Beyond The Rocks

catarrh, prostrated Josiah Brown in the first days of their marriage, and had turned her into a superintendent nurse f

lace one reads of in guide-books. Theodora grew to hate the sky and the blue Mediterranean. She used to sit on her balcony a

Jean d'Agrève; and after that she wondered what Love was. It took a

nd would be their destination, but the doctors assured him a month of Paris would b

ce had descended upon Theodora. She had fallen into her place, a place oc

t been tarnished by that. She had played in the Tuilleries Gardens and watched Ponchinello at the Rond Point, and later been taken once or twice to dine at a cheap café in the Bois by p

vate hotel in the Avenue du Bois, suitable to invalids, a

ered What

tle Greek head would have driven a sculptor wild-and Josiah Brown was very generous in money matters, and she ha

lt he could afford a carriage in Paris, and any other fancy he pleased. His ner

ed pair, seated in a smart victoria with stepping horses, driving s

at the Continental, and Theodora felt her heart beat

to make papa look so prosperous as that

what a figure he had! and what manners! And when he patted her cheek Theodora felt at once that thrill o

at Dieppe. Thus she could have papa all to herself, and oh,

he rest of his life must be a poor creature. But, on the other hand, there was that uncomfortable sense of breeding about him which once, when Captain Fitzg

ately afterwards, but he never forgot the incident. They were not birds of a feather, and n

ce, which generally wore a mask of gentle, solicitous meekness for him, suddenly sparkled and rippled with laugh

hat Josiah Brown objected to. He had never received an

his arms; he had always loved Theodora, and when he saw her so quite too desirable-looking in

the respectable private hotel, with his son-in-law and daughter, as a trifle dull fo

d, with his grand air. "Josiah, you must begin to go o

iah was

ve the hotel. Then he saw how poor Theodora's face fell, and one of his sparks of consideration for the feelings of others came to him, and he announced gruffly

first sleep," he said; and Th

room to get ready in a way Josiah Brown had never seen her do before. And after she had gone-Captain Fitzge

e his daughter in her brougham, rolling down the Champs-Elysées, "y

a!" said

ly night, but rather cold, so there were no diners in the garden

g woman, and to remark the effect she produced, and his cup of happiness was full when they came upon a party at

r when he had greeted Mrs. McBride without gush, and presented his daughter with the air of just passing on, the widow

she cared not at all whether her father accepted or no

ds, and that her frock, although so simple, was the last and most expensive creation of Callot S?urs. She had always been horribly attracted by

s usual polished ease, and the radiant widow pres

inkling gray eyes was an Englishman from the Embassy. The disagreeable-looking woman in the badly made mauve silk was his sister, Lady Hildon. The stout, hook-nosed bird of prey with the heavy gold cha

nd Oxford, served for some time in the Fourth Lifeguards, been unpaid attaché at St. Petersburg, was patron of five livings, and sat in the House of Lor

ollateral branches-but that was while she burned the midnight oil and l

nto Lord Bracondale's, and something told her they

ith garrulous apologies for being late, the party

round table, only just big enough to hold them-came her hostess and Lord Bracondale, and

s an admirable hostess; the conversation n

announced some quaint truths while he

odora by way of explanation. "He is so colossally rich he don't need to worry

liantly as he. His wit was delicate, his sallies were daring,

tingle with pride in him, and

taurant to have their coffee in the hall. "You must let me see quantities of you

heodo

ted to talk to a woman they did, if twenty French counts or Russian princes stood in the way! Thus it was that for the rest of the evening Theodora found herself seated upon a sofa in close p

voice; it was deep and arresting, and he had a way of loo

ed to the tribe whom Sarah had

revolting, like hers? Was it because these beautiful creatures could not be bound to any one woman? It seemed to her unsophisticated mind tha

the things she saw and-he had read Jean d'Agrève!-they got to that at the end of the first half-hour, and then she fro

had yet struck in a path of varied experiences. Her eyes so innocent and true, with the tender expression of a fawn; the

" he thought. "What can her husband be about, and wh

man, was the natural course of the day. It never even struck him then it might be a cruel thing to do. A wo

an ordinary Englishman of the world, who

her after Jean d'Agrève. It thrilled him to see her soft eyes dreamy and luminous whe

lt that perhaps she ought not to speak about love

ow. He flattered her vanity, he entertained her intelligence, and he even

t, and gradually the party broke up, but not before Captain Fitzgerald had arranged to meet Mrs. McBride at Doucet's i

r at the prospect of the bill, as it had often had to do in olden days when her father gave these royal invitations. Then she remembered she had not been sacrificed to Josiah Bro

all busy elsewhere, except Lord Bracondale and the F

ay. Would he go? and if not, would he

Bracondale said, as he helped her on with her cloa

lue stars which looked up at him. "Perhaps I shall not

interru

ome; it is fate," he said, and

h beautiful Englishmen who could only be-lovers-felt the red blood rush to her cheeks and a thrill flutter her hea

"you are married now and should be able to look after yourself,

ushed and did not tr

hese few louis, just for the breakfast. I know how generous you are, and how difficult things have been made for you, darling.

n, although a good many edges of his se

red: "Merely a loan, my pet, merely a loan.

he was deeply touched, and her tender heart overflowed with glad

child," he said, as they stopped at the do

nt, comforted; and in the salon it

had not known a single person connected with it; but it pleased him to be able to look up his wife's name

coherent thoughts which floated through the brain o

d Esclarmonde de Chartres; and among the diamonds and pearls and scents and feathers he suddenly

"Ce bel Hector chéri-il a un béguin pour q