E-text prepared by Al Haines THE SECOND HONEYMOON by RUBY M. AYRES Author of A Bachelor Husband, The Scar, Etc. New York Grosset & Dunlap Publishers Made in the United States of America Copyright, 1921, by W. J. Watt & Company CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE PAST INTERVENES II JILTED! III THE TWO WOMEN IV JIMMY GETS NEWS V SANGSTER TAKES A HAND VI JIMMY DEMANDS THE TRUTH VII LOVE AND POVERTY VIII THE SECOND ENGAGEMENT IX MOTHERLESS X JIMMY HAS A VISITOR XI HUSBAND AND WIFE XII SANGSTER IS CONSULTED XIII CHRISTINE HEARS THE TRUTH XIV BITTERNESS XV SANGSTER SPEAKS IN RIDDLES XVI THE PAST RETURNS XVII JIMMY BREAKS OUT XVIII KETTERING HEARS SOMETHING XIX A CHANCE MEETING XX LOVE LOCKED OUT XXI THE COMPACT XXII TOO LATE! XXIII THE UNEXPECTED THE SECOND HONEYMOON CHAPTER I THE PAST INTERVENES James Challoner, known to his friends and intimates as Jimmy, brushed an imaginary speck of dust from the shoulder of his dinner jacket, and momentarily stopped his cheery whistling to stare at himself in the glass with critical eyes. Jimmy was feeling very pleased with himself in particular and the world in general. He was young, and quite passably good-looking, he had backed a couple of winners that day for a nice little sum, and he was engaged to a woman with whom he had been desperately in love for at least three months. Three months was a long time for Jimmy Challoner to be in love (as a rule, three days was the outside limit which he allowed himself), but this--well, this was the real thing at last--the real, romantic thing of which author chaps and playwright Johnnies wrote; the thing which sweeps a man clean off his feet and paints the world with rainbow tints. Jimmy Challoner was sure of it. His usually merry eyes sobered a little as he met their solemn reflection in the mirror. He took up a silver-backed brush and carefully smoothed down a kink of hair which stood aggressively erect above the rest. It was a confounded nuisance, that obstinate wave in his hair, making him look like a poet or a drawing-room actor. Not that he objected to actors and the stage in the very least; on the contrary, he had the profoundest admiration for them, at which one could hardly wonder seeing that Cynthia--bless her heart!--was at present playing lead in one of the suburban theatres, and that at that very moment a pass for the stage box reposed happily in an inner pocket of his coat. Cynthia was fast making a name for herself. In his adoring eyes she was perfect, and in his blissful heart he was confident that one day all London would be talking about her. Her photographs would be In every shop window, and people would stand all day outside the pit and gallery to cheer her on first nights.