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WILD. MARGARET. 269
_. The door was ajar, as he had left it a few hours ago, but
|| fe paused and softly whispered her name.
-, - There was no answer, and he crept in.
' He had expected to find her there ready dressed, and
waiting for him, but the room was empty. He went to
_ \ the door of the bedroom and, knocking gently, cautiously
called to her. .
_.. Still there was no answer, and after a moment’s hesita-
tion, he tried the door. It was unlocked, and he opened
-it and entered. The room was dimly lighted by a small.
shaded lamp, and for the moment he could distinguish
' nothing clearly, but the next he saw a figure lying on the
bed. It'was she. She was lying asifshe had fallen back-
ward in a fit of exhaustion, her pale face turned upward,
pne arm hanging by her side, the other thrown across the
~ e ef s
h ‘* Asleep? ~My poor darling!’ he murmured. ‘“‘ But I
_ must wake her! . There is no time to be lost!”’
Still she did not move, and he took her hand.
. Something—its icy. coldness, perhaps, or its irresponsive
_ - Jifelessness—sent an awful pang of fear through him that
-. was like the stab of a knife. ,
‘Still holding her hand, he caught up the lamp and held
- it above her head, his eyes: scanning her face.
The next instant the lamp dropped from his grasp, and
- with a stifled cry, he reeled like a drunken man, and fell
_at her feet!
- Be . . Y
Bate aseca abctitin as eper ine aelilateeananatie
:
ta
tia.
. CHAPTER XXXI. :
. Buarr wrote his letters—there were not many, for Austin
Ambrose had so entirely undertaken the management of
the vast estates that Blair knew very little about any bus-
iness pertaining to them. :
He commenced a letter to Violet herself, but after sev-
‘eral attempts tore it up. He would see her before he
started for the meeting, and say good-bye as cautiously as
he-could. 7 : ; ; .
‘ Then he went out, and, leaving the city behind, wan-
_ dered into the country beyond.
Still thinking of Margaret and: the picture which in so
mysterious and strange a manner photographed. her and
her death, he returned to the palace, and was surprised to
find that it was past four,
He went straight to his rooms, and there, on the dress-
- ing-table, found Austin Ambrose’s note.
-Blair destroyed the note, then had a bath, and: dressed
himself with more than his usual care} doing it with his
own hands, and without summoning the valet.
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