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- The Scar
she whispered. There was a moment of
silent rupture. ’
Presently Mark said:
“illy beloved! -. .
- marry me . . . when? There is
nothing to wait for, and I want you."
She tried ‘to laugh as she looked away.
"There is Mrs. Lisburne to consider.
.1. M‘ ..
And you will
nd . .
“I will speak to Mrs. Lisburne tomor-
row; and Twinkle must find some one
to take your place. I will see Mrs. Lis.
burne tonight if you wish, and tell her."
She shook her head. v
‘There are your people, too."
her who will not
e no
difference. I have ‘ mother-‘s money."
‘ "Oh, I wasn’t thinking of that." she
said tremuiously. ‘
Mark drcw her again into his arms.
“Most dear! .Thlnk of nothing but
how happy we shall be." he said; his
lips rnlet hers.
Sl'te'<:losot1 her eyes beneath the tire
of his.
"You are very sure of me." she whis-
pered. .
"If I were not, there would be notll-
ing for me in the world,‘'. he answered
'fMy life’ was never anything
till I held you’in my arms, and now I
have nothing left to wish for but to
make you my wife."
She pushed him gently away and sat
in. She locked white and weary. but
she laughed his anxiety .
“I' got a headache, that's all!
you know, I should just love some tea."
I-Ie.csiled to the taxi-driver and di-
rected him to a little quiet ,shop where
there were shaded lights and few peo-
ple, but tho Mark ordered everything he
Gbuld, think of, Mary Silver hardly
touched a think. . ’
"I'm not hungry," she said. "Please,
“,3.
raining when they
sunlight was
thru the gray evening. Mark linked his
arm in Mary's.‘
“I'm going to take you thru the park.
- A walk will cure that headache," he
said.
ing and he kept looking down at the
‘girl beside him with worshipiui eyes.
There were orocusas in the ,grass
beneath the trees, and
. ful snowdrops. Mark looked at them.
and ew a long breath. He felt
as if 9 had been born into a new
world of eternal sp ng. Already
his happy thoughts were leaping ahead
into a future whlc spread itself before
him In tlnlnellevable glory.
His Wife! The blood rushed to ills
‘ face as he looked down at her. His wife.
and perhaps some (lay the mother of his
children. It was a sacred thought of
unspeakable beauty! He said with boy-
ish impulse:
"If ever we have a son. Mary, he shall
have a lcry.tlilferent boyhood to mine.
I should like to have a son, to showhim
what n father and mother can be."
lie spoke with simple earnrstnesshllt
she did not answer, and Presently
felt her falter and sway a little against
m.
He-looked down‘ in swift concern.
She was white to the lips, and those lips
shook badly . ' .
“I am so tired . . . if You would
let me go home--" She tried to smile.
Mark rcproached himself passionately.
abominable
' ing care of,you, and instead’-m
let me come and speak to Mrs. Llsburne
tonight . . . I want to take you
away. . , . I want you all to my-
self"
But she was obdurate. They must
’ wait a little while-it was so soon.
. lVould he not be patient Just for a few
days? r
Mark turned his face away from her
Dieading eyes.
“I've waited long enough." he Sfild
hoarsely. “I've waited for you all my
life," But in the end he gave lvaY-
‘ "Don't try me too far, most dear. that's
all." he sold, “or some day I shall come
er and whisper a dozen times how
he loved her. how’ he adored her.
‘L’ and mine have gone bywl
‘knowing one another. Some day I will
tell yoll all about my life." r
’ She shlvered A little in his arms.
"I think the past is hest‘forgotten."
she said faintly. “Mine has not been so
Very happy that I want to remember it."
"Tho future shall make up forii,"said
.i5‘&(drwatv
IhullE.brri Lu .
A Mark. llc drew her close to his heart.
nd for .1 women st‘ooped.'zlnd,iahl,hls
cheek. it [jig
w it . .lii"l‘ .
I I .
ls. ..lli‘: ;i;i.ii.iai“.i2ili ii‘;
crl1cAcol.Epcl:.R
(Continued .From Page 5)
touch of it, and its faint scent. took
Mark buck with a rush to those days of
his boyhood during‘ which he had known
Alice Trent.
"Oh, don't you remember sweet Aiicc,
n olt?"
Jio closed his eyes to the dark night,
and scgrrncd to see again her sweet face
as it hall looked hr the candle-light of
the shabby drawing-room in Disr-at-'
road, Strenthanl, and then that picture
faded as swiftly as it had ‘come, dnd he
see himself as he had been the
of her death, Walking
about the playground at school. wring-
ing his hands With grief, and looking
UK) at tile stars.
“Everything I love always dies. or goes
away-everytllin 1'’
Those anguished Words had fllledhls
mind that night, and they came back to
him now poignan
Everything he loved! His arms closed
convulsively roulld.the girl by his side.
He let her go'nt last, and stood for 21
long time in the darkness. staring at
the door that hid her from him.
r tl as he urned away and
walked as far as the and of the street.
always to return. it seemed monstrous
that they should have to be separated
when .he felt unhappy and incomplete
Without her.
s
, . CHAPTER xx.
A STEADY rain was pouring down
when Mark woke the following
morning at 9, and the sky Was gray and
unbroken. ' . .
He made a mental calculation. Twelve
hours at,least before he could make an
excuse to call at,tne Lisbui-nes'l Never
bcfore had a day loomed before him at
such dcsperate length.
He got. up slowly; there was no reason
-to hurry. He would spend an hour over
bath, and an hour over his breakfast.
that would bring it to 11 and help mat-
He wondered what Mary
' Probably she had
Mark
felt ashamed. He" looked at Taylor dubi-
ously. and after a moment he spoke. ,
"In future call me at 8. and I shall,
want breakfast at half-past." .
Ie felt the color deepen in his face as
and, with an assumption of ca
lossncss, he izegan to whistle as he
walked over to the dressing-table and
took up his hair brushes.
“Oh, nan’: you remember sweet Alice. Ben
lion?"
At first he was not conscious of the
fact that he was whistling the air that
(I when he
Alice Trcnt had spoken these words to
nearly twenty years ago, and yes-
terdziy they had come true.
Mark's face glowed. The expression
f his own eyes in the mirror made him
down that his eyes (all on the ugly scar
that tiisngured his wrist. And the
thought came into his min --
“Some day I shall have to explain that
scar to Mary." .
turned away from the glass. pull-
ing down the sleeve of his pajama coat
with nervous ringers.
‘Vhat was there so dreadful in that
explanation, a er a . It had been
very ordinary accident. a boy’s carelc.-=s-
llolu-not in: more,
But Mark knew he would have to tell
Mary more than that. He knew that he
uoulxl help lm to tread under foot and
contlll
er.
lie thought of Miriam, but the too
vivid picture she had once presented to
his imagination seemed and
blurred.
lle .
everything else that had happened in
tile ycnrs ht-fore they met. >
nine? Mark winced as he l‘(‘(‘7lllt‘(l
that nltho the past was gone beyond re-
call, thank God,he was master of torla)'
and tomorrow, .
Mark (lresscll. breal-lfasted and went
Link.
it was noulinl: with rain still, but he
walkcli thru the mud and drenrlncss
light-heartcdiy.
llc Iookml into all the siirlp windows
wolllll
lie could imagine no greater )0)‘ than
to pay for her clothes, and her shoes.
iillll tllxliumll-ozluind oneiabsurdlticn so
dear to a wqmAall's heart.
He lunched alone. his eyes on the
lock. How the hands seemed to crawl.’
He stayed at the table as long as pos-
siblo and then went on into the street
again. The rain had stopped. but the
roads were wet and mudd ‘
his luck and call at the Lisburnes‘ dur-
inl; the afternoon: then he remembered
hi.-4 prolniec to Mary and tliSllllSS(’tl the
lllought, with a sigh. If she llfltl wished
It) (lL'(‘]'I(‘ll his longing for her. she could
have chosen no surer me
lie walked up Regent street and went
into Stewart's. An elderly woman stand.
int: beside lllm heard his request for the
largest box 0 chocolates they’ htld not
in the shop, and looked at him with eyes
of bN'f‘ll tiisapprovni that made him think
of Visa Midian
Poor old Auht Midian! She hllll had
little enough happiness in her life.
and for the first time in ills. Mark‘: ,
thoughts of her were kindly. She had
never known love as he knew it now. I1nhlJ":nhrd maul
lllnys she had seemed to Ma k be "“" K12.
incloscd his card and had it posted to her
at his father‘s house. .
I: walked out of the shop. smiling to
himself as he pictured her utter amaze-
lnent, No doubt she would think he had
gone out of his mind-as perhaps he had.
with happiness!
He went‘ back to his rooms. wrote a
couple of unnecessary letters to pitss the
time (Mark hated writing letters), then
he shaved again, dressed, and made a
pretense of din n
racing like a girl's, and his hand was so
unsteady he was afraid Taylor would
notice I.
At 8 o'clock he sent for a taxi and
drove to the>Llshurnes’.
The rain clouds had cleared away and
the stars were shining as Mark rang Ille
doorbell and waited, with Jumping pulst
Supposing he did not see her after nil?
Supposing Mrs. Lisburne: e door
"Mrsivbisburne at home?"
The maid obviously hesitated.
“Yes, si but - sure if she is
S‘.
o
stood looking down at the flames
ills heart was heating to suffocation.
Ile gripped the box of chocolates he had
brought for Twinkle. with nervous
h nds
Supposing, he had to go away With-
out seeing Mary! Supposing: The
door opened behind him and Mrs. Lis-
bul-ne came .
Her pretty face was flushed and per-
turbed, her hair untidy. Mark saw that
she still wore an afternoon froc .
She came forward with outstretched
it had been any one but you.
E1lBRDIDER$
Once Mark thought hell-vould chance
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