Part 45 (2/2)

The incredible words were spoken that evening Ethne went into her farm-house and sat down in the parlour She felt cold that su into the bright coals with that stillness of attitude which was a sure sign with her of tense eerly looked for had come, and it was over She was alone now in her ree, out of the world in the hills, and hby sailed on that August hby's coht and day to the one half-hour during which Harry Feversham would be with her The half-hour had come and passed She kne she had counted upon its co, how she had lived for it She felt lonely in a rather empty world But it was part of her nature that she had foreseen this sense of loneliness; she had known that there would be a bad hour for her after she had sent Harry Feversham away, that all her heart and soul would clamour to her to call hi by the fire, to remember that she had always foreseen and had always looked beyond it

To-ain that they had not parted forever, to- of to-day with the parting on the night of the ball at Lennon House, and recognise what a s what Harry Feversham would do now that he had returned, and while she was building up for hireat distinction she felt Der at her hand with his sure instinct that his mistress was in distress Ethne rose fro's head between her hands and kissed it He was very old, she thought; he would die soon and leave her, and then there would be years and years, perhaps, before she lay down in her bed and knew the great moment was at hand

There came a knock upon the door, and a servant told her that Colonel Durrance aiting

”Yes,” she said, and as he entered the room she went forward to meet him She did not shi+rk the part which she had allotted to herself She stepped out frorief as soon as she was suh no unusual thing had happened an hour before, she even talked of theirof Lennon House It was difficult, but she had grown used to difficulties

Only that night Durrance made her path a little harder to tread He asked her, after the ht in the tea, to play to hiht,” said Ethne ”I aed her s as well as in the great she s with their daily happenings were just those about which she must be most careful ”Still I think that I can play the overture,” she said with a smile, and she took down her violin She played the overture through fro to the end Durrance stood at the ith his back towards her until she had ended Then he walked to her side

”I was rather a brute,” he said quietly, ”to ask you to play that overture to-night”

”I wasn't anxious to play,” she answered as she laid the violin aside

”I know But I was anxious to find out so it out”

Ethne turned up to him a startled face

”What do you mean?” she asked in a voice of suspense

”You are so seldouard Only indeed at rare times when you play Once before when you played that overture you were off your guard

I thought that if I could get you to play it again to-night--the overture which was once struain I should find you off your guard”

His words took her breath away and the colour froot up slowly from her chair and stared at him wide-eyed He could not know

It was impossible He did not know

But Durrance went quietly on

”Well? Did you take back your feather? The fourth one?”

These to Ethne were the incredible words Durrance spoke the time to understand that he had actually spoken them She was not sure at the first that her overstrained senses were not playing her tricks; but he repeated his question, and she could no longer disbelieve or misunderstand

”Who told you of any fourth feather?” she asked

”Trench,” he answered ”I met him at Dover But he only told me of the fourth feather,” said Durrance ”I knew of the three before Trench would never have told me of the fourth had I not known of the three For I should not have met him as he landed from the steamer at Dover I should not have asked him, 'Where is Harry Fevershah”

”How do you know?” she cried in a kind of despair, and coently hold of her arm

”But since I know,” he protested, ”what does itwhile, ever since Captain Willoughby came to The Pool with the first feather I waited to tell you that I knew until Harry Feversham came back, and he came to-day”