrs l l in the last fit

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and is the fashionable word for it i know but i call it madness and his heart isn t sound you know he disease in that direction his father died of of the heart some day he will have a fashionable fit too strong for him and there will be an end the best thing that could happen for both of them said deliberately he had been terribly upset by s revelation and though hardly permitting himself to believe in it still felt a wild â mad joy in the thought that she â she the only woman the whole wide world contained for him â might be innocent of after all see here said he vehemently if this thing be true if she saw him commit that crime â for crime it do you think they could ever live happily together in the future why think man would she not see the color of blood upon his hands would she fail to rank him among and he why he knows nothing true and therein lies the real tragedy knowing nothing he thinks of her as a there it lies you see in a thinks a r she thinks him guilty of a ghastly crime and you madly believe they could live together happily it need not go on like that she might tell him the truth she never by l the fate of at all events he might learn it and if so what would be gained the world would them both and they were made for the world we are all made for the world true a shrill whistle aroused them both come on the train is about to start said as entered her sitting room rose and ran toward him at last at last she said the words came in a sort of gasp holding her hands stared at her shocked at the change in her appearance every of color was gone from her face her eyes looked wild and her parted lips were very pale she had pushed back her hair from her forehead with a quick gesture just as he entered the room she was at her worst this moment but the man s love was so strong that he failed to see that he thought her always and what was strange even younger than she used to be you know you have heard she went on her tone feverish you forget said he gently with a view to her agitation i know nothing i have had only your and that was so vague ah you shall see another then that thrusting de s into his hand th it not vague at all events by mrs read it carefully he frowned that woman again he said yes again she stood back from him do you believe he has gone back to her do you do you the very vehemence of her question conveyed to him the knowledge that she thought he had gone back there is only this said he striking the paper and it is from her she is not the woman to believe in no but i have thought it out for all that and she paused and pressed her hands to her head gently led her to a seat she looked exhausted he left me said she presently â to find my child and bring him to me he came back and there was no child with him i was ill then â very ill i could not think but for all that i knew then he went away again and i waited â waited great heaven said she clasping her hands if you only knew what it was to wait like that for a sight of your child and then there came â that she pointed to the that he still held well what do you think asked she in a low voice bending forward it is hard to think â no it is not he was by the change in her tone and looked at her she was still bending forward her hands clasped her young sweet s s as misery could by the fate of it it is the easiest thing she said he met her again i suppose â i think and together they have gone away taking my child with them oh she sprang to her feet and flung out her arms oh the child he might have gone â gone forever it would be hard for i loved him but to take the child from me the child my darling my baby do you know how many months i have lived without my little sweetheart you you of all men know she turned to him and caught him by the arm ever since that awful trial i gave him up then my little one and for what she almost out the words â to shield his father you mean said his heart beating was he now to hear the truth from her own lips but the sound of his voice broke in upon her passion and checked her nothing said she quickly except that â that he is false to me i tell you again not to dwell too much on that said slowly although his whole life seemed to depend upon it he could not refrain from pleading his rival s cause you have only that woman s word for it this may be a from beginning to end a curiously well timed one she laughed in a cruelly miserable way if she knew nothing of him how did she learn that my child and my husband were now away from m by mrs more curious things have been explained said he you you talk to me like this cried she passionately you would defend him you who knew he was once you â faintly â who once loved me i shall be your friend always said he putting a great upon himself it is

3Edith Wharton

because i am your friend that i speak thus why not look at it in another light you say your husband left you hurriedly you say that de must have known of his absence from you and also of your boy s it might be that she out of revenge stole the boy and that your husband is now pursuing her with a view of restoring him to you he said this more to gain time than anything else little thinking that he had guessed the truth and had laid before her the exact facts of the case a fairy tale said she mournfully no he lied to me the last time i saw him when i asked him to bring me my child he said he was tired â asleep i too was tired worn out from sickness and a broken heart and too weak to do aught but believe him the child was not here at all she stepped back from and covered her face with her hands oh my my beloved oh my little child she took down her hands her lips were by the fate of mr what shall i do said she the first thing to do said he harshly is to keep up your courage he spoke in a queer grating tone he knew if he once gave way he should betray himself betray the wild mad longing he felt to take her in his arms and press her poor sweet pretty head down upon his breast and try with all his soul to comfort her you are your husband unheard is that fair is it just he has not been just to me true and therefore you find it difficult in such a crisis as this to believe in him he looked at her suddenly still you love him said he the words were a question do i said she her words were also a question addressed to her own heart i feel so tired so tired she said it has been a struggle always and through many things i loved him i she hesitated i despise myself she said but i think i love him still a pang shot through s heart he did not note the suggestion of doubt in her voice i love him i think she went on slowly thinks but this i know i distrust him distrust means ruin said to what to love to all things to friendship by i mrs yes to all things she went close to him that is not true she said you are me now yet you distrust me i no you are thinking of that wretched trial he spoke with extreme agitation but i have heard all yes ail and if ever a man another s pardon upon his knees i yours all repeated she faintly she seemed to have heard that one word only yes said he he let his voice sink to a whisper he leaned toward her who killed de asked he it is true said he presently when she had told him all it is true that the world still produces it is now more imperative than ever that lord francis should be found for what said she do you think i should betray him now â even now ah mr you do not know me no i shall go to my grave bearing this after all â sadly â he once did love me if he has gone with that woman again i don t see why you should spare him said but as i have said i hope for the best about that in the meantime she interrupted him by the fate of in the meantime find my child said she she was still ghastly pale but a little fire had come into her eyes bring him back to me get him back from that woman oh a little nervously i have no right to speak to you like this why should i order you about only â you are kind â kind always i have now no friends and â always hated strangers oh my child my little heart she broke down suddenly and burst into violent weeping o god cried she what shall i do that woman that woman if she has him she will kill him he who never knew anything but love my little lamb oh his eyes his laugh you saw him was there ever so pretty a boy oh once â once â â you said you loved help me now tell me how i shall begin to search for you would go yourself oh yes yes oh if you only knew what this last day and night have been she was sobbing violently but now by a supreme effort she controlled herself she took down her hands from her face and pressed them against her throbbing bosom i will be calm she said this is no time for tears and you must not think me weak i am strong â very strong tell me now how i shall begin i will tell you said he but you must try by mrs and see my plan as i see it now it seems to me impossible that you in your weak health just recovered from a dangerous illness could possibly such a troublesome search as this is likely to prove and if not began she there is a substitute said he shall undertake this matter you yes if you will this affair to me i will promise to bring you back your â husband bring me back my child said she your husband you will want to have him back i have told you i am tired said she coldly i have borne a great deal and she paused there is something on your mind said he his hands she said she seemed to shrink visibly she shuddered the blood i was unconscious then i think â and it

3Edith Wharton

is only now â now but his hands and his face great heavens how he held him he choked him it was as if he was over there now staring wildly at the far part of the room his fingers closed round his throat and there was such a sound â a â heaven what a sound and then he and and he was mad oh with a long drawn piercing sigh shall go mad if i think of it by the fate of then don t think said he caught hold of her arm and shook her sharply whenever i see him i see blood said she still trembling never mind him think of your child said he with a desire to rouse her am i to start now and when i find him what message am i to give him from his mother he had roused her indeed a message she said the old sad dreadful fear in her face died away hope lit it into a lovely life a message to she cried she fell on her knees before and took his hand and laid her cold cheek upon it a cheek wet with tears tell him his mother loves him said she tell him too that his mother will forever love the one who will restore him to her by chapter xvi by arthur a in new york mrs the newly married wife of colonel of new york was not at home to visitors she had given orders to that effect but the command was superfluous as there were no to tell the truth de had not been a great social success in the country of her the her husband had married her to over his establishment and to gracefully adorn his dinner table and although she had accepted both duties the result had been disappointment mrs s notion of looking after a house was to take the amount of trouble and order the amount of goods she had run up bills in all directions giving a special preference to the stores of and of lace her idea of hospitality was scarcely in accord with the colonel s notions on the same matter the who was a power in wall street firmly believed that more could be done over the and water by i the fate of than in the place of custom and was in the habit of filling his dining room with people who could be useful his desire was of course to those he invited by a tone of but he received no assistance from his wife whose solitary aim seemed to be the and contemptuous of her husband s guests loo said he one day after a banquet had ended in disaster i guess you are not particular to company guess madame you prefer solitude to some of the best known persons in the united states if you mean by that replied mrs admiring herself in a mirror i do not care for the vulgar crowd you ask to dinner you are certainly right they are neither polished nor amusing strikes me madame that you seem to feel the want of the british aristocracy you can t get on without them â that is so it seems a pity that lord francis should be on the other side of the atlantic he would have been a decided acquisition to our family circle see what do you mean with her large eyes fixed upon the colonel what do you mean what i say retorted the colonel i do not want madame any but i give by arthur a you fair warning that i know a thing or two i have special sources of information do you want to insult me asked in a low tone raising her head and still keeping her steady gaze upon her husband her eyes looking into his eyes as if they would read his very soul come come madame none of that cried waving her off i tell you i was not born yesterday nor yet the day before my will is a pretty strong one and i tell you distinctly i am not a subject i have been tried before and it would not do so take my word madame you are giving yourself a great deal of trouble for nothing take my advice madame and drop it guess it won t do she seemed to her power of will into a supreme and final effort and then she shrank back into a â conquered her husband laughed and continued you see you cannot contrive it no madame it won t do so if you take my advice i would not try it again you see it just me and i am not a nice man to i love and respect all ladies but i have a sharp and short way of reckoning with see she was silent for a moment and then burst into a hysterical laugh there continued her husband you notice you are it is not good for you this kind of excitement and now tell me how is why did he not by the fate of come down to give his uncle good morning before i started for business to day has gone replied shortly gone exclaimed the why where have you sent him that is my business returned mrs surely i have a right to do what i please with my own nephew nephew echoed he have you any reason for questioning the relationship well no replied her husband his beard but it strikes me for so near a relative the lad does not seem to care particularly about you why i do believe he likes me better than he does you has bad taste maybe madame maybe returned her husband but you might keep a civil tongue in your head it s that kind of thing that my guests what kind of thing oh drop it now tell me when do

3Edith Wharton

you expect s return i don t expect it at all ah i see you are not in a mood so i shall take myself off but see here madame you were intended by nature for the leisure class but in the states we haven t got the institution some day we may import it from by arthur a europe and if we do why then you will find yourself quite at home but until we do import it from europe take a word of advice climb down madame climb down and with this parting shot the colonel took his departure mrs listened to the retreating steps and then went to her desk she sat down in front of the table and pondered had she acted wisely certainly it was advisable to quit england â europe â but was not this a case of from the pan into the fire the colonel was a man of violent passions and she felt that she was absolutely without influence over him he was too strong for her she had been accustomed to do what she liked with members of the opposite sex here was a man who set her at defiance laughed her to scorn what was she to do she was absolutely dependent upon him for support unless she could get back to europe which was not a desirable spot for the moment or find a englishman she was powerless her husband s friends and acquaintances appeared to hold her in besides manners and customs on one side of the atlantic seemed to differ from customs and manners on the other it was not a cheerful prospect however there was nothing to be done but to submit and to keep her eyes open to take immediate advantage of any chance that might offer itself so she sat down by the fate of before the little table and her desk examined its contents there were a few letters written in faded ink and tears gathered in her eyes as she glanced at them he loved me once she said with a sigh and i absolutely loved him yes loved him well that is past he has abandoned me as he abandoned her and i can strike them both through their boy then she took out a letter that bore the new york of the day before and read it through from end to end it was a long letter and seemed to give her satisfaction i do not see how they can recover the boy she murmured and if this programme is carried out in the future he should be as much lost to his family as a grain of sand in a desert or a needle in a bundle of hay then she considered whether she should bum the letter or return it to her desk she decided upon the latter course and placed it for greater security in the concealed recesses of a secret drawer the rest of the afternoon she spent in reading novels with yellow covers and playing on the piano she had no visitors when the dinner hour arrived the colonel had not reappeared however this did not greatly disturb her as it was his custom on occasions to stay away from home but when he decided to dine elsewhere he usually communicated through by arthur a the his intentions he had neglected to do this so mrs decided upon her own responsibility to dine alone she gave the necessary orders and in due course the meal was served and discussed after the things had been removed she had taken her dinner in the she lighted a it was not a habit which met with her husband s encouragement but as he was not there to her she saw no reason why she should not indulge her taste for the of a little later the door was thrown open and the colonel entered he was pale and his features worked evidently he was in a violent passion you are quite a stranger she said with a little laugh and i have dined without you i did not feel your loss because the de was excellent you see i am smoking take one he deliberately seized the proffered case and threw it with all his force against the wall she shrugged her shoulders and laughed again what a child you are you remind me of and yet you are no relative of his are you a relative of his asked the colonel slowly weighing every word as if he were afraid to trust his voice why yes did i not tell you that he was my nephew and did you not tell me a lie by the fate of there was a pause and they looked at one another as a regards an opponent â neither anxious to begin both on guard again she laughed you are not very cheerful company this evening then i will make my visit as short as possible ah you are paying me a visit are you you purpose obtaining a separation there is no necessity for a separation i see then you will obtain a divorce i have always been told that in america there are special for marriage ties is new york a good place for that sort of thing there is no necessity madame to marriage ties you are very very serious this evening said putting the in her mouth i hate all this afternoon i have been worrying myself to find an answer to the riddle why i became your wife you never did become my wife replied the colonel shortly turned pale and then her face was with color she rose to her full height and you have come to tell me this now madame see here i don t want any i am going to take it quietly and i advise you to do the same now what i have to by arthur a say is just

3Edith Wharton

this i made a mistake in marrying you the mistake was mutual now madame there is no cause for interruption you shall have the story right away and if you have not enough of it by the time i have done it will be your fault and not mine look you here if i made a mistake you made a greater have you ever heard of a crime called yes returned coolly it is a weakness of mine â i committed when i married you and you tell me that without turning a hair exclaimed the american fairly taken at her audacity then you know i could throw you into jail madame you can do nothing of the sort she returned now stop further explanation you see there is no necessity i have saved you the trouble of a long story on me with your terrible and i am thankful look you here madame returned the colonel white with passion don t you me too much there is a limit i tell you and you have about reached it and a bit over oh i am not in the least afraid of you for the reason that causes you not to me into jail will prevent you from me and less than a murder would not do even your by loo the fa te of countrymen don t care about wife â i beg your pardon â women the colonel ground his teeth and clenched his hands but kept tranquil madame you are right he said at last quite right am not going to murder you anything of that sort i can leave to your husband â when he gets out of prison but to come to business if you take my advice you will make tracks i have had private information that you have escaped by the skin of your teeth they have got your husband and they wanted you but the seem to be economical and they are satisfied with him so instead of being taken to the on your arrival in new york you were allowed to come home with me and a nice home you have made it madame and he looked round the room crammed with costly it has cost me a pretty penny very likely she replied calmly but you can afford it yes fortunately i can madame is good for millions you had better not boast of your wealth or you will make me why what has my wealth to do with you madame all that is past and gone we up when mrs returned to by arthur a not quite said with a cold smile you must be a bad man of business and yet you have realized a fortune yes i have made my pile madame he returned with a vague feeling of uneasiness and as to my being a man of business why you just ask anyone who knows me there is no necessity said because i can test you myself as a man of business how much do you intend to pay me to go away the colonel indulged in a low whistle and for a moment regarded with absolute admiration the woman he had for a time believed to be his wife then he slowly produced his pocket book and taking out some notes placed them before her she took them up and reckoned the amount not bad for a first bid she observed and i see you know how to deal you are a better man of business than i imagined say double and we will call it done again the produced his pocket book and once more extracted from its recesses some notes he placed these before and she took them up as before once again she arrived at a total you are satisfied i shall not disturb you she asked you can trust me well yes madame i can replied the colonel you think quite rightly that i don t want a scandal i don t but if there is to be one we by â oa the fate of may as well have it on a grand scale if you come back madame to annoy me why then i shall know that i may as well go in for the entire and act accordingly you will shoot me i guess it will come to that you are a woman of great i shall remove you and i can do it with a better grace after you have been away a bit so you know what to expect and now as we have had this friendly chat there is no reason why we should quarrel loo here s my hand she burst into a bitter laugh do you think i am going to take it if by grasping it i could make it i would seize it and hold it to my heart why what have i done madame why you have robbed me of my last chance if you had stood by me i might have pulled through well it will be pleasant reading to see a report of your death i it will said the colonel biting his up until the blood came in the meantime you can read this and now madame i have to bid you and laying down a marked paper before her he stalked away left to herself remained for some moments buried in the deepest thoughts what should she do next she had expected the by arthur a storm for she had felt that the discovery of her past was only a question of time so she was not unprepared for the colonel s desertion she had taken care to supply herself with a goodly store of diamonds and precious stones and accordingly for the moment was not within the reach of want the bundle of notes she had extracted from the s pocket book represented a considerable sum and added to the total of the value of

3Edith Wharton

her worldly goods then she had her beauty she looked into the mirror and shuddered what would her husband do when he escaped from the prison walls it was the question she had asked herself a hundred times it was the question that had been suggested to her not an hour ago it would be a terrible day of reckoning he will kill me she muttered he has more pluck than this american he will kill me well and if he does what does it matter and then she took up the marked paper that the had left behind him and glanced carelessly through the paper until she came to the column that bore the trace of ink then she started back as if stung by an the marked passage told the world in general and the american capital in particular that lord francis the husband of the had lately arrived in new york by the fate of it was night time in the chief american police station before frank could find an opportunity for continuing his inquiries on his arrival he had quickly learned that mrs had not been arrested â that a had been received warning the officials to do nothing as their services were not required and for the moment the chief officer whom he consulted could tell him nothing more he had been advised to let matters take their course you see said the chief we can t do much at present sir the colonel is highly respected and a and until we have authority to interfere with his arrangements we must hold our hands you say that the boy that them is your son maybe it is so but still the lad is under the colonel s protection and we don t want to lend ourselves to an case it would be giving ourselves away but i tell you the boy belongs to me maybe he does and maybe he doesn t the word of colonel is as good as yours and while the lad is in his i don t see how we can help you if you take our advice you will let matters slide for awhile we will keep our eyes upon the household and if we find him taken out of the of the lady who says she is his aunt why then we will communicate with you and then will be the time for you to come upon the scene at present you will by arthur a pardon me sir â i should say my lord â you are what i may call a then you refuse to help me said frank angrily well that is not quite as i want to put it replied the officer of police but i guess it s about the true meaning don t be impatient sir many a bright undertaking has been ruined by too much impatience i know it isn t pleasant advice to anyone to be told to take things coolly but that s just the advice i would give to you let things slide a bit and when the time is ripe for action why then you shall know all about it at least you will give me the colonel s address can t say i can the colonel is a man of business and you will hear of him from in the proper quarter but it is no part of my duty to act as a you will run against him soon enough without my aid so sir or as i should say my lord if you are not busy i am and i must wish you good day with that the official bowed and walked away frank finding that nothing was to be done turned also and so the men separated in his hurry to leave england and reach the united states s husband had neglected to arm himself with letters of introduction and now he found the disadvantage of being in a strange city without a friend he walked down by o the fate of and fifth avenue but saw none but faces he had put up at one of the large new york hotels where he had given a false name he was not particularly anxious to make the acquaintance of the american a gentleman who was unique until copied in england some few years ago so far he had been able to preserve his as the police official who was a kind fellow at heart had promised to preserve the secret of his identity so at the delay he wandered about until to his great delight he received one evening a summons to attend at the you see i have not forgotten you said the official now i think we can set to work the boy you have been looking for has left the of the colonel â he is no longer in his care and where is he asked frank eagerly that is a my lord that for the moment i cannot answer was the reply the fact is we have made a bit of a mess of it a â a sharp one but still a â was put upon your business and he seems to have it what do you mean well look you here he was ordered to keep his eye on the lad and to report when the boy was removed from the colonel s by arthur a well he did his duty inasmuch as he gave us the notice the boy was off that has been reported right enough but he stopped don t you know where my son is at this moment said frank angrily well sir â i should say my lord â that is exactly what i cannot say our man rushed off to tell us the news of departure he would have done better had he followed up the track and what do you propose to do oh we have made the best of it

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we have sent a first class officer up to every move in the game to take the matter up and by this time you may be sure the country is being high and low when we come upon a track you shall hear of it we can trust the colonel he is respected and would not lend himself to any piece of work but it s the lady that is doing it now we have not much of an opinion about her and she is in it that s the worst of it however don t you cry out yet ours is the service in the world and we will do our best for you but can i do nothing well no sir â i should say my lord â i don t see that you can you had better look in tomorrow evening and then i could report progress in the meanwhile keep an eye upon yourself new york is a dangerous place for a stranger i know you englishmen are brave fellows but by a the fate of such a thing as even an is not unknown on this side of the atlantic so have a care sir â i should say my lord smiling at the frank departed to return on the following evening on his way to the hotel he had to pass a large house at the corner of a street and as he walked along he felt that there was gazing at him from one of the ground floor windows he turned his head in that direction and immediately a blind was drawn down abruptly but not until two piercing eyes had gazed for a moment into his own he resumed his way and then stopped suddenly he was quite alone for the street was empty he raised his hand to his brow and trembled as if he had an fit he seemed to be fighting some unseen some terrible enemy the perspiration ran down his face and then of a sudden he became calmer calm he appeared to be in a trance he moved as if some power was his actions he hesitated but only for a second and then began to his steps and slowly but surely he walked along as a his eyes were wide open but his arms hung by his side until the time came for him to open a door then slowly he extended his right arm and his rigid hand seized the handle he had passed through and entered the hall slowly he walked up the by arthur a stairs and slowly he made his way to the entrance of a large room again he opened a door and again he walked on until seemingly exhausted he sank into a chair when he returned to consciousness he still imagined he was taking part in some strange dream for although he did not recognize the apartment in which he was resting a familiar figure was bending over him a woman had just taken her hand from his brow and was standing over him he uttered an exclamation of horror and tried to rise to his feet the woman smiled and withdrew her hand and once more he sank back in the chair in which he was resting lord francis and de were face to face by chapter xvii by love was dead there was no the fact with returning consciousness the expression of hatred became so fully developed on his face that de before it his wild eyes looked as if they were ready to start from his head and the desperation in his entire mien made her feel that there was no length to which he would not venture was about to commit another murder de knew naught of the previous one or probably she would have run away in dire fear as it was she was under the impression that the man she had once so loved and still cared for more than anyone else in life had suddenly become mad rising at last to his feet with an effort he began to speak you you where is my child she laughed and calling up her courage tried to brave the matter out though certainly she had never been so frightened in all her life before then seeing that laughter irritated him she said by i believe he has gone back to his or at all events to mrs colonel my husband would not stand him any longer it is a he and you know it colonel is not your husband and the child has not left america where is he as you know so much probably you know the rest it is therefore useless for me to speak her tone and her manner were most and in lord francis s then mood were positively dangerous after the semi semi stupid phase through which he had passed an excitement had set in over which he had but little control he turned savagely on de and seized her by the throat with his long thin fingers and yet she was the woman before whom he had once knelt in adoration my boy â where is my boy tell me where is how could she tell him while he held her in a even if she wished to do so she tried vainly to utter some sound possibly a scream but nothing was heard save a while her features became livid the look of her to a degree him and he relaxed his grip that is he almost threw her from him with a force that caused her to fall with her head against the sharp edge of a sofa by â the of even then he took no notice of her it did not seem to trouble him that she was hurt or that the handkerchief she held to her head was covered with blood he did not however attempt to touch her again but walked up

3Edith Wharton

and down the room talking rapidly curse of my life that you have been give me my child that i may take him to the wronged and forget that you ever existed if it had not been for you what a happy man i might have been with â my beautiful and de asked whose sting even fright and injury had not wholly killed de â curse him too â but i forgot he is dead â killed him to save her honor even as i will kill you if you do not take me where i shall find but de had not quite lost her wits or her capacity for self though the pain in her head was intense and the blood was still flowing freely she managed without his remarking it to crawl from the sofa to the door and then suddenly before he had time to stop her she jumped up opened it passed rapidly out closed it and locked him in having done this she could do no more but fell in a dead faint on the mat meantime confined lord by francis was indeed kept like a tiger in too small a cage she had thought him mad and in truth it almost seemed as if she were right he at the door till the echoes in the house rang again still no one came the servants were all very far away and were moreover amusing themselves with a game of which was them far more at that moment than their mistress s visitors and quarrels not successful with the door lord francis tried the window but it was at least sixty feet from the ground â the jump was certain death â then he fell to sundry bits of a that fell in his way â more to annoy than because he did not know what he was doing and finally he rang the bell the bell brought s maid but she did not open the door though he loudly demanded that it should be unlocked the maid found her mistress faint and bleeding on the landing it was scarcely likely she would open the door till she had tended her especially as there was no of the inside was recovering her senses when the maid arrived and thus by the help of an arm crawled into her own room which was not very far distant the first sentence she managed to pronounce was do not let him out he is mad poor man by the fate of he has a dreadful wife who has driven him mad set to watch the door in case he should force it and send for dr it was not for herself that de desired the presence of dr for she washed her face and put some plaster on the wound which after all was not a very serious one and she was a good deal revived by the time the doctor arrived dr was a personal friend of de that is she had made a friend of him since she had come to new york she had a wonderful facility for fascinating the male sex and their services and she felt very certain she could depend on dr or she would not have sent for him when he did arrive which was speedily he was naturally aghast at the injury she had received she would have allowed him to see it at its worst stage if she had not feared to him by the aspect she had presented when the maid found her never mind me she said i shall be all right in a day or two but i cannot go on being subject to attacks from that madman you must remove him he says i have his child whereas you know is my own nephew dr did not know anything except what she had told him but he believed in her and therefore did not think of doubting her by statement my dear madame i will do the best i can for you of course this must be stopped do you think it will be necessary to take â â extreme measures i have some influence with the police no police at all if you please dr the police are a body with which i wish to have no dealings they have never done me any good you have a house a little way out of town where you keep who cannot control themselves take this man there as your guest until i have time to communicate with his friends in england he will be out of mischief and harm and you will be doing a good action you know his friends asked dr a little whether he was not his professional reputation by taking this step well i am most intimate with his wife she is a most ill behaved little person i fancy it is her that have driven this poor man to desperation still of course she is the proper person to communicate with hark how he is knocking at that door again â there really is no time to be lost not believe there is a bit of whole furniture in the room thus urged dr proceeded to do what she wished in fact he began to think that it was the only thing that could be done to get this man away quietly was however the difficulty â he did not want a scene and a scandal by i the fate of can you depend on the man on guard he asked for coin â yes she said laughing makes most people â for a time well stay where you are and leave me to do the rest i will return later and let you know the result so saying dr proceeded to the room where lord francis was still knocking he said a few words in a low tone to the man at the door and then he proceeded

3Edith Wharton

to interview the supposed lunatic to anyone less experienced than dr lord francis would certainly have seemed to be quite mad but the doctor saw at once that he was merely suffering from excessive nervous excitement a few days seclusion would however he thought do him no harm as by that time with a little judicious treatment he would probably be quite himself again was there something in dr s touch or look that soothed lord francis as he was to influence or was the doctor armed with some â who shall say but as if by magic rage and excitement subsided and as though insensible to what was passing around lord francis sank down once more into the chair in which he was sitting when he first saw de now he was entirely in the doctor s power he by could do with him as he liked the servant still outside the door was called into the room and in less than five minutes frank was transported to the doctor s carriage and was driven off to the private outside the city of which dr was the from her bedroom window by the aid of a gas lamp in the street de saw him depart now she said you are mine to do as i hke with you will not leave that place until you have absolutely given up â forever de was an attractive woman and she had as in the instance of dr her slaves she forgot that was quite as attractive nay more so for she was younger than and many thought her much better looking she too had her devoted was no mean opponent for save that was on his own ground still if de was not very much on the alert she might yet be for the moment however she decidedly held the cards in this terrible life game for some minutes after the carriage had driven off she stood by the window thinking the day had been an one and before the morrow dawned she must decide on some plan of action a move out of her present quarters was inevitable unless she wished to be turned be by l the fate of sides since she no longer dared call herself mrs it was far better to as de in a new place she did not however wish to leave the city till circumstances had shaped themselves somewhat but new york was large enough for her to remain for awhile if necessary she counted her dollars colonel s parting gift had been no mean one she would not want money for some time to come having so far arranged her affairs and told the maid to pack up as they were going away for a few days she went into the sitting room where frank had been locked in for at least an hour and as she surveyed the d she smiled when came back as he doubtless would in a few days when he thought she had had time to clear out what would be his feelings as of course he would attribute the to her and call it petty revenge but what matter in fact she felt rather glad that it had happened especially as casting her eyes round the room she saw that the desk was if lord francis had managed to into that there is no saying what a change there might not have been effected in the course of events she opened it took from it the papers which she considered of considerable importance to herself sealed them up in some strong brown paper i by j and put the packet carefully into a box she intended to take with her for that night she would sleep under colonel s roof and on the morrow she would take her departure before however she went to bed there was still work to be done she told the servants who did not yet know of the separation that their master would not be in and that they could shut up the house and go to bed having thus rid herself of them she got ready to go out tying a very thick veil over her hat in order to conceal the white plaster on her head which might otherwise have been remarked the servants quarters were at the back of the house so she slipped out unobserved she took a car and went to an part of the city there she got out and walked down two or three streets looking carefully behind her to see if she were followed at last she knocked at the door of a looking house it was opened by a foreigner whose face lighted up into something like a smile when she saw de not that she had any love for her but her coming meant gold and it was of the nature of this woman to do anything for money is it all right asked speaking french in a low tone yes he went this morning and if satan himself sent his on the quest they would by the fate of not find poor boy it will be a life that he will lead in the future have you ever read s jack for s jack don t mix up sentiment with business business is done for the present as far as i am concerned only i quite understand i have to mother him in the future â mercy what a lot of money it does cost to keep a child even in a poor way i know all about it the terms are arranged here is six months money in advance as i am going away for a little not the slightest in our compact remember you are in my hands i know your past the woman made a movement as she the money and gave a promise of but a few minutes later as de walked away she muttered to herself

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i know as much of you as you of me ma which of us has the most need to be afraid of the past i wonder de adopted the same plan for returning home that she had done for coming to these she took a car to and from there started to walk to colonel s house she had not however proceeded far when to her consternation and surprise she met lord and strolling together arm in arm by chapter xviii by scott within sight of home how will it end in sorrow or in pain it all depends sweetheart it all depends we may be parted we may meet again it all depends it all depends of all forms of mental torture to which a sane human being can be subjected say which is the worst to hear the door of your prison cell close behind you with hope gone friends love ruined home wrecked and the awful prospect of seven years unutterable silence and solitude knowing before god you are an innocent man or to discover and beat your brains into discord with the knowledge that being sane you are the of a lunatic asylum that having reason you are with and that every explanation you can offer will be treated with a mocking laugh the between and insanity is than many believe or would care to own if ever man s brain had been tested to its utmost limits of that brain beat and in by the of the head of the wretched frank he had lost his adored wife and had found her he had been granted the supreme hour of reconciliation and rapture and it was turned into the dull agony of expected death he had been told that if she awakened from her dull brain stupor and could mingle her kisses with those of her husband and her child her life might be spared and he knew that when she did awake and discovered that her lover and her lord had vanished without a word she might be dead even now he might have killed her he who would have died to give her life might for aught he knew have struck her once more just as she was tottering into the very arms of death everything had failed utterly completely failed frank had become gray with grief the child who should have been in his arms was lost god knows where the wife whose life depended upon his honor was either dying or dead the woman who had by him been changed from a companion into a was triumphant and he the victim was under lock and key powerless to move impotent for good or evil the more the poor creature protested his the more mad he seemed to be the very situation the ghastly surroundings the hideous objects he met on every side were enough to turn the brain of the strongest man insanity is by scott bred in the air like a mad doctors become mad nurses attendants and servants connected with lunatic in time are devoid of reason put a private or public in any given neighborhood and in the course of years the surrounding villages and neighbors will become as cracked as king himself as as when frank awoke from the stupor of surprise he found to his horror that he was surrounded by and crack women they round him pulled him by the sleeve and nonsense into his ears they believed that was mad but themselves they were cruel treacherous hysterical and here was an old man driven mad by a wild weird wolf like man who after every meal for the next like a monkey scarcely had he swallowed his dinner before he stamped up and down the corridor muttering i want my nice tea and cut bread and butter i tell you i want my nice tea and brown bread and butter and after tea was swallowed he for his supper here was the young lover who was driven mad because he could not marry the girl he had met night after night in the of the opera every night he dressed himself up in his evening clothes put an artificial flower in his button hole and sitting on an old wooden chair by pa te op looked into space and the music of s love scene here was a woman driven mad by the bad man who had deserted her whose hair had turned gray in her long imprisonment but who ever since wept tears all day over the love letters thrust into her bosom and reduced to a with much weeping here was the man who believed he had a on his head here the woman who was convinced that every means was being taken to accomplish her out they all came making faces at one another pulling and picking at one another s coat sleeves defiant hysterical howling and weeping men and women cursing men and women the air with their piteous cries men glared at him with features distorted with rage women at him with lips with it enough to make anyone mad to talk to them this was no home for the afflicted it was a veritable hell upon earth the worst of it was that there was no humane desire to cure the insane in public institutions they attempt to cure too often in private homes they do not hesitate to kill the last of reason the doctors instead of soothing their irritated them the mad point was not avoided it was insisted upon the consequence was that the wards comparatively quiet before the medical attendants went their rounds became by t g a after they left them it would never have done to cure a paying patient the object was to make him day by day and still in order to save his distracted brain frank into solemn and sullen silence he was tortured with their mocking laughs if

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he appealed to the doctors they laughed at him if he consulted the attendants they turned away with a grin if he hoped to obtain sympathy from the the fitful gleam of intelligence turned into the animal laughter that was hideous i shall go mad said the wretched man to himself unless i hold my peace i will be dumb it is my only safety there were regular visiting days at this particular establishment the proprietor of it did not dare to run counter to public opinion and he was artful enough to encourage these visits of inspection in order to show how admirable and was his system the were driven mad in private and in public they were literally upon and frank was saved by a miracle in his darkest hour of distress he had lost hope in everything but prayer for help prayer for prayer that he might be rescued in order to protect the helpless he was sitting in his room tortured with the sense that his reason would soon be lost to him when he remembered by fm pa te p that this was the day when visitors ere admitted he had prayed until his brow with agony his experience of the curious visitors so far had not been very encouraging whenever he attempted to get into conversation with any of them or to pass a letter into their hands he was greeted with a smile or one of those mocking laughs fellow they whispered how dreadfully mad he is if not they shrank from him as if he had been a wild beast the great iron bell at the asylum gates there were voices in the hall frank listened and listened again it was an english voice talking to an american where had he heard that voice before they were coming upstairs the voices indistinct before became louder and louder yes he knew both their voices they were perfectly familiar to him my god is it possible can it be true are my unworthy prayers answered at last the door of the room opened and before the imprisoned man stood lord and the very american who had been consulted when frank arrived from england here was an unexpected discovery it was a miracle of miracles there had been no search for the missing man there was no hue and cry lord like most englishmen of an inquiring turn of mind wanted to see the sights by of new york in order to record his impressions when he returned home he had employed the services of one of the in the city to show him round and by a miracle he had discovered and probably saved the life and reason of his old friend in an instant the officer of police understood and grasped the situation once given the and difficulties melt into thin air it took very little time to procure an order for the release of the unfortunate englishman and before the medical proprietor of the fashionable was safely lodged in a new york prison and available for evidence on the subject of mrs and more important still the safety and whereabouts of the unfortunate child at one time it appeared as if the troubles of frank would end in an manner the drama was becoming a tragedy he was released it is true he was safe once more the discovery of his child was now more than probable the discomfiture of his enemy mrs was nearly complete but the reaction after all this mental and physical strain nearly cost frank his life the strongest men break down at a given point and now it was frank s turn to once outside the asylum he appeared to be more insane than when he was in it he wanted by thk op to face his enemy and swore he would kill he pleaded to new york for the boy he rushed off to the telegraph office to inform the wretched mother that he was true and she might yet hope but the strain was too much for even his strong constitution and when he had placed in the hands of the every of information he possessed and had almost been urged to leave the work of discovery to the hands of others he went back reluctantly to his hotel half hysterical with excitement but utterly dead beat lord found his friend next morning raging in the delirium of fever at one time he cried for and kissed the pillow where he believed she had rested in another instant he was twisting the into a knot and imagined he was de in the intervals he was sobbing as if his heart would break my boy my boy no woman could have tended a sick man with greater devotion than did lord night and day he never left his friend except to receive reports from the head office of the who once more proved themselves the finest officers in connection with any police service in the world by constant care and devoted nursing the crisis was past reluctantly the doctors gave the permission for a move to be made and on a certain bright morning lord with by scott the aid of an invalid carriage took his worn and wasted friend down to the where he had secured for england on board one of the of a prominent line the journey to the sea seemed to revive the patient as yet he had not been allowed to see any friends save or to ask any questions but the mists gradually disappeared from his eyes and a smile of happiness played on his wan features god bless you old boy he said to as they drove slowly to the ship god reward you never did man find a truer friend i should have been under the turf old man if it had not been for your tender care was anxious not to excite his friend too much for

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the day was not over and he knew that the drama of it was not yet complete on board they found who had been as loyal to his trust as the two men when they met whispered for a second to one another and there was a look of distressed suspense on frank s face is all well whispered more than well answered where is he in the cabin do you think we dare risk it we must and shall muttered lord he can t break down now it may bis life by so the fate of gently these two brave gentlemen led their poor sick friend to his cabin placed him on his couch but before they left him in a half dream they uncovered the sleeping form of a little child who was resting in an opposite berth the fingers of one hand twisted in his sunny locks and the others clasped over a woman s portrait the faithful had taken it from next his heart and placed it in the child s hands it was who had gone to sleep kissing his mother s picture which had fallen from his baby hands for hours the sick man slept and his friends stood like loyal hearts at the cabin door the sun had sunk the stars were out and the steamer was already miles at sea through the waves the journey between america and dear old england still the true friends watched at the sick man s door suddenly they heard a passionate cry a wild cry of pain a cry that faded into a moan of relief darling â my child my son â oh how good is god let us thank god together quietly the two friends opened the cabin door and saw father and son on their knees in an attitude of prayer the child was looking up into his father s eyes and the wasted man with by scott streaming eyes was kissing his wife s portrait and murmuring i have kept my oath beloved one tm bringing home to his mother s arms the stars went out and darkness fell upon the sea there was silence in the cabin now for father and boy were wrapped in a profound sleep and had finished their cigars and turned in close upon midnight two figures came upon deck from the part of the steamer and walked backward and forward without exchanging a single word but they never separated it was a from scotland yard arid de was in his cursing her fate as the huge ship plunged through the green atlantic waves bearing homeward the fatal lives of so many interested in this history poor worn almost to a shadow sat dreaming in her garden in the island of she knew at any rate that frank was faithful and that her boy was safe by chapter xix by graves the great swiftly pushed her homeward way through the rolling of the atlantic other yearning tender hearts there doubtless were whose sole freight of hope the steamer carried but the heart that beat so anxiously in the little cottage had the most at stake the ordeal of the past months had not lessened s beauty the outlines of her features were their tints less vivid than of old the eyes looked wistfully out upon the world from that were with grief and watching the chestnut hair showed a thread of silver here and there would know his mother again often asked herself that question meanwhile for the child s sake she her newly recovered strength with jealous care she ate and drank rose and slept walked and rested for he must not find a invalid in place of the old none but her own hands should henceforth minister to the needs of this small idol of her heart with these and other fond foolish by graves fancies she wore away the tedious hours of waiting one of her usual walks led in the direction of the village of st s the brown faced and folk grew accustomed to the sight of the pale plainly dressed lady with the wistful eyes who so often paused to rest or to smile at and speak kindly to the sturdy that rolled in the dust by cottage and pulled their blue caps as they passed her in rude homage of her beauty and respect for her loneliness one bright october afternoon she sat upon one of the rough wooden benches facing the wall of the little harbor watching the progress of a child s game there were five players four of them hard headed with the brown skins and blue eyes that seem to the island the fourth was a girl of nine or ten a pale faced black haired little creature with a shrewd selfish manner and a voice of the game had to do with a wedding of course â all the children s games deal with marriages or â and the song that accompanied it was with immense vigor and zest by all the sa et et a un d got by the fa te of the verse was repeated with even more then the marriage procession away round the corner with a of little wooden shoes the sallow faced girl gallantly supported on the tattered jacket sleeve of the most of the boys laughed not with the ringing careless music of the old days but still sweetly and clearly she lifted her eyes and met the melancholy glance of a shabby man a stranger whose attention like her own had been attracted by the children the man was poorly dressed he wore an old of gray and a cap a lean sallow face the of his ragged trousers fell over broken boots no was ever more attired than this strange man who now lifted his cap and bowed with something of foreign and looked at out of melancholy hollow eyes when the heart is heavy madame

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it is good to look at the little people he spoke in english and with a strong french accent they are so gay always they know so little of care to sing and shout and jump that is the business of life well as good a business as any other when all is said and done he shrugged his shoulders and folded his arms upon his hollow chest shivering as the keen sea by graves s breeze crept in at the of his and his gaunt body he did not beg or seem about to the impulse was self prompted that stretched s hand to him with a silver coin in it take this you look ill or hungry hungry madame said the man softly a thousand thanks he hid the coin about him and saluted lady again the lifted cap revealed a narrow head shaved almost to the skin upon the temples was a livid new healed and ugly you are a stranger to a stranger madame i came from yesterday a brought me in his boat i am not particular as to my accommodation as madame will guess nor was the yet he took all my money and left me without enough to buy a meal you have friends in the island no and yes the man returned the little daughter of one who was an old comrade of mine lives here in charge of a woman who was her foster mother and has married a of the stone works madame has seen her playing with the children of the good she did not know who looked at her and questioned of her name just now when last i saw her five years ago she was but four years old at four years by the fate of old the little could not be expected to understand â madame is cold shrunk and shivered at the sound of that hated name she recovered herself in another instant she looked at the forlorn creature who tried to interest her in his little story with compassionate gentleness can the father not come himself to see his child she asked is he an invalid or the man answered her shortly and harshly the father is in prison he laughed a grating laugh and ground the heel of his broken boot upon the pavement has madame patience to hear his story common enough common enough the father of the little black haired one was once a clerk in a bank at he had assured prospects enough for present wants a charming â oh a charming wife â and a child charming women are apt to be vain vain ones are apt to be extravagant madame she wanted money â always money her husband was like wax in her hands i she her wax well â so well she made of an honest man a rogue madame a and a thief he broke off to wipe away the leaden drops that had gathered on his face with a miserable rag of a tattered handkerchief his gaunt figure quivered and the started out like on the ba pf wasted hands by graves spoke to him gently it you to speak of it she said it me to speak of it figure to yourself madame how this man must have loved that wretch to sin so at her bidding and she â she had not even the merit of being faithful to him he found that out before the trial â for the were discovered and he was arrested he her as his she fled before the law could lay hands on her â with one who had been for long her secret lover his face was frightful as he said the words if he had been himself the wretched whose dreadful story he had upon his lips he could not have looked and spoken with greater but he went on so my friend â always my friend madame will remember â is found guilty and to imprisonment for eight years he is sent to the at labor absolute silence silence in the silence in the silence in the yard silence in bed from half past six until six the next morning is the routine madame would never imagine how many cries of and despair how many sobs of anguish how many oaths of vengeance can be packed into the space of one human breast that has the of the law upon it by the fa te of he struck his own breast as he spoke fiercely and shook his clenched hand in the air i have been a prisoner myself he went on madame is not afraid of me i knew that man at prisoners have methods of communication in spite of rules and i knew his sorrow as he my own i promised him when my hour of came i would visit the island to which his child had been taken see her without speaking to her and send him word the last two years of his sentence have yet to before my friend can speak unless he grows desperate as a man does when the end is near and escapes from prison is a strong place but there is a way out of it he has told me so here are the little ones returning you are madame accept my thanks the gratitude of a poor man whom you have helped upon his way i have not wearied you with the story of my friend a common criminal no more and once having been in prison as people say it is twenty to one that he will eventually return there i myself also but the next crime of which that man is found guilty will not be yielded to an impulse she looked full into the hollow glistening eyes she put a question to the ragged creature not she said repeating his words â what then by graves the man bent toward her

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she from the contact of his foul and ragged garments she shuddered as his hot breath her cheek in a single word he gave the answer to her question murder a came over her she and put out her hands to save herself from falling they touched the cold stone of the harbor wall her drooping lifted she looked round the man was gone the dreadful word she whispered â oh the cruel word it the present it the future what can the future hold for frank â or for me what does it promise to our child a stained title a of guilt and shame â a heavy heavy weight for my innocent love to bear oh my heart f my heart is breaking tears came to her relief she pulled down her veil hastily and hurried home as the dusk october evening closed in late that night she knelt by the open window of her bedroom and looked out upon the stormy heavens upon the quiet sea loomed near the horizon a dark and mass upon the sleeping ocean the restless eye of the opened and shut a bat noiselessly past and vanished in the velvet darkness three days more said only three days oh my son my little son does the by the fate of time seem as long to you as it does to your mother she closed the window and went to her bed sleep would not come at first but toward the time of the flood tide she slept and dreamed she dreamed that she saw a great ship â an ocean steamer â homeward through a waste of waters she knew that the vessel carried those three lives that were so dear to her friend husband child lay sleeping in the by the throbbing of the incessant screw all peace all security apparently and yet a voice kept whispering in her ear watch watch danger it seemed to the dreaming woman then that she stood upon the vessel s quiet deck not a sound broke the quiet except that throbbing of the screw not a sign of life appeared until from the dark companion of the a solitary figure crept â the figure of a woman and the white face it turned upon her by the pale rays of the moon was the face of de and the voice kept whispering watch watch danger she strove to shriek aloud and warn those on board but her lips were sealed she followed the creeping figure aft followed it down a narrow brass bound with no conscious movement of her feet followed it through dusky passages lighted by dim swing by graves ing and down still then it came to a halt and she stood behind it listening and watching a faint sound the striking of a match a flickering light that revealed the place in which they stood together to be a place used for the keeping of ship s stores oil and and candles of dry rope bundles of matches and other articles were gathered there and then she knew as another match struck and fired and the pale blue flame lighted that evil face the deadly purpose of her enemy and even as she strove to burst the bonds of silence that held her darkness fell upon the scene when she opened her eyes still dreaming the stately vessel was still gliding through the waters herself removed from it by a distance that seemed but still the throbbing of the screw mingled with the whisper that warned her of danger to come she strained her eyes and held her breath and watched as she was then a little smoke began to curl upward from one of the aft thin and white a narrow column of in the breeze then a tongue of yellow flame shot out and then a great bell began to furiously and mingled with other sounds came the sound of voices shouting by h the of together only one word they kept repeating and that word tire fire fire fire the darkness was banished now by the fierce red glare that came from the burning vessel her deck was alive with orderly of men who fame and went with and pouring water down the upon the roaring flames forward the passengers crowded together and among those white faces which the quiet stars shone down upon and the leaping flames illuminated with their own fierce glare the dreaming woman saw the face of her child he was held not in his father s arms but in those of frank was standing with his hand upon the shoulder of that true friend and companion the men spoke together with stern grave looks the child laughed and clapped his hands as the hissing tons of sea water fought with the fire that at the of the brave vessel deep below the water line and as the mother stretched her arms toward her boy the whole picture faded for the second time another followed still the wide gray sea no burning vessel on it now only a line of boats upon the waters black against the background of a lurid stormy dawn the boats advanced toward the slowly in the first only one familiar face â the face of lord in the second none but strangers in the by graves third strangers again in the fourth and last a woman bound with lying at the bottom of the boat a grave stem man keeping close watch and ward over the prisoner in the stem sheets rough handed pitying men compassionate women gathered round a little group of two one of these in the uniform of an officer of the ship the surgeon perhaps from the way in which he supported the and trembling figure of the other on his arm and held a to the lips and seemed to speak vain words of comfort and the desolate creature to whose misery that kindly

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brought no relief lifted his head and looked at with eyes that were the eyes of her husband in her sudden agony of dread it seemed to her that she cried out the names of the two who were missing frank where is where is what have you done with my boy tell me for god s sake and it seemed that her husband heard he turned despairing eyes on her he shook his head and pointed to the sea she cried out then and awoke as the first faint rays of daylight pierced through the blinds of her bedroom in the cottage at and the woman who waited on her roused by that piercing cry came running in by chapter xx by h w through fire and water six hours before the time beheld with fancy the light cast by the burning ship over the waters the with steam shut down was slowly drifting outside cork harbor she was waiting for the tender to come alongside to take off the and bear away the passengers who having had enough of the open sea preferred to take the short cut by train across ireland and so home by there had not chanced to be any special cause for snug quarters on board the steamer the had made a splendid voyage not once had the appeared on the to the accompaniment of in the steward s day after day the passengers had been able to sit out on their deck chairs enjoying the sunshine the fresh breeze and the sparkling sea through which for hours together the swam of the vessel s speed two days out they had passed close by a whale who cheerily farewell as they by by h w s looked on with grave eyes he had often heard of a whale but never before seen one will come out by and by he asked his constant companion who held him standing on the rail no i think not answered gravely you remember did not find the quarters so comfortable that he was likely ever to seek them again of his own free will residence in a whale however temporary is an experience that an ordinary man for a lifetime the whale is only getting rid of superfluous water taken in from the great depths well said his quick sympathies moved in another direction he must get very thirsty if he does that often had on the broad atlantic which had in no sense proved a disappointment to him he was a prime favorite with all on board the pet of the sailors more particularly of the n whose whistle he was sometimes privileged to sound next to he was of the n than anyone else even than of his father whose mood was less to that of the light hearted healthy lad whom the did their best to with by feeding him at hours with spoil from the he would sit by the hour on a of ropes his big eyes fixed intently on the brown n who told by the fa te of him stirring tales probably not all true of life at first he had full run of the ship and availed himself of the privilege father he said running up to lord francis one morning when they were in mid atlantic do you think ive seen mrs the little fellow who in ordinary circumstances seemed to know no fear trembled in every limb and as far as was possible with sun and wind face was pale where asked lord francis with a sign of equal said who had not in vain sat with the n and never now spoke of going downstairs when he should say going below i was standing by the rail at the end of the deck looking at the passengers playing cards on the deck when she came along she beckoned to me to go down to her but i turned and bolted was she by herself no there were a lot of people around she wasn t speaking to anyone nor anyone to hen are you sure it was her quite she smiled just as she did when she came down in the country to take me away to join mother i liked her smile then but i don t now by h w said his father taking his hand and leading him aft i want you to promise me something will you yes father said the boy promptly looking straight at him with eyes that never then you must never leave this deck for the lower one whether in the or it s quite big enough for a little fellow like you you promise me yes father said and he kept his word to something more than the letter his excursions forward to the some distance from the end perhaps he would not have gone so far but it was here his friend the n when his turn came kept his watch and sitting there was careful to turn his back upon the bow so that by no chance might he again see that evil face with the smile he though all unused to the world recognized as false on this bright evening off was in a condition of special glee had put in the on the day s run a sovereign in the name of and had won the stake good gracious cried holding him at arm s length what on earth is a little like you going to do with i know said his eyes beaming with delight i remember when we were staying at by the fate of having a ride in a donkey chaise it was very nice but mother told me that the here are nothing like what grow in the streets of when she was there she had two white as tall as a horse with ears as long as my arm and great brown eyes that look at you as if

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they wondered whether you could be so cruel as to want them to trot through dusty streets on a hot day mother often said she would like to have a pair of like she had in and were their names together with a little carriage to hold her and me buy her the whole with my and we ll go driving about all by ourselves through and well that s pretty selfish of you s id who keenly realized the joys of the situation as pictured by the boy only he would liked to have the company behind and they were all and always thinking of a woman waiting and watching in lord francis with wistful eyes thought of love with dumb pain with eager desire to see her smile hear her voice and feel her arms him lord having some doubt as to whether she was worthy of it all and de well de did not talk of the direction her thoughts took it was so near the dinner hour that it had been by h decided to dinner till the and passengers bound for had left the tender was close in sight rolling and in a manner that seemed inscrutable to the throng leaning over the the magnificent stood immovable as a stone pier on the rolling tide the tender was speedily with innumerable bags containing the some thirty passengers followed amid hearty from newly made friends left behind and many were to meet again in london or paris with the last group there stepped toward the a tall figure a woman closely veiled carrying a small bag in her hand just as she was stepping on the the tender gave a that the plank two passengers already on it narrowly escaped the disaster they had just managed to on to the box of the tender when amid loud cries of stand back addressed to the group pressing forward on to the half a dozen ready hands hauled the out of its position and made things smooth again once more the tall veiled figure pressed forward when one of the passengers roughly her by the shoulder and thrust her back not this journey madame he said seizing her wrist with a grip of iron your passage is all the way to liverpool and we may as well make the most of the journey the woman by so the fate of turned on her with the fury of a for a moment it seemed as if she would with him and since she was nearly his height it would have been a desperate conflict probably ending with a death grip under water for a moment the idea flashed over the mind of de she felt her game was up wearied with the of her unused condition she did not care how soon she handed in the but she remembered that she had still one card to play over which she had in the dead unhappy night as she lay wide awake in her narrow berth perhaps you d better have let me go she said to the man whose plain clothes disguised his of police then she sauntered slowly back conscious that among the crowd on the deck curiously watching this episode was the man she really began to love with desperate affection now that her charms no longer him and he was counting every mile that separated him from the white rose cottage in where his wife awaited his coming i wish i was certain to live for ten years or even for three said lord francis in the low voice that had recently become habitual to him the two friends were by h w walking up and down the deck smoking their last cigar four bells had sounded and they had the deck pretty much to themselves save for the ghostly figures of the watch that moved with noiseless footsteps to and fro when they came on deck after dinner the moon was shining and far away on the bow they could clearly discern the coast of ireland lying like a dark shadow on the water even as they walked and talked the scene changed it had not at any time of the day been perfectly calm as the passengers on the tender found as they made their way into harbor now it was blowing pretty fresh from the bringing up angry looking clouds that from time to time hid the moon promising presently finally to obscure its light they were drawing up to point and were soon in the race of the channel by this time they had found their sea legs and though the wind played with their cigars as they paced about and they gave up the attempt to keep pace in walking they held on s spirits rising with the boisterous breeze ten years old man why you re only thirty at most turned middle â good for another thirty at least â and why should you not see years and ten because said lord francis i m pretty well played out at thirty ive warmed both hands at by the fate of the fire of life and burnt them too you remember when we were in paris last year going to see in the play de often of late one scene comes back to me the silent which on the eve of the of paris the daylight even has deserted upon it enters and who at his friend who has taken the trouble to get wounded in the struggle with the closing round the capital suddenly a military band approaches playing a march knew when a child in far off at sight of the marching along at quick step to meet the enemy of the country s heart and bursts the bonds in which his nature had permitted itself to be bound you remember how he steps forward and claims a place in the ranks qui they ask looking at his fine

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gentleman s clothes i am he said a man who has lived ill and would die well that am i but it would not be meet that i should die just yet i ve been a fool and worse but if i had only three years two years one year to pay some of my long debt to i wouldn t care about what might follow it s been all my fault from first to last i want time to tell her that and to make some slight amends nonsense you are perhaps g shall we turn in by h s you might as we shall be in the early in the morning and there s packing up to be done but ril take another turn good night well if you send me to bed good night i another ten minutes in the fresh air will take the out of you for another hour lord francis up and down unconscious of the cigar in his mouth thinking of the time when he first met of the years of happiness that followed their wedding day of s appearance on the scene of the little in the that slowly and made all the music of their young lives mute softly he sang to himself farewell farewell a river flows between going to be a nasty night said a figure out of the that enveloped the fore part of the deck over which the spray drifted as the plunged her head into the angry sea and lifting it again shook it as a the water off its front so it seems n said lord francis but we re not far off port now good night good night my lord better not leave things loose about in your to night slept the sleep of a man with a quiet conscience and a good who had passed by the fa te of the greater part of the day on deck of a ship over which swept strong air blown across the broad atlantic he rarely but on this particular night some two hours after he had lord francis good night and turned into the he had all to himself he began tossing about with a great weight on his mind if he had a weakness in the matter of personal dress it was upon his stockings of rich red wool and as is the salt sea sand he had a leg and missed no opportunity when out of town of displaying it with the advantage of dress he was dreaming now that a great calamity had befallen his store of stockings a spark from the of the steamer which as he went below he had seen streaming fire into the dark night had in the unaccountable way peculiar to dreams fallen upon his bundle of stockings in his box in the and they were hopelessly in vain he struggled to rise seize a of water and them something held him down by the chest and he could not move his terror seemed to have communicated itself to the passengers and crew hurried feet trampled on deck overhead voices sounded in eager talk and the n s whistle rose above the row of the waves that beat aft the shattered port light possibly help would come in time and some of the stockings by h w ss would be saved a rattle at the door almost awake cried come in an invitation quite superfluous for the door was burst open look alive sir shouted the n entering hurriedly ship s and the boats are being got ready and said wide awake now the nightmare of the burning stockings uplifted the young un s all right i seed to him first and his father got him in tow better on as many things as you can it ll be bad in the boats till morning breaks was not long in dressing foregoing in his haste the luxury of his stockings which he had full time to regret when he went on deck a strange sight met his eye the passengers fully two hundred in number were together aft of the bridge most of the women and all showing signs of hasty dressing from one of the near the wheel a dense volume of smoke poured forth now and then with increasing lit up by tongues of flame on either side of the a line of blue plied and bucket in ineffectual struggle with the growing furnace a singular prevailed there was a murmur of conversation among the closely packed crowd of passengers a sharp word of command from the first in charge of the fire rose from time to time above the howling wind by s the fa te of and the war of the turbulent waves that dashed against the as if possessed with passionate desire to get at the flames his father holding one hand and lord the other stood on the outer fringe of the crowd aft as near as he could get to the fire which he was evidently enjoying as the best thing he had seen since the whale disappeared the captain and second officer stood on the bridge and through the window could be seen grim faces of the blue giants whose curiously cheery voices answered the captain s with the cry steady it is sir the captain leaning over the rail of the bridge and addressing the crowd of trembling but quiet passengers said friends below there i hope you re all comfortably wrapped up this is a bad job but there s no danger if it had come an hour later we should have made for and put in all right but with this wind and the start the fire has got i don t think we could carry on so far the land is close by if there were daylight we could see it the ship is now making for the spit of land at the back of

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there is a smooth mile of beach there which if i can make it will bring the ship up comfortably and you can walk ashore in your slippers led a cheer for the gallant captain which was taken up by the passengers and seemed to do them an immense amount of good by h w after this the wonderful once more fell over the doomed ship that sped onward swiftly through the sea that was now as rough as the n s had pictured on the crowded deck all was as orderly as if according to their daily habit the passengers had to take a look round before going down to dinner the wind now blowing what even a sailor would have admitted to be half a gale whistled through the creaking the course taken by the ship brought it more and sometimes a gust blew the smoke from the burning under and across the bridge choking the passengers and hiding the captain and second mate from view but for the most part it blew clear away over the side leaving the vessel and forward clear enough land ahead sung out the man the sing song voice of the man throwing the lead showed how nearly they were approaching the coast the outline of which was recognized in the deeper shadow on the horizon half speed the captain to the engine room but the half speed of an atlantic soon bridges space and nearer and nearer came the dark line of the coast straining eyes looking out from beneath the bridge could make out the outline of a mountain at the foot of which the smooth beach that was to give them safety and rest nearer and nearer it by the fate of came and higher and higher rose hope nothing between it and them but the sea rough enough but nothing to the majestic even with its full of fire the water steadily as the monotonous cry of the marked minute by minute the suddenly even as the sang out his last record a crash through every of the ship the came as suddenly to a halt as if she had run up against the crowd were knocked down over each other as if a giant hand had swept across them at the level of the chin the captain leaning against the rail of the bridge on the side was pitched headlong into the sea that proved the worst thing of all the second officer left in command on the bridge at this critical moment to the engine room go full speed that seemed an order natural enough though the captain would not have been led into so fatal a mistake the had run on to a jagged rock which rose like a spear head out of the sea and had literally itself in the of the steamer had the ship been kept head on it might have hung suspended the jagged rock serving to the wound it had made at least long enough for the boats to be launched and to quit the ship by h the mighty screw its action in obedience to the word of command slowly but irresistibly drew the ship back the terrified passengers could hear the iron plates open and barely was the vessel free from the rock than she began to go down by the head there was a rush for boats they were ready and in perfect order but with the sea rushing in in tons through the great gap in the there was neither time nor opportunity for the of the now terrified passengers it was not generally known that the captain had gone overboard and the officers expecting him to issue instructions hesitated somehow boats filled and four were safely launched the two last had not far to fall from the height of the the being now almost level with the water just as their touched the sea the great steamer went down by the head them under as soon as the collision came had darted forward to the spot where he had seen standing fearing no evil for his hand was in his father s when he came up to them lord had disappeared â swept away they in the rush for the boats as he made his way aft caught sight of de and her escort into one of the boats come along til carry said by o the fate of yes but let the women go first so we will but not all the men said grimly the crowd fighting round the nearest boat my lord and you sir said the n coming by take my advice don t be in a hurry about the boats she s settling down in five minutes there won t be a above water line but the and will be aloft safe and dry till morning fetch young un along and til give you a hand up the there s nothing more i can do below look alive and hold on tight you ll feel a in another moment with a final forward the ship went down and the waves at last had their will on the mass in the from secure if not comfortable quarters in the lord francis and saw the two heard the roar of the waters as they closed over the burning and listened with chilled hearts to the shrieks of drowning men and women that filled the air it seemed a long night but it was really only three hours before with the morning light a bound for liverpool after giving a fair start down channel to its charge caught sight of the wreck and took off what at first seemed to be the only and said as he sat in the captain s by h w cabin forgetful of his own state and lord s hands and feet if we had been four strings of pearls hanging on to the they couldn t have

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been more delighted to have plucked us off by chapter by alive or dead the liverpool streets were as usual muddy crowded and but had they been of bliss they could not be traversed by men with hearts than those of and when they set foot on english soil the gladness was of a sober sort and tinged perhaps by anxiety for the future and sorrow for the past but there was a natural brought about by the recollections of the peril that they had escaped and triumph in the thought of s restoration to his mother s arms they took a friendly leave of the captain and officers of the ship which had brought them to liverpool and then proceeded to the nearest hotel where they intended to stay for a few hours only in order to their pockets and shall we telegraph to frank asked wistfully and replied in a tone why of course or she will be hearing some version of the story and will imagine that she has lost forever by don t put too much in the said lord francis still in an uncertain voice safe and well we are bringing him back to you to day and old man sign it with both our names she owes his safety to you rather than to me sign it by your name alone if you like i have no right a little bitterly to claim her gratitude stood silent for a moment was generous but did he not after all speak truth surely he â â had some right to s gratitude it was all that would be left to him when the husband and wife were reconciled he felt sure that that reconciliation would take place and no place would then be left for him save that of a useful friend yes he was tempted for a moment to claim the whole of s gratitude for the safety of her boy but how could he let frank be more generous than himself he laughed slightly when that little pause was ended and shook his head lady francis will question me pretty closely and will soon find out where credit is due he said there is no question as to which of us has suffered most in her cause and s and he signed the with s name alone they had thought of going south that evening but an unexpected delay arose by the fate of ell a symptoms of a severe cold on and the doctor who was immediately summoned declared that it would be the height of folly to let him travel for a day or two it s nothing serious but you cannot be too careful where children are concerned he said and the boy has had a chill you too glancing at lord francis don t look quite fit for a long journey i am fit for anything all i want is to be with my wife again the doctor glanced at him in a way and shook his head he knew something of the history â as who did not â and did not understand the young man s anxiety to seek out his wife even for yourself i should not recommend the journey until you have had a rest he said and as your little boy is so you cannot do better than keep yourselves quiet and warm for a day or two until he is recovered he spoke privately to afterward the little fellow is not seriously ill you need not be alarmed he said i am making a trifle worse of his case than i need in order to detain lord francis for a short time i suppose you see for yourself how much he is in need of rest and care the fire must have given him a severe nervous shock he is not strong i hoped that he by be better if i could get him to and leave him in good hands do you mean his wife s hands the doctor asked abruptly i do he will never be happy till he has seen her then why not telegraph to her to come here the great thing just now with lord francis is to keep his mind easy if her presence would soothe and calm him you had better send for her at once especially as the boy is if he should be excited or agitated however i would not answer for the consequences hesitated i do not know he said slowly whether she could travel so far she has been ill â and and perhaps â she may not care to come eh said the shrewd old doctor you must excuse me if she is a friend of yours but the fact is everything i have heard of lady francis leads me to conclude that she will not put herself much out of her way for her husband s sake you do not know her said warmly then with some difficulty a feeling of he added i believe that she is very much attached to lord francis and would come at once if she thought that he was ill then telegraph said the doctor anything rather than let him travel in his present state of by he fate of nerves and heart it might be the death of him and with a nod he took himself off leaving more than ever perplexed by the duty that on him what could he say to that would neither frighten nor if he told her that was ill she would be frantic with alarm if he said that lord francis needed her she might shrink away with wounded pride he thought of the way in which she had spoken to him of her husband and decided that he could not hope to by his name as he had said to the doctor she would come if he told her that lord francis were ill but if he

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summoned her on that account how explain her appearance to himself every way seemed to be surrounded by difficulties at last in desperation he wrote and the following knocked up by lord francis also can you come to us in order to save delay the mother s heart in her said to himself will supply all that is in this message and we shall have her with us tomorrow he felt so much more at ease when the message was sent off that he turned into the smoking room to glance at the papers and smoke a cigar before going back to was under the care of a nurse and was probably resting he had no special responsibility with by respect to either of them at present and he was glad to feel himself free the papers already contained long accounts of the fire of the of the boats and of the rescue of the four found clinging to the wreck a list of the drowned passengers and crew was and here caught sight of the name of de so she went back to her old title did she he mused well one obstacle to s happiness has been removed now that that woman is dead let us hope that she is dead indeed it would be no kindness to her or to others to hope for her safety his eye had fallen on a short paragraph which at first he had overlooked here it was stated that three or four of the crew had managed by clinging to floating or other pieces of to come safe to land and that it was possible that more lives had been preserved in this way than could at present be ascertained there was no mention however of any woman among the and as the wish might sound it must be confessed that heartily desired to be assured that de would trouble no man s peace again the rest of the day dragged slowly by â slowly because he and were both at the delay caused by poor s illness they by the fate of were longing to reach the sunny shores of to enter that rose cottage and to pour their stories â each in his own way â into the ears of the woman dearer to them than any other in the world and was not by the hope that cherished â namely that forgetting her past injuries in the love of her child would fly at once to nurse him and to clasp her newly rescued husband in her arms painful as this might be to personally he was unselfish enough to rejoice in the prospect of s future happiness but lord francis who did not know of the later grew irritable in his state of suspense and anxiety and would neither rest by day nor sleep by night had counted confidently on a return from as soon as possible and he was annoyed and disappointed when another day dragged slowly by without any news of her did she harbor so much resentment against lord francis that she would not even come to him when their child was in danger s anger burned a little at the thought he could not believe that would be thus and was distinctly worse he was feverish and wandered in his talk calling out for and imploring to be taken away from mrs in a way that was pitiful to hear there were hints too of that darker time when by he had been left alone with men and women of a type â brutes in human guise who starved and beat him and swore at him because he would neither lie nor steal this part of his story his friends had to make him forget but when his brain was clouded by fever the frightful images of those terrible weeks in a new york came back to him with force and it seemed as though only the presence of the mother for whom he cried so constantly could chase them away and yet did not come on the third day desperate and resolved to telegraph again he had seen in the newspapers some accounts of a gale which had been raging in the channel and it occurred to him that the boats might perhaps have ceased running which would of course give a reason for s silence and yet it seemed to him impossible that she should have heard nothing yet or been unable to send him any answer he would telegraph again but he would go to first it was possible â just possible â that she might have written to him from the look of agitation on frank s face and the with which he grasped a letter in his hand fancied at first that his conjecture had been correct what is it he said hurriedly your wife â is she coming does she know that you are safe by the fate of heaven knows she makes no sign no the letter is not from her his face was so pale his aspect so disordered that could only gaze at him in surprise and seeing his expression frank suddenly thrust the letter into his hand see there he said what does it mean do you think there is anything in it if it should be true â of my darling â what have we done and he sank down in a chair beside the table and buried his face in his hands opened the letter which was written on coarse blue paper and in a common envelope outside it looked like a s circular there was no stamp no it was simply with s name and addressed to the hotel the writing was evidently disguised many of the words were printed others written in a sloping hand i will not tell you who i am the letter began or you may not believe me nevertheless i speak the truth i am

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the only person except lady who can the mystery of count de s death from her lips you will never hear it will you hear it from mine she is innocent of his death i can convince you of that she is another do you not want to know his name i was in the on the night when the murder took place i saw and heard all that occurred by if you want to clear your wife s name come at four o clock this afternoon to no s row street then i will tell you all one who knows the truth the paper dropped from s hands if de were living i should say that she wrote this letter he remarked but how he added rather to himself than to frank how could she know looked up his face was haggard and there was a wild light in his eyes if she lives he said she shall pay for all that she has done there is no that she has been saved broke in i don t think a single woman was rescued no frank this is a plant and of course you will take no notice of it no notice of it but do you think that i would leave a stone where s honor is in question for heaven s sake don t go cried hotly there can be no possible good in it what can there be for you to hear unless you doubt your wife s story his brow became dark and menacing as he spoke but he was more anxious than angry he and knew the truth and he was bound by her wishes to keep it secret from lord francis was it possible that anyone else should know surely he said to himself no other soul on earth by â the fate of now living had an of the truth but at all he would try to prevent from keeping so suspicious and so unworthy a frank however had made up his mind and did not respond to any of s somewhat arguments and when the clock struck three he took up his hat and went out without saying whither he was bound but was only too certain that he had gone to the place mentioned in the letter while he still stood hesitating whether to follow and force his company on him whether he would or no there was a sound outside the door which made him start â the rustle of a woman s dress the well known of a woman s voice my is he here and frank â frank had arrived she came in radiant with hope and joy holding out her hands to who came slowly forward and clasped them in his own my she repeated ah how happy you have made me i shall have both and frank again take me to them at once i cannot bear another instant of delay by chapter xxii by george street sir oh yes first to the right second to the left and then third to the right frank nodded his thanks and hurried away trying hard to retain the of rights and in his confused brain while the policeman whom he had questioned stood looking after him and beating his gloves what does he want down street no for these had not noticed the man s manner but he could not help hesitating for a moment as he reached the street named and he hesitated again as he paused at the open door of no lo â open as he thought like a trap but the intense desire to test the value of the promised information bore down everything else and forgetting the aspect of the coarse looking women and men about at doors and the comers of the streets he knocked sharply i will not go in he said to himself by the fate op â â my life may be of value to them if it is little to me a hard faced dressed woman of about forty came to the door looked him sharply up and down and before he could speak exclaimed oh youve the are you what do you mean yes i am the gentleman who was to come here by appointment then you re too late said the woman she s gone she â has â gone faltered the appointment was at four o clock it is not ten minutes past i can t help that she came back in a hurry in a cab fetched her bag and she s gone but the â the lady â is coming back not likely if you came you was to be shown into the room she took want to wait no said shortly as a strange suspicion flashed through his brain and he turned and hurried away had been saved and was this some fresh scheme on her part some fresh web spinning to him and keep him and apart he shivered slightly as he walked sharply away feeling that he must by an accident have escaped from some new peril and as he walked rapidly on through the crowded streets he saw nothing but the face of his fair young wife gazing by george at him reproachfully but with a yearning look of forgiveness in her eyes yes there must be forgiveness now he muttered i do not deserve it but for s sake and she is waiting for me â waiting till i go to her and on my knees beg her to come and she will come for the sake of our darling boy he was hurrying on with the busy tide of life by his side but his eyes had once more assumed their fixed look as he gazed straight before him seeing the chamber in which his child lay dying as it seemed his little head tossing from side to side while his monotonous ceaseless cry was for

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his mother he had room but for one thought now and that was to fetch to her boy s bedside and as the mental vision faded and his countenance resumed its aspect the influence remained he hesitated for a few moments thinking that he would first return to the hotel but feeling that if the boy were worse he would not have the strength of mind to leave him he forced himself in the other direction and made straight for the great station it was madness to expect her to come here he kept on muttering it was my duty to fetch her to our child his actions were almost mechanical but by the fate of throughout he felt as if some force other than his own natural impulse was him on in all that followed though there seemed nothing unusual in the aspect of the man who spoke to the on the great platform learned that the next london express started in half an hour and then paced the flags slowly till he could take a ticket and his place in a corner of one of the the rest was and there were times when he became unconscious it could hardly be called sleep and at those moments mingled with the rush and roar of the swift train he could hear s plaintive cry for her who would bring him back to life and health while in the faint distance as if him onward there was s sweet half face waiting always waiting until he should come ever the same whether sunk in repose or awake and staring out at the landscape there was with her great eyes silently calling him to her feet yes all â visionary â of a great station of a short journey through the great city then of the rail once more and then of the steamer calmly gliding down water the lights here and there then the darkness and the cool soft light breeze his burning temples as he leaned over the forward with fixed eyes waiting for the by george morning and the first glimpse of the sunny island which he loved always confused and but there were memories of the dancing waters of dimly seen white rocks and of a great blaze of light flashing out at intervals with electric glare and seeming to sweep the sea then a long long period of darkness in a rough tossing sea whose cool spray ever dashed in his face and at last a pale gray changing to a warm glow then broad sunshine and at last the rocky and his destination looking a very paradise set in the deep blue sea the sight of the island gave him hope and his brain cleared for the time he saw placing her hands in his eager to follow him to their child and for one moment he closed his eyes and clung fast to the vessel s side for there was a sensation of joy that turned him giddy it seemed greater than he could bear the port at last and the tedious landing for it was low water but he sprang down into the first boat that came alongside and feeling calmer now he landed but as he stepped ashore staggered and nearly fell a curious feeling of irritation came over him as he saw a man smile and he turned upon him don t be cross sir said the man you re not the first who has felt dizzy after being you ll be all right after breakfast by the fate of breakfast the man s words rang in his ears and he remembered that it was many hours since anything had passed his lips but he thought no more of his growing weakness and had himself driven to the rose hung cottage where was waiting for him with outstretched hands how long the time seemed and how misty and dim everything looked the sun shone brilliantly but there was a something pressing as it were upon his brain a strange pain too at his heart and that feeling of which seemed to overcome him from time to time at last the cottage where he had left her â his darling â yes the only woman he had ever loved and he sat up eager to spring out â to tell her that his mission had been faithfully performed but he had to avail himself of the driver s arm and up to the door his eyes wildly searching the window for s face then once more as in a dream meeting him and a voice speaking the lady no sir she left here in the bad weather two days ago by the boat heard no more for a black cloud closed him in and when he recovered consciousness he was looking in the pleasant face of the elderly little doctor who had attended his wife that s better my dear sir he said you are suffering from exhaustion that s right â no no you must drink this you are not used to by george the sea i suppose it does prostrate some and leave them weak mrs â lady â my wife gasped the wretched man she has left the island my dear sir and really you must good heavens what are you going to do return at once said trying to rise impossible you are not fit to travel must travel but there is no boat till to morrow morning between nine and ten and even if there were believe me my dear sir it would be madness it is my duty to tell you that you seem to me to be developing symptoms that the doctor said no more for frank had sunk on the couch insensible once more and the next day s boat had gone when weak so that he had to support himself with a stick he made his way slowly along the cliffs after a

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to at the hotel at liverpool telling him of his state of his failure and imploring him to send news he knew that it would be hours before an answer could come and to try and calm himself he was slowly walking along the path gazing out to sea at the swiftly coming tide and thinking of the long period that had to be got over before he could take boat the next morning and escape from what now seemed to him a prison by o the fate of sick at heart and angry at his weakness he sat down upon one of the blocks of stone that rose from among the just as footsteps approached from the direction in which he had come and a strange foreign looking man thin ghastly and whose ragged garments were hardly hidden under a rough jacket looked at him sharply as he passed and raised his cap showing his closely cut hair acknowledged his salute saw in him a beggar and his hand involuntarily went to his pocket but the man made a quick gesture and passed on one as wretched perhaps as i thought and then as if moved by some strange impulse he rose and followed the man who somehow had a strange fascination for him the path turned there and the man disappeared beyond a projecting rock but reappeared behind the rock as if to avoid being seen it was curious but passed on and left the man bending downward as if to fill a pipe but the man and his gestures passed out of s thoughts instantly for as he went on past the rock in turn he stopped short at the sight of a well dressed lady approaching him rapidly leaning down and talking to a little sharp faced peasant child whom she was leading by one hand while she carried a small bag in the other by george gasped as a great dread of some fresh assailed him she started drew herself up erect and then with a look of wonder in her eyes which gave place to a look of delight ah man ck i she cried then you have followed me then to the wondering child go back to the cottage i do not want you yet i will fetch you soon the little one of an old friend frank she continued the handsome smiling face suddenly turned livid the jaw dropped and with her eyes dilated de stood gazing past as if at some object at his back then clutching the bag to her breast as if to protect herself she uttered a wild animal like cry of dread turned and dashed down among the rocks where a track led to the sea almost at the same moment a hoarse voice cried to in french take care the poor child do not let her see but as the man literally plunged down the track the child uttered a piercing shriek covered her little face with her hands and dropped down upon her knees was for the moment and then as he heard another cry from below he forgot his weakness a thrill of vigor ran through him and he staggered to the commencement of by the fate of the track the woman was hateful to him now he had looked upon her as a serpent in his path but still she had loved him in her way she was a woman and he could not stand and not raise a hand to defend her from the attack of the wretch whose aspect had filled her with such horror he looked to right and left there was not a soul in sight while at his feet the sea came rushing and in amid the wild jagged rocks a wave every now and then rising up and falling with a roar scattering the spray high in air in his weak state it was madness to attempt the descent one at which he would have hesitated even when well and strong while now as he lowered himself down clinging to rock after rock and grasping at a handful of the tangled growth among their he felt that the thrill of strength was passing rapidly away but still he went on with the thought in his mind that even had been present and known of her enemy s peril she would have urged him to try and save her from this man but now he felt that it could not be robbery it must be something more and again as from below there arose a hoarse despairing cry for help he asked himself was this another of s victims and â heavens the thought chilled him with horror the man refused his â he was no common beggar â did it mean some terrible revenge by george the idea thrilled him with another wave of strength and he went on lowering himself down feeling that those who had gone before must have fallen for there was no track now he was on a slope where a false step would have sent him headlong down to where the waves were racing in among the broken of granite with and and clinging and among which every now and then were the long of ruddy or olive tossed here and there like the shaggy hair of strange sea monsters coming in with the tide had lowered himself down till his strength totally failed and he sank upon a ledge giddy with weakness and excitement as he looked about him in vain for those he sought at that moment a huge wave broke with a heavy roar and in the following noise and rush of the waters he lay down on his st reaching out over the edge of the shelf to peer below for the thought came upon him now that both must have reached the bottom and have been swept away a thrill ran through him again for there not

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thirty feet below him in a complete de among the rocks stood her face toward him her wrist thrust through the handle of the bag and her fingers with her delicate gloves all torn cramped as it were into the rough rock on either side as with her head thrown back and her by the fa te of body bowed she seemed to be at one and the same time clinging desperately to the rock and forcing herself as far back as she could from the man who stood a couple of paces away his arms crossed upon a breast high stone between them and his chin upon them as he gazed with a grim satisfaction at the face before him grasped the position and he saw too something glitter â it was the point of a knife which appeared between the rock and the man s elbow and i can do no more groaned to himself at that moment he made an effort to try and climb down and a terrible at his breast made him sink down again panting but his movement had caught s eye and she glanced up wildly and uttered a shriek frank frank she cried help help he is mad the man looked up and uttered a loud laugh as he said calmly in good english no i am not mad i am this woman s fate no no shrieked about whose feet the waves were now but she dared not stir lest the man should spring upon her with that knife frank for god s sake help he will kill me by george ee yes said the man as you killed me body and soul and buried me in a that was like a tomb no no i shrieked help frank you loved me once ha ha cried the man his arms and glaring at frank another lover poor wretch i pity you she has wrecked you as she wrecked me no no cried the wretched woman hoarsely help help there is no help woman thundered the man the end has come i claim the right of punishment i am her husband you can do nothing it is her fate and so he continued as he turned his terrible eyes on the shrinking woman you saw me away there yonder and fled here fool i knew you would come here to steal away my little â curse you why did i let her bear your name you would have stolen her away not that you loved her â you never loved you cannot â and it was to plant another sting another poisoned arrow in the breast of the poor trusting wretch who loved you you and committed crime for your sake but you could not escape me longer i followed you from yonder town i followed you step by step till i have you here before me dying â do you hear wretch â dying before my eyes by the fa te of no no for pity s sake she shrieked her thin voice hardly rising above the roar of the coming tide frank call for help he will murder me yes â call call loud there is none to hear no one can help her now this is the time for which i prayed in the cold silent at â for which i prayed as i toiled and it has come â come at last dearest wife â ah how beautiful you are â will you embrace me once again thus with the knife between us the to my breast the point to thine shall we clasp each other in our arms once more or shall i wait and see the waves slowly rise and rise and rise till they sweep above your head she uttered no sound now for the moment but kept her eyes fixed upon him while strove vainly to call for help â to go to the woman s aid but every nerve seemed chained and he could only gaze down as the man glided round the rock which parted him from his wife holding the knife against his breast then heard above the roar of the waves s voice rang out as she still clung there her back to the rock her arms outstretched it was the cry of the rat driven to the corner from which there is no and in his agony lay there watching the d ment of the tragedy perfectly helpless to save by chapter by our nineteenth century as we are all aware is nothing if not spend days and nights in examining into the properties of some apparently unimportant compound and do not abandon their task until they have ascertained the exact proportions in which are blended in its composition in the same way men of science of motives and these curious lay the french take some complicated sentiment of the human heart and twist it round and turn it inside out and themselves in efforts to trace it back to its origin through the influences of or or a of white or red in the blood their are not always as fertile in results as those of the for in every human organization there enters an unknown quantity which the calculations of all the and combined nevertheless they carry on their labors and it may be said of them as of the of old that if they do not find s by s the of the philosopher s stone they make at least occasional discoveries which help to bring about a better understanding of human needs and weaknesses it is unnecessary to say that the sentiment of love or the condition of a man or woman under the influence of this sentiment is the favorite object of their and the more it is entangled with other sentiments such for instance as those of duty or honor or pride or passion the better they are pleased for like the with

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their unknown compound they can give full vent to their skill in pulling it to pieces and proving to their own satisfaction that it is made up of all manner of minor mingled sentiments and is in fact nothing but a mere of inherited instincts and impulses the state of s mind during his friend s absence upon his fruitless and quest in was just such as a scientific french would have loved to and explain in so doing he would have performed a feat of which the object of his investigation was himself utterly incapable for for reasons best known to himself shrank from making too close an examination of his feelings and desires at this particular period it might have been that he was afraid of facing the conclusion which at the bottom of them there was a small balcony at the liverpool hotel just outside the room wherein was being into by by his mother where our hero would sit smoking his cigar until late in the afternoon following out a train of thoughts that he to drive away upon the wreaths of smoke drifting before him into the void perhaps they were more impressions than thoughts half sad half pleasant that it was safer not to reduce to shape he was conscious throughout of a dominant wish that the present time could be prolonged into an indefinite future not at the cost of sickness and suffering to his unfortunate friend but only perhaps at the cost of a of the actual which prevented the boats from putting to sea he had not willed that his signature should a upon the to in connection with her husband s but since fate and to say the truth frank s folly in running off upon a wild goose chase of his own had combined to leave him in charge he could not but feel that there was a certain poetical justice in the situation which it was to enjoy to the full while it lasted he pondered a good deal upon s character which seemed to have revealed itself to him in a new light he remembered that her first question her first cry as she rushed into the hotel had been for her child it was only afterward that she had shown any solicitude concerning the fate of s father then had she not resigned by the op herself to the lot â nay had she not chosen it â of a self constituted grass widow for years her child however she had kept by her side and as far as could be seen he had satisfied all the needs of her heart for was of those who believed that the of s had had nothing to say to her heart thought they might have amused her vanity could she belong he asked himself to the order of women of whom speaks when he says that in certain natures the instinct of the instinct of and that the woman ceases to be wife and mother and becomes mother and wife or possibly mother only in that case any man who should prove himself a true friend and protector of her little boy might be sure of having a warm second place in her heart it was certainly to be that s natural protector was not better fitted his responsible office though lord had shown bursts of affection for the lad and had undergone in new york a useless in his behalf which a man who to speak familiarly had kept his head upon his shoulders would have known how to avoid he had not been a father to him in the true sense of the word he had not once to reach the mother s heart through the child s during all the years that he had been separated from her how differently would by have acted in his place but then as he reflected he would never have parted from at all he would have given her no reason no excuse for desiring to leave him and as for those of her he would not have taken them too seriously for he would have felt convinced that she would them â would leave them behind very likely with the cutting of her wisdom teeth well life s experience had done for her what a husband s guidance had failed to do she was reasonable now and might develop into a delightful companion for a man of sense it was a pity thought again but i do not believe he the thought that frank should have been so wanting in this quality a fine fellow without doubt a man to lead a forlorn hope in an emergency only forlorn hopes are unfortunately rare as a grain of common sense would have been much more to the purpose and this grain was unhappily just what s husband lacked when his friend s were not vaguely themselves upon the smoke wreaths before him the recollection of a certain episode would take their place which never failed to bring a curious half smile upon the s face not a smile of the lips but an unconscious of the skin in the neighborhood of the eyes which conveyed the impression of some inward pleasure the by ttie f episode had occurred the first morning that had been well enough to be taken out in a bath chair to park his mother and walking on either side the little boy had a sailor sitting on a bench with a smoked out pipe in his hand lacking perhaps the means of it and having the vision of his friend the n before his eyes and a full comprehension gathered from his night upon the mast of the dangers that lie in wait for those who go down to the sea in ships had asked that his bath chair might be stopped while he pulled out his new purse and extracted one of the his

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mother had put into it for the sailor the man s gratitude had been unbounded he had taken off his hat to all the group under the evident impression that it was a family party and may all your sir and my lady s take after this little chap he had said at parting it s the best wish a grateful heart can salute ye with had blushed a deep rose color and had felt an pang of and regret as he walked away he would have liked to come across the sailor again not to correct him of his error but to reward him for it another point connected with the present aspect of affairs which it was pleasant to be reminded of was the way in which seemed to lean upon him she would open the by â door that communicated with the balcony at all hours of the day to ask him to decide this or that question for her might not be let off his which he hated and have ome r chicken did mr think it would hurt him to have his sofa wheeled on to the balcony â and oh he mind just the drop of the new cough mixture which was quite a color from the last and telling her whether he thought the might not have made some mistake and all these questions settled with a authority it was delightful to exercise he prescribed roast chicken in the place of the he wheeled s sofa himself on to the balcony and he swallowed a whole of cough mixture without a murmur inwardly flattered that should him the of a slave of the worst of the roman for was he not her slave in all things her smile took away all the bitter flavor from the and the subsequent hours during which she sat by the side of s sofa seemed to pass like a pleasant dream what he most enjoyed was the atmosphere of domestic retirement and freedom that pervaded them would insist upon his continuing to smoke his cigar and so at home did he feel in her presence that it had actually happened to him to close his eyes behind the times he was pretend by the fa te of ing to read and to allow himself the full measure of the forty though why forty more than fifty or a hundred i for one have never been able to discover before he opened them again for her part would remain silent or speak just as the spirit moved her sometimes she would read a sentence out loud from her book an old copy of as it happened taken from the hotel library and ask him if he could make it clear for her at other times she would take no notice of his presence but would occupy herself entirely with loved to watch her at these moments from behind his paper and seek fresh proofs of the infinite variety of her charm he did not wonder that the little boy adored his mother she was his and companion as well as his nurse and guardian the stories she told him when he was tired of playing at with transparent little fingers that trembled from weakness were delightful there was always some point in them which provoked a of laughter from both together that found it good to listen to there were times too when the conversation would become general that is to say when would be the chief speaker and when he would tell in his little voice of the wonderful and terrible things he had seen in the new york moved with pity for the white terror by on s face would essay to divert his attention to other topics he could not however prevent the child from to his mother the manner in which he had been ultimately found and rescued they wouldn t let me go out of the room he said earnestly we was all together in a room upstairs oh up such a lot of stairs that was the man s name and and me it was only one room and that was all our house the other people only had one room for all their house too and they gave me a horrid old in the corner to sleep on and i had no toys not the least little bit of a toy to play with and i did get so tired all day long and it smelt so horrid in the room you can t think and one day me on the with a plate â there was only two plates she had â and it broke all to pieces and i cried so you can t think i cried and i cried and i asked god to send you to me i went on asking him and begging him all the time but i don t think he heard me for there was lots more rooms and more oh ever so many over ours before you got to the roof and one day there was knocked at the door a great loud knock and called out there s the black man come for you hide for your life you â she often called me a â and i was so frightened i ran to my and threw a horrid old dress over me and nearly by the fate of smothered me wasn t there and what do you think when the men came in i heard a voice that wasn t a bit like a black man s voice i d often heard the black men talking you know there was a black butler where i was staying before in new york but this voice wasn t a bit like that and so i just peeped like this from under the clothes and oh there was mr and a lot of standing inside the room and i gave a great shriek

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â didn t i mr and i kicked away the dress and i rushed right to where mr was standing and i held to his legs â i did and he took me right up and kissed me i put my arms round his neck and i cried and sobbed fit to break my heart and what do you think s voice conveyed notes of emphatic exclamation mr was crying too he was seed he might have added as you are crying now mother for as the climax of the narrative was reached broke down completely and instinctively held out her hand to the of her little boy could not refrain from pressing his lips to it and the action conveyed a thousand times more than the old custom is wont to convey under ordinary circumstances overcome by the recollections of the scene he had up flung his arms round his mother s neck and then held up his face to to be by kissed let s kiss altogether he said in the of the moment and was fain once more to turn away her head lest should see her in connection with all this portion of the disastrous chances that had experienced it will be noticed that no mention of his father crossed his lips it was only when the moving accident on board the was under discussion that frank s share in the strange history came to be and even then for the reason that s presence recalled his behavior on that dreadful night more strongly to s mind than that of his absent father or whether because his personality was in point of fact so much the stronger of the two it is certain that the child persistently assigned the of the principal hero to his friend notwithstanding the well efforts of the latter to transfer a portion of his to lord les ab ont forty says the french proverb and in a modified sense was unconsciously proving the truth of the proverb it must not be supposed however that neglected to inform herself in so far as was possible of her husband s movements the from had her of his safe arrival and of his enforced through bad weather the three days gale had grown into a five days gale and every morning by the fa te of to lady with an expression of becoming gravity the deplorable reports that had reached him from the authorities and insisted upon the of a channel crossing until the present winds should have as was growing better and had been promoted by the doctor from roast chicken to mutton and indeed to anything he fancied which was a larger order perhaps than the worthy man could have imagined lady accepted the delay in her husband s return with philosophy i am not sure that she would have shown equal resignation if there had been no one at hand to in her delight at s recovery but s interest in the event seemed almost to equal her own and his suggestion that the longer frank remained away the greater would be the joyful surprise that awaited him as regarded the amount of flesh that would have put on during his absence seemed the best of reasons for taking patience it is an ill wind says the old proverb that blows nobody any good the wind that the boats was blowing the roses into s cheeks and joy into s heart when it suddenly lifted and a great calm fell upon land and sea looking from the balcony saw the lake in the opposite park shining in the distance like a silver shield and reflected that at the by j same time next evening she would probably be watching it with her husband by her side was now running about in the full exercise of a s privileges and over his mother and his friend upon the principle that he was to live at his ease to do as he pleased and not to be worried the doctor says with the force of childhood he seemed to grow and and many were the conversations that had with upon the subject of his future training she noticed that a word from the latter went farther than a whole chapter of from herself and fell unconsciously into the habit of referring the little boy to his friend upon every occasion it may be that as she watched the sky this evening she was wondering what would do when the firm and gentle influence that was so to him was removed and altogether so absorbed was she in her thoughts that she did not even heard s step approaching until he was by her side then she turned her face by the sunlight glow and looked at him with questioning eyes s face was very grave there was bad news written in every line he held a in his hand and with aâ sudden sense of icy her forehead and cheeks took it from him without a word seeing her so white thought she was about to by the fa te of and forced her gently back into a chair the was brief as are wont to be even when infinite joy and sorrow are compressed into them lord seriously ill it said advise lady to come at once oh why was s first thought had she not gone sooner why had she allowed herself to take it for granted that the winds and the waves were the cause of the long delay might not her heart have told her that some stronger power than those was holding her husband back had she even once taken the trouble to for herself the list of the and on the boats what selfishness what what indifference alas she had been guilty of these were the that pursued her all the time she was making her hurried and eager preparations for departure had in his usual calm

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and kindly fashion to her against her worst fears but he could not enter into the causes of her remorse in morbid terror of being taken to sea again behaved nevertheless like a man when showed him that it was his duty to take care of his mother that very night he and the child who were so used by this time to passing for madame et b b that they almost felt like the personages they left liverpool for london by a privilege children share with animals is their inability to realize the meaning of sickness and sorrow or suffering at a distance though knew that he was being taken to see poor papa who was ill the knowledge did not bring home to him in any way the fact that he was in danger of losing his father s was the words seriously ill pursued her like a refrain throughout the whole long journey in vain represented to her that seriously did not signify the same thing as for the first time since he had known her she showed a disposition to resent his speeches on the steamer she hid herself away in the ladies cabin a proceeding which knew to be contrary to all her instincts and left him to smoke his cigar on the deck she would not even give him the solace of taking charge of but carried the little boy below into the atmosphere of the she had selected therefore with his thoughts alone he was better able than to realize the import of the which had summoned him to and it must be admitted that he did his utmost to bring himself to hope that the issue would be such as his conscience and his sense of honor demanded that he should hope for the consideration that frank s death would the might have been by the fa te of into the might be was one that he strove to put away it must not be as a he told himself that he approached the bedside of his friend sick perhaps unto death at this very moment aye sick unto death though even the doctor who attended poor stricken frank would have told you there was hope still what did the doctor know of the last terrible scene in a life s tragedy to which his patient had been a helpless witness before he dragged himself back with fever and to the cottage wherein he had taken up his temporary abode what if the love that had linked him for a space with de had had little in common with the holy flame that forever what if it had been nothing but the and of s hot fire it had yet left a recollection behind it which rendered it more terrible for him to see her tortured and slain than another and a better woman that second during which the lunatic s knife had been pressed against her heart the second during which she had shrieked aloud to him for help a hideous shriek more like a of far gone agony than a woman s shriek had utterly him he had realized in that short space all the horrors of a hell whence rescue is impossible yielding to the mad impulse of the moment he would have flung by himself down from the rock a useless victim had not the mighty ocean or possibly some stronger power still taken the matter into its hands and rendered all useless frank was conscious of a loud noise accompanied by a mighty and whirl of water that seemed to cover the whole tragic scene from his view the salt spray dashed aloft and closed his eyes when he opened them again and her husband were gone only a monster wave curling back into the ocean was sounding their whether the knife had entered her heart before the sea took her into its merciful embrace whether in her death struggle she had clutched at her murderer and dragged him down with her to her doom whether some mighty wave had risen unexpectedly and swept both away at the same instant could never be known the ocean seemed to be lashed into a sudden fury for a moment frank dimly discerned some object that might have been a woman s hair floating under the liquid green but was it s hair for all he knew it might have been only one of those waving of brown that the mighty atlantic wash into the english channel with trembling knees and a brain he staggered away from the scene of the tragedy it was fully two hours before he succeeded in dragging himself back to the cottage where he terrified the inmates by the aspect of by the fa te of his drawn white face and hollow eyes what had become of s sobbing child in one short instant he could not have told tended and put to bed by kindly hands he lay like the king with his face to the wall in the that followed upon the too great he had endured even the zest for life seemed to be leaving him there was only one thing left for which he would fain have endured a few hours longer and no one could give him the assurance that this thing he for was coming close and closer to him with every of the screw that drove the boat with its freight of passengers nearer and nearer to its destination by chapter xxiv by f whom the gods hate die hard it seemed that the doctor was right after all frank was feeling better distinctly better as he lay on the couch in the little sitting room of the rose hung cottage at the pain about the region of the heart had entirely disappeared under skilled medical treatment not for many a day had he felt more vigorous and hopeful there with his eyes fixed upon the door in

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momentary expectation that it would open and admit the slight girlish form of the wife from whom he had been so long and cruelly separated yes was on her way to him he would see her hold her in his arms there might be years of happiness yet in store for them â years in which to to forget surely the boat must have arrived by this time what was that sound he had not deceived himself there was a light step on the gravel outside she had come she was here in another instant she would be at his side the door was gently opened he rose to by io the op his feet with a smothered cry of joy rose â and the next instant sat down again heavily with a groan of irrepressible disappointment for the woman who stood there dazzling yet in her faded southern beauty was not it was de whom as he fondly imagined he had last beheld drowning in the blue green waves clasped in the fierce embrace of her injured and husband the blade of whose dagger was deeply in her bosom the shock of the surprise was considerable it was some time before he could recover sufficiently to express himself in appropriate terms witch arch that you are he groaned how came you here has the sea given you up once more ah frank she said with a soft musical accent of reproach i did not expect that question to say nothing of the form in which it was put from you of all men who should know how i escaped what seemed a well nigh inevitable doom if not the man who preserved my life i â preserve your life gasped in a bewilderment which under the circumstances was not unnatural you forgot soon sooner than i i can see the whole scene yet my horrible husband holding me closer closer still the glitter of the blade as it touched my breast you on the rock thirty feet above gazing with eyes that are fixed by p i l â oh but fixed she closed her own as she spoke with a like the of a and next without warning with a sudden bound you the distance between us hurled with a strength that in your shattered state seemed almost supernatural my would be into the sea with one hand while you supported my half fainting form with the other and then strode away up the cliff like one in a dream surely you remember frank shook his head he had no recollection whatever of the incident that this should be so will not surprise the reader who is already aware that he was subject under certain mental tions to in one of thâ m he had as we know destroyed a life in another he had preserved one â with an equal lack of of consciousness in either case even now he could not bring himself to credit her account any more than he could affect a decent degree of satisfaction at so a still there she stood alive â whoever had rescued her and it occurred to him presently that he might at least profit by the fact to some light upon a point which had cost him several anxious thoughts of late had she or had she not written that mysterious letter from s row if she had could she indeed prove that was of count de s blood by o op despite his loyalty to his wife he could not help preferring that her fair little hand should be even by a it was weakness no doubt but man is built up of prejudices which can neither be defended nor overcome he said you have not treated me altogether well you have done your best to keep my wife and me apart you have my only son my little you have had me shut up in a lunatic asylum i strongly suspect that you know more than you should about the fire which occasioned the total loss of the and all but a small of her and passengers â and yet â and yet i cannot but think that you still retain a lingering spark of true somewhere in spite of all by that spark i you solemnly to tell me as you hope for mercy whether you did or did not write that letter signed one who knows the truth i did she answered i do know it i have come here with the full intention of telling it and you can clear asked frank then i forgive you freely all the wrong you have done â only speak tell me all at once keep me no longer in suspense wait she said calmly and almost soothingly quite sure you can bear to know the truth by f sure he exclaimed if only did not the count what care i what other hand dealt the fatal blow de smiled a dark and mystic smile as she said slowly not even if the hand should prove to be your frank fell back with blue and lips it is a lie he said hoarsely a cruel lier it is the truth my poor frank i can prove it now as has been already stated this was mere conjecture on her part in spite of the assertion in her letter she had not been in the corridor of the prospect hotel when the tragic occurrence had taken place on the contrary she had been perhaps the most perplexed by frank s disappearance the next morning it was only subsequently that her feminine had supplied a partial solution of the mystery however her shot told with terrible effect prove it he repeated why after i had seen the count enter s room i went straight to my own i sat up in a stupor till daylight i did indeed and at daylight you fled said de softly only as

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far as paris he rejoined and i did not fly i in my ordinary manner at least you left your wife to go through the and trial alone by io the fate of i did not know of either until weeks afterward when showed me the reports not know of a sensation that was all england paris is scarcely my dear frank english papers are at the hotels i â i was ill he said feebly or else i was for weeks in the bay of or both â don t know even to his sick and bewildered brain his story began to seem rather a lame and one but my wife urged the wretched frank with a pitiful return of expressly admitted when she was examined and cross examined on her trial that she had done the deed herself in of her life i have never yet known with all her faults stoop to a direct falsehood how do you get over that lam a foreigner was the response and as such imperfectly acquainted with your criminal still i have always understood that persons for such are not entitled to give evidence in their own i may be wrong it should be explained here that de was wrong â or partly so there certainly is some such rule but it would be strange indeed if an advocate of s position and influence could not succeed in getting it set aside in favor of his fair when a his legal by f men had divined the effect of such an admission would inevitably the prisoner s triumphant release even on a trial for and the result as has been stated amply justified his calculations but the of s destroyed the last of hope for frank who was less familiar with the laws of his country than every well educated should be you are right he groaned i did it â i must have done it and â what on earth shall i do her face past its first youth as it was became and with tenderness as she bent over him and laid one slight burning hand on each of his shoulders i will tell you she said in her low accents if you stay here you are lost for after your rash visit to brown at scotland yard nay before that the have been upon your track it cannot be many years or months perhaps before they hunt you down even in such a remote island as and if you are arrested and brought to trial will be powerless to screen you any longer as your wife she will be unable to give her testimony in your behalf as you are doubtless aware i alone know your guilt but do you think that i would betray you why i love you frank i by the fate of think i have always loved you even when i seemed to hate you most and now that you have saved me from a hideous death oh my dear my dear how can i give you up no fly with me at once we will go to south africa where society is and than here and conventional prejudices do not exist come frank come ere it is too late the miserable man wavered on the couch he did not love this woman not at least with any passion deserving the name but he was in her power and how how could he face his lovely innocent with the consciousness that he was a murderer as he still hesitated there came a knock at the door which made them both start the whispered de already quick frank the back door but frank had not lost all his he drew himself to his full height with a proud dignity back doors are not exactly in my way he said let them take me i am ready to with the last remnant of my miserable ill spent life and the door flew open as he spoke â but it was no that entered came in in her pretty light frock her small cheeks flushed with a now rose tint and something of the old merry mischievous sparkle in her tan colored eyes for she had been laughing and talking on the way by f up with and telling him how she had fascinated the steward of the steamer until with her customary light she had almost forgotten the gravity of the errand on which she came s dark clean shaven face with the expression and the firmly jaw was visible over her slim shoulder but at the sight of de her old enemy and rival all the merriment and innocence in s lovely audacious face faded suddenly her eyes flashed with the gleam frank remembered so well her soft red mouth grew hard and set i perceive she said that i am de i was not aware that you were well enough to receive a visitor lord francis mr will you please take me away cried frank in an agony let me explain this this she this mocking devil has come to try and persuade me that it was i â who count de with my own hand tell me for pity s sake that you at least do not believe it for once in her life said with a touch of her old airy impertinence de has spoken the truth my dear frank i would willingly oblige you if possible but i cannot i saw you do it with my own eyes the unhappy frank staggered at these terrible words my own wife she says she â aw me by the fa te of fe do this thing how you must me how you must me but i frank she assured him earnestly i don t you in the least you poor unhappy boy because â oh listen frank â when you killed him i knew from your expression that you were in a trance

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a good five hundred years the house was thus exposed to the elements on all sides but though the wind up here blew when it did blow and the rain hit hard whenever it fell the various of the winter season were not quite so formidable on the as they were imagined to be by on low ground the raw were not so as in the hollows and the were scarcely so severe when the shepherd and his family who the house were pitied for their sufferings from the exposure they said that upon the whole they were less by and flames and than when they had lived by the stream of a snug neighbouring valley the night of march was precisely one of the nights that were wont to call forth these expressions of the level smote walls slopes and hedges like the shafts of and such sheep and animals as had no shelter stood with their to the wind while the tails of little birds trying to on some thorn were blown inside out like the end of the cottage was stained with wet and the drop the three strangers against the wall yet never was for the shepherd more for that cheerful rustic was entertaining a large party in of the of his second girl the guests had arrived before the rain began to fall and they were all now assembled in the chief or living room of the dwelling a glance into the apartment at eight o clock on this evening would have resulted in the opinion that it was as and comfortable a nook as could be wished for in boisterous weather the calling of its was proclaimed by a number of highly polished sheep without stems that were hung over the fireplace the curl of each shining varying from the type engraved in the pictures of old family to the most approved fashion of the last local sheep fair the room was lighted by half a dozen candles having only a trifle smaller than the which enveloped them in that were never used but at high days holy days and family the lights were scattered about the room two of them standing on the chimney piece this position of candles was in itself significant candles on the chimney piece always meant a party on the hearth in front of a back brand to give substance blazed a fire of thorns that like the laughter of the fool nineteen persons were gathered here of these five women wearing gowns of various bright hues lo the three strangers sat in chairs along the wall girls shy and not shy filled the window bench four men including the hedge carpenter new the and john a neighbouring the shepherd s father in law in the settle a young man and maid who were blushing over on a life companionship sat beneath the comer cupboard and an elderly engaged man of fifty or upward moved about from spots where his was not to the spot where she was enjoyment was pretty general and so much the more prevailed in being by conventional absolute confidence in each other s good opinion perfect ease while the finishing stroke of manner to a truly serenity was lent to the majority by the absence of any expression or trait that they wished to get on in the world their minds or do any thing whatever â which nowadays so generally the bloom and of all except the two extremes of the social scale shepherd had married well his wife being a s daughter from the valley below who brought fifty guineas in her pocket â and kept them there till they should be required for to the needs of a coming family this woman had been somewhat exercised as to the character that should be given to the gathering a sit still party had its advantages but an undisturbed position of ease in chairs and settles was apt to lead on the men to such an deal of that the three strangers they would sometimes fairly drink the house dry a dancing party was the alternative but this while avoiding the foregoing objection on the score of good drink had a disadvantage in the matter of good the by the exercise causing immense in the fell back upon the plan of mingling short dances with short periods of talk and singing so as to hinder any rage in either but this scheme was entirely confined to her own gentle mind the shepherd himself was in the mood to exhibit the most reckless phases of hospitality the was a boy of those parts about twelve years of age who had a wonderful dexterity in and though his fingers were so small and short as to a constant shifting for the high notes from which he scrambled back to the first position with sounds not of purity of tone at seven the shrill of this had begun accompanied by a ground bass from new the parish clerk who had thoughtfully brought with him his favourite musical instrument the serpent dancing was mrs privately the players on no account to let the dance exceed the length of a quarter of an hour but and the boy in the excitement of their position quite forgot the moreover a man of seventeen one of the dancers who was of his partner a fair girl of the three strangers thirty three rolling years had handed a new crown piece to the as a bribe to keep going as long as they had muscle and wind mrs seeing the steam begin to on the countenances of her guests crossed over and touched the s elbow and put her hand on the serpent s mouth but they took no notice and fearing she might lose her character of genial hostess if she were to interfere too she retired and sat down helpless and so the dance on with fury the moving

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in their planet like courses direct and from to till the hand of the well kicked clock at the bottom of the room had travelled over the of an hour while these cheerful events were in course of within s pastoral dwelling an incident having considerable bearing on the party had occurred in the gloomy night without mrs s concern about the growing of the dance in point of time with the ascent of a human figure to the solitary hill of higher from the direction of the distant town this personage strode on through the rain without a pause following the little worn path which further on in its course skirted the shepherd s cottage it was nearly the time of full moon and on this account though the sky was lined with a uniform sheet of dripping cloud ordinary objects out of doors were readily visible the sad wan light re the three strangers the lonely to be a man of frame his gait suggested that he had somewhat passed the period of perfect and instinctive though not so far as to be otherwise than rapid of motion when occasion required in point of fact he might have been about forty years of age he appeared tall but a or other person accustomed to the judging of men s heights by the eye would have discerned that this was chiefly owing to his and that he was not more than five feet eight or nine notwithstanding the of his tread there was caution in it as in that of one who mentally feels his way and despite the fact that it was not a black coat nor a dark garment of any sort that he wore there was something about him which suggested that he naturally belonged to the tribes of men his clothes were of and his boots yet in his progress he showed not the mud accustomed bearing of and by the time that he had arrived abreast of the shepherd s premises the rain came down or rather came along with yet more determined violence the outskirts of the little partially broke the force of wind and rain and this induced him to still the most of the shepherd s domestic was an empty at the forward corner of his garden for in these the principle of the features of your establishment by a conventional was i the three strangers unknown the traveller s eye was attracted to this small building by the pallid shine of the wet that covered it he turned aside and finding it empty stood under the pent roof for shelter while he stood the boom of the serpent within and the lesser strains of the reached the spot as an accompaniment to the hiss of flying rain on the sod its louder beating on the leaves of the garden on the eight or ten bee just by the path and its dripping from the into a row of and that had been placed under the walls of the cottage for at higher as at all such elevated the grand difficulty of housekeeping was an of water and a casual was by turning out as every that the house contained some queer stories might be told of the for economy in and dish waters that are absolutely in during the of summer but at this season there were no such a mere acceptance of what the skies bestowed was sufficient for an abundant store at last the notes of the serpent ceased and the house was silent this of activity aroused the solitary from the reverie into which he had and emerging from the shed with an apparently new intention he walked up the path to the house door arrived here his first act was to kneel down on a large stone beside the row of vessels and to drink a copious draught from one of the three strangers them having his thirst he rose and lifted his hand to knock but paused with his eye upon the since the dark surface of the wood revealed absolutely nothing it was evident that he must be mentally looking through the door as if he wished to measure thereby all the possibilities that a house of this sort might include and how they might bear upon the question of his entry in his he turned and surveyed the scene around not a soul was anywhere visible the garden path stretched downward from his feet gleaming like the track of a the roof of the little well mostly dry the well cover the top rail of the garden gate were with the same dull liquid while far away in the a faint whiteness of more than usual extent showed that the rivers were high in the beyond all this winked a few through the beating drops lights that the situation of the country town from which he had appeared to come the absence of all notes of life in that direction seemed to his intentions and he knocked at the door within a chat had taken the place of movement and musical sound the hedge carpenter was suggesting a song to the company which nobody just then was inclined to undertake so that the knock afforded a not unwelcome diversion walk in said the shepherd promptly the latch upward and out of the night the three strangers our appeared upon the door mat the shepherd arose two of the nearest candles and turned to look at him their light disclosed that the stranger was dark in complexion and not as to feature his hat which for a moment he did not remove hung low over his eyes without concealing that they were large open and determined moving with a flash rather than a glance round the room he seemed pleased with the survey and his shaggy head said in a rich deep voice the rain is so heavy friends that i ask leave to

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come in and rest awhile to be sure stranger said the shepherd and faith you ve been lucky in choosing your time for we are having a bit of a fling for a glad e â though to be sure a man could hardly wish that glad cause to happen more than once a year nor less spoke up a woman for tis best to get your family over and done with as soon as you can so as to be all the earlier out of the o t and what may be this glad cause asked the stranger a birth and said the shepherd the stranger hoped his host might not be made unhappy either by too many or too few of such and being invited by a gesture to a pull at the he readily his manner which before entering had been so was now altogether that of a careless and candid man the three strangers late to be this â hey said the engaged man of fifty late it is master as you say â i ll take a seat in the chimney comer if you have nothing to urge against it ma am for i am a little moist on the side that was next the rain mrs shepherd assented and made room for the self invited comer who having got completely inside the chimney comer stretched out his legs and his arms with the of a person quite at home yes i am rather thin in the he said freely seeing that the eyes of the shepherd s wife fell upon his boots and i am not well fitted either i have had some rough times lately and have been forced to pick up what i can get in the way of wearing but i must find a suit better fit for working days when i reach home one of she inquired not quite that â further up the country i thought so and so am i and by tongue you come from my neighbourhood but you would hardly have heard of me he said quickly my time would be long before yours ma am you see this testimony to the of his hostess had the effect of stopping her cross examination there is only one thing more wanted to make me happy continued the new comer and that is a little which i am sorry to say i am out of the three strangers i ll fill your pipe said the shepherd i must ask you to lend me a pipe likewise a and no pipe about ye i have dropped it somewhere on the road the shepherd filled and handed him a new clay pipe saying as he did so hand me your â i ll fill that too now i am about it the man went through the movement of searching his pockets lost that too said his with some surprise i am afraid so said the man with some confusion give it to me in a screw of paper lighting his pipe at the candle with a that drew the whole flame into the bowl he himself in the comer and bent his looks upon the faint steam from his damp legs as if he wished to say no more meanwhile the general body of guests had been taking little notice of this visitor by reason of an absorbing discussion in which they were engaged with the band about a tune for the next dance the matter being settled they were about to stand up when an interruption came in the shape of another knock at the door at the sound of the same the man in the took up the and began stirring the fire as if doing it thoroughly were the one aim of his existence and a second time the shepherd said walk in in a moment another man stood upon the straw woven door mat he too was a stranger this individual was one of a t the three strangers i different from the first there was more of the commonplace in his manner and a certain jovial sat upon his features he was several years older than the first arrival his hair being slightly his eyebrows and his whiskers cut back from his cheeks his face was rather full and and yet it was not altogether a face without power a few blossoms marked the neighbourhood of his nose he flung back his long revealing that beneath it he wore a suit of grey shade throughout large heavy of some metal or other that would take a polish dangling from his as his only personal ornament shaking the water drops from his glazed hat he said i must ask for a few minutes shelter comrades or i shall be to my skin before i get to make at home master said the shepherd perhaps a trifle less heartily than on the first occasion not that had the least tinge of in his composition but the room was far from large spare chairs were not numerous and damp companions were not altogether comfortable at close quarters for the women and girls in their bright coloured gowns however the second comer after taking off his and hanging his hat on a nail in one of the ceiling beams as if he had been specially invited to put it there advanced and sat down at the table this had been pushed so closely into the to give all available room to the dancers the three strangers that its inner edge the elbow of the man who had himself by the fire and thus the two strangers were brought into close companionship they nodded to each other by way of breaking the ice of and the first stranger handed his neighbour the large â a huge vessel of brown ware having its upper edge worn away like a threshold by the rub of whole of thirsty lips that had gone

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the way of all flesh and bearing the following inscription burnt upon its side in yellow letters â there is no fun i the other man nothing loth raised the to his lips and drank on and on and on â till a curious the countenance of the shepherd s wife who had regarded with no little surprise the first stranger s free offer to the second of what did not belong to him to dispense i knew it said the to the shepherd with much satisfaction when i walked up your garden afore coming in and saw the all of a row i said to myself where there s bees there s honey and where there s honey there s but of such a truly comfortable sort as this i really didn t expect to meet in my older days he took yet another pull at the till it assumed an ominous glad you enjoy it said the shepherd warmly it is assented mrs with the three strangers an absence of enthusiasm which seemed to say that it was possible to buy praise for one s cellar at too heavy a price it is trouble enough to make â and really i hardly think we shall make any more for honey well and we can make shift with a drop o small and for common use from the comb oh but you ll never have the heart reproachfully cried the stranger in grey after taking up the a third time and setting it down empty i love when tis old like this as i love to go to church o sundays or to relieve the any day of the week ha ha ha said the man in the who in spite of the induced by the pipe of tobacco could not or would not refrain from this slight testimony to his comrade s humour now the old of those days ed of the purest first year or maiden honey four pounds to the â with its due of of eggs and processes of working and â tasted strong but it did not taste so strong as it actually was hence presently the stranger in grey at the table moved by its creeping influence his waistcoat threw himself back in his chair spread his legs and made his presence felt in various ways well well as i say he resumed i am going to and to i must go i the three strangers should have been almost there by this time but the rain drove me into ye and i m not sorry for it you don t live in said the shepherd not as yet though i shortly mean to move there going to set up in trade perhaps no no said the shepherd s wife it is easy to see that the gentleman is rich and don t want to work at anything the grey stranger paused as if to consider whether he would accept that definition of himself he presently rejected it by answering rich is not quite the word for me dame i do work and i must work and even if i only get to by midnight i must begin work there at eight to morrow morning yes or wet blow or snow famine or sword my day s work to morrow must be done poor then in spite o seeming you be worse off than we replied the shepherd s wife tis the nature of my trade men and maidens tis the nature of my trade more than my poverty but really and truly i must up and off or i shan t get a lodging in the town however the speaker did not move and directly added there s time for one more draught of friendship before i go and i d perform it at once if the were not dry here s a o small said mrs small we call it though to be sure tis only the first wash o the the three strangers no said the stranger i won t spoil your first kindness by o your second certainly not broke in we don t increase and every day and i ll fill the again he went away to the dark place under the stairs where the barrel stood the followed him why should you do this she said reproachfully as soon as they were alone he s emptied it once though it held enough for ten people and now he s not contented wi the small but must needs call for more o the strong and a stranger to any of us for my part i don t like the look o the man at all but he s in the house my honey and tis a wet night and a it what s a cup of more or less there ll be plenty more next bee burning very well â this time then she answered looking wistfully at the barrel but what is the man s calling and where is he one of that he should come in and join us like this i don t know i ll ask him again the catastrophe of having the drained dry at one pull by the stranger in grey was effectually guarded against this time by mrs she poured out his allowance in a small cup keeping the large one at a discreet distance from him when he had tossed off his portion the shepherd renewed his inquiry about the stranger s occupation the three strangers the latter did not immediately reply and the man in the chimney comer with a sudden said anybody may know my trade â i m a a very good trade for these parts said the shepherd and anybody may know mine â if they ve the sense to find it out said the stranger in grey you may generally tell what a man is by his claws observed the hedge carpenter looking at his

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hands my fingers be as full of thorns as an old is of pins the hands of the man in the chimney corner instinctively sought the shade and he gazed into the fire as he resumed his pipe the man at the table took up the hedge carpenter s remark and added true but the of my trade is that instead of setting a mark upon me it sets a mark upon my customers no observation being offered by anybody in of this the shepherd s wife once more called for a song the same obstacles presented themselves as at the former time â one had no voice another had forgotten the first verse the stranger at the table whose soul had now risen to a good working temperature relieved the difficulty by exclaiming that to st rt the company he would sing himself thrusting one thumb into the arm hole of his waistcoat he waved the other hand in the air and with an gaze at the shining sheep above the mantel piece began â the three strangers oh my trade it is the one simple all â my trade is a sight to see for my customers i tie and take them up on high and em to a far the room was silent when he had finished the verse â with one exception that of the man in the chimney comer who at the singer s word chorus joined him in a deep bass voice of musical relish â and em to a far john the the the engaged man of fifty the row of young women against the wall seemed lost in thought not of the kind the shepherd looked on the ground the gazed keenly at the singer and with some suspicion she was doubting whether this stranger were merely singing an old song from recollection or was one there and then for the occasion all were as perplexed at the obscure revelation as the guests at s feast except the man in the who quietly said second verse stranger and smoked on the singer thoroughly himself from his lips and went on with the next as requested â my tools are but common ones simple all my tools are no sight to see a little string and a post whereon to swing are implements enough for me the three strangers shepherd glanced round there was no longer any doubt that the stranger was answering his question the guests one and all started back with suppressed exclamations the young woman engaged to the man of fifty fainted half way and would have proceeded but finding him wanting in alacrity for catching her she sat down trembling oh he s the whispered the people in the background mentioning the name of an ominous public officer he s come to do it tis to be at to morrow â the man for â the poor clock maker we heard of who used to live away at and had no work to do â whose family were a starving and so he went out of by the high road and took a sheep in open daylight the farmer and the farmer s wife and the farmer s man and every man jack among em he and they nodded towards the stranger of the terrible trade is come from up the country to do it because there s not enough to do in his own county town and he s got the place here now our own county man s dead he s going to live in the same cottage under the prison wall the stranger in grey took no notice of this whispered string of observations but again his lips seeing that his friend in the was the only one who his in any way he held out his cup towards that comrade who also held out his own the three strangers they together the eyes of the rest of the room hanging upon the singer s actions he parted his lips for the third verse but at that moment another knock was audible upon the door this time the knock was faint and hesitating the company seemed scared the shepherd looked with consternation towards the entrance and it was with some effort that he resisted his alarmed wife s glance and uttered for the third time the welcome words walk in the door was gently opened and another man stood upon the mat he like those who had preceded him was a stranger this time it was a short small personage of fair complexion and dressed in a decent suit of dark clothes can you tell me the way to he began when gazing round the room to observe the nature of the company amongst whom he had fallen his eyes lighted on the stranger in grey it was just at the instant when the latter who had thrown his mind into his song with such a will that he scarcely the interruption silenced all whispers and inquiries by bursting into his third verse â to morrow is my working day simple all â to morrow is a working day for me for the farmer s sheep is slain the lad who did it ta en and on his soul may god ha y the stranger in the chimney comer waving cups with the singer so heartily that his j thb three strangers over on the hearth repeated in his bass voice as before â and on his soul may god ha y all this time the third stranger had been standing in the door way finding now that he did not come forward or go on speaking the guests particularly regarded him they noticed to their surprise that he stood before them the picture of abject terror â his knees trembling his hand shaking so violently that the door latch by which he supported himself rattled audibly his white lips were parted and his eyes fixed

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on the merry officer of justice in the middle of the room a moment more and he had turned closed the door and fled what a man can it be said the shepherd the rest between the of their late discovery and the odd conduct of this third visitor looked as if they knew not what to think and said nothing instinctively they withdrew further and further from the grim gentleman in their midst whom some of them seemed to take for the prince of darkness himself till they formed a remote circle an empty space of floor being left between them and him â the room was so silent â though there were more than twenty people in it â that nothing could be heard but the of the rain against the accompanied by the occasional hiss of a stray drop that fell down the chimney into the fire the three strangers g and the steady puffing of the man in the comer who had now resumed his pipe of long clay the stillness was unexpectedly broken the distant sound of a gun through the air â apparently from the direction of the county town be cried the stranger who had sung the song jumping up what does that mean asked several a prisoner escaped from the â that s what it means all listened the sound was repeated and none of them spoke but the man in the chimney comer who said quietly i ve often been told that in this county they fire a gun at such times but i never heard it till now i wonder if it is my man murmured the personage in grey surely it is said the shepherd involuntarily and surely we ve seen him that little man who looked in at the door by now and quivered like a leaf when he seed ye and heard your song his teeth and the breath went out of his body said the and his heart seemed to sink within him like a stone said and he bolted as if he d been shot at said the hedge carpenter â his teeth and his heart seemed to sink and he bolted as if he d been shot at slowly up the man in the chimney comer i didn t notice it remarked the grim the three strangers we were all a wondering what made him run off in such a fright faltered one of the women against the wall and now tis explained the firing of the alarm gun went on at intervals low and sullenly and their suspicions became a certainty the sinister gentleman in grey roused himself is there a here he asked in thick tones if so let him step forward the engaged man of fifty stepped out of the comer his beginning to sob on the back of the chair you are a sworn i be sir then pursue the criminal at once with assistance and bring him back here he can t have gone far i will sir i will â when i ve got my staff i ll go home and get it and come sharp here and start in a body staff never mind your staff the man be gone but i can t do nothing without my staff â can i william and john and charles no for there s the king s royal crown a painted on en in and gold and the lion and the so as when i raise en up and hit my prisoner tis made a lawful blow thereby i wouldn t tempt to take up a man without my staff â no not i if i hadn t the law to me courage why instead o my taking up him he might take up me now i m a king s man myself and can give you the three strangers authority enough for this said the formidable person in grey now then all of ye be ready have ye any yes â have ye any â i demand it said the and the rest of you able able men â yes â the rest of ye said the have you some good stout and and â in the name o the law and take em in yer hands and go in quest and do as we in authority tell ye thus aroused the men prepared to give chase the evidence was indeed though so convincing that but little argument was needed to show the shepherd s guests that after what they had seen it would look very much like if they did not instantly pursue the unhappy third stranger who could not as yet have gone more than a few hundred yards over such country a shepherd is always well provided with and lighting these hastily and with in their hands they poured out of the door taking a direction along the crest of the hill away from the town the rain having fortunately a little disturbed by the noise or possibly by unpleasant dreams of her the child who had been began to cry in the room overhead these notes of grief came down through the three strangers the of the floor to the ears of the women below who jumped up one by one and seemed glad of the excuse to ascend and comfort the baby for the incidents of the last half hour greatly oppressed them thus in the space of two or three minutes the room on the ground floor was deserted quite but it was not for long hardly had the sound of footsteps died away when a man returned round the comer of the house from the direction the had taken peeping in at the door and seeing nobody there he entered leisurely it was the stranger of the chimney comer who had gone out with the rest the motive of his return was shown by his helping himself to a cut piece of

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that lay on a ledge beside where he had sat and which he had apparently forgotten to take with him he also poured out half a cup more from the quantity that remained eating and drinking these as he stood he had not finished when another figure came in just as quietly â the stranger in grey oh â you here said the latter smiling i thought you had gone to help in the capture and this speaker also revealed the object of his return by looking round for the fascinating of old and i thought you had gone said the other continuing his cake with some effort well on second thoughts i felt there were enough without me said the first and such a night as it is too besides tis the the three strangers business o the government to take care of its â not mine true so it is and i felt as you did that there were enough without me i don t want to break my limbs running over the and hollows of this wild country nor i neither between you and me these shepherd people are used to it â souls you know stirred up to anything in a moment they ll have him ready for me before the morning and no trouble to me at all they ll have him and we shall have saved ourselves all labour in the matter true true well my way is to and tis as much as my legs will do to take me that far going the same way no i am sorry to say i have to get home over there he nodded to the right and i feel as you do that it is quite enough for my legs to do before the other had by this time finished the in the after which shaking hands at the door and wishing each other well they went their several ways in the meantime the company of had reached the end of the s back elevation which this part of the they had decided on no particular plan of action and finding that the man of the trade was no longer in their company they seemed quite unable to form any such plan now they descended in all directions the three strangers down the hill and straightway several of the party fell into the set by nature for all midnight over the lower formation the or flint slopes which the at intervals of a dozen yards took the less cautious ones unawares and losing their footing on the steep they slid sharply downwards the rolling from their hands to the bottom and there lying on their sides till the horn was through when they had again gathered themselves together the shepherd as the man who knew the country best took the lead and guided them round these treacherous the which seemed rather to their eyes and warn the fugitive than to assist them in the were extinguished due silence was observed and in this more rational order they plunged into the it was a grassy moist channel affording some shelter to any person who had sought it but the party it in vain and ascended on the other side here they wandered apart and after an interval closed together again to report progress at the second time of closing in they found themselves near a lonely oak the single tree on this part of the probably sown there by a passing bird some hundred years before and here standing a little to one side of the trunk as motionless as the trunk itself appeared the man they were in quest of his outline being well defined against the sky beyond the band noiselessly drew up and faced him the three strangers your money or your life said the sternly to the still figure no no whispered john t our side ought to say that that s the doctrine of like him and we be on the side of the law well well replied the impatiently i must say something mustn t i and if you had all the weight o this undertaking upon your mind perhaps you d say the wrong thing too â prisoner at the bar surrender in the name of the the crown i mane the man under the tree seemed now to notice them for the first time and giving them no opportunity whatever for exhibiting their courage he strolled slowly towards them he was indeed the little man the third stranger but his had in a great measure gone well travellers he said did i hear ye speak to me you did you ve got to come and be our prisoner at once said the we arrest ye on the charge of not in in a decent proper manner to be hung to morrow morning neighbours do your duty and seize the on hearing the charge the man seemed enlightened and saying not another word resigned himself with civility to the search party who with their in their hands surrounded him on all sides and marched him back towards the shepherd s cottage the three strangers it was eleven o clock by the time they arrived the light shining from the open door a sound of men s voices within proclaimed to them as they approached the house that some new events had arisen in their absence on entering they discovered the shepherd s living room to be invaded by two officers from and a well known magistrate who lived at the nearest country seat intelligence of the escape having become generally gentlemen said the i have brought back your man â not without risk and danger but every one must do his duty he is inside this circle of able persons who have lent me useful aid considering their ignorance of crown work men bring forward your prisoner and the third stranger was led to the light who is this

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said one of the officials the man said the certainly not said the other and the first his statement but how can it be otherwise asked the or why was he so terrified at sight o the singing instrument of the law here he related the strange behaviour of the third stranger on entering the house can t understand it said the officer coolly all i know is that it is not the condemned man he s quite a different character from this one a fellow with dark hair and eyes rather good looking and with a musical bass voice that if the three strangers you heard it once you d never mistake as long as you lived why souls â twas the man in the what said the magistrate coming forward after inquiring particulars from the shepherd in the background haven t you got the man after all well sir said the he s the man we were in search of that s true and yet he s not the man we were in search of for the man we were in search of was not the man we wanted sir if you understand my way for twas the man in the chimney comer a pretty kettle of fish altogether said the magistrate you had better start for the other man at once the prisoner now spoke for the first time the mention of the man in the chimney comer seemed to have moved him as nothing else could do sir he said stepping forward to the magistrate take no more trouble about me the time is come when i may as well speak i have done nothing my crime is that the condemned man is my brother early this afternoon i left home at to tramp it all the way to to bid him farewell i was and called here to rest and ask the way when i opened the door i saw before me the very man my brother that i thought to see in the condemned cell at he was in this chimney comer and close to him so that the three strangers he could not have got out if he had tried was the who d come to take his life singing a song about it and not knowing that it was his victim who was close by joining in to save appearances my brother looked a glance of agony at me and i knew he meant don t reveal what you see my life depends on it i was so terror struck that i could hardly stand and not knowing what i did i turned and hurried away the s manner and tone had the stamp of truth and his story made a great impression on all around and do you know where your brother is at the present time asked the magistrate i do not i have never seen him since i closed this door i can testify to that for we ve been between ye ever since said the where does he think to fly to â what is his occupation he s a watch and clock maker sir a said a was a â a wicked rogue said the the wheels o and watches he meant no doubt said shepherd i thought his hands were for s trade well it appears to me that nothing can be gained by retaining this poor man in said the magistrate your business lies with the other unquestionably and so the little man was released off hand but he looked nothing the less sad on that account it the three strangers being beyond the power of magistrate or to out the written troubles in his brain for they concerned another whom he regarded with more solicitude than himself when this was done and the man had gone his way the night was found to be so far advanced that it was deemed useless to renew the search before the next morning next day accordingly the quest for the clever sheep became general and keen to all appearance at least but the intended punishment was cruelly to the and the sympathy of a great many country folk in that district was strongly on the side of the fugitive moreover his marvellous coolness and daring under the circumstances of the shepherd s party won their admiration so that it may be questioned if all those who made themselves so busy in exploring woods and fields and lanes were quite so thorough when it came to the private examination of their own and stories were afloat of a mysterious figure being occasionally seen in some old overgrown or other remote from roads but when a search was in any of these suspected quarters nobody was found thus the days and weeks passed without tidings in brief the bass man of the chimney corner was never some said that he went across the sea others that he did not but buried himself in the depths of a city at any rate the gentleman in grey never did his the three strangers morning s work at nor met an at all for business purposes the comrade with whom he had passed an hour of in the lonely house on the the grass has long been green on the graves of shepherd and his wife the guests who made up the party have mainly followed their to the tomb the baby in whose honour they all had met is a matron in the and yellow leaf but the arrival of the three strangers at the shepherd s that night and the details connected is a story as well known as ever in the country about higher thomas hardy the black i have set myself the task of relating in the course of this story without or a single detail the most painful and humiliating episode in my life i do this not because it will give me the least pleasure but

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simply because it affords me an opportunity of myself which has hitherto been wholly denied to me as a general rule i am quite aware that to publish a explanation of one s conduct in any questionable transaction is not the best means of recovering a lost reputation but in my own case there is one to whom i shall never more be permitted to justify myself by word of mouth â even if i found myself able to attempt it and as she could not possibly think worse of me than she does at present i write this knowing it can do me no harm and faintly hoping that it may come to her notice and suggest a doubt whether i am quite so a villain so a as i have been forced to appear in her eyes the bare chance of such a result makes me perfectly indifferent to all else i cheerfully expose to the derision of the whole reading world the story of the black my weakness and my shame since by doing so i may possibly myself somewhat in the good opinion of one person having said so much i will begin my confession without further delay â my name is and i may add that i am in one of the government that i am an only son and live at home with my mother we had had a house at until just before the period covered by this history when our lease my mother decided that my health required country air at the close of the day and so we took a desirable villa residence on one of the many new building estates which have lately sprung up in such profusion in the home we have called it villa it is a pretty little place the last of a row of detached each with its tiny rustic carriage gate and gravel sweep in front and lawn enough for a court behind which lines the road leading over the hill to the railway station i could certainly have wished that our landlord shortly after giving us the agreement could have found some other place to hang himself in than one of our for the consequence was that a left us in violent about every two months having the tragedy from the and naturally seen a immediately afterwards still it is a pleasant house and i can now almost the black forgive the landlord for what i shall always consider an act of gross selfishness on his part in the country a next door neighbour is something more than a mere he is a possible acquaintance who will at least consider a new comer as worth the experiment of a call i soon knew that the next house to our own was occupied by a colonel a retired indian and often as across the low boundary wall i caught a glimpse of a graceful girlish figure flitting about amongst the rose bushes in the neighbouring garden i would lose myself in pleasant of a time not far distant when the wall which separated us would be i remember â ah how vividly â the thrill of excitement with which i heard from my mother on returning from town one evening that the had called and seemed disposed to be all that was and kind i remember too the sunday afternoon on which i returned their call â alone as my mother had already done so during the week i was standing on the steps of the colonel s villa waiting for the door to open when i was startled by a furious and behind and looking round discovered a large in the act of making for my legs he was a coal black with half of his right ear gone and absurd little thick at the end of his nose he was shaved in the sham lion fashion which is considered for some mysterious reason to improve a but the had left the black sundry little of hair which studded his i could not help being reminded as i looked at him of another black which entertained for a short time with unhappy results and i thought that a very moderate degree of would be enough to bring the out of this brute he made me intensely uncomfortable for i am of a slightly nervous temperament with a constitutional horror of dogs and a to attacks of on performing the ordinary social rites under the most favourable conditions and certainly the consciousness that a strange and apparently savage dog was engaged in worrying the heels of my boots was the reverse of the family received me with all possible kindness so charmed to make your acquaintance mr said mrs as i shook hands i see she added pleasantly youve brought the in with you as a matter of fact i had brought the in at the ends of my but it was evidently no unusual occurrence for visitors to appear in this manner for she detached him quite as a matter of course and as soon as i was sufficiently collected we fell into conversation i discovered that the colonel and his wife were and the slender figure i had seen across the garden wall was that of their niece and adopted daughter she came into the room shortly afterwards and i felt as i went the black through the form of an introduction that her sweet fresh face shaded by soft masses of dusky brown hair more than justified all the dreamy hopes and fancies with which i had looked forward to that moment she talked to me in a pretty confidential appealing way which i have heard her dearest friends censure as childish and affected but i thought then that her manner had an indescribable charm and fascination about it and the memory of it makes my heart ache now with a pang that is not all pain even before the colonel made

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his appearance i had begun to see that my enemy the occupied an exceptional position in that household it was abundantly clear by the time i took my leave he seemed to be the centre of their domestic system and even lovely around him as a kind of he could do no wrong in his owner s eyes his prejudices and he was a narrow minded animal were respected and all domestic arrangements were made with a view to his convenience i may be wrong but i cannot think that it is wise to put any upon such a as that how this one in particular as ordinary a as ever breathed had contrived to impose thus upon his i never could understand but so it was â he even engrossed the chief part of the conversation which after any lull seemed to round to him by a sort of natural law i had to endure a long sketch of the black him â what a society paper would call an â and each fresh anecdote seemed to me to exhibit the of the beast in a more glaring light and render the admiration of the family more than ever did you tell mr lily about was the s preposterous name and oh i must tell him it ll make him laugh is our gardener down in the village d ye know well was up here the other day up some work at the top of a ladder and all the time there was master sitting quietly at the foot of it looking on wouldn t leave it on any account said he was quite company for him well at last when had finished and was coming down what do you think that rascal there did just quietly up behind and him in both and ran off been looking out for that the whole time ha ha â deep that eh i agreed with an inward shudder that it was very deep thinking privately that if this was a specimen of s usual treatment of the natives it would be odd if he did not find himself deeper still before â probably i i before â he died poor faithful old murmured mrs he thought was a nasty didn t he he wasn t going to see master robbed was he capital house dog sir struck in the colonel i shall never forget how he made poor the black run for it the other day ever met of the well was staying here and the dog met him one morning as he was coming down from the didn t recognise him in and a dressing gown of course and made at him he kept poor old outside the landing window on the top of the for a quarter of an hour till i had to come and raise the siege such were the stories of that abandoned dog s ferocity to which i was forced to listen while all the time the brute sat opposite me on the at me from under his shaggy mane with his evil eyes and where he would have me when i rose to go this was the beginning of an intimacy which soon all ceremony it was very pleasant to go in there after dinner even to sit with the colonel over his and hear more stories about for afterwards i could go into the pretty and take my tea from s hands and listen while she played to us in the summer twilight the was always in the way to be sure but even his ugly black head seemed to lose some of its and ferocity when laid her pretty hand on it on the whole i think that the family were well disposed towards me the colonel considering me as a harmless specimen of the average eligible young man â which i certainly was â and mrs cur the black showing me favour for my mother s sake for whom she had taken a strong liking as for i believed i saw that she soon suspected the state of my feelings towards her and was not displeased by it i looked forward with some to a day when i could declare myself with no fear of a but it was a serious obstacle in my path that i could not secure s good opinion on any terms the family would often lament this themselves you see mrs would observe in apology is a dog that does not attach himself easily to strangers â though for that matter i thought he was ready to attach himself to me i did try hard to him i brought him â which was weak and ineffectual as he ate them with and hated me as bitterly as ever for he had conceived from the first a profound contempt for me and a distrust which no of mine could remove looking back now i am inclined to think it was a prophetic instinct that warned him of what was to come upon him through my only his approbation was wanting to establish for me a firm footing with the and perhaps determine s wavering heart in my direction but though i that with an i blush to remember he remained firm still day by day s treatment of me was the black more encouraging day by day i gained in the esteem of her uncle and aunt i began to hope that soon i should be able to disregard influence altogether now there was one inconvenience about our villa besides its of suicide which it is necessary to mention here by common consent all the cats of the neighbourhood had selected our garden for their evening i fancy that a kitchen cat of ours must have been a sort of leader of local society â i know she was at home with music and on most evenings my poor mother found this interfere with her after dinner

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nap and no wonder for if a of ghosts had been shrieking and as puts it in our back garden or it had been fitted up as a for a nursery of in the agonies of the noise could not possibly have been more we sought for some means of getting rid of the nuisance there was poison of course but we thought it would have an appearance and even lead to legal difficulties if each dawn were to discover an of cats in hideous in various parts of the same garden too were open to objection and would scarcely assist my mother s so for some time we were at a loss for a remedy at last one day walking down the strand i chanced to see in an evil hour what struck me as the very thing â it was an air gun of superior construction displayed in the black a s window i went in at once purchased it and took it home in triumph it would be noiseless and would reduce the local average of cats without scandal â one or two examples and fashion would soon to a more secluded spot i lost no time in putting this to the proof that same evening i lay in wait after dusk at the study window protecting my mother s repose as soon as i heard the long drawn wail the preliminary and the wild that followed i let fly in the direction of the sound i suppose i must have something of the national sporting instinct in me for my blood was with excitement but the constitution lead without serious inconvenience and i began to fear that no would remain to bear witness to my but all at once i made out a dark indistinct form in from behind the bushes i waited till it crossed a belt of light which streamed from the back kitchen below me and then i took careful aim and pulled the this time at least i had not failed â there was a smothered yell a rustle â and then silence again i ran out with the calm pride of a successful revenge to bring in the body of my victim and i found underneath a laurel no tom cat but as the reader will no doubt have foreseen long since the quivering of the colonel s black the black i intend to set down here the plain truth and i confess that at first when i knew what i had done i was not sorry i was quite innocent of any intention of doing it but i felt no regret i even laughed â madman that i was â at the thought that there was the end of at all events that was removed my weary task of was over for ever but soon the reaction came i realized the tremendous nature of my deed and shuddered i had done that which might banish me from s side for ever all i had a kind of sacred beast the animal around which the household had their affections how was i to break it to them should i send in with a card tied to his neck and my regrets and compliments that was too much like a present of game ought i not to carry him in myself i would him in the best i would put on black for him â the would hardly consider a and a white sheet or and ashes an excessive form of â but i could not to such an abject extent i wondered what the colonel would say simple and hearty as a general rule he had a hot temper on occasions and it made me ill as i thought would he and worse still would believe it was really an accident they knew what an interest i had in the deceased â would they believe the simple truth i vowed that they should believe me my genuine the black remorse and the absence of all concealment on my part would speak powerfully for me i would choose a favourable time for my confession that very evening i would tell all still i shrank from the duty before me and as i knelt down sorrowfully by the dead form and respectfully composed his limbs i thought that it was unjust of fate to place a well meaning man whose nerves were not of iron in such a position then to my horror i heard a well known ringing tramp on the road outside and smelt the peculiar fragrance of a it was the colonel himself who had been taking out the doomed for his usual evening run i don t know how it was exactly but a sudden panic came over me i held my breath and tried to down unseen behind the but he had seen me and came over at once to speak to me across the hedge he stood there not two yards from his favourite s body fortunately it was unusually dark that evening ha there you are eh he began heartily don t rise my boy don t rise i was trying to put myself in front of the and did not rise â at least only my hair did you re out late ain t you he went on laying out your garden hey i could not tell him that i was laying out his my voice shook as with a guilty confusion the black s that was veiled by the dusk i said it was a fine evening â which it was not cloudy sir said the colonel cloudy â rain before morning i think by the way have you seen anything of my in here this was the turning point what i ought to have done was to say mournfully yes i m sorry to say ive had a most unfortunate accident with him â here he is â the fact is i m

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afraid ive shot him but i couldn t i could have told him at my own time in a prepared form of words â but not then i felt i must use all my wits to gain time and fence with the questions why i said with a leaden he hasn t given you the slip has he never did such a thing in his life said the colonel warmly he rushed after a rat or a or something a few minutes ago and as i stopped to light another i lost sight of him i thought i saw him slip in under your gate but ive been calling him from the front there and he won t come out no and he never would come out any more but the colonel must not be told that just yet i again if i said if he had slipped in under the gate i should have seen him perhaps he took it into his head to run home oh i shall find him on the i expect the knowing old why what d ye think was the last thing he did now i could have given him the very latest intelligence the black but i dared not however it was altogether too ghastly to kneel there and laugh at anecdotes of told across s dead body i could not stand that listen i said suddenly wasn t that his bark there again it seems to come from the front of your house don t you think well said the colonel i ll go and fasten him up before he s off again how your teeth are chattering â you ve caught a chill man â go indoors at once and if you feel equal to it look in half an hour later about time and i ll tell you all about it compliments to your mother don t forget â about time i had got rid of him at last and i wiped my forehead gasping with relief i would go round in half an hour and then i should be prepared to make my melancholy announcement for even then i never thought of any other course until suddenly it flashed upon me with terrible clearness that my miserable shuffling by the hedge had made it impossible to tell the truth i had not told a direct lie to be sure but then i had given the colonel the impression that i had denied having seen the dog many people can their by reflecting that whatever may be the effect their words produce they did contrive to steer clear of a downright lie i never quite knew where the distinction lay morally but there is that feeling â i have it myself unfortunately has this that if ever the truth comes to light the is in just the same case as if he had lied to the most extent and for a man to point out that the black the words he used contained no absolute falsehood will seldom restore confidence i might of course still tell the colonel of my misfortune and leave him to infer that it had happened after our interview but the was fast becoming cold and stiff and they would most probably suspect the real time of the occurrence and then would hear that i had told a string of to her uncle over the dead body of their an act no doubt of abominable of unspeakable in her eyes if it would have been difficult before to prevail on her to accept a hand it would be impossible after that no i had burnt my ships i was cut off for ever from the straightforward course that one moment of had decided my conduct in spite of me â i must go on with it now and keep up the deception at all it was bitter i had always tried to preserve as many of the moral principles which had been into me as can be conveniently retained in this grasping world and it had been my pride that roughly speaking i had never been guilty of an unmistakable falsehood but henceforth if i meant to win that boast must be for ever i should have to lie now with all my might without limit or scruple to incessantly and wear a mask as the poet beautifully expressed it long ago over my hollow heart i felt all this keenly â i the black did not think it was right â but what was i to do after thinking all this out very carefully i decided that my only course was to bury the poor animal where he fell and say nothing about it with some vague idea of precaution i first took the silver collar he wore and then hastily him with a garden and succeeded in removing all traces of the disaster i fancy i felt a certain relief in the knowledge that there would now be no necessity to tell my pitiful story and risk the loss of my neighbours esteem by and by i thought i would plant a rose tree over his remains and some day as and i in the of our domestic bliss stood before it admiring its i might perhaps find courage to confess that the tree owed some of that to the long lost there was a touch of poetry in this idea that lightened my gloom for the moment i need scarcely say that i did not go round to that evening i was not hardened enough for that yet â my manner might betray me and so i very stayed at home but that night my sleep was broken by frightful dreams i was perpetually trying to bury a great gaunt which would persist in rising up through the damp mould as fast as i covered him up and i were engaged and we were in church together on sunday and the resisting all

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to him forbade our the black with it was our and at the critical moment the leaped between us and swallowed the ring or we were at the g breakfast and a black skeleton with flaming eyes sat on the cake and would not allow to cut it even the rose tree fancy was in a distorted form â the tree grew and every blossom contained a miniature which and as i woke i was desperately trying to persuade the colonel that they were ordinary dog roses i went up to the office next day with my gloomy secret my bosom and whatever i did the of the murdered rose before me for two days after that i dared not go near the until at last one evening after dinner i forced myself to call feeling that it was really not safe to keep away any long my conscience smote me as i went in i put on an unconscious easy manner which was such a dismal failure that it was lucky for me that they were too much engrossed to notice it i never before saw a family so stricken down by a domestic misfortune as the group i found in the drawing room making a dejected pretence of reading or working we talked at first â and hollow talk it was â on indifferent subjects till i could bear it no longer and plunged boldly into danger i don t see the dog i began i suppose you â you found him all right the other evening colonel i wondered as i spoke whether they would the black not notice the break in my voice but they did not why the fact is said the colonel heavily his grey moustache w ve not heard anything of him since he s â he s run gone mr gone without a word said mrs as if she thought the dog might at least have left an address i wouldn t have believed it of him said the colonel â it has completely knocked me over haven t been so cut up for years â the ungrateful rascal oh uncle pleaded don t talk like that perhaps couldn t help it â perhaps some one has s s shot him shot cried the colonel angrily by heaven if i thought there was a villain on earth capable of shooting that poor dog i d why should they shoot him tell me that i â i hope you won t let me hear you talk like that again you don t think he s shot eh i said â heaven forgive me â that i thought it highly improbable he s not cried mrs if he were dead i should know it somehow â i m sure i should but i m certain he s alive only last night i had such a beautiful dream about him i thought he came back to us mr driving up in a cab and he was just the same as ever â only he wore blue spectacles and the black the shaved part of him was painted a bright red and i woke up with the joy â so you know it s sure to come true it will be easily understood what torture conversations like these were to me and how i hated myself as i and spoke encouraging words concerning the dog s recovery when i knew all the time he was lying hid under my garden mould but i took it as a part of my punishment and bore it all practice even made me an in the art of consolation â i believe i really was a great comfort to them i had hoped that they would soon get over the first bitterness of their loss and that would be first replaced and then forgotten in the usual way but there seemed no signs of this coming to pass the poor colonel was too plainly himself ill about it he went about â searching and seeing people but all of course to no purpose and it told upon him he was more like a man whose only son and heir had been stolen than an indian officer who had lost a i had to affect the interest in all his inquiries and and to listen to and echo the most extravagant of the departed and the wear and tear of so much made me at last almost as ill as the colonel himself i could not help seeing that was not nearly so much impressed by my elaborate concern as her the black relatives and sometimes i detected an incredulous look in her frank brown eyes that made me very uneasy little by little a between us until at last in despair i determined to know the worst before the time came when it would be hopeless to speak at all i chose a sunday evening as we were walking across the green from church in the golden dusk and then i ventured to speak to her of my love she heard me to the end and was evidently very much agitated at last she murmured that it could not be unless â no it never could be now unless what i asked â miss something has come between us lately you will tell me what that something is won t you do you want to know really she said looking up at me through her tears then i ll tell you itâ it s i started back overwhelmed did she know all if not how much did she suspect i must find out that at once what about i managed to pronounce with a dry tongue you never loved him when he was here she sobbed you know you didn t i was relieved to find it was no worse than this no i said candidly i did not love didn t love he was always looking out for a

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chance of me somewhere surely you won t quarrel with me for that not for that she said only why do you pretend to be so fond of him now and so anxious to get the black him back again uncle john believes you but don t i can see quite well that you wouldn t be glad to find him you could find him easily if you wanted to what do you mean i said hoarsely how could i find him again i feared the worst you re in a government office cried and if you only chose you could easily g get g to find what s the use of government if it can t do that mr would have found him long ago if i d asked him had never been so unreasonable as this before and yet i loved her more madly than ever but i did not like this allusion to a rising who lived with his sister in a pretty cottage near the station and had shown symptoms of being attracted by he was away on circuit just then luckily but at least even he would have found it a hard task to find â there was comfort in that you know that isn t just i observed but only tell me what you want me to do â â bring back she said bring back i cried in horror but suppose i â suppose he s out of the country or â or dead what then i can t help it she said but i don t believe he is out of the country or dead and while i see you pretending to uncle that you cared awfully about him and going on doing nothing at all it the black makes me think you re not quite â quite sincere i and i couldn t possibly marry anyone while i thought that of him and i shall always have that feeling unless you find it was of no use to argue with her i knew by that time with her pretty caressing manner she united a latent obstinacy which it was hopeless to attempt to shake i feared too that she was not quite certain as yet whether she cared for me or not and that this condition of hers was an expedient to gain time i left her with a heavy heart unless i proved my worth by bringing back within a very short time would probably have everything his own way and was dead however i took heart i thought that perhaps if i could succeed by my earnest efforts in persuading that i really was doing all in my power to recover the she might in time and dispense with his actual production so partly with this object and partly to the remorse which now revived and stung me deeper than before i undertook long and weary after office hours i spent many pounds in i dogs of every size colour and breed and of course i took care to keep informed of each successive failure but still her heart was not touched she was firm if i went on like that she told me i was certain to find one day â then but not before would her doubts be set at rest the black i was walking one day through the somewhat district which lies between bow street and high when i saw in a small theatrical s window a stating that a had followed a gentleman on a certain date and if not claimed and the before a stated time would be sold to pay expenses i went in and got a copy of the bill to show and although by that time i scarcely dared to look a in the face i thought i would go to the address given and see the animal simply to be able to tell i had done so the gentleman whom the dog had very followed was a certain mr william who kept a little shop near street and called himself a bird though i should scarcely have him with the necessary imagination he was an evil in a fur cap with a broad broken nose and little red eyes and after i had told him what i wanted he took me through a horrible little den with piles of wooden wire and each quivering with restless life and then out into a back yard in which were two or three rotten old and that there s him he said his thumb to the farthest tub me all the way ome from he did out will yer and out of the tub there crawled slowly with a and a rattling of his chain the identical dog i had slain a few evenings before the black at least so i thought for a moment and felt as if i had seen a the resemblance was so exact â in size in every detail even to the little of hair about the hind parts even to the of half an ear this dog might have been the of the deceased i suppose after all one black is very like any other black of the same size but the likeness startled me i think it was then that the idea occurred to me that here was a miraculous chance of securing the sweetest girl in the whole world and at the same time for my wrong by bringing back gladness with me to it only needed a little boldness one last deception and i could embrace once more almost unconsciously when my guide turned round and asked is that there i said hurriedly yes yes â that s the dog i want that s he don t seem to be a putting of out about seeing you again observed mr as the studied me with a calm interest oh he s not exactly my dog you see i said he belongs to a

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friend of mine i he gave me a quick glance then maybe your about him he said and i can t run no risks i was a goin down in the country this ere to see a party as lives at â he s been a about a black he has the black but look here i said that s me he gave me a curious no offence you know nor he said but i should wish for some evidence as to that afore i part with a like this ere well i said here s one of my cards will that do for you he took it and it out with a pretence of great caution but i saw well enough that the old scoundrel suspected that if i had lost a dog at all it was not this particular dog ah he said as he put it in his pocket if i part with him to you i must be cleared of all risk i can t afford to get into trouble about no mistakes unless you likes to leave him for a day or two you must pay according you see i wanted to get the hateful business over as soon as possible i did not care what i paid â was worth all the expense i said i had no doubt myself as to the real of the animal but i would give him any sum in reason and would remove the dog at once and so we settled it i paid him an sum and came away with a a which i hoped to pass off at as the long lost i know it was wrong â it even came near dog stealing â but i was a desperate man i saw gradually slipping away from me i knew that nothing short of this could ever recall her i was sorely tempted i had gone far on the same road i the black already it was the old story of being hung for a sheep and so i fell surely some who read this will be generous enough to consider the peculiar state of the case and mingle a little pity with their contempt i was dining in town that evening and took my purchase home by a late train his was grave and intensely respectable he was not the animal to commit himself by any â he was gentle and too and in all respects an agreeable contrast in character to the original still it may have been the after dinner workings of conscience but i could not help that i saw a certain look in the creature s eyes as if he were aware that he was required to at a fraud and rather resented it if he would only be good enough to back me up fortunately however he was such a perfect of the outward that the risk of detection was really when i got him home i put s silver collar round his neck â myself on my in preserving it â and took him in to see my mother she accepted him as what he seemed without the slightest but this though it encouraged me to go on was not decisive the would have to encounter the scrutiny of those who knew every on the genuine animal s body nothing would have induced me to undergo such an ordeal as that of personally restoring him to the the black we gave him supper and tied him up on the lawn where he howled all night and buried bones the next morning i wrote a note to mrs expressing my pleasure at being able to restore the lost one and another to containing only the words will you believe now that i am sincere then i tied both round the s neck and dropped him over the wall into the colonel s garden just before i started to catch my train to town r p r f f i had an anxious walk home from the station that evening i went round by the longer way trembling the whole time lest i should meet any of the household to which i felt myself entirely unequal just then i could not rest until i knew whether my fraud had succeeded or if the to which i had my fate had betrayed me but my suspense was happily ended as soon as i entered my mother s room you can t think how delighted those poor were to see again she said at once and they said such charming things about you â particularly â quite affected she seemed poor child and they wanted you to go round and dine there and be thanked to night but at last i persuaded them to come to us instead and they re going to bring the dog to make friends oh and i met frank he s back from circuit again now so i asked him in too to meet them i drew a deep breath of relief i had played a the black desperate game â but i had won i could have wished to be sure that my mother had not thought of bringing in on that of all evenings â but i hoped that i could defy him after this the colonel and his people were the first to arrive he and his wife being so grateful that they made me very uncomfortable indeed met me with downcast eyes and the faintest possible blush but she said nothing just then five minutes afterwards when she and i were alone together in the where i had brought her on pretence of showing a new she laid her hand on my sleeve and whispered almost mr â can you ever forgive me for being so cruel and unjust to you and i replied that upon the whole i could we were not in that long but before we left it beautiful had consented

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to make my life happy when we re entered the drawing room we found frank who had been told the story of the recovery and i noticed his jaws fall as he glanced at our faces and noted the triumphant smile which i have no doubt mine wore and the tender dreamy look in s soft eyes poor i was sorry for him although i was not fond of him was a good type of the rising young common law tall not bad looking with keen dark eyes black whiskers and the mouth which can express every shade of feeling from assent to cynical incredulity possessed too of an the black endless flow of conversation that was decidedly agreeable if a trifle too laboriously so he had been a dangerous rival but all that was over now â he saw it himself at once and during dinner sank into dismal silence gazing at and sighing almost between the courses his stream of small talk seemed to have been cut off at the main you ve done a kind thing said the colonel i can t tell you all that dog is to me and how i missed the poor beast i d quite given up all hope of ever seeing him again and all the time there was mr quietly searching all london till he found him i shan t forget it it shows a really kind feeling i saw by s face that he was telling himself he would have found fifty in half the time â if he had only thought of it he smiled a melancholy assent to all the colonel said and then began to study me with an obviously air you can t think i heard mrs telling my mother how really touching it was to see poor dear s emotion at seeing all the old familiar objects again he went up and at them all in turn quite plainly everything and he was quite put out to find that we had moved his favourite out of the drawing room but he is so penitent too and so ashamed of having run away he hardly dares to come when john calls him and he kept under a chair in the hall all the the black morning â he wouldn t come in here either so we had to leave him in your garden he s been sadly out of spirits all day said he hasn t bitten one of the oh ms all right the rascal said the colonel cheerily he ll be after the cats again as well as ever in a day or two ah those cats said my poor innocent mother you haven t tried the air gun on them again lately have you they re worse than ever i troubled the colonel to pass the laughed for the first time that s a good idea he said in that carrying bar mess voice of his an air gun for cats ha ha make good bags eh i said that i did very good bags and felt i was getting painfully red in the face oh is an excellent shot â quite a said my mother i remember oh long ago when we lived at he had a pistol and he used to in the garden for the and shoot af them out of the window he frequently hit one well said the colonel not much impressed by these sporting reminiscences don t go rolling over our by mistake you know my boy not but what you ve a sort of right after this â only don t i wouldn t go through it all twice for anything if you really won t take any more wine i said hurriedly addressing the colonel and sup pose we all go out and have our coffee on the the black lawn it â it will be cooler there for it was getting very hot indoors i thought i left to amuse the ladies â he could do no more harm now and taking the colonel aside i seized the opportunity as we strolled up and down the garden path to ask his consent to s engagement to me he gave it cordially there s not a man in england he said that i d sooner see her married to after to day you re a quiet steady young fellow and you ve a good kind heart as for the money that s neither here nor there won t come to you without a penny you know but really my boy you can hardly believe what it is to my poor wife and me to see that dog why bless my soul look at him now what s the matter with him eh to my unutterable horror i saw that that miserable after begging unnoticed at the tea table for some time had retired to an open space before it where he was now standing on his head we gathered round and examined the animal curiously as he continued to balance himself gravely in his position good gracious john cried mrs i never saw do such a thing before in his life very odd said the colonel putting up his glasses never learnt that from i tell you what i fancy it is i suggested wildly you see he was always a sensitive animal and perhaps the â the sudden joy of his return has gone to his head â upset him you know the black they seemed disposed to accept this solution and indeed i believe they would have with every conceivable degree of sensibility but i felt myself that if this unhappy animal had many more of these accomplishments i was undone for the original had never been a dog of parts it s very odd said as the dog recovered his proper level but i always thought that it was half the right ear that had lost so it is isn t

3Edith Wharton

it said the colonel left eh well i thought myself it was the right my heart almost stopped with terror â i had altogether forgotten that i hastened to set the point at rest oh it was the left i said positively i know it because i remember so particularly thinking how odd it was that it should h the left ear and not the right i told myself this should be positively my last lie why odd asked frank with his most offensive manner my dear fellow i can t tell you i said impatiently every thing seems odd when you come to think at all about it said later on will you tell aunt mary and mr and â and me how it was you came to find mr is quite anxious to hear all about it i could not very well refuse i sat down and told the story all my own way i painted perhaps rather bigger and than life and the black described an exciting scene in which i recognised by his collar in the streets and claimed and bore him off then and there in spite of all opposition i had the pleasure of seeing grinding his teeth with envy as i went on and feeling s soft slender hand glide silently into mine as i told my tale in the twilight all at once just as i reached the climax we heard the barking furiously at the hedge which separated my garden from the road there s a foreign looking man staring over the hedge said always foreigners there certainly was a man there and though i had no reason for it then somehow my heart died within me at the sight of him don t be alarmed sir cried the colonel the dog won t bite you unless there s a hole in the hedge anywhere the stranger took off his small straw hat with a sweep ah i am not afraid he said and his accent proclaimed him a frenchman he is not at me may i ask is it to speak i felt i most deal with this person alone for i feared the worst and asking them to excuse me i went to the hedge and faced the frenchman with the frightful calm of despair he was a short stout little man with blue cheeks sparkling black eyes and a coloured countenance he wore a short black coat and a large white the black with an immense oval in the centre of it which i mention because i found myself staring mechanically at it during the interview my name is i began with the bearing of a detected can i be of any service to you of a great service he said emphatically you can restore to me the i see had called at last in the shape of a rival i staggered for an instant then i said oh i think you are under a mistake â that dog is not mine i know it he said as been mistake so if dog is not to you you give him back to me i tell you i said that belongs to the gentleman over there and i pointed to the colonel seeing that it was best now to bring him into the affair without delay you are wrong he said is my and i was direct to you â it is your name on and he presented me with that fatal card which i had been foolish enough to give to as a proof of my identity i saw it all now the old villain had betrayed me and to earn a double reward had put the real owner on my track i decided to call the colonel at once and attempt to brazen it out with the help of his sincere belief in the dog the black eh what s that what s it all about said the colonel bustling up followed at intervals by the others the frenchman raised his hat again i do not to make trouble he began but is mistake my word of honour i see my own in your garden ven i appeal to to restore im he me to you you must allow me to know my own dog sir said the colonel why i ve had him from a old boy you know your master don t you but the brute ignored him altogether and began to leap wildly at the hedge in frantic efforts to join the frenchman it needed no solomon to decide i tell you you ave got wrong â it is my own dog my he remember me well you see i lose him it is three four days i see a he is found and ven i go to address tell me oh he is claim he is gone a who has show me i follow ere and ven i arrive i see my in garden before me but look here said the colonel impatiently it s all very well to say that but how can you prove it i give you my word that the dog belongs to me you must prove your claim eh yes said mere assertion is no proof it s oath against oath at present attend an instant â your was he train was he well instruct â a dog tricks eh no he s not said the colonel i don t like the black to see dogs taught to play the fool â there s none of that nonsense about him sir ah remark him well then mon done and on the foreigner s whistling a lively air that infernal rose on his hind legs and danced solemnly about half way round the garden we inside followed his movements with dismay why dash it all cried the disgusted colonel he s dancing along like a d d but it s my for all that you are not convince you

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shall see more the he his tail and began to leap with joy pour la â and the too accomplished animal rolled over as if killed in battle where could have picked up so much french cried or so much french history added that serpent shall i command im to or reverse inquired the obliging frenchman we ve seen that thank you said the colonel gloomily upon my word i don t know what to think it can t be that that s not my after all â i ll never believe it i tried a last desperate stroke will you come round to the front i said to the frenchman i ll let you in and we can discuss the matter quietly then as we walked back together i the black asked him eagerly what he would take to abandon his claims and let the colonel think the was his after all he was furious â he considered himself insulted with great emotion he informed me that the dog was the pride of his life it seems to be the mission of black to serve as domestic comforts of this kind that he would not part with him for twice his weight in gold conceive he began as we joined the others ere as offer me money for dog he it is to me you see ver well is no more to be said why have you lost faith too then said the colonel i saw that it w s no good â all i wanted now was to get out of it and get rid of the frenchman i m sorry to say i replied that i m afraid i ve been deceived by the extraordinary likeness i don t think on reflection that that what do you think asked the colonel well since you ask me said with quite unnecessary i never did think so nor i said the colonel i thought from the first that was never my why would make two of that beast and and her aunt both protested that they had had their doubts from the first you i remove im said the frenchman the black certainly said the colonel and after some apologies on our part for the mistake he went off in triumph with the detestable after him when he had gone the colonel laid his hand kindly on my shoulder don t look so cut up about it my boy he said you did your best â til ere was a sort of likeness to anyone who didn t know as we did just then the frenchman again appeared at the hedge a thousand he said i find upon my dog â it is not to me allow me restore it many compliments it was s collar took it from his hand and brought it to us this was on the dog when you stopped that fellow didn t you say he asked m one more lie â and i was so weary of falsehood y yes i said reluctantly that was so very extraordinary said that s the wrong beyond a doubt but when he s found he s wearing the right dog s collar now how do you account for that t my good fellow i said impatiently i m not in the witness box i account for it it â it s a mere coincidence but look here my dear argued whether in good faith or not i never could quite make out don t you see what a important link it is here s a dog who as i understand the facts had a silver collar with his name engraved on it round his neck at the time he the black was lost here s that identical collar turning up soon afterwards round the neck of a totally different dog we must follow this up we must get at the bottom of it somehow with a clue like this we re sure to find out either the dog himself or what s become of him just try to recollect what happened there s a good fellow this is just the sort of thing i like it was the sort of thing i did not enjoy at all you must excuse me to night i said you see just now it s rather a sore subject for me â and i m not feeling very well i was grateful just then for a glance of pity and confidence from s sweet eyes which revived my drooping spirits for the moment yes we ll go into it to morrow said the colonel and then â why there s that confounded frenchman again it was indeed he came back delicately with a malicious enjoyment on his wrinkled face once more i return to he said my as ad grave to make a very big at bottom of garden i assured him that it was of no consequence perhaps he replied looking steadily at me through his keen half shut eyes you not say ven you regard and you others i to you sometimes von loses a is near all time it is ver droll eh my ha ha ha and he off with an laugh that chilled my blood the black the did he mean by that eh said the colonel don t know said suppose we go and inspect the hole but before that i had contrived to draw near it myself in deadly fear lest the frenchman s last words had contained some which i had not understood it was light enough still for me to see something at the unexpected horror of which i very nearly fainted that thrice accursed which i had been insane enough to attempt to upon the colonel must it seems have buried his supper the night before very near the spot in which i had laid and his attempt to his bone had brought the remains of my victim to the

3Edith Wharton

surface there the corpse lay on the very top of the time had not of course improved its appearance which was ghastly in the extreme but still plainly by the eye of affection it s a very ordinary hole i gasped putting myself before it and trying to turn them back nothing in it â nothing at all except one esq eh whispered in my ear no but persisted the colonel advancing look here has the dog any of your shrubs no no i cried quite the reverse let s all go indoors now it s getting so cold the black see there a or something said the colonel still coming nearer that fatal hole why look there what s that who was by his side gave a slight scream uncle she cried it looks like â like the colonel turned suddenly upon me do you hear he demanded in a choked voice you hear what she says can t you speak out is that our i gave it up at last i only longed to be allowed to crawl away under something yes i said in a dull whisper as i sat down heavily on a garden seat yes â that s misfortune shoot him quite an accident there was a terrible explosion after that they saw at last how i had deceived them and put the very worst construction upon everything even now i at times and my cheeks smart and with humiliation as i recall that the colonel s very plain speaking s passionate reproaches and contempt and her aunt s speechless of disappointment i made no attempt to defend myself i was not perhaps the complete villain they deemed me but i felt that no doubt it all served me perfectly right still i do not think i am under any obligation to put it all down in black and white here had vanished at the first opportunity â â whether out of delicacy or the fear of breaking out into mirth i cannot say and shortly the black afterwards the others came to where i sat silent with bowed head and bade me a stem and final farewell and then as the last gleam of s white dress vanished down the garden path i laid my head down on the table amongst the coffee cups and cried like a beaten child â â â â ik i got leave as soon as i could and went abroad the morning after my return i noticed while that there was a small square marble placed against the wall of the colonel s garden i got my opera glass and read â and pleasant reading it was â the following inscription â in affectionate memory of secretly and cruelly put to death in cold blood by a neighbour and friend june if this explanation of mine ever reaches my neighbours eyes i humbly hope they will have the humanity either to take away or tone down that they cannot conceive what i suffer when curious visitors insist as they do every day in out the words from our windows and asking me countless questions about them the black sometimes i meet the about the village and as they pass me with averted heads i feel myself growing crimson is almost always with now he has given her a dog â a â and they take elaborate precautions to keep it out of my garden i should like to assure them here that they need not be under any alarm i have shot one dog f lord richard and i chapter i among the characters which i have found worthy of study that of lord richard stands pre eminent no other man has so successfully deceived the world the instinct of woman and the analysis of man have been equally at fault his many friends male and female love him for his frankness and his political regard him in spite of his admitted sagacity as a very simple fellow he is raised on a as the honest man who sees clearly enough but whose chief claim to admiration is that he is incapable of deceit almost incapable of concealment it may be that there are such men in the world and that they are not i will not be on this matter i will content myself with the assertion that lord richard whom the world took for this combination of open simplicity and political sagacity was a master of the most and subtle of men even now i can recall my first impression of my friend s simplicity â an impression so strong that but for my invariable rule i should have trusted it as i summon back to me his square figure his blunt speech his open eyes turned to mine with an air of lord richard and i innocent wonder his easy talk of things political i am almost surprised that i too was not deceived by a constant effort i succeeded in my judgment i was rewarded by the gradual discovery of a most intricate and interesting character i found him out i was almost frightened by my unique success i had to take the greatest pains lest he should discover that i knew his real nature and in spite of all my care i soon found that he felt an occasional uneasiness in my presence i suspected this uneasiness and i cautiously confirmed my suspicion by a few experiments how happy he was in his air of innocence he would look at me with an expression almost as he pushed his thick hair from his brow he would seem to be puzzled by my constant presence he started sometimes when he found me at his elbow hang it he would say in his simple hearty fashion â hang it what are you creeping about here for then i would make some answer as if i entered into his frank humour i remember that one day

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when i explained my presence by reminding him that i was his secretary he burst into that jolly laugh which had deceived the nation i ll be hanged he cried out as soon as he could speak for laughter i ll be hanged if i know how you came to be my secretary i only answered with a smile it was unnecessary for me to inform lord richard that i had attached myself to him in obedience to the advice of my dear old at the university because i considered him the most rising of lord richard and i the day i knew well enough that to give him information was to carry coals to that he knew all which he cared to know he had an admirable manner i may say without vanity that i was an excellent secretary i was constant in attendance ready with my pen patient in investigation an apparent carelessness about his correspondence was in agreement with lord richard s attitude as he seemed frank and in speech so also did he seem indifferent who might read the many letters which he left open on his tables of course i was not deceived he knew well enough what to leave open yet in spite of all his cleverness i learned something more than he meant me to by extraordinary patience and vigilance i succeeded in picking up many scraps of the secret history of contemporary politics i kept a note book i copied many bits of letters i wrote down many fragments of conversation little by little i obtained some valuable knowledge of the hidden of politics i already felt at times as if my hand was on the wires i had made up my mind to go in heart and soul â if i may use the expression â for a political career and every day i had more and more reason to congratulate myself on my choice of my friend lord richard as the first step on the upward path if ambition be a crime i plead guilty i confess that i was surprised one morning when my friend invited me to walk with him in the park he was generally careful to avoid asking for my society lord richard and doubtless he kept in mind the fact that it might suit him some day to assert that he was under no obligation to me however on this morning his habitual air of frank came so near to that my suspicions were immediately aroused he would not attend to his work he had an air almost boyish of course he was not a boy though he is still regarded especially in the political world as a young man these of nobility get such a start in life that any one of them with a quarter of my friend s ability might be a rising at an age when men like myself have barely got a foot on the lowest rung of the ladder but though lord richard was not more than five or six and thirty he had no right to look so young as he looked on that day he assumed the most spirits come out he said and see the sun and the smart people in the park he cultivated this habit of speaking of smart people he liked to talk as if he were a rough and ready son of the soil even trifles such as these went to the increase of his popularity come and look at the he said and tell me all the harm you know of every one of them then you ll be happy i laughed at his i did not refuse to go with him indeed i was not pleased to be seen with lord richard in the park my pleasure was short lived in the very centre of the gay crowd while i was leaning on my friend s arm and r the lovely ladies with respectful interest my eyes suddenly encountered those of my lord richard and i cousin tom it was impossible to pretend not to see him lady and a few of the ornaments of london society were passing between us at the moment but this did not prevent tom from me with enthusiasm by a ridiculous name which had been given me by my i have always disliked this silly trick of giving i could see that the fair smiled and lord richard began as usual to laugh aloud such want of tact as tom s is scarcely less than criminal my cousin s hat was shabby and his clothes dusty but his face beamed with its usual unreasonable satisfaction tom is not wholly a i really believe that the company in which he saw me was not the sole cause of the warmth of his greeting he is strangely impulsive and has a most absurd feeling for kin even the which at the moment i could not wholly conceal did not moderate his it was only natural that i should be pained to see him there and then indeed i did not care to see him anywhere he was only my father s cousin and i had never approved of him he was a man and by no means a successful one he had let slip some admirable chances of his position he had defended his folly by a parade of scruples which were old fashioned and fantastic indeed there was in tom much which called for the judge if i was pleased to be greeted in the most brilliant crowd of the world by this elderly and shabby lord richard and l as i was hurriedly asking the necessary questions about his wife and family and at the same time forming in my mind a picturesque account of this eccentric cousin which i could give to my friend lord richard surprised me by resisting my attempts to draw him away he is far more solid than i

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he detained me easily introduce me he said in a loud whisper i introduced him wondering but the next moment i perceived his motive i felt sure that he recognized in tom one of the gentlemen of the press nobody knew better than lord richard the value of politeness to it was strange to hear these two men talk at first acquaintance with a manner as if neither had a thought to conceal as for tom i really believe that he hides very little clever and accomplished as he is i have sometimes thought him little short of an idiot he did not seem in the least degree overcome when lord richard pressed him to visit him i shall be delighted he said and i can look up my young cousin here at the same time he s often with you i believe by george he is said my friend he s closer than a brother and he burst out laughing again as we proceeded on our way i heard him murmuring to himself that silly name which had been given me at school it was too ridiculous in a man of lord richard s position when we had walked a little way without further conversation my companion asked with a suddenness which was without doubt the result of calculation go lord richard and i was that your cousin s daughter nothing escapes lord richard i had hoped that he had not noticed where she stood half withdrawn at her father s shabby elbow i myself had detected her in a moment and had noticed with a strange emotion that the pretty child was changing to a pretty woman ah me for the follies of boyhood how i remembered our games when we were children together in my cousin s old garden et but no time had been given me now for wandering thoughts and tender reminiscences when i saw in the crowd i had decided in an instant that i could pretend not to see her it was far better that i should her it was no less than my duty when was a little girl with floating hair and grave blue eyes i had promised a thousand times in jest that she should be my wife i had been strangely drawn towards the lovely child one cannot be too careful i had left all that so far behind me fortune had carried me away from that youthful silly dream as out of the comer of my eye i marked her standing there very neat and pretty in her simple gown as i noted that the charm had grown with her growth and that she had inherited none of her father s air i felt that for her sake as well as for my own i had better see her as little as possible on this occasion i had been able not to see her at all was that his daughter asked lord richard for a moment i knew not how to reply i could lord richard and i i acknowledge that i had seen my little cousin and had not spoken to her was there a girl with him i asked in return there was he answered with a sort of mockery in his voice and in a moment he added by george is it possible that she and you are cousins only second cousins i said i hope she may remember you in her prayers he said strangely then he seemed to forget my existence i did not interrupt him i supposed that he was busy with the of i moved quietly at his elbow till i heard him humming to himself i listened but i could not catch the words i made out however that he was humming a german song i more than once detected the word which on consulting the dictionary at home i discovered to signify eyes chapter ii not long after the unfortunate meeting in the park lord richard suddenly spoke to me of the neglected of i knew that there was likely to be a there i had been waiting for a good opportunity of my own merits as a candidate but i had never expected that the first suggestion of my standing for parliament would come from my friend of course i was well aware that the influence of lord richard s family in was practically decisive if the lord richard and i present member were really bent on retirement and if the family supported me cordially i might leap in a moment into that position to which i had long intended to climb but my friend s suggestion frightened me what could be his object i could not guess i could only assume a proper modesty â a doubt of my own surely i said you must know of some more important person you ll do he cried out with his big voice you re made for politics you don t mind working up details you re good at out things you re not thin i laughed in a manner at his praise but still my mind was busy with questions of his motive i began to think that he wished to the which bound us to one another it seemed probable enough that with his great he had decided that i was learning too much of himself and of his correspondence with political friends of his real motive for me i confess that i had not the slightest suspicion as i looked at him doubtfully he began to laugh as usual this habit of laughter which while it covers awkward pauses a man to nothing is of great use to lord richard he arranged for my immediate departure as if it were the best joke in the world he planned for me with the sitting member with the local lawyer with his own distinguished father the fact that i was to be 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man lord richard and sion naturally weakened my instinctive opposition to these sudden schemes finally my friend begged me not to hurry back i hastened to assure him that i should make no unnecessary delay and that if i were ever fortunate enough to gain a seat in the house even that need not prevent me from making myself useful to him i could still act as secretary i said no no no â damn it no he cried and hurried out of the room i laughed at the joke but i was still by doubts how true my instinct was has yet to be shown alas i lingered at the cordiality of the amiable if member for the the stupidity of the principal the luxury of the castle in which i was a guest â all these combined to my absence from my friend slowly and happily i was winning my way into popular favor day by day in the leisurely life of that quiet spot i was my position as its future representative when on a sudden i was awakened from my by the news of the great catastrophe it was in the library of his home that i opened the paper with no and read that lord richard had been blinded by a flash of lightning i could scarcely believe my eyes such was my faith in the man s craft and power that i could scarcely imagine him the victim of an accident i found it hard to believe that anything had happened to him which was not the result of his own calculations even when i had realized the dreadful truth i had no suspicion of the extent of lord richard and i the misfortune which had befallen me indeed i saw good in the evil i saw that lord richard s blindness would make him doubly dependent on my care and help although i noted â as it is my habit to note details apparently unimportant â that when lord richard met with his terrible accident he was driving himself home from the in which my cousin tom lived i confess that i attached no importance to the fact it was not for the sake of playing with lightning that my friend had planned my absence in his native i did not waste time in idle i left that to the victim s at the castle now was the time for me to hurry to lord richard s side no one knew better than i what is expected from a friend i had studied the subject after all proper expressions of i hurried from the noble mansion where i had passed such happy hours as soon as i reached london i hurried to my friend s abode i let myself in by means of one of his latch keys which i always carried i stepped noiselessly upstairs i did not know in what condition the nerves of the poor sufferer might be at the top of the stairs i turned aside into the little back room i peeped cautiously round the heavy curtain which hung across the open doorway i feared that my sudden appearance might the invalid as i peered cautiously into the shaded study i was reassured by the sound of my friend s voice he was speaking in his usual tone with that blunt straightforward manner which i envied for lord richard and i a moment i thought that the whole story must be false i drew back my head that i might consider my position then it struck me that he might be his misfortune â pretending to be wholly blind that he might excite to the highest point the popular interest and sympathy in this i did him more than credit i waited in silence to discover to whom my friend was talking presently i heard the voice of my cousin tom and i felt sure i confess my certainty that i understood the meaning of the situation how soon i said to myself has he found a use for the confidential to whom i introduced him i felt no doubt i it that he was arranging with tom how the story should be told in the and in the provincial press how england might be made to thrill from one end to the other by an account of this sudden catastrophe which had befallen a rising public servant and of the truly british pluck with which the awful consequences were borne intense curiosity nailed me to the spot i had no time to think of the peculiarity of my position as i listened with all my ears behind the heavy curtain even if i had tried to make my presence known the words which presently reached me would have stricken me dumb it seems impossible said tom â my little what was this i gave such a gasp that i thought it must be heard could this be a sort of used by these two men lest there should be no the idea was absurd how lord richard and could there be fear of in lord richard s private rooms as the talk went on all doubt was speedily removed i stood i could not utter a sound it was impossible for me to make my presence known after a silence which seemed long lord richard spoke it seems almost impossible to me he said i thought that i did not care a for all the women in the world i was rather badly treated by a woman once when i was a boy after that i made up my mind to do without sentiment i went in for politics i thought i was strong as a house â and it has come to this there was something both and pathetic in my friend s voice i could not think what he meant by this strange departure i did not try to think all my 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to noting his every word to it on my memory my report is absolutely accurate my cousin tom muttered some words which did not reach my ears and then lord richard began again speaking slowly and low as if he were thinking aloud sometimes of late he said i had caught myself in a strange mood wondering if i had not flung away the fairest gift of life if it would not be sad to grow old with no one near me â no one to care for me much â no one but some fellow who served me for his own interest climbed on my shoulders and would kick me down when i could help him no higher how morbid a line of thought was this into which lord richard pretended to have fallen surely he could always command better lord richard and i service than this which he for the softening of my cousin tom it struck me as i never felt so strange my friend continued presently with the same musing tone as i did that morning when i met you in the park if i were superstitious â and perhaps i am â i should say that i knew i was to meet my fate my heart was beating like a boy s as i found myself in that crowd as i spoke to you i saw blue eyes look at me with an innocent curiosity i saw as i shall never see again there was so strange a silence that i could not help peeping round the curtain i felt that i must know all that i was in some sort bound to understand the whole situation when i peeped into the darkened room i saw that my friend had assumed a striking pose his head was bowed and his arms which lay straight along the arms of the chair conveyed for the moment a suggestion of the whole attitude was an effective appeal for pity of course it produced the expected effect on tom i could see that my cousin was nervous and excited his features were twisted into most expressions and his eyes were wandering to the comers of the ceiling he started when lord richard referred to his blindness he put out his hand with a jerk as if he would seize the other s he only grasped the empty air then with his usual talent for doing the wrong thing he began to whistle then he stopped abruptly i m awfully sorry he lord richard and said suddenly with a voice which seemed to crack in the middle like a half grown boy s lord richard pulled himself up in his chair and felt in his new darkness for the other s hand it was odd to see this new movement in him so unlike the old prompt use of the arms the two men went through the form of shaking hands â apparently for no reason when i saw her again said my friend presently in that charming house of yours she seemed to me like a little tidy angel with all her heart for home but â but with heaven in her eyes as he spoke i seemed to see that extraordinary dwelling which i had known so well in my boyhood â a collection of sheds and boxes all opening into an garden to call that a charming house to call my pretty little cousin an angel as for that passage about her heart and eyes i could only admire the speaker with a new wonder even i had not suspected his power of that sort of speech i was frightened he said after another pause by the full consciousness of her divine childhood i felt myself old and worldly â unworthy even to think of her i came away that evening with the fixed purpose of crushing this mad fancy of mine i was confident and â and it has come to this it was awful said tom it seems to me impossible now i can t believe that you â that you that i am blind or that i am in love asked lord richard and he laughed out loud with his lord richard and old boldness the blindness i can stand well enough he said without a tremor in his voice it s a bore for my friends â i shall you all â and for my political â poor devils but it s this other thing â it s this other thing which makes me tremble like a girl i could have crushed it but i cannot crush it now now in the darkness i see her eyes always i can t escape i can t fix my mind on the business of the i feel my weakness every moment i shall take up my public life again i shall do my work with and such like necessaries â but i can t face my long life at home alone i can t do it i ve an odd fancy that heaven has taken my eyes that i should learn the meaning of those eyes of hers i â i feel a fool â will you give her to me you ask a great deal cried tom almost angrily poor little i don t want her to marry and go away from me she s a child i d much rather she married a boy â a nice innocent boy with his way to make in the world i don t like her going among people who would hold her cheap you must see it would be a grave responsibility for her it would be a hard life to look after a â ah i beg your pardon of course it would said the other i ought to be led about by a little dog like the rest of em he laughed as he spoke but tom seemed to be touched none the less

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he and and begged his pardon again i have written down more than enough of this talk in the end they loo lord richard and l agreed that lord richard should visit my cousin s strange abode as often as he liked that he should try to make himself at home there that he should be allowed to talk to when he would meanwhile neither of them was to give the girl even a hint of lord richard s wishes as they gradually came to an agreement tom became more cheerful he did not conceal his hopes that the absurdity of the whole thing would become clear to my friend see her as often as you like he said at last see her repeated lord richard softly ah cried the other again sharply as if something hurt him what a fool i am forgive me and come as often as you can â and thank you i do not know why he thanked him but he spoke with deepest feeling tom is a strange being it is my deliberate opinion that he was not in any sense eager that his daughter should marry lord richard i believe that his want of enthusiasm in contemplating this brilliant future for his child was real he is fantastic if i wished to speak hardly of my own kin i should say that he was little short of an idiot chapter iii though i freely confess that i was astounded by the discovery of my friend s new purpose it needed but a few minutes solitude to make his motives clear after a few minutes of perplexity i again lord richard and i loi did justice to his extraordinary ability i had found out long ago that story of his youth i had made the acquaintance of the lady who had treated him badly i had smiled often to myself at the thought of her for the gallant boy whom she had thrown over was becoming a personage in the world and the rich man whom she had married was unexpectedly of diamonds and now if lord richard in his manhood made up his mind at last to take a wife it was certainly wise of him to seek one who was naturally modest and who had been brought up to expect little for herself and to look after the younger children the care and devotion of such a girl might be bought by as easily as by diamonds but of course no considerations of the sort would have occurred to my friend had he not met with his great calamity that much he had admitted though with a graceful veil of sentiment in his conversation with my cousin tom if to see clearly what is for one s good and to lay firm hand upon it be to be great then my friend lord richard is a great man a lightning flash strikes him blind in a moment he has fixed upon the best substitute for his eyes within twenty four hours he has put everything in motion to his success what would be the value to him now of a fashionable woman with a heart given wholly to society and with eyes for other men he proposed to secure for himself a dear little modest maiden who would ask no better fate than to devote herself to a great man and a member of the aristocracy lord richard and l one mistake however even lord richard made even he must have her gentleness i confess that i it i have been rudely corrected but â as the professional say â to my story for some time after lord richard s sad accident i was in my attentions not only did his comparative helplessness and the claims of friendship make an appeal which i would not for a moment but i was eager also to see the conclusion of this little comedy â this managed of the middle aged and the maiden moreover i had my own part to play i had determined at once to do all i could to further the marriage it was the safest course even now though the result has not agreed with my expectations i cannot see that i was wrong if i had tried to hinder the match for the sake of my own influence with my friend i should probably have failed i knew lord richard s power even if i had succeeded in separating the ill couple i could not have done it without creating such a coldness between my friend and myself that our old familiar and delightful converse would have been impossible how familiar â how easy it was what would you do without me i asked one day when i had written a handful of notes from his and addressed them to his political friends and i remember exactly the quick movement with which he turned his face towards me and cried out with laughter upon my soul i should miss lord richard and i io you you are good for the nerves i ve almost got over jumping when i hear you suddenly at my shoulder but i must not linger over reminiscences it is one of the temptations to which my accurate memory lays me open i must come to the climax of my little story in of my plan i prepared myself to accompany my friend almost every day to that where my cousin tom presided over his but here i was unexpectedly i soon found that on this road at least it was not i but his faithful who was to play little dog to the blind man i have nothing to say against lord richard s excellent i never saw him drunk it was his interest to preserve an excellent place still it is only fair to conclude that like most of his class he was and inquisitive certainly he was no fit companion on a

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