Marion Marlowe's Triumph, or, In Spite of Her Enemies — page 17: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

a was on ‘the bills as ; Signorita lla de Par- 2 “W Vhat! The beautiful singer who sang last sez 150 pn in comic opera?” exclaimed the man- eer pe auickly. “Why, I heard you twice my- — You sing meemencently. Miss Mar- fea ne Mi . Temple was excited and spoke a little lou le ¢ than he meant, and Claire Lemadrid, “om ing - slowly | up the narrow steps to her _ dre ssing-room, caught her breath, with a gasp e stopped to listen. < a You are very kind to say so,” said Mar- ion, , sim ly; “but I am-a little bewildered by y * proposition, Mr. Temple.” = Make a day to think it over,” said the , ager, as he heard the music of the orches- tr a, _ which signified | that the act was over. 1 will give you the position of Miss Lemad- a , ee ~ @ds me e nd I hope to goodness that Claire will have the grace to get sick for one night, at least, % so that can see you play the part, Miss Mar- lowe.” a his fk was said laughingly, and Marion cs C ok it as it.was act but Claire Lemadrid, : who was still listening, ground her teeth with 7K oF tage: ' She was just jealous enough, natural- ly, to be: sure he meant it. 4 _ “So it was for this he was so willing to = - discharge Miss. Stanley,” she whispered, fu- ously “He already has his eye on that _ beautiful girl, and he hopes I will be sick so that she will be able to supplant me!” eS ', She was still standing at the top of the eS Natrow iron steps as she whispered the / words, and she hissed them so loudly that 2 | “4 one of her company heard them. ib J ae 4 B EA, Vera Villette was just behind her, and she laughed harshly as she listened. She had Pe! not caught everv word, but that did not mat- Lace “ter, 3 The “star” wheeled around on her in a per- ect fury. “So this is your doing!” she said, in a 4 Patek whisper. “You have brought this girl Pe on to undermine me, Vera!” Ns, am __ “On the contrary,” said the Spanish girl, in . a smothered tone, “I brought that girl here ; a cs 7 for siete another purpose, Lemadrid. She tr? e %, ~ Ti ce ’s understudy at thirty dollars per week, © 15 There was no mistaking the venom in her tones. Claire Lemadrid bent forward Se held out her hand to her. CHAPTER VIII. MR. GORDON HEARS NEWS. Ed"Gordon did not see Mr. Temple again that night. He was so annoyed and humili- ated that he avoided him purposely. He did not even know whether the mana- ger had made his proposition to Marion or not, or how the young girl had taken his in- terview. For Gordon still thought that the girl was really a willing party to that compromising situation in the dressing reom, for how else, he argued, could Ned Hale, the most un- scrupulous fellow in the company, have gone , in and locked the door, if the girl had not been willing? It did not once occur to him to suspect Vera in the matter, or even to credit Marion with being capable of being deceived by her. Gordon was an unsuspicious fellow, in spite of his knowledge of the world, and he could never quite comprehend tare 4 extent of treach- ery in some women. Vera was quick-tempered and spiteful, but he did not dream.that she was worse, for this was the first time in their acquaintance that he had aroused her jealousy. During the performance he kept to himself as closely as possible, but even on the stage both Hale and Vera taunted him with their speeches. They seemed glorying in the fac: that he had been deceived in Marion. “Thought she was an angel, didn’t you?” whispered Vera in his ear, just as, in one part of the act, he was obliged to pause near her. “A deucedly pretty girl, and so affection- ate,”” murmured Hale, as they passed at the rear of the stage. “So glad Vera introduced us. I[’ve got a date with her already.” Gordon said nothing, but he was beginning to understand Vera better now. She had laid the trap without a doubt, but who could tell how willingly the girl had fallen into it? As he rushed from the theatre he heard the COmMicoooks. conn