The Argosy — page 91: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

78 A Modern Fatima. dainfully, there was a tremor in her voice as she said: ‘‘ We ought to have been so happy; I had believed we loved each other so dearly.” | ‘And so we do,” he replied. ‘‘ Those wet eyelids of yours tell me that you care for me with all your heart. What wild notion is it that you have got into your head to make you miserable ?” ‘You are cruel to speak to me so,” she said, passionately, turning from him and growing whiter than she had been before ; ‘ when there is a little child not two hundred yards away from the house who is—who 1is—who of “My darling Audrey! Is—is it Alick you have been worrying yourself about ?” “His name.is Alick—yes.” “Little Alick Somers, my protégé, and ——” ‘Your protégé!” she scornfully interrupted. ‘‘ And what else?” ‘“ My nephew.” ‘That 1s a convenient name.” “Tt is a true one. Alick is the son of my unfortunate sister. How is it that you have been troubling yourself about him ?” “Tell me all about it, Alick, and then I will answer your ques- tions,” she said, faintly, as she sat down on the sofa, for she saw that he was not deceiving her. ‘“You have never heard me speak of my sister Maud,” he began, sitting down beside her, “‘ because I could only do so with shame ; but I will tell you about her now, Audrey. The truest and dearest friend of my life was John Somers. We were at school together, chums and friends at college, and we went into the law together, and seemed likely to get on in it side by side. ‘There are not many fellows in the world so loveable as Jack was, and I believe he could have wooed and won for himself one of the best wives in England; but instead of that, in some strange fit of per- versity, he thought that he loved Maud. Perhaps he did; but I felt, at the time, that her being my sister had something to do with it ; and though I warned him against her, for I had always known her character too well to admire it, and believed she would never make any husband happy, I was, of course, unfortunately, the original cause of their soon knowing each other.” ‘Did they marry ?” ‘Yes, just four years ago, about the time when I first met you, Audrey. Poor Jack! He repented his marriage only once, and that has been always. From the very first, Maud, by her wild extrava- gance, did her best to ruin him. She never in the least cared for him ; and her only ideas of wifely duty were that she should go her own way and enjoy herself as much as she could. ‘They were not _ wealthy, and she spent more than double their income, doing this so persistently, and indeed secretly, that Jack knew nothing of the large expenditure until the bills began to come in thick and fast upon him. ECORNICLOOKS CON