The Storyteller.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7854, 21 June 1905, Page 4

The Storyteller.

Pj^", A GRASS WIDOW'S DILEMMA. I*.;' (Continued). g\K .. i do wish*" she aaid one d a y. ; i- ' that you hadn't, given me that K* horrid !aame—Brown." , " t . - .. why no t ? It's a perfectly inoiLi* «hort tamo. I'm looking forward to jpy gloves, Rose. lam indeed. I gst Wunt them badly."- " - I hate the iiamet,'' aaid Rose, *ith a strange petulance. K?' Mrs Spillsbury, with that qjiickW ncss of insight on whssh she nrfaS p" -iont to' plums herself, diagnosed i" • Hose's complaint at once. She was k- becoming harnassed and exp- asperated by the pressing nature of IfLaurence EvddsfieM's attentions. It K.-" > development for which Mrs & Spillsbury was not altogether unl>- prtpaied. It was, after all, only na- " tural that Rose should get a little K bit tired of the natural business. At i game tuns one couldn t inako omelets without breaking eggs. Rose. ESs 1 ■" even as. a widow, couldn't expect a ite'," -man to propose to. her withjowt makjgL - .ing love to her first., And the dejfrif' nouement was well worth a little l§~ trouble. It was to b« so dolighti'ulEk> iy dramatic ; and it was Coming so soon, too- Mrs SpilWbury was sure l&L' ->of it. Her wild anticipations were Er ..about to be verified to the letter. She fef ljecume more certain as to that every jfe- flay. jj|g •• Hie horrid matt "-Win Spills-' B»T now jftuite convinced herBfiv self that te was !a horrid man—' S' V' tfee ibrrid' roan is dffiparately. in J®- love yon." 1 " Oh, don't! " snia RoSa - Bfe, » v A little more -rope, my dear ! ? , . tJSte'biJn just a wea bit more rope, ' and the-things done." v Oh, don't! " said Rose again. it/ rather pitifully. Then she got up and P> walked out of the room, leaving EW", Mrs Spillsbury sagely nodding her head in silent self-communion. K It was just three days after this |f ->• that Mrs Spillsbury tun her return * from paying a round of calls, was £ " Informed that Mr Eversfleld waß in jfe th o library with Rose. Mrs SpiMs'bury, whose mind,-'stimulated by J successful prophecy, was now pccul- "■ ' iarly liable to the Influence of presentiments, immediately became possessed of the conviction that the , great proposal was then and there taking place. "s - On entering the room, however, sho had to adrrvrt that in this particular die bad twen a trifle premature £. J Laurence was not kneeling on the hearthrug ; Rose was aot standing wjff over him in an art£itude of disdain. Ktt* At it he (wne time, Mjs BpilliteK 'felt certain that something imusjual was happening. There was an atC mosphere of constraint fn tbe room which ' she associated with the scene, yti ~ was seated on a lounge, lookj& * ing woefully pale, while iLiaurenct} g" was appai>enUy staring at her in disconsolate siletfce. Mrs SpiUsbury murmured something ) about taking S/. off her hat, and was about to make m t a hurried exit, wKen,: . p 1 " v " Don't go," said Rose ; " something's happened." Jv " What is it, dear 7 fc?.v . "Mr Evcrsfleri had found my hus- &' ,ljand," faltered Rose. J,,' ' For a moment Mrs Spillsbury stpred uncomprehensivdy at her friend; L* then,. with a shriek, shs subsided — Sop—into a cUtjr. |j • " Found your husband ! " she 14 s -* jjasped. "Why, there isn't—l mean, 1' he doesn't—l mean '' and she took refuge in a non-conunitting silence. ' ; fS'-: ■ Then Laurence Eversfieid explained. . " It'srtjuite UTie," he said, "I iiave been the happy means of discovering j that Mrs Brown's husband it still t. alive. To describe how I melt {him, p , or to 'relate the Strango adventures fi? Which l)efel him after the time of £} his supposed death', would be for the l*« moment superfluous." f ** Qnitcx" intfcrrupted Mrs (> > buiy, truth for once getting the bot- . ter ol civility. ''■ How did it allr. come out, Rose, dear ? ''

t " Laurence—Mr Eversfield asked for me what his name was, and I said £« it was James," wailed the unhappy Rase. " Oh, Katp, you know |t was |f. James." f' "Yes, yes, it Was James right v\ dHough," said Mrs SpHlSbury, glanc:tU ing uneasily at Eversficli. "Of ijf®' course it was." |k« ' " And he asked tne when he was y drowned,. and where, and I aaftl it jf' was. two* years ago in the Pacific. Oh", Kate, you know you said so yourself." •i " A little'overwrought," whispered ' Mrs Spillsijury to Eversfield, "Yes, yes, darling."

" And—then fta asked me if he were lost in the Memphis, and I said ' yes ' to that, too. What could I say "? And, oh, Kate, he is a short, fat, red-faced man, and he is coming here to see ma to-morrow.- It's too much," she groaned. It proved altoget her for Mrs Spillsbury. ' She lay back in her chair and laughed until she could laugh , no longer. Noit-heir Rose's woe-JJegono looks, nor Eversfieid's solemn Jaw could restrain: her. She had: her laugfi' out. When she rose, somewhat shamefacedly, and taking him to thei further and • of the room : . " I'm afraid we aro rather hysterical," she explained'. " But suchjsud'den, unexpected news ! Is it r-aally so Laurence 1 " " I think rio," said Eversfield. "It would he too extraordinary a coincidence, if two men, both having the some surname, and the same Christian name, should have been lost in the same boat." " Did you ask him Iris wife's name ? " _ " Well, "no ; I 'didn't want to raise false hopes. You see, when I met • him I never dreamt that Mrs Brown's husband could possibly be alive. Ah, .well, sorrow and joy are sometimes strangely Intertwined -in this world of ours. Good-bye !" and hurrfclctty gripping her hand, he rushed from tfije room. All this time Rose had not moved. Her chin upon her hands, she .was apparently lost in thought. " Here's a pretty meSs," cried Mrs Spillsbury. ' r iYou were right about the name being undistinguished, Hose. Wlien one comes t® tihink of it, I Uoresay dozens of James Browns have lieen drowned in the Pacific. It's very annoying, though, that this particular a'lo should have come to life again, isn't it ? " There was no answer. " But it' wps that horrid Memphis that did it," ojontsaUed Mrs Spills-* bury. " If you hain't admitted that ; he "sailed in the Memphis, it woum have been all rfeht. An extinct James Brown on any other vessel wouldn't have mattered at all. A real, live, short, rod-haired James Brown with a real wrecked Memphis is rather a nuisance, isn't he. Especially as ho lis coming to see you to-morrow," she afldwl srith a slight gigg'eStill no answer. " But, oh. Rose," rattled' on Mrs Spillsbury. " can't you seo how funny it all is, how excruciatingly funny ? Haven't you any sense of humour ? And, after all, it doesn't matter. 'You certainly haven't had the pleasure of refusing Laurence Eversfield but it comes to much the same thing, except that I loso my gloves. I'm sure he would have proposed, and very soon, too. He was on the verge, mv dear, on the verge/ Tj _ Then: Rose bi3 her facem her hands. ' " But I love him," She Said, There was silence for a white, broken only, by Rose's convulsive sobs. Mrs Spillsbury said notH',ng. Indeed, she oould think rft nothing to say .which was at all* likely to ' tll_ prove the situation, and presently she slipped away 1 . Rose, left alone, abandoned nerSelf 'to grief- Hero was Nemesis indeed ! Why had she been inveigled in!to this abominable campaign? JVliyliail, she entered on a path, which was bound to bring mortification to some one. And, above all, why ha/d she allowed herself to fall in love with, taurenro Eversfield ? Shame, if nothing else should have prevented Her. But if only things wcro different—if only she could eliminate from her jjast tbfc ridiculous fantasy ? Over

and over and over -again she -traversed the ground, but there was; no way; from escaping fr-jin the conclusion, ily her own act she had destroyed her own happiness. ■' Sho was aroused from her f Jinbro reverie hy M»e Spillsbury's voice. " Roso," she was calling excitedly ; and a moment afterwards, bustling in, she took her hands, energetically pulled hor to her feet, kisstdi her. 1 " It's all right, darling." " How can it be ? " " Hut it is. I've seen Laurence." "Seen him?" faltered Rose. " Yew. and I've explaifrod, like a naughty child, how it was all my fault, and how yo" are the sweetest girl in the world, anti. Rose, he didn't seem to want much convincing." " What did he say ? " asked Rose, "He couldn't forgive it, I'm sure, It was such a petty, mean, despicable trick to play." "Ho laughed." '* Lauyl'fd Vi"' asked Rose, somewhat disconcerted. " Uproariously." " Well, thank you very much," said Rtose, in a somewhat injured voice. " You always were a darling, Kate, but I think it must have been rather ai bitter laugh you heard." " Not in the toast," said Mrs Spillsbury. briskly, " I'm glad I'm going away. I'm glad I shall never see him again." Mrs Spillsbury felt (as she afterwards explained) that it was a moment for deeds not words. Taking Rose's arm .wit|h a firm' gyasp, i sho led her downstairs, opened a door, and gave her a gentle push. Then she withdrew beaming.. Half an hour afterwards Rose fetched Tier. Rose was beaming too. They both entered the room where, curiously enough, was Laurence EversOeld, also beaming. " Laurence wants to tell «s sj'methiig," whispered Rose. " It's only this," 6aid Laurence. " There never was any short, fat, red-faced man. I invented him* As far as I am concerned, there never was any James or any Brown, or any Ifenphis, or any Pacific, or anything. I invented them all." " Invented them ? " they cried. " Yes, the m«ri is merely a product of an ingenious imagination. You sse, I couldn't leave all the imagination to you. Mrs Spillsbury. Do you remember that first occasion on whtich I met Rose ? Well, the door was a trifle open as I approached your drawing-room, and I happened to hear you make a very interesting remark. ' You must, you will be a widow ! ' you cried. I didn't target that. Besides, I hijd .an idea from the first that your talel was a trifle thin. Well, I made it a little thicker for you, all ! I Now; don't resent it, Rose. We are ' all of us in flic same boat—all petty, all mean, all despirM>le 1 l-.s | Hot the least gpod resenting it. Ben sides, I won't have it. Say you don't resent it, or I'll kiss you before Mrs Spillsbury." "I don't resent it," said Rose, but I'll never, never change my name again." " What, never ? " cried Mrs Spillsbury archly. Rose Mushed. ' I think I've won my gloves," said Mrs Spillsbury, " and I think I deserve them."