A Daughter of the Land

Finally Kate wandered back to the hotel and went to their room to

learn if Nancy Ellen was there. She was and seemed very much

perturbed. The first thing she did was to hand Kate a big white

envelope, which she opened and found to be a few lines from John

Jardine, explaining that he had been unexpectedly called away on

some very important business. He reiterated his delight in having

seen her, and hoped for the same pleasure at no very distant date.

Kate read it and tossed it on the dresser. As she did so, she saw

a telegram, lying opened among Nancy Ellen's toilet articles, and

thought with pleasure that Robert was coming. She glanced at her

sister for confirmation, and saw that she was staring from the

window as if she were in doubt about something. Kate thought

probably she was still upset about John Jardine, and that might as

well be gotten over, so she said: "That note was not delivered

promptly. It is from John Jardine. I should have had it before I

left. He was called away on important business and wrote to let

me know he would not be able to keep his appointment; but without

his knowledge, he had a representative on the spot."

Nancy Ellen seemed interested so Kate proceeded: "You couldn't

guess in a thousand years. I'll have to tell you spang! It was

his wife."

"His wife!" cried Nancy Ellen. "But you said -- "

"So I did," said Kate. "And so he did. Since the wife loomed on

the horizon, I remembered that he said no word to me of marriage;

he merely said he always had loved me and always would -- "

"Merely?" scoffed Nancy Ellen. "Merely!"

"Just 'merely,'" said Kate. "He didn't lay a finger on me; he

didn't ask me to marry him; he just merely met me after a long

separation, and told me that he still loved me."

"The brute!" said Nancy Ellen. "He should be killed."

"I can't see it," said Kate. "He did nothing ungentlemanly. If

we jumped to wrong conclusions that was not his fault. I doubt if

he remembered or thought at all of his marriage. It wouldn't be

much to forget. I am fresh from an interview with his wife.

She's an old acquaintance of mine. I once secured her for his

mother's maid. You've heard me speak of her."

"Impossible! John Jardine would not do that!" cried Nancy Ellen.

"There's a family to prove it," said Kate. "Jennie admits that

she studied him, taught him, made herself indispensable to him,

and a few weeks after his mother's passing, married him, after he

had told her he did not love her and never could. I feel sorry

for him."

"Sure! Poor defrauded creature!" said Nancy Ellen. "What about

her?"