Monstrous! He had seen the open door and deliberately slammed it in
her face. Luckily for them both she had heard, all unsuspected by him
as he slowly hung the receiver on the hook, the soliloquy wherein he
gave her a pointed hint of the distress with which he abdicated--
which knowledge was all that deterred her from despising him with the
fervour of a woman scorned.
Resolutely Shirley set herself to the task of forgetting Bryce when,
after the passage of a few weeks, she realized that he was quite
sincere in his determination to forget her. Frequent glimpses of him
on the streets of Sequoia, the occasional mention of his name in the
Sequoia Sentinel, the very whistle of Cardigan's mill, made her task
a difficult one; and presently in desperation she packed up and
departed for an indefinite stay in the southern part of the State. At
the end of six weeks, however, she discovered that absence had had
the traditional effect upon her heart and found herself possessed of
a great curiosity to study the villain at short range and discover,
if possible, what new rascality he might be meditating. About this
time, a providential attack of that aristocratic ailment, gout,
having laid Colonel Pennington low, she told herself her duty lay in
Sequoia, that she had Shirley Sumner in hand at last and that the
danger was over.
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