“I wonder if—if you ever loved me.”
He wheeled round, and the desperate misery in his
eyes hurt her almost physically.
“Yes,” he said harshly. “I
did love you. In a way, I do now. But it’s
nothing—nothing to the madness in my blood!
I’m a brute to leave you. But I’m
going to do it. No civilised country can hold
me now!”
So that was to be the end of it! June recognised
the bitter truth at last. Magda had indeed robbed
her of everything she possessed. And robbed her
wantonly, seeing that she herself set no value on Dan’s
love—had, in fact, tossed it aside like
an outworn plaything.
June ceased to plead with Dan then. She would
not wish to hold him by any other chain than his love
for her. And if that chain had snapped—broken
irrevocably—then the child born of what
had once been love would only be an encumbrance in
his eyes, an unwelcome tie, shackling him to a duty
from which he longed to escape.
So she let him go—let him go in silence.
. . .
WHAT LADY ARABELLA KNEW
Lady Arabella might disapprove of her god-daughter
from every point of the compass, but she was nevertheless
amazingly fond of her, so that when Gillian appeared
on her spotless Park Lane doorstep one afternoon with
the information that she and Magda had returned from
Devonshire, she hailed the announcement with enthusiasm.
“But where is Magda? Why didn’t she
come with you?” she demanded impatiently.
“Her manager rang up to know if he could see
her about various things in connection with this next
winter’s season, so there’s a great council
in progress. But she’s coming to see you
to-morrow. Won’t I do”—Gillian
wrinkled her brows whimsically—“for
to-day?”
“Bless the child! Of course you will!
Come along and tell me all about your Devonshire trip.
I suppose,” she went on, “you heard the
news of Michael Quarrington’s marriage?
Or didn’t you get any newspapers down in your
benighted village?”
“No, we had no London papers,” replied
Gillian doubtfully. “But—I don’t
understand. Mr. Quarrington isn’t married,
is he? I thought—I thought——”
“You thought he was in love with Magda.
So he was. The announcement startled everybody,
I can tell you! And Davilof promptly decided that
a motoring trip would benefit his health and shot
off to Devonshire at top speed. Of course he
wanted to impart the news to Magda. He must have
felt a pretty fool since!” And Lady Arabella
gave one of her enjoyable chuckles.
“Yes. Antoine came down to see us,”
replied Gillian in puzzled tones. “But
Magda never confided anything special he had said.
I suppose he must have told her——”
She broke off as all at once illumination penetrated
the darkness. “That explains it, then!
Explains everything!” she exclaimed.
“What explains what?” demanded Lady Arabella
bluntly.
