Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / Sept. 7, 1917, edition 1 / Page 3
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ftpoiy-LJai ,. M , , ,,. 1 THE HILLMAnI j By E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM 1 1 . n i LOUISE SEEMS TO HAVE REACHED THE POINT WHERE SHE DIDN'T CARE WHAT HAPPENED TO HER AND THEN JOHN STRANGEWEY CAME INTO HER LIFE Synopsis On a trip through the English Cumberland country the breakdown of her motorcar forces Louise Maurel, famous London actress, to accept the overnight hospitality of Stephen and John Strangewey, recluse woman haters, who own a great farm. Before she leaves she stirs the interest of John Strangewey and is in turn Interested by him. Three months later John, on Impulse, takes a train for London, and Immediately renews his acquaintance with Louise, lie Is warned by her friend, Sophy, not to be puritanical in his regard for Louise. CHAPTER VII. The first few minutes that John spent In Louise's little house were full of acute and vivid Interest. The room that he was so eagerly studying con firmed his cloudy impressions of Its owner. There was, for a woman's apartment, a curious absence of orna mentation and knickknacks. The walls were black and white; the carpet was white; the furniture graceful In its outline, rather heavy In build, and 3ov ered with old-rose colored chlnts. There were water-colors upon the wall, -some small black-and-white fantasies, puzzling to John, who had never even lieard the term futurist. A table, drawn nip to the side of one of the easy chairs, was covered with books and magazines, some Italian, a few English, the great--er part French; and upon a smaller one, close at hand, stood a white bowl full of pink roses. Their odor was somehow reminiscent of Louise, curi ously sweet and wholesome an odor -which suddenly took him back to the morning when she had come to him from under the canopy of apple-blossom. His heart began to beat with pleasure even before the opening of the door announced her presence. She came in with Sophy, who at once seat ed herself by his side. "We have been making plans," Lou ise declared, "for disposing of you for the rest of the day." John , smiled happily. "You're not sendlDg me away, then? Tou're not acting this evening?" "Not until three weeks next Mon day," she replied. "Then, if you are good, and' the production Is not post poned, you may seat yourself in a box and make all the noise you like after the fall of the curtain. - These are real holidays for me, except for the nui sance of rehearsals. You couldn't have come at a better time." Sophy glanced at the clock. "Well," she said, "I must show my Tespect to that most ancient of adages 3by taking my departure. I feel " "You will do nothing of the sort, -hild," Louise interrupted. "I want to Interest you in the evolution of Mr. ' Strangewey. We must remember that It is his first night in London. What aspect of It shall we attempt to show him? Don't say a word, Sophy. It is not for us to choose." "I'm afraid there Isn't any choice," John declared, his face falling. "I liaven't any clothes except what you see me in." "Hooray!" Sophy exclaimed. "Off "with your smart gown, Louise I We'll be splendidly Bohemian. You shall put on your black frock and a black hat, and powder your nose, and we'll all go to Guido's first and drink vermuth. I can't look the part, but I can act it !" "But tell me," Louise asked him, "did you lose your luggage?" "I brought none," he answered. They both looked at him Sophy po litely curious, Louise more deeply in terested. "You mean," Louise demanded, "that after waiting all these months you started away upon impulse like that without even letting your brother know or bringing any luggage?" "That's exactly what I did," John agreed, smiling. "I had a sovereign in my pocket when I had bought my ticket. The joke of it was," he went on, joining in the girls' laughter, "that -Mr. Appleton has been worrying me for months to come up and talk over reinvestments, and take control of the money my uncle left me; and when I came at last, I arrived like a pauper. He went out himself and bought my shirt." "And a very nice shirt, too," Sophy declared, glancing at the pattern. "Do tell us what else happened!" "Well, not much more," John re plied. "Mr. Appleton stuffed me full of money and made me take a little suite of rooms at what he called a more fashionable hotel. lie stayed to lunch with me, and I have promised to see him on business tomorrow morn ing." The two girls sat up and wiped their eyes. "Oh, this is a wonderful adventure you have embarked upon !" Louise ex claimed. "You have come quite in the right spirit. It is your first night here, Mr. Strangewey, so I warn you that Sophy is the most IrrespoasMile and fapriclous of all my friends." Sophy made a grimace. "Mr. Strangewey," she begged ear nestly, "you won't believe a word she says, will you? All my life I have been looking for a single and stead fast attachment. Of course, if Louise wants to monopolize you, I shall fall Into the background, as I usually do; but if you think that I am going to ac cept hints and let you go out to dinner alone, you are very much mistaken. Tonight, at any rate, I Insist upon com ing!" Louise shook her head. "We shall have to put up with her," she told John with a little grimace. The door of the room was suddenly opened. The parlor maid stood at one side. "The prince of Seyre, madam," she announced. Louise nodded. She was evidently expecting the visit. She turned to John. "Will you come back and call for us here say at seven o'clock? Mind, you are not to' bother about. your clothes, but to come just as you are. I can't tell you," she added under her breath, "how much I am looking forward to our evening !" Sophy sprang to her f eet. "Won't you drop me, please, Mr. Strangewey?" she asked. "Then, if you will be so kind, you can pick me up again on your way here. You'll have to pass where I live, if you are at the Milan. I must go home and do my lit tle best to compete." Louise's frown was so slight that even John failed to notice it. Upon the threshold they encountered the prince, who detained John for a mo ment. "I was hoping that I might meet you here, Mr. Strangewey," he said. "If you are in town for long, it will give rfne great pleasure if I can be of any service to you. You are staying at a hotel?" "I am staying at the Milan," John replied. "I will do myself the pleasure of calling upon you," the prince con tinued. "In the meantime, if you need "We Shall Have to Put Up With Her," She Told John With a Little Grimace. any service that a Londoner can offer you, be sure to let me know. You will easily find' my house in Grosvenor square." "It is very kind of you indeed," John said gratefully. Sophy made a wry face as the prince entered the drawing-room. "Didn't some old Roman once write something about being afraid of Greeks who brought gifts?" she asked, as they descended the stairs together. "Quite right," John assented. "Well, be careful !" she advised him. "That's all." John handed Sophy into the taxi and took his place beside her. "Where shall I put you down?" he asked. "It's such a terribly low neighbor hood ! However, it's quite close to the Milan 10 Southampton street." John gave the address to the man, and they started off. They were blocked in a stream of traffic almost as soon as they reached Hyde Park Cor ner. John leaned forward all the time, immensely interested in the stream of passers-by. "Your interest in your fellow crea tures," she murmured demurely, "is wonderful, but couldn't you concen trate it just a little?" He turned quickly around. She was smiling at him most alluringly. Un consciously he found himself smiling back again. A wonderful light-hearted-ness seemed to have come to him dur ing the last few hours. ' . "I suppose I am a perfect idiot," he admitted. "I cannot help it. I am used to seeing, at the most, three or four people together at a time. I can't un derstand these crowds. Where are they all going? Fancy every one of them having a home, every one of them struggling in some form or an other (oward happiness I" "Do you know," she pronounced se verely, "for a young man of your age you are much too serious? I am quite sure you could be nice if you wanted to," she continued. "How much are you in love with Louise?" "How much am I what?" "In love with Louise?" she repeated. "All the men are. It Is a perfect cult with them. And here am I, her humble companion and, friend, absolutely neg lected!" "I don't believe you are neglected at all," he replied. "You are much too" He turned his head to look at her. She was so close to him that their hats collided. He was profuse in his apolo gies. "Too what?" she whispered. "Too attractive," he ventured. "It's nice to hear you say so," she sighed. She was unlike any girl John had ever known. Her hair was almost golden, her eyes a distinct blue, yet some trick of the mouth saved her face from any suggestion of insipidity. She was looking straight into his eyes, and her lips were curled most invitingly. "I wish I knew more about certaiD things," he said. "Oh, why didn't you come before?" she s exclaimed. "Fancy Louise never telling me about you. I hope you'll ask me to lunch some time." "I'll have a luncheon party tomor row, if you like that is, if Louise will come." She looked up at him quickly. "Isn't Louise going, to Paris?" she asked. Paris? I didn't hear her say any- thing about it. "Perhaps it is my mistake, then," Sophy went on hastily. "I only fancied that I heard her say so." There was a moment's silence. John had opened his lips to ask a question, but quickly closed them again. It was a question, he suddenly decided, which he had better ask of Louise herself. "If Louise goes to Paris," Sophy whispered disconsolately, "I suppose there will be no luncheon-party?" For a single moment he hesitated. She was very alluring, and the chal lenge in her eyes was unmistakable. "I think," he said quietly, "that if Miss Maurel goes to Paris, I shall re turn to Cumberland tomorrow." For a time there was a significant silence. Then Sophy raised her veil once more and looked toward John. "Mr. Strangewey," she began, "you won't mind if I give you just a little word of advice? You are such a big, strong person, but you are rather a child, you know, In some things." "This place does make me feel Igno rant," he admitted. "Don't Idealize anyone here," she begged. "Don't concentrate all your hopes upon one object. Love is won derful and life Is wonderful, but there Is only one life, and there are many loves before one reaches the end. Peo ple do such silly things sometimes," she wound up, "just because of a little disappointment. There are many dis appointments to be met with here." He took her hand In his. "Little girl," he said, "you are very good to me, and I think you under stand. Are you going to let me feel that I have found a friend on my first evening in London?" "If you want me," she answered slm-' ply. "I like you, and I want you to be happy here; and because I want you to be" happy, I want you to come down from the clouds and remember that you have left your hills behind and that we walk on the pavements here." "Thank you," he whispered, "and thank you for what you have not said. If I am to find sorrow here inrrad of joy," he added, a ItttI bette Trf and himrf "I litel; my of y "M him were ing J taura 1 F! prlnci T Z know! j "Y much! not a more dignified form of entertain ment for his first evening?" "The poor man has no clothes," Lou ise explained. "He came to London quite unexpectedly." "No clothes?" the prince repeated. "It is a long journey to take in such a fashion. A matter of urgent business, perhaps?" , Louise had risen to her feet and was busy rearranging some roses in the bowl by her side. She crushed one of the roses to pieces suddenly in her hands and shook the petals from her long, nervous fingers. "Today," she said, "this afternoon now you have come to me with some thing in your mind, something you wish to say, something you are not sure how to say. That is, you see, what Henri Gralllot calls my intuition. Even you, who keep all your feelings under a mask, can conceal very little from me." "My present feelings," the prince de clared, "I do not wish to conceal. I would like you to know them. But as words are sometimes clumsy, I would like, if it were possible, to let you see into my heart." She came over and seated herself by his side on the divan. She even laid her hand upon his arm. "Eugene," she expostulated, "we are too old friends to talk always in veiled phrases. There is something you have "Eugene," She Expostulated, "We Are Too Old Friends to Talk Always in Veiled Phrases." to say to me. You are displeased be cause I have changed my mind be cause I feel that I cannot take that lit tle journey of ours?" "You mean that you cannot now, or that you cannot at any time?" "I do not know," she answered. "You ask me more than I can tell you. Some times life seems so stable, a thing one can make a little chart of and hang up on the wall, and put one's finger hero nnrt thfrp 'Tnrlnv T will rin this. tnmnrmw t w-mi w? -hn on tho next morning comes and the chart is in the fire. I wish I understood my self a little better, Eugene!" "I believe that I understand you bet ter, far better, than you understand yourself," he declared. "That is why I also believe that I am necessary to you. I can prevent your making mis takes." "Then prevent me," she begged. "Something has happened, and the chart is in the fire today." "You have only," he said, "to give me this little hand, and I will draw out a fresh one which shall direct to the place in life which is best for you. It is not too late." She rose from beside him and walked toward the fireplace, as If to touch the bell, ne watched her wjth steady eyes but expressionless face. There was something curious about her walk. The spring had gone from her feet, her shoulders were a little hunched. It was the walk of a woman who goes toward the things she fears. "Stop !" he bade her. She turned and faced him, quickly, almost eagerly. There was a look in her face of the prisoner who finds re spite "Leave the bell alone," he directed. "My own plans are changed. I do not wish to leave London this week." ner face was suddenly brilliant, her eyes shone. Something electric seemed to quiver through her frame. She al most danced back to her place by his side. 'TIow foolish !" she murmured. "Why didn't you say so at once?" "Because," he replied, "they have only been changed during the last few seconds. I wanted to discover some thing which I have discovered." "To discover something?" "That my time has not yet come." She turned away from him. She was oppressed with a sense almost of fear, a feeling that he was able to read the very thoughts forming in her brain; to understand, as no one else in the world could understand, the things that lived in her heart. must not keep you," he remarked, ing at the clock. "It was very for me to call, and you will be ng to join your friends." ley are coming here for me," she lined. "There is really no hurry We are not changing anything, to be quite a simple evening. times I wish. that you cared about h of that sort, Eugene." j blew through his Hps a little of smoke from the cigarette he had just lit im not of the people," he said, have no sympathy with them. I the bourgeoisie of every country world my own more partlcu- you only knew how strangely ounds!" she murmured. "Does it?" he answered. "You should read my family history, read of the men and women of my race who were butchered at the hands of ,that drunk en, lustful mob whom lying historians have glorified. I am one of those who do not forget injuries. My estates are administered more severely than any others in France. No penny of my money has ever been spent in charity. I neither forget nor forgive." She laughed a little nervously. "What an unsympathetic person you can be, Eugene !" "And for that very reason," he re plied, "I can be sympathetic. Because I hate some people, I have the power of loving others. Because It pleases me to deal severely with my enemies, it gives me joy to deal generously with my friends. That Is my conception of life. May I wish you a pleasant eve ning?" "You are going now?" she asked, a little surprised. "When shall I see you again?" "A telephone message from your maid, a line written with your own fin gers," he said, "will bring me to you within a few minutes. If I hear noth ing, I may come uninvited, but It will be when the fancy takes me. Once more, Louise, a pleasant evening!" ne passed out of the door, which the parlor maid was holding open for him. Crossing to the window, Louise watched him leave the house and enter his waiting automobile. He gave no sign of haste or disappointment. He lit another cigarette deliberately upon the pavement and gave his orders to the chauffeur with some care. As the car drove off without his hav ing once glanced up at the window, she shivered a little. There was a silence which, it seemed to her, could be more minatory even than accusation. CHAPTER VIII. The little room waa gaudily decorat ed and redolent with the lingering odors of many dinners. Yet Louise, who had dined on the preceding eve ning at the Ritz and been bored, whose taste in food and environment was al most hypercritical, was perfectly happy. She found the cuisine and the Chlanti excellent. "We. are outstaying everyone else," she declared; "and I don't even mind their awful legacy of tobacco smoke. Do you see that the waiter has'brought you the bill, Mr. Strangewey? Prepare for a shock. It is fortunate that you are a millionaire!" . John laughed as he paid the bill and ludicrously overtipped the waiter. "You are so convincing !" Sophy mur mured. . "But remember that your fu ture entertainment Is in the hands of two women, one of whom Is a deserv ing but struggling young artist without the means of gratifying her expensive tastes." "My children," said Louise, rising, "we must remember that we are going to the Palace. It is quite time we started." j They made their way down two flights' of narrow stairs into the street. The commissionnaire raised his whis tle to his lips, but Louise stopped him. "We will walk," she suggested. "This way, Mr. Strangewey!" They passed down the long, narrow street, with Its dingy foreign cafes and shops, scarcely one of which seemed to be English. The people who thronged the pavement were of a new race to John, swarthy, a little furtive, a class of foreigner seldom seen except In alien lands. Men and women In all stages of dishabille were leaning out of the windows or standing on the door steps. The girls whom they met occa sionally young women of all ages, walking arm in arm, with shawls on their heads in place of hats laughed openly in John's face. "Conquests everywhere he goes!" Louise sighed. "We shall never keep him, Sophy !" "We have him for this evening, at any rate," Sophy replied contentedly; "and he hasn't spent all his fortune yet.. I am not at all sure that I shall not hint at supper when we come out of the Palace." "A pity he fell into bad hands so quickly." Louise laughed. "Here we are ! Stalls, please, Mr. Millionaire. I wouldn't be seen tonight In the seats of the mighty." John risked a reproof, however, and was fortunate enough to find a disen gaged box. They devoted their atten tion to the show, Louise and Sophy at first with only a moderate amount of Interest, John with the real enthusiasm of one to whom everything is new. His laughter was so hearty, his apprecia tion so sincere, that his companions found it infectious, and began to ap plaud everything. "The bioscope," Louise at last de cided firmly, "I refuse to have anything to do with. You have had all the en tertainment you are going to have this evening, Mr. Countryman." "Now for supper, then," he proposed. "Luigi's," Sophy declared firnti' "The only place In London." jr They drove toward, the Strand.5 looked around him with Inters thev entered the restaurant. ! who came forward to welcome i escorted them to one of the best "You must be very nice to t tleman, Lulgl," she said. "He Is & great friend of mine, just arrive London. He has come up on pu t-n boo mo nml w shnll nrnhnhlv t. clde to make this our favorite restauW rant." "I shall be valry happy," Lulgi de clared, with a bow. 'I am beginning to regret, Mr. Strangewey, that I ever Introduced you to Sophy," Louise remarked, as she sank bock into her chair.- "You won't believe that all my friends are as frivolous as thls.will you?" "They aren't," Sophy proclaimed con fidently. "I am the one person who M succeeds in keeping Louise with her feet upon the earth. She has never had supper here before. Dry biscuits, hot milk, and a volume of poems are her relaxation after the theater. She takes herself too seriously." "I wonder if I do!" Louise mur mured, as she helped herself to caviar. She was suddenly pensive, ner eyes seemed to be looking out of the res taurant. Sophy was exchanging ameni ties with a little party of friends at the next table. "One must sometimes be serious, John remarked, "or life would have no poise at all." "I have a friend who scolds me," she confided. "Sometimes he almost loses patience with me. ne declares that my attitude toward life is too analyti cal. When happiness comes my way, I shrink back. I keep my emotions in the background, while my brain works, dissecting, wondering, speculating. Per haps what he says is true. I believe that if one gets into the habit of an alyzing too much, one loses all elas ticity of emotion, the capacity to recog nize and embrace the great things . when they come." 'T thinlr vnn hnvp hppn rlcht." .Trthn . declared earnestly. "If the great things come as they should come, they are 1 1 - 1 (11 TTH uvei wueiiuiug, tuey win tunjr jwu uu your feet. You will forget to speculate and to analyze. Therefore, I think you have been wise and right to wait. You have run no risk of having to put up with the lesser things." She leaned toward him across the rose-shaded table. For those few sec onds they seemed to have been brought into a wonderfully Intimate communion of thought. A wave of her hair almost touched his forehead. His hand boldly rested upon her fingers. "You talk," she whispered, "as if we were back upon your hilltop once more !" He turned his head toward the little orchestra, which was playing a low and tremulous waltz tune. "I want to believe," he rald, "that you can listen to the music , here and yet live upon the hilltops." "You believe that It Is possible?" "I do indeed," he assured her. "Al though my heart was almost sick with loneliness, I do not think that I should be here if I did not believe it I have not come for anything else, for any lesser things, but to find " For once his courage failed him. For once, too, he failed to understand her expression. She had drawn back a lit tle, her lips were quivering. Sophy broke suddenly in upon that moment of suspended speech. "I knew how It would be!" she ex claimed. "I leave you both alone for less than a minute, and there you sit. as grave as two owls. I ask you, now. Is this the place to wander off into the clouds? When two people sit looking at each other as you were doing a min ute ago, here in Luigi's, and a supper, ordered regardless of expense, on the table before them, they are either with out the least sense of the fitness of things, or else " "Or oIsp what?" Lmilso nsked. "Or else they are head over heels In love" with each other!" Sophy con cluded. "Perhaps the child Is right," Louise assented tolerantly, taking a peach from the basket by her side. "Evident ly it is our duty to abandon ourselves to the frivolity of the moment. What shall we do to bring ourselves Into ac cord with It? Everybody seems to be behaving most disgracefully. Do you think it would contribute to the eavety of the evening if I were to join in the chorus of 'You Made Me Love You,' and Mr. Strangewey were to Imitate the young gentleman at the next table and throw a roll, say, at the portly old gentleman with the highly polished shirt-front?" "You ought to be thankful all your life that you have met me and that I "You Talk," She Whispered, "as If We were Back Upon Your Hilltops Once Morel" disposed to take an Interest in you, hy remarked, as she moved her r a little nearer to John's. "I am sure that in a very short time Yould have become well, almost K. Providence has selected me to .iiout your salvation." "Providence has heen very kino, then," John told her. "I hope you mean it," she returned. "You ought to, if you only understood the importance of light-heartedness." John finds himself In love with the actress and discovers that he has a powerful rival In the prince of Seyre. (TO BE CONTIisUliOJ f
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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Sept. 7, 1917, edition 1
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