Through stained glass: A NovelChamberlain, George Agnew
General
Through stained glass: A Novel
Chamberlain, George Agnew
Fathers and sons -- Fiction; Love stories
The revelation that had come to him in the park was not destined to
stand alone. Between such women as Folly and their victims exists an
almost invariable camaraderie that forbids the spoiling of sport. The
inculcation of this questionable loyalty is considered by some the last
attribute of the finished adventuress, and by others it is said to be
due to the fact that such women draw and are drawn by men whose major
rule is to "play fair." Both conclusions are erroneous, as any victim
can testify.
The news that Lewis no longer followed in Folly's train permeated his
world with a rapidity that has no parallel outside of London except in
the mental telegraphy of aboriginal Africa. Men soon began to talk to
him, to tell him things. He turned upon the first with an indignant
question, "Why didn't you tell me this before?" and the informer stared
at him and smiled until Lewis found the answer for himself and flushed.
Ten thousand pointing fingers cannot show the sunrise to the blind.
By the time H lne came back, Lewis not only knew his liberation, but
had begun to bless Folly as we bless the stroke of lightning that
strikes at us and just misses. He complied with H lne's summons
promptly, but with a deliberation that surprised him, for it was not
until he was on the way to her house that he realized that he had no
troubles to pour out to her ear.
Nevertheless, a sense of peace fell upon him as he entered the familiar
room of cheerful blue chintzes and light. H lne was as he had ever
known her. She gave him a slow, measuring welcome, and then sat back and
let him talk. Woman's judgment may err in clinging to the last word, but
never is her finesse at fault in ceding the first.
H lne heard Lewis's tale from start to finish with only one
interruption. It took her five minutes to find out just what it was
Folly had said in her own tongue to the little cockney in his, and even
at that there were one or two words she had to guess. When she thought
she had them all, she sat up straight and laughed.
Lewis stared at her.
"Do you think it's funny?" he demanded.
"Oh, no, of course not," gasped Lady Derl, trying to gulp down her
mirth. "Not at all." And then she laughed again.
Lewis waited solemnly for her to finish, then he told her of some of the
things he had heard at the club.
"H lne," he finished, "I want you to know that I don't only see what a
fool I was. I see more than that. I see what you and dad sacrificed to
my blindness. I want you to know that you didn't do it in vain. Six
months ago, if I had found Folly out, I would have gone to the dogs,
taken her on her own terms, and said good-by to honor and my word to
dad. It's--it's from that that you have saved me."
H lne waved her hand deprecatingly.
"I did little enough for you, Lew. Not half what I would willingly have
done. But--but your dad--I wrote you I'd seen him just for an hour at
Port Said. Your dad, Lew, he's given you all he had."
"What do you mean?" asked Lewis, troubled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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