| fox?y P " T w oL e tm tor X fhe ie ‘"Before the winter sets inâ€"in SX weeks‘ time from now, if we can perâ€" suade the dressmakers to make so much haste," said Lord Rhysworth; and with every expression of kindly feeling and courtesy, they parted â€"â€" Sir Karl restless and unhappy. Lord Rhysworth without a shadoy on his face. _ "I must confess that I am just a little surprised," he said. He had a vague idea that this girl was in some way or other not a true friend to Doâ€" lores; but he could not resist the temptation of talking about her.. "Are they strange'?" she said, careâ€" lessly. ‘"They are true. Why are you surprised that Dolores should marry a man old enough to be her father? It is a common thing, is it not?" ‘"Yes, unfortunately," he answered. ‘"Then why wonder at itâ€"unless inâ€" deed you had an ideal Dolores?" "Perhaps I had," he said gravely. "Then the sooner you forget her the better, for there are no such ideals in this world." He looked half sadly at her. "Do you know, Miss de Ferras," he said, "that I cannot endure to hear you speak in that fashion. I may be not overâ€"wise, but I like to know that there is some faith and trust in huâ€" man nature in a girl‘s heart." Sir Karl did not care to go home. How emptv and solitary that great mansion o0f his seemed now: HMow he had longed for the time when a woâ€" man‘s fair\iace should brighten it! But he could rever picture any face there save that of sweet Dolores Cliefâ€" den. He could not go home in his presâ€" ent state of mind; and he dared not go to White Cliffe. He would go to Beaulieu; there was always a welâ€" come there for him. He would go and spend a few hours with Lola; she was never dull; she was always in high spirits, with an inexhaustible fund of witty, piquant stories with which to amuse him. "I have justiseen Lord Rhysworth," he said, "and that rumor you told me about is quite true." _ "Of course it is, Sir Karl. If it had not been," she returned, "I should not have told you." _ ‘"Are you Sir Karl? Then you are not a man of the world I imagined you to be. That anything in human nature should surprise you is a reâ€" Rlection on yourself." Nhere have you learned so much of the world, Miss de Ferras?" he asked. / ‘"You hold strange views for so young a girl." T "What is so wretched," he said to himself, "as a large house where you can hear only the voices and footsteps of servants?" So Sir Karl rode over to Beaulieu, and found the beautiful, vivacious French girl at home. He felt that he must taik about the subject that filled his thoughts. "You will find very little in mine," she laughed; and then she saw her way to scoring a mark against Doâ€" jores without any appearance of illâ€" will. ‘"*You say you are a little surâ€" prised at Dolores. It is a strange way of putting it. . I am surprised too. I tell you candidly that I did not think Dolores would have married for money.: I thought she was one of those romantic girls who think the world well lost for love. Those fairâ€" haired girls are generally very sentiâ€" mentalâ€"at least I have always found them so." "I hope,"‘‘ said his lordship, "with the blessing of Heaven, that I am goâ€" ing to marry Miss Cliefden. I speak to you more frankly, Sir Karl, than I should do anyone else. I am the happiest man in the world, and I hope to make my dear wife the happiest of women." ~"I trust that every desire of your heart may be realized," responded Sir Karl, and he meant it. "Shall I preâ€" sume if I ask when the wedding is to be?" he added. a curious look on the young man‘s face, a paling of the lips and deepenâ€" ing of, the lines about his mouth, which did not strike Lord Rhysworth. "*Â¥ou have carried off the greatest prize in the county," said Sir Karl, ‘"if it be true that you are going to marry Miss Cliefden." "I wonder if I may congratulate you, Lord Rhysworth?" â€" There was He was profoundly touched when Lord Rhysworth raised his hat as though he would do all honor to the name. "I wonder," said Sir Karl, musingâ€" ly. ‘‘if she has any fortune?" They little dreamed as they spoke how near the Squire was to poverty. 4 ‘Yes, I think so, but not a large one; the Squire is not rich." ‘"Hen â€" fortune," continued Lola, “would‘ be as nothing, I should say, compared with one year‘s income such as Lord Rhysworth enjoys." Sir Karl‘s blue eyes were fixed upâ€" on her face. ‘You express your ideas pretty freeâ€" ly, Miss de Ferras," he said. "I can hardly understand . why, since you have all this amount of worldly knowâ€" ledge, you did not try to secure Lord Rhysworth‘s affections yourself." She laughed, and a lovely roseâ€" flush covered her face. "I know why myself," sheâ€" said, ‘"but you are the last person to whom I could explain my reason. You taunt me with worldly knowledge, but let me assure you that I would not marâ€" ry Lord Rhysworth for money. When I marry, it will be solely for love. ‘‘You surprise me," he said. The rose flushed face and dark eyeswere dangerously beautiful just then. "*Yes, 1 can believe that," she reâ€" marked. ‘"You think there can be no sentiment unless it is associated with a fair type of beauty. You are misâ€" taken... With all your idealization of Dolores Cliefden, I feel sure that I have more real sentiment, more roâ€" mance and feeling than she has. Do you not think so, Sir Karl?" "If you had asked me that quesâ€" tion. yesterday," he said, "my answer would have been ‘No‘; now I am puzzled. >I must repeat that I am a little surprised at this marriage." She could not help seeing the piâ€" que and vexation in his face; she felt more sure now than ever that he had cared very much for Dolores, and that she must do her best to lower his esâ€" timate of Miss Cliefden‘s character. "It very often happens," she obseryâ€" ed, "that the fairest â€" and sweetest of faces covers the coldest and most mercenary of hearts. With all her fair and fragile beauty, I honestly Continued from last week ____________â€"-â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"-â€"â€"-â€"_â€"â€"â€"â€"___â€"â€"â€"_â€"â€"___â€"â€" Omomno moncmonononâ€"oononUnouunudononoun, UpUTUupUnss,IUstUulUIudussuIuIVUUUUINt OpupusvIUd]] AEME 3 ‘Yes, quite well, but overcome with grief;.she has received some dreadful political news from France. She nevâ€" er forgets France; nor do I. Some day I shall go back to it, and the reâ€" membrance I shall take with me will be of the cold hearts and icy nature of Englishmen," said Lola, slowly; and with those words she left him. The days passed on; the old Squire was happy and content. He was now to all intents and purposes a rich man.. Lord Rhysworth had settled on Eim such a sum of money as would enable him to live in luxury and comâ€" fort at White Cliffe; and, when the old man died, it was all to revert to his daughter. Dolores never forgot the day when her lover came, with all the papers and deeds needful to this end in his hand, and asked to see her. She always obeyed even his least wish; so she went at once to him. There were no excuses, no coquettish delays to enâ€" hance the value of her presence. That morning she thought he lookâ€" ed rather ‘grave and anxious. She asked if he was troubled; and he said ‘"No," but that he had something very serious to say to her. She sat down to listen. "You must know, Dolores,"" he said, ‘"that, whenever the heads of our house have married, it has been their custom to bring presents of costly jewels to the bride. Darling, L would give you jewels worthy of a queen‘s acceptanceâ€"even then they would not be good enough for youâ€"but in their place I bring you these papers, and my weddingâ€"present to you is this sum of money that I have settled on your father. It will make him rich for life, and at his death, it will come all to you. Take them in your hands, Dolores, and you yourself shall give them to him." Their eyes met. Some vague idea of her meaning came to him, and with it came a certain shrinking from her, in spite of her beauty, and a feeling of dislike to her that he had never known before. He rose from his seat by the window, and looked round unâ€" easily. ‘"But Dolores will love her husâ€" band after a quiet, calm fashion of her own. Still, I should not care for such a life," she confessed. "Give me greatest pleasure, keenest pain; give me love or death. I should dread such a life as hers." She thanked him in simple, kindly words; but he was not content. believe no girl in England is more keenly alive to her own interests than Dolores." ‘"What an existence you foreshadâ€" ow for her," he said ‘"calm, passionâ€" less, uneventfulâ€"never to know the rapture of happiness or the keenness of pain! It seems to me that a womâ€" an may as well be dead as never love." ‘"I have them now," she cried imâ€" petuously, and then paused abruptly. "I have not seen madame toâ€"day. Is she well?" he asked. "Dolores will be happy enough," she continued. "She will make a splenâ€" did mistress for Deeping Hurst, a handsome wife for Lord Rhysworth. She will be the Lady Bountiful of the neighborhood, the queen of the counâ€" ty. ‘As the years roll on, she will grow placid and more contented every day; and she will die without ever having the real sorrows or the real joys of life" "It is not very likely to fall to your lot," he said. "You will have pleasâ€" ure and pain if you have love." "I want something in return, ‘Doâ€" lores. Do you know what it is?" ‘‘No," she replied. She smiled to think how little she could give him. She knew when she~ uttered the words that they were quite untrue; she knew also that to a man like Sir Karl nothing could be so repulsive as a mercenary marriage. "I want something you have never given before; and to make it of any value you must give it to me of your own free will. I want a kiss, Dolores â€"only one. Will you give it to me?" She was silent for awhile, and the fair young face grew very pale. Then she slowly took the papers in her hand and held up her face to kiss him. It was done so innocently, so solemnâ€" ly, that he was somewhat awed. "Now," she said, ‘I will never give even one thought to any other man." "I am sure you will not, my darâ€" ling," cried the delighted suitor. "I do not know why I should be blessed with the love of such a pure and faithâ€" ful heart. I have more to say, Doâ€" lores. Though I buy you with no jewels, still,you will have finer diaâ€" monds and rubies than almost any other lady in the land. The Rhysâ€" worth diamonds are considered as fine as any in Europe. You will look like a queen in them." "I would sooner have these," she said, ‘"better than all the jewels in the world." ; She went to the Squire with the papers. Lord Rhysworth would not accompany her, although she asked him to do so. The girl clasped the papers in her hands more tightly. ‘‘No," he said: ‘"It is your present to your father, and you shall give it to him alone." ; t To the end of her life she rememâ€" bered that scene. It was late in the afternoon when she sought the Squire in his study, and the sunlight from the western sky fell on his white hair as he lay asleep. Her entrance aroused him. He uttered her name, but in a tone so peculiar that she could not tell whether he had murâ€" mured it in his dream to some dead Dolores, who lived perhaps only in his memory, or to herself. j The girl went up to him with the papers in her hands. How was it that such strange thoughts and fanâ€" cies haunted her. She could almost have believed that, in letters of blood on the papers, she traced the words ‘"The price of my life." She kneeled down by the Squire‘s side. After that, Lord Rhysworth began to hurry on the day for the wedding. Why should they wait? He was his own master; he had no frienads to "I have brought you riches, papa, freedom from care, happiness and I hope length of days to enjoy it all." She never forgot his emotion when he held the papers in his hands, while he blessed her and thanked her and praised her as few fathers have ever praised a child. She thought that afâ€" ter all she had done well. CHAPTER VIL as much interested in your wedding as other girls are.. We must have it all in proper orderâ€"a superb wedding dress, magnificent jewels, and a bevy of fair bridesmaids. I shall give to each of them a present worthy of the occasion." consult; and, if the Squire did not obâ€" ject, who else should?" She saw that he was a little trouâ€" bled. Lord Rhysworth was delighted with the explanation. She was silent for some time. She was asking her own heart if she had strength enough to bear this; and the answer was "No." She meant to be a good and true wife to theâ€"generous noble hearted man at her side â€" true to him in thought in word, and in deed; but she would rather that this other man were not near when she uttered the vows she meant to keep. The clear, sweet eyes looked calmâ€" ly at him. "I am quite content," she replied. ‘"You must have bridesmaids," he went on, more composedly. ‘"Why not ask that beautiful French girl â€" your friend, is she not? â€" Miss de Ferras and the Misses Fielden? There are three of them, and with Miss de Ferras you will have four." ‘"I suppose," she said, "it is de rigueur, but I would much rather be married without them." He looked at her in consternation. "I have been to many weddings,"‘ he replied, "and I have always thought, Dolores, that after‘ the bride the most important persons were the bridesâ€" maids." : She laughed a low, sweet laugh that dispelled his fears. ‘"You forget," she remarked, "that I am not accustomed to weddings. I have never even seen one." "I have been thinking very seriousâ€" ly," he said, ‘"about whom I shall ask to be best man.. You see, Doâ€" lores, our wedding will be quite a county affair. Iâ€" have thought of asking Sir Karl Allanmore. I like him better than any one else. What do you think?‘ She had no reasonable excuse 10 defer the wedding, nor did she seek for any; so the day for the ceremony was settled. "I hope, my dear," he said, "that, although you are marrying a man so much older than yourself, you will be He was delighted with the interest she showed, and agreed most heartily to her proposal. That evening the letters were written, first to the Missâ€" es Fielden, and then to Miss de Ferâ€" "T have waited long enough for a wife, Dolores," he said; "and, now that I have a most beautiful one promised me, why should I delay? Come and make my home bright for ‘"Wano will be your bridesmaids, Doâ€" lores?" asked Lord Rhysworth one day, when they were discussing the wedding. She looked up at him in wondering surprise. "Bridesmaids!" she repeated. "I have forgotten all about them." He seized her hand and almost crushed it in his passionate clasp. ‘"Would it not be better," she said, at last, in a clear cold voice, "to ask one of your relatives. After all, Sir Karl has nothing to do with us." "Perhaps you are right," he replied â€""at least, if you prefer it, your wish shall be law." "I should prefer it," she said. "Ask one of your cousins from Aldershot, You told me you had two stationed there." ‘"Is it because you are so happy, Dolores, that you have forgotten these details?" he asked fiercely. It so happened that Lola received hers on the same morning that Sir Karl rode over to see madame on busâ€" iness. He heard her laugh as she opened the letter and read its conâ€" tents. ‘"What do you think I have here?" she said. "A pressing invitation to be‘ chief bridesmaid at Dolores‘ wedâ€" ding! Are you going, Sir Karl? What curious turns in life fate gives us!" she went on, watching the handsome face as she spoke,. "I am getting knowledge fast.. When I came back from Germany I thought I should be sure to marry first; and I used to picture half the girls in the neighborâ€" hood weeping tears of envy at my good fortune. But nowâ€"" He was amused in spite of himself. "But now?" he repeated. ‘"What is the difference between then and now ?" ‘"Do you know," cried Sir Karl, imâ€" petuously, "that I can never tell when you are jesting and when you are seâ€" rious ?" "Now I see my rival, the white rose, married first, and I shall weep tears of envy myself." "And do you know, Sir Karl, that I do not even know myself? The wise man says, ‘Know thyself" I should think there is no girl living who knows herself less than I do. I am never sure of myself. I am a mass of conâ€" tradiction. I have good impalses â€" feel sure of that â€" but I do not carry them out. I have lofty aspirations too, and there are times when I long to do great deeds." Sir Karl began to have an unpleasâ€" ant kind of feeling that she cared for him, more than he liked. He tried to put the idea from him at first, tried to laugh at it, but it was in vain â€" the uncomfortable conviction grew daily. She said so many things upon which he could put but one interpreâ€" tation. R No woman, he argued with himself, however, would ever show any open preference for a man. He must sureâ€" ly be mistaken. He thought at times that the wisest precaution would be not to go to Beaulieu, and resolved to be on his guard against Lola de Ferâ€" ras. But he had yet to learn how clever a woman can be when she has an object in view. Notwithstanding his resolve not to go to Beaulieu without very urgent reasons, every day Lola found some excuse to request his presence. Madâ€" ame de Ferras had had some slight difficulty with the local board, and at Lola‘s suggestion she had appealed to Sir Karl for his help, which he most cheerfully gave her; but he now found that it necessitated frequent interviews with madame. So it happened that, on the day when she received the invitation to Dolores‘. wedding, he felt a strange, inexplicable aversion for her. ‘"You are in no hurry to go away," she said to him. ‘‘"Sit down and let THE TIMES & CUIDE, WESTON, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 19TH, 1917 us discuss this affair. Shall I accept the invitation or not?" "You must be the best judge of that," he replied. "Some people say that it is unâ€" lucky to be a bridesmaid," she reâ€" marked. ‘"I have a great inclination to tempt fate. Will you be there, Sir Kart?." "In what capacity?" he asked. "The capacities in this case are very limited," she laughed. ‘"There are but fourâ€"father, bridegroom, . best man, and guest. The last character is the only one in which you could appear. Are you going in that?" His impulse as a man hating to see ,a woman suffer was to speak kind, consoling words; but he reflected that any show of sympathy to her might be dangerous; and so they remained in silence for some minutes, until ‘ Lola had regained her composute. "Then I shall lose all interest in the affair, and the wedding festivities will be dreary enough. Why will you not go, Sir Karl?" "I am not invited; even if I were I should not go, as I have said." "Not if I urged it?" she interrogatâ€" ed, archly. He did not want her to think he would do anything he disliked himâ€" self for the sake of pleasing her. There must never be any mistake about the footing he was on with her. She was quick enough to see that she had startled him, and that he was not pleased with what she had said. She changed the subject adroitly, and went on chatting in her usual piâ€" quant style until he was quite in a good humor. Then she returned to the original subject. "I should imagine," she said, "that all over the country we shall have reâ€" joicings and festivities. Mamma proâ€" poses to have a grand ball in honor of the wedding. Lady Fielden has arâ€" ranged to have a fancy ball; and I hear that the Duke of Ranford will provide a series of brillant entertainâ€" ments. He is Lord Rhysworth‘s greatest friend. What will you do in celebration of the event, Sir Karl?" ‘"‘Nothing at all," he replied abruptâ€" ly. ‘"The wedding does not concern me in the least. Why should I celeâ€" brate the event, as you call it?" "It would look kind and neighborâ€" ly," she answered. ‘"If you do not, you will make people think that you have some reason for it?" "The real reason why I do not anâ€" ticipate taking any part in the wedâ€" ding festivities is that I am going to Paris, and I am not sure how long I shall remain there." "Do you really mean that you are going to Paris, Sir Karl?" she said. "Why should you go there? How cruâ€" el of you! Do you ‘mot know how much we shall all miss you? Do not go." ‘"No," he answered gloomily; ‘"not even if I should be invited â€" and that is not very likely." He tried to laugh lightly; but in truth he was asbhamed of being as it were, wooed. f "I shall miss you so much, Sir Karl!" she added coaxingly. "Do not go. It lightens the day for me when I‘see you. I do not know how I could bear the long weeks and months if you were not here." He could hear the vibration of pasâ€" sion in her voice; he saw that in her eyes which he had never read in any woman‘s eyes before. â€" "You will not miss me so much," he replied. ‘"You have so many friends." "No, not even then," he replied hasâ€" tily. "I grant it â€" many friends; but none like you, Sir Karl. All of them put together are not equal to you. Iâ€" I Oh, do not go to Paris! I do not know what to say to you; but do not go. The beautiful face was shadowed with pain, the dark eyes filled with tears. Whatever were her faults, Lola had a deep and sincere affection for Sir Karl. f He tried to speak carelessly, but he was touched by her emotion; yet the more sure he felt that she loved him, the more unconquerable was his feeling of distrust and vague disâ€" like. ‘"You are very kind to think so much of me," he said lightly. "I must go to Paris, however. But I shall not always remain there. I shall come back to Scarsdale some day,I supâ€" pose." 4 "I hope you will not be away long," she said; and he saw that her lips were colorless and quivered with pain, » When she spoke to him next it was in a quiet, matterâ€"ofâ€"fact way; all emotion, all agitation had vanished. She perceived at once that if she was to win him it must be in that fashion. "It will take me some little time to get my affairs in order," he replied; but I shall go as soon as I can." ‘"You are not thinking of going yet, Sir Karl," she said;â€"“not just yet, I hope?" 5 ‘‘We shall see you again, shall we not? I should like to give you one or two commissions in Paris, if you will accept them." "I shall be well pleased to render you any service," he answered; and to himself he added, "except that of falling in love with you." ‘"Thank you. It is seldom that we have a chance of | getting anything from there. The name of de Ferras is proscribed in France. I will write out the list for you.‘" "But suppose that I am absent for some years?" he said. "Are they things that you want at once?" The same tempest of emotions swept over her face. ‘"I will wait"‘ she answered in a strange voice, ‘"until you bring them. You will come back some day â€" home must have some tie for you. You will come back, and it may please you to find me waiting for them â€"â€"and for you." â€" â€" § Her voice was full of tenderness full of passion, and love shone in her eyes. He was simple, frank and honâ€" est. He said to himself that, if she really cared for him it was cruel to let her continue in the delusion. He had better say something that would open her eyes at once to the truth; but in trying to be diplomatic he made a terrible mistake. "I hope to find you very happy when I come back," he said. "In all probability you will be the wife of some wealthy, kindly man, mistress of a fine establishment, and a queen of society." He paused, startled and awed by her manner. She stood befors him, and raised to his a face white and full of pain, with eyes half blinded with indignant tears. ‘*You wish me that?" she said. ‘"You hope that, when you come home I may be the wife of. some ofher manâ€"the mistress of some other home?" "Certainly," he replied, deeply emâ€" barrassed. ‘‘What better fate could I desira for you?" 1 To be continued These lines were sent to a parent in Canada, whose boy, Arthur Richards, a young Vancouver surveyor in charge of a survey party laying a railway beâ€" hind the lines for big guns northwest of Arras, was killed on April 6 at St. Vaast. They were written by. Jessie Annie Anderson, of Aberdeen, whose own brother spent many years in Canâ€" ada, and going to the front to take the place of a younger man, was killâ€" ed on Apri‘ 9. To Canada, in Memory of Her Boys Who Paid the Price. My tears are yours, O Canadal My heart goes out to you, Bereaven of your joyous Boys, The generous and true; But you, soreâ€"smitten Canada, Be gallant in your grief, Put on no sombre mourning garb, Wear you the Maple Leat. The freshness of its springtime green Is symbol of their youth, And glory of its tints of Fall Their sacrifice of Truth; That truth that men must offer all That home and kin be free, Be very glad, dear Canada, Your lads such truth could see. And oh, be sure, their spiritâ€"eyes Are not a whit less clear, Be sure they witness all you do With things they held so dear. You have your homes and liberties, Because they paid the price; Be worthy of your splendid lads Who made the sacrifice. Be very proud, O Canada, Because they were so swift, Wasted no time in counting cost, But gave their golden gift. For them be no black weeds brought forth, No dismal bells be tolled, Be such for these, the deadâ€"inâ€"life, Whose hearts grew early old. But for your lads‘ memorial A better thing than tears, See you be worthy of their gifts Through all your coming years. And Maple Leaf for symbol sweet, Dear Lady of.the Snows, Though every sorely stricken heart An empty aching knows. O parents, sisters, sweethearts,friends, How God had loved each lad, Because each offered cheerfully The utmost that he had. Therefore, to all I dare to say, For comfort in your grief, God loves your cheerfulâ€"giving lads Who wore the Maple Leaf. Their dear homeâ€"words, their jests and pranks, Their heartâ€"remembered ways, The joyous wisdom of their youth, Tell all unto their praise. 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