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diff --git a/45100.txt b/45100.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6ea6499..0000000 --- a/45100.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6282 +0,0 @@ - THE WHIRL - - - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: The Whirl - A Romance of Washington Society -Author: Foxcroft Davis -Release Date: March 09, 2014 [EBook #45100] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WHIRL *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - -[Illustration: Cover art] - - - - - "Her glance, quick yet soft, was much the prettiest thing - of the sort Sir Percy had ever seen" (Page 33) - (missing from book) . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ - - - - - THE WHIRL - - A ROMANCE OF - WASHINGTON SOCIETY - - - BY - - FOXCROFT DAVIS - - - - WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY - HARRISON FISHER AND - B. MARTIN JUSTICE - - - - NEW YORK - DODD, MEAD & COMPANY - 1909 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1907 - BY THE WASHINGTON HERALD COMPANY - - COPYRIGHT, 1909 - BY DODD, MEAD & COMPANY - - Published, May, 1909 - - - - - *ILLUSTRATIONS* - - -"Her glance, quick yet soft, was much the prettiest thing of the sort -Sir Percy had ever seen" (page 33) (missing from book) . . . . . . -_Frontispiece_ - -"'It is the old story. You are worthy to marry her, but I am not worthy -to speak to her'" - -"'I shall leave this house to-morrow morning, never to re-enter it'" - - - - - *I* - - -Few men have the goal of their ambition in sight at thirty-eight years -of age. But Sir Percy Carlyon had, when he was appointed First -Secretary of the British Embassy at Washington, with a very -well-arranged scheme worked out by which, at the end of four years, he -was to succeed his uncle, Lord Baudesert, the present Ambassador. This -realisation of his dreams came to Sir Percy on a December afternoon dark -and sharp, as he tramped over the frozen ground through the stark and -leafless woods, which may yet be found close to Washington. - -He was a great walker, this thin, sinewy Englishman with a sun-browned -skin, burnt by many summers in India and weather-beaten by many winters -in the snowbound depths of the Balkans. He had the straight features -and clear, scintillant eyes which are the marks of race among his kind, -but no one would have been more surprised than Sir Percy if he had been -called handsome. Within him, on this bleak December afternoon, was a -sensation strange to him after many years: the feeling of hope and -almost of joy. He stopped in the silent heart of the woods, and, -leaning against the gnarled trunk of a live oak, thrust his hands into -his pockets and glanced, with brightening eyes, towards the west. A -faint, rosy line upon the horizon was visible through the naked woods; -all else in sky and earth was dun-coloured. - -To Sir Percy Carlyon this thread of radiance was a promise of the -future. This was, to him, almost the first moment of retrospection -since the day, two months before, when, in the Prime Minister's rooms in -Downing Street, a new life in a new country opened before him. Since -then--amid the official and personal preparations necessary to take up -his post, his seven days on the Atlantic, during which he worked hard on -pressing business, the necessary first visits upon his arrival--Sir -Percy had scarcely enjoyed an hour to himself. He had found the Embassy -overwhelmed with affairs, about which his uncle, Lord Baudesert, coolly -refused to bother himself, but which Sir Percy, as a practical man, felt -obliged to take up and carry through. That day, only, had he, by hard -and systematic work, caught up what was called by Lord Baudesert, with a -grin, the "unfinished business" at the British Embassy, but which really -meant the neglected business of a lazy, clever old diplomatist who never -did to-day what he could put off until to-morrow. - -Lord Baudesert had been many years at Washington, and had a thorough -knowledge not only of the affairs of the American people, but of their -temper, their prejudices and their passions. In an emergency his -natural abilities, and a kind of superhuman adroitness which he -possessed, together with the vast fund of knowledge that he had -accumulated, but rarely used, made him a valuable person to the Foreign -Office. However, as soon as the emergency passed Lord Baudesert -returned to his usual occupation of studying the American newspapers and -anything else which could add to the already vast stock of knowledge -which he possessed, but rarely condescended to use. - -The Embassy was presided over by Lord Baudesert's widowed sister, Mrs. -Vereker, an amiable old sheep of the early Victorian type. Then there -were three lamb-like Vereker girls, Jane, Sarah and Isabella, all -likewise early Victorian, who regarded their uncle as a combination of -Bluebeard and Solomon, and altogether the most important and the most -terrifying person on this planet. Lord Baudesert's favourite instrument -of torture to the ladies of his family was the threat to marry an -American widow with billions of money. How this would have unfavourably -affected her the excellent Mrs. Vereker could not have told to save her -life--but the mere hint always gave her acute misery. - -The secretaries of the Embassy were very well-meaning young men, who -attended to their work as well as they knew how, but as Lord Baudesert -seldom took the trouble to read a document, and would not sign his name -to anything which he had not read, it was difficult to get business -transacted. When Sir Percy Carlyon was getting his instructions from -the Prime Minister concerning his post of First Secretary at Washington -the Premier had remarked: - -"Your uncle, you know, is the laziest man God ever made, but he is also -one of the cleverest. No living Englishman knows as much about American -affairs as Lord Baudesert, or has ever made himself so acceptable to the -American people, but when he isn't doing us the greatest service in the -world, he lets everything go hang. We are sending you to Washington to -get some work done. I hear you can bully Lord Baudesert in every -particular." - -"Except one," Sir Percy had replied. "Neither I, nor anybody else, nor -the devil himself, could make Lord Baudesert work when he doesn't want -to." - -Sir Percy, on this December afternoon in the woods, reviewed in his own -mind his whole diplomatic career up to the point of that interview. His -first beginnings had been as a minor civil servant on the Indian -frontier twelve years before. It is not uncommon, however, for those -clever youngsters who are sent out to India to govern, negotiate, -threaten and subdue a vast and deceitful people to find themselves -entrusted with responsibilities which might appal older representatives -of the British Empire. - -Far removed from Western civilisation, and out of the field of -newspapers, young Sir Percy Carlyon was in effect ruler and lord of a -million people, whose united word counted less with their English -masters than one sentence from this sahib of twenty-six years of age. -His post was on the Afghanistan frontier, where he had to circumvent -Afghans and Russians and out-general all of them. The times were -difficult, and in spite of young Carlyon's great and even splendid gifts -of insight, temper and diplomacy, he would hardly have succeeded in his -work but for one man. This was General Talbott, who was in military -command of the district, and an admirable type of the -soldier-diplomatist. He had stood by Sir Percy with a vigour and -generosity, and a fatherly kindness, which no man not an utter ingrate -could ever forget. They had gone together through stormy and tragic -days, and when the reports had reached the Indian Office it was Sir -Percy to whom General Talbott gave the largest share of the credit, and -even the glory, which had resulted from their joint efforts. - -Thanks to this extraordinary generosity on General Talbott's part, Sir -Percy's efforts had received prompt recognition. His first two years in -India were brilliantly successful, and marked him as a rising man among -his fellows. From that time onwards he had been what is called -lucky--that is to say, when two courses were opened to him he took the -sensible one. After a brief but distinguished service in India he was -transferred to the diplomatic corps, and good fortune followed him. - -But the greatest stroke of his life had come two years before, in the -Balkans, that line upon which, as Lord Beaconsfield said, "England -fights." The Foreign Office happened not to be as judicious in a -certain juncture as its young representative; in fact, the Premier -committed the most astounding blunder, which, if it had become known, -would have sent him out of office amid the inextinguishable laughter of -mankind. This blunder, however, was known only to four persons--the -Prime Minister himself, his private secretary, a telegraph operator and -Sir Percy Carlyon. What Sir Percy did was to wire back to the head of -the Government: - -"Message received, but unintelligible owing to telegraph operator's -ignorance of English." - -Then he proceeded to act upon his own account. Three days later the -Russian envoy was on his way to St. Petersburg on an indefinite leave of -absence and Sir Percy was domiciled with the reigning sovereign at his -country place, and was in the saddle to stay. - -Six months after he had an interview with the Prime Minister. Not much -was said, but Sir Percy was asked in diplomatic language to name what he -wanted. He named it, and it was to be First Secretary at Washington -when his promotion was due, then service at some smaller European court -as Minister, and to succeed Lord Baudesert on his retirement. - -The Prime Minister was not startled at the proposition. He knew Sir -Percy to be a man of lofty ambition and not likely to underrate himself. -The scheme, moreover, had in it elements of fitness and common-sense. -The Prime Minister was heartily tired of gouty old gentlemen in great -diplomatic positions, and thought it rather a good idea to make a man an -Ambassador before he got too old. Besides, nothing that Sir Percy -Carlyon could have asked in reason would have been too much, considering -from what the Premier had been saved. So it was arranged that he should -go to Washington as First Secretary, and the rest of the plan was likely -to be carried out even if there should be a change in the party in -power. Eighteen months afterwards the appointment was made and the first -step in the programme taken. - -In looking back upon his career, Sir Percy saw nothing but good -fortune--great and exceptional good fortune; so much so, that he began -to ask himself whether, like the old Greeks, a price would not be -demanded from him for all that had been given him. The idea, however, -was unpleasing, and he began, Alnaschar-like, to plan what he should do -when he became Ambassador. Then a thought stole into his mind which -made his somewhat grim face relax; there ought to be an Ambassadress. He -could see her in his mind's eye, a beautiful, stately English girl, -looking like the elder sister of the tall, white lilies. She must be -grave and dignified, and very reticent--a talkative Ambassadress would -be a horror. He would like her to be of some great English home. -Himself one of the best born men in England, he had a fancy, even a -weakness, for distinguished birth. He had a strong prejudice against -members of the diplomatic corps marrying outside of their countries, and -especially he disapproved of diplomats rushing pell-mell into marriage -with American girls. He had known a few of these feminine American -diplomatists in his time, and there was not one he considered well -fitted for her position. Most of them talked too much; and all of them -dressed too much. Then many of them had shoals of relatives, whom they -insisted on dragging around with them to the various European capitals, -and these relations generally involved them in social battles which were -anything but dignified. On the whole, Sir Percy had fully made up his -mind to marry none but an Englishwoman. - -By the time he had reached this point in his reverie he was striding -fast through the woods in the bitter winter dusk towards the town. -Suddenly a woman's face, like a face in a dream, passed before his mind. -The thought of her brought his rapid walk to a dead stop, like a dagger -thrust into his heart. The image of Alicia Vernon rose before -him--Alicia, who was tall and fair, and had a flute-like voice and the -deepest and darkest blue eyes he had ever seen--Alicia, the only child -of the man who had befriended him more than all the men in the -world--General Talbott. - -True, he had been but twenty-six years of age when he met Alicia, who -was two years his senior. True, that older and stronger men than he had -succumbed to her beauty, her charm, her courage, her fitness, and her -wantonness. Not one of them, however, but had better excuse than -himself, so thought Sir Percy, his eyes involuntarily cast down with -shame. - -When he first met her, Alicia was already married to Guy Vernon, weak, -worthless and rich. Sir Percy remembered, with a flush of -self-abasement, how ready, nay, how eager, he had been to listen to the -plausible stories Alicia told him of Guy Vernon's ill-treatment and -neglect of her. But she had omitted to mention that she had squandered -half of Guy Vernon's fortune within the first three years of their -married life, and had compromised herself with at least half-a-dozen men -since her marriage. True, also, that Alicia and Sir Percy were at a -lonely post among the hills on the Afghan frontier, and that he and Guy -Vernon's wife had been thrown together in an intimacy impossible -anywhere else on the face of the globe. True, again, was it that Alicia -Vernon's flattery had been insidious beyond words. Money was what she -had heretofore required more than anything else on earth except the -enslavement of men. Sir Percy's fortune, however, was only a modest -patrimony, which would scarcely have sufficed for six months for what -Alicia Vernon considered her actual needs. - -As she had in reality seduced Sir Percy's honour, so, in a way, was she -herself seduced by his powerful intelligence, by his brilliance and by -his success, which, with a woman's prescience, she felt sure was only -the presage of greater things. She inherited from her father a clear -and trenchant mind, and she readily foresaw that the time would come -when this young Indian civil servant would be heard of by all his world. -She, however, was his first courtier. - -It was impossible that a woman so gifted, so complex, so courageous as -Alicia Vernon should not have at least one virtue in excess. That was -her love for her father. False she was to him in many ways, but true -she ever was in love of him. By the exercise of all her intelligence, -and by eternal vigilance, she had succeeded in making General Talbott -believe her the purest, the most injured woman alive. He always called -her "my poor Alicia," and hated her husband with a mortal hatred, -thinking him to have injured the gentlest and sweetest of women. - -Sir Percy's infatuation for Alicia Vernon lasted but a few months, and, -through Alicia's woman's wit, was unsuspected by the world, least of all -by General Talbott, who adored his daughter. Then Sir Percy awoke once -more to honour, and pitied the woman and hated himself for the brief -downfall. - -It is not every man who beats his breast and throws ashes on his head -who is a true penitent. But no man felt bitterer remorse for his -wrongdoing than did Sir Percy Carlyon. He applied the same judgment to -himself that he did to other men, and while reckoning his fault at its -full wickedness, also reckoned that sincere penitence was not entirely -worthless. He had lived his life to that time of remorse in cheerful -ignorance and a silent defiance of the Great First Cause; but upon the -darkness of his soul stole a ray of light. He began to believe a little -in a personal God, a father, a judge and a school-master who required -justice and obedience of mankind. Sir Percy became secretly a religious -man. He did not go to church any oftener than before, nor did he take -refuge in Bible texts, but the prayer of the publican was often in his -heart, "God be merciful to me a sinner." - -After a pause of a minute or two he resumed his quick, swinging walk. -The December night was upon him, although it was not yet six o'clock, -and he had still five miles to tramp before reaching Washington. That -night the initial ball of the season was to be given at the British -Embassy, and Sir Percy was, for the first time, to see the kaleidoscopic -Washington society. His rapid walk stimulated him and enabled him to -put out of his mind that painful and humiliating recollection of his -early lapse, which had lain in hiding for him by night and day, by land -and sea, for ten years past. So long as he had been in Europe Alicia -had not allowed him to forget her, but had tracked him from place to -place. How well he remembered the anger and disgust he felt when she -would suddenly appear--beautiful, charmingly dressed, smiling and -composed--on the terrace at Homburg and challenge him with her eyes! How -hateful became the Court balls at Buckingham Palace when Alicia Vernon, -leaning upon her father's arm, would greet Sir Percy in her seductive, -well-modulated voice, of which he knew and hated every note! How -wearisome became the visits to great country houses when Alicia, as it -so often happened, floated into the drawing-room on the evening of his -arrival, and was generally the most beautiful and most gifted woman -there, with more knowledge of what she should not know than any other -woman present! At least, thought Sir Percy, his spirits rising, he -would be free in Washington from Alicia Vernon's presence. There was not -much here to attract a woman of her type. - -By the time the lights of Washington studded the darkness and the tall -apartment-houses, sparkling with electric lights, loomed against the -black sky, Sir Percy was himself again, cheerful, courageous--ready to -meet life with a smile, a sword or a shield, as might be demanded. - - - - - *II* - - -The British Embassy was blazing with light, and the musicians were -tuning their instruments in the ball-room, when Sir Percy came in, a -little before ten o'clock. Lord Baudesert, a handsome, black-eyed and -white-haired man, his breast covered with decorations, was critically -inspecting Mrs. Vereker and the three Vereker girls, Jane, Sarah and -Isabella. All were panic-stricken as Lord Baudesert's keen eyes -travelled from the top of their sandy, abundant hair down to their large -feet encased in white satin slippers. - -"I swear, Susan," Lord Baudesert was saying to Mrs. Vereker, a large, -patient, soft-voiced woman, "I believe that black velvet gown you wear -figured at the old Queen's coronation." - -"I have only had it ten years, brother," murmured Mrs. Vereker; "and it -is the very best quality of black silk velvet, at thirty shillings the -yard. A black velvet gown never goes out of fashion." - -"Not if it belongs to you," answered Lord Baudesert, laughing. "And why -don't you three girls dress like American girls? Your gowns look as if -they had been hung out in the rain and dried before the kitchen fire and -then thrown at you." - -Jane, Sarah and Isabella, accustomed to these compliments, only smiled -faintly but Sir Percy, looking Lord Baudesert squarely in the eye, -remarked: - -"They don't dress like American girls because they are English girls; -and, for my part, I never could understand how any sane man could prefer -an American to an English girl. As for Aunt Susan's gown, it is very -handsome and appropriate, and she should not pay any attention to your -views on the subject." - -Mrs. Vereker looked apprehensively at Sir Percy, whom she regarded as a -superserviceable champion, likely to get her into additional trouble. - -"Oh, my dear Percy!" she hastened to say, "Lord Baudesert's taste in -dress is perfect. I am sure I would be as smart as any one if I only -knew how, but we are at the mercy of the dressmakers, and Lord Baudesert -can't understand that." - -"Lord Baudesert can understand anything he wants to," answered Sir -Percy, laughing. - -Then Lord Baudesert laughed too. Sir Percy's determination not to be -bullied by him was an agreeable sensation to Lord Baudesert, accustomed -as he was to be approached on all fours by the ladies of his family. - -The occasion to worry his womankind, however, was too good for Lord -Baudesert, and he began again to his nephew: - -"I hope, my dear boy, you will meet a friend of mine to-night--Mrs. -Chantrey--a widow, very handsome, fine old Boston family, with something -like a billion of money." - -Mrs. Vereker sighed. Mrs. Chantrey was her rod of scourging, which Lord -Baudesert freely applied. Then, taking his nephew's arm, the Ambassador -walked into the next room, and out of Mrs. Vereker's hearing expressed -his true sentiments. - -"You will see American women in full force to-night," he said. "They -are strange creatures, full of _esprit_, and they have brought the art -of dress to the level of a fine art. Be sure to look at their shoes and -their handkerchiefs. I am told that their stockings are works of art. -Don't mind their screeching at you, you will get used to it. There is -great talk of their wonderful adaptability, nevertheless I never saw one -of them whom I really thought was fitted to be the wife of a diplomat. -You needn't pay any attention to the way I talk about Mrs. Chantrey; I -wouldn't marry that woman if she were made of radium at two million -dollars the pound, but it amuses me to worry Susan on the subject." - -"That's nice for Aunt Susan," answered Sir Percy--"but on one point my -mind is made up: I shall never marry an American." - -"I can tell you one thing," continued Lord Baudesert: "marrying an -American heiress is about the poorest investment any man can make, if he -has an eye to business. In this singular country money is never -mentioned by the bridegroom. That one word 'settlement' would be enough -to make an American father kick any man out of the house. The father, -however, is certain to mention money to his prospective son-in-law. He -demands that everything his daughter's husband has should be settled on -the wife, and generally requires that his future son-in-law's life be -insured for the wife's benefit. Then, whatever the American father has -to give his daughter he ties up as tight as a drum, so that the -son-in-law can't touch it, and everything else the son-in-law may get -depends on his good behaviour. The American girl, having been -accustomed to regard herself as a pearl beyond price, expects her -husband to be a sort of coolie at her command. If he isn't she flies -back to her father, and the father proceeds to cut off supplies from the -son-in-law. Oh, it is a great game, the American marriage, when it is -for high stakes. I take it that it is impossible for any European, even -an Englishman, to get at the point of view of an American father -concerning his daughter." - -Then the first violin among the musicians played a few bars of a waltz. -Sarah and Isabella, seeing Lord Baudesert's back turned, waltzed around -together in a corner of the drawing-room. As soon, however, as they -caught Lord Baudesert's eye they left off dancing and scuttled back -under the wing of their mother. - -"You seem to have terrorised those girls pretty successfully," remarked -Sir Percy; "why don't you let the poor things have a little -independence?" - -"My dear fellow, they wouldn't know what to do with independence if they -had it. They have behind them a thousand years of a civilisation based -upon the submission of an Englishwoman to an Englishman. They would be -like overfed pheasants trying to fly, if they had a will of their own, -and they are happy as they are. They always sing when I am not by. I -annoy Susan occasionally by talking about Mrs. Chantrey. When that lady -is in full canonicals, with all her diamonds, she looks like the Queen -of Sheba in Goldmark's opera. She looks worse than a new duchess at her -first Court." - -At that moment the great hall door was opened, and the first guest, a -tall, slight, well-made man, with a trim grey moustache, entered, and -was shown into the dressing-room. Lord Baudesert then took his stand, -or rather his seat, near the door of the drawing-room, with Mrs. Vereker -at his side. - -"I always have the gout," he explained to Sir Percy, "at balls. It is -tiresome to stand, and, besides, an Ambassador is entitled to have some -kind of gentlemanly disease of which he can make use upon occasions." - -"I am so sorry," said Mrs. Vereker sympathetically to Lord Baudesert, -"that the gout is troubling you this evening. I have not heard you -speak of it for months." - -"Haven't had a touch since the last ball," calmly replied Lord -Baudesert, and then he stood up to greet the early guest, who entered -without showing any awkwardness at his somewhat premature arrival. - -"Delighted to see you," said Lord Baudesert, with the greatest -cordiality. "It is not often you honour a ball. Let me introduce my -nephew and new Secretary of the Embassy to you--Sir Percy Carlyon, -Senator March." - -The two men shook hands, and instantly each received a good impression -of the other. - -"The Ambassador must have his joke," said Senator March. "It is true -that I seldom go to balls, nor am I often asked. You see how little I -know of them by my turning up ahead of time. The card said ten o'clock, -and to my rude, untutored mind it seemed as if I were expected at ten -o'clock, and here I am, the sole guest. I don't suppose the smart -people will show up for an hour yet." - -"So much the better, for it gives me the chance to talk to you," replied -Lord Baudesert. - -Then the three men sat down together and chatted. The conversation was -chiefly between the Ambassador and the Senator. A question concerning -international affairs had been up that day in the Senate, and Senator -March, who was Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, had -spoken upon it. He gave a brief _resume_ of what he had said, and Lord -Baudesert, in a few incisive sentences, threw a flood of light upon the -subject. Sir Percy listened with interest to what Senator March had to -say. It was his first informal conversation with an American public -man, and he admired the ease, the simplicity and the sublime common -sense with which Senator March handled the complicated question, and so -expressed himself. - -"There is no excuse for our treating any question except in the most -sensible, practical manner," answered Senator March. "In Europe you are -shackled with the traditions and customs of a thousand years. You can't -take down even a tottering wall without endangering the whole structure. -With us it is all experimental. Nevertheless, our affairs are no better -managed than yours in England." - -Sir Percy at every moment felt more and more the charm of Roger March's -manner and conversation. It was so simple, so manly and so breezy. Nor -was Senator March without appreciation of this clean-limbed, clear-eyed -Englishman. Half an hour passed quickly in animated conversation before -there was another arrival; but then the stream became a torrent. In -twenty minutes the rooms were full and the dancers were skimming around -the ballroom to the thrilling strains of music. Mrs. Chantrey was easily -identified by Sir Percy. She was a big, handsome woman, with an enormous -gown of various fabrics and colours, who so blazed with diamonds that -she looked like a lighthouse. - -Sir Percy was not a dancing man, nor did he ever admire dancing as an -art until he saw the soft, slow, rhythmical waltz as danced by -Americans. His duties as assistant host kept him busy, but, like a born -diplomat, he could see a number of things at once and pursue more than -one train of thought at the same time. As he talked to men and women of -many different nationalities, ages and conditions, his eyes wandered -toward the ball-room, where the waltzers floated around. Never in his -life had he seen so many good dancers, particularly among the women. -One girl in particular caught his eye. Her figure was of medium height, -and her black evening gown showed off her exquisite slenderness, the -beautiful moulding of her arms and the graceful poise of her head. Her -face he scarcely noticed, except that she had milk-white skin contrasted -with very dark hair and eyes. She danced slowly, with a motion as soft -as the zephyr at evening time. Sir Percy's eyes dwelt with pleasure -upon her half a dozen times while the waltz lasted. Then came the rapid -two-step, which reminded Sir Percy of a graceful romp. But the -black-haired, white-skinned girl was not then taking part. - -The drawing-room grew crowded, and Sir Percy, moving from group to -group, did not go into the ball-room. He was introduced to a great -number of ladies, young, old and middle-aged, and the general impression -made upon him was what he expected of the American woman _en masse_. -Prettiness was almost universal, but beauty of a high order was rare. -One girl alone he reckoned strictly beautiful--Eleanor Chantrey, the -only child of the lady like the lighthouse, but totally unlike her. -Eleanor was tall and fair, and Sir Percy thought he had never seen a -more classic face and nobler bust and shoulders. Her voice, too, was -well modulated, and delicious to hear after the peacock screams of most -of the women around him. Miss Chantrey had both read and travelled -much, and had the peculiar advantage of knowing the best people -everywhere, quite irrespective of the smart set. It soon developed that -she and Sir Percy had mutual friends in England, and had even stayed at -the same great country house, although not at the same time. Her manner -was full of grace and dignity, but with a touch of coldness like a New -England August day. It was quite unlike the English. Eleanor was the -highly prized American daughter, whose value is impressed upon her by -that most insidious form of flattery--the being made much of from the -hour of her birth. Nothing, however, could be farther from assumption -than Eleanor's calm, grave sweetness, with a little touch of pride. Sir -Percy, smiling inwardly, could not but be reminded by this gentle and -graceful American beauty of some royal princess before whom the world -has ever bowed. She was well worth seeking out, however, and Sir Percy, -thinking he was doing the thoroughly American thing, asked Miss Chantrey -if he might, in the name of their mutual friends, call upon her. - -"My mother will be very glad to see you, I am sure. We receive on -Tuesdays," she answered, and named a house in the most fashionable -quarter. - -A little later Sir Percy found himself standing among a fringe of men -around the ballroom door. The lancers quadrille was being danced, and -once more he noticed the black-haired girl dancing, and this time he was -surprised to see that her partner was Senator March. The Senator went -through the square dance with the gravity and exactness with which he -had learned his steps at a dancing school forty years before. His -partner was no less graceful in the square dance than in the waltz, and -was more unrestrained, making pretty little steps and curtsies and -movements of quick grace, which made her dancing the most exquisite -thing of the kind Sir Percy had ever seen. When the quadrille was over -he suddenly found her standing almost in front of him, laughing and -clinging to Senator March's arm. Her profile, clear cut as a cameo, but -not in the least classic, was directly in front of Sir Percy, and he was -forced to admire her sparkling face. She had not much regular beauty, -but her white skin, contrasted with her black hair, dark eyes and long, -black lashes, was charming. Her mouth was made for laughter and on the -left side was an elusive dimple. Sir Percy hated dimpled women, but he -found himself looking at the girl's mobile face and watching the -appearance and disappearance of this little hiding place of laughter -upon her cheek. And, wonderful to say, she did not screech, but spoke -in a voice that was singularly clear and musical. Some experience of -the American methods of introducing right and left had been Sir Percy's, -and he was not surprised when Senator March laid a hand upon his arm and -whispered: - -"May I introduce you to this young friend of mine, Miss Lucy Armytage of -Bardstown, Kentucky? You have heard of Kentucky horses, haven't you?" - -"Yes," answered Sir Percy, with the recollection of Iroquois and the -Derby in his mind. - -"Very well, the Kentucky horses are not a patch on the Kentucky women." - -"In that case," replied Sir Percy, laughing, "may I beg you to introduce -me to Miss Armytage at once?" - -Senator March introduced him in due form, and Miss Armytage, holding out -a slim hand, cast down her eyes demurely and murmured that she was glad -to meet him. - -"Sir Percy has only lately arrived in America," explained Senator March. - -"And has probably never heard of Bardstown, Kentucky," responded Miss -Armytage, suddenly lifting her eyes and fixing them full upon Sir Percy. -"I am afraid," she said meditatively, "that I follow the example of St. -Paul. You know he was always bragging about being Paul of Tarsus, and I -am always bragging that I am Miss Armytage of Bardstown, Kentucky." - -"Pray tell me all about Bardstown," said Sir Percy gravely, and Miss -Armytage, in her clear, sweet voice, and with equal gravity, proceeded -to a statistical and historical account of Bardstown, the dimple in her -cheek meanwhile coming and going. - -Sir Percy listened, surprised and amused. The affected dryness of what -Miss Armytage was telling was illuminated with little turns and sparkles -of wit; and from Bardstown she proceeded to give, with the utmost -seriousness, a brief synopsis of the history and resources of the State -of Kentucky. Sir Percy grew more and more amused. He perceived that -she was diverting herself with him, a thing no woman had ever done -before. He had heard of American humour, but he did not know that the -women possessed it. He felt sure that Miss Armytage was a real -humourist, and also a sentimentalist when she said, presently: - -"I was at a great dinner in New York last week, and as we were sitting -at the table I heard an organ grinder in the street outside playing 'My -Old Kentucky Home,' and while I was listening, and thinking about -Bardstown, two tears dropped into my soup. I never was so ashamed in my -life." - -She looked into Sir Percy's eyes with an appealing air, like a child who -knows not whether it is to be rebuked or praised. Her whole air and -manner radiated interest in Sir Percy as she asked softly: - -"What do you suppose the other people at the table thought of me?" - -Sir Percy answered her as any other man would: - -"That you had a very tender heart." - -He was charmed with her simplicity, combined with her natural grace. A -moment after a young naval officer came up and claimed Miss Armytage for -a dance. She turned to go with him, but looked backward at Sir Percy -with a glance such as Clytie might have given the departing lord of the -unerring bow. Her glance, quick yet soft, was much the prettiest thing -of the sort Sir Percy had ever seen. He perceived that Miss Armytage -was the typical American girl. However, he was much disgusted, as his -eyes followed Lucy, to see her glancing up into the eyes of Stanley, the -young naval man, with precisely the same look of appealing confidence -with which she had bewitched himself two minutes before. He hated a -coquette with an Englishman's hatred of being trifled with by a woman, -and immediately classified Miss Armytage, of Bardstown, Kentucky, as a -very finished coquette, and concluded not to trouble himself further -about her. - -The ball went on merrily, and it was one o'clock in the morning before -the carriages began to drive away from the _porte-cochere_. Among the -last guests to go was Lucy Armytage. Sir Percy was standing in the hall -when Lucy tripped down the stairs and joined an elderly, grey-bearded -man standing near Sir Percy. A long white evening cloak enveloped her -slender figure and a white gauze scarf was upon her soft black hair. -She joined the grey-bearded man, who had on his overcoat and his hat -under his arm, and then she, glancing toward Sir Percy, cried softly: - -"I am so glad I met you. May I introduce my uncle? Colonel Armytage, -of Kentucky, Sir Percy Carlyon. My uncle is a member of Congress; in -Kentucky that makes him a colonel, though I can't explain why." - -"My dear sir," responded Colonel Armytage, extending a cordial hand, "I -am extremely pleased to meet you, extremely so! I am of unmixed English -descent myself, and quite naturally I look upon our country as the -mother of us all." - -Sir Percy tried to imagine a member of Parliament meeting an American as -Colonel Armytage met him, but his imagination was not equal to anything -so extraordinary. He understood, however, and appreciated the frank, -unconventional good-will which animated Colonel Armytage, and replied -with sincere courtesy: - -"I am always glad to hear that sentiment from an American, and be -assured we feel the tie of blood as much as you do." - -"Some of you do," answered Lucy oracularly, "but some of you don't. I -can tell you a harrowing tale of a little upstart Englishman. Pray -excuse me." - -Colonel Armytage scowled at Lucy. - -"You must forgive her, my dear sir," he said to Sir Percy; "this child -has a charter to say and to do as she pleases, and Mrs. Armytage and -myself are under bond to obey her. I shall have much pleasure in seeing -you if you will honour me with a call. That, I believe, is the custom -in Washington, but I assure you, sir, in the State of Kentucky, it would -be the native who would call first, and such would be my desire if it -were not for this infernal official etiquette which forbids it. Mrs. -Armytage and my niece receive on Tuesdays," and he named a large -down-town hotel, which had ceased to be fashionable about forty years -before, but still was frequented by Southern and Western -representatives. - -Then Lucy nodded and smiled and took Colonel Armytage's arm and was gone -in a moment. - -Sir Percy followed Lord Baudesert to the library and joined him in a -cigar and a whisky and soda. - -"What do you think of 'em?" asked Lord Baudesert knowingly, and Sir -Percy, understanding that the American ladies were meant, answered: - -"Very pretty and very well dressed and very much spoiled, I should -judge. I can't quite make out how much real and how much apparent -cleverness they have." - -"No, neither can any one else," replied Lord Baudesert; "they are the -most complex creatures alive. You must readjust all your ideas -concerning the sex when it comes to studying this particular variety. -They are not like Englishwomen, nor Frenchwomen, nor Spanish women, nor -German women, nor Hindoo women, that ever I heard, yet they have some of -the characteristics of all. Having been afraid of women all my -life--except, of course, Susan and her brood--I am more afraid of -American women than any others. Don't marry one, my boy. That's my -advice--but don't tell Susan I say so." - -"Trust me," replied Sir Percy confidently, lighting another cigar. - - - - - *III* - - -Sir Percy Carlyon had declined to be domiciled at the British Embassy, -as Lord Baudesert urged, but took modest chambers close at hand. He -found plenty to do, and although he was supposed to be capable of -bullying Lord Baudesert, it was impossible to force the Ambassador to a -regular course of work every day. Sir Percy, however, watched the -chances, and succeeded in getting more out of Lord Baudesert than any -one else had ever done. Moreover, Sir Percy was a _persona grata_ to -Mrs. Vereker and the three girls, not that this mattered to Lord -Baudesert, who, as far as women were concerned, was a natural and -incurable bully and buccaneer. Lord Baudesert was neither bad-tempered -nor bad-hearted, but it cannot be denied that he was a trying person -domestically. It was in vain that Sir Percy reminded his aunt and -cousins that Lord Baudesert had no power of life or death over them and -could not eat them. Mrs. Vereker was horrified at the suggestion that -she should exercise a little personal liberty, and the three girls -thought Sir Percy slightly cracked when he advised them to assert -themselves boldly in the presence of their uncle. On the whole, -however, Sir Percy liked his new outlook upon the world, and considered -that he was now in the sunshine of good fortune. - -Mrs. Vereker, Jane, Sarah and Isabella worked hard in the society grind, -and Lord Baudesert was less lazy in social than in official life. Sir -Percy, up to the evening of the ball, had not paid a single visit, -except of an official nature, but on the Tuesday afternoon following he -put on a frock-coat and started out armed with his card case. In front -of his own door he hesitated a moment to think whether he should call on -the Chantreys or the Armytages. Ridiculous to say, Sir Percy had been -haunted by the remembrance of the airy grace, the seductive eyes of this -provincial coquette--for so he classified Lucy Armytage; and, calling -himself a great fool, he turned his steps first towards the down-town -hotel where the Armytages lived. He began to reckon what Lucy's age -might be. She had a peculiar guilelessness of look and voice and manner -which seldom lasts beyond a girl's twenty-first birthday; yet he judged -her to be not less than twenty-five. One thing about her, he admitted, -was adorable--an obvious ignorance of evil, a lovely innocence, which -revealed itself readily to the experienced eyes of a man of the world. -Sir Percy hated knowing women, and that recalled Alicia Vernon. He -doubted if she, even as a young girl, had ever been truly innocent in -mind. - -The afternoon was warm and bright, though it was December, and carriages -full of elaborately dressed women were dashing about the streets and -standing in long lines before houses which were open on that day. Sir -Percy found, when he reached the down-town hotel, that visitors were -plentiful there also, and thronged the halls and staircases. He was -shown up to the great public drawing-room, in which lights were already -blazing, and where a bevy of Congressmen's wives and daughters were -holding a joint reception. The huge room was well filled, the ladies -being in the majority. Sir Percy, standing in the doorway, was -searching for Lucy Armytage when a hand was laid upon his arm. - -"I am delighted to see you, Sir Percy," said Colonel Armytage. "Lucy -will be delighted, too. She has talked about you incessantly since she -met you." - -If the uncle of an English girl had confided to Sir Percy that she had -talked about him incessantly since their first meeting Sir Percy would -have thought it time to ask for leave to hunt big game in the Rockies. -But, being a man of brains, he recognised the mental attitude of Colonel -Armytage, and found himself rather pleased at the thought that this -dark-eyed girl had chatted about him. Probably he was the first -Englishman of his kind she had ever met. The next moment he was being -introduced to Mrs. Armytage, a motherly soul, in a black velvet gown, -which was the twin of Mrs. Vereker's robe of state. A little way off, -Lucy, in a white gown, was talking earnestly with a group of plain, -elderly persons. She turned her head and caught sight of Sir Percy, but -with a little nod and a glint of a smile she continued her conversation, -and even escorted the little group to the door, where she said good-bye. -Then she came up to Sir Percy. - -"They were constituents," she said. "They are very nice people at home, -but they are not much accustomed to society, and naturally they feel a -little awkward in a room full of strangers like this. If one takes them -in hand, and is a little pleasant, they are eternally grateful, and will -stand by Uncle Armytage through thick and thin when the nominating -convention is on." - -"I see you are a politician," said Sir Percy, looking down at her and -trying to determine whether white or black were more becoming to her -piquant and irregular beauty. - -"No; I am a diplomatist, like yourself," replied Lucy, looking up with -laughing, unabashed dark eyes into his face. "My uncle, you see, is not -a diplomatist at all, and neither his worst enemy nor his best friend -could call him a politician. I call him a statesman. He is the dearest -man on earth, but he always acts on his impulses, and that, you know, is -very unwise." - -The gravity with which she said this made Sir Percy smile, but Lucy kept -on with the air of an instructress: - -"Of course, it is unwise. Imagine Lord Baudesert bolting out the truth -upon every occasion! And that is just what my uncle does. My aunt -thinks him the wisest person in the world, so you see I am the only one -in the family who is capable of any diplomacy at all. Now, as I am -twenty-five years old----" - -"So old as that?" said Sir Percy, pretending surprise. - -"Twenty-six next birthday," gravely responded Lucy, "and I have learned -a great deal. One thing is, that constituents never forgive one if they -are not shown attention in Washington. I assure you my attentions to -Bardstown people in Washington got my uncle his last nomination. I took -a grocer's daughter round with me sight-seeing, and I gave nine teas in -one month for Bardstown girls. I didn't commit the folly of asking for -invitations for them. Nobody thanks you for introducing the superfluous -girl, and I can't see why one should expect other people to pay one's -social debts. But I paid all my own debts, and made Uncle Armytage do a -lot of things for the Bardstown men who were here, which he said he -hadn't time to do. But I made him find the time. Isn't that -diplomacy?" - -"Diplomacy and good sense combined," answered Sir Percy. - -He thought he had never seen so expressive a face as Lucy Armytage's. -Every word she uttered seemed to have a corresponding expression of the -eye. Her cheeks were colourless, like the leaves of a white rose, but -her lips were scarlet and showed beautiful and regular teeth. A -charming English girl always reminded Sir Percy of a beautiful rose in -bloom, but this girl was like the star-like jessamine, which grows not -in every garden, its white, mysterious flowers hiding in the depths of -its green leaves and casting its delicious perfume afar. Then Lucy -said, suddenly changing the subject: - -"I have been in a dream all day. This morning I went for a walk far -into the country, as I often do, and I took Omar with me." - -"Omar?" asked Sir Percy, not quite understanding her. - -"'The Rubaiyat,' I mean. Everybody reads it here. It always takes me -into another world. Our life is so vivid, so full of action, so -concerned with to-day, and Omar's world is all peace and dreaming. I -daresay you can read Omar in the original?" - -"A little; but I didn't know that Americans liked peace and dreaming." - -"Wait until you see more of us. There is Senator March; I must speak to -him." - -She turned and went up to Senator March, who had come in and was -standing talking with Mrs. Armytage. Sir Percy remained some minutes -looking at the sight before him. He was reminded of those meetings of -the Primrose League which bring together all manner of men and women. -Meanwhile he was acutely conscious of Lucy's presence, although half the -room separated them. She was indeed like the jessamine flower whose -languorous sweet odour forces one to seek it. - -Sir Percy found a few acquaintances, and while talking with them Senator -March made his adieux and came up. - -"Come," he said, "my brougham is below; let us take a turn together -round the speedway." - -Sir Percy liked the simple friendliness of Senator March's tone and -manner, and readily accepted. As the two men passed along the corridor -of the hotel another man was entering who came up and shook hands with -Roger March. The new-comer carried a satin-lined overcoat on his arm -and his hat in his hand. His appearance was so striking that to see him -once was to remember him. He was of medium height, rather handsome, -with dark hair slightly streaked with grey, a thin-lipped, well-cut -mouth, and eyes of peculiar keenness--the eyes that see everything and -tell nothing. A few pleasant words were exchanged and Senator March and -Sir Percy passed on. Outside, a handsome brougham, with a pair of -impatient horses, was waiting. The two men entered and in a little -while were whirling along the level curve of the boulevard which skirts -the river. The sun was sinking redly, and the water was wine-coloured, -in the old Homeric phrase. The air was like champagne, with a sharpness -in it brought by the breeze from the inland sea a hundred miles away. - -"Did you observe," asked Senator March, "the man I spoke to coming out -of the hotel? It was Nicholas Colegrove, one of those thoroughly -American types that are worth observing. He is the son of a -Congregationalist minister somewhere up in New England. He managed to -pay his boy's way through a small college. Then Colegrove went into a -railway office as clerk; by sheer force of intellect he has forced his -way upward until he is the strongest man in railway circles in this -country. Not that everybody knows it--oh, no! Colegrove is one of those -men who avoids the shadow of power as much as he loves its substance. -He keeps sedulously in the background; but there isn't a railway -president in this country who would like to antagonise Nicholas -Colegrove." - -"One sees at a glance," replied Sir Percy, "that he is a strong man." - -"A very strong man. He shows a sort of good will for me, but as I am -Chairman of the Committee on Railroads I don't cultivate the intimacy of -Nicholas Colegrove. I am a little afraid of the man." - -"There are wonderful and diverse American types," said Sir Percy, "of -men and women, who are so distinctively American that they seem to -belong to this continent as much as Indian corn and the giant trees of -California." - -"Perhaps so, and our friends the Armytages, for example, are a very -distinctive American type. Armytage himself is a sensible man, a good -lawyer, and a hard worker in the House, but he is rashly outspoken and -fiery tempered. His wife is a good creature, devoted and domestic, but -of no particular value to Armytage in his public life, as she always -approves of everything he does. The charming Miss Armytage is the real -political manager of the family. She is a born diplomatist, if ever I -saw one, and manages to conciliate the enemies whom Armytage makes by -this hasty temper and unguarded tongue. I admire Lucy Armytage very -much, and have often thought, if ever I had a daughter, I would wish her -to be like her. I have known her ever since she was a schoolgirl, and -often call her by her first name." - -"I thought," said Sir Percy, "that American women took no share in -public life?" - -"Not openly, but every official position in this country, including that -of the Presidency, has some time or other been determined by a woman. I -know of a Presidential convention where, at midnight, a train was -chartered and the party managers, making a run of one hundred and fifty -miles in one hundred and sixty-seven minutes, knocked up a possible -candidate at two o'clock in the morning and asked if he would consent to -have his name presented to the convention. 'Wait until I talk with my -wife,' was his answer. He went upstairs, remained fifteen minutes, and -came down and said: 'No, gentleman; my wife has the doctor's opinion -that my heart is weak, and she refuses to consent that I shall run.' It -turned out afterward that the nomination would have been equivalent to -an election. Oh, no! our American women, as a rule, carefully avoid any -appearance of meddling with politics, but they have a great deal to do -with it, nevertheless, just as the Roman ladies had in their time." - -As they rolled along in the handsome, well-hung brougham, each man felt -a growing regard for the other. Sir Percy, after the English manner, -rarely brought a name into conversation, while Senator March, like an -American, spoke names freely, and presently mentioned that he was due at -Mrs. Chantrey's for a dinner call. - -"Come with me," he said to Sir Percy; "the Chantreys will be glad to see -you. I know that Mrs. Chantrey dearly loves a member of the diplomatic -corps, and the daughter is charming--she is, in her way, as typically -American as Lucy Armytage--I often call the child by her first name -involuntarily." - -"Miss Chantrey was kind enough to ask me to call," said Sir Percy, and -after a while the two men were entering together a fine house in one of -the best avenues of the town. - -Sir Percy might have imagined himself in an English house. The large -pink and white footman at the door was unmistakably English, and the -quietness of the atmosphere and repose, which became at once obvious, -were as English as the footman. In the beautiful drawing-room Eleanor -Chantrey sat beside a tea-table drawn close to the fire. Mrs. Chantrey -almost embraced Senator March when he mentioned the liberty he had taken -in asking Sir Percy to come with him, and Sir Percy was figuratively -invited to rest on Mrs. Chantrey's bosom--like the poor stricken deer. - -Mrs. Chantrey had a hidden romance, a heart's dream, a secret -aspiration, to be one day an ambassadress, to share Lord Baudesert's -title and position. To say that Lord Baudesert's sharp old eyes had -seen this, from its first budding, is putting it mildly. In fact, the -wily old gentleman had, himself, planted the notion in Mrs. Chantrey's -innocent, susceptible, elderly mind, and carefully cultivated it. Every -season, for ten years past, Mrs. Chantrey had confidently expected to be -asked to preside over the British Embassy, and every season she had been -disappointed, yet not without hope. It was one of Lord Baudesert's -chief delights in Washington to play upon the hopes and fears of various -enormously rich widows, of whom Mrs. Chantrey was the first. And Lord -Baudesert, having something like fifty years' experience as an -accomplished flirt, managed to keep these ambitious ladies dancing to a -very lively tune. Hence the advent of Lord Baudesert's nephew was to -Mrs. Chantrey a delightful and encouraging sign, and she was ready to be -an aunt to him at a moment's notice. - -Only three or four persons were sitting around the tea-table, all of -whom Sir Percy had before met. There were no introductions, and when -Eleanor Chantrey handed Sir Percy his tea he could scarcely persuade -himself that he was not in Mayfair. Eleanor Chantrey, with ten times -her mother's brains, had not an atom of coquetry in her being; she was -perfectly graceful, and with a sort of cool kindness which suggested -sincerity. Instead of being the same to all men, she was different in -her manner to each person present, according to her degree of -acquaintanceship. To one infirm old gentleman, who was plainly -uninteresting at his best, Sir Percy noticed that Eleanor was extremely -kind and even cordial in her manner, and pressed him to remain when he -made a feeble motion to go. - -After a pleasant visit, Senator March and Sir Percy left at the same -time; it seemed as if the two could not see too much of each other. When -they parted, at Sir Percy's door, it was with the understanding that -they should dine together at the club the next evening. - -The clear December twilight was at hand and a new moon trembled in the -heavens as Sir Percy, instead of going indoors, started for his -invariable walk before dinner. He made straight towards the west and -soon found himself on a wide avenue recently laid out, with young trees -in boxes on each side. A quarter of a mile away from the houses it soon -ran into the open fields, with clumps of trees and little valleys on -either hand. Nothing quieter, more remote or deserted could be -imagined, and yet Sir Percy was but fifteen minutes from his own door. -Not a person was in sight, until, after a time, he saw, at some distance -ahead, and rapidly approaching, the slight figure of a woman muffled in -furs and walking rapidly. Something in the grace of her movements -attracted Sir Percy as she came nearer. She held up her muff to her -face in an attitude which reminded Sir Percy of Vigee le Brun's picture -in the Louvre, "The Lady with the Muff." As the girl flashed past him -in the grey twilight he recognised Lucy Armytage. A strange and almost -uncontrollable desire suddenly rose within him to join her, but, with -the hereditary caution of an Englishman, he turned his head the other -way. The next moment Lucy faced around, and, coming up to him, cried -breathlessly: - -"How glad I am to meet you here! Pray walk with me as far as the car." - -There was no help for it, and Sir Percy, with the feeling of delight -which follows when a man is forced to do what he wishes to do, replied: - -"With the utmost pleasure. Is it not rather late for you to be in so -lonely a place?" - -"Decidedly so. Our reception closed at five o'clock, just when other -people's are beginning, and a friend asked me to drive out in this -direction for a little air. She left me on a lighted street, but I -wanted to feel the earth under my feet so I walked around this way. I -didn't realise how late it was until a few minutes ago, and I was -scurrying home half frightened to death." - -As she said this, Sir Percy would have liked to open his arms wide and -hold her to his breast like a timid bird, but Lucy dispelled this idea -by saying: - -"Afraid of my uncle, I mean. He makes such a terrible row when I am out -late. I am not in the least afraid of anything else." - -Her timidity had seemed charming, but her girlish courage was more -charming still. Sir Percy's head was in a whirl. No woman had ever -impressed him so quickly and so deeply as this black-eyed girl, and he -was staggered at the intensity of his own pleasure in being with her. -Meanwhile Lucy thought him the most impassive of men, and felt a curious -feminine desire to disturb that cool placidity which was so like a lake -covered with a thin skin of ice. - -"I saw you and Senator March going into the Chantreys'," she said, as -they walked rapidly along in the deepening dusk. "I admire Miss -Chantrey more than any girl in Washington. At first I thought her a -little cold, but her very coldness is a sort of sincerity. I should -like to have a house exactly like the Chantreys', except that I would -make the atmosphere a little warmer." - -She rippled out a laugh, and her eyes, under their long lashes, sought -Sir Percy's in the half gloom. - -"I am afraid that you would find our English houses a little chilly, and -they are not always redeemed by such grace as Miss Chantrey's." - -"Oh, one expects a little British chilliness in an English house! You -admit, you know, that your reserve is nothing but shyness after all. Now -I am not in the least shy, and so I have managed to get on beautifully -with the few English people I have met. My uncle, you must know, is an -Anglomaniac of the deepest dye, and claims relationship with all the -peerage and half the baronetage. He is the most prejudiced man! If it -were not for me I don't know what would become of him." - -Sir Percy was extremely diverted at the notion of a slip of a girl -taking care of a member of that great body which had its origin at -Runnymede in the far-off days. - -The stars were coming out in the wintry sky and it was yet some little -distance to the streets where the gas lamps flared. It was an -enchanting walk to Sir Percy, and without a word being spoken concerning -a street car, or a cab, Sir Percy and Lucy Armytage walked together -along the quieter streets to the very door of the big hotel. - -Lucy Armytage went upstairs to her room, the typical hotel bedroom, but -which she had transformed into something resembling herself. She had -been proud of the bower-like air she had given the large square room, -and had regarded with confident admiration the spotless muslin curtains -and the thin white draperies over her little bed. Now she looked about -her with dissatisfaction. How unlike it was to Eleanor Chantrey's -beautiful and artistic room! And then Eleanor had an exquisite yellow -boudoir, in which Lucy once had tea with her. How much beauty and -ornament and luxury was in Eleanor's life! For the first time Lucy -Armytage began to wish for something which could not be furnished in -Bardstown, Kentucky. - -"At least," she said, rising and speaking to herself, "I _know_ I'm -provincial. It is a great thing to know the limitations of one's -horizon. What a narrow, uncultivated, inartistic, uninteresting person -Sir Percy Carlyon must find me after Eleanor Chantrey!" - -Then she went to her constant and usually faithful consoler--her mirror. -But to-night even the mirror seemed not in a flattering mood, and Lucy -only saw a disconsolate girl who, to her mind, could stand no comparison -with that fine flower of civilisation--Eleanor Chantrey. - -At the same moment Sir Percy was smoking fiercely as he made his way -back to his chambers. From the first moment his eyes rested upon Lucy -Armytage she had commanded his attention. He had tried to escape from -the enchanting spell she had thrown over him, but all in vain. What was -the meaning of that stirring of all his pulses, that sudden joy, when he -met her in the twilight? He reminded himself that he was thirty-eight -years old, quite old enough to know better; that he was the First -Secretary of the British Embassy and that he had firmly resolved never -to allow himself to become in the least interested in an American woman. -He determined to avoid Lucy Armytage in the future as a disturbing -element; in short, he resolved to take up arms against his destiny. - - - - - *IV* - - -Sir Percy Carlyon kept his word to himself, and did not go near Lucy -Armytage. Nevertheless he could not avoid seeing her. One dull afternoon -he was taking tea with Mrs. Vereker and the three girls, who were all so -much alike that only their names differentiated them. In the midst of -the deadly dullness with which Mrs. Vereker invested this function -visitors were announced. Lucy Armytage with her aunt arrived to pay -their call of ceremony after the ball. Mrs. Vereker and Mrs. Armytage -were birds, or rather fowls, of a feather, as each of them was -distinctly of the barnyard variety. They sat and talked commonplaces -comfortably together, like a couple of old sheep browsing side by side, -the lady from Bardstown and the lady from the greatest metropolis in the -world, and found each other thoroughly companionable. Not so Lucy -Armytage and the three Vereker girls. Lucy's manner of saying the -unexpected thing, her gravity, which was really her method of trifling, -her quick, incisive humour, puzzled Jane, Sarah and Isabella. So also -it puzzled Sir Percy Carlyon, who for that reason found Lucy Armytage -the most interesting woman he had ever known. She had odd scraps, and -even whole volumes, of knowledge upon the most unexpected subjects. She -knew nothing about art or music, but she confessed her ignorance with a -sweet humility which bewitched Sir Percy more than all the knowledge -that Minerva carried under her helmet. Lucy had, however, read much and -indiscriminately about the East, could discuss occultism intelligently, -knew Omar, and had the Indian Mutiny at her finger tips. - -"The truth is," she said to Sir Percy, holding her muff to shield her -face from the fire and reminding him once again of the picture in the -Louvre, "we are very old-fashioned in Bardstown. At home we have a -great many old books, but not many new ones. My uncle hates modern -books, as he does most modern things, and our library is a haphazard -collection of antiques." - -Then Lord Baudesert entered, and his appearance created the same flutter -among the ladies of his family as if a vulture had descended upon a -dovecote. Mrs. Vereker hastened to give him tea, while Jane, Sarah and -Isabella fell over each other in their efforts to provide him with thin -bread and butter. Mrs. Armytage, too, was somewhat awed by the -appearance of a live Ambassador and, except Sir Percy, Lucy alone -remained tranquil. Lord Baudesert talked with her a little, and was -pleased to find that she could give a connected answer without fear or -embarrassment. And then an untoward thing occurred--the door opened, -and at almost the same moment two South American diplomats, between whom -a frantic controversy and charges and counter-charges were raging, -entered the room. Mrs. Vereker looked frightened to death, and the -Vereker girls could think of nothing else to say but to invite the -belligerents half-a-dozen times over each to have tea. Lord Baudesert's -manner was perfect in its evenly matched courtesy, and Sir Percy Carlyon -was not a whit behind. Lucy Armytage, however, who knew how the land -lay, calmly engaged one of the sultry-eyed South Americans in -conversation, and even got him off in a corner to look at a picture. -Then Sir Percy, seeing a way out of the situation, went up to Lucy and -her diplomat and asked them to come into the next room to see a portrait -lately added to the Embassy. With perfect tact and grace Lucy managed -to take the South American, with Sir Percy escorting them, into the -adjoining room--a service for which Sir Percy thanked her with a meaning -glance. They were absent only five minutes, but that gave time for the -other belligerent to take his departure. Then Lucy's diplomat, after -five minutes' talk with Lord Baudesert, went out, and Lucy and Mrs. -Armytage began to make their adieux. As Lucy offered her hand to Lord -Baudesert he said, smiling: - -"I am glad I happened to be here when you called, and more glad that you -were here when our South American friends called." - -Lucy gave him a roguish glance, which brought a smile to his handsome, -saturnine old face. - -When she was gone Lord Baudesert, alone in the bosom of his family, -remarked: - -"That might have been a deuced awkward thing. Miss Armytage stood in -the breach and helped to save the situation. She has a great deal of -natural tact--looks simple, but is really very artful." - -Sir Percy Carlyon sat soberly drinking his tea like a true-born Briton, -but inwardly he was not at peace. Lucy Armytage always moved and -interested and disturbed him. He glanced toward the low chair in which -she had sat and saw her again as "The Lady with the Muff." He heard her -voice, gentle yet ringing, and the perfume of the lilies of the valley -she had worn pinned upon her breast still pervaded the room. He -remained silent while Mrs. Vereker and the three girls discussed Lucy. -Mrs. Vereker and Jane thought her very pretty, Sarah and Isabella -thought her not pretty at all. Lord Baudesert decided that she was -extremely pretty; then they all agreed with him. When the ladies of the -family went away to dress for dinner Lord Baudesert asked Sir Percy: - -"Did you ever know three such idiots as my nieces?" - -"They are not idiots at all," responded his dutiful nephew; "they are -afraid of you--that's all." - -"Oh, yes, that's all! But that's enough. However, with all their -dulness, they are better fitted to be the wives of diplomats than women -like that sparkling little Armytage girl. She is clever enough at -getting people out of a tight place, but, mark my words, the cleverer -women are in getting out of trouble the readier they are to get into it. -That's why they are not suited to the diplomatic corps." - -"I quite agree with you," answered his nephew, with vigour. - -Sir Percy found himself overwhelmed with dinner invitations, which he -accepted partly as a duty and partly as a pleasure. He enjoyed the -Washington dinners hugely, and after a while grew accustomed to the -shrill, and often untrained, voices of the American women. He liked the -naturalness and simplicity both of the men and women he met, and the -absence of the young-lady-anxious-to-be-married was pleasing to him. He -also liked the wives and daughters of his colleagues, and often thought, -if dinners were the sum of man's existence on this planet, Washington -was the ideal spot in which to live. Besides his work at the Embassy, -which was not light, he was making a thorough study of American public -affairs--no small undertaking. Then Lord Baudesert was continually -clamouring for his nephew's company, so that Sir Percy's days and -evenings were full. So full, indeed, was his time, that he ought, in -the natural course of events, to have forgotten Lucy Armytage, of whom -he only caught stray glimpses during the next month. - -Colonel Armytage promptly returned Sir Percy's visit, and Sir Percy, by -the exercise of all his will power, managed to call at the hotel one day -just after having seen Lucy drive off in a hansom. He was rewarded--or -punished, as the case might be--by meeting her face to face at the White -House reception that night. She was again talking with Stanley, the -handsome young naval officer, dazzling in his uniform. Lucy stood under -the branching leaves of a huge palm, in the east room, which made a -background for her delicate and _spirituelle_ head. She wore the same -black gown in which Sir Percy had first seen her, and carried a fan, -which she used for the purpose for which it was designed--to accentuate -and set off her own charms. Sir Percy passed her with a bow and a word, -which she returned with one of those brilliant smiles that transformed -her soft and elusive beauty into something vivid, palpitating and -star-like. Unconsciously to himself, Sir Percy kept a furtive watch -upon her. He saw other men come up to drive Stanley off, and they in -their turn were driven off by other enterprising gentlemen. Some of -them were ridiculously young, and others were obviously old; but Lucy -contrived to make a beardless ensign feel as if he were a full admiral, -and a dry-as-dust senator forget the burden of his years and drink once -more of the draught of youth. Sir Percy fully determined not to seek -Lucy Armytage out, and just as this decision was fixed in his mind he -saw her pass upon the arm of Colonel Armytage. He went up to her, and, -being a close observer, saw Lucy's mobile face suddenly light up, and -the little dimple come and go in her cheek. - -"Delighted to see you," said Colonel Armytage; "my niece is dragging me -away just as I was beginning to enjoy myself. She has been sending me -to bed every night at ten o'clock because I have had a touch of -rheumatism, and half-past ten, she has just informed me, is too -dissipated for me." - -"I believe Miss Armytage claims entire authority over you, doesn't she?" -asked Sir Percy, smiling. - -"Absolute jurisdiction. She has taken charge of my person and estate, -and also Mrs. Armytage, and she manages us both according to her own -ideas." - -Colonel Armytage said this with a note of pride in his voice, which an -American uses when he proclaims he is ruled by his womankind. - -They talked together a few minutes, and then Lucy and Colonel Armytage -passed on to the cloak-room. When Lucy Armytage was gone the crowded -rooms seemed empty to Sir Percy Carlyon. He walked home through the -still and quiet streets at midnight and then smoked savagely for an hour -before his study fire. No man was ever more surprised, annoyed and -chagrined than was Sir Percy Carlyon to find himself bewitched by this -captivating, provincial girl, and one amazing thing had happened--she -had driven away the image--the hateful image--of Alicia Vernon. Alicia -was the only woman who had ever deeply impressed herself upon Sir Percy -Carlyon, until he met Lucy Armytage. There was warfare between these -two ideals. It seemed to Sir Percy as if Alicia's wantonness had, in a -way, cast a shade over all women. If a creature outwardly so modest, so -refined, so high-bred, could be at heart a wanton, how could he ever -believe in the purity of any woman's heart and mind? He dallied with the -false suggestion that, if a woman were dull, she might be good, but if -she were clever, her mind might range afar into the forbidden paths. -Lucy Armytage, however, from the moment he met her, seemed to restore -his shattered ideal of women. He had not reasoned, and could not -reason, upon this, but he felt deeply the strong, unconscious and -unacknowledged influence of this girl. - -Sir Percy, sitting before his fire, repeated to himself that, in spite -of Lucy's charm, there was every conceivable reason why he should not -seek to marry her. She was an American to begin with, she had never -seen a European capital, she was not a linguist, and her only -accomplishment, as far as he had seen, was that of dancing, which was -scarcely what an Ambassadress, as his wife would become, would find the -most useful accomplishment in the world. He was a poor man for his -position, and there was no indication that Lucy had a fortune. Then it -suddenly occurred to him that, even if he gave rein to his passion, Lucy -might scorn him. She had not been trained to appreciate what he had to -offer, and she might classify him with Stanley and the other youngsters -whom he had seen dancing attendance upon her. - -He called himself an ass, and then, his cigar being out, he lay back in -his chair and fell into a delicious reverie. Supposing that Lucy might -marry him, what charming, piquant beauty was hers; what insinuating -grace; with what naivete did she admit her imperfections! How unerringly -did she divine the best way of making herself acceptable, and how -singularly and completely did she possess that art of arts--the art of -pleasing! Soon his reverie merged into a soft dream. He was with Lucy -Armytage in the winter twilight and they were walking together through -the cold, bare, winter woods, and Lucy's slim hand was in his and her -eyes were downcast. He awoke suddenly and found his fire out and the -clock striking one, and he marched off to bed swearing at himself for -his folly and determining that the time had come when he must put Lucy -absolutely out of his mind. - -The next night Sir Percy Carlyon was to dine at the Chantreys'. Lord -Baudesert and Mrs. Vereker were also of the party. Mrs. Chantrey thought -a member of the British Embassy but a little lower than the angels, and -to this was added the stimulus that she confidently expected to be Lady -Baudesert before the year was out. Lord Baudesert encouraged this -harmless delusion in every possible way, short of actually proposing, -and if he had not been the ablest of diplomatists Mrs. Chantrey would -certainly have married him when he was not looking. She had, in her own -mind, already rearranged all the furniture in the British Embassy, -decided whom she would invite to dinner and whom she would leave out, -and intended to be very civil to Mrs. Vereker. However much Lord -Baudesert might be outwardly diverted by Mrs. Chantrey's elderly -coquetry, he was forced, cynic though he was, to admire Eleanor -Chantrey. He even went so far as to concede that, if it were possible -for an American woman to be fitted for an Ambassadress, Eleanor Chantrey -was that woman. Beauty, distinction and many other accomplishments were -hers, and she would have adorned the highest position. - -The first person Sir Percy's eyes rested upon as he entered the -drawing-room was Lucy Armytage, and to his rage and delight she was -given to him to take in to dinner. Every moment thereafter he felt -himself falling more and more in love with her. - -Senator March was among the guests, and after the ladies had departed -and the men were smoking he said to Sir Percy: - -"Next month I'm having a little house-party at a country place I have in -the Maryland mountains. I go there occasionally for a few days' rest. -I hope you will be of the party." - -Sir Percy accepted with pleasure. He had never met a man for whom he -felt a stronger inclination towards friendship than Roger March. - -When the men returned to the drawing-room Lucy Armytage and Eleanor -Chantrey were standing together on the hearthrug and talking with -animation. Eleanor was resplendent in her beauty, but to Sir Percy -Carlyon the slim, black-haired Lucy Armytage seemed to outshine her as a -scintillant star, set high in the heavens, outshines the great, round, -common-place moon. - -Later, driving back to the Embassy in the big, comfortable coach, Lord -Baudesert said to Sir Percy: - -"Magnificent girl, Miss Chantrey. She has everything: beauty, breeding -and fortune. If she were not an American I should advise you to pay -your court in that direction." - -"But she is an American," replied Sir Percy, laughing, "and that is the -unpardonable sin, according to my view of a diplomat's career." - -That day two weeks Sir Percy Carlyon found himself at Senator March's -country place for the week end. The party was small but brilliant. -Eleanor Chantrey, her mother and Lucy Armytage were the only ladies. -Their amusements were simple, and consisted chiefly in the enjoyment of -the country, open in winter, after a siege in town. Young Stanley, a -personable, pleasant fellow, was among the guests, and his frank -adoration of Lucy Armytage made everybody smile, except one person, the -other man who was in love with her--Sir Percy Carlyon. Sir Percy was -too well trained and well balanced to show the chagrin he felt and the -Fates, and the exigencies of a house party, threw him more with Eleanor -Chantrey. He was forced to admire her, but his admiration was cool and -discriminating. On Eleanor's part sprung up a strong admiration for Sir -Percy Carlyon. She was not incapable of love, but her will and -intellect were always dominant over her heart. And then the daughter -repeated her mother's dream of ambition, marked, however, by the -enormous difference between the dream of a woman and the sense of a -simpleton. Her beauty, her intelligence, her wealth, her prestige, had -inspired her with what Sir Percy called "the princess attitude of mind," -which looks around and chooses the man upon whom to bestow her hand. -Sir Percy Carlyon was well fitted to please her, and she understood -perfectly the really splendid position which would be his in time. She -knew, also, he was a man of small estate, and it occurred to her, in her -half-laughing, half-serious speculations, that her fortune would be well -applied in maintaining the position of an Ambassadress. The idea that -if she should indicate the slightest preference for Sir Percy she could -not bring him to her feet did not occur to her. Her imagination, -stimulated by her ambition, took hold of her, that Sir Percy would be -eminently suitable for her, and she played with it, as women of the -world do with such ideas quite as much as the veriest country lass. - -On the afternoon before the party broke up a walk was proposed. As the -case always is, the party paired off, and Eleanor Chantrey considered -herself ridiculously mismated with Stanley, who was equally -dissatisfied. Sir Percy Carlyon found himself walking with Lucy -Armytage through the winter woods in the red February afternoon. The -dead leaves were thick underfoot and drowned the sound of footfalls. -Unconsciously the two voices grew low, and it was like the fulfilment of -Sir Percy's dream. An impulse, stronger than himself, made him try all -his powers on this girl, with her innocent guile, her unworldly -coquetry. Suddenly he found she vibrated to him as a violin answers the -bow. That was too much for the resolution of Sir Percy Carlyon, or for -any other man with red blood in his veins. - -They were the last to return, and at dinner that night Lucy Armytage's -usually pale cheeks were flooded with a deep colour. She had promised -to be Sir Percy Carlyon's wife. - - - - - *V* - - -Sir Percy Carlyon's mystification with his American _fiancee_ began -within twenty-four hours of the time she had given him her first kiss. - -"Above all things," she said earnestly, as they were supposed to be -exchanging commonplaces in the train, "nothing must be said of this, not -one word to a soul. After a while I will break it to my uncle and -aunt." - -Sir Percy stared at her, and wondered whether he were dreaming or she -raving. He expected, after the English custom, to announce the -engagement immediately to Colonel and Mrs. Armytage, and what did Lucy -mean by "breaking" it to them? His name, his position and his prospects -were such that the greatest match in England might not have been -reckoned unequal for him, and here was a girl from Bardstown, Kentucky, -who proposed to wait for an auspicious moment when she could "break" -this direful news to her aunt and uncle! Something of his involuntary -surprise showed in his face, and Lucy studied it gravely and then -suddenly laughed. - -"I see," she whispered, "you don't understand. This is _our_ secret: the -world has nothing to do with it." - -"I thought," answered Sir Percy, infatuated, but still retaining some of -the vestiges of conventionality, "that marriages were quite public -affairs. One has to get a license and be married in church." - -"But this isn't being married," explained Lucy; "this is only being -engaged." - -Then the two looked at each other with adoring but uncomprehending eyes. -Lucy's woman's wit, however, came to her rescue. - -"I think," she said gravely, "that perhaps you know more about the ways -of the world than I do, and, after all, there are other ways than those -of Bardstown, Kentucky. So that it shall be as you wish." - -She said this with such a pretty lowering of her long lashes, and so -much deep feeling visible under her coquetry, that Sir Percy was more -than ever charmed. Nor was the sound sense at the bottom of Lucy's -remark lost upon him. A compromise was effected, by which Colonel and -Mrs. Armytage were to be informed immediately, and the rest of the world -was to remain in ignorance until within one month of the wedding day. - -There was no suspicion among the others of the party concerning what had -occurred, and least of all with Eleanor Chantrey and Stanley, both of -whom might be said to have contingent interests in the matter. - -The morning after Lucy's return she was awakened to receive a bouquet of -roses and a letter from Sir Percy Carlyon. There was also a note for -Colonel Armytage asking for a private interview. This precipitated -matters. - -"I should like to know," said Colonel Armytage, standing with his back -to the fire in his own room, with Sir Percy's letter in one hand and -_The Congressional Record_ of the day before in the other, "what this -means--'a private interview.'" - -"Perhaps," ventured Mrs. Armytage, "he wants to ask you for a copy of -your speech of yesterday. There is an editorial in the newspaper about -it this morning." - -Lucy, dressed in a delicious pink _negligee_, was standing by the -window, holding the roses in her hands. - -"No," she said, coming forward with cheeks matching the pale beauty of -the roses; "he wants to ask you, uncle--we were together, you -know--and--and----" - -A light dawned upon Colonel Armytage. - -"The fellow wants to marry you," he roared. - -"And I want to marry him," answered Lucy, with much spirit. - -And then there were kisses and tears and embraces among all three of -them. - -"It is a far cry to England," said Colonel Armytage, "and I had always -hoped you would marry some rising young lawyer in Bardstown." - -Mrs. Armytage hinted that it might be a marriage of ambition for Sir -Percy, who would naturally wish to be allied to a man of such eminent -perfections as Colonel Armytage. At eleven o'clock Sir Percy walked into -Colonel Armytage's room. His manner was so manly and so debonair, even -in his imminent circumstances, that Colonel Armytage could not but -compare him mentally with those Kentucky thoroughbreds who are models of -decorum in the stable, on the race track and wherever they are seen. -Sir Percy told his story and then waited for Colonel Armytage's -decision. - -"My dear sir," said Colonel Armytage, after a moment, "I appreciate the -respectful attitude you take towards me, but, to tell you the truth, -these matters are in the hands of our young people entirely. It is the -part of parents--and Mrs. Armytage and I stand in that relation to our -niece--to advise and take precautions, but not to coerce. However," he -continued, smiling, and showing fine white teeth between his grey -moustache and beard, "I don't think there is any coercion in this case." - -"I believe not," said Sir Percy, with an answering smile, "these things -are somewhat differently managed in the States than with us, but the -result is the same. Miss Armytage is doing me the honour of marrying me -without the consideration of certain matters which must be mentioned -between you and me. As regards settlements, I shall be as liberal as I -possibly can, but I must frankly tell you that my fortune is modest. -All of it, however, shall be settled upon the future Lady Carlyon and -her children." - -"I beg to differ with you there," promptly replied Colonel Armytage. "I -think children are not to be considered in these matters: I don't -believe in putting a woman in the power of her children. Every penny I -have is settled upon my wife, and she is my sole executrix, without -bond. That is what I require of any man who marries my niece, and also -that he insures his life for her benefit, and that her money--for my -niece has some money of her own--shall be settled upon her irrevocably." - -Sir Percy Carlyon longed both to laugh and to swear, but he controlled -his inclinations and said calmly: - -"I fully appreciate your point of view, but you must remember certain -obligations which we, in England, acknowledge to our successors. My -baronetcy will descend to my eldest son, if I be blessed with a son, and -there are moral obligations in such a case to give a child something to -maintain the rank to which he is born. With regard to the future Lady -Carlyon--what is hers I desire to remain hers. If I were a richer man, -I think I could convince you of my disinterestedness." - -Colonel Armytage, like Lucy, had a mind open to conviction, and, after -considering this speech for a moment or two, acknowledged that Sir Percy -was right. Thus the dangerous question of settlements was got over -without friction. After a few minutes more of conversation, Sir Percy -asked to see Mrs. Armytage. That excellent woman, in bestowing her -approval upon his suit, told him earnestly that to be related by -marriage to such a man as Colonel Armytage was in itself a high -privilege and carried a special blessing with it. Sir Percy inwardly -agreed with this. He was glad that his future wife was brought up in -the atmosphere of love and kindliness, which surrounded the Armytages. -He had a rapturous half-hour alone with Lucy, and then went away feeling -that the gates of paradise had been opened before him. - -In order to escape comment, it had been arranged that Sir Percy's visits -should be on one or two evenings in the week, when he would not be -likely to meet any of his acquaintances as he passed in and out of the -hotel, or might be supposed to be going to see a man. Evening visits, -although long since abandoned by the smart set, still prevail among the -old-fashioned people and the Congressional circle, in which were most of -the Armytages' acquaintances. Never had Sir Percy imagined that such -delicious hours in life awaited him as those he spent during the next -fortnight in the Armytages' little sitting-room. Colonel and Mrs. -Armytage, according to the Bardstown custom, felt it their duty to leave -their modest sitting-room entirely to the lovers; but Lucy, who was -making a close study of Sir Percy Carlyon's class prejudices, insisted -that Mrs. Armytage should remain. Mrs. Armytage, feeling guilty, would -establish herself with her knitting before the fire and dutifully fall -asleep within ten minutes of Sir Percy's arrival. The lovers, sitting -in an embrasure of a window and looking down upon a quiet side street, -were almost as much alone as they had been in the winter woods, on that -February afternoon, when they had first known each other's hearts. Sir -Percy had a satisfaction which is often denied lovers--the satisfaction -of seeing his _fiancee_ adapting herself with grace and intelligence to -his tastes and wishes. Lucy Armytage was far too clever to have that -deadly obstinacy which is the bane of provincials, and which makes them -carry their Bardstowns into every company and association in which they -may find themselves. - -It occurred to Sir Percy, a very short time after his engagement, that -the sacrifices which he was prepared to make for the sake of marrying -the woman he loved might not be so great after all. Whenever he saw -Lucy he found that she had learned something. She had picked up a new -phrase, or abandoned an old one which was not in perfect taste; she had -learned to curb her wit and to be on her guard against those indiscreet -words and actions which are harmless enough in a young girl, but highly -dangerous in the wife of a diplomat. Sir Percy had begun to believe all -he heard of the adaptability of the American woman after studying Lucy -Armytage, and he saw, with profound pride, that Lucy was forming herself -to be his wife. One thing only troubled him: should he confess to her -then, or after their marriage, the story of Alicia Vernon? It was a -difficult thing to tell to a girl so young as Lucy Armytage, and so -guileless, and so little familiar with wickedness. If penitence could -avail, then he had atoned for that early wrongdoing. He concluded it -would be kinder for him to wait until after their marriage, when he -could tell her the whole painful story. - -One afternoon, three weeks after Lucy Armytage had promised to become -Lady Carlyon, a letter was delivered at the British Embassy for Sir -Percy Carlyon. One look at the clear, strong handwriting made him turn -pale--it was Alicia Vernon's hand and the postmark was Washington. He -thrust the letter into his pocket and, declining Lord Baudesert's -suggestion to come in to tea, went back to his own chambers. With -hatred and repugnance pulsating all through him, he opened the letter -and read it. The date was of that day, and it was written from a -fashionable uptown hotel. - - -"We arrived yesterday, my father and I. It was quite unexpected, for -Washington has always seemed as far away to me and as unreal as Bagdad, -but here we are. We shall call at the Embassy in a day or two, and -meanwhile my father asks me to say that we shall be at home at five -o'clock every day, and he hopes to see you soon. - -"A.V." - - -How like the letter was to Alicia Vernon! Apparently so conventional, so -frankly friendly, and yet how different was she to all of this! Sir -Percy Carlyon had reached that age and stage of life when he was -sceptical of reformations. One thing was certain, General Talbott's -presence ensured Alicia Vernon's _entree_ to the British Embassy, and -that she and Sir Percy would be much thrown together. At this, rage and -shame possessed him. He saw at a glance the grim possibilities of the -case, and they were enough to stagger a strong man. He examined the -letter before him as it lay upon his study table, and it seemed to bring -contamination with it. His sin and the shame had tracked him over the -world, and were now seated, hideous spectres that they were, on each -side of him. He had repented and had atoned as far as he could, for the -sin of his youth. - -He rose and, throwing his arms wide, despaired in his heart, and then -asked pardon of that Higher Power to which his soul aspired. The thought -of Lucy came to him like a lash upon an open wound. Then his mood grew -dogged and a kind of fatalism possessed his mind. If it were written -that Alicia Vernon should be avenged upon him, then it _was_ written, -and struggle were useless. If only he had not told Lucy Armytage of his -love! She, poor child, might be dragged into the degradation which -awaited him! He remembered that he was to go to see Lucy that evening -after dinner. The joy he felt at the thought of being with her was -poisoned by the black shadow of Alicia Vernon's presence in Washington. -He had to pass the hotel where she and General Talbott were lodged on -his way to his club for dinner, and the place which held Alicia seemed -odious to him. And General Talbott, too; of all living men he was the -man whom Sir Percy should most wish to meet and to serve; but among the -keenest pangs of his punishment were the shame and unworthiness he felt -in General Talbott's presence. - -Sir Percy had some thought of excusing himself from his semi-weekly -visit to Lucy on that evening, but, doggedness still possessing him, he -went, thinking to himself, at any moment the explosion might come, any -meeting might be their last, therefore would he have as many as -possible. He had not reached his present position without acquiring -perfect mastery over his manner, his voice and his countenance, and Lucy -had no suspicion that he was not entirely at his ease when he entered -the Armytages' sitting-room. - -Never had he seen Lucy more charming than when she came forward to meet -him. She was full of the lessons in languages she was taking, -especially in rubbing up her superficial knowledge of French. She had -got a French newspaper, and read with admirable accent some editorials -in which Sir Percy was interested. Mrs. Armytage went sound asleep as -usual, and the lovers could talk with a sweet unrestraint. Heretofore -it was Sir Percy who had risen promptly on the stroke of ten, but -to-night it was a quarter past before he stirred, and Lucy then forced -him away. He returned to his chambers accompanied by the ghost of his -wrong-doing, and the black dog who kept watch over him prevented him -from sleeping all night long. - -The next afternoon at five o'clock Sir Percy Carlyon was ushered into -General Talbott's and Alicia Vernon's charming little drawing-room at -the hotel. As he came in, General Talbott met him with both hands -outstretched. Sir Percy realised, as he always did in General Talbott's -presence, that here was a man of no common mould. He was small, bald -and low-voiced, but in distinction of bearing and manner there were few -men superior to General Talbott. This distinction also belonged to -Alicia Vernon, and Sir Percy could not but recognise it as she rose and -advanced towards him and gave him her hand. She was quite forty, and -showed it. Like most women of her exquisite blonde type, each year left -a visible mark. Her chestnut hair had lost much of its lustre, and her -fine white skin had little marks and lines in it, like a crumpled -roseleaf. She had not the freshness and naturalness which Sir Percy -Carlyon reckoned the chief charm of the American women. Alicia Vernon -was the product of an old civilisation, and showed it; but her tall and -stately figure retained all its symmetry, and her eyes and her voice and -her smile--ah, they were matchless still! Her voice, low, soft and -clear, had a melancholy sweetness and power of expression that Sir Percy -Carlyon had never known in any woman's voice but hers, and her eyes, the -colour of the violets, had in them a depth of fire, and flickering -shadows like the heart of an opal. Everything about her was individual -and distinctive. Sir Percy was not much versed in the details of a -woman's dress, but he felt, rather than knew, the beauty of the -sweeping, pale blue draperies which undulated about Alicia Vernon, and -the seductive perfume which exhaled from everything which she wore and -used. Hers was the charm of the Shulamite. - -In meeting Sir Percy her manner and tone were perfectly calm, friendly -and composed. Towards her father she was always perfect; and his air of -tender, chivalrous protection was touching and beautiful. - -The three sat around the fire and talked intimately, as friends do after -a long absence. Mrs. Vernon offered Sir Percy a cup of tea, and even -handed it to him with her own hands sparkling with gems, but he declined -it. If it had been in Italy during the time of the Borgias he would -have hesitated to drink any cup offered him by Alicia Vernon. She said -little, leaving the conversation chiefly to her father and Sir Percy. -As they talked she sat in a large chair, her head half turned towards -Sir Percy and holding between the fire and her face an antique fan -painted by Greuze. She had been a slip of a girl when her lips had -sought Sir Percy's, and had shown him, in triumph, her long, bright -hair; but in some things she was unchanged, and Sir Percy felt that a -stripling of to-day, such as he had been in the old days, would not be -safe with Mrs. Vernon. While they were talking Lord Baudesert's card -was brought to General Talbott. On it was scrawled: - -"My first chance to take the air. Gout has me by the leg, so come down -and drive with me for an hour." - -General Talbott rose at once. Sir Percy had no excuse to leave at the -same time and remained perforce. - -When the door was shut on General Talbott Sir Percy Carlyon's face -changed into the hardness of a flint, and he sat silent waiting to see -what position Mrs. Vernon would take with him. She too remained silent -for a while, fixing upon him two wells of violet light. The setting sun -streamed through a western window upon Sir Percy's face, and she studied -it carefully. No; he was not handsome even as a young man, and at -thirty-eight his moustache was growing grey and his hair scanty, and -there were crow's feet in the corners of his eyes. But what did that -matter to her? He was the most considerable man upon whom she had ever -tried her power. - -"After all," she said presently, her low voice filling the room as a -trained singer's softest note is heard at the Paris Opera, "I was right -even in my youth, and knew that before you was a great destiny. You are -to be the next Ambassador here." - -"How did you know that?" asked Sir Percy. - -"Partly by observation and partly by a clever guess. I have been -staying in the same house with the Prime Minister, and quite naturally -we spoke of you. I told him that we were old friends." - -As she said the last two words Sir Percy Carlyon turned away his head -and a dull flush dyed his sunburnt face. - -"However, those are matters really of prescience. I was very young when -we loved, but even then I knew that some day you would be a great, if -not a famous, man." - -"I am neither," responded Sir Percy, taking refuge in commonplace. - -Then there was silence again for a time. The firelight played over Mrs. -Vernon's face and figure and the masses of pale blue draperies, and over -the tip of her pale blue slippers, upon which stones sparkled. Her eyes -were fixed upon Sir Percy, and, raising herself in her chair, she leaned -over towards him and said calmly: - -"Guy Vernon, you know, has been dead more than a year." - -Sir Percy knew what she meant--that she was now free. - -"I had not heard it," he replied with equal calmness. "I hope that your -latter days with him were happier than the earlier ones." - -"I had not seen or spoken with him for several years. We had much -unhappiness together. If I had been happily married----" - -She broke off suddenly and then continued after a while: - -"It would be hypocritical for me to express any grief at Guy Vernon's -death, and, whatever I am, I am not a hypocrite--except to my father. I -love him, for I can love, and he is the one person I really fear--except -you." - -As she spoke she leaned forward again, and, closing her fan, almost laid -the tip of it upon Sir Percy's hand, outstretched on the arm of his -chair. In another instant it would have been a caress, but Sir Percy -coolly moved his hand and Mrs. Vernon quickly withdrew the fan. - -"General Talbott is a man very much to be feared as well as loved," was -his answer. "Whenever the memory comes to me of what I owe him and how I -repaid him I feel like shooting myself." - -"But we were very happy in that time," murmured Alicia, leaning back and -letting her hands fall in her lap as she watched the fire. - -Sir Percy rose and Alicia Vernon rose too. - -"You know very well," she said, showing some agitation, "why I came -here. I wanted to see you. I am a fool, of course--every woman is -about some man. I have tried to forget you, I have been trying to do -that for twelve years, but I have not yet succeeded. Do you remember -those tragic stories of the Middle Ages, when a woman who loved a man -would dress herself as a page and follow him to the Crusades? Such are -the women who knew how to love; not those conventional creatures who sit -by the fire and to whom one man is the same as another." - -As she spoke her eyes filled and two large bright tears dropped upon her -cheeks, and she pressed her handkerchief to her eyes with a trembling -hand. Sir Percy had meant to be stern with her, but no man, if he be a -man, can be stern to a woman in tears. He remained silent for a minute -or two, moved, in spite of himself, at Alicia Vernon's emotion. - -"Alicia," he said, and then paused. It was the first time he had called -her by her name for years, and as he spoke her eyes lighted up and a sad -smile played about her mouth. "I, least of all human beings, can -reproach you. I am willing to take upon myself all the guilt, all the -shame, of that bygone time, but it was guilt and shame, and let us not -deceive ourselves." - -"Was it guilt and shame?" she asked in her thrilling voice. "Was it -rather not fate? I was married at twenty to a worthless wretch. I was -formed to love and be loved, and I found myself tied to a creature like -Guy Vernon. Then I met in you the man for whom I was meant and I came -into my own. At least I was disinterested, for then you were both poor -and obscure. I never had one regret for anything that happened. Do you -suppose that Marguerite Gautier regretted, even when she was dying, that -she had loved Armand? I always go, when I can, to hear that opera, _La -Vie de Boheme_. Mimi's death is really a triumph of love. Let me tell -you this: no woman who ever loved ever regretted it. If she regretted -it she did not love. Men feel and act differently about these things. -You know you loved me once and you have seemed to hate me ever since, -but love will prevail--it will yet prevail." - -It was a piteous sight to see her with clasped hands and the glory of an -undying hope in her eyes and voice. To make her believe that the end -had come long since between Sir Percy Carlyon and herself was like -fighting a shadow. The resolve took possession of Sir Percy to tell her -of Lucy Armytage, and then she might realise the inevitable. - -"We will speak no more of the past," he said, "and I will tell you what -has happened in the present. I have met a woman whom I truly love, and -she has promised to marry me." - -Alicia Vernon turned deathly pale, and stood looking at him with eyes -like those of Dido when she saw AEneas sail away from her. She walked -steadily to the window and looked with unseeing eyes at the glory of red -and gold in which the sun was sinking. Sir Percy Carlyon, standing -where she had left him, had to battle with his common-sense. Reason -told him that he had done this woman no injury--rather she had injured -him--and although Alicia Vernon's protestation of love for him carried -with it conviction of truth, it had not kept her in the straight path. -Nevertheless he felt as if he had struck her a physical blow. Presently -she came from the window towards the fire, and said to Sir Percy what -any woman of forty would say: - -"The girl you love is young?" - -"Yes." - -"That is the way of the world," cried Alicia--"youth is everything. -What is it Francois Coppee says? 'There is nothing for women but a -little love when they are young.' I ask, however, one thing of you. -You can scarcely refuse it." Sir Percy remained silent. He did not -refuse it, but he was too much on his guard to promise it. "Only this, -let me see this woman whom you prefer to me. You think it childish? -Very well; all women have something of the child in them." - -Sir Percy went towards the door, and his face, already dark and flushed, -grew still darker. Alicia came up to him and said with pleading in her -voice: - -"You can't suppose that I would let her suspect anything? I think I -have shown that I know how to keep the secrets of my life. I would -hardly be so foolish as to betray myself to this girl who has succeeded -where I have failed." - -Then came one of the most exquisitely painful moments of Sir Percy -Carlyon's life. The thought of bringing Lucy Armytage into the same -room with Alicia Vernon filled him with rage and shame. Rather than see -Lucy Armytage become what Alicia Vernon was he would have killed her -with his own hand. Something of this dawned upon Alicia's mind as she -looked at him. It flashed from her eyes and burst into words. - -"It is the old story. You are worthy to marry her, but I am not worthy -to speak to her. Oh, what a world it is!" - -[Illustration: "'It is the old story. You are worthy to marry her, but -I am not worthy to speak to her'"] - -"It is the world which has made that law, not I," responded Sir Percy. -"Don't think that I reckon myself worthy to marry this woman whom I -love--I only hope to make myself a little less unworthy. Ever since the -world was made it has demanded more of women than of men." - -"That law sounds well when it is enforced by you against me. Good-bye," -was Alicia's response. - - - - - *VI* - - -Sir Percy Carlyon went out into the cool March air, which steadied his -much-shaken nerves. He had refused to bring about a meeting between -Alicia Vernon and Lucy Armytage, and with masculine directness made not -the slightest secret to himself why he did it. Yet he was not without -shame at the part he had played in the matter. - -It was early for his walk, as the spring afternoons were growing longer. -He struck out toward the northwest and walked for an hour. As he was -returning he reached the top of the hill, where the paved streets began, -when Lord Baudesert's carriage with its high-stepping bays overtook him. -Lord Baudesert called out of the window, and in another minute Sir Percy -was sitting in the carriage opposite Lord Baudesert and General Talbott. - -"It is rather pleasant," said Lord Baudesert, "to come across a -countryman once in a while, and not to be always considering American -susceptibilities. Talbott, here, is delighted with the country as far -as he has got. I told him it is the most interesting, as it certainly -is the most complex, of all nations and societies." Lord Baudesert -leaned back in the carriage and settled himself comfortably to talk upon -that agreeable subject, his own affairs. "The Ambassadors at Paris and -Berlin and other European capitals have an easy berth compared with -mine. I can walk in and talk with the President and arrange affairs to -our mutual satisfaction. It might be supposed that I had accomplished -something, as it would be in any Chancellery of Europe, but not here, if -you please. At the next Cabinet meeting the Secretary of State may say -that it is all a stupid blunder on the part of the President, or the -Attorney-General may put in his oar, and all goes to smash. Then, if it -gets as far as the approval of the Secretary of State, and the -permission of the Attorney-General, as soon as it is done up in official -form, it goes to the Senate. The Senate likes to lay the Secretary of -State by the heels and the British Ambassador on top of him; and that is -where our carefully studied arrangements generally land. The House of -Representatives, too, can generally find a peg on which to hang some -objection, and, if there is any money involved, we can't turn a wheel -without the help of the House. That is diplomacy in America." - -"How do you get anything done, then?" said General Talbott. - -"There are ways, my dear Talbott. The Speaker of the House is a useful -man to have as a friend, and there are, besides, a few men in the Senate -who can deny themselves the joy of tripping up an Ambassador. One of -them I particularly desire you to meet--Senator March. He stands high -with the administration, and with everybody, in fact. He is an -uncommonly able man, and has a candour and fairness which disarms -opposition. I should not venture to call him absolutely the most gifted -man in the Senate, or the most profound lawyer, or the most brilliant -speaker, but, take him altogether, I consider him the strongest man in -public life in Washington to-day. You will meet him when you dine at -the Embassy next week. I will send a card in due form to yourself and -Mrs. Vernon. I think I had the pleasure of meeting your daughter once -before her marriage?" - -"That marriage turned out most unfortunately for my poor child," replied -General Talbott, with the peculiar tenderness in his voice with which he -always spoke of Alicia. "Guy Vernon had a large fortune, but he was a -scapegrace inborn. My daughter was young, innocent, and had never had -the command of money, so you may imagine she made some mistakes, but she -was most cruelly treated; that I found out after her patience could no -longer stand her husband's unkindness. Vernon died more than a year -ago, after having lived long enough to ruin the life of my only child." - -Sir Percy Carlyon, sitting with his back to the horses, listened with an -impassive face to General Talbott's words. - -"Mrs. Vernon had her settlements, had she not?" asked Lord Baudesert. - -"Yes. But she and Vernon between them managed to get some of the -provisions of that arrangement set aside, and spent a great part of the -money which was supposed would be a provision for my daughter in the -event of Vernon's death. Luckily, there were no children. I shouldn't -care to have a grandchild with Guy Vernon's blood in him. My daughter -is an angel. Pardon a father's pride." - -"She looked an angel," replied Lord Baudesert, "when I saw her in the -first bloom of her beauty." - -Sir Percy Carlyon, listening to this, reflected that his shrift would be -short if General Talbott knew what had happened twelve years before. - -Lord Baudesert dropped General Talbott at his hotel, then drove back -with Sir Percy to the Embassy, where Sir Percy joined the family circle -at dinner. When the ladies left the table and the uncle and nephew were -alone was Lord Baudesert's favourite time for exchanging confidences -with Sir Percy. To-night he chose the subject of General Talbott and -his daughter. - -"While I have not seen Talbott's daughter for many years, I remember -well what a beautiful and captivating young girl she was, but it seems -to me that I have heard rumours--eh? Bad marriage, worthless husband, -and gay wife. Do you know anything about it?" - -Sir Percy then calmly and deliberately proceeded to lie like a -gentleman. - -"Nothing except what the world knows. I saw a great deal of Mrs. Vernon -twelve years ago when I was in India. As you see, General Talbott is a -most devoted father and Mrs. Vernon a most affectionate daughter. She -was virtually separated from Vernon when I first knew her." - -"And had squandered a lot of money?" - -"Both of them were spendthrifts, as far as that goes. Mrs. Vernon was a -beautiful young woman and much admired." - -"And a little gay, perhaps?" - -"Not that I ever heard," responded Sir Percy coolly, looking Lord -Baudesert in the eye. "It would be hard to believe that General -Talbott's daughter were not everything she should be. He is, I think, -altogether the finest man I ever knew." - -Lord Baudesert, with a catholic interest in beauty, asked: - -"You saw Mrs. Vernon this afternoon. Is she still beautiful?" - -Sir Percy paused before answering this question. - -"Yes, she is still beautiful, but she is no longer a girl, of course. -If you will excuse me now, I will join my aunt in the drawing-room." - -Sir Percy went from bad to worse--because as soon as he appeared in the -drawing-room Mrs. Vereker and the three girls fell upon him like playful -sheep and began to ask him all manner of questions about Alicia Vernon. -Was she a great beauty, as Mrs. Vereker had heard, and was she going to -marry somebody else, now that Guy Vernon was dead? Jane wished to know -how Mrs. Vernon dressed her hair. Sarah inquired if her sleeves were -large or small, according to the latest London fashion, and complained -that, for her part, Americans changed the mode of their sleeves so often -that she could not keep up with them! Isabella yearned to know whether -Mrs. Vernon smoked cigarettes or not. Sir Percy almost laughed at the -latter suggestion. He had never seen any woman in his life so careful -to pay the tithe of mint, anise and cummin to the world as Alicia -Vernon, or more ready to avoid the weightier matters of the law. The -slightest aroma of fastness was rigidly forsworn by her, and no -Cromwellian ever kept out of the way of the fast set more absolutely -than did the lady of the violet eyes. - -In the midst of this patter of questions Lord Baudesert entered the -drawing-room, and the three girls suddenly grew mute, while Mrs. Vereker -asked Lord Baudesert, for the fourth time that evening, if the east wind -hadn't given him a touch of gout. Having answered this question three -times with much savagery, Lord Baudesert let it pass, and demanded pen -and paper, directing Isabella, who was the family scribe, to make out -the list for the dinner which was to be given next week in honour of -General Talbott and Mrs. Vernon. The first name put down was Senator -March, and then followed a list of eight or ten other representative men -whom Lord Baudesert thought General Talbott would like to meet. The -selection of the women was more difficult. By way of disciplining Mrs. -Vereker, who did not need it in the least, Lord Baudesert commanded -Isabella to begin the list of ladies as follows: - -"Mrs. Chantrey." - -Mrs. Vereker ventured to say feebly: - -"Mrs. Chantrey has already dined here twice this season." - -"She may be dining here oftener than you think," was Lord Baudesert's -menacing reply, and Mrs. Vereker, in her mind's eye, saw Mrs. Chantrey -as the future Lady Baudesert, presiding with much majesty over the -British Embassy. - -Some girls were required for the unmarried men who were asked. It was -the unwritten law that at dinners only one of Mrs. Vereker's covey -should appear at the table--an honour which was always received with -nervous apprehension by the successful candidate. This time it was -Isabella who was the Jephtha's daughter of the occasion. Mrs. Vereker -suggested several girls, but each one was remorselessly thrown out by -Lord Baudesert on various grounds. Presently he asked: - -"What is the name of that girl who was here on the afternoon the two -South Americans called, and helped to pull us out of the hole?" - -"Miss Armytage," replied Mrs. Vereker. - -"She struck me as rather an unusual sort of a girl." - -Mrs. Vereker, with her usual capacity for misunderstanding Lord -Baudesert's meaning, replied faintly: - -"Oh, yes, very unusual! She is from a little town called Bardville in -Tennessee, or is it Indiana? I forget which. Of course she would not -do at all, and we never thought of suggesting her." - -"Put down Miss Armytage," snapped Lord Baudesert. - -The comedy suddenly became a tragedy to Sir Percy Carlyon. So, then, -Alicia Vernon and Lucy Armytage were to be brought face to face after -all--and it filled him with a dumb rage. Isabella, meaning to -conciliate her uncle, murmured: - -"A lovely girl, Miss Armytage, so intelligent, so interesting!" - -"A provincial, if ever I saw one," was Lord Baudesert's response to -this. "Nevertheless she has some beauty and a pretty voice, and we will -have her." - -When Lord Baudesert had retired to his library Mrs. Vereker and the -three girls talked in subdued tones for fear the ogre might hear them. -They mournfully agreed there must be something between Lord Baudesert -and Mrs. Chantrey, and Sir Percy was appealed to for his opinion. - -"Lord Baudesert wouldn't marry Helen of Troy if she had all the virtues -of St. Monica and John D. Rockefeller's wealth into the bargain," was -Sir Percy's consoling answer. "He simply talks about Mrs. Chantrey to -worry you. I wish them both joy if they get each other, but there isn't -the shadow of danger." - -Mrs. Vereker, however, refused to be comforted. - -"And what a surprise that he should have gone out of his way to ask Miss -Armytage, whom he frankly called a provincial! Surely, in the language -of the hymn, it might be said of Lord Baudesert, 'He moves in a -mysterious way, his wonders to perform.'" - -Sir Percy had promised to stay all the evening, but he broke his promise -and left early. He began to believe that Fate, and not he, would settle -when and how Lucy Armytage would hear the painful story of his youth. - -During the next week Sir Percy Carlyon saw General Talbott every day, -and for hours, and it was inevitable that he should see much of Alicia -Vernon. He did the regular sight-seeing with them, drove with them -through the park, went with them to Mount Vernon, and, in short, acted -as their cicerone. Nothing could exceed the grace and composure of -Alicia Vernon's manner, and in her defeat she was not unlike General -Talbott in the few rebuffs that he had experienced during his life. If -Sir Percy Carlyon had been a younger or more sanguine man he would have -felt quite at ease, but he knew Alicia Vernon too well ever to feel at -ease in her neighbourhood. She was not the woman to lay obvious snares -and traps to find out things, much less to fall into the open vulgarity -of asking questions, yet Sir Percy felt that her sharp intelligence was -at work on every word and phrase he uttered, to find out what he had -refused to tell her--the name and habitat of the woman he loved. - -Cards and invitations began to pour in upon General Talbott and his -daughter, but the dinner at the Embassy was the first formal -entertainment which they attended. - -Sir Percy's first meeting with Lucy Armytage after Alicia Vernon's -arrival was purely accidental. He had taken his late afternoon walk -eastward, and as he crossed, after sunset, the deserted plaza of the -Capitol he noticed Lucy's slim figure standing in the purple dusk upon -the Capitol terrace. She did not know he was near until he spoke, and -then she turned, her face and eyes flooded with the joy of the -unexpected meeting. She had come from the National Library with a book, -and announced her intention to walk back to the hotel. - -"Since I am to be an Englishwoman, I shall probably be more English than -the English themselves. I walk everywhere, and I have bought a pair of -large thick boots, which my uncle declares he can't tell from his own." - -Lucy's feet were slender enough to take this liberty with them. Lucy -was full of her invitation to dinner at the British Embassy, where she -had never dined before. - -"It will be different," she said, "from any dinner I was ever at, -because when Lord Baudesert and Mrs. Vereker know--you understand"--Sir -Percy understood well enough, and Lucy continued--"they will, of course, -look back and begin to canvass me and I want them to have a good opinion -of me." - -To which Sir Percy, like a true lover, replied: - -"How could they have any other?" Yet the thought of Lucy coming face to -face with Alicia Vernon made him sick at heart. - -It was still light enough for them to remain out of doors twenty -minutes, and the region of the Capitol, which swarmed with people during -the day, was absolutely deserted. A sudden impulse prompted Sir Percy -to say to her, as they strolled slowly along the quiet streets in the -twilight: - -"I have something to ask of you, something I hope you will grant." - -Lucy turned upon him two laughing, adoring dark eyes; but the look upon -Sir Percy's face sobered her. - -"It is this--to have enough faith in me to accept my word. There is -something in my past life, something which the world might think of no -great consequence, something I will tell you all about when we are -married. It will be a confession, but I repented of it long before I -ever met you, and I have repented of it a thousand times more since." - -"I could not marry any man whose word I could disbelieve," replied Lucy -with calm confidence. - -They walked together until within a square of the hotel, when Lucy -demanded that Sir Percy should leave her. - -The evening of the Embassy dinner came, and Sir Percy Carlyon, who -always acted as assistant host, was the first guest to arrive. Almost -immediately General Talbott and Alicia Vernon followed. Alicia, like -most Englishwomen, was at her best in the evening. She was one of those -rare women who could wear jewels in her hair and look well, and to-night -she sparkled with gems. No woman could cross a drawing-room floor with -more grace than Alicia Vernon, or could sit and rise and bow with -greater dignity. She was more like an enthroned queen than a pretty -princess such as Lucy Armytage's air and manner suggested when she -entered the drawing-room. Nevertheless their charms were so different -that they enhanced, rather than outshone, each other. Lucy carried in -her hands a huge bouquet of violets. They had been Sir Percy's gift, -and a whispered word of thanks, unnoticed by any one, repaid him. -Alicia Vernon, apparently absorbed in conversation with various persons -who were introduced to her, after the American fashion, watched closely -every woman as she entered the room. She was the last woman in the -world to underrate her rival, and with discernment saw that this -black-haired girl with the milk-white skin was easily the most -attractive woman present. Mrs. Chantrey and Eleanor were the last to -arrive. The former wore at least a quart of large diamonds strewn over -her person, and, recalling with triumph that this was her third dinner -at the Embassy during the season, considered herself as good as married -to Lord Baudesert, and adopted condescending airs towards weak Mrs. -Vereker. Alicia had claimed a woman's prescience in matters of the -heart. She felt instinctively that the beautiful Eleanor Chantrey was -not the woman whom Sir Percy loved. - -Not a soul except herself at the long, brilliant dinner-table suspected -anything between Sir Percy Carlyon and Lucy Armytage, who sat opposite -each other. But Alicia Vernon's violet eyes saw everything without -watching. She knew the English habit of not conversing across the table, -but she observed that Sir Percy Carlyon spoke to Lucy Armytage once or -twice. Lucy, herself, instead of answering him with the gaiety and -spirit she showed in her conversation with her neighbours, replied to -Sir Percy with only a brilliant smile and a word or two. The -indications were so slight that not even the hawk-eyed Lord Baudesert -noticed them, but nothing escapes a jealous woman. - -Meanwhile, never had Alicia Vernon exerted herself more to please. She -sat on Lord Baudesert's right hand and on her left was Senator March. -Mrs. Vernon was a better listener than talker. She had not the naive -effervescence of the American women, but she had a softness, a charming -air of listening with profound attention, which few American women ever -acquire. Senator March, struck from the beginning by her manner of the -highest breeding, admiring her mature beauty and charmed by her subtle -and even silent flattery, thought it the pleasantest dinner he had ever -attended. Eleanor Chantrey sat on the other side of him and he -experienced a glow of pleasure which a man feels when he basks in -beauty's light. But Eleanor Chantrey was not much older than Lucy -Armytage and her range of conversation was strictly limited to what had -happened since she came out in society. Senator March had passed his -fiftieth birthday and liked to talk about things which happened -twenty-five years before. He had an agreeable feeling with Mrs. Vernon -of being contemporaries, which he could not feel with a younger woman. -Alicia Vernon, on her part, recognised Senator March's virtues as a -dinner man and was tactful enough to keep to herself the surprise she -felt at finding an American so accomplished. - -When the ladies left the table and the gentlemen's ranks were closed up -for that comfortable after-dinner conversation, which is still the -heritage of the Englishman, Lord Baudesert took pains to bring General -Talbott and Senator March into conversation together. Between the two -men a good understanding was instantly established. General Talbott did -not lose interest in Senator March's eyes for being the father of the -charming woman who had sat next him. With the frank friendliness of the -American, he made greater headway in General Talbott's acquaintanceship -during their half-hour's talk than many Englishmen make in a month's -companionship. Simultaneously Senator March asked permission to call, -and General Talbott gave a cordial invitation to him to do so. Lord -Baudesert was in high feather. The dinner had been pleasant and -agreeable and he was pleased that General Talbott should see what -admirable dinner guests Americans of the best sort made. Sir Percy -Carlyon appeared to be in his usual form, but, as he sat smoking and -talking pleasantly, the thought that Lucy Armytage and Alicia Vernon -were at that moment in the same room, on the same terms, and reckoned to -be of the same sort, gnawed him like some ravenous beast. - -Mrs. Vernon at that very time was sitting on a sofa with Lucy Armytage, -and with perfect art and tact was finding out from her many things which -the girl was quite unconscious of betraying. Alicia Vernon was puzzled -by the fact of a secret engagement, because Sir Percy had told her that -the girl he loved had promised to marry him, and this was evidently -unknown to the rest of the world. Without the least trouble, by asking -a few half-laughing questions about the custom of engagements in -America, Alicia Vernon discovered that such things as unannounced -engagements existed and were not considered discreditable. Lucy -answered readily, but in speaking her pale cheeks took on a colour like -the faint pink of the azalea. Alicia led her on without questions, but -with clever suggestions, to tell of her employments, of the books she -read and many other things, which Lucy told frankly and without the -slightest suspicion that she was being cross-examined, and was adding -link by link to the chain of evidence which had begun with the mere -probabilities of a guess. - -Alicia Vernon's heart burned within her. She would like to have -forgotten Sir Percy Carlyon long ago, as she had forgotten many others. -She knew that her feeling for him was an infatuation, but in some -strange manner he had dominated her imagination from the beginning. It -was the most dangerous, on account of General Talbott, of all the -affairs in which she had ever been engaged; but all women like Alicia -Vernon have one tragic love. The old Greek superstition that those who -defy love are punished works out in a different civilisation with those -who dishonour love, paying for it in blood and tears. - -Alicia Vernon had said to Lucy: - -"Sir Percy Carlyon and I are old friends. We met first in India twelve -years ago." - -Lucy had enough mother wit not to express surprise or to betray how much -she knew of the incidents of Sir Percy's life. But she was no match in -_finesse_ for Alicia Vernon, who found out, without the least trouble, -that the girl knew certain dates, places and events which she could not -have known except from Sir Percy Carlyon. - -The sight which greeted Sir Percy when he entered the drawing-room was -Alicia Vernon and Lucy Armytage still sitting upon the small sofa -together, apparently conversing with intimacy. A tall, red-shaded lamp -cast a rosy glow over the woman and the girl, and fell upon Alicia -Vernon's rich hair, in which a few grey threads showed. Her beautiful -eyes were fixed upon Lucy with an expression which Sir Percy Carlyon -knew perfectly well. He surmised in a moment what had happened. Lucy -was clever as girls are clever, but with Alicia Vernon she was as a bird -in the snare of the fowler. His poor little Lucy! - -The irruption of the gentlemen into the drawing-room was greeted with -enthusiasm, as it always is. Mrs. Chantrey made a dive for the -Ambassador, and, wedging him into a corner with a chair, leaned over it -girlishly and ogled him, much to Lord Baudesert's delight. Nothing he -had ever known in his life had diverted him quite so much as Mrs. -Chantrey's determination to become Lady Baudesert if she could possibly -contrive it. Lord Baudesert, as usual, made plaint of his poverty -outside of his official income, and omitted to mention that his private -income was something like L10,000 a year. Mrs. Chantrey then held forth -eloquently upon the worthlessness of money except to help those one -loves. Lord Baudesert, with _malice prepense_, led her to the verge of -an offer of marriage before making his escape. - -Sir Percy Carlyon drew up a chair close to the sofa on which sat the -woman he hated and the woman he loved, and smiling and outwardly at -ease, talked with both of them. Senator March, too, soon gravitated -that way. He wished to see more of his late neighbour with her low, -delicious voice and her beautiful, melancholy eyes. Then quite -naturally came out the story of the late house party at his country -house, and what the guests did to amuse themselves. - -"It is very quiet up there," said Senator March; "we are in the Maryland -mountains, you see, and there are no ruined abbeys to visit, no hunt -balls, or anything of the sort. We simply walk and read and rest and -talk; but my friends who give me the privilege of their company are so -kind that I feel that they enjoy their visits almost as much as I do." - -Lucy hastened to corroborate this, and Sir Percy added pleasantly: - -"The pleasure you offer us is just what we like best. I remember those -country walks in which the ladies sometimes did us the honour to join -us. Don't you remember them, Miss Armytage?" - -Alicia Vernon understood this as a cool defiance of her. - -"You must pay me another visit as soon as possible," cried Senator -March. "The country is looking beautiful, now that spring is -approaching. Perhaps Mrs. Vernon and General Talbott will do me the -honour to join us? Of course, I count upon you, Miss Armytage and Sir -Percy?" - -Lucy accepted promptly. So did Sir Percy, with the mental reservation -that Lucy should stay away from any house-party of which Alicia Vernon -was to be a member. - -As the guests were leaving, Alicia passed Sir Percy and said to him, -unheard by any one else: - -"It is she." - -Driving back in the carriage, General Talbott expressed to Alicia his -enjoyment of the evening. - -"I have not been to a pleasanter party for a long time. What a fine -fellow Senator March is! He has an enormous fortune, Lord Baudesert -tells me, but lives very simply. He has no capacity for money-making, -and the beginning of his fortune was an inheritance, and he became rich -rather by accident than effort. It is years since I met a man who -pleased me so well." - -Then Alicia told the thought which had occurred to her many times during -the evening: - -"I didn't think that Americans could have such good manners as some of -those people had." - -But even while she was speaking her mind was upon that strange problem, -why could she not cast off the memory, the passion for Sir Percy -Carlyon? He hated her and she knew it, but that only made her love him -the more, as she reckoned love--so curious a thing is the heart of a -woman. - - - - - *VII* - - -The very next day Senator March called upon General Talbott and Mrs. -Vernon and found them both at home. Alicia seemed to him even more -charming than on the evening before. There are few occasions that a -woman appears better than when dispensing the simple hospitality of her -own tea-table, and it is a charm which many Englishwomen possess. Alicia -Vernon had it in great perfection, and her tea-table gave an air of home -to the hotel sitting-room. Senator March remained a full hour and -enjoyed every minute of it. Alicia Vernon's voice was the soul of -music, and her soft and gracious manners completed the charm of her -voice. Then, too, she was not so ridiculously young. Before Senator -March left, he had arranged for a dinner at his own house, and also for -a week-end at his country place. Just as he was leaving, Mrs. Chantrey -came fluttering in, and that meant still another dinner for the English -visitors, and Senator March, being a court card, was at once grabbed by -Mrs. Chantrey for her dinner. The next week was to be one of Grand -Opera, and Senator March, who loved music, determined to take the best -box at the theatre, chiefly for the pleasure of having Alicia Vernon in -it. Quite naturally, in all these plans for pleasure, Sir Percy Carlyon -was included. Senator March and himself had become almost chums from -the beginning of their acquaintance, and what could be more suitable -than that Sir Percy should be one of the party when his old friends were -entertained? Then Senator March's fondness for Lucy Armytage, and his -somewhat limited acquaintance among the younger set, brought her into -the circle. - -At the dinner which Senator March gave in his big, old-fashioned house -Alicia saw, with her own eyes, evidence of inherited as well as acquired -wealth. There was a ton, more or less, of family silver on the -sideboards and cabinets, while the portraits of three generations hung -upon the walls. - -Among the twenty-five guests were Lord Baudesert, Mrs. Vereker, Lucy -Armytage and Sir Percy Carlyon. The second meeting with Lucy Armytage -made Alicia Vernon's confirmation doubly sure; but there was a new -personality present which divided her interests with Sir Percy Carlyon -and Senator March: this was Colegrove, the man whom Senator March and -Sir Percy Carlyon had passed in the hotel lobby on the day of their -second meeting. He sat directly across the table from Alicia Vernon, -who was on Senator March's left, Mrs. Vereker being on his right. The -mellow glow from the shaded candelabra fell full upon Colegrove's head -and shoulders. He was instantly struck with the beauty of Alicia -Vernon's eyes, as most men were, but Alicia was no less struck with his. -They were clear, so compelling--they were the eyes of the commanding -officer on the field of battle. His well-shaped, iron-grey head, his -clear-cut features, spoke power in the lines of their contour. Alicia -Vernon found herself involuntarily glancing across at her neighbour, and -whenever she looked at him she found his glance fixed upon her. - -When the ladies retired to the drawing-room the conversation turned upon -Colegrove, and Alicia found out that he was one of the great railway -magnates of America, one of those men of whom she had heard and read -about, who, beginning at the lowest rung of the ladder, make their way -up by sheer indomitable force to the top, and then kick the ladder down -after them. He had a wife, whom no one had ever seen, stowed away -somewhere in the West, but was never known to speak of her, much less to -present her. Fabulous tales were told of his wealth and of the -simplicity of his mode of living. His winters were generally spent at -Washington, in a comfortable but not expensive hotel, where he had a -modest suite of rooms. While the ladies were talking about him, the -gentlemen appeared from the dining-room. Colegrove walked straight up to -Alicia, and, seating himself, plunged into conversation with her. -Alicia, with infinite tact, led him to speak of himself, his affairs, -his wishes, his aspirations, and listened so intelligently that she -bewitched him even more than she had Roger March. - -"I think," she said presently, in her slow, sweet voice, "that I am -getting new ideas all the time in this country about money. You -Americans are credited with thinking much about it. I never saw people -who value money so little." - -"Why should we?" answered Colegrove, smiling. "We have no hereditary -nobility, no entailed property to keep up. Every generation here looks -out for itself. Then American ladies don't give their husbands the best -chance of saving money." - -"How can any woman save money?" asked Alicia helplessly. "I am always -in want of money, have been all my life, and yet it doesn't seem to me -as if I have many costly things or expensive habits." - -"Oh, the want of money with a woman is chronic," replied Colegrove -easily. "The right way to do would be to pay your bills and ask a smile -in return." - -He looked at her with such frank admiration that it brought the colour -to Alicia Vernon's face; but she was not displeased with him; on the -contrary, she rather liked the sense of power, of innate force, which -was so plainly his. How trifling to him would seem the mountain of debt -under which Alicia had always laboured, and which she had only managed -to keep partially from her father's knowledge. - -"I shouldn't mind a woman spending money on toilettes, jewelry, -carriages and such things. That would be just like buying toys," he -said, still smiling. "I am a man of simple tastes--you would be -disgusted at the plainness of my rooms at the hotel, but I can -understand that white birds should have downy nests." - -Colegrove would have monopolised Mrs. Vernon, but Senator March would by -no means have it so. He came up and began to talk about the coming -house-party, taking Alicia into the library to show her pictures of the -place. Then her eyes fell upon pictures of Senator March's family home, -which was in a near-by Eastern State, and the photographs he showed of -it proved that it was a fine old Colonial house added to with taste and -judgment until it was a beautiful and spacious mansion. Also he had a -ranch far off in the Northwest, and his near-by country place in -Maryland. - -"You have as many homes as a great English noble." - -"But they are not castles; they are only houses; and a man alone, as I -am, has no home. This was my father's town house; he was in the Senate -before me, but you see that it is an old barn compared with the splendid -modern houses in Washington. Then the home, in my native State, is -where I was born, but I have lived there very little. After I left the -university I travelled for some years, and then went into public life, -and that has kept me pretty close to Washington. My own home is too far -away to go to for the week-end, so I have this little place a hundred -miles away in the mountains. I don't know exactly how I happened to -acquire the ranch. I went into a land purchase with some friends of -mine, and the first thing I knew was that I had a ranch, and I don't yet -quite understand how I came by it. I didn't know what to do with it, but -I went out there, and found it a gloriously lonely place, with an adobe -house and a courtyard, stuck up on the side of the mountain. The people -out there told me to stock the place--I have the title to a good part of -the big valley--I got a manager, and, strange to say, I haven't been -swindled. Every year or two I try to go out there for six weeks. It's -a superb climate and I live on horseback, as I did when I was a boy. I -should like so much to show you the ranch which I found in my pocket one -day." - -Alicia smiled and shook her head. - -"There is so much to see, and one can't stay in America for ever: it is -so expensive." - -Senator March looked at her with secret pity. He thought what a nasty -freak of Fate it was that this exquisite creature should want what he -would so easily have given her, but could not. - -Alicia Vernon, with a woman's subtlety, noticed and liked this attitude -of the American toward women--the eternal readiness to give. It was -distinctly different from that of the Englishman, who is strictly just -to his womankind, but is not expected to be generous, and the normal -woman hates justice as much as she loves generosity. Alicia, with a -sigh, recalled the storms concerning money in which her married life -with Guy Vernon had been passed, and the laborious subterfuges which she -was forced to employ to keep her father from knowing the exact state of -her finances. And here were two Americans, strangers to her, and with -oceans of money, who were as ready to give it to a wife as they would -give sugar-plums to children! - -Colegrove determined to see more of his charming _vis-a-vis_, and went -up boldly to General Talbott and asked permission to call on him. -General Talbott, the kindliest of men under his English reserve, -cordially invited him. - -It was a remarkably pleasant dinner to everybody, with one -exception--Sir Percy Carlyon. His pride, his self-respect, his -self-love, suffered cruelly every moment that Lucy Armytage was in the -company of Alicia Vernon. He had taken Lucy in to dinner, and he could -not but see the advance she had made, even in the short time, in tact -and self-possession. Not a self-conscious word or look escaped her as -she sat talking charming nothings to the man whose lips had been upon -hers only the night before, and no one would have dreamed that Sir Percy -Carlyon was upon any different footing with her than any other woman at -the dinner. - -The next week was the week of Grand Opera. Senator March took a box for -the whole week, and three nights during that week Alicia Vernon and her -father were his guests. As Mrs. Vernon sat in the shadow of the box, -listening to the enchanting voice of one of the greatest tenors in the -world, it dawned upon her mind how privileged was the position of an -American woman where men were concerned. The social customs, which -permitted men to lie almost at the feet of a woman, were entirely new to -her, and when this was done with the tact and high breeding of Senator -March, he appealed to the craving for luxury in her which had been her -undoing. He had asked her to name which operas in the week's repertoire -she would like to hear, and when she had made her selection he called in -his carriage for her and her father, and she found a beautiful bouquet -waiting for her in the opera box and a supper after the performance. - -Whither Senator March was drifting was plain to everybody except -himself. He had grown accustomed to consider himself as a bachelor for -life. He did not, himself, know the cause of his bachelorhood. Few -women pleased him thoroughly, and he had put off from year to year the -search for the other half of his being, and suddenly he found himself a -middle-aged man. He disliked the idea of an inequality in age and felt -no desire to make any of the sparkling young girls he knew Mrs. Roger -March, and the women who were suitable in age did not often retain the -power to please his aesthetic sense. He had no fancy for widows and did -not care to be the object of a woman's second love. When he heard -Alicia Vernon's history, however, it occurred to him that a woman's -second husband might possibly be her first love. - -These things all came to him before the soft spring days which Alicia -Vernon, her father and Sir Percy Carlyon spent at his country place. -Senator March had particularly desired Lucy Armytage's company. He had -been fond of her from childhood, and she was one of the few young girls -who did not worry him with the insistencies of youth, but Lucy, after -having accepted the first suggestion of the visit with enthusiasm, was -not now able to come. Senator March explained why at dinner the first -evening of his house-party, which was as large as his modest house could -accommodate, and numbered two ladies besides Alicia Vernon. - -"I regret very much that my young friend, Miss Armytage, is not one of -us, but she found herself obliged to go out to Kentucky for a -fortnight's visit to some relatives," he said. "I believe that in -Kentucky people are in bondage to their relations. However, I shall -hope to have Miss Armytage at our next reunion, for we must come here -often. Congress promises to sit into the summer and we must take refuge -in the country as often as we can." - -Alicia Vernon, sitting on Senator March's right hand, with Sir Percy -Carlyon on her left, turned towards him with a look which held a -meaning. It was Sir Percy who would not let Lucy stay under the same -roof with her, Alicia Vernon. No repulse he had ever given her stung -like this. For the first time she felt an impulse of fury towards him -and a desire to make him suffer. She lay awake in her bed that night, -hot and cold with rage. - -The next day was Sunday, and in the afternoon the usual Sunday walk -along the mountains was proposed. Senator March was too accomplished a -host to devote himself to any lady of the party, and as there were not -enough to pair off all the gentlemen, he attached himself to General -Talbott for the afternoon. A little clever management on Alicia's part, -in the presence of her father, secured Sir Percy Carlyon as her escort. -Sir Percy made no effort to escape. He knew that strange liking which -women have for opening the grave of a dead passion and dragging the -bones of it into life, weeping and wringing their hands over it and -crying aloud to it, commanding it to live again. - -They walked together in the April afternoon through the budding woods, -looking down upon the wide, peaceful valley before them, with the blue -peaks cutting the edge of the clear horizon. It was the same walk which -Sir Percy had taken Lucy Armytage two months before on the Sunday -afternoon, and the recollection of it, and the strangeness of Alicia -Vernon being his companion now, almost bewildered him. When they came to -a sunny spot on the hillside, where a grey, flat rock afforded a -resting-place under the pine-trees, Alicia would have stopped, but Sir -Percy said to her almost roughly: - -"Not here; we must go on farther." - -"Why not?" asked Alicia. "Was it because you and Lucy Armytage once -rested here and therefore I am not worthy to stop for a moment in this -place?" - -It was a chance shot, but it went home. Sir Percy turned his back, and -Alicia, with a feeling of triumph, seated herself upon the flat stone -where Lucy had first heard the words of love from Sir Percy Carlyon. -When he turned round she saw in his face, dark and displeased, that she -had scored against him. - -"I wish I could forget you," she said, "and not care whether I can hurt -you or not, but I can't. You see, there are some parts of a woman's -life which she can live only once, and the memory is always tormenting -her. This is the first walk we have taken together since--since that -time in India. It was a hilly country somewhat like this." - -Sir Percy made no answer; the rage in his heart against Alicia Vernon -had received an accession in the last fortnight. - -"Of course," she continued in a voice of suppressed anger, "you forbade -Miss Armytage to come here. You didn't wish her to be under the same -roof with me. One would think that I were the only sinner in the -world." - -"I sinned as much and more than you," replied Sir Percy, "but I have -repented." - -"That is to say, you grew weary of your passion for me. I think that is -what men call penitence." - -Sir Percy looked at her, amazed for the thousandth time. Outwardly she -could observe every canon of dignity and refinement, but secretly, like -every woman who had ever gone wrong, as far as Sir Percy Carlyon's -experience went, she had lost all sense of justice, of proportion, of -reticence, of discipline, and even of sound sense. He had heard stories -of women who trod the downward path and then retrieved themselves, but -he had never met one. These women and Alicia Vernon, with her heritage -of the best birth and breeding, "were sisters under their skins." The -thing which really surprised him was that Alicia maintained so outwardly -and unbrokenly the high standard of her birth and breeding, and was -still capable of disinterested affection--her love for her father. - -As Sir Percy would not reply, Mrs. Vernon said no more for a while. She -leaned against the mass of rock at her back and looked around at the -still woods, in which only a few trilling bird notes broke the golden -silence, across the sunlit valley and then at Sir Percy Carlyon. What -strange fate had brought them from one end of the world to the other -that they might meet alone in such a place? She was so still that Sir -Percy presently looked around to see if she were there. She was sitting -quite motionless, looking with deep, inscrutible eyes straight before -her. She turned her gaze to him and said: - -"I know no more than you do why I could speak to you in this way, or why -I could ever think of you again. I am like a child who has got hold of -some pretty, shiny thing, which turns out to be a jewel, and the child -weeps and struggles when the jewel is taken away." - -Sir Percy could not but be sorry for her; he often had moments and hours -of silent rage with her, but it would not hold against her in the -presence of her despair. Presently she arose and came toward him, -smiling. - -"Look around you," she said; "this spot, I know, I feel, is associated -with the image of that girl. Now you will be unable to think of it -without thinking of me also. I will not have it that I only shall think -of you; I mean that you shall not be able to escape the thought of me. -Come, it is late; let us be going." - -They turned and walked back towards the house. Farther along the -mountain path they met Senator March and General Talbott; quite -naturally the party divided, and Sir Percy joined General Talbott, while -Senator March ranged himself with Mrs. Vernon. They fell behind, as -Senator March was pointing out the features and general historic points -of the landscape, while Sir Percy and General Talbott went ahead. When -they were quite far in advance and walking down the country lane -bordered with the mountain ash, now with little brown buds upon the bare -white branches, and the whole air scented with the coming spring, -General Talbott said: - -"I think this journey, my dear fellow, to be one of the pleasantest, and -even one of the most fortunate, that I ever made. It has been a long -time since I have seen my poor child so like her earlier self. She is -interested and amused. The social customs over here permit a woman to -enjoy a great many pleasures and to receive a great many attentions from -men without exciting remark. My daughter is, as you know, extremely -careful in her conduct, often prudish. Not that I would wish her -otherwise, but still I am glad when she finds herself in an environment -that permits her a little innocent enjoyment. Those parties at the -opera were extremely pleasant, but no such attention could be offered or -accepted in Europe." - -"You are quite right; socially American customs are extremely pleasant. -They embody liberty without license." - -"I agree with you from what I have seen." - -As General Talbott spoke, Sir Percy observed in him a cheerfulness and -note of pleasure in his voice which always followed when Alicia seemed -to be at ease and a little happy. - -Sir Percy Carlyon left early on the Monday morning and returned to -Washington in advance of the rest of the party. It was still some days -before Lucy Armytage arrived from Kentucky. At their first meeting -afterwards Lucy asked no questions whatever about Senator March's -house-party, and the delicate reticence which she showed on this point -was not unnoticed by Sir Percy, who volunteered to tell her all of which -he could speak. He did not avoid Alicia Vernon's name, but whenever he -spoke of her Lucy saw that peculiar expression of his eye which -indicated dislike. She asked, however, a great many questions about -Senator March and then said: - -"I wonder if Mrs. Vernon will marry him when he asks her." - -Sir Percy was thunderstruck; no such idea had entered his thoroughly -masculine mind, and after a moment he said so. - -"How stupid!" remarked Lucy, eyeing him with profound contempt. "It was -perfectly obvious the first night they met. Everybody in town is -talking about it." - -"They are?" replied Sir Percy after a moment, and then quickly turned -the conversation into another channel. - -Meanwhile his mind was in a tumult. Alicia Vernon married to Senator -March, or to any man of honour, for that matter, and Senator March, -chivalrous, high-minded, taking everything for granted in the case of -the woman he loved! It was staggering to Sir Percy Carlyon; the whole -thing was anomalous, inexplicable. But for him Senator March and Alicia -Vernon would never have met. His mind went back to those early days in -India: how the web then formed not only entangled him, but caught -others, innocent and helpless, in its meshes. He would be forced to -stand silently by and see a man who loved his honour better than his -life take to his heart a woman unworthy of him. This thought possessed -Sir Percy, and brought with it the fiercest stings of remorse. He went -about that day with a strange sense of unreality concerning everything. -Alicia Vernon might indeed have married even an honourable man, but to -see a man as proud and sensitive as Senator March lay his honest, tender -heart at the feet of Alicia Vernon was an incredible thing to Sir Percy -Carlyon. That evening at the club the first person he saw in the -smoking-room was General Talbott. - -"I am very glad to have come across you this evening," said General -Talbott. "I wish to speak with you confidentially. How are marriages -arranged over here?" - -"With the least possible trouble," answered Sir Percy with a glimmer of -a smile, "and totally unlike marriages anywhere else. They are supposed -to be on a basis of pure sentiment, and the question of money is handled -in the most gingerly manner." - -General Talbott smiled and then continued: - -"To be quite confidential with you, my dear fellow, I have seen lately -that Senator March takes an uncommon interest in my daughter. Whether -Alicia would marry him or not I can't say. This afternoon Senator March -called to see me, to tell me, what I had suspected for some little time -past, that he is deeply attached to my daughter. I needn't tell you -that the idea was quite acceptable to me. I am an old man, and at my -death my child would be unprotected in the world; she is one of those -delicate creatures unfitted to stand alone, and what I most desired for -her was the protection of a good man's arm." - -Sir Percy listened with quiet attention, but all the while a sense of -unreality deepened upon him; nevertheless he said quite coolly: - -"As far as the man himself goes, it would be hard to find Senator -March's superior, and, as you probably know, he has a great fortune, -honestly come by." - -"I am not in love with money myself," said General Talbott, and then -stopped and looked meditatively at Sir Percy. - -The idea had occurred to him many times since Alicia's widowhood that -the friendship, which was all that General Talbott knew had existed -between Alicia and Sir Percy, might bring them into a closer -relationship. It would have been an ideal marriage for Alicia, her -father thought, except that Sir Percy Carlyon was a poor man and Alicia, -as her father always said deprecatingly, had little idea of the value of -money. He would rather, he thought, that Alicia should marry in her own -country, but, recalling Sir Percy's modest income and expectations, -General Talbott dismissed the half-formed wish from his mind. No; -Alicia was not the wife for a poor man in public life. - -"To be still more confidential with you, my dear Carlyon," he said, -laying his hand on Sir Percy's knee, "nothing could have been more -generous in every way than March's proposition to me. The law makes a -liberal provision in America for the wife, I find, but Senator March, -knowing our customs, volunteered to make settlements, splendid in their -generosity, upon my daughter. She will have an independent income of -her own, every year, far exceeding the entire income of Guy Vernon's -estates, and for a woman of my daughter's luxurious tastes that is a -great consideration. She is so high-minded, however, that I scarcely -think she took this in, although after Senator March left I talked with -her quite frankly on the subject. Of course, she isn't a young girl any -longer, and has realised painfully all her life the restrictions of a -modest income." - -"But she will marry Senator March?" - -"I think so; she has asked a little time for consideration, but you know -what that means with ladies. March had the good feeling to say to me -that, if she would consent to marry him, he would promise in advance -that she should visit England once a year to see me, and he hopes that I -will agree to spend a part of each year with them--most considerate of a -father's feelings." - -As General Talbott talked, Sir Percy saw in him a deep feeling of -gratification and even of relief. The only fault her father could find -with Alicia was her reckless expenditure, but if she married Senator -March she would be far beyond all need of doing without anything--so -General Talbott in his simplicity thought. Sir Percy's manner struck -General Talbott as being a little peculiar, but he thought he could -account for it: Sir Percy had his own private disappointment to bear; -such was General Talbott's explanation. - - - - - *VIII* - - -In Washington there is always an outbreak of gaiety after Easter to -atone for a slight suppression during Holy Week. It is then that the -results of the season are tabulated and the coming June weddings -announced. Two such announcements were made which surprised society: -that of Sir Percy Carlyon, First Secretary of the British Embassy, to -Miss Lucy Armytage, whose name most of the smart set heard for the first -time; and that of Senator March to Mrs. Vernon, the charming -Englishwoman, who had been received with open arms by the smartest of -the smart. The first was paralysing in the effect it produced. The -British Embassy, and all that belongs to it, is reckoned the peculiar -property of the smart set, and for any one attached to that Embassy to -go outside of the smart set for a bride seemed almost a violation of -international law, to say nothing of diplomatic usage. Every particular -about Miss Armytage, as the facts came to light, was more appalling; she -was from a provincial Kentucky town, of which nobody, outside of -Kentucky, had ever heard; she was the niece of a representative in -Congress who lived in a down-town hotel; she had never been to Europe, -and Newport and Lennox were unknown ground to her. Almost the only -fashionable house at which she had ever been seen was that of the -Chantreys, and society had from the beginning bestowed Eleanor -Chantrey's hand upon Sir Percy Carlyon. - -Deep in Eleanor's heart was a disappointed dream of ambition. She had -herself too well in hand to fall in love with Sir Percy Carlyon, or any -other man, until her love had been asked, but his eligibility had been -suggested to her a great many times, chiefly by Mrs. Chantrey, who had -visions of possessing the British Embassy, body and bones: herself the -Ambassadress, her daughter the wife of the First Secretary. Some hint -of this Mrs. Chantrey let drop to Eleanor when they sat together at tea -in Eleanor's yellow boudoir on the day that Sir Percy Carlyon's -engagement was announced. There are ways by which a daughter, as -perfectly well-bred as Eleanor Chantrey, can silence a garrulous mother, -and this is what Eleanor did. - -"We must go this afternoon," she said calmly, "and call on Miss -Armytage. I think her a charming girl, quite clever enough to fill any -position whatever." - -Mrs. Chantrey, being civilly bullied by her daughter, the two drove down -later to the Armytages' hotel and, instead of merely leaving cards, -waited to know whether they could see Mrs. and Miss Armytage. They were -ushered up into the modest sitting-room, which had been the scene of -some halcyon hours to Lucy and Sir Percy. - -Eleanor Chantrey, the most sincere of women, honestly admired Lucy -Armytage, and the quiet dignity and grace with which Lucy received her -congratulations confirmed Eleanor in her previous opinion, that Lucy -Armytage would be equal to any position. She thanked Eleanor warmly for -her good wishes and kind interest, and the two girls were drawn closer -together by the innate nobility which both of them possessed. - -Meanwhile, Sir Percy was having what might be called "a roaring time" at -the Embassy with Lord Baudesert, his Aunt Susan and Jane, Sarah and -Isabella. Sometimes even sheep will make a feint of butting, and, -following Lord Baudesert's tigerish assault, the Verekers butted and -prodded as viciously as they knew how. Sir Percy had chosen tea-time as -the hour to break the news to his family. He first had a private -interview with Lord Baudesert in his library. The Ambassador happened -to have a real and not a diplomatic touch of gout, and was -correspondingly savage. When Sir Percy coolly, and without any -preamble, announced that he was engaged to Miss Armytage, and that the -wedding would take place at Bardstown, Kentucky, in the middle of June, -Lord Baudesert almost jumped from his chair with wrath and surprise, and -then fell back again overwhelmed with disgust. - -"You swore to me," he bellowed, "that you would never marry an -American." - -Sir Percy smiled and stroked his moustache. - -"Well," he said, "I am of that opinion still. This is the only American -I would ever marry under any possible circumstances and I don't propose -to do it but once." - -"You know the disadvantages of it," cried Lord Baudesert, thumping the -table; "her money will be tied up as tight as wax; you will have a tail -of relations following you all over Europe, and the whole thing is the -most damnable mess I have ever heard of in my life." - -"Call it anything you please," replied Sir Percy, still smiling, "only -be careful how you mention Miss Armytage. As for her money being tied -up, she has very little, so it really doesn't matter." - -This was like throwing a bushel of dynamite into a burning house. Lord -Baudesert forgot his gout and, getting up from his chair, strode up and -down the room, dragging his gouty leg after him, and muttering savagely -to himself, with an occasional blast against American marriages. -Presently Sir Percy rose and went into the drawing-room, followed by -Lord Baudesert. There sat Mrs. Vereker and the three girls, and while -Mrs. Vereker was handing Sir Percy his tea, he remarked casually to her: - -"Aunt Susan, I hope very much that you and the girls will, as soon as -you conveniently can, call upon Miss Armytage, who has done me the -honour of promising to become my wife." - -If the big chandelier in the middle of the room had tumbled on the -tea-table, and had been followed by a patch of the blue sky, Mrs. -Vereker could not have been more astounded; her jaw dropped, and the -three girls, horror-stricken, gazed at Sir Percy, who went on drinking -his tea with the most exasperating calmness. - -"Engaged to Miss Armytage," murmured Mrs. Vereker despairingly, when she -found her voice. "A most incredible thing! I think you must be joking, -and that you are really engaged to Miss Chantrey." - -"I assure you that I am not," replied Sir Percy. "Give me another cup -of tea, please, Isabella." - -"Mamma," said Isabella, without paying the slightest attention to Sir -Percy's request, "he is simply teasing us. He certainly is engaged to -Miss Chantrey. I have heard it suggested a dozen times in the last -month." - -"But I am not," said Sir Percy, helping himself to tea, which no one -else was sufficiently composed to give him. - -Mrs. Vereker shook her head hopelessly. "I am sure it is Miss -Chantrey." - -This view of the matter acted upon Lord Baudesert's smouldering rage -like a stone in front of a rushing railway train, which is at once -derailed and helpless. Lord Baudesert exploded into a short laugh. - -"No such luck," he said; "Miss Chantrey has a fortune; Miss Armytage has -not." - -Sir Percy, having finished his tea, put down his cup and rose. - -"I shall be very much obliged to you, Aunt Susan, if you will do as I -ask. Lord Baudesert, of course, will call to-morrow." - -Lord Baudesert growled something between his clenched teeth, which -nobody could make out, and Sarah cried: - -"Oh, Cousin Percy, how many times have I heard you say that you would -never marry an American;" and Jane chimed in, "No one would have minded -in the least if it had been Eleanor Chantrey." - -"Perhaps," remarked Sir Percy to Jane, meanwhile looking Lord Baudesert -full in the eye, "you may yet have the pleasure of being allied with the -Chantreys. Common report has it that Lord Baudesert and Mrs. Chantrey -are to be married shortly. Good-afternoon." And leaving this bomb -behind him, he escaped into the street. - -Only to one other did he feel the necessity of imparting the news -himself. This was to General Talbott, and through him to Alicia Vernon. -He walked to their hotel and was shown to their sitting-room to await -their return from a drive. He went to the window and looked down on the -street embowered with trees, and with sidewalks full of gaily dressed -people, and smart carriages dashing to and fro in the sunny spring -afternoon. He had heard that day, as had everybody else, the -announcement of Alicia Vernon's engagement, and it brought him no -surprise, but only that strange feeling as if such a thing could not be: -that Alicia Vernon should become the wife of an honourable man. While -he was watching, the carriage with General Talbott and Alicia drove up, -and the General, with his own portly grace, assisted his daughter to -alight. In a moment or two they entered the room together, and General -Talbott grasped Sir Percy's hand and congratulated him from the bottom -of an honest and generous heart. - -"We, too, have news for you," he said, smiling; "I will leave it to -Alicia to tell you, as it is her affair." - -Alicia fixed her violet eyes on Sir Percy Carlyon, and in them was the -light of triumph. "I think, papa," she said, in the sweet, affectionate -voice which she always addressed her father, "if you will leave me with -Sir Percy for ten minutes it would be kind. I want to tell so old a -friend all about it. So here is your newspaper, and go into your own -room for ten minutes and then we shall be delighted to see you." - -She took the afternoon newspaper off the table and, thrusting it into -General Talbott's hand with an air of tender familiarity, led him to the -door and closed it after him, and then she came back to where Sir Percy -stood near the window and began to pull off her long gloves. - -"Have you told Miss Armytage about that summer at the hill station?" she -asked calmly, with a sidelong glance. Sir Percy remained silent, but it -won for him no mercy. "I see that you haven't," she said. "Yet you -think it right to marry that innocent girl without telling her all? -Very well, I shall marry Senator March, but neither shall I tell him -all." - -It occurred to Sir Percy to ask her if she meant, like himself, to be so -true, so devoted in her marriage that she might have some little ground -upon which to ask forgiveness. But although he by no means adopted the -specious view that the law has no variation for men and women, yet he -felt that no one who had violated the law in any part could rebuke his -fellow-sinner, and, therefore, remained obstinately silent. Mrs. Vernon -had encountered this mood before, but it made the situation rather -easier for her, as Sir Percy never contradicted anything she said. -After a moment or two she spoke again. - -"It is a curious thing that people like Senator March, who have never -been tempted, put all poor sinners in the wrong. I feel it every moment -that I am with him. I never had this feeling with Guy Vernon, because -from the day I married him his wickedness and his weakness were plain to -me. But there is a compelling honesty about a man like Senator March -from which one can't get away; it is like my father's. Senator March -thinks I am marrying him for love; you think I am marrying him for -money. This last is true, and I can't deny it, but I also have a -disinterested motive--it will make my father happy and put him at ease -concerning me. I have a good many debts of which my father knows -nothing, and which he would pay, if he knew of them, with his last -shilling. I couldn't keep them from him much longer and I dreaded to -tell him. Now he is spared all that. I had the satisfaction of dealing -honestly with Senator March when I told him that I must still give a -part of my life to my father. He kissed my hand and told me he loved me -the better because I loved my father so well." - -Yes, it was the only redeeming love which Alicia Vernon had ever known, -and it had in it a strange element of nobility and perfidy. - -"I hope sincerely you may be happy," was all that Sir Percy Carlyon -said. - -"I don't know whether I wish you to be happy or not," Alicia replied in -the same low voice. - -"At least the past is now a closed book between us." - -"Is the past ever a closed book? Certainly not to a woman. There are -some things which are bloodstains upon the page of life and sink through -and through its pages until at the very last there is still a red stain. -Anyway, I don't hate Senator March and I don't wish to make him unhappy. -That is as much as I can feel for any man now, but I could chop him to -pieces for my father's sake or for--" The sentence remained unfinished. - -Alicia's wild, unreasoning passion, mingled with revenge, regret and -chagrin, died hard. There had never been a moment in which she would not -have considered a marriage with Sir Percy Carlyon as imprudent and even -disastrous. But there had never been a moment, not even the present, -when she would not have rushed into this joyous madness. She turned and -walked up and down the room once or twice, saddened, as all sentient -beings are, when looking down an abyss in which they long to throw -themselves, struggling fiercely against the restraining hand. Sir -Percy, quite immovable, stood in the same place until Alicia turned -towards him and spoke in her usual, quiet tones. - -"But I have this to say to you: if, after you are married, you assume -that your wife is too good to breathe the same air with me, you may -expect me to resent it. We may be in Washington together, remember, for -some time, and if I am unjustly treated there will be a catastrophe, and -this you may count upon." - -Just then General Talbott's bedroom door opened and he walked in. - -"The ten minutes are up," he said; "now sit down, Carlyon, and let us -talk about coming events. Alicia and I will call to see Miss Armytage -to-morrow, taking the privilege of old friends." - -"Thank you," said Sir Percy, and could not force himself to say more. - -"How strangely things fall out," continued the General pleasantly. "I -had no thought when I came to Washington that I should leave Alicia -behind me." - -"You won't leave me for long, papa," replied Alicia, "because I know in -two or three months' time I shall ask Senator March to take me to -England and then we will bring you back." - -"Oh, yes!" replied General Talbott, smiling, "there will be an eternal -fetching and carrying, and some day I shall be a rickety old fellow; -then you and March will probably throw me over." - -Alicia only answered him with a look which was eloquent. - -General Talbott did not think Sir Percy's silence strange; Englishmen -are not likely to be talkative under such circumstances; so General -Talbott, full of sympathy and kindliness, kept on: - -"After having seen Miss Armytage, my dear fellow, one can safely -congratulate you. The newspapers say the wedding comes off in the -middle of June." - -"The newspapers are right for once," answered Sir Percy. "The wedding -is to take place in Kentucky, so I am afraid I sha'n't have the pleasure -of Mrs. Vernon's presence and yours." - -"No; we shall have our own affairs to attend to at that time. We are to -be married ourselves, you know," answered General Talbott, laughing, and -then Sir Percy said good-bye and went out. - -When he was gone General Talbott said to his daughter: - -"Miss Armytage is indeed a charming girl, but it is a pity she has not -fortune and prestige such as Miss Chantrey has, and fortune and prestige -are what Carlyon needs in a wife." - -Alicia Vernon made no reply and General Talbott, taking up a batch of -newly arrived English newspapers, retired to his own room to read them. - -Alicia Vernon, lying back in the depths of a deep arm-chair, sat quite -still, looking straight before her. From the street below came the -sound of voices, of traffic; outside her window black and white sparrows -were wheeling and chattering, and a linden tree in full leaf close by -the broad window waved softly in the breeze, making delicate green -shadows pass over the room and Alicia's pale face. The phase of -existence on which she had entered was as strange to her as if it were -that of another planet. Senator March's offer of marriage had not taken -her by surprise; she had seen it coming for weeks and had made up her -mind from the first to accept it. Nevertheless, when it came she was -overwhelmed with the strangeness of her new position. Of all of those -who had ever made love to her, he was the first man who believed her to -be the soul of truth and purity. It produced in her a faint stirring of -a wish to be a little like what Roger March thought her to be. If only -she could put Sir Percy Carlyon out of her mind! But his presence, when -he came to tell her of his engagement to another woman, had agitated her -more than Senator March had been able to do, even in the moment of -asking her love. - -Suddenly the door opened, and a boy ushered in the person farthest from -Alicia Vernon's mind at that moment--Nicholas Colegrove. His personality -was so strong that he could not come and go anywhere unnoticed. The -sight of his handsome, iron-grey head, the grasp of his firm hand, -brought Alicia Vernon to her feet and dispelled instantly the strange, -benumbing dream into which she had fallen. Colegrove was saying in his -rich voice: - -"I took the liberty of a friend, albeit a new one, in coming to offer -you my felicitations on what I heard this morning." - -Alicia Vernon, now quite herself, smiled and thanked him prettily and -asked him to be seated. - -"Marriage is a very different thing between men and women and between -boys and girls," he said in a tone of good-humoured cynicism. "When a -full-grown man and woman marry, I have often noticed they assume a -defensive attitude, one to the other; it is best in the long run. Of -course, they don't admit it--everything in this blessed country is on -the basis of the slightest sentiment--but it is a fact just the same." - -Alicia smiled and answered: - -"I don't think that American men have ever been on the defensive with -women." - -"Quite true in a way," answered Colegrove. "My interest in the subject -is purely academic. I was married at nineteen to a pink-cheeked girl -three years older than myself. We found out our mistake at the end of a -few years. I am not a brute and I am willing to give her everything she -wants, but she doesn't know what she wants. Sometimes she thinks it's a -divorce, but as soon as I agree to it she finds out that she doesn't -want it at all. Of course," continued Colegrove, rising and walking -about the room, "the time may come when I shall meet a woman who will -mean a good deal to me. So far, however, not one of them has been able -to make any impression on me as deep as the action of the Board of -Directors of the A.F.& O. Railroad. If you don't mind my saying it, -however, now that it is too late, I was very much impressed by you. -Your type, you know, is very unusual." - -Yes; Alicia Vernon knew that her type was very unusual and never in her -life had her pride and self-love been more flattered than by Colegrove's -frank and debonair admission. - -"However," he said, coming and standing before her, "it won't keep me -from being friends with Senator March; he is a very strong man in every -way, and I hope you will let me be a friend of yours, too. Recollect, -if you ever get into a financial tangle, I can give you some good -advice." - -"I have been in a financial tangle all my life," murmured Alicia, "but -now that is past." - -"Not if you have been in it all your life, my dear lady; those things -are matters of temperament and bear a very indirect relation to the rise -and fall of one's income. That's one thing in which I have been always -very indulgent towards women. Very few of them have any real idea of -the value of money, and the charming and beautiful among them should -have it just as they should have plenty of air and sunlight." - -This sentiment was peculiarly acceptable to Alicia Vernon. - -Colegrove remained twenty minutes longer, and when he left Alicia -reflected that in him was embodied that American type of which she had -heard so much--men who can deny nothing to women. - -The next day Lord Baudesert, cursing and swearing, and Mrs. Vereker, -sighing and lamenting, while Jane, Sarah and Isabella sighed and -lamented at home, went to call upon Lucy Armytage as the _fiancee_ of -Sir Percy Carlyon. Luckily Lucy was not at home, for which mercy Mrs. -Vereker was humbly thankful. The visit, however, had to be returned, -and within the week Mrs. Armytage and Lucy drove in a hired carriage to -the British Embassy and were shown into the drawing-room. Never was -there a meeting with greater elements of danger. Besides Mrs. Vereker -and the three girls, they had General Talbott, Alicia Vernon and Senator -March. It was enough to disconcert a trained woman of the world, but -Lucy Armytage, with the natural tact and self-control which was her -heritage, bore herself beautifully. She had long since divined that the -three Vereker girls followed their mother as if she were a bell cow, -while Lord Baudesert was the supreme arbiter of their destinies. Lucy -took up the best possible strategic position--a chair next to Lord -Baudesert. The Ambassador, in spite of his tendency to harass his -womenkind, was a gentleman, and while cursing Lucy from the bottom of -his heart, treated her with courtly attention. Something in the -softness of her manner and the fearlessness of her eyes struck Lord -Baudesert with a sneaking admiration. Lucy Armytage had neither great -beauty, great talents, nor great fortune, but she was a conqueror of -hearts and her empire was over men. No man had ever withstood her charm -when she deliberately chose to exercise it. On this occasion she -proceeded with infinite tact to captivate Lord Baudesert. Sir Percy, -secretly diverted in spite of himself, watched Lucy serenely walking -into the good graces of the Ambassador, and that by a path which few had -the courage to tread--the path of polite disagreement with him. Mrs. -Vereker turned pale when she heard Lucy say, smilingly, to Lord -Baudesert concerning a certain public question then under discussion: - -"I speak with much ignorance and more prejudice, but just the same I -can't agree with you." - -And Lord Baudesert, instead of eating her up in two mouthfuls on the -spot, answered amiably: - -"My dear young lady, you are no more ignorant and prejudiced than nine -men out of ten who have discussed it." - -Then Lucy told him, with quiet drollery, of her own views and opinions -on the subject and the various others which she had heard expressed by -the public men who discussed it, and Lord Baudesert laughed with -appreciation. And then they found a book or two in common, and Lord -Baudesert made the amazing discovery that a girl might browse about in a -library and get hold of interesting odds and ends of knowledge, which -she knew how to use without pedantry or affectation. Lucy's information -about the Indian Mutiny was a mine of gold to her. Lord Baudesert had -been a cornet in the days when there were still cornets, and had been -both at Delhi and Lucknow, and sewn upon the breast of his court costume -was the medal of the Alighur, which he would not have exchanged for the -blue ribbon of the Garter. Lucy was the first woman he had met in -America who even knew the date of the Mutiny, and Lord Baudesert -therefore soon reckoned her above and beyond the rest of the nation. - -The visit was to Lucy a little triumph of her own, which was not lost -upon any one present, least of all Alicia Vernon. The manner between -these two women was perfect. Lucy had not forgotten Sir Percy Carlyon's -word of warning. She knew not why he had no desire for her to be -intimate with Mrs. Vernon, but his wishes were respected. Each was -carefully polite to the other, and the little shade of reserve was too -delicate to be noticed by any one present except Sir Percy Carlyon; -Senator March did not notice it in the least, but came up to Lucy as she -was leaving, and said in a low voice: - -"I hope that you and Mrs. Vernon will become great friends. I owe Sir -Percy a debt of gratitude: it was through him, you know, I met Mrs. -Vernon." - -"Thank you," replied Lucy. "Sir Percy is always laying people under -obligations to him," and she turned away smiling. - -When, after a short visit, Mrs. Armytage rose to go, Lord Baudesert -tried to pin Lucy down. Lucy stayed a little longer, but not even Lord -Baudesert's blandishments made her commit the blunder of staying too -long. - -Lord Baudesert's first remark on finding himself alone in the bosom of -his family was to Mrs. Vereker: - -"Have her to dinner as soon as you can. Delightful girl, she is. After -all, perhaps Percy didn't make any blunder." - -Mrs. Vereker shook her heard like a Chinese mandarin, and sighed; she -had been shaking her head and sighing ever since the engagement was -announced. - -The dinner two weeks later was another and greater triumph for Lucy -Armytage. Sir Percy had expected her to be frightened out of her wits -at the thought of sitting next Lord Baudesert during the whole of the -dinner, and he could not quite bring himself to believe that Lucy's calm -courage was not foolhardiness. But where men were concerned, Lucy -Armytage knew what to say and do as well as any woman that ever lived. -As she sat next to Lord Baudesert at the long and glittering -dinner-table, she talked with him so prettily, controlling her natural -effervescence, but occasionally sparkling into brilliance, that Lord -Baudesert found himself captivated as he had never been before in his -life. Senator March and Alicia Vernon were present also; it seemed to -Sir Percy as if the Fates were still at their terrible work between -Alicia Vernon and him. - -Mrs. Vereker was sadly polite to Lucy, wondering all the time what Lord -Baudesert saw in her to delight him so obviously. When the last guest -had departed, Lord Baudesert, standing in front of the fire in the -hereditary attitude of the Englishman, with his feet wide apart and his -hands behind his back, remarked coolly: - -"I think, Susan, when you go home this summer, you may as well arrange -to remain during the winter. I intend to take the future Lady Carlyon -in hand and show her a few things, and I can't do it as well with you -here. I shall ask her to preside here." - -Mrs. Vereker gasped. The intimation was not wholly displeasing to her -after three years of trial with Lord Baudesert, but the idea of an -American woman doing the honours of Lord Baudesert's Embassy was enough -to stagger anybody, certainly a person so easily staggered as Mrs. -Vereker. - -On a June morning in a small church in Bardstown, Kentucky, Lucy -Armytage became Lady Carlyon. It was the simplest little wedding -imaginable, without any token that Lucy was making a splendid marriage. -She was a charming and unaffected bride, and looked all happiness. Sir -Percy, however, after the manner of an Englishman who has attained his -heart's desire, was silent, and looked somewhat bored. - -On the same day, at a fashionable church in Washington, Alicia Vernon -became Alicia March. The first news she heard of Sir Percy Carlyon was -that he was promoted, and appointed Minister at a small Continental -court. Thus Lady Carlyon and Mrs. March had separate orbits many -thousand miles apart. - - - - - *IX* - - -Four years and a half afterwards, on a mild, sunny December afternoon, -Senator March, whilst walking through the still fashionable, fine old -street in which his house was, saw a beautiful victoria, superbly -horsed, drawn up to the sidewalk. In it sat a lady and gentleman, whom -he instantly recognised as Sir Percy Carlyon, recently appointed -Ambassador to Washington, and Lady Carlyon. They had stopped for a -moment to speak to two beautiful little boys, three and two years of -age, in the care of a stately nursemaid and her assistant. Senator -March's eyes rested with longing upon the charming little children. He -was passionately fond of children, and they were the only gift of Heaven -which seemed denied to him. When the nurse moved away with her charges -Senator March stepped up and grasped Sir Percy's hand, and then Lady -Carlyon laid her little white-gloved hand in his. - -"I didn't know you had arrived," said Senator March. "I watched the -newspapers, and so has Mrs. March, thinking that we would not let -twenty-four hours go by without seeing you." - -"We reached town only last night," said Sir Percy; "and we were speaking -of you five minutes ago when we drove past your house." - -While Sir Percy was speaking, Senator March, man-like, kept his eyes -fixed upon Lady Carlyon. One glance showed to him that she had found -herself; she was far prettier than she had ever been before, and there -was a new meaning and intelligence in her black eyes and added charm in -her agreeable and well-cultivated voice. She seemed to have grown -taller, and she had a sweet, unaffected dignity of wifehood and -motherhood. The dainty, high-bred girl had become a woman, had -developed into an Ambassadress worthy of the name. It was she who said -to Senator March: - -"I hope Mrs. March is well, and of course she is happy?" - -"She appears to be both," replied Senator March, smiling; "perhaps it is -only her British pluck which enables her to stand the American husband." - -"I shall hope to see her very soon," said Lady Carlyon, and then Sir -Percy inquired about General Talbott. - -"We are expecting him in the spring. As you may imagine, Mrs. March -does not let any long interval pass between her visits to General -Talbott in England and his visits to us. By the way, what an odd -fatality has always interfered with our seeing you and Lady Carlyon when -we have been in Europe. We seemed to be playing a game of -hide-and-seek, but now there will be no escaping each other, and we must -see as much as we can of you and Lady Carlyon." - -"Thank you," answered Sir Percy, with the utmost cordiality, but it was -Lady Carlyon who added: "Yes, pray remember us to Mrs. March, and we -shall look forward to seeing General Talbott as soon as he arrives. We -shall expect to see you very shortly." - -Then after a few moments more of conversation the carriage drove away. - -A victoria, with a coachman and footman in hearing, is no place for a -private conversation, and nothing was said about Senator March and his -wife until Sir Percy and Lady Carlyon had reached home and were alone in -Sir Percy's library. - -"Dearest," said Lady Carlyon, laying her little hand upon his sleeve, -"there is but one attitude to take: we must be friendly with her. -Remember Senator March's position and how you stand with General -Talbott." - -"I know it all," answered Sir Percy doggedly. - -They were standing together, and Sir Percy took his wife's hand and -kissed it. - -"You are the better diplomatist of the two," he said; "I could not bring -myself to mention Alicia March's name. If it hadn't been for your -readiness Senator March must have suspected something. It must be hard -for you?" - -"Very! But I have been preparing myself for this complication ever -since you told me that story. After all, it is quite natural that Mrs. -March should make a fight for her position in the world. It isn't every -woman who has it in her to be a Louise la Valliere." - -"It is certainly not in Alicia March; however, there is nothing so -cowardly as for a man to complain of a woman. I should be glad to take -all the pain of my own wrongdoing, but you, poor, innocent child, must -suffer too." - -"Let us not think of it," said Lady Carlyon, drawing her husband's lips -to hers. - -Sir Percy said nothing, but his kiss and his eyes were eloquent of love -and gratitude. Then Lady Carlyon went into the drawing-room and Sir -Percy followed her. Deep in his heart he was a sentimentalist, and he -loved his wife with single-hearted devotion. He could not but compare -her, as she moved about the room, her white cloth gown trailing upon the -floor, with the slim, pretty and inconsequent young girl whose waltzing -had first charmed him. She was still slim and pretty, but she had grown -wise with soft, sweet wisdom. It was she, now, who thought for him, -smoothed over the rough places, practised an easy and graceful -self-control, and was all that the wife of an Ambassador should be. - -The tea-tray was brought in, and Lady Carlyon gave Sir Percy his tea, a -thing comforting in itself, with the same gracious air that she would -have handed it to the Ambassador of France. - -"It was in the ball-room that I first saw you, waltzing with young -Stanley, the naval officer," said Sir Percy, drinking his tea with calm -deliberation, "and it was in the library that Lord Baudesert warned me -that a diplomat should never marry an American, and I swore to him I -never would." - -"It is all wrong in principle," replied Lady Carlyon, making a pretty -little grimace--she retained for Sir Percy's benefit alone all the -little roguish tricks and airs which made Lucy Armytage so charming, but -would scarcely have been becoming in Lady Carlyon--"I never thought that -anything would induce me to marry any man outside of Kentucky. I have -often been shocked by your want of knowledge of horses." - -Sir Percy tweaked her ear. The form and ceremony with which horses were -treated in England had been a revelation to Lady Carlyon, and Sir Percy -himself was no mean judge of a horse. Nevertheless, Lady Carlyon, when -she chose to be once more Lucy Armytage, would give herself supercilious -airs to Sir Percy upon all equine subjects. - -"You hardly know a horse from a cow, my Lady Lucy," he said. - -This was the name by which he called his wife when they were alone. He -had explained to her at the beginning of their married life, when -instructing her in titles, that she could not really be Lady Lucy -Carlyon unless she were an earl's daughter, to which Lucy replied -demurely that she had always supposed every gentleman in Kentucky to be -the equal of the biggest earl in England. The small joke amused Sir -Percy, and from that on she became to him "Lady Lucy." In some way Lord -Baudesert had also caught the name, which so pleased his fancy that -"Lady Lucy" became applied in tenderness to Lady Carlyon. It recalled -Lord Baudesert, and Lady Carlyon said, as she gave Sir Percy his second -cup of tea: - -"I don't think your uncle will be able to keep away long from -Washington. He will be sure to come back here as a visitor. He -declares that he finds London, Paris, Vienna and Berlin dull after -Washington." - -"Perhaps it is because he is no longer an Ambassador, or else that the -English, French, German and Austrian sense of humour is not so acute as -he found the American, and my uncle can't have the ambassadorial joke as -he did here." - -"And Mrs. Chantrey is still unmarried," said Lady Carlyon, and then they -both laughed. - -Lady Carlyon kept away from the hateful subject of Mrs. March, but Sir -Percy understood well that his wife would shoulder the burden and carry -it bravely and quietly. The idea of Alicia March being under his roof -was odious and humiliating to Sir Percy Carlyon, but he saw no way out -of it. His immediate departure for England after his marriage, and -thence to his Continental post, had kept Lady Carlyon and Alicia March -apart. The Carlyons had not been to America but once since, and then -only for a few weeks, within a year of their marriage. Colonel Armytage -had been stricken with paralysis, and Lady Carlyon, with Sir Percy, had -hastened to him, arriving in time to find him conscious, but dying. -Mrs. Armytage had followed her husband within a fortnight, her last days -tended by Lady Carlyon, to whom she had been a mother. Within a month -all was over and Lady Carlyon returned to Europe without going near -Washington. The chapter of accidents which Senator March mentioned as -having kept him and his wife from meeting the Carlyons in Europe had -been really a series of clever stratagems on the part of the latter. -When the Marches were on the Continent, especially at the Capitol, where -Sir Percy Carlyon took his preliminary canter as Minister before winning -the blue ribbon of an Embassy, he and Lady Carlyon had found it -convenient to be absent at those times. Then when the Marches went to -London the Carlyons managed to be on the Continent. Sir Percy could not -possibly put himself in the position of avoiding General Talbott, who -had visited him at his Continental post, and had been made an honoured -guest. Only one person suspected why the Marches and the Carlyons had -never met, and that was Alicia March. Nor were the Carlyons the only -persons who avoided her, but of this her husband remained entirely -ignorant. - -The stories of Senator March's wealth made a sensation in the sphere of -General Talbott's and Mrs. March's acquaintances. Mrs. March herself -gave evidence of it in the splendour of her jewels and the cost and -exquisiteness of her costumes. She spent with a lavish hand, and the -world knew it. Sir Percy Carlyon, hearing rumours of this, thought to -himself: "It is the same Alicia, whose passion for spending has grown by -what it feeds on." Sir Percy Carlyon turned these things over in his -mind while drinking tea on this December afternoon, but he said nothing -of them. - -Then when tea was over, following the custom established after the birth -of their first boy, the Carlyons went upstairs to pay a visit to the -nursery. In saying good-night to the two beautiful little children, -Lady Carlyon knelt down by their cribs and made a silent prayer, and Sir -Percy, standing near her, did likewise, and thought himself the happiest -of men, but for one thing--that which had happened in the far-away -hill-country of India long years ago. - -Meanwhile, on parting from the Ambassador and Lady Carlyon, Senator -March soon reached his own door. The outward aspect of the house had -been changed and wonderfully improved. The adjoining house on each side -had been demolished, and wings built out in the same simple but -dignified style of architecture of the original house. One wing was a -ball-room and the other was a picture gallery. As Senator March entered -the hall a footman handed him a box which contained a bouquet; this was -Roger March's daily tribute to his wife ever since his marriage. Within -the house the note of luxury was struck, and it increased in an -ascending scale until it came to Alicia March's boudoir, which was part -of the new building. Senator March's quarters alone had escaped the -tide of splendour, and his own rooms remained as simple as in his -bachelor days. - -He knocked at the door of 'his wife's boudoir and Alicia bade him enter. -The four years and a half, which had developed Lucy Armytage into an -Ambassadress worthy of the name, had also made a subtle change in Alicia -March. She was apparently no older than on the day when she had first -seen Roger March. She was an admirable subject for the great London and -Paris dressmakers, and she had reached that stage of a woman's existence -where dress ceases to be a passion and becomes a fine art. Time had left -no mark on her, but her eyes--her beautiful violet eyes--had an -expression of apprehension, even of fear, in them, and she, heretofore -the most placid and self-controlled of women, had become strangely -nervous. She started as her husband entered, but smiled as she received -his gift of flowers with the graceful thanks which she never omitted. -Then Senator March asked her how the day had passed. - -"Very well," she replied. "I didn't wish to go out until you had come -in. What have you been doing to-day?" - -"I worked like a cart horse until three o'clock, then walked uptown for -exercise, and whom do you think I saw half-a-square away?" - -"The Carlyons," answered Mrs. March calmly. "I saw them drive past. -Did you speak to them?" - -"Oh, yes! I was delighted to see them again. You know I have a special -reason for gratitude to Carlyon, as it was through him I met you." - -Mrs. March turned her beautiful eyes on her husband with a look which -every woman's eyes have when she receives a sincere compliment. - -Senator March continued: - -"Sir Percy is looking very well; that man has had unbroken good fortune -of the most brilliant sort. I believe him to be the youngest Ambassador -in the diplomatic service, and Lady Carlyon!--bless me--she is Lucy -Armytage and yet she is not Lucy Armytage--that is to say, she has grown -up. She has a charming dignity without the slightest pretension, and -one can see at a glance that she will do well anywhere. They had -stopped the carriage for a moment to speak to their children, two fine -boys." - -"I saw them, too," said Mrs. March; "they looked quite adorable. Did -Sir Percy ask for me or send me any message?" - -Senator March tried to recall. - -"I really can't remember anything special. Both of them were most -cordial, and Lady Carlyon particularly said she hoped to see us very -soon." - -Mrs. March smiled. - -"Sir Percy has forgotten, perhaps," she said softly after a moment, "his -first six months in India." - -"Oh, I think not! He told me during our first acquaintance all about -that and the enormous obligations he was under to your father. We must -call and see the Carlyons very soon, and have them here to dinner." - -Then Alicia suddenly changed the subject, and began to ask him about his -day's work. - -"There is a tremendous amount of work on hand for the committee, as -there is a great mass of information to be mastered before one can treat -intelligently this whole railway subject, for instance." - -Then Senator March went on to describe the pitfalls and obstacles in the -way of certain intended legislation concerning railways. His wife -listened with the deepest attention, occasionally putting in an -intelligent question. Presently the Senator said: - -"I believe you know as much about the matter as I do. You should be an -interstate commerce commissioner." - -Alicia smiled, she rarely laughed. - -"That is the way with Englishwomen: we accommodate ourselves to our -husbands instead of requiring them to mould themselves to us." - -"It is a very pleasant way," replied Senator March gallantly, and then, -being full of his subject, he went on talking about it until, suddenly -recalling himself, he said: "You have not been for your drive and it is -already growing dark. I can't go with you to-day; I have a lot more of -this business on hand in my study." - -"I don't think I shall drive this afternoon," replied Mrs. March. "I -think I shall walk for half-an-hour. You wish to be undisturbed until -dinner?" - -"Yes," said Senator March, going into his own quarters. - -Ten minutes later Mrs. March, in a plain walking dress, with a thin -black veil over her face, went out of her own door, and when she was -well around the corner called a cab and gave the address of a plain -hotel in the lower part of the city. As she leaned back in the -ramshackle cab she drew her veil still more closely over her face and -tried to collect her thoughts for the interview which she sought, but -her mind wandered to all manner of subjects. How strange it was that -she, the wife of one of the richest men in the Senate, with an allowance -which was a fortune in itself, should be at that moment harassed for -money! She never remembered the time in her life that such had not been -the case. When she married Senator March it was with the expectation -that never again as long as she lived would she ever want for money, but -within the year the old emptiness of purse returned. Money slipped -through her fingers she knew not how. She loved pearls and diamonds and -beautiful things with an insatiable love. Senator March had loaded her -with jewels, but she wanted more. It seemed to her that wealth was not -wealth if one had to consider how it was spent. That principle had -caused her to spend not only a splendid income, but had piled up debts -to which her old burdens were a mere nothing. The same principle of -shame and even fear that she had felt toward her father prevented her -from opening her heart to her husband, the soul of indulgence. There -was a kind of rigid morality about Roger March, and the idea that she -had made debts which she concealed from him she knew would appear as a -crime in his eyes. He would, of course, pay them--of that she felt -quite certain--but in spite of her husband's love and gentleness, he had -always inspired her with a certain fear, just as her father did, and -General Talbott would know the whole story which she so shrank from -telling. She found a curious lack of power in herself to stop spending -money. Then came Nicholas Colegrove's opportunity. - -He had seen Alicia March several times during the first winter of her -marriage, when she immediately became one of the great hostesses of -Washington. Colegrove was by nature social, and liked, as well as any -one, a good dinner, a good glass of wine and a pretty woman on each side -of him. His position as the moving spirit of an association of great -railways, which some people called a conspiracy, placed him somewhat at -a disadvantage with public men in Washington. Senator March, however, -liked Colegrove well enough, and was by no means afraid of him, and if -Alicia March wanted to have him at her brilliant dinners her husband -made no objection. Senator March was chairman of the committee which -was dealing with Colegrove and his associates, but so far nothing had -been discovered of a nature damaging to Colegrove or his friends. As he -good-humouredly told Senator March, the railways asked only to be let -alone; and Senator March, with equal good humour, replied that was the -very thing that the committee did not mean to do. - -As the committee would not agree to let Colegrove alone, but persisted -in asking prying questions, the next best thing for him was to find out -exactly what the committee knew, and how it proposed to act. Alicia -March was the instrument ready to his hand. Colegrove, who had a vast -quantity of that semi-divine gift known as common-sense, was under no -illusion respecting Alicia March's influence over her husband. Senator -March was deeply devoted to his wife, but neither she nor any other -human being who ever lived could swerve Roger March from his duty, or -cause him to betray the smallest trust. He was not, however, on guard -against his wife, and Colegrove knew it. - -When he passed the March house late at night and saw the lights burning -in Senator March's study, and knew that he was at work there with his -clerk and a stenographer, Colegrove longed to know what they were -writing. How easy it would be for Mrs. March to make a few copies of -the letters and memoranda, which would be immensely useful to the -A.F.&O.! Reflecting on this, Colegrove cultivated Mrs. March's society. -Being a man of acute observation, he found out some things about Alicia -March which not even her husband knew. He discovered that she had a -strange sense of dislocation in her new place. She had been forced, as -she thought, in her previous life to have many concealments, and she -still had them, but they gave her a vague sense of discomfort which she -had never known before. Still the habit was upon her, and she had the -conviction that concealment, however wrong, was absolutely necessary. - -Colegrove alone of all the men she had ever known seemed to penetrate at -once into everything which she wished to keep secret. He had got out of -her the fact that she was pressed for money within a year of her -marriage. This he proposed to remedy in a manner at once easy, simple -and honourable: to get hold of stocks which would cost next to nothing -to buy, and would sell for a fortune, and this he would do for Alicia -March in his own name. He made the condition, however, that she should -not mention it to her husband, and to this Alicia March agreed readily -enough, knowing the transaction could not take place unless it were kept -a secret from Senator March. Then money flowed into her hands, not -enough to make her independent of Colegrove, but enough to ease the -perpetual strain. At this point Colegrove had asked her to get copies of -certain letters which he knew were in Senator March's desk in his study. -At this Alicia recoiled and then refused, but when payment was demanded -for a couple of black pearls which she had bought, and her dividends -from her stocks were not forthcoming, Colegrove told her plainly that he -must have copies of those letters before any more money was paid. -Alicia had realised some time before that she was playing a dangerous -game, but who fears the danger of a game as long as one is winning? It -was ridiculously easy to get what Colegrove wanted, and love for the -black pearls was stronger in Alicia March than honour or fear. Colegrove -got his copies and Alicia's stock suddenly, according to Colegrove, -declared a tremendous dividend. - -Colegrove congratulated himself on what he had accomplished with Mrs. -March and incidentally was scorched. All men are dreamers of dreams, -and at last the dream took shape with Colegrove that he should force a -wedge between Roger March and his wife. As for Colegrove's own wife, -the fretful lady in a far-away western city, that was easily managed--he -could drive her into a divorce any day he liked. He was the last man on -earth who would betray himself, and what seemed an unguarded outbreak of -passion for Alicia March was really a carefully calculated procedure. -Alicia received it with a calmness and capacity to deal with the -situation which showed him that she was no apprentice in such matters. -She held him off, but she did not break with him. Each was too useful -to the other to come to an open rupture, and so matters had gone on for -more than three years. - -In that time no human being, not even Roger March, suspected that Alicia -March and Colegrove ever met except in the presence of others, and -generally at dinners. Nevertheless, they had brief interviews, chiefly -relating to bills and their payment, and papers were handed over to -Colegrove, and crisp new bills for considerable amounts were received by -Alicia. These meetings generally took place in unfrequented streets and -parks at twilight, and might easily be explained as accidental. Those -were not occasions of sentiment, but when Alicia and Colegrove met in -drawing-rooms Colegrove then said things which conveyed to Alicia that -her husband was puritanical in his ideas, which Colegrove was not, and -when she should find Roger March intolerable there was a refuge waiting -her. It seemed quite natural to Alicia March to hear these veiled -declarations from Colegrove. She admired the ingenuity with which he -made them and listened to them with a smiling composure, the meaning of -which not all Colegrove's acuteness could discover. Alicia herself did -not know her own feeling towards her husband, nor had the brilliant life -upon which she had entered acquired any true sense of reality and -proportion. She felt as if she were living in a dream, silent, -changeful, exciting, but still a dream. - -As the cab jogged along over the streets Alicia turned all these things -over in her mind. It was the first time she had ever had a meeting with -Colegrove which was open to the slightest suspicion, but Colegrove had -written to her that he did not desire it to be known that he was in -Washington while the great railroad legislation was pending until he -should be called as a witness, and for that reason he would come to -Washington for a few hours, stopping at a plain hotel where he was not -known, when he was supposed to be on a hunting trip in Pennsylvania. - -It was almost dark when she stepped out of the cab in front of the hotel -where Colegrove was staying. He was watching for her and came down the -steps to meet her. Time had dealt lightly with him, and he was the same -strong, supple, keen-eyed man of four years before, with the same -captivating frankness of manner, which did not reveal himself, but -revealed others to him. - -"Now," he said, when Alicia and he were in the lobby of the little -hotel, "you won't mind coming to my sitting-room, where we can talk -privately?" - -"I mind very much," replied Alicia coolly. "There must be a public -drawing-room somewhere about, and we can talk there." - -"Here it is," replied Colegrove, opening a door near by and entering a -large, showily furnished room glaring with gas. "But this is a very -public drawing-room," said Colegrove, smiling, "and it is not to be -supposed that Mrs. March is not known by sight to a great many people -who are not on her visiting list. You had better come to my -sitting-room." - -Without a word Alicia followed him to the lift and they ascended one -flight. Colegrove's sitting-room was a small replica of the -drawing-room below. - -"It is a good many years since I entertained a lady in a place like -this, but I hope you will excuse it. I don't want your husband's -committee to know that I am within a hundred miles of this town. Before -we begin talking business, tell me how you have been. You are looking -blooming, as well as I can see under that veil." - -"I remembered that you told me," was Alicia's reply, "that you must have -copies of the correspondence. I never have any trouble in getting -copies, but it always makes me ashamed." - -Colegrove paid no attention to the latter sentence, but stored up the -first, and thought it a lucky admission on Alicia's part. She opened -the costly little bag which she carried in her hand, and took out -half-a-dozen letters, which Colegrove read rapidly, and with an air of -satisfaction. Then, putting them in his breast pocket, he said -pleasantly: - -"By the way, that A.F.&O. stock has gone sky-high, and will soon go down -in a hole in the ground. I sold a thousand shares of that investment of -yours which stands in my name, and here is the money for it. You -understand why I am obliged to give it to you in money instead of a -cheque?" - -He handed out a roll of bills, naming a considerable sum, and Alicia, -without counting it, put it into her bag. Colegrove, having transacted -the business part of the interview, would have liked to have had -half-an-hour's conversation with Mrs. March, whose charming voice and -speaking eyes had a steady and increasing fascination for him, but -Alicia would not stay. - -"We can talk," she said, "when you come to Washington openly. My -husband, I think, likes you very much, and he says he is warring on the -corporation, not on individuals." - -"Will you ask me to dinner, Mrs. March?" - -"With pleasure," replied Alicia, smiling faintly. - -"I am glad it gives you a little pleasure; it gives me a great deal," -replied Colegrove. "When a man has led the life that I have led, and has -to do with large affairs, most women appear to him like children whose -range of ideas is soon exhausted. Not so with you, however." - -"I never was reckoned a clever woman," responded Alicia. - -"Oh, Lord! I hate cleverness in both men and women. It assumes to be -everything and takes the place of nothing. But you have lived from the -very hour you made that unlucky first marriage. No one admires Senator -March more than I do, but he ought to have married a purely conventional -person, like Miss Chantrey, for example, whom I have met at your house. -There must be a good many things you can't talk about to your husband." - -Colegrove's words were guarded, but something in his tone expressed a -subtle contempt for Senator March. Suddenly, and without the slightest -premonition, Alicia March felt herself colouring with anger at -Colegrove's words. He dared to say one word against her husband in her -presence! It was the first strong feeling she had ever experienced -where Roger March was concerned, and it lighted up her eyes, and brought -the blood to her face, and she answered him sharply: - -"I am not worthy of my husband, you and I both know it," and walked out -of the room. - -Colegrove followed her, hat in hand, and full of apologies, professing -ignorance as to how he had offended her. She allowed him to assist her -into the cab, but merely bade him a chilly good-bye. Colegrove watched -the cab as it fumbled off in the dusk and then said to himself: - -"I shall let her get into a tighter place than ever for money before I -give her another lift. But, by Jove! if I were in March's place I would -have had that woman's confidence long ago." - -Then it occurred to him that there was in reality a great gulf between -Senator March and the woman who was his wife, and a man like himself. -This did not disconcert Colegrove in the least, as it was his invariable -practice to see things as they were and never to blink the truth. - -It was half-past six o'clock before Alicia March entered the door of her -home. Instead of going to her boudoir, she went into Senator March's -study. He was at his desk hard at work--he was known as the hardest -worked man in the Senate--but he had not failed to notice his wife's -absence. - -"Really," he said, turning in his chair and taking her hand as she came -forward into the circle of light cast by the old-fashioned student lamp -which burned upon his desk, "you must not stay out so late. If I had -known in what direction you had walked, I should have gone to meet you -at six o'clock." - -"You are fanciful," replied Alicia, and, for almost the first time in -their married life, gave him an unasked caress, passing her arm around -his neck and stooping to kiss him. It was not lost on Senator March. - -"You know how to win pardon," he said, "but--but don't do it again. -Since you have been gone I have been studying up some of the -performances of your friend Colegrove, and I can't make out whether he -is a virtuous sufferer or a very able and accomplished scamp." - -"I met Mr. Colegrove while I was out," said Alicia, remembering the sum -in her little bag, which would by no means pay all her bills, "and I -promised to ask him to dinner," and then suddenly remembered that -Colegrove had told her not to mention his presence in Washington. She -had in truth been thinking more of her husband than of Colegrove for the -last half-hour. - -Senator March, however, did not observe any significance in his wife's -casual words, and answered: - -"Oh, very well! I am not down on Colegrove personally; he is a very -good dinner guest, and there isn't any reason why you shouldn't ask him -if you wish to. Will you invite him to meet the Carlyons?" - -Alicia March turned a little pale at the suggestion. She had begun to -be somewhat afraid of Colegrove's singular acuteness and power to make -her tell things she did not mean to tell him. He might divine something -of that past which had existed between Sir Percy Carlyon and herself. -And Sir Percy, having known her long before either Colegrove or her -husband, might suspect something between Colegrove and herself. She -had, however, been used to these complications for many years, and could -readily bring herself to meet them. Her sense of humour was small, but -she had a glimmer when she said to her husband: - -"Yes; we can have Mr. Colegrove and the Carlyons together." - - - - - *X* - - -Within a week Senator and Mrs. March one afternoon paid their first -visit to the British Embassy. At the moment of greeting, Mrs. March saw -that Lady Carlyon knew all of the story of what had occurred sixteen -years before. Not that Lady Carlyon showed the slightest haughtiness or -restraint on meeting Mrs. March; on the contrary, her bearing was -perfect and her dignity and grace could not have been surpassed. Lady -Carlyon was by no means the Lucy Armytage whom Mrs. March, as Alicia -Vernon, had cross-examined so easily four years before. But there is a -psychic understanding between women, a glance of the eye, a note of the -voice, which tells the story to which the words may give a flat -contradiction. - -It cannot be said, however, that Sir Percy Carlyon's demeanour was -perfect in spite of his sixteen years' training in diplomacy. The deep -resentment which burned within him against Mrs. March was kindled into -new life when he saw her shaking hands with his wife, and his greeting -showed a certain restraint; nor was he over-cordial to Senator March, -but this passed unobserved. There were other visitors present, and -nothing in the least awkward occurred. Alicia had one moment of that -revenge which is the sweetest draught a woman can quaff when, as the -visit drew to a close, she said smilingly to Lady Carlyon and Sir Percy: - -"Senator March tells me that you have promised to give us the pleasure -of dining with us before long. Can you fix the date now?" - -Sir Percy remained silent, but Lady Carlyon replied readily: - -"I shall have to look at our book of engagements and I will write. You -are most kind to ask us." - -"Thank you," answered Alicia, with a peculiar inflection of pleasure in -her voice. - -It would be one of the most triumphant moments of her life when she -forced Sir Percy Carlyon to bring his wife to dine with her. Senator -March, standing by, expressed a frank and cordial pleasure at the -prospect of seeing the Carlyons under his own roof. Man-like, he had -observed nothing in the attitude of Sir Percy and Lady Carlyon, either -towards himself or his wife, and Alicia was the last person on earth to -enlighten him. - -Within a day or two a pretty note came from Lady Carlyon saying that she -and Sir Percy would have the pleasure of dining with Senator and Mrs. -March on the thirtieth of January, if that date would be convenient to -their hostess. Alicia passed the note over to her husband across the -tea-table in her boudoir, and smiled as she tried to realise the effort -it had caused the wife of the British Ambassador to write it. - -Every incident connected with the dinner was an added triumph to Mrs. -March. She collected a brilliant company, even in that place of -brilliant dinners--Washington--and Colegrove was among the invited -guests. She had engaged a great singer to lend the magic of his voice -to the evening afterwards. In every detail she had the kindest interest -of her husband. She was an Englishwoman entertaining, for the first -time, the Ambassador from her own country, and Senator March determined -that she should do it well. He even gave his attention to his wife's -gown and jewels, which were consequently superb. - -On the evening of the dinner, Alicia March was dressed and in her -splendid drawing-room half-an-hour before the guests were due. She was -conscious of looking her best; splendour became her mature beauty. Like -most Englishwomen of her class she knew how to wear jewels, her hair -glittered with diamonds which fell in a glorious _riviere_ upon her -bosom, and sparkled on her arms. Senator March, coming down later, paid -her a sincere compliment in saying that he had never seen her look so -handsome. They went into the dining-room, a superb apartment in -Pompeian red, and glanced into the ball-room, where the music was to -take place after dinner. All was satisfactory to Senator March and more -than satisfactory to his wife. With the nicety of courtesy, the first -guests to arrive were the Carlyons. Lady Carlyon seemed, as Senator -March had said, to have grown taller, certainly her air and figure had -gained great beauty in the four years of her married life. She wore an -exquisitely fitting, but perfectly simple, white gown, with a bouquet of -violets on her breast; not a jewel of any description shone upon her. -She had jewels, of course, as every woman of position would have, and -Mrs. March happened to know that there were some very nice family jewels -which Sir Percy's wife must have, but not one of them did Lady Carlyon -wear on this occasion. She was a good diplomatist, as Lord Baudesert -predicted she would become, but, like all women, there was a point with -her where diplomacy gave way to feeling. Lady Carlyon had schooled -herself to meet Alicia March, had fought and outwardly conquered the -deep repugnance and disdain she felt for the woman who had made a blot -upon her husband's life; but when she had the chance Lady Carlyon, like -Achilles, could not forbear dragging her dead enemy at her chariot -wheels. She knew that Alicia March would blaze with splendour, and -therefore elected to dress with marked simplicity. She was as simply -gowned as on that memorable night in her girlhood when she attended her -first Embassy ball, and met her fate. - -When the two women stood contrasted, Alicia March knew at once what Lady -Carlyon's studied simplicity meant, and felt herself overdressed and -bedizened, but she gave no hint of her chagrin. As each guest arrived -Alicia March felt as if she were paying off the score between the -Carlyons and herself. Her position and prestige as Senator March's wife -must be obvious to the Carlyons. The last person to arrive was -Colegrove. He was certainly the handsomest man present, but by no means -the most distinguished, and could not have the place of honour on -Alicia's left hand. When Mrs. March took Sir Percy Carlyon's arm to go -in to dinner it was the first time she had so touched him since those -days on the frontier of Afghanistan. She gave him a look, half -mirthful, half menacing, but wholly triumphant, which Sir Percy -understood. His manner to her was rather an indifferent piece of -acting, but this was not observed by any one except Mrs. March and Lady -Carlyon. - -The dinner was splendid--rather too splendid Alicia realised; her -tendency was somewhat to excess. The conversation was agreeable and -sparkling. Alicia was an accomplished hostess; without great brilliance -and _esprit_ herself, she knew how to bring out these qualities in -others, and Senator March shone in his own house. Colegrove, sitting on -the opposite side of the vast round table, saw nothing at first, except -the natural desire of an Englishwoman to do honour to her own Ambassador -and Ambassadress, but he noted the extreme simplicity of Lady Carlyon's -gown, and thought her the handsomer for it. Nevertheless it puzzled -him, but as soon as his eyes fell on his hostess a light dawned upon -him. There was some rivalry between these two women. With that first -thread to go on, he observed his hostess and her guests more closely. - -When the ladies rose Mrs. March led the way into the picture gallery. -Lady Carlyon did not, as Mrs. March supposed she would, subtly avoid her -hostess. On the contrary, she remained close to Alicia, whom she asked -to tell her the names of the artists whose pictures were on the wall, -Lady Carlyon listening with smiling attention. Presently it dawned upon -Alicia March's mind that Lady Carlyon was making her exhibit her -possessions and give a list of them--it was Lady Carlyon now who had the -upper hand and not Alicia. Mrs. March, however, went around the gallery -with Lady Carlyon, and by that time the men appeared, and a few other -guests invited for the after-dinner music. Colegrove was now watching -with all his eyes. Senator March in his hearty, outspoken way, had -mentioned the friendship of General Talbott and Sir Percy Carlyon in -those early days on the Afghan frontier, and Colegrove knew that Alicia -had been with her father at that time. Sir Percy shied off from the -subject very obviously, and this was not lost on Colegrove. All of this -made Colegrove suspect that there had been an affair between Sir Percy -Carlyon and Mrs. March. He recollected that she had never mentioned Sir -Percy to him, although she had spoken freely of persons and events in -her life. He sat turning these things over in his mind with the -interest with which everything concerning Alicia awakened in him, at the -time he was listening to the great tenor whose every note was worth a -bank-note. - -When the evening was over, and most of the guests had taken their -departure, Colegrove, going up to Mrs. March, said to her smilingly: - -"You look quite superb to-night. Lady Carlyon evidently didn't wish to -be in the competition. When a woman wears a simple white gown and a -bunch of violets she means something by it." - -Alicia smiled faintly. - -"Perhaps Lady Carlyon thought the occasion not important enough for -jewels," she said. - -"She won't find a more important occasion," replied Colegrove, laughing, -"not even at the White House, as that is purely perfunctory, you know, -when she goes in on the same footing as the Chinese Ambassador and the -Korean Minister. I am afraid Lady Carlyon is slightly unappreciative. -Good-night, and thank you for a charming evening." - -After accepting the Marches' dinner invitation it was inevitable that -they should be placed upon the dinner list of the British Embassy, so -Lady Carlyon told Sir Percy, as they drove back through the January -night to the Embassy, and it must be done at once; for Senator March was -a man who could not be ignored either socially or politically, Lady -Carlyon reminded Sir Percy, urging him at the same time to be more -cordial to Senator March. - -"I never saw a man I liked better than March," replied Sir Percy; "he -was the first friend I made in Washington, but I admit that it staggers -me to look at him in the light of Alicia Vernon's husband." - -"I am afraid," answered Lady Carlyon, "that it will be observed in spite -of all that I can do to smooth things over." - -"I don't think I could have managed it at all without you," replied Sir -Percy; "you are the better diplomatist of the two." - -"Oh, you may always expect something great from Bardstown, Kentucky!" -replied Lady Carlyon, and was Lucy Armytage again, looking with sweet, -laughing eyes into her husband's sombre face. - -Within a fortnight an invitation to dine at the British Embassy came for -Senator March and his wife, and it was accepted. It was not to be -supposed, however, that the Marches and the Carlyons had not met many -times during that fortnight. They moved in the same orbit and were -continually within sight of each other. Sir Percy, bearing in mind Lady -Carlyon's caution, was more cordial in his manner to Senator March. He -found no difficulty in being so, for the two men met, as they often did -in the society of men alone, at men's dinners, at the club, and like -places. Sir Percy, following the example of Lord Baudesert, was an -indefatigable student of American affairs, and Senator March was a mine -of information. - -It was a source of some surprise to Senator March that there was nothing -like intimacy between the Carlyons and his wife and himself. He could -see that his wife and Sir Percy Carlyon did not stand to each other in -the relation of old friends, although they were old acquaintances. And -there was something guarded in the attitude of Lady Carlyon and Alicia -March towards each other. He would have liked very much to have renewed -his old friendship and even fondness for Lady Carlyon, but although she -met him with unvarying sweetness, she did not take up the thread of -intimacy which had existed between them from the days when she was a -school-girl and he was a senator. Senator March had lived long enough -to know that there are strange convolutions in personal relations, -especially between women. It soon became plain that Alicia March and -Lady Carlyon were not drawn together. Senator March's confidence in his -wife was such that he felt sure that her course was regulated by good -taste and good sense, and that was enough for him. - -The dinner at the Embassy was brilliant, and Lady Carlyon did the -honours with extraordinary grace. This time she wore very handsome -jewels, although nothing to compare with those of Alicia March. - -Senator March had intended to suggest to Alicia that she should invite -the Carlyons to spend the week-end at the country place where their -romance had culminated, but, seeing the futility of his plan, did not -mention it even to his wife. Meanwhile great affairs pressed upon him. -The big railways had been finally brought to bay and Senator March, as -chairman of the committee of investigation, had his hands full. -Colegrove was in town continuously and spent many days explaining the -inexplicable before the committee. - -Senator March, listening, tabulating and making notes, began to have a -very high admiration for Colegrove's abilities and even a belief in the -man. Great corporations, Senator March knew, are not associations of -archangels for the benefit of the human race, but commercial -organisations, with an eye to profit. All of this was taken into -account by Senator March in judging Colegrove and his _confreres_. One -thing, however, was certain: Colegrove was the real man who was making -the fight. His colleagues showed great confidence in him, and it was -plain that he had organised, and was directing, the campaign. He had -contrived, however, to arouse the antagonism of certain members of the -committee; the investigation threatened to become a prosecution, and -Senator March found himself often in the position of defending, and -bespeaking a fair show for, Colegrove. The interest of the public in -the railway question was widespread and intense. The Presidential -election was less than a year off, and the party in power was relying -upon its treatment of two or three great questions, of which this was -one, to secure the next administration. In fact, politics entered so -largely into the railway question that many public men lost sight of -justice. Not so Senator March. He had no higher ambition than the -senatorship, and laughed when it was suggested that he should enter the -presidential race, but swore when he was asked to consider the -vice-presidency. He was entirely satisfied with his place as senator, -of which he was now serving his third term, and believed that he could -hold it as long as he desired it. He had, in short, reached that lofty -height--always a dangerous point in human affairs--when his life, his -surroundings, his career, everything satisfied him exactly. He had no -children, and that alone was a disappointment. - -The thought that all his wishes and ambitions were satisfied came over -him one afternoon in March when he reached his own door. Alicia was -waiting for him in her splendid victoria, perfectly turned out in every -particular. She looked uncommonly handsome, and greeted him, as always, -with the greatest amiability. Senator March getting into the carriage, -they drove off toward the park. Alicia wore a particularly charming -white hat, and her husband told her so. - -"I was afraid the hat was too young for me," she replied, smiling. - -"Not at all," protested Senator March; "a charming woman is always -young. It is one of my greatest sources of happiness that you are not a -girl-wife who would drag me around to tea parties and balls, and not -have any respect for my years." - -"Have you had a hard day's work?" asked Alicia. - -"Very. So much so that I have not been able to glance at the afternoon -papers. If you will excuse me, I will look at the headlines." - -By that time they had reached the beautiful wooded park, where, fifteen -minutes from the fashionable quarter of Washington, one can be in the -heart of the woods. The afternoon was balmy and the scent of the spring -was in the air; all the earth was brown and green, and on the southern -slopes of the hillsides little leaves were coming out shyly; already the -blue birds and robins were riotous with song, and between the -interlacing tree-tops, full of brown buds, the sky shone blue with the -blueness of spring. The stream, swollen by the melting snows, rushed -and swirled, and the little waterfalls laughed and danced madly in the -golden sunlight. The park was full of smart carriages, automobiles and -men and girls on horseback. - -Senator March, taking the newspaper out of his pocket, adjusted his -glasses and began to read. Alicia March lay back in her corner of the -carriage, seeing neither her husband nor the beauty and glory of earth -and sky around her. It was the old story, she knew not where to turn -for money, and the sum she had spent and what she had to show for it -bewildered her. Colegrove, for the third or fourth time, had demanded -copies of certain letters and documents, and Alicia knew that no money -would be forthcoming until she had secured them. Colegrove had not -become in the least insolent in his manner; on the contrary, Alicia saw, -with the eye of experience, that he was becoming more ingratiating. She -even suspected that Colegrove was after another kind of stake, and more -delicate plunder than legislation favourable to railways. She felt a -singular and growing dislike to deceiving her husband. It was new to -her, and was a part of that strange dislocation and unreality of life -that she should have scruples. Formerly she had not known what scruples -meant and had no fears whatever, but now she was troubled with both -scruples and fears, which bewildered and tormented her. If she ceased -to hold any communication with Colegrove it meant a revelation of her -debts, her duns, and complications to her husband, and if she continued -upon the path in which she had entered a precipice lay before her. - -Alicia March and her husband sat silent for half-an-hour as the -thoroughbred horses, champing their bits, trotted slowly along the -wooded road. All at once Alicia glanced at her husband; his face had -turned an ashen grey, and his eyes, with a strange expression in them, -were fixed upon the newspaper before him and he was as motionless as a -dead man. Then as Alicia watched him with amazed and terrified eyes, he -glanced at her and silently laid the newspaper in her lap. - -On the front page, with great headlines, was a double-leaded article of -several columns devoted to Colegrove. In it was laid bare Colegrove's -whole career, especially his management of the great railway interests -confided to him. As Senator March had seen long before, Colegrove had -gained a complete ascendancy over his associates, who followed his -leadership like so many schoolboys. Then came the most singular part of -all--the assertion that Colegrove had got advance information, which was -invaluable to him, through the wife of a certain public man, and -although Senator March's name was not mentioned, it was so plainly -indicated that it was impossible to mistake who was meant. Then came a -history of Colegrove's alleged transactions in stocks for the benefit of -the senator's wife, and many other particulars, which Alicia had -supposed were known only to herself and Colegrove. She read the article -through rapidly, to the accompaniment of the steady beat of the horse's -hoofs on the park road and the soft carolling of the woodland birds. -She felt herself growing benumbed like a person being paralysed by -inches; when she finished reading the article she made an effort to -speak, which seemed to cost her all her strength. - -"Stop," she said to the footman, and then turning to her husband said: -"Let us walk a little way in the woods down by the water." - -The carriage stopped and the footman jumped down and assisted Senator -March to alight, and Mrs. March followed him. The two walked together -into a path which led down to the water where there was a bench -concealed by some shrubbery. They both looked so pale, and Senator -March moved so heavily, that the footman exchanged looks with the -coachman and remarked, putting his finger on his nose: - -"Something is up between 'em." - -Down by the water Senator March dropped upon the bench and Alicia seated -herself beside him. - -"It is a great blow," he said after a minute, "a very great blow. It is -the first aspersion cast upon me or any of my family during the thirty -years of my public life. It is easy enough to disprove it, but it is -humiliating and terrible that such things should be said of you and me, -my poor, innocent Alicia." - -It was the very phrase which General Talbott had so often used in -Alicia's presence, and it always moved and touched her, but not as it -did now. With her father, Alicia had ever felt a sense of triumph that -she had saved him the knowledge of much that would have maddened him, -but with her husband she felt a strange impulse to confess all. She -was, however, not a woman to act on such impulses and she remained -silent, turning her head away. She could feel at first the pity in -Senator March's glance, and then by intuition she felt, rather than saw, -her husband's look change from pity to startled inquiry and then to -dreadful certainty. Presently he said, in a voice so stern that she -scarcely recognised it as his own: - -"Tell me, is it true? If you will deny it, I will take your word -against that of the whole world." - -It would have been so easy to say "No," and Alicia could have said it -readily enough to any person on earth except her husband, but something -seemed to rise within her to forbid the lie, and she remained silent: -she either could not or would not speak. All around them was the -silence of the woods, and they were themselves so still that a robin, -more daring than his fellows, hopped close by their feet and chirruped a -sweet little song. After a long pause Senator March repeated, in the -same voice: - -"Will you not speak? Am I to believe--" He stopped, and Alicia longed -to speak, but as before no words came to her. - -She rose as if to walk towards the carriage, but she swayed so that her -husband took her arm to support her. Then they went up the hill and, -entering the waiting carriage, were driven towards the city. Not a word -was spoken during the homeward drive. When they reached the asphalted -streets Senator March directed the coachman to drive to the smart hotel -where Colegrove had a splendid suite of rooms. Alicia's trembling heart -sank lower; she thought it a fearful blunder that Senator March's -carriage should be seen at Colegrove's hotel, but Senator March had -never in his life concealed anything, and he was too stunned to adopt -any of the small precautions of fear. When they reached the hotel he -alighted and said with somewhat of his usual composure to the footman: - -"Mrs. March will drive home," and then, lifting his hat to Alicia, he -walked into the hotel. - -Entering the lift, the Senator went straight to Colegrove's apartments. -He opened the door without knocking and turned into the study of the -suite, and there found Colegrove sitting at a large table, covered with -books and papers, with a couple of the greatest railways' lawyers in -America sitting with him. March bowed to them politely, and then, -without sitting down, said coldly to Colegrove: - -"I must be allowed to interrupt these gentlemen for a few minutes while -I speak with you alone." - -All three men had risen as Senator March entered; he was too important a -man to be received with other than the highest respect, nor did -Colegrove make the slightest objection to leading the way into the next -room. The light of battle was in his eye, and it was plain that he was -prepared to fight. After closing the door he said at once: - -"You have, of course, seen the story in the afternoon newspapers? Much -of it, I need hardly say, is a batch of lies, a part of it we have no -reason to conceal, and the rest can be explained. There is no occasion -for anybody to fall into a panic." - -"I didn't come here to discuss that with you," replied Senator March, -looking fixedly at Colegrove. - -"You wish to know about your wife's transactions with me?" calmly asked -Colegrove, carrying the war into Africa according to his invariable -custom. - -Senator March remained silent; he could not bring himself to put into -words what he had come to ask. Colegrove went back into the next room -and, returning in a minute, brought a tin box, which he opened. Out of -it he took every copy, every paper and letter which he had received from -Alicia March, and every note in which she acknowledged receiving money -from him. Then from a little book he read the statement of every dollar -he had ever paid Alicia March. The Senator, sitting at the table with -Colegrove, read every piece of writing in the tin box, then, gathering -them up in his hands, he put them carefully in his breast pocket. -Colegrove, watching him meanwhile, prepared to throw himself, with a -vigour acquired in his college days from a good boxing master, upon -Senator March if he attempted to leave the room without returning the -papers. - -"To-morrow," said March without a tremor, "when the Senate is convened, -I shall acknowledge every charge against me. I shall also claim that -every penny which went out of your pocket to my wife was paid to me, and -I shall resign my seat in the Senate, telegraphing the Governor of the -State to-night." - -"You are a madman!" cried Colegrove. - -"It is the sanest act of my life," answered Senator March. - -"There is but one thing to do," persisted Colegrove, "and that is to -deny everything and call for proof." - -Senator March smiled slightly. - -"I think, Mr. Colegrove, we have different standards. I see in your eye -that you mean to attack me in order to get these letters and documents. -Well, it would be of no use, because my confession and resignation will -not call for proof." - -Colegrove, for once staggered and at a loss, allowed Senator March to -open the door into the next room, where the two lawyers stood talking in -low voices. The moment for using force was lost and, besides, the -Senator's promise of confession and resignation put so new a phase on -the case that Colegrove was bewildered. - - - - - *XI* - - -Senator March went downstairs and passed through the hotel lobby, where -everybody stared at him open-mouthed, and went out into the streets. -The sun lay low in the west, and the streets were full of people, -walking and driving. Many persons turned and looked at him, some with -pity, some with contempt, some with incredulity. In ten minutes he -reached his own door; as he entered it he said to the footman: - -"Don't admit any one to-night," and passed upstairs. - -He knocked at the door of his wife's boudoir, but receiving no answer, -entered the luxurious little room and found it empty, but through the -door leading into her bedroom he caught sight of Alicia walking up and -down the floor. She had not removed her hat or even her gloves, and was -nervously twisting the handle of her lace parasol as she walked -restlessly about the room. The bedroom, if possible, was more luxurious -than the boudoir. The red silk hangings, which had once belonged to the -Empress Eugenie, had been paid for, not by Senator March's money, as he -had imagined, but with money made by the alleged sale of stocks by -Colegrove. The mantel clock and candelabra, real Louis Quinze gems, had -come from the same source, as had the great silver-framed mirror on the -dressing-table which reflected Alicia's pale face. - -Senator March entered the room without ceremony and took from his breast -pocket the packet of letters and documents in Alicia's handwriting, and -handed them to her silently. She took them in her trembling hands, -glanced at them and then gave them back to him. His face, although -perfectly composed, had the same strange greyness about it which she had -noticed as they sat together on the bank of the stream in the park. For -the first time in her life Alicia March felt a desire to throw wide the -doors of her soul and make a confession. She was frightened at the -impulse, and would have restrained it, but her will power, usually so -strong, was as feeble over this impulse as the hand of a child over a -maddened horse. So far she had not spoken a word since the moment, less -than an hour before, when the discovery had been made, but now she burst -forth: - -"I don't know what to say--he invested some money for me," she began -breathlessly, and then went on, blundering, stammering and sobbing, to -tell him her transactions with Colegrove. - -Her husband heard her incoherent story through, and when she stopped, -panting and wringing her hands, he remained silent for a few minutes. -Alicia turned her agonised face away from him, covering it with her -hands. Presently the Senator spoke in a quiet voice: - -"Say not one word of this to any one. To-morrow I will acknowledge -everything, only saying that the money was paid to me instead of to you, -and that you are innocent. I shall resign my seat in the Senate--I am -telegraphing to-night to the Governor of the State to that effect. It -is much better for us not to meet again. I shall go to my ranch in the -Sierras. I gave you a deed to this house when we were married, you -remember, so it is yours, with everything in it, except my books, and I -will give you an income to support it and to supply every reasonable -wish you may have, but on one condition only." - -Alicia was looking at him with wide, wild eyes. - -"What is that condition?" she gasped. - -"That you make no effort whatever to see or communicate with me again. -I shall leave this house to-morrow morning, never to re-enter it." - -[Illustration: "'I shall leave this house to-morrow morning, never to -re-enter it'"] - -He turned and went into his own study, closed and locked the door. - -Alicia's mood of terror changed suddenly to one of fury. She had heard -of these people who had no understanding of the temptations that beset -the weaker ones. Her husband had decided everything as if she were a -child, or rather as if she had not existed; he had hardly listened to -her stumbling regrets, her sobbed-out confession. In one short hour it -seemed as if his love had turned to the bitterest hate. If he would but -have been reasonable something might have been done, but without one -moment's hesitation he was sacrificing himself and her, too. She threw -herself upon the bed, torn with fury and remorse and a multitude of -emotions, which she could neither control nor understand. - -The servants in the house knew that something had happened, and when -dinner was announced did not expect either the Senator or Mrs. March to -come down. Senator March, however, did so, with the same extraordinary -coolness and courage with which he would have dined the night before his -execution. The door-bell had been ringing constantly, and cards, -letters and telegrams had begun to arrive in shoals. No one had been -admitted, but half-a-dozen reporters were camped out on the pavement. - -When Senator March's solitary dinner was over he returned to his study -and called up by telephone his man of business, James Watson, arranging -with him to come at ten o'clock with his stenographer, prepared to work -all night if necessary. As the evening wore on, the ringing of the -telephone and door-bells, the delivery of despatches and letters -increased, but only one person was admitted other than Watson, who -arrived punctually at ten. About eleven o'clock an elderly gentleman, -whom the footman recognised as the Secretary of State, called, and when -the footman gave the stereotyped message, that Senator March asked to be -excused, the Secretary paid no attention to it, walked across the hall -and upstairs into the study. Watson and the stenographer rose at once, -and left the floor clear for the great man and the Senator. - -"What about this yarn in the afternoon newspapers?" asked the Secretary -abruptly as soon as the door closed. - -"I have just telegraphed to the Governor of the State that a vacancy -will exist in the Senate after twelve o'clock to-morrow," answered -Senator March; "I am prepared to confess everything before the Senate -to-morrow and resign my seat." - -"What have you to confess?" asked the Secretary, "it was your----" - -He had meant to say "your wife," but something in Senator March's eyes -stopped him. - -"I am the guilty person," he said, looking the Secretary steadily in the -eye, "it is better for me and better for the party that I should get out -now." - -"What do you mean?" cried the Secretary of State. - -"Just what I say. Not a vote will be lost to the party in the Senate as -the state legislature is ours, but I must go, and go quickly." - -The Secretary began an impetuous argument but presently stopped, saying: - -"I fear it is useless for me to reason with you. A Berserker madness -possesses you." - -"It is a question of honour," replied Senator March. - -The Secretary of State, who had been walking about the room eyeing -Senator March, went up to him and offered his hand. - -"It is useless for me to remain," he said. "I think I know the truth of -the business, and perhaps I should act just as you are acting. -Good-bye." - -He grasped Senator March's hand, and the two men, looking into each -other's eyes, understood perfectly. If Senator March had been guilty, -as he proclaimed, the Secretary of State was not the man to offer him a -hand. - -Meanwhile, in these eventful hours, at the White House, and at every -other political centre in Washington, the agitation was profound, nor -was it confined to those who had a direct interest in Senator March's -downfall. That night there was a large dinner at the British Embassy, -and although the subject of Senator March was uppermost in every mind -little was said about it, and that with bated breath. It was too -astounding and not to be intelligently discussed until Senator March had -been heard. The general belief was not far from the real truth. - -When the last guest was gone, Sir Percy and his wife went to Lady -Carlyon's own sitting-room. It was the first moment they had been alone -together since they had seen the startling news in the evening journal. -As they entered the room, Lady Carlyon gave her husband his favourite -chair, and drew the lamp shade so that the light should not vex him--all -those graceful little attentions which are so soothing to a wearied and -perplexed man. She knew by intuition what his first words would be. - -"It seems to me," he said, "as if I had brought about this whole -frightful catastrophe, as I introduced Senator March to Alicia Vernon. -But for me, and for my folly and bad conduct sixteen years ago, Alicia -Vernon and Senator March would probably never have met. All the -consequences ought to have fallen upon me, but you see they don't, they -fall upon the man who is the soul of truth and honour, and wreck him -while I sit in peace by my own fireside with you." - -Lady Carlyon, being a true woman, would rather the consequences of her -husband's early misdoing should fall anywhere than on him, and with a -woman's conception or misconception of abstract justice said so to Sir -Percy. He felt, however, as if the Fates and Furies had fallen upon the -wrong man. Lady Carlyon combated this with tender sophistry, which did -not convince her husband. - -"At all events," she said, "Senator March is an innocent man, and can no -doubt disprove all these things. I should like to hear his disclaimer. -Would there be any objection to my going to the Senate chamber, for of -course the matter will be taken up at once?" - -Lady Carlyon had not been brought up in a representative's family -without knowing something of the way things went on in Congress. - -"I think you may go," replied Sir Percy. "Of course, Senator March is -innocent, but it would be just like him to sacrifice himself for his -wife." - -"As you or any other man, who is a man, would do," responded Lady -Carlyon. - -"Yes; but men are not called upon to sacrifice themselves for the right -kind of women like yourself, my dainty Lady Lucy," and then they kissed -each other, and forgot for a time all the troubles and perplexities and -remorses of life. - -The next morning dawned clear and bright and soft, an ideal spring -morning in Washington. Alicia March, who had not once lost herself in -sleep through all the miserable hours of the night, rose early and -dressed herself without her maid. Throughout the splendid house was the -sombre and intangible atmosphere of calamity; the servants had read the -newspapers, and knew that disgrace and disaster were at hand for the -master and mistress of that house. They were full of curiosity, and -whispered among themselves, speculating upon their chances of getting -new places. - -Alicia watched the whole of the early morning for some communication -from her husband in his locked room, only two doors away from her, but -there was no message or letter. Senator March's own brougham always -came for him at half-past ten, and it was the same on this fateful -morning. Alicia, looking out of the window, saw some light luggage -brought down and placed upon the box. She turned to her desk, and -writing a few appealing words, took them herself to the door of the -study and knocked loudly. She could hear voices within--Senator March -giving his directions to his secretary and to Watson, his man of -business. No attention was paid to her, not even when she thrust the -note under the door. There was, however, a pause, and she thought -perhaps her husband was reading what she had to say. She did not hear -another door of the study open and the three men pass quickly down the -softly carpeted stair, but hearing the bang of the carriage door, she -ran toward the window and saw her husband drive off alone. A wild -desire took possession of her to see the tragedy brought about by -herself played to the end. She rang the bell violently for her maid, and -with great agitation was dressed in the same simple black gown and hat -and thick veil she had worn when going to Colegrove's hotel in the -winter. As on that day, she went out as if to walk, not caring for her -carriage to be seen at the Capitol, and, calling a cab, directed the man -to drive her to the dome-capped building on the hill. - -She had feared being recognised, but when seeing the surging mass of -people, those crowds of the unknown who year in and year out swarm -through the Capitol, pack the galleries and block the corridors, who -seem strangers to the town and to each other, she realised that there -was little danger of her identity being known. She joined the surging -mass, and was swept onward to the public gallery, where the crowd was -clamouring at the doors and the doorkeepers were holding them back. -Alicia, making her way toward one of the doorkeepers, whispered: - -"I am Mrs. March, and desire to go inside." - -The man recognised her instantly; he had often seen her passing through -the corridors on the way to and from the private gallery--Senator -March's wife was too important a person to be unknown to the Capitol -officials. He opened the door a foot or two, and, still keeping the -crowd back, passed Alicia into the gallery. There was scarcely standing -room, and Alicia was almost suffocated with the pressure; nevertheless, -standing at the very back of the crowd, she was safe from observation. -She glanced around the great hall with its grained-glass ceiling through -which the yellow sunlight filtered, casting a mellow glow upon the -scene. Nearly every senator was in his seat, and every gallery, even -the one sacred to the diplomats, was filled. There on the front bench -sat Lady Carlyon. Never had she appeared more handsome; she wore a -white gown and a hat decked with roses, and seemed the epitome of the -spring. She was smiling and talking to the French Ambassador, who was -leaning over toward her. To Alicia's miserable eyes it seemed as if -Lady Carlyon were there to flaunt her happiness, her splendid position, -her youth and beauty, in the face of the storm and shipwreck which would -that day befall Alicia March and her husband. - -It was still half-an-hour before the Vice-President's gavel would fall, -and it was one of the most painful half-hours in Alicia March's life. -She cowered behind her neighbours and dreaded to be seen, while Lady -Carlyon seemed to court the attention of which she was the object. -Precisely at twelve o'clock the Senate was called to order and the -Chaplain offered a short prayer. Just as the prayer was concluded, -Senator March entered the chamber; except for his deathly pallor, he -gave no indication of what he had undergone, nor of the ordeal before -him. He walked to his desk and sat down; every eye was fixed upon him, -but there was some pretence of beginning routine business. When he rose -and, catching the Vice-President's eye, asked to be heard upon a point -of the highest privilege, the Vice-President bowed, and instantly -silence like that of death fell upon the Senate Chamber. Senator March -spoke in a perfectly composed manner and his voice, though low and -agreeable, had a carrying power which made it distinctly audible in -every part of the vast hall and galleries. He alluded to the -publication of the charges affecting him, and then declared, without a -quaver, that there was enough of truth in them to make it advisable that -he should resign his seat in the Senate, adding that he had already -telegraphed his resignation to the Governor of the State. He had -nothing to say in extenuation, and only one thing to say in explanation; -this last was that he alone was concerned in the A.F.&O. transactions. - -"There have been certain innuendos," he said, raising his voice -slightly, "against an innocent person, a perfectly innocent and helpless -person, whom I now appear to defend. To bring, even by implication, the -name of this person into this matter was most cruel and unjustifiable, -and I hereby protest against it with all my might. I ask no -consideration for myself, but I demand it for that misjudged and -blameless person who has been attacked under the cover of the public -press. I leave this chamber never to return to it; if a lifetime of -regret can atone for what, I now feel, was not the proper use of my -position as senator, these acts of mine will be atoned. I can say no -more, and I can say no less." - -The whole incident did not occupy five minutes. The breathless silence -was maintained as Senator March came out into the aisle and bowed low to -the Vice-President, by whom the bow was scrupulously returned, and at -the same moment, acting by a common impulse, every senator rose to his -feet; this was followed by a sound like the waves upon the seashore, for -every spectator in the galleries also rose, moved by that spectacle of -the most high-minded of men taking upon himself the burden of another's -guilt. - -Senator March stopped for a moment and glanced around the chamber in -which he had had a place for nearly fifteen years. The great wave of -sympathy and respect made itself obvious to him. The colour rushed to -his pale face, and then as suddenly departed, leaving him whiter than -before. He walked with a steady step towards the door and the -door-keepers, in throwing the leaves wide for him, bowed low, a salute -which Senator March returned with formal courtesy. - -Then the silence was broken by a faint cry and a commotion in the public -gallery; it was thought that some one, overcome by the crowd and -excitement, had fainted. Not so; it was Alicia March who had uttered -that faint cry, but the next moment she had slipped through the door and -was making her way swiftly out of the place. No one stopped her or even -recognised her, and she made her way to the ground-floor entrance, where -Senator March's carriage was drawn up. She saw her husband pass out -directly in front of her. His step was still steady and his iron -composure had not deserted him. He entered the waiting carriage, which -was driven rapidly off, and when it was out of sight down the hill -Alicia crept forth and stepped into the shabby cab, in which the most -luxurious of women had gone, as it were, to the place of execution. - - - - - *XII* - - -It took half-an-hour for the decrepit cab horse to drag the vehicle to -the door of the splendid home which was now Alicia March's alone. As -she entered she met Watson. - -"Is my husband here?" she asked. - -Watson raised his eyebrows in cool contempt. - -"He is on his way to his ranch in the West, never to return. May I see -you now for a few minutes to transact some necessary business?" - -Alicia without a word led the way to her own boudoir, passing the door -of her husband's study. The desk was clear and already men were at work -packing the books which were all that Roger March took from the noble -fittings of what had once been his home. It was so like removing the -paraphernalia of a dead man that Alicia shuddered as she passed the -door. Seated at a table in her own rooms, Watson passed over to her -certain deeds, papers, and a bank-book showing a large sum of money -deposited to her credit at the bank. - -For all of these he required Alicia's signed receipt, which she -mechanically gave, understanding little of the details of business. -When it was over, Watson rose and took his hat. - -"But," said Alicia, dazed and distraught by all that had passed so -quickly, and helpless in the management of affairs, "what shall I do -with these things? Will you take charge of them? I really don't--don't -understand." - -"Excuse me," answered Watson coldly, "it is impossible for me to act -further in your affairs. If you wish any more information, and will -notify me who is your man of business, I will consult with him at any -time." And without saying good-morning, and putting his hat on in her -presence, Watson left the room. - -Alicia sat stunned, but dimly conscious of the indignity and affront put -upon her. She was of a caste accustomed to all the niceties of respect, -and she had managed to retain them until now. She began to ask herself, -if she received such treatment from Watson, what might she expect from -the whole world? And then there was an awful sense of loss in the mere -absence of her husband. Often during the four years of her last -marriage it had seemed to her as if her husband was the person who put -everything out of joint. She had her establishment, her money, her -liberty, and could do as she pleased, which was freely granted her, and -life would have been delightful, but close to her always was this man -before whom she must ever act the part of a perfectly upright woman. It -was that which had produced the curious sense of dislocation and -bewilderment which had always haunted her. Now that he was gone, -however, the dislocation and bewilderment seemed greater than ever. She -came of good fighting stock, and presently she found a little of her -courage, and began to think what was best to do in order to save -herself. The first thing, of course, was to have her father come to -her. She wrote out a long and urgent cablegram, certain to bring General -Talbott at once, and then ringing for a servant, sent it off. There -would be time enough before General Talbott's arrival to consider what -she should tell and what should remain unknown. Then the thought that -Sir Percy and Lady Carlyon must surmise the truth came to her, and it -was poignant enough to make itself felt even in those first hours of -shock. She was no more able to rid herself of the involuntary hold -which Sir Percy Carlyon had upon her than she had been a dozen years -before. With the Carlyons, however, she had a strong card to play in -General Talbott, who would soon be at hand. She sent for the servants -and calmly informed them that her husband, whom she called Mr. March for -the first time, would be absent indefinitely, and that the establishment -would be kept up, and they could retain their positions if their conduct -remained good. - -In the afternoon Colegrove's card was brought up to her. She went down -into one of the vast, silent drawing-rooms to see him. Colegrove was not -pleased at this, and would rather have seen her in her boudoir, but -nevertheless met her with a smile and debonair manner. Alicia looked -pale, but her manner was quite composed. - -"I hope you will pardon me for saying that I am afraid your husband has -acted hastily," said Colegrove, when they were seated, "but of course -the career of a man like that can't be closed so suddenly. All this -will blow over in time, and five years from to-day we may see him in the -Senate again. As far as I am concerned, I have lost a good friend, and -I shall now be hounded into retirement, if not into prison." - -He smiled as he spoke, showing his white even teeth, and Alicia could -not but admire his cool courage in the face of what must have been to -him a catastrophe scarcely less than her own. They were sitting in the -embrasure of a window, and their low voices were lost in the expanse of -the great room. Nevertheless Colegrove did not consider it an ideal -place to say what he had come to say. He said it, however, glancing -through the wide-open doors to see that no person was in hearing. - -"March has accused himself of what no one believes, but has left you to -bear the real burden. That is really what his alleged confession -amounts to. I don't think that you owe him anything. If he stays away, -as you tell me he means to, you may claim your freedom at any time, and -then perhaps you will consider me, who would never leave you as March -has done. For my own part, I, of course, can get a divorce any day I -choose." - -The same strange feeling of indignation came over Alicia which she felt -when Colegrove had once before made implication against Roger March. -Still she did not repulse him, who was the only human being that had -voluntarily come to her that day, and she felt intuitively that he was -the only one who would continue to come. - -"You must not speak of such things," she said coldly, and rising. - -Colegrove rose too. He had implanted the notion in her mind that March, -after all, had sacrificed her, and that she was nothing to him. A new -expression came into Alicia's speaking eyes. She looked fixedly at -Colegrove and then bent her head in reflection. - -"I go now," said Colegrove, "to fight my battle. I don't know how, or -when, or where it will end, but if they drag me down I will, like -Samson, drag down all I can with me, and the crash will be heard from -one end of this continent to the other. Here is an address that will -always find me." - -He lifted her passive hand to his lips, put a card within it, and went -away without another word. - -Alicia spent the intervening hours between then and a solitary dinner -walking up and down the great drawing-rooms. She did not give Colegrove -a thought; her mind, agonised and tormented, was working upon the -problem whether or not March, in the intensity of his anger, had -deliberately sacrificed her. - -The sense of fitness and good taste, which had never left Alicia Vernon, -remained with Alicia March. She did not run away from Washington, but, -having determined to take up the attitude of an injured woman, remained -in her house, but in strict seclusion. Every day she took the air in a -closed carriage, or, heavily veiled, walked for hours. She continually -met her acquaintances, who spoke to her coolly and passed on, and Alicia -did the same. A few persons, chiefly silly women and foolish young men, -left cards for her, but Mrs. March, knowing that such backing was a -detriment instead of a help, was excused at the door. She had received -an immediate response from her father, who had taken the first steamer -for America. Within a fortnight from the day Roger March left his home -General Talbott arrived. He knew of March's resignation from the -Senate, and Alicia, in the first hour of her father's arrival, put in -his hand the newspaper which contained the charges and _The -Congressional Record_, with March's speech, and left him to draw his own -conclusion. General Talbott read them through carefully, and then, -taking Alicia's hand, said to her with tears in his brave old eyes: - -"My child, you have been singled out for ill-treatment, and to bear the -sins of others. March's conduct was inherently wrong, but it showed a -cruel disregard of you not to make some show of fight for his name. -Your father, however, will remain your steadfast friend." - -The presence of General Talbott sensibly improved Alicia March's -position in Washington. His old friends, of whom he had many, called to -see him, and perforce left cards for Mrs. March. Among them was the -card of Sir Percy Carlyon, but no card was left for Alicia, nor did Lady -Carlyon's card accompany her husband's. Alicia observed this, but she -did not choose to notice it openly at present. She meant that -considerable time should pass before she began an active struggle to -regain her lost position. - -Early in May the great house was shut up and Alicia March and her father -sailed for England. It was two years and a half before she reappeared -in Washington. During that interval no one in Washington heard of -March, except Watson, who received occasional communications from him on -business. He seemed to have dropped out of the world; the depths of the -Sierras is a very good hiding-place for a broken-hearted man. - -Those two years and a half seemed to be unclouded for the Carlyons. Sir -Percy found his mission exactly to his liking, and his prestige was -steadily increased by his management of affairs. It even met with the -approval of Lord Baudesert, who found himself unable to keep away from -his beloved Washington. Mrs. Chantrey, whose hopes of being an -Ambassadress had been dashed by Lord Baudesert's retirement, still -cherished dreams of being Lady Baudesert, and was warmly encouraged in -her aspirations by that wicked old gentleman during his whole visit to -Washington. Eleanor Chantrey had remained unmarried. Her beauty and -her fortune would have enabled her to make a choice of many brilliant -marriages, but deep in her heart rankled something like disappointment. -She had not been in love with Sir Percy Carlyon, but she would have -married him if he had asked her, an attitude of mind commoner among -women towards men than is generally supposed. Eleanor was certainly -fitted to be an Ambassadress, but Lady Carlyon had fitted herself with -consummate address for that lofty position. Lord Baudesert was openly -delighted at the position which Lady Carlyon had made for herself. Her -dignity, her sweetness and good sense had given her also a prestige -which made her backing of the greatest value. Every woman in Washington -society whose social and personal record was not like the driven snow -was eager for the support of Lady Carlyon. With natural good judgment -and acquired prudence Lady Lucy, as Lord Baudesert, like Sir Percy, -called her, managed to escape every pitfall. She could neither be used, -nor worked, wheedled, nor bullied, but pursued a course inspired alike -by good taste and good feeling. Her two boys increased day by day in -beauty and intelligence, and Sir Percy would have reckoned himself among -the happiest as well as the most successful of men but for the memory of -Alicia March. He was haunted by the thought, not without reason, that -he was responsible for the tragedy which had befallen Roger March. He -could readily imagine the motive which inspired March, and the thought -of him dragged down by his wife's dishonour, seeking oblivion in the -farthest corner of the continent, was a keen and ever-present regret to -Sir Percy Carlyon. He had heard occasionally from General Talbott, who -was abroad with his daughter. The great March house remained closed but -tenantless, and Sir Percy surmised that Alicia March would in time -return to the scene of her greatest triumphs and her deepest -humiliation. - -The echoes of the great railway scandal lasted during all of these two -years and a half. Colegrove was not the man to go down without a -terrific struggle. March's acknowledgment of the charges and his -resignation would have been too strong for any except the strongest of -men to withstand, but Colegrove, finding himself with his back to the -wall, fought with a desperation worthy of a better cause. He had the -money, the courage and the adroitness to drag everything into the -courts, where the law's delay was a great help to him. So many powerful -interests were involved that they made a bulwark around him. At the end -of the two years and a half he was actually in much better case than he -had been when he had first been pinned to the wall by his enemies, and -his supply of ammunition had been increased. He had succeeded, by -pouring out money like water, in enmeshing everybody and everything in a -legal tangle from which no one could see a way out. His natural genius -for making money was such that he could always contrive to make vast -sums, and the wonder was, as with a clever pickpocket, why he did not -satisfy himself with the brilliant success he could have made -legitimately. Every two or three months during that time he -communicated with Alicia March. He had an apparent reason for doing so, -as he represented that the stocks held for her in his name were always -earning dividends, and every letter contained a cheque. One of these -letters informed her that his wife had got a divorce from him. The poor -lady had in truth been goaded into it. Alicia March made no reference -to this in the brief replies she sent to his letters. - - - - - *XIII* - - -One afternoon in December, nearly three years after Mrs. March had left -Washington, Lady Carlyon was driving through the fashionable street in -which the March house was situated. Lord Baudesert, who was on his -annual visit to Washington, was in the carriage with her. - -"Look, my Lady Lucy!" he said; "Mrs. March has come back, like another -Joan of Arc, to defy her enemies. By Jupiter! that woman is as brave as -Hector and Lord Nelson rolled in one. I have heard some pretty stories -about her." - -Some of these stories related to Lady Carlyon's husband, but Lord -Baudesert gave no hint of this. Lady Carlyon glanced out of the -carriage window and saw that the splendid March house was occupied. A -handsome carriage, with a pink and white footman and coachman to match -exactly, was standing before the door, and at that moment Alicia March, -accompanied by General Talbott, came out and entered the carriage. Lady -Carlyon, whose eyes were quick, got a brief but complete view of her. - -"She seems quite unchanged," said Lady Carlyon to Lord Baudesert, "and -doesn't look a day older than when she left Washington." - -"How keen you women are about this thing of looks," replied Lord -Baudesert, his black eyes twinkling under his beetling brows. - -"It is you who make us value our youth and looks so much," said Lady -Carlyon in response, smiling and composed, though all the while her -heart was beating with pain--pain for herself and for her husband. - -"Mrs. March, I see, has brought Talbott with her, and Talbott's backing, -I take it, is worth that of ten ordinary men with pistols in their -pockets," was Lord Baudesert's next remark. - -"Sir Percy can never forget his obligations to General Talbott," replied -Lady Carlyon. - -"And Alicia March won't let him forget them if he would." Then, -catching sight of Mrs. Chantrey taking her constitutional, Lord -Baudesert halted the carriage, scrambled out, and was soon promenading -up and down Connecticut Avenue with that eternally hopeful lady, to her -undisguised rapture. She lamented to Lord Baudesert Eleanor's hardness -of heart toward the other sex, and Lord Baudesert was lauding the -unexpected good sense of the three Vereker girls, each one of whom had -married a curate, and could not expect to do any better. - -Lady Carlyon, when she reached home, and was alone with her husband, -told him of the new arrivals. - -"You must prepare to meet them," she said resolutely, "and even to have -them to dinner." - -Sir Percy sighed heavily. - -"What have I not brought upon you, my poor child?" he said. - -"Nothing I cannot bear," responded Lady Carlyon. - -Three days afterwards the expected happened--Alicia March and General -Talbott called at the British Embassy. They came at an hour when they -were sure to find the Carlyons at home. As Lady Carlyon had said, Mrs. -March gave no outward sign of the stress and storm through which she -must have passed. She and Lady Carlyon met and talked as do two women -of the world who mutually hate and distrust each other, but who expect -to meet at dinner. Mrs. March spoke pleasantly of her travels with her -father. They had spent two winters in Egypt, and their summers cruising -on the Dalmatian coast, but, after all, she said, Washington was the -most agreeable place of all the winter resorts she had ever known, and -she had determined to pass her winters there hereafter. She did not -tell Lady Carlyon of the strange desire she felt to get back to the same -orbit in which Sir Percy moved, nor of the equally strange inability she -had to forget her husband. She had every reason to remain abroad, where -the catastrophe of her Washington life was little known, and where the -prestige of her father's name was greater and more general, but that -strange instinct which makes a murderer return to the scene of his crime -will always make a woman like Alicia March return to the scene of her -adventures. - -Lady Carlyon said to the General what she could not very well avoid -saying, that she hoped he would soon come to dine with them, but named -no date. It required all Sir Percy's self-control to prevent General -Talbott from seeing how unwelcome his daughter was at the British -Embassy. Nevertheless, this was accomplished, and after a longish visit -General Talbott went away feeling that in Sir Percy and Lady Carlyon his -poor Alicia had two staunch friends. - -There was, however, no escape for the Carlyons for the dinner invitation -to Alicia March with General Talbott, and a few days afterwards it was -despatched and promptly accepted. Mrs. March's presence at the British -Embassy did much to re-establish her, for there were many persons, -especially in public life, who surmised the truth, and that Roger March -was simply lying like a gentleman when he took the blame upon himself. -The smart set, however, does not always keep labels on public men and -things, and besides its members have short memories. Roger March's name -was never mentioned by his wife or in her presence; Alicia March took up -the attitude of an injured woman who bears in silence the defection of -her husband; therefore, by the exercise of tact, courage and industry, -knowing where to leave cards and where not, she found herself steadily -regaining her former position in Washington society. When it was -getting on best, however, it was suddenly retarded by the appearance of -Colegrove, and his frequent visits to Mrs. March. Alicia knew the world -too well not to understand the risk of any association with Colegrove. -But Colegrove, himself, had impressed upon her at his first visit that -she must assume the attitude of a perfectly innocent woman and not -decline his visits. He had in him such power of coercing her that -Alicia accepted his views, as most others did when brought into contact -with him. - -Alicia never saw him alone--she always had her father to act as -sheepdog. When General Talbott was not at home Colegrove was always -informed that Mrs. March asked to be excused. Colegrove took his rebuffs -coolly, and continued to call during the visiting hours when he was -likely to be seen at Mrs. March's door. He was in the act of pulling the -bell on the day when Lady Carlyon called to leave cards on Mrs. March. -Twice afterwards in the same week Lady Carlyon saw Colegrove evidently -coming from Mrs. March's house, and she spoke of it to Sir Percy. The -very next day came a dinner invitation from Alicia March asking Lady -Carlyon to name an evening when she and Sir Percy could dine with Mrs. -March and General Talbott. Sir Percy ground his teeth when Lady Carlyon -was writing a conventional note of acceptance, naming a date some weeks -ahead. - -The week before the dinner a note came from Lady Carlyon saying that Sir -Percy and herself were asked to the White House to meet a distinguished -Englishman visiting the United States, and must, therefore, ask to be -excused from Mrs. March's dinner. Alicia replied with an equally -conventional note. A fortnight later she called at the Embassy, and -with her sweetest voice and manner asked Lady Carlyon to name another -date for dining with her. Again Lady Carlyon named a date. The morning -of the dinner Sir Percy went into his wife's boudoir, and after standing -silent for a while with an angry and sombre face, said to her: - -"I can't have you dining with Alicia March. I always hated it, and I -find that man Colegrove is at her house a great deal. You must have a -headache, cold or something by which you can excuse yourself. I will -go; I am not better than Alicia March, but you are ten thousand times -better than she." - -Usually Lady Carlyon could reason with her husband, but on this occasion -he was quite intractable. Lady Carlyon therefore wrote a note of excuse -and secluded herself for the day, alleging illness. Sir Percy went to -the dinner, and found an odd conglomeration of guests, very much like -that collected by the rich man in the Bible for his son's wedding. -Alicia was perfectly conscious of the collection she had made, but bore -herself with her usual dignity and outward composure. Even General -Talbott, who had felt a secret uneasiness concerning Alicia's reception -in Washington, was conscious that her dinner guests were of a somewhat -mixed variety, and hinted as much to her the next day. He even -mentioned that Colegrove's visits to the house might be misunderstood. -Alicia was of the same opinion. Colegrove still possessed for her the -interest a woman feels for a man who is deeply interested in her, and, -besides, Colegrove was the only man she had ever known who understood -her inability to make any income she might have meet her expenses. He -never scolded her, but seemed to think her continual want of money an -amiable weakness. Nevertheless Alicia, growing frightened at the -changing attitude of society toward her, wrote a note to Colegrove -imploring him not to come again to see her. In reply, Colegrove called -to ask for an explanation. He caught Alicia just as she was entering -the house. Without waiting for an invitation, he walked into the great -drawing-room, where their last private interview had occurred, nearly -three years before. - -"Of course," said Alicia, when they were out of hearing, though not out -of sight, "you are trying to compromise me." - -"All is fair in love," replied Colegrove calmly; "you had better let me -come openly, and ask me to dinner." - -Alicia would make no promise, but when she was alone in her boudoir she -reflected upon the strangeness of the American character. Two Americans -loved her; one had made a stupendous sacrifice for her, and the other -was pursuing her with an ingenuity of persistence, a handiness of -resource, which was new and puzzling to her English mind. And then as -women do who know how to think, she began to consider with a kind of sad -wonder why she could not emancipate herself from the influence of -Colegrove, and from that of Sir Percy Carlyon, and, what was strangest -of all, from the memory of Roger March, and did not realise that men -only have the art of forgetting. - -"No woman, alas! forgets," she thought to herself, and, rising, went to -her husband's rooms, and, closing the door after her, she walked about -them aimlessly. Roger March had done her a fearful injury; such -quixotism as his could benefit no one. She felt a deep resentment -against him, but that was far from forgetting him. In the four years -and a half of her life with Roger March there had been a continual sense -of discomfort; his personality, agreeable though it was, seemed -perpetually at war with her secret self. She had taken him as the -necessary adjunct of his fortune, and she should have been glad to get -rid of him, if only she could forget him. But she found herself -continually thinking about him, wondering what kind of existence he led, -and if he ever felt any regret as to what he had done. She had thought -herself the coolest-headed and best-balanced of women, but she seemed, -as she grew older, to be losing rather than gaining her self-possession. - -Things had come to such a pass by the end of the season that Alicia was -slipping back socially. One thing which she felt necessary for her to -do, if she was to remain in Washington, was to have Lady Carlyon seen at -her house. She could not for ever go on giving invitations which were -cleverly evaded. The only thing was to seek Lady Carlyon and bring the -matter to an issue. To do this it would be necessary to take Lady -Carlyon unawares, for she would certainly excuse herself if Mrs. March -called at the Embassy at an unusual time, and there would be no chance -for her if she went at the customary visiting hour. Alicia therefore -watched for her opportunity and determined to seize it anywhere and at -any time. It came most unexpectedly. - -One night she and General Talbott were at the theatre, and when the -first act of the play was half over Sir Percy and Lady Carlyon appeared -in an upper box alone. Sir Percy, after seating his wife comfortably, -said a few words and went out, carrying his hat and great-coat. Lady -Carlyon, sitting far back in the box, watched the play and was quite -unobserved by any one in the audience except Alicia March. When General -Talbott went out of the theatre after the curtain came down on the first -act, Alicia, seeing the way clear before her, climbed the narrow stairs -to the box and walked in on Lady Carlyon. Never did Lady Carlyon have a -more unwelcome guest, or one with whom she less desired a private -conversation. She greeted Alicia politely, however, and said: - -"Sir Percy will return in a little while. He had an appointment for -half-an-hour this evening, and brought me to the play to await him." - -"I am very glad," replied Alicia in her sweetest voice, "that he is -absent, because I wish to ask you a question of the most private -nature." - -Then she took a chair, and the two women, each perfect mistress of -herself, began the duello. "It is," continued Alicia softly, "whether -you have any real objection to entering my house?" - -Lady Carlyon remained silent, and after a minute Alicia March spoke -again: - -"I see you have; I may as well speak frankly. As an Englishwoman, and -strangely situated as I am, I can't expect any recognition if the -British Ambassador, who is supposed to be one of my oldest -acquaintances, and certainly my father's greatest friend, refuses to -allow his wife, or his wife refuses, to come to my house. It is not much -to ask." - -"Sir Percy feels that it is a great deal to ask," replied Lady Carlyon, -a faint colour appearing in her usually pale cheeks. - -Their voices were so low that not a person, even those in the next box, -could make out what they were saying. All over the theatre was the buzz -of conversation, and the brilliant lights penetrated even the dim -interior of the upper box. - -"Sir Percy, then," said Alicia after a pause, "has told you all?" - -Lady Carlyon inclined her head silently, her eyes lighting up with anger -as she looked resolutely in Alicia March's calm face. - -"Tell him from me, please," Alicia continued after a pause, while the -two women steadily eyed each other, "that he may take his choice, either -of sending you to my house or having that early story between us made -known to certain persons in power. You know these Americans are a -prudish people, and, ridiculous as it may seem, the fact of the -relations between your husband and myself in our youth being made known, -and the fact that he has been at my house and I have been to yours, -would cause an intimation to him that he had better leave Washington. -You may tell Sir Percy, also, that your absence from my house is -perplexing and troubling to my father, and for that reason, if for no -other, I mean that you shall come to my house, or Sir Percy's diplomatic -career in Washington will be ended." - -"Sir Percy is not a man to yield to threats," replied Sir Percy's wife. -By this time her cheeks were crimson, but her voice was still composed. - -"These are not threats, but promises. I grant you I could not do this -except in Washington. I should be laughed at anywhere in Europe if I -attempted to make known certain facts about Sir Percy's early life, and -I could not do him the slightest harm, but you see these people are very -different. Ambassadors have been quietly notified, before this, that -their presence was not acceptable. The public are not taken into the -confidence of the people in power, nevertheless Ambassadors are ruined. -There will not be a public scandal; if there were my father would know -it, and I believe that he would shoot himself. All that I promise will -be done very quietly, but it will be done, if you and Sir Percy continue -obstinate. I shall be at home all day to-morrow and shall expect Sir -Percy to call to see me. Good-evening." - -She rose and left the box, and as she passed through the narrow lobby -outside she came face to face with Sir Percy Carlyon. - -"I have just had an interview with Lady Carlyon," said Alicia March -composedly, "and I shall expect to see you at my house some time -to-morrow." - -Sir Percy bowed in silence without showing the least surprise, and -stepped into the box. Lady Carlyon had taken a chair well at the front -of the box, and with her slender, shapely arm resting upon the ledge, -was in full view of the house. Her face was quite calm, but a deep -flush upon her usually pale cheeks showed Sir Percy that the interview -between her and Alicia March had been of an unusual nature. Obeying an -indication from his wife, Sir Percy sat also in full view of the -audience and of Alicia March, once more among the audience. She had -reached her seat before General Talbott's return, and he had no idea -that she had left it during his absence. - -"Look, my love!" he said, "there are the Carlyons. Lady Carlyon is -looking remarkably handsome and animated to-night. I think I will go -and speak with them during the next interval." - -Alicia smiled, but said nothing. It would be an added torment to the -Carlyons to have General Talbott with them. - -When the curtain came down for the second time General Talbott, as good -as his word, went to the Carlyons' box. Alicia, from below, saw him -cordially received, and Lady Carlyon, all smiles and composure, talking -with him. He left the box just before the curtain went up, and when the -Carlyons were alone Sir Percy said to his wife: - -"Would you like to leave the theatre now?" - -"By no means," answered Lady Carlyon promptly; "we will remain through -the play, and you must wait until then to know what has happened." - -"You are a brave creature, my Lady Lucy," responded her husband. - -The Carlyons were among the last people to leave the theatre, and when -they were in their carriage Lady Carlyon told her husband what had -happened. He heard it in silence and made no comment. Later, when they -had reached home and were alone, Lady Carlyon would have spoken of it -again, but Sir Percy stopped her. - -"Not any more to-night," he said; "to-morrow will be time enough." - - - - - *XIV* - - -Next morning, although it was the beginning of spring, the snow was -falling, and a biting northeast wind made the day look like one in -December. Lady Carlyon was sitting in her morning-room with her two -beautiful children at her knees when Sir Percy entered about twelve -o'clock. Nothing is so beautiful and interesting as a young mother with -her children, and Sir Percy, standing on the hearth-rug, paid his wife -the tribute of admiration. She played with the children and danced about -the room with them as if she were a child herself. Sir Percy was not -surprised at her cheerfulness; he had ever found in her that admirable -quality of courage and gaiety of heart in the presence of danger which -is half the battle. It is commonly observed that this presence of danger -produces in brave men a quickening of the intellect as well as an -exhilaration of spirits, and it is equally true of brave women. Lady -Carlyon was singularly fearless; her pride was up in arms. Alicia March -had made claim to some part and lot in Sir Percy Carlyon's life, a claim -which Lady Carlyon treated with fine scorn, and Alicia March had made -threats and had assumed the power of disposing of Sir Percy Carlyon's -career. This aroused in Lady Carlyon the spirit of defiance. These -things brought smiles to her face, a new light to her eyes, and a -haughtier carriage to her delicate head. Sir Percy knew well these -signs. Presently, however, the children were sent away and the husband -and wife were alone. - -"I am going now to see Mrs. March," said Sir Percy coolly; "I think I -may as well give up the fight. Alicia March is not the woman to make -idle threats, and she can do precisely what she says she can. Besides, -General Talbott has to be considered. It will be difficult to keep such -an affair from him, and he is one of these mediaeval men, something like -March himself, of whom no one can predict anything when a question of -his own or his daughter's honour is involved. I can quietly resign and -go away. We shall have enough to live upon modestly, and in some quiet -corner of England we can forget Alicia March, and live for each other -and our children. It is a downfall for you, my Lady Lucy, and I am the -one who has brought it upon you." - -Lady Carlyon went up to him, laying her hand on his arm, and said with -sparkling eyes: - -"Give up the fight, do you mean, and let Mrs. March drive you from your -position?" - -"There is nothing else to be done," replied Sir Percy quietly. "Think -for a moment; I can't make a fight without making it public. If I were -alone I shouldn't care for the publicity, but you--not for twenty -ambassadorships would I bring you into anything like this." - -Lady Carlyon dropped her head upon his shoulder and burst into tears, -which wrung his heart, but did not change his resolution. Half-an-hour -afterwards he was ushered into Mrs. March's boudoir, where Alicia waited -for him. Sir Percy refused the chair which she offered him and remained -standing, hat in hand. Alicia March felt a sense of triumph which -glowed in her eyes; Sir Percy had wearied of her and had scorned her, -but in the end, when he had reached the height of his ambition, she had -brought him to heel roundly after nearly nineteen years. - -"Lady Carlyon gave me your message," he said, when the first cool -greetings were exchanged. "You are quite able to do all that you have -threatened. If I were alone I should make a fight, but for Lady -Carlyon's sake I am willing to surrender. I shall require a few weeks -to arrange matters and to give the Home Government a chance to appoint -my successor, and then I shall leave the diplomatic service. That, I -think, should satisfy you." - -Alicia March remained silent, looking down. This then was her triumph! -It was not really what she wanted. She had desired the greater triumph -of having her way with Lady Carlyon. After a moment or two she spoke: - -"It is a small thing for which you are giving up your diplomatic -career--let me see, you are not forty-five. I ask only that your wife -come to my house once in a season." - -To this Sir Percy, with a cool smile, made answer: - -"I would prefer to give up the ambassadorship and retire from the -diplomatic service." - -His contempt for her pierced Alicia March's soul, yet she began to have -a dim apprehension of the nature of such men as Sir Percy Carlyon and -Roger March, who could not be moved from the point of honour. Then, as -there was nothing more to say, Sir Percy Carlyon bowed and left the -room. He had not been in the house five minutes all told. - -Alicia drew her chair up to the fireside and watched the scurrying snow -and listened to the wind clattering wildly under the eaves. She did not -know whether to feel herself victor or vanquished. The time was, only a -few years ago, when she would have glowed with the beauty and -completeness of her revenge--all women are revengeful, but it is in -general an unsated passion. Like most things ardently desired and long -delayed, her triumph over Sir Percy Carlyon had lost its savour. She -would be no better off if the Carlyons left Washington, and she felt -tolerably sure that the next Ambassadress would be as equally obdurate -towards her as was Lady Carlyon. Alicia March sighed and looked out of -the window, where the fierce blasts tortured the budding trees, and the -tender young grass shivered tinder the cruel sleet and snow. Alicia had -felt herself strange in the position of an honourable, honoured woman, -which Roger March had given her, but she felt more strange and forlorn -when suddenly cast down into the abyss from which she had been raised. -Pursued by intolerable loneliness, she returned to her own room, only to -find herself more lonely still. While she sat in aimless reverie a -letter in Colegrove's handwriting was brought into her. She looked at it -with faint interest, but it lay in her lap unopened for half-an-hour; -then she broke the seal and read: - - -"I have just heard that Roger March has been mortally ill for months, -and is probably dead by this time. I must see you soon." - - -An hour later the same footman who had brought the note came to announce -luncheon. Alicia was sitting in the same position, her eyes fixed upon -the open letter. A strange leaven had been at work in her mind; an -overwhelming desire to see and be with Roger March. Suddenly Sir Percy -Carlyon and Colegrove had become insignificant to her; even her father -was, for once, forgotten. She rose and went downstairs, trying to shake -from her this new and strange obsession. What insanity would it be for -her to go to Roger March! Almost every penny she had in the world, her -house, her carriages, nine-tenths of her income, would be forfeited by -the least attempt to see or communicate with her husband. General -Talbott was awaiting her, and together they sat down in the gorgeous -dining-room to the small round table which they commonly used when -alone. General Talbott noticed nothing out of the usual in his daughter -except that she was rather silent and ate nothing. Alicia herself -scarcely recognised her own mind and heart and soul engaged in a -conflict with her own closest and greatest interests. When luncheon was -over, General Talbott said: - -"This wintry weather will keep me indoors for the afternoon." - -To which Alicia replied: - -"I, too, shall remain at home and shall not see any visitors." - -She went up to her boudoir, fighting at every step the impulse within -her to take the first train for the Northwest. As a bar to her leaving -the house, she rang for her maid and put on a _negligee_ robe and -slippers, and lying down among the pillows of a luxurious sofa, drawn up -to the fire, shut her eyes and tried to sleep. It was in vain. Before -her came the vision of her husband, "mortally ill," as Colegrove had -said. She had never seen Roger March ill in her life, but she had a -prophetic vision of how he looked, pale and grey, with a gentle -stoicism, a stern patience, and he was alone in an adobe hut among the -far-off hills of the Northwest. If she went to him he would no doubt -repulse her. She repeated this to herself resolutely, and in the act of -repeating it rose and dressed herself, without the assistance of her -maid, in a travelling dress, and put a few things in a travelling case. -Two voices, each trying to drown the other, shrieked within her, the one -representing the madness of going to Roger March, and the other dragging -her against her will. She rang for her carriage and then, sitting at -her desk, wrote a few lines to her father: - - -"I have heard that my husband is fatally ill. I am going to him, -although I lose most of what I have by it." - - -She rang for a footman, gave him the note, and directed him not to give -it to General Talbott unless she should not return in time for dinner. -The footman, wondering, carried the travelling bag down and put it in -the carriage. Alicia, as all human beings do when leaving their habitat -for the last time, walked through the rooms which, up to that time, had -been hers. They were exquisite in their beauty, luxury and comfort. In -her bedroom she looked about her, saying to herself: - -"What madness is mine to jeopardise all of this, or rather to sacrifice -it! I remember so well how he looked when he told me that if I ever -attempted to see him I would sacrifice everything but a bare living, and -he is a man of his word." - -But even as these thoughts went through her mind her feet bore her -unwillingly towards the door. As she entered her boudoir she came face -to face with Colegrove. - -"Don't blame the flunkey," he said; "he tried to stop me, but I walked -past him, and he knew perfectly well that if he had laid a finger on me -I would knock him down. I saw your carriage at the door with luggage on -it. Where are you going?" - -"To my husband," replied Alicia in a low voice. - -Alicia had expected a strong protest, even that Colegrove would seek to -restrain her, but, on the contrary, he looked at her with a smile in his -keen eyes and said, as if answering a question: - -"Yes, I have nothing to say against your going. If Roger March is -living you will lose every penny you have except a paltry thousand or so -a year; then what I can offer you will probably bring you to my arms. -Men who don't know me think I am greedy for money. So I am, but only to -buy with it things more precious than money. But I would be glad to see -you sacrifice all the money that Roger March gave you if it would bring -you to me with nothing but the clothes on your back." - -Alicia had listened to him at first with a preoccupied air, but when his -meaning dawned upon her she turned towards him with a look which implied -that gratitude and respect for a man which every woman feels when he is -ready to sacrifice money for love. - -"So you see," he continued in the same cool, unmoved voice, "I sha'n't -stop you; but I think, from what I hear, that you won't find Roger March -alive. Then remember I have a claim on you, and it sha'n't grow rusty -for want of urging. If you are ever my wife you needn't be afraid of -telling me of your debts, as you were afraid to tell Roger March and -General Talbott. I can live on five thousand a year, and the rest of -what I have is for you to spend, and when that is spent I can make more. -May I see you to your carriage?" - -Alicia, like a sleep-walker, passed down the stairs with him. The -thought occurred to her that Colegrove's passion for her was like her -own early infatuation for Sir Percy Carlyon, a thing which, rightly -directed, might have reached the sublimest height of self-abnegation. -But in the unfamiliar mood which possessed her, body and soul, neither -Colegrove nor Sir Percy Carlyon seemed to matter. Her mind reverted to -Roger March and remained concentrated upon him. When she was in the -carriage Colegrove held out his hand and clasped Alicia's. She looked -at him with strange and puzzled eyes. If only he had tried to keep her -back; but, instead, he was rather urging her on upon the new path she -was now treading. The footman asked where she would be driven, and -Alicia replied mechanically: - -"To the railway station." - -In a little while, however, she remembered that she had not even an idea -of Roger March's address, and changing the order, she directed the -coachman to take her to Watson's offices. On the way she was saying to -herself: - -"This is a dream; it is not possible that I should really go to my -husband; I will turn back at the station or somewhere upon the long -journey. This strange spirit will cease to trouble me; I shall be -myself again and will return." - -Watson's offices were in a building not far from the railway station. -When Alicia March alighted from her carriage and went into his rooms, -the clerk, a soft-spoken young man, informed her that Mr. Watson was -out, but was expected to return at any moment. Alicia sat down in the -comfortable and well-furnished inner room, the walls covered with books, -and everything bespeaking the successful and methodical man of business. -She began to consider that Watson after all might refuse to give her -Roger March's address. At that moment her eye fell upon the table, -where lay Watson's address-book; in half-a-minute she had found Roger -March's address. She had no need to copy it--she could not have -forgotten it if she had tried. Then going back into the ante-room she -said politely to the clerk: - -"I think I need not trouble Mr. Watson after all. Good-day." - -When she was in her carriage she looked at her watch. There was a train -for the West leaving within the hour. She drove to the station, -dismissed her carriage, then, buying her ticket, sat down to wait, -feeling that she had consummated the act of madness. She wondered what -General Talbott would think of her, whether she went or whether she -stayed. No thought of Sir Percy Carlyon or Colegrove entered her mind. -When the train was called she found a porter to carry her bag and walked -through the gate. Then the habit of a lifetime made one last desperate -effort; she walked back through another gate and called a cab, firmly -resolving to go home. She got as far as the door of the station, and -then, glancing at the clock, saw that there was still one minute before -the train left. She turned and ran the length of the station through -the gate towards the train, which was just about to move. The -conductor, seeing her running towards it, caught her deftly by the arm -and put her aboard, stepping after her himself. The porter found her a -seat, and Alicia sank into it breathless and bewildered. - -"I may yet turn back," she said to herself. "It is impossible that this -impulse will hold out long enough for me to reach my husband." - -At eight o'clock that evening, as General Talbott was leaving his room -for dinner, the footman put Alicia's note into his hands. He was an old -man and things shook him as they had not done in the days when Sir Percy -Carlyon thought him the most resolute of men. Nevertheless he maintained -enough composure to say coolly to the servant: - -"Your mistress has been suddenly called out of town, and may be absent a -week or two." Then he went down to dinner. - -When it was over, he did what an Englishman regards as an act of -emergency--went out for an evening visit. He rang the bell of the -British Embassy, asked to see Sir Percy Carlyon, and was shown into the -library. When his card was handed to Sir Percy, who was taking his -coffee with Lady Carlyon in the drawing-room, he said to her, growing a -little pale: - -"It is General Talbott; it would be best for me to see him alone." - -They both thought that this meant another step in Alicia March's -programme to ruin Sir Percy Carlyon. - -Sir Percy went into the library, and as soon as he had shaken hands -General Talbott silently handed him Alicia's note. Sir Percy studied it -attentively. He knew Alicia quite as well as she knew herself, and was -as much astounded as she was at her action. Likewise he was incredulous -that she should carry it through. - -"It is four or five days' journey to the region where Roger March is," -said Sir Percy to General Talbott, "and Mrs. March may change her mind -in the meantime." - -"Yes," replied General Talbott, "but did you ever notice the strange -appeal which bodily suffering makes to a woman? Anything on earth might -have happened to March, and my daughter perhaps would have felt no -inclination to rejoin him; but for him to be ill, suffering, dying, that -was too much for her tender heart." - -Sir Percy remained silent; he, too, had often, noticed that few women -can shut their ears to the cry of bodily pain. - -"It is very perplexing," was all he could say, handing the note back to -General Talbott. - -"I am afraid, my dear fellow," said General Talbott, smiling a little, -"that I am growing old, for I felt so agitated and disturbed when I got -this note that I was compelled to seek a friend's companionship. I will -not say counsel, for there is nothing to do in the matter. There are -circumstances connected with this of a strictly private nature, which I -do not feel at liberty to mention, so I can scarcely ask for advice." - -"You can, however, be perfectly sure of my sympathy, and if I can be of -any assistance to you, at any moment, I think you will allow me the -privilege. Come into the drawing-room now with me and see Lady -Carlyon." - -"Please excuse me," answered General Talbott. "I scarcely feel equal to -seeing any one but yourself this evening," for the recollection came to -him that Lady Carlyon had not been over friendly to his poor Alicia, and -it gave his honest old heart another pang. - -Sir Percy kept him for half-an-hour, then walked back with him through -the silent streets. A thin mantle of snow was dissolving in a ghostly -white mist, which rose toward a pallid night sky in which a haggard moon -shone dimly. Sir Percy left General Talbott at his own door and -returned to the Embassy. Lady Carlyon was still in the drawing-room, and -when he entered and told her what had happened she remained silent and -thoughtful. Presently she said: - -"Perhaps there is a regeneration for Mrs. March." - -It is not in the nature of men to believe in the reform of women, and -Sir Percy said so, but Lady Carlyon answered him with the old feminine -plea: - -"Her husband is ill, is suffering; she cannot remain away from him: she -is a woman and not a monster." - - - - - *XV* - - -The early spring in the Sierras is still winter. The great masses of -snow yield only to the burning sun of summer, and the air is as sharp as -a dagger so long as the snow lasts. Black cliffs, stern precipices and -crevices holding cold and darkness bar out the spring and turn a stony -face towards her caresses. So thought Alicia March, as in the wintry -dusk she alighted from the train at the lonely mountain station. All -around her was desolation. The dusk was at hand, but on the far-off -horizon a pale green light still glowed upon the distant peaks. Below -her lay the valleys, dark, sombre and mysterious, with here and there a -light from some small homestead showing in the twilight, and a waving -line of sheep, huddling together as they were driven towards the great -sheepfold. The only house in sight upon the mountain side was an adobe -hut upon a little plateau. It was surrounded by melancholy cedars and -dark and bare-limbed ilex-trees. - -"Can you tell me," she said, going up to the station-master in his -little box of an office, "where Mr. Roger March lives?" - -The station-master, a phlegmatic person in buckskin clothes, answered -her by jerking his thumb over his shoulder towards the open door. - -"That's his house," he said--"over there on the hill." - -His eyes fell upon Alicia, and his dull mind, as little subject to -curiosity as interest, was suddenly moved. The expression of longing -despair in her eyes penetrated him a little. He then surmised the -question that Alicia would have asked but could not. - -"Mr. March is living, but in a pretty bad way, so my wife says; he is a -heap better than we ever thought he would be. My wife goes there every -day or two to look after him. He was mighty good to us when our shack -was burnt." - -Alicia, without another word, went out and followed the rude path which -led to the little adobe house. The station-master made no comment; he -was accustomed to strange meetings and partings in his remote world. - -The night had fallen when Alicia found herself outside the 'door of the -rude little house where Roger March had hidden his broken heart. Long -ago the voice of protest within Alicia had been silenced. She would -have fought and struggled to have gone to her husband. She stood -trembling in the dusk outside, afraid to raise the latch. Close to her -was an uncurtained window, through which the light of a fire gleamed. -She stole towards the window and, looking in, saw Roger March for the -first time since he had repudiated her. He sat in a rough wooden chair, -drawn up to the wide, low fireplace; his face was white like that of a -dead man, and his shrunken figure was almost lost in his clothes. His -eyes alone appeared to have life in them as he gazed steadily at the -fire. Sadness, hopelessness and humiliation were in his gaze, but he -was still sentient, living, breathing. - -The first thought that occurred to Alicia was that he yet had strength -enough left to repulse her. The evening had grown sharper, and she -stood so long outside the door that the cold penetrated to the very -marrow of her bones, and it was this, at last, which gave her the -courage to raise the latch and enter. She opened the door of the room -in which Roger March sat and then closed it softly behind her, and going -towards her husband, stopped on the other side of the fireplace some -distance from him. March raised his eyes and started and shuddered -violently when his glance fell upon Alicia, almost as pale as himself, -shivering with cold and agitation and involuntarily drawing near the -blazing fire. He attempted to rise from his chair, but fell back, -unequal to the effort. As his head rested against the back of his -chair, Alicia, with downcast head, yet saw the marks of illness and age -and grief in him, and it brought a pang to her heart such as she had -never felt before in her life. Her apparition, so strange and -unexpected, agitated March more than he could bear. Alicia did not -speak for some minutes, and then she said in the low, delicious voice -which had not lost its charm for the man who once adored her: - -"I came because I couldn't help it. I heard that you were ill. I know -you hate me, and I knew that I would lose all I had if I came, but -something stronger than myself brought me. I don't excuse what I have -done, but--but I could not keep away." - -March's pallid lips formed one word. - -"Colegrove?" - -Alicia answered in the same quiet, despairing voice: - -"He told me of your illness and reminded me that if I tried to see you I -would lose everything, but I scarcely heard what he was saying. I could -not keep away. He overtook me on the journey yesterday morning and -wished to make me promise if I found you dead that I would marry him--he -is divorced. I felt such rage against him--" She stopped and raised -her hands and clenched them with a gesture which implied a hatred of -Colegrove greater than any words could convey. "I never was worthy of -you, but perhaps if it had not been for Nicholas Colegrove I should not -have wrecked and ruined you as I have done, so it is only just that I -should be wrecked and ruined, too." Then she came nearer to him and -suddenly burst into sobs and, clasping her hands, cried: "Let me -stay--let me stay, if only for this one night. It is so cold outside, -and I know not where to go. I never wronged you with Nicholas Colegrove -except about money. Let me stay! Would you drive me out like a -houseless dog?" - -She had not yet ventured near enough to her husband to touch him. March -put his thin hands over his face, his features were convulsed, but he -said no word. Then Alicia, laying her hand on the arm of his chair, -cried: - -"You haven't told me to go away. You can't do it. I will go after a -while, when you are well, but even if you send me away I sha'n't go very -far, and something will always drag me back to you." - -March remained silent. The wind outside steadily rose and howled -wolfishly around the little house. An ilex-tree, which overhung the -roof, was beating fiercely upon it, and its strong branches tore at the -little house like the claws of a wild beast seeking to destroy it. - -No, he could not turn her out like a houseless dog! - -Then Alicia, kneeling by his chair, begged and prayed him to let her -stay. March remained silent as much from weakness as from the tumult in -his soul. The wind grew fiercer and the night wilder. At last Alicia's -hand timidly sought her husband's. - -"If you tell me to go, I will go," she whispered between her sobs, but -he could not tell her to go. - - * * * * * - -A year later, on a beautiful spring afternoon, Sir Percy and Lady -Carlyon were walking together through the park at Washington. Never had -Lady Carlyon appeared brighter or lovelier. Health, happiness and -beauty radiated from her sparkling face and beautiful dark eyes, and her -graceful step and airy movements were in themselves exhilarating. Sir -Percy, too, looked like a man whose heart was at rest as he walked by -his wife's side through the woods in which the mystery of the spring was -unfolding. - -"It is just a year," said Lady Carlyon, turning to her husband, "since -you got that strange letter from Mrs. March. Remember it was not I but -you who gave up the fight. Oh, how much braver are women than men!" - -"Yes," answered Sir Percy, "there is a time when a man is ready to -surrender, but I never saw the time when you, my Lady Lucy, were ready -to surrender." - -"Quite true," replied Lady Carlyon, smiling and glancing at her husband -under her long lashes, "but, after all, wasn't Mrs. March braver than -I?" - -"Perhaps so," answered Sir Percy. "She is altogether the strangest -woman I ever knew. I had thought her one of the worst, yet behold she -has buried herself in the wilderness with March, has given over all that -once seemed essential to her, and has cried quits with the world." - - * * * * * - -The spring in the Sierras was not so far advanced as in Washington, but -the sun shone bravely and the birds, who rested under the southern eaves -of the little adobe house on the mountain-side, flashed back and forth -merrily in the clear, blue air. The place had undergone the subtle -change which a woman's presence makes everywhere. Another room or two -and a rude veranda had been added to the original structure. Blooming -plants at the open windows leaned their bold, pretty faces to the sun; a -table on the veranda held magazines and books, and a woman's shawl was -thrown over the back of a rustic chair. A little dog--a woman's -dog--was racing gaily up and down the sunny plateau on which the little -house stood. All around was the serene stillness of the mountains and -far below in the valleys could be heard through the thin, sharp air the -tinkle of a sheep bell and a faint echo of the herdsman's voice. -Standing in the golden glow of the sun was Roger March. He had a book -in his hand, but was not reading it, and looked towards a little garden -which had been made on the southern slope of the hillside. A woman in a -garden hat was kneeling down before a bed of violets picking a few -blossoms which had dared to show their downcast faces to the rude world. -Roger March strolled towards the kneeling woman, who rose and met him -half way, holding out her hand filled with violets. It was Alicia. - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WHIRL *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45100 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the -General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and -distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the -Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a -registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, -unless you receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything -for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. 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