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| WILD MARGARET. — 65
— And—and you think he is in’’—she paused; ' some-
‘thing seemed to stop her utterance for a moment—‘‘ he °
is in love with this girl?”
He sat silent for a moment.
“If he is to be believed, he is most certainly,’’ he re-
sponded, coldly; ‘‘very much in love—head over heels!
He raved about her for nearly an hour by the clock; I.
timed him.”’
She sprung to her feet and moved to and fro, her tiny
hand clutching the riding-whip until the nails ran into her
pot, pink palm. Then she stopped suddenly and looked
at him.
“ And this—this girl?’ she said. ‘‘ Who is she?”
‘The daughter—no, to be exact, the granddaughter of
the earl’s housekeeper,” he said slowly, as if he enjoyed it.
She panted and drew her breath heavily.
A servant!’ she exclaimed, and she laughed, a cruel
?
unwomanly laugh. . .
“By no means,” he said. ‘She is, according to Blair,
and he isa fair judge, a lady. She is an artist, and is
Copying the pictures in the Court gallery.”’
er face grew white and, anxious again. se
*“What—what is her name?’ she demanded, and her
voice was hard and hoarse... .
He took an ivory tablet from his pocket and consulted it.
“Her name is Margaret—a pretty name; reminds one
of Faust, doesn’t it? Margaret Hale.”
‘‘ Margaret Hale,” she repeated slowly; then she came
and stood in front of him, her gray eyes as hard as steel,
her lips drawn across her white, even -teeth. ‘‘ And he—
you say—he is in love with her?”’
He shrugged his shoulders. .
“He says so,” he said coldly. .
‘* And—and he speaks of marrying her?’ a.
_‘* Apparently it is the one and absorbing desire of his
life,’ he responded in exactly the same manner.
She opened her lips as if about to speak again, then sank
on to a couch in silence. .
He rose.
““T’ll go,” he said. ,
‘Wait!’ she said, and she stretched out her hand with
_ the whip init. ‘Austin, this—this, must be stopped, pre-
vented——”’ she spoke with a panting breathlessness.
‘““You—you understand. It must be prevented, at all
costs, at any risks! You will do it! Promise me! Re-
member our bargain! Ask what you please, I will grant
it. -Half—every penny: I possess—anything! You will
prevent it!”’
He stood looking at her without an‘atom of expression