Exeter Advocate, 1914-7-30, Page 6CHAPTER XXVI,—(Continued).
Iailith stood for the life-size figure, not
without protest, for elle hated keeping
still, and wasa most fidgets model. In
old-fashioned drese I showed .her, passing
alone by the sand -dunes that skirt the sea,
her Crown blown about by the wind„ her
yellow hair driven across her neck fasom
under her hood, prayer -book and rosary
In hand, on her way to the church far
the sake of which elle bad deserted her
sea -fairy husband and. children. In her
etrained blue eyes there is. a startled.
listening look, for over the storm that
loo -me in the threatening eloude end stirs
the anud sea wavee she eau hear ,the voice
of the ,merman, calling •upon her in heart-
broken. accents to return to him, She
hears, and is a little frightened. but her.
sweet face is quite sold, and she clasps
her prayer -book closer to her as she hur-
rieas on.
Such was the picture which, with .all
its faults, was the greateet artistic
achievement of my life, I suppose moat
English people know it, for it was ex-
hibited in all the great towns before be-
ing bought by a renowned art patron who
has, so I hear, bequeathed it to 'the Na-
tional Gallery -when he shall. die, It was
fiuiehed before I was twenty-nine- I am
two -and -thirty now, but I know that I
shall never paint like 'that again:.
When I had been married little more
than a year, nzy uncle, Lord Caa+thester,
died, and the title went to one of my in-
valid cousins- To my deep grief, my an-
ele was never reeonealed to me, although
Madge, who nursed him devotedly, did
her utmost to soften his feelings toward
me. When, at her request, I came to the
house, and looked upon the face of the
mau who for so many years had been
ae a, father to me, calm in the awful ma-
jesty of death, I broke down altogether
and wept like a child.
Not until his will was read andthe con,
tents made known to me did I learn the
humiliating circumstaneeeethat my uncle
had cut off my allowance from the very
day of my marriage,and that since that
date it was Madge who had secretly sup-
plied the thousand a year which until
then had formed a third of my regular
income.
That Lilith and I should have been in
part living on Madge's bounty was Peru
Iiarly painful, but I could not reproach
my cousin with her quixotic generosity
now when elle was bowed with grief, and
could only refund the money through her,
lawyers and peremptorily stop all such
supplies for he future.
I was coming home through the park,
from a long and unpleasant interview
with the lawyers in question, about a
fortnight after my •unele:s funeral on- a -
bitter November day, when I was stop-
ped by the occupant of a showy carriage,
drawn by two dark -brown horses with
tremendous action.
"Hello, Hervey! why in the world are
You looking so miserable? What, man,
with only two puny lives between you and
a title with a big income., a huge artistic
euccees; •a coming R.A.-ship, and the pret-
tiest wife in London, are you of all peo-
ple beginning to realize that the world
is hollow and your dolly stuffed with
sawdust?"
It was Nicholas Wray, wham 'I had not
seen since that chance meeting in Paris
during my honeymoon; but Nicholas.
Wray with a difference. Much broader
and stouter in appearance, with .a tag
diamond ring on his finger, and his plen-
ti£nl 'tear, and beard combed and perfum-
ed over the deep sable lined collar of his
overcoat, he •looked more, like a sleek and
hen -deem Semitic millionaire than the
starving painter of the old days in. Lon-
don and in Paris.
Far the moment T forgot Madge's pro-
hibition, and greeted him in friendly fa•-
ahien enough.
You seem pretty prosperous, anyhow,'
I said.
He waved his hand airily.
"Not by .art," he returned. "Art with a
big 'A' : may go to the devil with a big
'D.' A Birmingham cousin—fortune in
pens --and he had the decency to die and
provide for me_ Never mind me! Tell
me 'why in the world you lock so miser-
able?"
By this time I had remembered Madge's
words, and I received Wray's inquiries
coldly.
'I have nothing to tell that would in -
tercet you ' I said. "And I am rather
pressed for time."
He drew back, flushing angrily.
"Don't imag=ne 1 want to force my so-
ciety upon you," he said. "It -vas only
your long face that made me stop you,
It always interests me to see people mis-
erable when they obtain their heart's de-
sire. So Iong! home, Jennings!"
CHAPTER XXVII.
Even now when I look bask, after a
Lapse of three years, I can hardly real-
ize,eti11 less describe, how it all carnal'
about, or the sequence of these events
which transformed me from one of the
ieest, espied nie;i in London to one of
the most miserable.
Far one thing, I was always busy. I
had to work early and late; so that the
ie Bening of my income might not be
felt by my wife. The early spring and
winter we usually spent round the south
coa.•t nr in French waters, painting hard
from nature in the Marsh Fairy. The
season" found ns in London, not that we
went into society, but that Lilith loved
the theatres and to see the people in the
nark. Picture exhibitions were on then,
and private views, and it was the best
part of the year in which to capture the
sally picture -buyer. Entertaining on a
small r..eala we indulged it, and Lilith
speedily became exceedingly poeular
among a -certain section of my acquaint•
ancee, at which I was not too well pleas-
ed. The "lovely' Mrs.- Hervey" got to be
her nickname, and her little naive
spewhes, half .innocent, half audacious,.
were extensively quoted -among the mem-
bers of the haute Bohemc. lden_ paiel.
ceurt to ane, as I could plainly see, in
order to be invited to my 'wife's little
nupner-parties, which would speedily have
degenerated into "rowdiness'"—for Lilith
was the most laa of hoete€ses, issued in-
vitations broadeast, let the.. men etuoke
anywhere, and urged them, to deli* free-
ly—but for the timely, laving presence of
Madge, who, to my gfeat joy and deep
gratitude, volunteered whenever she
could to be a guest ,at these Bohemian
reunions. .
Something in Madge'sstyle, manner,
and appearance; and in her position as a
greataady and a great heirees,'gave quite
another tone to these receptions, putting
the artists, jaurnaliets, musicians, and
actors, who were among my wife's most:
favoredguests, en their best behavior,
whieli indeed, is the behavior a : man
should always show in the presence of a
woman. -A few artists who had married
their models brought their ,wives, large,
red-headed, blowsy -looking creatures for
the meet part, to the first of Lilith's en-
tertainments; but when Lady Margaret
Lorimer began to attend them, and jour-
nalists, anxious to chronicle their intim-
acy with the saristooracy, alluded in the
cheaper weealies to "the lovely Mre.
Adrian Hervey's suceeesful `at home' last
Sunday at which Lady Margaret Lori-
mer looked beautiful in green, etc.,"many
women in, or nearly in, sooiety, sought
for invitations and Lilith's Sunday even-
ings became extremely nopular.
"Good-looking fellow that Adrian Her-
vey," I overheard •in the park one day in
the seeondyear of any marriage. "Some-
thing like a . younger version of Dante.
Made a mull of his marriage, like most
of those artist chaps. Engaged tohis
cousin, Lady Madge Lorimer, quarreled
with her, and went off and married a shop
girl. or au artist's model, or a slavey, I
forget which, out of pique,. She's an aKv-
fully pretty little woman. But it's a bad
thing for a man."
The words angered me extremely, but
what was I to doe The man echoed the
popular verdict. And under these certain
stances the kind of vogue which' • Lilith
acquired hurt and. annoyed me: Her
childish high spirits; -always a little re-
strained and repressed by Madge's pre-
sence, broke out -when only the wive and
sisters of artists were our guests. She
would coax, me to the piano, and would
improvise the most delightful dances,
swaving her lithe and graceful figure.—in-
nocent as ever of the disfiguring •eorset—
this way -and that in the .joy `of dancing,
a :joy which seemed part of her very be-
ing.
For myself, I never tired. of .-watching
with passionate admiration the shallops
movements of' her supple forty, of revel-
ing in the joyous abandon of her gestures;
but it vexed and angered me that other
men should share in my delight. 117 love
for Lilith was 'a jealous love, because it
was based on uncertainty. That she lik-
ed me I knew; that she lover} me a little
I was surer but the rest—ah, the rest!
The leagues that lay betweenher affec-
tionate tolerance and love, the love a man
craves for from his wife!
Before tb.e end of our second year of
marriage I began to realize that my af-
fairs had somehow grown terribly involv-
ed—that we were, in fact, living beyond
our means, and 'terribly in debt. Lilith
was always wanting money: "for the
housekeeping;" as she put it, bet an aeci-
dent revealed to me the fact that the
tradesmen's bills had not been paid for
more 'than a year.
Fifteen hundred a year I had placed to
Lilitha credit: at any bank, but on 'in-
auiry I discovered that. her account.was
heavily overdrawn. Against my will, I
grew sue -Melees and observant. I visited
the tradespeople, and found debt, debt
everywhere.
"Mrs. Hervey had promised ,faithfully
they should be paid at the end of the
year." I heard on all sides.
Even the servants' wages had not been
Paid since Christmas—over a hundred
pounds were owing, and I'had regularly
paid the money to Lilith each quarter.
I blamed myself for leaving everything
in the hands of so young and inexperi-
enced a gii1, ,and after seeking out my
lawyer and consulting him as to the best
means of raising money in a hurry, I re-
turned home late on one September after -
neon, resolved en a long talk of gentle
remonstrance with my improvident wife.
As soon as.I entered the house, xny eyes
fell on a note in Lilith's handwriting, ly-
ing en the hall table.- I caught it up and
read the fallowing words:
"Now that you have been questioning
the servants and the tradespeople, 1•
know you will and out everything. I can't
ask yon to forgive me. And I can't stay
with you any longer. I am more sorry
than I can say, for you and for myself.
But I have never loved you, youwill
do better without me. Please forget, me,
and please don't try to find me. For I
,shall never come back.
• "Lilith."
CHAPTER XXVIII.
"But I have never Ioved you, and you
will do better without me."
Those words in Lilith's letter seemed: to
burn into my brain.
My. wife, -,..hem I had worshipped so
blindly. liad never' loved me! Such love
as she had to give was never mine, and
she knew it, and now she had told me eo.
Silo never loved me! Yet she had caress-
ed me in pretty, kittenish fashion only
that morning as I left the house, had fee -
toned her .small hand;, about- my neck
and had pressed her soft cheeks to mine,
telling me to come': home early, as she
was "en dull without me," and:question-'
ing mo with what looked like tender ts -
licitude, about the troubled and -worried
look I had worn of late.
I had meant to expostulate so gently
with her, to draw her into my arms, and,
while soothing and caressing her as ono
rete •ct child who has done wrong, but
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R
-4sYNNAital6rs®d®�A' aylei®���M�,r.� ,4.o:d
whom one longs to forgive, to entreat her
to confide to me fully, and to curtail her
extravagance in the future for both our
sakes.
And now .she had deserted me, had fled
from. her home and her husband, who lov-
ed her far pester than his life, and gone
I knew not wither.
"Don't try to find me. I shall never
come back."
The words 'were there before me. But
of course she was not in.earneet! This
was . one of her old elflike freaks. She
knew that -she had "been deceiving me,'
and amid been recklessly extravagant • in
money matters. She was afraid of my
anger. and had fled, poor child, in her
a f
usual impulsive, i
p rye. rresnon.si.ve fashion.
Sae was only nineteen even now, and
knew nothing of the world. She had scrib-
bled off the letter in a hurry, and she no
more realized how terribly the words in
her letter hurt me than a kitten under -
sands at hig cla-vs ;hurt when he
th.rusEs ,them cut In play.
With the simile there flashed back into
my brain that old •prophecy of N,ieholats
Wray. when he had so etrsnuously urged
me not to marry Lilith. She was "one of
the kittenish, chorus -girl typo," he had
said, "who only cars for men who bully
them, who will play with the heart: of a
man who levee them, alternately tortur-
ing and caressing it, and then, for a whim'
of the love of change, will cast it aside
for fresh sensation."
But Wray had never understood Linde
and I•would not drink of his tvords with
regard to her. Only a few days ago, as I
had heard from other men, .he had given
a farewell supper to hie cronies in Lou-
don, and had announced his intention of
starting on the following day for an old.
'palazzo in Venice, a portion of which as
had resolved to rent and live in with a
big. bleak -heft -ed. Italian model, whom he
declared he meant to make hie wife.
Wray was a wortbless voluptuary; how
should he underetand my Lilith, of :the
'child-sdul and wayward, restless nature?
I wits too serious with her, toe much ab-
sorbed in my work. The idea that she
had .left me because she could not face
my anger over her carelessness was '!t
terrible, one to mo. What was all the
money I could ever make compared to my
darlinees ha» einess? She was too young
to manage: doubtlees she had been cheat,
ed, and—
And all this time -where wag elle?
I 'meet Lineation the servants and fled
which Out the exact time at etch sh left h
a e t t e
hoiise. As I turned with -that end in view,
I diseovered that Rosalie, my wife's plain,
elderly French maid, was close behind me,
watelting mo curiously.
I beckoned her into the dining -roam and
shutthe door.
"At what time did your anietress leave.
the house?" T asked, trying to control my
voice.
Almost immediately atter monsieur,"
"Ilad site any luge•age?"
"`Note, monsieur. Only some' money and
jewels in a hand -bag. Maclame's portman-
teau went covey last night."
"Last night?"
"Yes monsieur; a ntecsenger came for
it while madame and monsieur were at
tbe theatre,"
"Did your, mistress tell you where she
was fi'Oing?"
The woman •hesitated.
"Two or .three days ago, monsieur, ma-
dame first fspoko of going. This morning
she gave me a little money -it was not
intuit. mmneleur,. for I had •done a great
deal, a ver•Y great 'deal, far madame."
'Rosalie,' rho said, 'MrHervey will rook
after yon, I'etltail never come back any
more:' That was what madame. said, nion-
sjeur."
Mot ono word as to where she was go-
ing'?"
Pardon, monsieur! Monsieur will for-
give me if I sneak 'fee truth. 'I am go -
rug,` -madame said, 'back to the mon I
love. and I shall never see M. Hervey
again.'
"We 'a lie!"
•
Tdie.worde burst from me. Notonce bad
this horrible thought conhe.to are. ,.It was
not possible; int wad an outrage;to believe
'that Lilith could have uttered such words.
They, were an invention on the part of
this lying Frenchwoman.
I think the look on my face frightened
her, for- she flew from the room and sem-
named my man Wrenshaw.
Lilith had spoken to him ` ads before
leaving.
"Tell your master not to take it to
hes tto u
r o much,' she had said. "I know
you ,have always disapproved of me,
.Wrenshaw, and you see you were quite
Tight. For I em going to leave your mas-
ter. and 1 shall never come back. It's no
Use your trying to stop me. I've meant
to so forseveral days, and when he finds
out the -truth he'll be glad. I've never lov-
ed your master. Wrenshew, but. I have
loved some one else, and I'm going to
him.':
• "And you .lett her go like that!" I cried,
beside myself with anguish. For I knew
that Wrenshaw never lied, and that my
wife in very truth had spoken thus.
"What was I to do, sir? When I appeal-
ed to her, and said she would break your
heart, she only laughed at first. Then
she fell rte crying. and saying that if I
knew everything I should be .sorry for
her as well as for you. But when I spoke
to her again, she 'turned angry and order-
ed me out of the room, And I camedown-
stairs and waited in the hall, so as to
step her by main force. But that French-
woman took her down the servants' stair
ease, and when I left the hall at .twelve
o'Sleck, and went un to make aura she
was still there, rile had been gone more
than an, hour."
It was all; over then, my dream of happi-
nesag. A chill as of death seemed t0 creep
over my heart ae he spoke; I left the man
there. and went up to Lilith's room. It was:
bright with flowers, but already in those
fe'w hours it had gained an •empty, tib-:
occupied look. Clearly, Rosalie had been
at tvork tidying. and no doubt aporopri.et-
ing unconsidered trifles. As I stood ,gaz-
ing stupidly, arottnd me, the woman an:
preached me, and pointed out a tiny ear -
eel of paper that lay upon the des-sing-
tablo witlh,my name scrawled upon, it in
tel1ths handwriting,
> hart ho need 1;0 oven it. Merely the
touch told it was niy wife's wedding -ring.
A kind of vertigo seized me, I kelt that
-I must be alone, shut in from prying'
eyes, or I ahead(' rco mad, I left my wife's
room, staggered down to my study, and
looked mysel f n.
Over my •deski.hung the portrait of Lil-
ith. drawn by Nicholas Wray, sleeping in
tho armchair, with the cat Saladin curl-
ed in her lap.
At sight of it hey heart seemed to bleed.
I bowed any bead on any .desk, and called
aloud upon ,the wife who .bad deserted me,
implorine her to return, offering to forget
and forgive--eyerything—as though, la my
agony, niy soul cottld leave my body and
,force her sena eo liatbn•.
For hours I remained thus, wrestling
whir my torturing ,tltoights, which turned
again and again, with coward persistency,
to euteide es, a 'respite from my despair.
e follow Lilith, and force her to return
to me, Weald be worse than useless. Hove,
could I hold her an unwilling prisoner
when slip could not love me? ,'Cud how --
oh, heaven! bow could I live without her?
Hours passed. before I could return to
the.tctualitiep of -the dreary, hopeless life
Which lay Ware 111Q, andto the innumcr.
able lhumfiliating and painful experiences
wines era -vied anon mc. Already by sea
vente' Latae the ,story of Lilith'e flight
had got abroad and the house was be-
sjsaed by • inouisitive callers, and bY
.tradesmen with-whom•my.wife had pledg-.I clumsy forgeries of my signature, Vhd
ed m credit° yet the household bills, almost without ex-
eel:tion as well• as the accounts for her
carriages, horses, her gowns;and her jew-
els, were still unpaid,
Nearly a hundred letters, addzgessed to ,
her or to are, demanding .r ettreating
payment, 'were looked away in an old
trunk. of hears,.and she had even, as I dis-
covered, borrowed of . the servants and
Pledged her jewels and silver plate toe
rinse more money.
(To. be continued.)
Y
It was absolutely necessary to rouse any -
self. My name lead been dishonored for
all time, but at least I could -save it froms
commercial discredit. I engaged"an ac-
countant, and with hide began; an ex
haustive .examination of my affairs.
The result, was in the ;last degree start-
ling. In two years Lilith had' contrived
to spend over 'twelve tee usanif . pounds,
raising money in several instances by
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