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Unfortunately, no one could ascertain what the “more” was, exactly Miss Desmond’s manners were unexceptionable, and her conversation was very properly limited to deference to the opinions of her elders She see miss Only when people recollected she was Devil Deshter did this conclusion appear

at all reley was in a fever to solve

Miss Desht have enjoyed her triumph whole-heartedly had she not been so acutely aware that Rossingley’s interest in her would fade as abruptly as it had blossomed if the reason for its interest vanished The reason—Lord Berne—showed every evidence of doing so

When he had not called by Friday, Miss Desmond’s spirits—already sorely tried by the necessity of behaving circumspectly before an endless streah of Despond

Lord Berne was obviously as fickle, selfish, and thoughtless as everyone said She must have been totty-headed to have taken hiht evidence as one whimsical promise She had not been her usual hard-headed self, that was certain Delilah reflected as she wandered unhappily out to the garden

The sun shone, but today its beaentle, and a cool breeze drove away all traces of the unusual humidity which had oppressed the countryside The milder weather had not, she soon discovered, been of s had succuazed sorrowfully upon their withered reardener Until she thought of a better hiding place, therea very deep hole He’d been too busy de his prowess in other ways Well, he’d discovered hishis dusty volumes

By now he , because she was a wanton adventuress, bent on entrapping him Was there some further penance she wished to exact, he’d said, in those cold, patronising tones The nerve of the man! He was despicable

She stoht iron bench placed conveniently in a shady corner Muttering idon and occasionally—when she re herself onto the seat and fell into a sulk

She had been thus a herself for about tena letter, as well as a lengthy recitation of her trials and tribulations, the letter being the nity She did not see why a lady’s er when there were plenty of foot day for want of anything to do Her ill-temperedher

While Joan eon, Miss Des open the letter She quickly scanned the bold, black lines, then, with her first genuine sain more slowly

When she had finished savouring Lord Berne’s lyric prose for the tenth time, Delilah made for the house, to acquaint her father with this latest,development on the rut-ridden road to matrimony

She found hi an epistle of his own and grinning “Ah, there you are,” said he “I was intending to coed body that labour What do you think, Delilah? We have yet another publisher ishes to become my bosom-bow—and at twice the price”

He handed the letter to his daughter, whose joyous countenance reverted to its previous gloom while she read

“This is dreadful, Papa,” she said when she was done “I thought Mr Atkins assured us of secrecy How on earth did this man learn of your memoirs?”

“Easy enough,” said the parent with a shrug “I daresay one of Atkins’s clerks has a passion for listening at keyholes and a loose tongue An unfortunate combination, but one prevalent, I fear, in every class of society”

“Indeed I expect all of London knows by now”

“If that were the case, I should receive a great many more offers than this Rest easy,upon one another and they are not above paying their rivals’ employees for useful tidbits”

Delilah could not rest easy She began pacing frantically, her skirts whirling about her in a reat-aunt into paroxysms Fortunately, the only observer at the moment was her papa

“Yes, s fro that circumstance beyond our small family circle”