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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of His Heart's Queen, by Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: His Heart's Queen
+
+Author: Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
+
+Release Date: September 12, 2006 [EBook #19259]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIS HEART'S QUEEN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Brian Janes, Suzanne Lybarger and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+HIS HEART'S QUEEN
+
+
+_By_ MRS. GEORGIE SHELDON
+
+
+Author of
+
+"Dorothy's Jewels," "Earl Wayne's Nobility," "The False and the True,"
+"Helen's Victory," "Tina," "Trixy," etc.
+
+
+
+A. L. BURT COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
+52 Duane Street    New York
+
+Copyright 1890, 1903
+By Street & Smith
+
+A. L. BURT COMPANY
+Publishers    New York
+
+
+
+Popular Books
+By MRS. GEORGIE SHELDON
+
+In Handsome Cloth Binding
+Price per Volume, 60 Cents
+
+Audrey's Recompense                   Magic Cameo, The
+Brownie's Triumph                     Marguerite's Heritage
+Churchyard Betrothal, The             Masked Bridal, The
+Dorothy Arnold's Escape               Max, A Cradle Mystery
+Dorothy's Jewels                      Mona
+Earl Wayne's Nobility                 Mysterious Wedding Ring, A
+Edrie's Legacy                        Nora
+Faithful Shirley                      Queen Bess
+False and The True, The               Ruby's Reward
+For Love and Honor,                   Shadowed Happiness, A,
+  Sequel to Geoffrey's Victory          Sequel to Wild Oats
+Forsaken Bride, The                   Sibyl's Influence
+Geoffrey's Victory                    Stella Roosevelt
+Girl in a Thousand, A                 Thorn Among Roses, A,
+Golden Key, The                         Sequel to a Girl in a Thousand
+Heatherford Fortune, The,             Threads Gathered Up,
+  Sequel to The Magic Cameo             Sequel to Virgie's Inheritance
+He Loves Me For Myself,               Thrice Wedded
+  Sequel to the Lily of Mordaunt      Tina
+Helen's Victory                       Trixy
+Her Faith Rewarded,                   True Aristocrat, A
+  Sequel to Faithful Shirley          True Love Endures,
+Her Heart's Victory,                    Sequel to Dorothy Arnold's Escape
+  Sequel to Max                       True Love's Reward,
+Heritage of Love, A,                    Sequel to Mona
+  Sequel to The Golden Key            True to Herself,
+His Heart's Queen                       Sequel to Witch Hazel
+Hoiden's Conquest, A                  Two Keys
+How Will It End,                      Virgie's Inheritance
+  Sequel to Marguerite's Heritage     Wedded By Fate
+Lily of Mordaunt, The                 Welfleet Mystery, The
+Little Marplot, The                   Wild Oats
+Little Miss Whirlwind                 Winifred's Sacrifice
+Lost, A Pearle                        Witch Hazel
+Love's Conquest,                      With Heart so True,
+  Sequel to Helen's Victory             Sequel to His Heart's Queen
+Love Victorious, A
+
+For Sale by all Booksellers or will be sent postpaid on receipt of price
+
+
+    Transcriber's Note: Variant spellings, particularly bowlder
+    (boulder), clew (clue) and vail (veil), have been retained.
+    Also, the Table of Contents was missing so it has been created.
+
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER I.       A FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT.
+CHAPTER II.      V. D. H. IS CLAIMED BY HER FRIENDS.
+CHAPTER III.     WILLFUL VIOLET HAS HER OWN WAY.
+CHAPTER IV.      A PARTING SOUVENIR.
+CHAPTER V.       VIOLET ASSERTS HERSELF.
+CHAPTER VI.      A CONFESSION AND ITS REPLY.
+CHAPTER VII.     "HE IS MY AFFIANCED HUSBAND."
+CHAPTER VIII.    "I'LL BREAK HER WILL!"
+CHAPTER IX.      VIOLET BECOMES A PRISONER.
+CHAPTER X.       "YOU WILL BE TRUE THOUGH THE OCEAN DIVIDES US."
+CHAPTER XI.      "DEATH HAS RELEASED YOU FROM YOUR PROMISE."
+CHAPTER XII.     "YOU HAVE GIVEN YOUR PROMISE AND YOU MUST STAND BY IT."
+CHAPTER XIII.    THE DAY IS SET FOR VIOLET'S MARRIAGE.
+CHAPTER XIV.     "THERE WILL BE NO WEDDING TO-DAY"
+CHAPTER XV.      "SHE IS MY WIFE."
+CHAPTER XVI.     "I MUST FIND HER--I MUST FOLLOW HER."
+CHAPTER XVII.    LORD CAMERON AND WALLACE BECOME FIRM FRIENDS.
+CHAPTER XVIII.   THE FACE AT THE WINDOW.
+CHAPTER XIX.     A RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE.
+CHAPTER XX.      VIOLET RETURNS TO AMERICA.
+CHAPTER XXI.     VIOLET MAKES AN ENGAGEMENT.
+CHAPTER XXII.    VIOLET AND HER UNRULY PUPIL.
+CHAPTER XXIII.   VIOLET GAINS A SIGNAL VICTORY.
+CHAPTER XXIV.    VIOLET MEETS WITH AN ACCIDENT.
+
+
+
+
+HIS HEART'S QUEEN
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT.
+
+
+Just at sunset, one bright spring day, the car that plies up and down
+the inclined plane leading from the foot of Main street up the hills to
+the Zoological Gardens, of Cincinnati, started to make the ascent with
+its load of precious human freight.
+
+The car was full of passengers, though not crowded, while among the
+occupants there were several young people, whose bright faces and
+animated manner bespoke how light of heart and free from care they
+were--what a gladsome, delightful place the world seemed to them.
+
+One young lady, who was seated about midway upon one side of the car,
+attracted especial attention.
+
+She was, perhaps, seventeen years of age, slight and graceful in form,
+with a lovely, piquant face, merry blue eyes, and a wealth of curling
+golden hair, that clustered about her white forehead in bewitching
+little rings.
+
+She was richly dressed in a charming costume of tan-brown, trimmed with
+a darker shade of the same color. Upon her head she wore a jaunty hat of
+fine brown straw, with a wreath of pink apple-blossoms partially
+encircling it, and fastened on one side with a pretty bow of glossy
+satin ribbon, also of brown. A dainty pair of bronze boots incased her
+small feet, and her hands were faultlessly gloved in long suede
+gauntlets. A small, brown velvet bag, with silver clasps, hung at her
+side, and in her lap lay an elegant music-roll of Russian leather.
+
+Everything about her indicated that she was the petted child of fortune
+and luxury. Her beautiful eyes were like limpid pools of water
+reflecting the azure sky; her lips were wreathed with smiles; there was
+not a shadow of care upon her delicate, clear-cut face.
+
+Directly opposite her sat a young man whose appearance indicated that
+his circumstances were just the reverse, although no one could ever look
+into his noble face without feeling impelled to take a second glance at
+him.
+
+He was tall and stalwart of form, broad-shouldered, full-chested,
+straight of limb, with a massive head set with a proud poise above a
+well-shaped neck. He looked the personification of manly beauty,
+strength, and health.
+
+His face was one that, once seen, could never be forgotten. It was grave
+and sweet, yet having a certain resolute expression about the mouth
+which might have marred its expression somewhat had it not been for the
+mirthful gleam which now and then leaped into his clear, dark-brown
+eyes, and which betrayed that, beneath the gravity and dignity which a
+life of care and the burden of poverty had chiseled upon his features
+and imparted to his bearing, there lurked a spirit of quiet drollery and
+healthy humor.
+
+His features were strong and regular; the brow full and shapely, the
+nose aquiline, the mouth firm, the chin somewhat massive. It was a
+powerful face--a good face; one to be trusted and relied on.
+
+The young man was, perhaps, twenty-three or twenty-four years of age,
+though at first his dignified bearing might lead one to imagine him to
+be even older than that.
+
+He was clad in a very common suit, which betrayed his poverty, while at
+his feet, in a basket, lay a plane and saw, which indicated that he
+belonged to the carpenters' guild.
+
+The pretty girl opposite stole more than one curious and admiring look
+at this poor young Apollo, only to encounter a similar, though wholly
+respectful glance from his genial and expressive eyes, whereupon the
+lovely color would come and go on her fair, round cheek, and her eyes
+droop shyly beneath their white lids.
+
+When the car left its station at the base of the plane and began to make
+its ascent, not one among all its passengers had a thought of the
+terrible experience awaiting them--of the tragedy following so closely
+in their wake.
+
+It had nearly reached the top; another minute, and it would have rolled
+safely into the upper station and have been made fast at the terminus.
+
+But, suddenly, something underneath seemed to let go; there was an
+instant's pause, which sent a thrill of terror through every heart; then
+there began a slow retrograde movement, which rapidly increased, until,
+with a feeling of terror that is utterly indescribable the ill-fated
+people in that doomed car realized that they were being hurried swiftly
+toward a sure and frightful destruction.
+
+Cries and shrieks and groans filled the place. There was a frantic rush
+for the door, the doomed victims seeking to force their way out of the
+car to leap recklessly from the flying vehicle, and trust thus to the
+faint hope of saving their lives.
+
+But both doors were securely fastened--they were all locked within their
+prison; there was no hope of escape from it and the terrible crash
+awaiting them.
+
+When the beautiful girl whom we have described realized the hopeless
+situation, she gave one cry of horror, then seemed to grow suddenly and
+strangely calm, though a pallor like that of death settled over her
+face, and a look of wild despair leaped into her eyes.
+
+Involuntarily she glanced at the young man opposite her, and she found
+his gaze riveted upon her with a look of intense yearning, which
+betrayed that he had no thought for himself; that all his fear was for
+her; that the idea of seeing her, in all her bright young beauty, dashed
+in pieces, crushed and mangled, had overpowered all sense of his own
+personal doom.
+
+She seemed to read his thoughts, and, like one in a dream or nightmare,
+she almost unconsciously stretched forth her hands to him with a gesture
+which seemed to appeal to him to save her.
+
+Instantly he arose to his feet, calm, strong, resolute.
+
+His face was as pale as hers, but there was a gleam in his eyes which
+told her that he would not spare himself in the effort to save her.
+
+"Will you trust me?" he murmured hoarsely in her ear, as he caught her
+trembling hands in his.
+
+Her fingers closed over his with a frantic clutch; her eyes sought his
+in desperate appeal.
+
+"Yes! yes!" Her white lips framed the words, but no sound issued from
+them.
+
+The car had now attained a frightful velocity; a moment or two more and
+all would be over, and there was not an instant to lose.
+
+The young man reached up and grasped with his strong, sinewy hands the
+straps which hung from the supports above his head.
+
+"Quick now!" he said to his almost paralyzed companion; "stand up, put
+your arms about my neck, and cling to me for your life."
+
+She looked helplessly up into his face; it seemed as if she had not the
+power to move--to obey him.
+
+With a despairing glance from the window and a groan of anguish, he
+released his hold upon the straps, seized her hands again, and locked
+them behind his neck.
+
+"Cling! Cling!" he cried, in a voice of agony.
+
+The tone aroused her; strength came to her, and she clasped him
+close--close as a person drowning might have done.
+
+He straightened himself thus, lifting her several inches from the floor
+of the car, seized again the straps above, and swung himself also clear,
+hoping thus to evade somewhat the terrible force of the shock which he
+knew was so near.
+
+He was not a second too soon; the crash came, and with it one frightful
+volume of agonizing shrieks and groans; then all was still.
+
+The car had been dashed into thousands of pieces, burying beneath the
+_debris_ twenty human beings.
+
+A group of horrified spectators had gathered in the street at the base
+of the plane when it was rumored that the car had lost its grip upon the
+cable, and had watched, with quaking hearts and bated breath, the awful
+descent.
+
+When all was over, kind and reverent hands began the sad work of
+exhuming the unfortunate victims of the accident.
+
+It was thought at first that all were dead--that not one had escaped;
+that every soul had been hurled, with scarcely a moment's warning, into
+eternity.
+
+The brave young carpenter was found lying beneath two mangled bodies,
+with the beautiful girl whom he had tried to save clasped close in one
+of his arms; the other lay crushed beneath him.
+
+"Brother and sister," some one had said, as, bending over them, he had
+tried to disengage the lovely girl from his embrace.
+
+He had only been stunned, however, by the shock, when the car struck,
+and he now opened his great brown eyes, drawing in a deep, deep breath,
+as if thus taking hold anew of the life that had so nearly been dashed
+out of him.
+
+This was followed by a groan of pain, and he became conscious that he
+had not escaped altogether unscathed.
+
+"Is she safe?" he gasped, his first thought, in spite of his own
+sufferings, being for the girl for whom he had braved so much, while he
+tried to look into the white, still face hidden upon his breast.
+
+They tried to lift her from him, but her little hands were so tightly
+locked at the back of his neck that it was no easy task to unclasp them.
+
+"She is dead," a voice said, when at last she was removed, and some one
+tried to ascertain if her heart was still beating; "the shock has killed
+her."
+
+"No, no!" sobbed the now completely unnerved young carpenter; "do not
+tell me that she is--dead."
+
+"Who are you, my poor fellow? Where do you live? Shall we take you to
+the hospital, or do you want to go home?" they asked him.
+
+"Oh, no, not to the hospital--home to my mother," the young man
+returned, with difficulty, for his sufferings seemed to increase as he
+came to himself more fully.
+
+"No. ---- Hughes street," the poor fellow gasped, and then fainted dead
+away.
+
+They had not thought to inquire if the young girl was his sister, but
+they took it for granted that she was, so they laid them side by side
+and bore them away to Hughes street.
+
+They found, upon inquiry, that the house referred to was occupied by a
+Mrs. Richardson.
+
+The woman was away when the sad cortege arrived at her home, but a
+latch-key was found in the pocket of the young man, by which an entrance
+was effected, and they deposited him upon a bed in a small room leading
+from the sitting-room, while the young girl was laid upon a lounge in
+the neat and cozy parlor. Then they hastened away to procure a physician
+to examine the injuries of the two sufferers.
+
+Mrs. Richardson returned, just about the time that the surgeon arrived,
+to find that her only son had been one of the victims of the horrible
+tragedy, a rumor of which had reached her while she was out, and that a
+strange but lovely girl had also been brought, through mistake, to her
+home.
+
+The surgeon turned his attention at once to this beautiful stranger,
+who, to all appearance, seemed beyond all human aid; but during his
+examination his face suddenly lighted.
+
+"She is not dead," he said; "the shock has only caused suspension of
+animation. Her heart beats, her pulse is faint, but regular, and I
+cannot find a bruise or a scratch anywhere about her."
+
+He gave her into the hands of some women, who had come in to offer their
+services, with directions how to apply the restoratives he prescribed,
+and then turned his attention to the son of the house, who by this time
+had recovered consciousness and was suffering intense pain from his
+injuries.
+
+His mother was bending over him in an agony of anxiety and suspense,
+while she strove, in various ways, to relieve his sufferings.
+
+"Wallace--Wallace!" she cried; "how did it happen that you were going up
+in that car at this time of the day?"
+
+"I cannot tell you now--some other time," he returned.
+
+Then turning to the surgeon, who entered at that moment, while he strove
+to stifle his groans in his anxiety to learn how it fared with the girl
+whom he had so bravely tried to save, he asked, eagerly.
+
+"How is she?"
+
+"She is not injured; there is not a bone broken that I can discover, and
+she will do well enough unless the shock to her nerves should throw her
+into a fever or bring on prostration," the doctor replied.
+
+"Thank Heaven!" murmured the carpenter, and then fainted away again.
+
+A thorough examination of his condition revealed the fact that two ribs
+had been fractured and his left arm broken in two places, while it was
+feared that there might be other internal injuries.
+
+All that could be done for him was done at once, and, though weak and
+exhausted, he was otherwise comparatively comfortable when the surgeon
+got through with him.
+
+He then turned his attention once more to the fair girl in the other
+room.
+
+"You will have your hands more than full, Mrs. Richardson, with your son
+and daughter ill at once," he remarked. "You must have an experienced
+nurse to assist you."
+
+"The poor girl is not my daughter; I do not even know who she is," the
+woman replied, as she bent over the beautiful stranger with a tender,
+motherly face.
+
+"Not your child! Who can she be, then?" her companion inquired, in
+surprise.
+
+They searched in her pretty velvet bag, hoping to find her card or some
+address; but nothing was found save some car tickets and a generous sum
+of money.
+
+The inscription upon her music-roll revealed scarcely more--only the
+initials "V. D. H." being engraven upon its silver clasp.
+
+She had recovered consciousness, but still lay so weak and faint that
+the surgeon did not think it best to question her just then, and, after
+taking one more look at his other patient, he went away to other duties,
+but promised to look in upon them again in a couple of hours.
+
+When he did return he found Wallace comfortable and sleeping; but the
+young girl was in a high fever and raving with delirium.
+
+"Shall I have her taken to the hospital?" Doctor Norton asked of Mrs.
+Richardson. "The care of both patients will be far too much for you, and
+her friends will probably find her there before long."
+
+"I cannot bear to let her go," Mrs. Richardson replied, with staring
+tears. "She is so young, and has been so delicately reared. I know that
+she would have the best of care; still I recoil from the thought of
+having her moved. Leave her here for a day or two, and, if my son is
+comfortable, perhaps I can take care of her without neglecting him."
+
+Thus it was arranged, and the physician went away thinking that women
+like Mrs. Richardson were rare.
+
+Two days later the following advertisement appeared in the Cincinnati
+papers:
+
+    Wanted, information regarding Miss Violet Draper Huntington,
+    who left her home, No. ---- Auburn avenue, on Tuesday
+    afternoon, to take a music lesson in the city. Fears have
+    been entertained that she might have been one of the victims of
+    the Main street accident, but though her friends have thoroughly
+    searched the morgue and hospitals, no tidings of her have as
+    yet been obtained.
+
+Doctor Morton read the above while on his way to visit his two patients
+in Hughes street, and instantly his mind reverted to the initials
+engraved upon the unknown girl's music-roll.
+
+"V. D. H.," he said, musingly, as his eyes rested upon the name Violet
+Draper Huntington in the advertisement. "That is my pretty patient, poor
+child! and now we will have your friends looking after you and relieving
+that poor overworked woman before another twelve hours pass."
+
+He showed the advertisement to Mrs. Richardson upon his arrival at the
+house, and she agreed with him that her lovely charge must be the Miss
+Huntington referred to in the paper.
+
+The girl continued to be in a very critical state. She was burning with
+fever, was unconscious of her surroundings, was constantly calling upon
+"Belle" and "Wilhelm" to "help her--to save her."
+
+"She is not so well," the physician said, gravely, as he felt the
+bounding pulse, "her fever is increasing. I shall go at once to Auburn
+avenue and inform her relatives of her condition."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+V. D. H. IS CLAIMED BY HER FRIENDS.
+
+
+Doctor Norton easily found the residence of Violet Huntington's friends
+on Auburn avenue, and as he mounted the massive granite steps and rang
+the bell of the handsome house he read the name of Mencke on the silver
+door-plate.
+
+"Aha! Germans," mused the physician, "wealthy people, too, I judge."
+
+A trim servant in white cap and apron answered his summons, and, upon
+inquiring for Mrs. Mencke, he was invited to enter.
+
+He was ushered into a handsome drawing-room, where, upon every hand,
+evidence of wealth met his eye, and after giving his card to the girl,
+he sat down to await the appearance of the lady of the house.
+
+She did not tax his patience long; the "M. D." upon his card had
+evidently impressed Mrs. Mencke with the belief that the physician had
+come to bring her some tidings of the beautiful girl who had so
+strangely disappeared from her home a few days previous. She came into
+the room presently, followed by a man whom Doctor Norton surmised to be
+her husband.
+
+Mrs. Mencke was a large, rather fine-looking woman of perhaps thirty
+years. Her bearing was proud and self-possessed, and, while there was a
+somewhat anxious expression on her face, she nevertheless impressed the
+kind-hearted doctor as a person of selfish nature, and lacking in
+womanly sympathy.
+
+Her husband was a portly man, dark-complexioned, and German in
+appearance. There was a cunning, rather sinister expression on his face;
+he had small, black eyes, and a full, shaggy beard, while a pompous
+swagger in his bearing betrayed an arrogant disposition and excessive
+pride of purse.
+
+"Doctor Norton," Mrs. Mencke began, without waiting for him to state the
+errand that had brought him there, "have you come to bring me news of my
+sister? Was she in that fatal car--is she injured--dead?"
+
+"If my surmises are correct, and Miss Violet Huntington is your sister,
+I can give you tidings of her," Doctor Norton returned.
+
+"Yes, yes; that is her name," Mrs. Mencke interposed.
+
+"Then I am happy to tell you that a young lady of perhaps seventeen or
+eighteen years was rescued."
+
+"Rescued!" cried Mrs. Mencke, eagerly. "William," turning to her
+husband, "do you hear? How was she rescued?"
+
+"Perhaps I should not have spoken with quite so much confidence,"
+corrected the doctor. "But the young lady to whom I refer had with her a
+music-roll upon the clasp of which the letters 'V. D. H.' were
+engraved."
+
+"That must have been Violet," said Mrs. Mencke. "She went to the city
+that afternoon to take her music lesson at four o'clock."
+
+"Then she was saved by a young man--a Mr. Wallace Richardson--in the
+recent accident on the inclined plane. Mr. Richardson was severely
+injured, but he has been able to give an account of how he prevented the
+young lady from being dashed to pieces like many of the other victims,"
+Doctor Norton returned.
+
+He then proceeded to relate what Wallace had told him had occurred
+during those few horrible moments when that ill-fated car was plunging
+at such a fearful rate toward its doom.
+
+Mrs. Mencke appeared to be greatly affected by the thrilling account;
+but her phlegmatic husband listened to the recital with a stolidity
+which betrayed either a strange indifference or a wonderful control over
+his nerves and sympathies.
+
+"Oh! it is the most wonderful thing in the world that she was not killed
+outright," Mrs. Mencke remarked, with a shiver of horror, "and we have
+been very anxious. You say that she is seriously ill?" she questioned,
+in conclusion.
+
+"Yes; the shock to her system has been a serious one, madame," the
+physician replied, "and, although there is not a scratch nor a bruise
+upon her, she is very ill and delirious at the home of this brave young
+carpenter to whom she owes so much."
+
+"Young!" repeated Mrs. Mencke, remarking the adjective for the first
+time, and looking somewhat annoyed. "How old is he?"
+
+"About twenty-three or twenty-four, I should judge," was the reply.
+
+A frown settled upon the woman's brow; but after a moment she asked:
+
+"Do you consider her dangerously ill, Doctor Norton?"
+
+"Yes, madame, she is. Your sister is delicately organized, and her
+system has had a terrible shock; the horror and fright alone, of those
+few dreadful moments, were sufficient to unhinge the strongest nerves,"
+the physician gravely replied.
+
+As he said this he happened to glance at Mr. Mencke, and was astonished,
+amazed, to observe a look of unmistakable satisfaction, if not of
+absolute triumph, flash from his eyes.
+
+What could it mean?
+
+Was it possible that the man, for any secret reason, could desire the
+death of this young and beautiful girl?
+
+He had not once spoken as yet, having simply nodded to the doctor, with
+a half-suppressed grunt, in answer to his courteous salutation.
+
+"William, do you hear?" his wife now said, turning to him. "Violet is
+dangerously ill down on Hughes street. I must go to her at once."
+
+"Certainly, of course," responded her better half, with a shrug of his
+corpulent shoulders.
+
+"She is my sister, though much younger than myself, and I have had the
+care of her ever since the death of our parents," Mrs. Mencke explained.
+"What can I do? Will it be possible to bring her home?"
+
+"I fear not at present," Doctor Norton returned, "but it would be well
+to provide a competent nurse for her where she is, as Mrs. Richardson
+has her hands more than full with the care of both patients and her
+domestic duties also."
+
+"Certainly, Violet shall have every attention," the woman responded,
+somewhat haughtily, while the frown deepened upon her brow at the
+mention of the people upon whose care her sister had been so strangely
+thrown.
+
+Doctor Norton was inwardly indignant that neither of his listeners
+should express the slightest gratitude or appreciation for what brave
+Wallace Richardson had done to save the young girl's life. Evidently
+they were not pleased that she should owe so great a debt to so plebeian
+a source.
+
+Mrs. Mencke now arose and excused herself, saying that she would make
+ready to accompany the physician to Hughes street to attend to her
+sister's needs.
+
+"That was a horrible affair," Doctor Norton observed to Mr. Mencke, as
+she left the room, determined to draw out his reticent companion if that
+were possible.
+
+"It was beastly," grunted the man, with another shrug; "and the
+corporation will have a pretty sum to pay for damages. Will--do you
+think the girl--Violet--will die?" and the man leaned eagerly forward, a
+greedy sparkle in his small, black eyes.
+
+A flush of anger and disgust mounted to the good doctor's brow at this
+question, and like a flash the man's character was revealed to him.
+
+He saw that he was a shrewd, grasping, money-making man, who measured
+everything and everybody by dollars and cents; that already, instead of
+feeling gratitude, he was computing the chances of making something out
+of the "corporation" in the event of the death of his wife's sister, if,
+indeed, the girl herself did not possess a fortune which would also fall
+into his hands should she die.
+
+"I shall do my best to save her, sir; that is, if I am allowed to retain
+the case--and I see no reason why, with proper care, she should not
+recover," he forced himself to reply, as courteously as possible.
+
+"Humph!" grunted Mr. Mencke, and then he fell to musing again, doubtless
+computing the chances upon some other money-making scheme.
+
+Presently Mrs. Mencke returned, dressed to go out and bearing a
+well-filled satchell in her hands. She had hastily gathered a few
+articles of comfort for her sister's use.
+
+Doctor Norton and his companion proceeded directly to Hughes street,
+where Mrs. Richardson welcomed Mrs. Mencke with motherly kindness and
+interest, and then conducted her at once to the bedside of the
+unconscious Violet, who was still calling piteously upon Belle and
+Wilhelm to save her.
+
+"Belle is here, Violet," said her sister, bending over the sufferer;
+"you are safe, and nothing can hurt you now."
+
+At the sound of her familiar voice the sick girl glanced up at her, and
+a flash of recognition and consciousness returned for a moment.
+
+"Oh, Belle!" she cried, with a sigh of relief, as she seemed to realize
+for the first time that she was safe. "It was so horrible--horrible! But
+he was so brave--a hero, and so handsome----"
+
+"Hush, dear; you must not talk about it," interrupted the proud woman,
+her brow contracting instantly at this mention of the young carpenter,
+while she glanced about the humble though pretty room with an air of
+disdain that brought the sensitive color into Mrs. Richardson's cheeks,
+and made the physician glare angrily at her for her rudeness.
+
+"Will you remove your hat and wrap, Mrs. Mencke? You will probably like
+to remain with your sister for a while," her hostess remarked, with a
+lady-like courtesy which betrayed that, whatever her present
+circumstances might be, she had at some time moved in cultured society.
+
+"Yes, I shall remain until a suitable nurse can be obtained," the woman
+said, coldly, as she gave her hat and mantle into her hands.
+
+Then she turned to Doctor Norton and remarked:
+
+"Doubtless you know of some one who would be competent to take charge of
+Miss Huntington?"
+
+"Yes, I know of just the person--she is a trained hospital nurse; but
+her compensation is fifteen dollars a week besides her living," Doctor
+Norton responded.
+
+"I do not care what her compensation is," replied Mrs. Mencke, with a
+slightly curling lip; "I wish Violet to have the best of care. Are you
+sure it will not do to have her taken home?" she concluded, with an
+anxious glance toward the room, where she had caught a glimpse of the
+other patient as she entered.
+
+"Very sure, madame," returned the physician, decidedly. "I would not be
+answerable for the consequences if she were removed. With an efficient
+nurse, the young lady can be made very comfortable here. Mrs. Richardson
+has kindly resigned this room--the best she had--for her use. It is cool
+and airy, and you do not need to have any anxiety about her on the score
+of her accommodations. If you insist upon removing her, however, it must
+be upon your own responsibility."
+
+Mrs. Mencke thought a moment, then she said:
+
+"Very well; it shall be as you advise, and I will come every day to
+spend as much time as possible with her. Mrs. Richardson shall be well
+paid, too, for her room and all inconvenience."
+
+Mrs. Richardson's delicate face flushed again at this coarse reference
+to their obligation to her. There had not been one word of thanks or
+appreciation for what she had already done; it seemed as if the haughty
+woman considered that her money would cancel everything.
+
+"The dear child is welcome to the room and any other comfort that I can
+give her," she said, quietly; then added: "It is time now for her fever
+drops."
+
+She leaned over the sufferer, who had again relapsed into her delirious
+state, and gently put the spoon to her lips.
+
+Violet unclosed her eyes and looked up into the kind, motherly face,
+hesitated a moment, then swallowed the drops, while she murmured, as her
+glance lingered on her countenance:
+
+"You are good--I love you," then, with a sigh, she turned her head upon
+the pillow and dropped into a sleep, while her companions stole from the
+room to complete their arrangements for her future comfort.
+
+"Your son--how is he?" Mrs. Mencke inquired, as they entered the
+sitting-room, and she felt that it devolved upon her to make the
+inquiry.
+
+"Better, thank you. He has not so much pain, and Doctor Norton thinks
+his bones are going to knit nicely. He suffers more from his bruises and
+cuts than from the broken bones. I am very thankful that he has escaped
+with his life," Mrs. Richardson answered, tremulously, and with
+startling tears.
+
+"Was he badly hurt?" inquired the lady, languidly.
+
+"Well, he has a couple of protuberances upon his head, three serious
+bruises on one leg, and a deep cut on the other from broken
+window-glass. Our young hero--and he is a hero, Mrs. Mencke--is pretty
+well battered up; but, please God, we are going to save him, and he'll
+come out as good as new in time." Doctor Norton returned, with an energy
+that made Mrs. Richardson smile, though with tremulous lips.
+
+"It was a frightful accident," murmured Mrs. Mencke, with a slight
+shiver.
+
+"You may well say that, madame; and it was a happy inspiration on the
+part of Mr. Richardson to try to save Miss Huntington in the way that he
+did. By suspending himself from the straps and make her cling to him he
+broke the force of the crash for both of them; and, if she lives, there
+is not the slightest doubt in the world that she will owe her life to
+his thoughtfulness," said the worthy doctor.
+
+"I am sure it was very good of him, and--we are very grateful to him,"
+was the tardy admission of Violet's proud sister; but it lacked the ring
+of sincerity, and her patronizing manner plainly indicated that her
+pride rebelled against all feeling of obligation to an humble carpenter.
+
+"You certainly have reason to be," Doctor Norton retorted; then, bowing
+coldly to her, he went into the small bedroom leading from the
+sitting-room, to see how his hero fared.
+
+"How is she now, doctor?" Wallace eagerly asked, the moment he crossed
+the threshold.
+
+It was always his first thought and inquiry whenever the physician made
+his appearance, and he would never allow him to pay the slightest
+attention to himself until he had first made an examination of Violet's
+condition.
+
+"Pretty sick, my boy; but I hope she is going to pull through," he
+cheerfully replied.
+
+"Thank heaven!" murmured the young man, fervently.
+
+Doctor Norton observed him keenly for a moment, with a kindly yet
+somewhat anxious gleam in his eyes; then he said:
+
+"Look here, my fine fellow, let me give you a little timely warning;
+don't you go to falling in love with this pretty Violet--you'll only
+make mischief for both yourself and her if you do, for her friends are
+rich, and proud as Lucifer--as hard-hearted, too, if I am not
+mistaken--and nothing but a fortune will ever tempt them to yield her to
+the best lover in the world."
+
+The young man flushed a vivid crimson at this blunt speech, and the
+physician, noticing it, continued:
+
+"No doubt you think I'm meddling with what is none of my business, but
+I've seen enough to-day to convince me that such a romantic result of
+this accident would be the worst thing that could possibly happen to
+you. But how do you find yourself to-day?" he concluded, abruptly
+changing the subject.
+
+"I have some pain in this right leg, but not enough to fret over,"
+Wallace replied, turning his now pale face away from the doctor's keen
+eyes.
+
+There had suddenly come a sharper pain in his heart than any physical
+suffering that he had as yet endured, as, all at once, he became
+conscious that he had already been guilty of doing exactly what the good
+surgeon had warned him against.
+
+Already he had begun to love Violet Huntington with all the strength and
+passion of his manly, honest heart. He had been instantly attracted by
+her lovely face and lady-like appearance, when he entered the car that
+bright spring afternoon. When his glance met hers a magnetic current had
+seemed to be established between them. When she had realized the horror
+of their situation, after the grip upon the cable had been lost, and
+thrown out her hands so appealingly to him, his heart had been suddenly
+thrilled with the desire to save her, even at the expense of his own
+life; in that one brief instant he had given himself to her, for life or
+death. When he had clasped her hands about his neck and lifted her upon
+his breast--when he had felt her head droop upon his shoulder, and the
+beating of her frightened heart against his own, a feeling almost of
+ecstasy had taken possession of him, and the strange thought had come to
+him that he was perhaps going into eternity with the woman who should
+have been his wife--with the one kindred soul designed for him by his
+Maker.
+
+But now the doctor's words had given him a rude shock, and he resolved,
+rather than allow a suspicion of his affection to make trouble for the
+sweet girl who had become the one coveted object of his life, to bury it
+so deep in his heart that no other should ever mistrust it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+WILLFUL VIOLET HAS HER OWN WAY.
+
+
+That same evening a thoroughly competent nurse was installed by Violet's
+bedside, and Mrs. Mencke, having given certain directions regarding the
+care of her sister, returned to her home on Auburn avenue.
+
+She came every day afterward, however, to ascertain how Violet was
+progressing, and though for a week her fever ran very high, and the
+doctor considered her alarmingly ill, yet at the end of that time she
+began slowly but surely to mend.
+
+Consciousness returned, and with it the memory of all that had occurred
+on that never-to-be-forgotten day, while she talked continually of the
+brave young man who had saved her life.
+
+When she was first told that she was in the same house with him, the
+rich color suffused her face, and an eager look of interest leaped into
+her eyes.
+
+"In his home--am I? How strange!" she murmured; "how did it happen that
+I was brought here?"
+
+"Those who found you thought that you were brother and sister," the
+nurse told her, thinking it no harm that she should know all the
+details, if she did not get excited. "They found you together, one of
+his arms clasping you close to him, and both your hands locked about his
+neck."
+
+A burning blush shot up to the girl's golden hair at this information.
+
+"He told me to--to cling to him," she said, in a low tone.
+
+"Of course; and it showed his good sense, too, for it was the only thing
+that saved your life, dear child," replied the nurse; "and it seemed as
+if he had not one thought for himself, then nor since, for his first
+question, when the doctor goes to him, is about you."
+
+"How good--how noble of him! and he is so badly hurt, too," Violet said,
+tremulously.
+
+"Oh, but he is coming out of it finely," the nurse said, reassuringly.
+"There isn't a scratch on his face, and his broken bones are mending
+nicely. He is already up and about, though he looks rather peaked, as if
+he were still a good deal shaken up over the dreadful tragedy--for I
+suppose you know that you and he are the only ones who came out of it
+alive."
+
+"Oh! was every one else killed?" said Violet, with a shiver of horror.
+"How dreadful!"
+
+She lay there, very quiet and thoughtful, for some time after that, but
+by and by she asked:
+
+"Nurse, when may I get up?"
+
+"In a few days, dear, if you continue to improve as you have done during
+the last week," the woman replied.
+
+"Then may I see him--Mr. Richardson? I must see him and thank him for
+what he has done. Just think--he saved me from getting even a scratch or
+a bruise."
+
+"Um!" returned the nurse, pursing up her lips; "your sister, Mrs.
+Mencke, has given orders that you are not to receive any visitors while
+you are here?"
+
+"Well, of course, and I do not care to see company much until I go home;
+but you must let me see Mr. Richardson," Violet said, with some show of
+spirit.
+
+"Well, maybe Mrs. Mencke wouldn't object; you can ask her when she
+comes," said the nurse, doubtfully.
+
+"I shall do no such thing, and I am going to see Mr. Richardson!"
+retorted Violet, wilfully, and flushing hotly. "The idea of her
+objecting, when he saved my life, and when dear Mrs. Richardson has been
+so kind! They would think me very ungrateful not to tell them how very,
+very thankful I am."
+
+"But Mrs. Mencke said----" began the nurse, objectingly, for Violet's
+sister had given very strict orders upon this very point.
+
+"I don't care what Belle said--Belle is too fresh sometimes!" Violet
+cried, spiritedly, and relapsing a trifle into slang, in her irritation
+over her sister's interference.
+
+The nurse changed the subject, and nothing more was said about the
+matter.
+
+Three days later Violet was allowed to get up for the first time, and
+after that she sat up every day.
+
+One morning she seemed to feel much stronger than usual, and the nurse
+allowed her to be regularly dressed in a pretty pale-blue cashmere
+wrapper, which Mrs. Mencke had sent the previous day; then she drew her
+chair beside one of the windows, where she could look out upon the
+street.
+
+She seemed very bright, and told the woman that she began to feel quite
+like herself again. She certainly looked very pretty, though somewhat
+pale and thin, showing that she had lost a little flesh during her
+illness.
+
+"Now, nurse," Violet said, when the woman had tidied up the room, and
+there seemed to be nothing more to be done just then, "don't you want to
+go out and get the air for a little while? You have not been out once
+since you came, and I am so well and comfortable to-day, you might go
+just as well as not."
+
+"Thank you, miss; it would be a pleasant change," the woman returned,
+with a longing look out of the window.
+
+"Then go, by all means, Mrs. Dean," Violet said, eagerly, "and stay an
+hour if you like. I know Mrs. Richardson would wait upon me if I should
+need anything, which I am sure I shall not," she concluded, with a
+furtive glance toward the sitting-room, where, during the last
+half-hour, she had heard, now and then, the rattle of a newspaper, and
+surmised that her young hero was engaged in perusing the morning news
+there.
+
+The temptation proved too strong to be resisted, and Mrs. Dean, taking
+Violet at her word, yielded, and soon after went forth into the glorious
+sunshine, to enjoy the privilege so kindly given.
+
+Violet sat and watched her until she was well down the street, a queer
+little smile on her pretty lips; but her attention was presently
+attracted by the entrance of Mrs. Richardson, who came to see if she
+wanted anything, and to bring her a little silver bell, to ring in case
+she should need her.
+
+"How well you are looking to-day, dear," she said, as she noticed her
+bright eyes and the faint flush which was just beginning to tinge her
+cheek, "I am really surprised at your rapid improvement during the last
+few days."
+
+"I feel almost well. I believe I could do an hour's practice if there
+was only a piano here," Violet answered, as she glanced wistfully at her
+music-roll, which lay on the table near her.
+
+"I am sorry that we have none," Mrs. Richardson replied, "but perhaps it
+is just as well, after all, for the effort might be too much for your
+strength. Can I do anything for you?"
+
+"Thank you, no," Violet answered, with an appreciative smile.
+
+"Then I am going down into the laundry for a while, but I will leave
+this bell with you; if you need me, ring, and I will come instantly."
+
+"You are very good," the young girl said, then, with a rising flush and
+downcast eyes, she asked: "How is Mr. Richardson this morning?"
+
+"Doing finely, dear, thank you, only he gets a trifle impatient, now and
+then, because his arm is useless, and he cannot go back to work."
+
+"It must be very tedious for him, and I am very sorry," Violet said,
+with a regretful sigh. Then with a timid, appealing glance: "May I not
+see him, Mrs. Richardson, and tell him how I appreciate his heroism and
+the service he rendered me?"
+
+Mrs. Richardson colored at this request, for she had overheard Mrs.
+Mencke telling the nurse to be sure and not allow any one to see Violet,
+save those who had the care of her, and she well understood what that
+injunction meant; consequently her pride and sense of what was right
+would not allow her to take advantage of the nurse's absence to bring
+about a meeting between the young people. So she replied, with quiet
+gravity:
+
+"I would not like to assume the responsibility of granting your request
+to-day, dear; we must not tax your strength too much at first; some
+other time, perhaps."
+
+She put the bell where Violet could reach it, telling her to be sure to
+ring if she needed anything, then she went out, leaving the door
+slightly ajar.
+
+As she disappeared Violet nodded her sunny head mischievously, and shot
+a wicked little smile after her.
+
+"You are the dearest darling in the world," she murmured, "and I know
+you are resolved not to be guilty of doing anything to offend my proud
+sister. You will not 'assume the responsibility,' but I will. Mrs. Belle
+just isn't going to have her way, all the same, and I am going to have
+mine if I can manage it. I wonder if I could walk into the other room."
+
+She glanced toward the door and seemed to be measuring the distance with
+her eye.
+
+"I am going to try it anyway," said this willful little lady, as she
+deliberately slipped out of her chair and stood upon her feet.
+
+She found herself still very weak, and for a moment it seemed as if her
+trembling limbs would not support her, but the determination to outwit
+her haughty sister had taken possession of her, and she was bound to
+accomplish her purpose.
+
+She managed to get to a common cane-seat chair, and pushing this before
+her as a support, sitting down once or twice to rest, she at length
+reached the door leading into the other room.
+
+Wallace Richardson was sitting by a window, his back toward the parlor
+where Violet had been ill. He had been reading the morning paper, but it
+had dropped upon his knees and he had fallen into a fit of musing, his
+thoughts turning, as they did involuntarily, to that fearful ride down
+the inclined plane, while he always saw in imagination that wild look of
+appeal upon the lovely face of Violet Huntington, as she instinctively
+turned to him for help.
+
+Suddenly he was startled by a slight movement near him, and, glancing
+up, he beheld the object of his thoughts standing in the door-way just
+behind him.
+
+"Miss Huntington!" he cried, starting to his feet in amazement and
+consternation, "I am afraid you are very imprudent. Do you want
+something? Can I do anything for you?"
+
+"Yes, if you will please help me to that chair I will be much obliged; I
+am not quite so strong as I thought I was, and find myself a little
+tired," Violet replied, looking very pale after her unusual exertion.
+
+"I should think so, indeed! Here, take this chair," said Wallace as he
+gently helped her, with his well hand, to the chair that he had just
+vacated.
+
+"Thank you," Violet said, as she sank panting into it; then, glancing up
+at him with a roguish smile, she continued: "Don't look so shocked, Mr.
+Richardson; I suppose I am a trifle pale, but I am not going to faint,
+as I see you fear. I was lonely in there by myself and imagined that you
+were also, so I took a sudden notion that I would pay you a little
+visit. I--I thought it was about time that we made each other's
+acquaintance and compared notes upon our injuries."
+
+Wallace thought that he had never seen any one so pretty as she was at
+that moment. Her golden hair had been carelessly knotted at the back of
+her head, while a few short locks lay in charming confusion upon her
+white forehead. Her delicate blue wrapper, with its filmy lace ruffles
+at the neck and waists, was exceedingly becoming, while the laughing,
+roguish light in her lovely azure eyes thrilled him with a strange
+sensation. Then, too, the thought that she had made all this exertion
+just for the purpose of seeing him made his heart leap with delight.
+
+"I had no idea that you were able to make such an effort," he managed to
+say in reply, though he could never remember afterward what answer he
+did make.
+
+Her strength and color were coming back now that she was seated, and she
+laughed out mischievously.
+
+"It was an experiment," she said, "perhaps a hazardous one, and I must
+make my visit and get back before nurse returns, or I fear I shall get a
+vigorous scolding; but I just had to come to see you--I couldn't wait
+any longer. When I think of how much I owe you, it seems perfectly
+heartless that I have not told you how thankful I am for the life that
+you have saved; but for you I might have shared the fate of the others,"
+and tears were in the beautiful eyes uplifted to his face.
+
+"Do not think of it, Miss Huntington," Wallace said, growing pale as his
+own thoughts went back to those moments of horror.
+
+"Why not?" she cried, impulsively. "Why should I not think of it and
+speak of it, too, when I see this poor arm"--and she touched it almost
+reverently with her dainty fingers--"when I realize how thoughtless of
+self you were in trying to save me? Ah! and that poor hand, too," she
+added, as she caught sight of his right hand, which had been badly cut
+by broken glass, and on which she saw a broad strip of court-plaster,
+"how much you have suffered!"
+
+And carried away by her feelings, forgetful of all but the gratitude
+that filled her warm, young heart, she suddenly bent forward and
+impulsively touched her lips to the wounded hand that hung by his side.
+
+Wallace caught his breath. That touch was like electricity to him, and
+the rich color surged up to his brow.
+
+"Miss Huntington, don't!" he cried; "you overestimate what I did."
+
+"No, indeed I do not," Violet returned, earnestly, and then, overcome by
+the sudden realization of what she had done--that he was almost a
+stranger and she had been guilty of a rash and perhaps unmaidenly act--a
+burning blush leaped to the roots of her hair, and for the moment she
+was speechless from shame and embarrassment.
+
+"Pardon me," she said, after an awkward silence. "I forgot myself--I
+forgot everything but that I owe you my life."
+
+Then tossing back her head and shooting a half appealing, half defiant
+look at him, to cover her confusion, she said, with a bewitching little
+pout:
+
+"But now that I have come to call upon you, Mr. Richardson, aren't you
+going to entertain me?"
+
+The change from embarrassment to this pretty piquancy was so
+instantaneous and so charming that Wallace's face grew luminous with
+admiration and delight. A smile wreathed his lips, and there came a look
+into his eyes that made her flush consciously again.
+
+"Certainly; I shall only be too happy. What can I do to amuse you? Shall
+I read to you?"
+
+Violet shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"No, talk to me," she said, with pretty imperiousness. "I have been shut
+up so long that I am pining for entertaining society."
+
+Wallace flushed at this. He was not used to talking to fine young
+ladies; he had been very little in society, and had met but very few
+people in fashionable life. His days were occupied by work, for he had
+to support himself and his mother, while his evenings were devoted to
+study.
+
+But he really desired to amuse his lovely visitor, and so, going to a
+book-case, he took down a large, square book and brought it to her.
+
+"Have you ever seen any agricultural drawings, Miss Huntington?" he
+inquired.
+
+"No," Violet said.
+
+"Do you think it would interest you to examine some?"
+
+"Oh, yes," she answered, eagerly.
+
+She would have been interested in anything which he chose to talk about.
+
+"I am glad of that," he returned, "for architecture is to be the
+business of my life, and I can talk more fluently upon that subject that
+upon any other."
+
+Then he opened the book and began to show her his drawings.
+
+"Since a little boy I have desired to be an architect," he told her,
+"and while my father lived I had every advantage which I chose to
+improve; but after his death misfortune obliged me to give up school and
+to go to work. I chose the carpenter's trade--my father was a contractor
+and builder--for I reasoned that a practical knowledge of the
+construction of buildings would help me in the profession which I hope,
+even yet, to perfect myself in. All my evenings during the past four
+years have been spent in the drawing-school, and where, during the last
+two years I have, a portion of each night, served as a teacher."
+
+He pointed out to Violet several of his own designs, all of which, she
+could readily see, were very fine, and some exceedingly beautiful.
+
+While discussing some point, Violet casually compared it with something
+that she had seen in ancient structures abroad, and this led them to
+enlarge upon the architecture of the old country, until they grew very
+free and friendly in their conversation.
+
+Neither was aware how rapidly time was passing, until the clock struck
+the hour of eleven; then, with a sudden start, the young girl exclaimed
+that she must get back to her own room at once, or run the risk of being
+scolded should the nurse find her there.
+
+"I can get back to my chair much more quickly, Mr. Richardson, if you
+will help me," she said, with an arch look, as she arose from her seat
+by the window; and Wallace, with another thrill of delight, gave her his
+well arm and assisted her to cross the room, a feat which she
+accomplished much more easily than before.
+
+When he had seated her comfortably, she gave him a roughish glance, and
+remarked, playfully:
+
+"I suppose it is polite for people to return calls, isn't it, Mr.
+Richardson?"
+
+He laughed out heartily, and thought her the most bewitching little
+piece of humanity he had ever seen.
+
+"I suppose it is," he answered; then growing grave, he added, "but I
+understand that your sister does not think it advisable for you to have
+visitors."
+
+"Nonsense!" began Violet, impatiently, then espying the nurse just
+mounting the steps, she continued, "but there is Mrs. Dean. I will
+discuss the calling question with you some other time. Good-by."
+
+Wallace took the hint implied in this farewell, returned to the
+sitting-room, where he was apparently deeply absorbed in the contents of
+his paper when the refreshed and smiling nurse entered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A PARTING SOUVENIR.
+
+
+A week went by, and both patients continued to improve, but the weather
+being unfavorable--a cold wind prevailing--the physician would not
+consent to have Violet removed to Auburn avenue until it was milder.
+
+Every pleasant morning, however, Violet insisted upon having the nurse
+go out for an airing, telling her to remain as long as she liked, and
+just as often the young girl succeeded in securing an interview with
+Wallace.
+
+She saw that both he and Mrs. Richardson were averse to his returning
+her call, and she did not urge it; but in her pretty, imperious way she
+insisted that he must help her out into the sitting-room or she should
+get "awfully homesick" staying in the parlor all the time.
+
+They could not well refuse her request, and every morning as soon as the
+nurse disappeared she went out to them.
+
+Sometimes Mrs. Richardson would remain and join in their conversation,
+but this could not always be, for her household duties must be attended
+to, and so they were often left by themselves.
+
+Occasionally Wallace read to her from the daily paper, or from some
+interesting book; but more frequently they spent the time conversing,
+growing every day more friendly, and falling more and more under the
+spell of each other's society.
+
+Wallace realized his danger--knew that every hour spent in the fair
+girl's presence was serving to make him more wholly her slave.
+
+That first meeting, when she had come upon him so unexpectedly, had
+assured him that he could not see her often without riveting the chains
+of his love more hopelessly about him. Her exquisite beauty, her
+artless, impulsive manner, the glance of her beautiful eyes, all moved
+him as he had never been moved before, and warned him that danger to
+both lay in indulging himself in the delight of her society.
+
+Danger! Yes, for he well knew that he--a poor carpenter who had to toil
+with his hands for his daily bread--ought never to speak words of love
+to the delicate girl who had been reared amid the luxuries of wealth;
+knew that her haughty relatives would scorn such an alliance with one in
+his humble circumstances.
+
+But he seemed powerless to prevent it--powerless to save either himself
+or her; for Violet, all unconscious of the precipice toward which they
+were drifting, thinking only of the enjoyment of the moment, persisted
+in seeing him, day after day, and thus, before she was aware of the
+fact, becoming entangled in coils from which she was never to escape.
+
+Mrs. Mencke came every afternoon, but never remained long, for she was a
+woman of many social obligations, and thought if she simply came to
+inquire regarding Violet's welfare, she was doing her whole duty by her.
+
+She always found her alone with the nurse, or with Mrs. Richardson, if
+the former was busy, and fondly imagined that everything was all right;
+never suspecting the mischief--as she would be likely to regard it--that
+was being brewed by that artful little god of love--Cupid.
+
+Doctor Norton finally gave his consent to having Violet removed, and on
+the same day, when Mrs. Mencke paid her usual visit, she was told that
+to-morrow she would be taken home.
+
+The young girl received this unwelcome news in silence, but a great
+darkness seemed suddenly to have fallen around her.
+
+After her sister's departure she turned to Mrs. Richardson, and the
+woman saw that her eyes were full of tears.
+
+"Dear Mrs. Richardson," she said, "I am so sorry to leave you! I have
+been so happy here--it is such a quiet, peaceful place, and you have
+been so kind to me, I really feel homesick at the thought of going
+home--and that sounds like a paradox, doesn't it?"
+
+Mrs. Richardson smiled fondly into the fair face lifted to hers, though
+an expression of pain flitted over her brow at the same time.
+
+"I shall be just as sorry to give you up as you can be to go," she
+replied. "You have been a very patient invalid, and it has been simply a
+pleasure to have you here. Still, your home is so delightful, and you
+have so many kind friends, you will soon forget your quiet sojourn on
+Hughes street."
+
+"No, indeed--never!" Violet returned, flushing. Then she added,
+impulsively, while a great longing seemed to sweep over her: "I know
+that my home is beautiful with everything that money can buy, but--there
+is no soul in it."
+
+"My dear child! I am sure you do not mean that," said Mrs. Richardson,
+reprovingly. "That is a very sad thing to say about one's own home."
+
+"Yes, I do mean it," Violet answered, with quivering lips. "Belle is
+good enough in certain ways, and I suppose she is fond of me, after a
+fashion; but she is a society woman, and always full of engagements,
+while Wilhelm cares for nothing but his horses and his business. I wish
+I had a mother," and a pathetic little sob concluded the sentence.
+
+During the weeks of her illness, the young girl had found a long-felt
+void filled by the care and tenderness of this motherly woman.
+
+Mrs. Richardson laid her hand caressingly upon the golden head, and her
+heart yearned over the fair invalid. She also had longed for a loving
+daughter, to brighten and soothe her declining years, even as Violet
+longed for a mother.
+
+Violet reached up and clasped the tender hand, and brought it round to
+her lips. She was naturally an affectionate little thing, and much given
+to acting upon the impulse of the moment.
+
+"I shall always love you, dear Mrs. Richardson, and you will let me come
+to see you, will you not?" she asked, appealingly.
+
+"Certainly, dear. I shall be very glad to see you at any time," she
+answered, heartily, and deeply touched by the young girl's evident
+affection for her; but she changed the subject, and began to chat
+entertainingly upon other topics, for she saw that she was really
+depressed by the thought of going back to her "soulless" home.
+
+The next morning an elegant carriage, drawn by a pair of coal-black
+horses in silver-mounted harness, drove to the humble home of the
+Richardsons in Hughes street, and the colored driver presented a note
+from Mrs. Mencke, saying that Violet was to return home at once; that
+she had an important engagement and could not come for her herself, but
+wished that the nurse should attend her instead.
+
+Violet was very pale and quiet as they dressed her for the drive, while
+her heavy eyes often turned to the door leading into the sitting-room
+with a wistful, regretful glance.
+
+"I shall miss you so much, Mrs. Richardson. You will come to see me,
+will you not?" she said, as she put up her lips for her good-by kiss.
+
+"Yes, I will come within a few days. I shall want to know how you are
+getting on. There, you are all ready now, I believe," she concluded, as
+she folded a light shawl about her shoulders, for though the day was
+warm, they wished to guard against all danger of her taking cold.
+
+But Violet stood irresolute a moment, then she said:
+
+"I want--may I go to say good-by to all--to Mr. Richardson?" and a
+burning flush mounted to her brow as she made the request.
+
+Mrs. Richardson looked grave as she remarked the blush, but she gave the
+desired permission; and while she went to assist the nurse to put
+Violet's things in the carriage, the young girl moved slowly toward the
+sitting-room, where she found Wallace, looking pale and depressed, his
+fine lips drawn into a firm, white line.
+
+"I have come to say good-by," Violet remarked, as she approached him
+with downcast eyes. "I--I hope you will soon be quite well again; but,
+oh! Mr. Richardson, if I could only do something to show you how----"
+
+"Please, Miss Huntington, never refer to the accident in that way
+again," Wallace returned, speaking almost coldly, because of the
+restraint he was imposing upon himself.
+
+He had not realized until that morning how very desolate he should feel
+when Violet was gone, for she might as well be going out of the world
+altogether, as far as he was concerned, he thought, as back to Auburn
+avenue.
+
+How could he let her go--resign her to another sphere, as it were, for
+some favorite of fortune to win? He was suffering torture, and it seemed
+almost impossible for him to bid her a formal good-by.
+
+Violet lifted a pained, startled look to his face at his cold, reserved
+tone.
+
+"Forgive me. I did not mean to offend you," she said; "but you must
+understand something of how I feel. I know that you have saved my life.
+I shall never forget it as long as I live, and you must let me unburden
+my heart in some way. At least, I may give you a little keepsake, if
+nothing more," she pleaded, earnestly.
+
+He smiled into her upturned face. She was so fair, so eager, he had not
+the heart to repulse her.
+
+"Yes, I should be very glad of some souvenir--you are very good to think
+of it," he said, with a thrill in his tones which brought the color back
+to her pale cheeks.
+
+"Thank you for conceding even that much," she returned, brightening;
+"and now I wonder what it shall be."
+
+"The simplest thing you can think of," Wallace said, hastily; "something
+that you have worn would be most precious----"
+
+He cut himself short, for he felt that he was betraying too much of what
+was in his heart.
+
+Violet flashed a sly look at him, and her pulses leaped at his words,
+and the glance that accompanied them.
+
+"Something that I have worn," she murmured, musingly.
+
+She glanced at her hands, where, upon her white fingers, gleamed several
+valuable rings, but she instinctively felt that none of these would be a
+suitable offering.
+
+He certainly would not care for a bracelet--he would not accept her
+watch.
+
+Then suddenly one dainty hand went up to her throat, where her collar
+was fastened with a beautiful brooch to which there was attached a
+pendant as unique as it was lovely.
+
+"Will you have this?" she asked, touching it. "Mamma gave it to me one
+birthday--you shall have the pendant to wear on your chain, and I will
+keep the brooch always."
+
+She unfastened the ornament and held it out to him.
+
+The pendant was a small golden medallion with richly enameled pansy, a
+tiny diamond in its centre, on one side, while upon the other was
+engraved the name "Violet."
+
+Wallace flushed with pleasure; he could have thought of nothing that
+would afford him so much gratification. Still he hesitated to take it.
+
+"I do not like to rob you of your mother's gift," he said, gently.
+
+"Please take it; I want you to have it--that is, if you would like it,"
+Violet said, eagerly, and looking so lovely in her earnestness that he
+longed to take her in his arms and claim her for his own, then and
+there.
+
+"You are sure you will not regret it?" he asked.
+
+"No--no, indeed; and you can easily detach it, for it is only fastened
+by this slender ring."
+
+"I think you will have to do that for me," he returned, smiling, and
+glancing down at his bandaged arm, "for I have only one hand at my
+disposal."
+
+"True; how thoughtless I am," Violet answered, flushing, and, taking a
+pair of scissors that lay upon the table, she easily pried the ring
+apart, detached the pendant and laid it in his hand.
+
+"Thank you," Wallace said, but he was very pale as his fingers closed
+over the precious gift, and he felt that fate was very cruel to force
+him to keep silent when his heart was so full of a deathless love. "It
+is a beautiful little souvenir, and I shall prize it more than I can
+tell you, Miss Huntington."
+
+Violet tapped her foot impatiently upon the floor and frowned.
+
+"Miss Huntington," she repeated, sarcastically; "how formal! Call me
+Violet--I do not like to be held at arm's length by my friends. But Mrs.
+Dean is calling me, and I suppose I must go. I have been very happy here
+in your home in spite of my illness; I have learned to love your mother
+dearly, and she has promised to come to see me; will you come with her?"
+
+How sweet and gracious she was! how she tempted him with her beauty and
+her artless, impulsive ways, and it required all his moral strength to
+resist her and preserve the secret of his love.
+
+"I am afraid I cannot," he replied.
+
+"Why not?" Violet questioned, in a surprised, hurt tone.
+
+"You forget that I am but a laborer--I have little time for social
+pleasures."
+
+"But you cannot work now--it will be several weeks yet before your arm
+will be strong enough to allow you to go back to your duties," Violet
+returned, searching his face intently.
+
+Wallace flushed hotly; he knew that was a lame excuse to give her; he
+knew, too, that he must not put himself in the way of temptation; and,
+believing a straightforward course the wisest, he frankly said:
+
+"Miss--Violet," faltering a little over the name, but not wishing to
+wound her again by the more formal mode of address, "I do not need to
+tell you, I am sure, how much pleasure it would give me to meet you now
+and then, but you well know that poor young men, like myself, are not
+often welcome in the home of the rich; indeed, I should feel myself out
+of place among the fashionable people with whom you mingle."
+
+"You need not!" Violet exclaimed, earnestly. "I should feel proud to
+introduce you to any, or all, of my friends, and I promise that you
+shall receive a most cordial welcome in my home if you ever honor me by
+entering it. Now, good-by, Wal--Mr. Richardson, for I must go."
+
+She held out her hand to him, and he took it in a strong, fond
+clasp--the first time he had ever held it thus, and the last, he told
+himself--with almost a feeling of despair, for he believed that
+henceforth they would go their separate ways and have nothing in common.
+
+He accompanied her out and helped her into the carriage, but with a keen
+pain in his heart, as he saw two diamond-like drops fall upon the velvet
+cushions as she took her seat, and knew that they were tears of regret
+over this parting.
+
+The nurse followed her charge, the coachman sprang upon his box, and
+with one wave of a white hand, one lingering look from a pair of azure
+eyes, Violet was gone, and that humble home in Hughes street seemed, to
+one person at least, like a house in which there had been a death, and
+from which peace and contentment had forever flown.
+
+There was no one but the servants to welcome Violet home, for Mrs.
+Mencke had not returned, and the poor girl felt forlorn and desolate
+enough.
+
+After bidding the nurse good-by, for the woman had only been
+commissioned to see her safely home, she went wearily up to her own
+room, where, after removing her wraps and dismissing her maid, she threw
+herself upon her bed in a passion of tears, and longing for the
+caressing touch of Mrs. Richardson's tender hand and the sound of her
+affectionate, motherly voice.
+
+When Mrs. Mencke finally returned and went to her she found her
+sleeping, but looking feverish, the tears still upon her cheeks, and
+with a mournful droop to her sweet lips that was really pathetic.
+
+She awoke with a start and found herself gazing up into the handsome
+face of her sister.
+
+"Well, Violet, I suppose you are glad to be at home again," Mrs. Mencke
+remarked, cheerfully, but regarding her searchingly.
+
+Violet gave utterance to a deep sigh, but hesitated before replying.
+
+"It is very comfortable here," she at last said, glancing around the
+luxurious apartment.
+
+"I should think so, indeed, after the close quarters you have inhabited
+of late," said Mrs. Mencke, with a contemptuous laugh. "Why, the
+servants' rooms here are better than any portion of that house."
+
+"Ye-s, but it was very quiet and peaceful and home-like there, and
+everything was very neat and clean," said Violet, with another sigh.
+
+"Well, everything is neat and clean here also, isn't it?" demanded her
+sister, sharply, for cleanliness was one of her especial hobbies.
+
+"Of course; but where have you been, Belle?" Violet asked, anxious to
+change the subject, and glancing over her sister's richly clad figure.
+
+"Oh, to a grand luncheon given by the Lincoln Club," Mrs. Mencke
+replied, all animation; "and if you had only been well I certainly
+should have taken you; I don't know when I have attended so brilliant an
+affair. But, never mind, you will come out next season, and then we will
+have plenty of amusement."
+
+Violet did not appear to share her sister's eager anticipation of this
+event and Mrs. Mencke was secretly much irritated by her languid
+indifference.
+
+"I sincerely hope that beggarly carpenter hasn't had an opportunity to
+put any nonsense in her head," she mused. "What a piece of luck!--that
+she happened to be in that car that day. Of course, the fact that he
+saved her life has cast a glamour of romance around him--Violet is very
+impressionable--and it may take time to disenchant her. I hope that
+nurse was vigilant and did not allow her to see much of him; however,
+one thing is sure, she won't get a chance to see him henceforth."
+
+Mrs. Mencke was very confident of her ability to put an end to the
+acquaintance, but she had yet to learn that there were certain events in
+life which she was powerless to control.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+VIOLET ASSERTS HERSELF.
+
+
+Mrs. Richardson never paid Violet her promised visit, for Mrs. Mencke
+realized almost immediately that something was very wrong about her
+young sister, who appeared strangely listless and unhappy, and she often
+found her in tears.
+
+"This will never do," the worldly woman said, with an energy and
+decision that governed all her movements. "I'm not going to have Violet
+moping about like a silly, love-sick damsel."
+
+And after a hasty consultation with the family physician, with scarcely
+a day's warning, she whisked her off to Saratoga, where she engaged
+rooms at the Grand Union for two months, and when Mrs. Richardson called
+to see her recent patient, she found the elegant mansion on Auburn
+avenue closed and could not ascertain whither the Menckes had gone.
+
+The change proved to be very beneficial. Saratoga was, of course, very
+gay; there was a constant round of pleasure into which Violet was at
+once drawn, for Mrs. Mencke was a great lover of society, and she soon
+became interested as any young girl naturally would under the same
+circumstances. There was no more moping--there were no more tears;
+Violet gave herself up, with true girlish abandon, to the allurements
+that presented themselves on every side, became a great favorite among
+the guests of the large hotel, grew round, rosy, happy, and more
+beautiful than ever, much to the satisfaction of her sister, who
+congratulated herself that the "beggarly young carpenter" was entirely
+forgotten.
+
+Two months were spent at this fashionable resort, then six weeks more
+were occupied in visiting other places of interest, and when they
+returned to Cincinnati, about the middle of September, Violet seemed
+entirely herself once more; she was full of life and spirits, the old
+light of mischief and happiness danced in her beautiful eyes, while she
+was planning for and looking forward to the coming season with all the
+zeal and enthusiasm of a young debutante.
+
+The day following their arrival at home Violet came in from a round of
+calls that she had been making, and, feeling too weary to go up to her
+room just then, she threw herself into a comfortable chair in the
+library, and took up a paper that lay on the table.
+
+Almost the first words that caught her eye, and sent a thrill of horror
+through her, were these:
+
+    "DIED--On the 12th instant, at her home, No. ---- Hughes
+    street, Mary Ida Richardson, aged 48 years and 9 months.
+    Funeral from her late residence, the 14th, at 2 o'clock P. M."
+
+A cry of pain broke from Violet as she read this.
+
+Her dear, kind friend dead! Gone away out of the world into eternity,
+and she would never see her again!
+
+It did not seem possible; she could not believe it. Poor Wallace, too!
+how desolate he would be! And, bowing her face upon her hands, the young
+girl sobbed as if her heart was broken.
+
+All at once, however, she started to her feet.
+
+The fact that this was the 14th had suddenly forced itself upon her. The
+paper was two days old.
+
+Glancing at the clock she saw that it was half-past twelve; but she
+might be in time for the last sad services for the dead if she should
+hasten.
+
+Mrs. Mencke was out, as usual, and Violet was glad of it, for she knew
+that she would oppose and might even flatly forbid her going.
+
+Hastening to her room, she exchanged her elaborate visiting costume for
+a simple black cashmere, tore a bright feather from a black hat, drew on
+a pair of black gloves, and thirty minutes later was in the street
+again.
+
+She hailed the first car that came in sight, and even though she was
+obliged to take a second car, she reached Hughes street about twenty
+minutes of two.
+
+As she entered the home of the Richardsons she was met by a kind-looking
+woman, a neighbor, whom she had seen once or twice during her illness,
+and with a quivering lip she begged that she might go into the parlor
+herself and take a look at her friend before the people began to gather.
+
+Permission was readily given to her, the woman herself leading the way,
+and considerately shutting the door so that she might be by herself, as
+she took her last look at the dear friend who had been so kind to her.
+
+Mrs. Richardson must have died suddenly, she thought, for she was not
+changed in the least, and lay as if calmly asleep. There was nothing
+ghastly or unpleasant about her. A look of peace and rest was on the
+sweet face. Her hair had been dressed just as she was in the habit of
+wearing it, and a mass of soft lace had been filled into the front of
+her dress, while some one had placed a few sprays of mignonette and
+lilies of the valley in her still hands.
+
+"Oh, dear Mrs. Richardson, you cannot be dead!" Violet breathed, as she
+bent over her with streaming eyes. "It is too, too sad; you were so
+kind, and I had learned to love you so dearly. What will Wallace do? How
+can he bear it?"
+
+She smoothed her soft hair with her trembling fingers, never thinking of
+shrinking from the still, cold form, for it was so life-like. She drew
+the lace a little closer about the neck, and arranged the flowers less
+stiffly in her hands, murmuring fond words and tender regrets while thus
+engaged.
+
+But, after a few moments, overcome with her grief, she seated herself
+upon a low ottoman behind the casket, and leaned her head against it,
+weeping silently.
+
+She was so absorbed by her sorrow that she did not hear the door as it
+was softly opened and closed again, and was not conscious that any one
+else was in the room, until she heard a deep, heart-broken sob, and a
+familiar voice break forth in the agonized cry:
+
+"Mother! oh, mother!"
+
+Then she realized that Wallace was there, and her heart went forth to
+him in loving sympathy, for she knew that he had lost the only near
+friend that he had in the world.
+
+She did not move for a few moments, however, for she felt that his grief
+was too deep and sacred to be disturbed; but after a little he grew more
+calm, and then she said, in a low, tremulous tone:
+
+"Wallace, I am so grieved."
+
+He started, and turned his pale face toward her.
+
+"Violet!" he exclaimed, astonished.
+
+"Yes," she said. "I only came home yesterday, and by the merest chance
+read the news of this to-day. Oh, Wallace, she was a dear, dear woman!"
+
+"She was, indeed," he replied, clasping the hand she extended to him,
+and feeling inexpressibly comforted by this fair girl's tribute to his
+loved one.
+
+He noticed, and was touched also by the fact, that Violet was all in
+black, and he knew that she had robed herself thus out of grief for his
+dead.
+
+"I loved her," the young girl said, with touching simplicity. Then she
+added: "I know I cannot say anything to comfort you, but, believe me, my
+heart is full of sorrow for her loss, and of sympathy for you."
+
+How lovely she was, standing there beside him, her fair face and sunny
+hair in such striking contrast with her black dress, and with her azure
+eyes raised in such heartfelt sympathy to his.
+
+Her hand still lay in his, for both had unconsciously retained their
+clasp after their first greeting, and he knew by her clinging fingers
+how sincere her sorrow and sympathy were.
+
+"My darling, I know it; and your presence is inexpressibly comforting to
+me."
+
+"My darling!"--he had said it without thinking.
+
+During all the long weeks that they had been separated he had called her
+thus to himself, and now the word had slipped from him unawares, and he
+would have given worlds to have been able to recall them.
+
+Violet's white lids fluttered and then drooped consciously, while a
+vivid flush arose to her brow.
+
+This brought Wallace to his senses. He also colored hotly, and a feeling
+of dismay took possession of him. There was a dead silence for a moment;
+then he added, humbly:
+
+"Forgive me; I did not know what I was saying."
+
+He would have released her hand, but her small fingers closed more
+firmly over his; she shot one dazzling gleam of light up at him from her
+lovely eyes and whispered, shyly:
+
+"I am glad!"
+
+And he knew that she was all his own--that she loved him even as he
+loved her.
+
+A great wave of thankfulness, of sacred joy, swept over his soul, only
+to be followed by a feeling of despair, darker and deeper than any he
+had yet experienced, for he knew that he should not, must not accept the
+priceless boon of her love which she had so freely and so artlessly
+yielded to him.
+
+But there was no time for explanations, for at that moment the door was
+opened again, and the woman, Mrs. Keen, whom Violet had met when she
+first came, entered, to make some inquiry of Wallace, and to tell him
+that the clergyman had arrived.
+
+Presently others, neighbors and acquaintances, began to gather, and then
+it was time for the service.
+
+Violet never forgot that simple ceremony, for the clergyman, who knew
+Mrs. Richardson intimately, seemed to glorify the death of the beautiful
+woman.
+
+"She had simply stepped," he said, "from darkness into light--from toil
+and care into rest and peace. The vail betwixt her and the Master, whom
+she had loved, was lifted; her hitherto fettered soul was free, and in
+the light of an eternal day no earthly sorrow, doubt, or trial could
+reach her."
+
+Death, after that, never seemed the cruel enemy that it had previously
+seemed to Violet.
+
+After it was all over, and Wallace had passed out to his carriage, Mrs.
+Keen came to the young girl and asked her if she would like to follow
+her friend to the cemetery.
+
+"If I may," Violet replied. "She was not a relative, but I loved her
+very much."
+
+"Then come with me," the woman said, and, as she led the way out, she
+explained that there were no relatives save Mr. Richardson, and it
+seemed too bad that there should be no one but himself to follow his
+mother to the grave, and that was why she had asked Violet to go with
+her.
+
+The next moment Violet found herself in the carriage with, and seated
+opposite to, Wallace.
+
+A feeling of dismay took possession of her, for she knew that the world
+would criticise her severely for taking such a step.
+
+She had not dreamed that she would have to ride in the same carriage
+with Wallace, and she wondered if he would understand how it had
+happened.
+
+The matter could not be helped now, however, and for herself she did not
+care; her motives had been good and pure; why then need she care for the
+criticisms of people?
+
+The ride to Spring Grove Cemetery was a long and sad one, for scarcely a
+word was spoken either going or returning. Wallace seemed absorbed in
+his own sorrowful reflections, Mrs. Keen preserved a prim and gloomy
+silence, and Violet was thus left to her own thoughts.
+
+She could not keep from thinking of those few sad yet sweet moments when
+she had stood alone with Wallace by the casket of his mother, and heard
+him speak those words which had changed, in one instant, her whole life.
+
+"My darling, your presence is inexpressibly comforting to me!"
+
+She knew that he had not meant to speak thus, that only a sense of his
+own desolation and her unexpected sympathy, had made him forget himself,
+break down all barriers, and betray the secret of his love.
+
+It had been an unexpected revelation to her, however; she had not
+suspected the nature of his feelings toward her, nor of hers toward him,
+until then; but now she knew that she loved him--that all the world,
+with every other blessing and luxury at her command, would be worthless
+to her without him to share it.
+
+When they reached Hughes street again Violet held out her hand to
+Wallace, saying it was so late she must go directly home.
+
+Then he suddenly came to himself and realized how very tedious the long,
+silent ride must have been for her.
+
+"Let me send you home in the carriage," he said, eagerly.
+
+"Thank you, no; I will take a car," Violet replied, so decidedly that he
+did not press the matter further.
+
+It was very late when she reached home, and she found her sister quite
+anxious over her prolonged absence.
+
+"Where have you been, Violet?" she demanded, somewhat impatiently; "it
+is not the proper thing at all for you to be out so late alone. Mercy!
+and you are all in black, too; I should think you had been at a
+funeral."
+
+"I have; I have been to Mrs. Richardson's funeral," Violet replied, hot
+tears rushing to her eyes.
+
+Mrs. Mencke looked startled.
+
+"Mrs. Richardson!" she repeated. "When did she die?"
+
+"Day before yesterday; and it was all by chance that I saw the notice of
+her death in a paper. She died very suddenly of heart disease."
+
+"I wish I had known it, I would have gone with you," said Mrs. Mencke,
+looking disturbed.
+
+"Would you?" Violet exclaimed, surprised.
+
+"Yes; it was not proper for you to go alone."
+
+The young girl's face fell; she had hoped her sister wanted to show this
+tribute of respect to one who had been so kind to her.
+
+"Where was she buried?" Mrs. Mencke inquired.
+
+"At Spring Grove Cemetery."
+
+"Did you go out there?"
+
+"Yes," and Violet flushed slightly.
+
+"With whom did you ride?" demanded her sister, suspiciously.
+
+"With--Mr. Richardson and a Mrs. Keen."
+
+"Violet Draper Huntington!" ejaculated Mrs. Mencke, with indignant
+astonishment, "you did not do such an unheard of thing?"
+
+Violet bridled at this. She was naturally sweet and gentle, but could
+show spirit enough if occasion required.
+
+"Yes, I did," she returned, flushing, but tossing her small head
+defiantly. "There were no friends excepting Mr. Richardson. Mrs. Keen
+invited me to go with her, and, as I wanted to show the dear woman this
+mark of respect, I went."
+
+"Don't you know that it was a very questionable act to follow Mrs.
+Richardson to her grave in the company of her son?" demanded Mrs. Mencke
+sternly. "What do you suppose the people of our set would say to such a
+proceeding?"
+
+"I presume the people of 'our set' might consider it a questionable
+act," Violet returned, with sarcastic emphasis. "Polite society is not
+supposed to have much heart, anyway. But, to tell the truth, I thought I
+was to ride in a separate carriage with Mrs. Keen, until I went out and
+found Mr. Richardson in it. I was not going to wound him then by
+refusing to go; and 'our set,' if it find it out, can say what it
+pleases."
+
+"I most earnestly hope that none of our acquaintances will learn of your
+escapade; they would be sure to couple your name very unpleasantly with
+that of that low-born carpenter, especially if they should find out that
+you put on mourning," returned Mrs. Mencke, with an expression of
+intense disgust.
+
+"'Low-born carpenter,' indeed!" retorted Violet indignantly, and
+flushing hotly. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Belle Mencke, after
+what he has done for me? Wallace Richardson is a gentleman in every
+sense of the word, and I am proud to call him my friend."
+
+"Perhaps you would be proud to accord him a more familiar title, even.
+Our friends would be likely to suspect that he was thus favored if they
+should discover what you have done to-day," sneered the haughty woman.
+
+Violet blushed vividly at this thrust, and for a moment looked so
+conscious that her sister became suspicious and secretly alarmed.
+
+"I don't care, Belle," Violet said, hotly, after a moment of awkward
+silence, "it would have been very ungrateful in me to stay away and I
+would do the same thing over again to show my regard for dear Mrs.
+Richardson. Now, if you please, you may let me alone upon the subject."
+
+"Look here, Miss Violet, you are trying me beyond all bounds," Mrs.
+Mencke returned, losing control of her temper; "and now there is just
+one thing that I want to say to you, and that is that you are to drop
+this fellow at once and for all time. I won't have any nonsense or
+sentiment just because he happened to do what any other man with a germ
+of humanity would have done to save you from a violent death. It is all
+very well to feel properly grateful to him, and I intend to pay him
+handsomely for it, only I don't want to hear anything more about him
+from you."
+
+Violet had grown very pale during the latter portion of this speech, and
+her sister, who was observing her closely, could see that she was
+trembling with suppressed emotions.
+
+"Belle Mencke," she said, in a husky tone, "do you mean to say that you
+intend to offer Mr. Richardson money in return for my life?"
+
+"Of course. What else can I do? We must make him some acknowledgment,
+and people in his station think more of money that of anything else,"
+was the coarse response.
+
+"That is false!" cried Violet, with blazing eyes. "Reverse your
+statement, and say that people in your position think more of money than
+of anything else, and you would come nearer the truth. Don't you dare to
+insult that noble fellow by offering him money; if you do, I will never
+forgive you while I live. Make him all the verbal acknowledgments you
+please, as will be just and right, but don't forget that he is a
+gentleman."
+
+Mrs. Mencke saw that she had gone too far, and made an effort to control
+herself. She knew, from experience, that when Violet was once thoroughly
+aroused it was not an easy matter to tame her.
+
+"There, Violet, you have said enough," she remarked, with forced
+calmness. "You are only making yourself ridiculous, and I think we had
+best drop the subject; only one thing I must insist upon, that you will
+cut this young man's acquaintance at once."
+
+She arose as she spoke to meet her husband, who entered at that moment,
+and Violet flew to her own room to remove her black attire, and to ease
+her aching heart by shedding a few scalding tears, which would not be
+kept back.
+
+It was very hard to hear Wallace spoken of so contemptuously when she
+had learned to love him with all the strength of her soul, and knew him
+to be, by nature and in character, far superior to the man whom her
+sister called husband.
+
+She did not regret what she had done that day, and she had no idea of
+dropping Wallace Richardson's acquaintance. No, indeed! Life would be
+worth but very little to her now if he were taken out of it; and, though
+she knew she would have many a vigorous battle to fight with her proud
+sister if she defied her authority, she had no thought of yielding one
+inch of ground, and was prepared to acknowledge Wallace as her betrothed
+lover when the proper time to do so should come.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+A CONFESSION AND ITS REPLY.
+
+
+Wallace, in his lonely home, was of course very sad and almost stunned
+by the blow that had fallen upon him so suddenly.
+
+For many years his mother had been the one object upon which he had
+lavished the deep, strong affection of his manly nature. He had lost his
+father when but a youth, but Mrs. Richardson had struggled bravely to
+keep him at school, and give him as good an education as possible, for
+he was a lad possessing more than ordinary capabilities and attainments.
+By the time, however, that he graduated from the high school in the city
+of Boston, Massachusetts, where they were living at that time, their
+slender means gave out, and Wallace found that he must relinquish, at
+least, for the present, his aspiration to perfect himself as an
+architect, and do something for his own and his mother's support.
+
+He was but seventeen years of age at this time, but he was a strong,
+manly fellow, and he resolved to take up the carpenter's trade, much
+about which he already knew, for during his vacations he had often
+worked, from choice, under the direction of his father.
+
+As he had told Violet, he felt that a practical and thorough knowledge
+of the construction of buildings would be of inestimable benefit in the
+future, for he had not by any means given up his intention of ultimately
+becoming an architect.
+
+He applied to the builder and contractor who had grown up under and
+succeeded to the business of his father, and the man readily agreed to
+engage him, provided he would be willing to go to Cincinnati, where he
+had managed to obtain a very large contract, and, for a lad of Wallace's
+age, he offered him unusual inducements.
+
+At first Wallace demurred, for he could not bear the thought of leaving
+his mother, and at that time they could not both afford to make the
+change.
+
+But he finally concluded to make the trial, and at the end of six months
+he had made himself so valuable to his employer that the man had
+increased his wages, and promised him still further promotion if he
+continued to progress as he had done.
+
+This change in his circumstances enabled Wallace to send for his mother
+and to provide a comfortable little home for her.
+
+He was very ambitious; every spare moment was spent in study, while he
+also attended an evening school for drawing, where he could receive
+instruction in his beloved architecture.
+
+Thus, step by step, he went steadily on, perfecting himself in both his
+trade and his profession until, at the opening of our story, six years
+after leaving his native city, Boston, we find him and his mother still
+residents of Cincinnati, and the young man in a fair way to realize the
+one grand object of his life.
+
+Already he had executed a number of plans for buildings, which had been
+approved, accepted, and fairly well paid for, while he had applied for,
+and hoped to obtain, a lucrative position in the office of an eminent
+architect, at the beginning of the new year.
+
+His accident had interrupted his business for several weeks, but he knew
+that he should lose nothing pecuniarily, for the company that controlled
+the incline-plane railway had agreed to meet all the expenses of his
+illness, and pay him a goodly sum besides; so his enforced idleness had
+not tried his patience as severely as it would have otherwise done.
+
+Indeed, he had not been idle, for he had devoted a good deal of time,
+after he was able to be about, to the study of his beloved art. His
+right hand, being only slightly injured he could use quite freely, and
+he executed several designs which he was sure would be useful to him in
+the future.
+
+His mother's sudden death, however, was a blow which almost crushed him.
+He had never thought that she could die at least for long years for she
+had apparently been in the enjoyment of perfect health.
+
+They were sitting together one evening, and had been unusually social
+and merry, when Mrs. Richardson suddenly broke off in the middle of a
+sentence, leaned back in her chair as if faint, and before Wallace could
+reach her side, her spirit was gone.
+
+Wallace would not believe that she was dead until the hastily summoned
+physician declared that life was entirely extinct and then the heavily
+afflicted son felt as if his burden were greater than he could bear.
+
+He did not look upon that loved face again until the hour of the
+funeral, when he went alone into their pretty parlor to take his last
+farewell, and found Violet there before him.
+
+Her presence there had been "inexpressibly comforting" to him as he had
+said, and in the sudden reaction and surprise of the moment he had
+betrayed the secret of his love for her.
+
+He was shocked and filled with dismay when, after his return from the
+grave of his mother, he had an opportunity to quietly think over what he
+had done.
+
+He felt that he had been very unwise--that he had no right to aspire to
+the hand of the beautiful heiress, for he could offer her nothing but
+his true heart, and this, he well knew, would be scorned by Violet's
+aristocratic relatives.
+
+Yet, in spite of his remorse, his heart leaped with exultation over the
+knowledge that the lovely girl returned his affection. She had not
+spoken her love, but he had seen it in her shy, sweet glance of surprise
+and joy at his confession; he had felt it in the clinging clasp of her
+trembling fingers, that would not let him release her hand; he had heard
+it in every tone of her dear voice when she had told him, simply, but
+heartily, that she "was glad."
+
+Was she glad to know that she was his "darling," or only glad because
+her presence was a comfort to him in his hour of trial?
+
+Both, he felt very sure, and he kept repeating those three words over
+and over until they became sweetest music in his soul.
+
+But he told himself that he must not accept the priceless gift of her
+love.
+
+"What shall I do?" he cried, in deep distress. "I have compromised
+myself; I have gone too far to retract, and she would deem unmanly if I
+should keep silent and let the matter drop here."
+
+He sat for hours trying to decide what course to pursue, and finally he
+exclaimed, with an air of resolution:
+
+"There is no other way but to make a frank explanation--confess my
+sorrow for my presumption and ask her forgiveness; then I must take up
+the burden of my lonely life and bear it as well as I can."
+
+The next morning, after he had partaken of his solitary breakfast, which
+a kind and sympathizing neighbor sent in to him, he sat down to his task
+of writing his confession to Violet.
+
+That evening the fair young girl received the following epistle:
+
+    "My Dear Miss Huntington:--I am filled with conflicting
+    emotions, which it would be vain for me to try to explain, in
+    addressing you thus; but my mother taught me this motto in my
+    youth--and I have endeavored to make it the rule of my life ever
+    since--'If you do wrong confess it and make what reparation you
+    can.' I realize that I was guilty of great presumption and wrong
+    in addressing you so unguardedly as I did yesterday, when we stood
+    alone by my mother's casket. Pray forgive me, for, while I am
+    bound to confess that the words were forced from me by a true,
+    strong love, which will always live in my heart--a love such as a
+    man experiences but once in his life for a woman whom he would win
+    for his wife, if he could do so honorably--I know that, situated
+    as I am, with a life of labor before me and only my own efforts to
+    help me build up a possible fortune, I should not have betrayed
+    myself as I did. I was unnerved by my great sorrow, and your
+    gentle sympathy, coming as it did like balm to my wounded heart,
+    unsealed my lips before I was aware of it. Again I beg your
+    forgiveness, and with it forgetfulness of aught that could serve
+    to lower me in your esteem.
+
+    "Sincerely yours,
+
+    "Wallace Richardson."
+
+Violet was greatly excited by the contents of this letter, and burst
+into a flood of tears the moment she had perused it.
+
+She understood just how matters stood.
+
+She comprehended how Wallace had grown to love her, even as she had,
+though at the time unconsciously, learned to love him while she was an
+invalid in his home; how, with his proud, manly sense of honor, he had
+determined never to reveal his secret, from a fear that he would be
+regarded as a fortune-hunter, and that her aristocratic relatives would
+scorn an alliance with him on account of his poverty.
+
+But Violet felt that he was her peer, if not her superior, in every
+respect save that of wealth; that a grand future lay before him--grand
+because he would climb to the top-most round in the ladder of his
+profession, if energy, perseverance, and unswerving rectitude could
+attain it.
+
+He might be poor in purse now, but what of that? Money was of little
+value compared with a nature so rich and noble as his; and, more than
+that--she loved him!
+
+"Yes, I do!" she exclaimed, as she pressed to her lips the precious
+letter that told of his love for her. "I am not ashamed of it either,
+and--I am going to tell him of it."
+
+A crimson flush mounted to her brow as she gave expression to this
+resolution, and, for a moment, a sense of maidenly reserve and timidity
+oppressed her. The next she tossed back her pretty head with a resolute
+air.
+
+"Why should I not tell him?" she said. "Why should I conceal the fact
+when the knowledge will make two true, loving hearts happy? I have money
+enough for us both, for the present, and by and by I know he will have
+an abundance. I suppose Belle and Wilhelm will object and scold, but I
+don't care; it is the right thing to do, and I am going to do it," and
+she proceeded to put her resolution at once into action.
+
+She drew her writing tablet before her, and, with the tears still
+glittering on her lashes and a crimson flush on her cheek, she penned
+the following reply to her lover's letter:
+
+    "Dear Wallace:--Your letter has just come to me. I have
+    nothing to 'forgive'--I do not wish to 'forget.' Perhaps I am
+    guilty of what the world would call an unmaidenly act in writing
+    thus, when your communication does not really call for a reply,
+    but I know my happiness, and, I believe, yours also, depends upon
+    perfect truthfulness and candor. Your unguarded words by your
+    mother's casket told me that you love me; your letter to-day
+    reaffirms it, and my own heart goes forth in happy response to all
+    that you have told me.
+
+    "You have made use of the expression, 'presumption and wrong.'
+    Pardon me if I claim that you would have been guilty of a greater
+    wrong by keeping silent. Heaven has ordained that somewhere on
+    this earth each heart has its mate, and there would be much less
+    of secret sorrow, much less of domestic misery, if people would be
+    honest with each other and true to themselves. How many lives are
+    ruined by the worship of mammon--by the bondage of position!
+    Perhaps I might be accused of 'presumption'--of offending against
+    all laws of so-called etiquette, in making this open confession.
+    However it may seem, I am going to be true to myself, and my
+    convictions of what is right, and so I have opened my heart to
+    you. Still, if in writing thus, I have done aught that can lower
+    me in your esteem, I pray you to forgive and forget.
+
+    "Violet Huntington."
+
+Violet would not allow herself to read over what she had written.
+
+She had penned the note out of the honesty and fullness of her fond
+little heart; and, though she stood for a moment or two irresolute,
+debating whether to tear it into pieces and thus cast her happiness
+forever from her with the fragments, or to send it and trust to
+Wallace's good sense to interpret it aright, her good angel touched the
+balance in her favor, and she resolutely sealed and addressed the
+missive.
+
+Then she stole softly down stairs and out to the street corner, where
+she posted it with her own hands, after which she sped back to her
+chamber and relieved her sensitive heart in another burst of tears.
+
+She would not have been human if she had not regretted her act, now that
+it was past recall. She grew nervous and self-abusive, declared that she
+had been unmaidenly, and made herself as wretched as possible.
+
+She dared not think what would be the result of her letter. Would
+Wallace despise her for unsexing herself and almost proposing to him?
+Would he, with his exaggerated ideas of honor still claim that it would
+be unmanly to accept the love which she had so freely offered him?
+
+Thoughts such as these occupied her waking hours up to the following
+afternoon, when she expected a letter from Wallace, and was deeply
+disappointed when none came.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Mencke had gone out to make some social calls, and Violet
+was striving to divert her mind from the all-important theme, by going
+over her music lesson for to-morrow. It was useless, however; there was
+no music in her--everything was out of harmony, and her fingers refused
+to do their work.
+
+She then tried to read, but her mind was in such a chaotic state that
+words had no meaning for her, and she finally grew so nervous that she
+could do nothing but pace up and down the room.
+
+The hours slowly dragged on, evening came, and she was upon the point of
+going up stairs to bed, when a sudden ring at the door-bell made her
+start with a feeling of mingled shame and joy.
+
+She listened breathlessly, while a servant went to answer the summons,
+and then heard her usher some one in the drawing-room.
+
+A moment later the girl appeared in the library doorway, bearing a card
+on a silver salver.
+
+"A caller for you, Miss Violet," she said, as she passed her the bit of
+pasteboard.
+
+Violet grew dizzy, then the rich color surged over cheek and brow, as
+she read the name of Wallace Richardson, written upon the spotless
+surface in a beautiful, flowing hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+"HE IS MY AFFIANCED HUSBAND."
+
+
+Violet stood as if dazed for a moment, after reading her lover's name,
+and realized that he had come in person to reply to her letter, her
+cheeks fairly blazing with mingled joy and agitation, her heart
+fluttering like a frightened bird in its cage.
+
+Then she grew pale with a sudden fear and dread.
+
+What would be the outcome of this interview?
+
+Would it bring her happiness or sorrow?
+
+With trembling limbs, and a face that was as white as the delicate lace
+about her throat, she went slowly toward the drawing-room to learn her
+fate.
+
+Wallace, no less nervous and perturbed than herself, was pacing the
+elegant apartment, but stopped and turned eagerly toward Violet as she
+entered, his face luminous in spite of the stern self-control which he
+had resolved to exercise.
+
+All the light died out of it however as he saw how pale she was.
+
+"Violet!--Miss Huntington! are you ill?" he cried, regarding her
+anxiously.
+
+Again the rich color surged up to her brow at the sound of his dear
+voice, for the tremulous tenderness in it told her that his heart was
+all her own, and her elastic spirits rebounded at once.
+
+She shot a shy, sweet glance up into his earnest face, a witching little
+smile began to quiver about her lovely lips, then she said,
+half-saucily, but with charming confusion:
+
+"No--I am not ill; I--was only afraid that I had done something
+dreadful. Have I?"
+
+All the worldly wisdom, with which the young man had tried to arm
+himself, in order to shield the girl whom he so fondly loved from rashly
+doing what she might regret later, gave way at that, and before he was
+aware of what he was doing he had gathered her close in his arms.
+
+"My darling! no," he said; "you have done only what was true and noble,
+and I honor you with my whole soul. If all women were one-half as
+ingenuous there would be, as you have said, less misery in the world.
+But so many are simply worldly-wise--thinking more of wealth and
+position than they do of true affection, that their hearts starve, their
+lives are warped and ruined. Violet, my heart's dearest, how shall I
+tell you of my heart's great love? I cannot tell it--I shall have to let
+a life-time of devotion attest it, but you have glorified my whole
+future by assuring me of your affection."
+
+"Oh, I was afraid you would think me very bold--that you would regard me
+with contempt," Violet sighed, tremulously. "After my letter had gone,
+and I tried to think over what I had written more calmly, and to wonder
+how you would regard it, I was almost sorry that I had sent it."
+
+"'Almost,' but not really sorry?" questioned Wallace, with a fond smile.
+
+"No, for I had to tell you the truth, if I told you anything, and no one
+can be sorry for being strictly candid," she returned, "and," with a
+resolute uplifting of her pretty head, while she looked him straight in
+the eyes, "why should I not tell you just what was in my heart? Why does
+the world think that a woman must never speak, no matter if she ruins
+two lives by her silence? You told me that you loved me, although you
+did not ask me if I returned your affection; but I knew that my life
+would be ruined if I did not make you understand it. I do love you,
+Wallace, and I will not be ashamed because I have told you of it."
+
+The young man was deeply moved by this frank, artless confession. He
+knew there was not a grain of indelicacy or boldness in it; it was
+simply a truthful expression of a pure and noble nature, the spontaneous
+outburst of a holy affection responding to the sacred love of his own
+heart, and the avowal aroused a profound reverence for an ingenuousness
+that was as rare as it was perfect.
+
+He bent down and touched his lips to her silken hair.
+
+"There is no occasion," he said, earnestly, "and you have changed all my
+life, my dear one, by adopting such a straightforward course. Still," he
+added, with a slight smile, "I did not come here intending to tell you
+just this, or with the hope that our interview would result in such open
+confessions."
+
+"Did you not?" Violet asked, quickly, and darting a startling look at
+him.
+
+"No, love; nay, rest content just where you are," he said, as she would
+have withdrawn herself from his encircling arms, "for you may be very
+sure I shall never give you up after this; but your letter must be
+answered in some way; I knew that we must come to some final
+understanding, and though truth would not allow me to disavow my love
+for you, yet I wished you to realize fully that I would not presume to
+take advantage of anything which you might have written upon the impulse
+of the moment. I would not claim any promise of you which you might
+regret when you should come to think of it more calmly; while, too, I
+wished to assure myself that your friends would sanction your decision,
+and absolve me from any desire to take a dishonorable advantage of you.
+I would win you fairly, my Violet, or not at all."
+
+Violet flushed at this.
+
+"Did you expect to obtain the sanction of my sister or her husband
+to--to our engagement?" she asked.
+
+"I did not come expecting to gain anything that I wanted," Wallace
+returned, smiling, "for I had resolved not to take you at your word
+until I had assured myself that you fully understood all that it would
+involve; then, of course, I knew that the proper thing for me to do
+would be to ask their consent to our betrothal."
+
+"And you intend to do this now?" Violet questioned.
+
+"Certainly. You are not of age, are you, dear?"
+
+"No; but, Wallace, they will never sanction it," Violet said, with
+burning cheeks, but thinking it best to prepare him for the worst at the
+outset.
+
+"Because of my present poverty and humble position?" he question,
+gravely.
+
+"Yes, and money is their idol," the young girl frankly answered.
+
+"Then, Violet, I do not think it will be right for me to bind you by any
+promise to become my wife, until I have earned a position and a
+competence that will meet their approval and warrant me in asking for
+your hand."
+
+Violet put him a little from her, and stood erect and proud before him.
+
+"You do not need to bind me by any promise," she said, in a low,
+thrilling tone, "for when I gave you my love, I gave you myself as well.
+I am yours while I live. In confessing my love for you, I have virtually
+bound myself to you, and even if I am never your wife in name, I shall
+be in soul until I die. You can ask the sanction of my sister and her
+husband, as a matter of form. I know they will not give it; but they
+have no moral right to come between us--they never shall! They are very
+proud and ambitious; they hope"--and Violet colored crimson at the
+confession--"to marry me to some rich man; but my heart and my hand are
+mine to bestow upon whom I will; and, Wallace, they are yours, now and
+forever."
+
+Wallace regarded her with astonishment, while he wondered if there was
+ever so strange a betrothal before.
+
+He had asked no promise, but he felt that she could not have been more
+surely bound to him if their marriage vows had already been
+pronounced--at least, as far as her fidelity to him was concerned.
+
+"I am young, I know," Violet went on, after a moment--"I am not yet
+quite eighteen--and Wilhelm is my guardian. He can control my fortune
+until I am twenty-one; but that need make no difference with our
+relations. You will be true to me, I know, and I do not need to assure
+you of my own faithfulness, I am sure. Meantime you will be working up
+in your profession, and when I do reach my majority and come into
+possession of my money, I can do as I like, without asking the consent
+of any one."
+
+"My faithful, true-hearted little woman, I had no idea there was such
+reserve force beneath your gay, laughing exterior," Wallace returned,
+tenderly. "What a royal gift you have bestowed upon me, my darling! I
+accept it reverently, gratefully, and pledge you my faith in return,
+while I do not need to assure you that I will not spare myself in
+striving to win a name and a position worthy to offer my heart's queen.
+You have changed the whole world for me," he continued, with emotion. "I
+am no longer alone, and you have armed me with a zeal and courage, to
+battle with the future, such as I should never have known under other
+circumstances. My darling, I take your promise with your love, and when
+the right time comes I shall claim my wife."
+
+He drew her to his breast again, and lifting her sweet face to his, he
+touched her lips with a fond and reverent betrothal kiss.
+
+"Humph! Pray, Miss Violet, allow me to inquire how long you have been
+posing for this interesting tableau?"
+
+This question, in the gruff, sarcastic tones of Wilhelm Mencke, burst
+upon the lovers like an unexpected thunderclap, and, starting to her
+feet, Violet turned to find her sister's husband standing not six feet
+from her.
+
+Mrs. Mencke seemed rooted just inside the doorway, apparently too
+paralyzed by the scene which she had just witnessed to utter a word,
+while there was an indescribable expression of anger and disgust upon
+her handsome face.
+
+For a moment Violet was so astonished and confused she could not utter a
+word; then, with that slight uplifting of her fair head which those who
+knew her best understood to indicate a gathering of all the force of her
+will, she quietly remarked, though a burning flush mounted to her brow:
+
+"Ah, Wilhelm! I thought you and Belle had gone out for the evening."
+
+"No doubt; and you had planned to enjoy yourself in your own way, it
+seems," sneered the angry master of the house, as he glared savagely at
+Wallace, who now arose and advanced to Violet's side.
+
+"Stop, if you please, Wilhelm," the young girl said, as he seemed about
+to go on, and her clear tones rang out warningly. "When you went out I
+had no thought of receiving visitors; but of that I will speak with you
+later. Allow me to introduce my friend, Mr. Richardson. Mr. Richardson,
+my brother-in-law, Mr. Mencke; my sister you have already met."
+
+Wallace bowed courteously, while he marveled at Violet's remarkable
+self-possession; but neither Mr. Mencke nor his wife acknowledged the
+introduction otherwise than by bestowing a malignant look upon him, and
+this slight aroused all Violet's spirit to arms.
+
+"Friend!" repeated Mr. Mencke; "one would naturally judge from the
+touching scene just enacted that the young man sustained a much nearer
+relation to you."
+
+"He does!" flashed out Violet, as she boldly faced both the intruders,
+and reckless of the consequences of the avowal; "he is my affianced
+husband!"
+
+"Violet!" almost screamed her sister, as she sprang forward and seized
+the young girl by the arm. "Are you crazy?"
+
+"Pardon me, madame," said Wallace, courteously, as he advanced toward
+the group, "and pray give me your attention for a moment while I explain
+what may seem an unpardonable intrusion, and for which I am wholly to
+blame."
+
+"No," interrupted Violet, releasing herself from her sister's grasp; "I
+alone am responsible for what has occurred this evening. Mr. Richardson,
+in an unguarded moment, revealed to me the fact that he entertained an
+affection for me such as I have long known, exists in my own heart for
+him. I responded to it----"
+
+"Shameless girl!" ejaculated Mrs. Mencke, in an angry tone.
+
+"No, Belle, I am not a shameless girl. I simply gave truthful expression
+to an attachment in return for a confession that gave me great
+happiness, and notwithstanding that Mr. Richardson told me he would not
+bind me by any promise until, as he expressed it, he should be in a
+suitable position to warrant him in asking my hand of you, I told him
+outright that my acknowledgment of affection was as binding with me as
+any promise----"
+
+"Mr. and Mrs. Mencke," Wallace now interposed, "I cannot allow your
+sister to assume the responsibility of all this, for it is really my
+place to shield her. I love her with all the strength of my nature, and
+I now formally ask you, as her guardians, to sanction the compact we
+have made this evening."
+
+"Never!" emphatically retorted Mrs. Mencke, in her haughtiest tone.
+
+"It is not worth while to discuss such an impossible proposition, and
+you will best suit us, young man, by making yourself scarce without more
+ado," supplemented Mr. Mencke, with a menacing air.
+
+"Belle! Wilhelm!--do you call yourself a lady, a gentleman, and dare to
+insult a friend of mine in your own house?" cried Violet, quivering with
+indignation, her eyes glittering like coals of fire.
+
+Mrs. Mencke began to realize that they were arousing a spirit which
+might be difficult to manage; consequently she deemed it advisable to
+adopt a different course.
+
+"We have no wish to insult any one, Violet," she began, with dignity,
+but in a more conciliatory tone; "but of course we are very much
+astonished by such a declaration as you have just made, and you a mere
+child yet----"
+
+"I believe you were married at eighteen, Belle; I shall be eighteen in
+two months," Violet quietly interrupted, but with a roguish gleam in her
+blue eyes.
+
+Mrs. Mencke colored.
+
+She had by no means forgotten the circumstances connected with her own
+marriage, which had been an elopement, because of a stern parent's
+objections to the man of her choice; though this fact was not known in
+the circle where she now moved.
+
+"Well, you will not marry at eighteen," she answered, tartly.
+
+"Perhaps not; indeed, I have no desire to, but when I do, Mr. Richardson
+will be the man whom I shall marry, and I want the matter understood
+once for all," Violet returned, with a gravity which betrayed her
+unalterable determination.
+
+"You had best put the child to bed, Belle, and I will show this young
+carpenter the way out," Mr. Mencke remarked, contemptuously, as if he
+really regarded Violet's assertion as simply the iteration of a willful
+child.
+
+Violet shot him a look that made him wince; then turning, she laid her
+hand upon Wallace's arm.
+
+"It is a shame!" she said, with quivering lips. "I blush that relatives
+of mine can stoop to offer any one such indignity. Forgive me that I am
+powerless to help it."
+
+"I have nothing to forgive, and I have everything to honor you for,
+Violet; but it is best that I should go now, and we will settle this
+matter later," the young man replied, in a fond yet regretful tone.
+
+It had been very hard to stand there and preserve his self-control; but
+for her sake he had borne all in silence.
+
+"You will never give me up?" the young girl pleaded, her small fingers
+closing over his arm appealingly.
+
+He took her hand in a strong yet gentle clasp.
+
+"No, never, until you yourself ask it," he said, firmly.
+
+"That I shall never do. Do you hear, Belle, Wilhelm?" she cried, turning
+defiantly to them. "I have given Wallace my promise that I will be his
+wife, and he has said that he will never give me up. Just so sure as I
+live, I shall fulfill that promise."
+
+Mrs. Mencke lost control of herself entirely at this.
+
+"Violet Huntington!" she cried, white to her lips with rage, "you will
+at once retract that rash vow or this house is no longer your home."
+
+"Mrs. Mencke, let me entreat that the subject be dropped for the
+present," Wallace here interposed. "Believe me, I shrink from being the
+cause of any disturbance in your household, and since this union, which
+appears to cause you such uneasiness, cannot be consummated for some
+time yet, I beg that you will not distress your sister nor yourself by
+further threats."
+
+"I will drop the subject when you both agree to cancel this foolish
+engagement. Give me your word of honor that you will never claim the
+fulfillment of Violet's rash promise to you, and I will drop the matter
+and be glad to do so."
+
+"I cannot promise you that," Wallace firmly replied, though he had grown
+very pale as he realized how determined they were to separate them. "I
+love your sister, and if she is of the same mind in the future, when I
+can feel justified in claiming her, I shall certainly make her my wife."
+
+"And you know me well enough, Belle, to be sure that I shall not
+change--that I shall not retract one word that I have said to-night,"
+Violet added, with no less firmness than her lover had manifested.
+
+"I know that you are a rash and obstinate girl, but you will find that I
+can be just as relentless as yourself, and you will make me the promise
+I demand or this house can no longer be your home," Mrs. Mencke sternly
+retorted.
+
+"I shall never make it," Violet reiterated, with white lips, while she
+looked up into her lover's face with such an expression of affection and
+trust that he longed to take her to his heart and bear her away at once
+from such unnatural guardianship.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"I'LL BREAK HER WILL!"
+
+
+Mr. Mencke here interposed. When his wife's temper was aroused she was
+liable to be rash and unreasonable. He thought if they could but get rid
+of Wallace they could perhaps coax Violet into a more pliable frame of
+mind.
+
+He turned to the young man, and said, sternly:
+
+"We have had enough of this for to-night, but I will confer with you
+later about this matter."
+
+Wallace bowed a courteous, but dignified, assent to this broad hint to
+take his departure.
+
+He bade Violet good-night in a low tone, tenderly pressing her hand
+before releasing it, then, after a polite bow to Mrs. Mencke, which she
+did not deign to notice, he walked with a firm, manly bearing from the
+house, bidding its master a gentlemanly good-evening at the door.
+
+In spite of her rage against Violet and her poverty-stricken lover, Mrs.
+Mencke could not help admiring the latter's self-possessed exit, while
+she secretly confessed that "the fellow was uncommonly good-looking."
+
+When the door had closed after him, she turned again to her sister.
+
+"Violet, I am scandalized----" she began, when that young lady
+interrupted her.
+
+"There is no need, I assure you, Belle," she said, coldly. "I confess I
+would have preferred that you did not see us just as you did, but I have
+been guilty of nothing which should cause you to feel scandalized. We
+may as well understand each other first as last, and you may as well
+make up your mind to the inevitable, for, if I live, I shall marry
+Wallace Richardson. If I cannot do so legally until I am of age, I shall
+wait until then, and you know, Belle, when I take a stand like this, I
+mean it."
+
+With this parting shaft Violet, with uplifted head and flashing eyes,
+walked deliberately from her sister's presence and up to her own room.
+
+"The little vixen will do it, Belle, as sure as you live," remarked
+Wilhelm Mencke, who had returned to the drawing-room in season to catch
+the latter portion of Violet's remarks.
+
+"She shall not!" cried his wife, angrily. "Marry that low-born carpenter
+who has to labor with his hands for daily bread! Never!"
+
+"I do not see how you are going to help it; you know she has the grit of
+a dozen common women in that small body, and a will of iron," replied
+Mr. Mencke.
+
+"Then I'll break her will! I came of a resolute stock, too, and it will
+be Roman against Roman, with the advantage on my side. She shall never
+compromise herself, nor us, by any such misalliance."
+
+Mr. Mencke looked a trifle sheepish at this spirited speech. He could
+not forget, if his wife did, that some fourteen years previous he had
+been as badly off, if not worse, than this young carpenter. He had been
+a laborer in the employ of Miss Belle Huntington's father, and she had
+not felt that she was compromising herself or her parents by marrying
+him, and the wealthy pork-packer's daughter had run away with the man
+whom she loved.
+
+"What will you do to prevent it?" he asked, after a few moments of
+awkward silence. "The girl can marry him any day if she takes a notion;
+the will says we are to be the guardians of the property 'until she is
+twenty-one or marries.' It would make it rather awkward for me if she
+should, for her husband would have the right to demand her fortune,
+and--Belle, the duse would be to pay if I should lose my hold on that
+money."
+
+"What is the matter, Will?" demanded Mrs. Mencke looking startled.
+
+"Hum--nothing much, only--it is so mixed up with my own affairs it would
+cripple me to have to fork it over on short notice," Mr. Mencke replied,
+looking exceedingly glum.
+
+"You may rest satisfied upon one point; you will never have to surrender
+it to that fellow," his wife returned, decisively. "I will send Violet
+to a convent first, and she would be kept straight enough there."
+
+"That is well thought of Belle," said her husband, eagerly, his usually
+stolid face lighting up greedily. "It would never do, though, to send
+her to one here; suppose we get her off to Montreal, where there will be
+no one to interfere; we can keep her there as long as we like, and
+meantime I will make Cincinnati too hot to hold that youngster."
+
+"We will do it, Will, and she shall stay there until she promises to
+give up this silly love affair."
+
+"You are a very conscientious and affectionate sister, Belle," said her
+husband, with a sarcastic laugh. "What do you suppose Eben Huntington
+would say to----"
+
+"Hush!" returned Mrs. Mencke, with an authoritative gesture, "that is a
+secret that must never be breathed aloud; but all things are fair in
+love and war, and to Montreal and into a convent Violet shall go without
+delay."
+
+But if Mrs. Mencke could have caught a glimpse of the white, resolute
+face of her young sister, as she stood at that moment just outside the
+drawing-room door, she might not have felt quite so confident of her
+power to carry out her project.
+
+Violet, after leaving Mrs. Mencke, intended to go at once to her room,
+but upon reaching the top of the stairs, she remembered that she had
+left upon the piano, in the library, Wallace's letter, in a book that
+she had been reading.
+
+Not wishing other eyes than her own to peruse it, she stole quietly down
+again to get it, and happened to pass the drawing-room door just as her
+sister made her threat to send her to a convent.
+
+She had always had a horror of convent life, and though Mrs. Mencke had
+been educated at one, Violet would never consent to go to one, and had
+attended the public schools of the city, until she graduated from the
+high school, after which she spent a year at a noted institution in
+Columbus, "to finish off."
+
+She was greatly agitated as she listened to the conversation of her two
+guardians, and she wondered how they could scheme so against her. It was
+cruel, heartless. There had never been open warfare between them before,
+though Violet had not always been so happy as young girls usually are.
+There was much about her home-life that was not congenial, but she was
+naturally gentle and affectionate, and, where principle was not at
+stake, she would yield a point rather than create dissension.
+Occasionally, however, there would arise a question of conscience, and
+then she had shown the "grit" and "will of iron" of which Mr. Mencke had
+spoken.
+
+Mrs. Mencke arose as she made her last remark, and Violet, fearing to be
+found eavesdropping, sped noiselessly on into the library, where she
+secured her book and letter; then fleeing by a door opposite the one she
+had entered, and up a back stair-way, she reached her own room without
+exciting the suspicion of any one that she had overheard the plot
+concerning her.
+
+Locking herself in, she sat down at once and wrote all that she had
+overheard to Wallace, telling him that she should certainly grieve
+herself to death if she was immured in a convent, and asking him what
+she should do in this emergency.
+
+She informed him that she should take a German lesson at three the next
+afternoon, and begged him to meet her in the pupils' reception-parlor of
+the institute at four o'clock.
+
+She was so wrought up that she could not sleep, and tossed restlessly
+most of the night, while she wondered why Belle and Wilhelm were so
+cruel to her, and what the secret was to which Belle had referred; she
+had not, until then, been aware that there was anything mysterious
+connected with their family history.
+
+She arose very early the next morning, and stole forth to post her
+letter, long before any of the household were astir, after which she
+crept back to bed and fell into a heavy, dreamless slumber, which lasted
+until late in the forenoon.
+
+Wallace received Violet's letter by the morning post, and was greatly
+exercised over it.
+
+At four o'clock precisely he entered the pupils' reception-room at the
+institute where Violet took German lessons, and was thankful to find no
+one there before him.
+
+Presently Violet entered, looking pale and unhappy. She sprang toward
+her lover, and laid two small hot hands in his, while she lifted a pair
+of sad, appealing eyes to him.
+
+"What shall I do, Wallace?" she cried, with quivering lips. "I will not
+go to Montreal, and yet I know they are determined to make me."
+
+"Your sister or her husband has no right to insist upon your going into
+a convent, if you do not wish to do so," Wallace returned, gravely.
+
+"But they are my guardians; I have no other home, no other friends; they
+have the care of my money and I have to go to them for everything I
+want. I do not expect they will tell me that they are going to take me
+to a convent unless I will submit to them--they are too wise for that;
+they will plan to go on a journey, say they are going to shut up the
+house, and I must of course go with them; then when they get to Montreal
+they will force me into a convent," Violet said, excitedly.
+
+"I cannot believe that they would do anything so underhanded and
+dishonorable," said Wallace, greatly shocked.
+
+"They will," Violet persisted, excitedly. "Belle said 'anything was fair
+in love and war,' and when she gets aroused, as she was last night, she
+stops at nothing. Then, too, she hinted at some secret, and I am greatly
+troubled over it."
+
+"Violet," began Wallace, solemnly, as he bent to look into her face,
+while he held her hands in almost a painful clasp, "are you sure that
+you love me--that you will never regret the promise that you made me
+last night? You are very young, you have seen but little of the world,
+and a larger experience might cause you to change by and by."
+
+Violet's delicate fingers closed over his spasmodically.
+
+"Wallace! you are not sorry! Oh, do not tell me that you regret, and
+that I am to lose you," she pleaded, almost hysterically.
+
+"My darling," he answered, with gentle fondness, "you are all the world
+to me, and if I should lose you, I should lose all that makes life
+desirable; but I wish you to count the cost of your choice and not make
+enemies of your only friends, to regret it later."
+
+"No, Wallace--no! I shall not regret it. I love you with my whole heart,
+and--I shall die if we are separated," Violet concluded, with a pathetic
+little sob that went straight to her lover's heart.
+
+His face grew luminous with a great joy; he knew then that she belonged
+to him for all time.
+
+"Then listen, love," he said; and bending, he placed his lips close to
+her ear, and whispered for a minute or two.
+
+Violet listened, while a strange, wondering expression grew on her fair
+face, and a burning blush mounted to her brow and lost itself among the
+rings of soft, golden hair that lay clustering there.
+
+She was very grave, almost awe-stricken, when he concluded, and then she
+stood for a moment silently thinking.
+
+"Yes," she said, softly, at last, and dropped her face upon the hands
+that were still clasping hers.
+
+They stood thus for another moment, then Wallace led her to a seat, and
+sitting down beside her, they conversed in repressed tones for some time
+longer.
+
+Violet reached home just as her sister returned from making calls.
+
+"Where have you been, Violet?" Mrs. Mencke asked, suspiciously.
+
+"To take my German lessons," the girl responded, with a sigh.
+
+Her heart was heavy and sore, and she longed for love and sympathy
+instead of sour looks and words.
+
+"Your term is nearly ended, isn't it?" Mrs. Mencke continued, as they
+entered the house together.
+
+"I have one lesson more," said Violet.
+
+"Come in here; I want to talk with you," her sister rejoined, as she led
+the way into the drawing-room.
+
+Violet followed, with flushing cheeks and eyes that began to glitter
+ominously. Her spirit was leaping forth to meet the trial in store for
+her.
+
+"I have been thinking," Mrs. Mencke began, throwing herself into a chair
+and trying to speak in an offhand way, "that another little trip would
+do us all good. Will has business that calls him to Canada, and he
+thinks he would like company on the journey; so we have decided to
+combine business and pleasure, and take in all the sights on the way. He
+is to start a week from Wednesday, and we can easily be ready to
+accompany him by that time. What do you say, Vio?"
+
+Violet thought a moment, then meeting her sister's eye with a steady
+glance, she briefly replied:
+
+"I do not wish to go."
+
+Mrs. Mencke flushed. She did not like that quiet tone.
+
+"I am sorry," she returned, "for we have decided to shut up the house
+during our absence, and I could not think of leaving you behind."
+
+"Nevertheless, Belle, I shall not go with you to Montreal," Violet
+answered, steadily.
+
+"Who said anything about Montreal?" quickly demanded Mrs. Mencke, and
+regarding her sharply.
+
+"I may as well be straightforward with you, Belle," Violet continued,
+"and tell that I know just what you have planned to do, and I am not
+going to Montreal to be placed in a convent!"
+
+"Violet!" ejaculated the startled woman, with a crimson face.
+
+"You need not attempt to deny anything," the young girl continued,
+calmly, "for I overheard you and Will planning it last night. I came
+down to get something that I had left in the library, and as I was
+passing through the hall I heard you say you would send me to a convent.
+Of course, having learned that much, I was bound to hear all I could of
+the plan."
+
+Mrs. Mencke looked blank over this information for a moment; then her
+temper getting the better of her, she burst forth into a torrent of
+reproaches and abuse.
+
+Violet sat with quietly folded hands and did not attempt to interrupt
+her; but finally the woman grew ashamed of the sound of her angry voice
+and words and ceased.
+
+"Are you through, Belle?" Violet then inquired, in a cold, strangely
+calm tone.
+
+"Well, you have driven me nearly to distraction by the way you have
+carried on of late," Mrs. Mencke said, apologetically.
+
+"I think I have had something to bear as well from you," the young girl
+returned; "but I am no longer a child to be taken hither and thither
+against my will. If you and Will wish to take a trip to Canada you can
+do so by yourselves. I shall not accompany you."
+
+"What will you do--remain in Cincinnati and meet that vulgar carpenter
+on the sly, I suppose," retorted her sister, angrily.
+
+"I can go to Mrs. Bailey's. Nellie has long been wishing me to spend a
+few weeks with her."
+
+"And she will aid and abet you in your love-making, perhaps you
+imagine," sneered Mrs. Mencke. "No, miss; you will go with us, whether
+you want to or not, and you will also go into a convent, where you will
+remain until you give me your solemn promise to relinquish all thoughts
+of ever marrying that low-born Yankee."
+
+Violet arose at this point and stood pale and erect before her sister.
+
+"Belle, I shall not go to Montreal. I will not be forced to go anywhere
+against my inclination," she said, with a resoluteness that betrayed an
+unalterable purpose. "I know that you and Will were appointed my
+guardians, and that I shall not reach my majority for three years yet;
+but I know, too, that there is some redress for such abuse of authority
+as you are attempting to exercise, and if you persist in this
+course--much as I shall dislike the notoriety of such a proceeding--I
+shall appeal to the courts to set you aside and appoint some one in your
+place. You said last night that it would be 'Roman against Roman' in
+this matter. You said truly; and hereafter, Belle, you will have to meet
+me in an entirely different spirit before you and I can ever be upon the
+old footing again. I hope, at least, that you now understand, once for
+all, that I shall not accompany you and Wilhelm upon any trip."
+
+She turned and walked with quiet dignity from the room as she ceased
+speaking, leaving Mrs. Mencke looking both startled and confounded by
+the resolute and unexpected stand that she had taken regarding her
+guardianship.
+
+"Where on earth can she have found out about that point of law?" she
+muttered, angrily. "Some more of that carpenter's doings, I suppose."
+
+She sat for some time absorbed in thought; but finally her face cleared,
+and rising she rang the bell.
+
+The housemaid answered it almost immediately.
+
+"Tell James to put the horses back into the carriage as quickly as
+possible, as I have forgotten something and must go immediately to the
+city again," she commanded, as she rearranged her wrap.
+
+In less than ten minutes she was on her way, not back to the city, but
+to call upon an intimate friend in Eden Park.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+VIOLET BECOMES A PRISONER.
+
+
+Mrs. Alexander Hartley Hawley, as she was always particular to write her
+name, was much the same type of a woman as Mrs. Mencke, but with the
+advantage of not possessing such an exceedingly high temper.
+
+She was more suave and insinuating in her manner, and where she had a
+difficult object to attain she always strove to win by strategy rather
+than to antagonize her opponents by attempting to drive.
+
+She also was intensely proud and tenacious of caste--a leader in society
+and a great stickler regarding outward appearance.
+
+In the old days, when Mrs. Mencke had so offended against upper-tendom
+by eloping with the poor clerk in her father's employ, Mrs. Hawley had
+dropped her from her extensive list of acquaintances; but after Mr.
+Huntington's death, when the young couple came into possession of a
+handsome inheritance, the former friendship was renewed and their
+intimacy, if anything, had been closer than during their youthful days.
+
+To this friend and ally, who resided among the glories of Eden Park,
+Mrs. Mencke now repaired to ask her advice regarding what course to
+pursue with Violet in her present unmanageable mood.
+
+She frankly confided everything to her, and concluded her revelation by
+remarking, with an anxious brow:
+
+"I am at my wits' end, Althea, and have come to ask your help in this
+emergency."
+
+"Certainly, Belle, I will do all in my power to help you," Mrs. Hawley
+replied, eagerly, for she dearly loved to exercise her diplomatic
+talents, "but I fear that will not be much, for we have decided, quite
+suddenly, to sail for Europe the tenth of next month."
+
+"Yes, I learned of your plans to-day through Mrs. Rider, and when Violet
+got upon her stilts, on my return from my calls, it suddenly occurred to
+me that perhaps if the matter was rightly managed and you would not mind
+the care for a while, she would accept an invitation from you to travel
+in Europe for a time. I would appear to oppose it at first, but
+gradually yield to your persuasions, and, later, I would myself join you
+abroad and relieve you of your charge. Once get her across the Atlantic,
+and it will be an easy matter to keep her there until she comes to our
+terms."
+
+Mrs. Hawley readily lent herself to this scheme.
+
+"It would be a great pity," she said, with a little intentional venom
+pointing her words, "to have Violet sacrifice herself and compromise her
+position by rashly marrying this low carpenter; and," she added,
+eagerly, "I should be delighted to have her with me--she is excellent
+company, while, as you know, I am quite fond of her, and it will be the
+easiest thing in the world to persuade her to go with us."
+
+"Do you think so?" Mrs. Mencke asked, somewhat doubtfully, for she began
+to stand a little in awe of her young sister's rapidly developing
+decision of character.
+
+"Yes; Violet and Nellie Bailey are quite intimate, are they not?" Mrs.
+Hawley asked.
+
+"Yes; they were firm friends all through their high-school course, and
+have visited each other a good deal since," returned Mrs. Mencke.
+
+"Well, then, Mrs. Bailey came to me yesterday, asking if I would act as
+chaperon to Nellie, who has long wanted to spend a year in Milan to
+study music, and, as I readily granted her request, Miss Nellie will be
+my companion during at least a portion of my tour."
+
+"I do not believe Violet knows anything about it," Mrs. Mencke replied.
+
+"Very likely not; for her mother told me she had said nothing to
+Nellie--that she did not wish to arouse hopes to disappoint them, until
+she could arrange for a proper escort for her," Mrs. Hawley explained.
+"But," she added, "she probably knows it by this time. However, I am
+going to call there this evening, to arrange our plans a little, and
+will come around to your house later. I will try to bring Nellie with
+me. She will be full of the trip, and doubtless express a wish that
+Violet could go with her; and I will second her wishes by at once
+inviting her to make one of our party. In this way we can bring it about
+without appearing to have thought of such a thing before."
+
+Mrs. Mencke was greatly pleased with this plan, and after discussing it
+a while longer, she took leave of her friend, and returned home with a
+lightened heart.
+
+She met Violet at dinner-time, as if nothing unpleasant had occurred,
+and did not once refer to the Canada expedition, or any other
+disagreeable subject.
+
+About seven o'clock Mrs. Hawley made her appearance, and, greatly to
+Mrs. Mencke's delight, she was accompanied by Nellie Bailey.
+
+"Oh, Vio!" exclaimed that elated young lady, after the first greetings
+were exchanged, "I have the most delightful piece of news to tell you."
+
+Violet looked interested immediately.
+
+"What is it?" she asked.
+
+"I am going to Europe next month," Nellie replied, with a face all
+aglow.
+
+"Going to Europe!" Violet repeated, with a look of dismay; for her heart
+sank at the thought that she was about to lose her only friend.
+
+"Yes; mamma has finally consented to let me have a year of music at
+Milan, and Mrs. Hawley, who is also going broad, has consented to take
+me under her friendly wing.
+
+"Going for a year!" sighed Violet. "What shall I do without you?"
+
+"Oh, it will soon slip by," said the happy girl, to whom the coming
+twelve months would seem all too short. "Of course I shall miss you
+dreadfully. I only wish you were going too. Wouldn't it be just
+delightful?"
+
+"Yes, indeed. And why not?" here interposed Mrs. Hawley, who appeared to
+have been suddenly arrested, by this remark, in the midst of an account
+of a brilliant reception, which she was giving to Mrs. Mencke. "You know
+I am fond of your company, and should like nothing better than to have
+two bright girls with me. Belle, let me take Violet, too. She ought to
+have a nice trip abroad, now that she is out of school."
+
+Mrs. Mencke looked thoughtful, and not especially pleased by the
+proposition.
+
+"You are very kind, Althea, to propose it, but Mr. Mencke and I had
+planned a trip to Canada for this month and next, and we intended to
+take Violet with us."
+
+Violet turned a cold, steadfast look upon her sister.
+
+"I told you that I should not go to Canada, Belle," she said, quietly,
+but decidedly.
+
+"Then come with us, by all means. I am sure it cannot make much
+difference whether you go to Europe or Canada, and Nellie would be very
+happy to have you for a chum," interposed Mrs. Hawley.
+
+"Indeed I should. Oh, Violet, it would be simply charming. Wouldn't you
+like it?" Nellie cried, enthusiastically.
+
+"Ye-s," the unsuspicious girl replied, though somewhat doubtfully, as
+she thought of the thousands of miles that would separate her from
+Wallace, if she accepted this invitation. "How long do you intend to be
+absent?" she concluded, turning to Mrs. Hawley.
+
+"Oh, I shall be gone a year, perhaps two, and should enjoy having you
+with me all the time; but Mr. Hawley and my sister, Mrs. Dwight, will
+return in about three months, so if you should get homesick you could
+come back with them."
+
+Mrs. Hawley was very wise; she knew that Violet would be much more
+likely to go if she felt she could return at any time.
+
+The young girl wondered what Wallace would say to this plan. She really
+felt attracted by it; at least, it would afford her a release for a time
+from her sister's irritating authority.
+
+"Why not let her come then, Belle, if she does not wish to go with you
+to Canada?" urged Mrs. Hawley, insinuatingly, as she turned to her
+friend, with a sparkle of mischief in her eyes, as she saw that Violet
+was really inclined to go.
+
+"Well, I do not know," said Mrs. Mencke, contemplatively. "I suppose I
+should have to consult my husband--then there is the trouble of getting
+her ready."
+
+"Oh, she will not need anything for the voyage except some traveling
+rugs and wraps and a steamer chair. We can replenish her wardrobe in
+Paris for half what it would cost here, so you need not trouble yourself
+at all on that score. Will you come, Violet?" and Mrs. Hawley turned
+with a winning look to the fair girl.
+
+"Say yes--do, Vio," pleaded Nellie; and then turning to Mrs. Mencke, she
+added: "You will let her, won't you?"
+
+"I have half a mind to," mused the crafty woman.
+
+"There, Vio," cried Nellie, triumphantly; "there is nothing to hinder
+now."
+
+"It is very sudden--I will think of it and let you know," Violet began,
+reflectively.
+
+"There will not be very much time to think of it," Mrs. Hawley remarked,
+pleasantly. "You had better decide the matter at once, and thus avoid
+all uncertainty."
+
+"I will let you know by the day after to-morrow," Violet returned, but
+she lost color as she said it.
+
+She wanted to go, to get away from her brother and sister, but she
+shrank from leaving Wallace.
+
+"She is planning to consult that fellow," Mrs. Mencke said to herself,
+and reading Violet like a book; "but I will take care that she doesn't
+get an opportunity to do so."
+
+Mrs. Hawley said no more, but arose to take her leave, feeling that she
+had done all that was wise, for that day, in the furtherance of her
+friend's schemes.
+
+But Nellie lingered a little, and tried to coax her friend into
+yielding; she was very anxious to have her companionship upon the
+proposed trip.
+
+Violet was firm, however, and said again that she would like very much
+to go, but could not decide at such short notice.
+
+Mrs. Mencke did not renew the subject after their caller's departure,
+and wisely maintained a somewhat indifferent manner, as if she did not
+care very much whether Violet went or not.
+
+Mr. Mencke came in a little later from his club, and she broached the
+plan to him before Violet. Of course it had all been talked over before
+between husband and wife.
+
+He, also appeared to graciously favor the proposition.
+
+"Why, yes," he said, "if Violet wants to go to Europe, let her; you say
+she does not like the idea of going to Canada with us, and as we are
+going to shut up the house, she must go somewhere."
+
+"But she is not quite sure that she even wants to go with Althea," Mrs.
+Mencke remarked, while she watched her sister closely.
+
+"Humph," responded Mr. Mencke, bluntly; "it must be either one thing or
+the other. Which shall it be, Violet--Europe or Canada? We can't leave
+you here while we are away."
+
+"It is a somewhat important question to decide at such short notice,"
+Violet returned, coldly, and determined that she would not commit
+herself until she could consult Wallace.
+
+She was a little surprised that he should still talk of Canada, for she
+had imagined that the trip had been planned wholly on her account.
+
+She could not know that this was a pretense, intended to blind her still
+further.
+
+The next morning Mrs. Mencke went up to Violet's room about nine o'clock
+and found her apparently engaged in reading a magazine.
+
+"I am going out shopping," she remarked. "I have a great deal to do;
+don't you want to come and help me?"
+
+Violet looked up in surprise.
+
+"Why, Belle, you know that I never suit your taste in shopping, and you
+always veto what I suggest," she said.
+
+"But you will need a great many things yourself for your trip abroad,
+and you can at least purchase handkerchiefs, stockings, underwear, and
+so forth," her sister returned.
+
+"But I have not yet decided to go," Violet replied, annoyed that her
+acquiescence should be thus taken for granted, "and in case I do not I
+have plenty of everything for my needs at present."
+
+"Well, then, Vio, come to keep me company," Mrs. Mencke urged, trying to
+conceal her real purpose, to keep her sister under her surveillance,
+beneath an affectionate exterior.
+
+"Thank you, Belle, but really I do not want to go, and you will be so
+absorbed in your shopping that you will not miss me," Violet responded.
+
+"Very well, then; just as you choose," Mrs. Mencke returned, irritably,
+and suddenly swept from the room, locking the door after her.
+
+As the bolt shot into its socket, Violet sprang to her feet.
+
+"Belle, what do you mean?" she cried, a flood of angry crimson surging
+to her brow.
+
+"I mean that if you will not go with me, you shall stay where you are
+until I return," Mrs. Mencke sharply answered, and then she swept down
+the stairs with a smile of triumph on her face, for she congratulated
+herself that she had done a very clever thing.
+
+Violet stood, for a moment or two, speechless and white with anger over
+the indignity offered her.
+
+"She has dared to lock me up like a naughty, five-year-old child!" she
+cried, passionately. "I will not submit to such treatment; and besides,
+I have promised to meet Wallace again at two o'clock. What am I to do?
+Belle evidently suspected that I meant to see him, and has taken this
+way to prevent it."
+
+She sat down again and tried to think, though she was trembling with
+excitement and anger.
+
+There was no other outlet to her suite of rooms, and it certainly
+appeared as if she must remain where she was until her sister's return.
+
+Meantime Mrs. Mencke, upon going below, had called the housemaid and
+confided to her that, for good reasons, she had locked Violet in her
+room and she charged the maid not to let her out under any
+circumstances.
+
+She ordered her to carry a nice luncheon to Violet at twelve, but to be
+sure to lock the door both going in and coming out, and on pain of
+instant dismissal to pay no heed to Violet's entreaties to be set at
+liberty.
+
+Then, feeling that she had safely snared her bird, at least for a few
+hours, she went about her shopping with an easy mind.
+
+Violet, after thinking her condition over for a while, resolved not to
+make any disturbance to attract the attention of the servants.
+
+She reasoned that Sarah, the second girl, would bring her some luncheon
+at noon, and she determined to seize that opportunity to effect her
+release; just how that was to be accomplished she did not know, but get
+out and go to the city she must before two o'clock.
+
+She dressed herself for the street, all save her hat and wrap, and then
+began to plan ways and means.
+
+Suddenly her face lighted, and going into her dressing-room, she
+surveyed the large mirror which was suspended above the marble bowl.
+
+Taking a penknife from her pocket, she deliberately severed the heavy
+cord by which it was held in place, and then exerting all her strength,
+she let it carefully down until the bottom of the frame rested upon the
+marble, while the top leaned against the wall.
+
+Having accomplished this and assured herself that the glass was
+perfectly safe, she went quietly back to her reading and managed to
+amuse herself until the clock struck twelve.
+
+Shortly afterward she heard a step on the stairs, accompanied by the
+rattle of dishes, and knew that Sarah was bringing her up some luncheon.
+
+Darting into her dressing-room, Violet seized the mirror, drew it to the
+very edge of the marble and assuming a strained position, she had the
+appearance of having caught the glass just as it was falling and in time
+to save it from being dashed in pieces.
+
+Sarah unlocked the chamber-door, and finding no one there, called out:
+
+"Miss Violet, where are you?"
+
+"Oh, Sarah, is that you? Come here quickly, for I am in trouble," the
+young girl cried, appealingly.
+
+Sarah put down her tray, but took the precaution to change the key from
+the outside of the door to the inside and lock it before going to the
+other room.
+
+Then she went to see what was the matter.
+
+"Why, Miss Violet," she cried, with dismay, as she took in the
+situation, "how did that happen?"
+
+"The cord has parted," panted Violet, as she glanced at the ragged ends
+where she had sawed it asunder with her dull knife. "You will have to
+help me," she added, "and I think we can manage to lift it to the floor
+without breaking it. I do not dare to leave it standing here; it might
+slip on the marble."
+
+"No," said the girl, never suspecting any ruse to outwit her, "we must
+take it down."
+
+She seized one side of it in her strong arms, and, with Violet's help,
+managed to get it safely down upon the floor.
+
+"Hold it a moment, please, until I get my breath," Violet said, as if
+wearied out by the exertion.
+
+"Have you had to hold it there long?" Sarah asked, innocently, as she
+allowed the heavy frame to rest against her.
+
+"No, not very long; but I am so glad that you came just as you did, for
+if it had fallen it would have frightened me terribly," Violet answered,
+and she uttered no untruth, for she was glad that Sarah came just as she
+did, because she was getting very anxious to go to Wallace and she would
+have been frightened if the glass had been broken.
+
+"Sure enough, miss," the girl replied, gravely, "and it's a sign of
+death in the house to have a looking-glass broken. And look! the moths
+must have been at this cord to make it give way, for it is like a rope
+and could not break," and she stooped to examine the frayed ends as she
+spoke.
+
+Violet seized this opportunity and slipped quickly from the room,
+drawing the door to and locking it after her, thus making Sarah a
+prisoner and securing her own liberty.
+
+But her kind little heart and tender conscience smote her for the
+strategy which she had employed to accomplish her purpose, and kneeling
+upon the floor, she put her lips to the key-hole and said:
+
+"Forgive me, Sarah; but it was all a little plot of mine to get out. The
+cord did not break; I cut it."
+
+"Oh, Miss Violet, let me out; please, let me out," the girl cried, in
+distress. "Mrs. Mencke said she'd send me off without a reference if I
+didn't keep you safe till she came back, and I never dreamed you were
+playing me such a trick."
+
+"It is a little hard on you, I confess, Sarah," Violet responded,
+regretfully, "and I am very sorry; but I had to do it, for I have an
+important engagement down town. Belle had no business to treat me so
+like a child, and she shall not discharge you if I can help it. I will
+tell her just how I deceived you, and then, if she will not be
+reasonable, I will give you a month's wages and help you to another
+place."
+
+Sarah continued to plead to be let out, but Violet remained unshaken in
+her purpose.
+
+"No, you will have to stay here a little while," she said, "but when I
+go down I will send the cook up to release you. When Belle comes home
+you can tell her that she will find me at Nellie Bailey's and that I
+shall not come home until she apologizes for her shameful treatment."
+
+She could not get over her indignation at being put under lock and key,
+with a servant set over her as jailer.
+
+She hastily donned her hat and wrap, drew on her gloves, and quietly
+left the room.
+
+Going to the top of the basement stairs, she rang a bell for the cook.
+
+"Bridget, Sarah wants you to go up to my dressing-room to help her with
+a mirror that has come down," she said; and then, without waiting for a
+reply, Violet sped out of the house, and, hailing the first car that
+came along, was soon rolling toward the city to meet her betrothed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+"YOU WILL BE TRUE THOUGH THE OCEAN DIVIDES US."
+
+
+About four o'clock of that same day Violet entered the private parlor of
+her friend, Nellie Bailey, her face glowing, her eyes gleaming with
+excitement.
+
+"Oh, you dear child!" cried that young lady, leaping to her feet and
+springing forward to meet her visitor, "you have come to tell me that
+you are going to Europe with me."
+
+"I have come to stay all night with you if you will let me," Violet
+replied, returning the eager caress with which Nellie had greeted her.
+
+"If I will 'let' you! You know I shall be only too glad to have you. But
+how happy you look! You surely have good news to tell me."
+
+Violet flushed, and her eyes drooped for a moment.
+
+"Yes, I believe I shall go to Europe with you," she answered, her face
+dimpling with smiles, and Nellie immediately went into ecstasies over
+the announcement.
+
+"I am perfectly enchanted," she cried; "and will you remain the whole
+year?"
+
+"I do not know about that," Violet thoughtfully replied. "I have not set
+any time for my return. I shall go for three months at any rate, and I
+may conclude to remain longer."
+
+"I wish you could come to Milan to study music with me," Nellie
+remarked, wistfully.
+
+"I imagine that Belle would not consent to that," Violet returned. "She
+would be afraid that we two girls would get into mischief if left to
+ourselves. I suppose I shall travel with Mrs. Hawley, but I will try to
+pay you a visit now and then if I remain any length of time."
+
+The girls found much to talk about in anticipation of their journey, and
+the time passed quickly and pleasantly until the dinner hour, while
+during the meal the family were all so agreeable and entertaining--for
+Violet was a great favorite with them--that she forgot, for the time,
+the unpleasantness of the morning and her clear, happy laugh rang out
+with all her customary abandon.
+
+She had not mentioned her misunderstanding with her sister, for her
+pride rebelled against having it known that she was not entirely happy
+in her home; and when, shortly after dinner, Mrs. Mencke called and
+asked to see Violet alone, she excused the circumstance by remarking
+that she supposed it was upon some matter of business.
+
+Mrs. Mencke had been furious, upon her return home to find how she and
+Sarah had both been outwitted, and she had come to Mrs. Bailey's
+prepared, not to apologize, but to be very severe upon the offender for
+her defiance of all authority.
+
+But the sight of her happy face and sparkling eyes disarmed her, and she
+passed over the affair much more lightly than Violet had dared to hope
+she would.
+
+The young girl frankly acknowledged the strategy she had employed, and
+exonerated Sarah from all blame; but she also firmly declared that if
+her sister would not promise to let her alone--if she persisted in the
+persecution of the last few days, she would reveal to Mr. and Mrs.
+Bailey all that had occurred, and implore their protection and
+assistance in securing other guardians.
+
+Mrs. Mencke had arrived at that point where she believed that
+"discretion would be the better part of valor," for she realized that
+her young sister's spirit was too strong for her, and that she would do
+what she had threatened; therefore, she resolved not to antagonize her
+further if she could avoid it.
+
+"It was a shame, Belle, for you to lock me up like a naughty,
+unreasonable child, and I will not endure such treatment," Violet
+indignantly affirmed, in concluding the recital of her morning's
+experience.
+
+"Well, well, child, I did not know what else to do with you; but let it
+pass, please. Perhaps it was a mistake, and we will let by-gones be
+by-gones," Mrs. Mencke responded, in a conciliatory tone. "I am glad
+that you have decided in favor of the European trip, and I want you to
+go away feeling kindly toward me. Will you come home with me now?"
+
+"Not to-night; I have promised Nellie that I would spend it with her;
+but you may send for me early tomorrow, for I suppose we shall have to
+be rather busy during the next three weeks."
+
+"Very well; but, Vio, you will promise me that you will not try to----"
+Mrs. Mencke began, anxiously, for she could not rid herself of the fear
+that Violet would try to meet her lover clandestinely.
+
+"Hush, Belle; I will promise you nothing," Violet interrupted,
+spiritedly. "I am a woman now--I have my own rights, and there are some
+things upon which you shall not trench. If there is to be peace between
+us you must let me entirely alone on one subject."
+
+Mrs. Mencke made no reply to this. She told herself that strategy was
+the only course left open to her.
+
+She joined the Bailey family for a little while for a social chat, after
+which she took her leave, promising to send the carriage for Violet at
+ten the next morning.
+
+The ensuing three weeks passed rapidly, and without any further trouble
+between the sisters to mar their intercourse.
+
+Mrs. Mencke endeavored, by every means in her power, to keep Violet
+under her own eye during this time, but once or twice the young girl
+managed to evade her vigilance. Whether she met Wallace or not she had
+no means of ascertaining, but she felt that she should be truly thankful
+and relieved of a heavy burden when the ocean divided them.
+
+The day of sailing drew nigh and the voyagers, accompanied by several
+friends, repaired to New York, where they were to take a steamer
+belonging to the White Star Line.
+
+When they all went aboard the vessel, on the morning of the tenth, Mrs.
+Mencke was both amazed and dismayed to see Wallace Richardson advance
+and greet Violet with all the assurance of an accepted suitor; while the
+young girl herself, though her face lighted up joyously as she caught
+sight of him, did not seem in the least surprised to find him there.
+
+The fact was, Wallace had told Violet that he had a call to go to New
+York on business, and he would arrange to be there at the time that she
+sailed.
+
+If looks could have annihilated him, he would at once have vanished
+forever from the sight of men; but as he met Mrs. Mencke's angry glance
+he courteously lifted his hat and bowed, and then went on with his
+conversation with Violet.
+
+Of course it would not do to make a scene in such a conspicuous place,
+and the enraged woman was obliged to curb her passion; but she thanked
+the fates that Violet was going so far away, and she vowed that it would
+be a long while before she returned.
+
+She intended to keep the young couple under her eye until the steamer
+started, but, in the confusion which everywhere prevailed, they managed
+to slip out of sight before she was aware of it, and after that she
+could not find them.
+
+They were not far away, however, and their security lay in this very
+fact. They had simply stepped between a couple of stacks of baggage for
+a few last words to each other, while they became oblivious of
+everything save the thought of their approaching separation.
+
+"My darling, it is hard to let you go--harder than I thought it would
+be, now that the time has arrived," Wallace said, as he took both her
+hands in his and looked tenderly into her sorrowful face.
+
+"I almost wish I could not go, after all," Violet faltered, as the hot
+tears rushed into her eyes. "I will not--I will stay, even now, if you
+will tell me I may," she concluded, resolutely.
+
+"No, love; that would be unwise, and I know it is better that you should
+go--better for you, better for me," he replied.
+
+"But I shall come back in three months," Violet said, with an air of
+decision. "I could not stay away from you longer than that."
+
+"If you feel that you must, I will not oppose it, dear," the young man
+returned, tenderly. "Still, if you can be contented to remain a year, I
+believe it would be a good plan for you to do so. Meantime I will do my
+utmost to attain a position which shall warrant me in claiming this dear
+hand when you return."
+
+"I shall write to you by every steamer, Wallace, and you will be sure to
+answer as regularly," Violet pleaded.
+
+"Indeed I shall, and I am promising myself a great deal of pleasure from
+our correspondence--more, in fact, than I have yet known, for our
+clandestine meetings have been very galling to me. I never like to do
+anything that is not perfectly open and straightforward," Wallace said,
+gravely.
+
+"Neither do I," returned Violet; "but we were driven to it."
+
+"True, and therefore I feel that it was justifiable. They, your
+guardians, would have separated us if they could; but this faithful
+little heart could not be won from its allegiance; and, my darling, I am
+sure you will still be true to me, even though the ocean divides us."
+
+Violet's fingers closed over his with a convulsive, almost a painful
+clasp.
+
+"Always; nothing--no one could ever tempt me from my faith to you,
+Wallace," she huskily murmured. "Oh!" she cried, with a sudden start, as
+a warning whistle blew, "does that mean that you must go?"
+
+"Yes, within five minutes," he replied. "And now, my heart's queen, no
+one can see us; therefore give me just one parting kiss, and that must
+be our farewell, for I cannot take leave of you before others."
+
+He bent and gathered her quickly in his arms, straining her to his
+breast with a close, yearning clasp, and pressed his lips to hers in one
+lingering caress.
+
+"My love, my love, you will take the light from my world when you go,"
+he murmured, fondly.
+
+Then he released her, and led her forth from their hiding-place toward
+where her friends were gathered.
+
+"Why, Violet, we have been alarmed about you, and our friends feared
+they would have to go without saying good-by to you," Mrs. Mencke
+exclaimed, in a tone that plainly indicated her displeasure at her
+sister's behavior.
+
+But there was no time for reproaches. Everybody was bidding everybody
+else a last farewell, and presently the cry, "All ashore!" sounded, and
+there was a general stampede of all those who were not outward bound.
+
+Wallace remained until the last moment. His was the last hand that
+touched Violet's, his the last voice that sounded in her ears with the
+words:
+
+"Good-by, queen of my heart, and Heaven bless you!"
+
+Then he leaped across the gang-plank, just as it was being removed.
+
+Violet's heart was full to overflowing at this parting, and she sped
+down to her state-room, where, half an hour later, Nellie Bailey found
+her sobbing hysterically.
+
+"Why, you silly child!" she cried, assuming a light tone, although her
+own eyes were full and her voice tremulous, "this does not look as if
+you were very much elated over the prospect of going to Europe. Are all
+the tears for that handsome young man who appeared so loath to leave
+you? By the way, Violet, was that the Mr. Richardson who saved you at
+the time of the inclined plane accident?"
+
+"Yes," Violet murmured, between her sobs.
+
+"I imagined so from something your sister said; she isn't over fond of
+him, is she?" Nellie inquired, with a light laugh and a mischievous
+glance at the averted face on the pillow in the berth, as she emphasized
+the pronoun. "Come," she added, presently, "let us lay out the things we
+are likely to need during the voyage, and put our state-room in order,
+for there is no knowing how soon we may be attacked by the dread enemy
+of all voyagers."
+
+"Oh, I hope we shall not be sick," Violet said, diverted from her grief
+by Nellie's practical suggestion, and wiping away her tears. "I love the
+water, and I want to make the most of the time we are on the ocean. Let
+us make up our minds that we will not be ill."
+
+"I suppose we can control it, in a measure, by the exercise of will
+power," Nellie answered, "and I will try what I can do in that respect,
+although I very much fear that the sea will prove to be mightier than
+I."
+
+The two girls soon had their small room in order, and everything handy
+for the voyage, then they went up on the deck to seek their friends, Mr.
+and Mrs. Hawley, and the sister of the latter, Mrs. Dwight.
+
+Mrs. Hawley eyed Violet curiously for a moment, noticing her heavy eyes
+and the grieved droop about her sweet mouth, then set herself to divert
+her mind from the recent farewell, which she plainly saw had been a
+severe trial.
+
+She was one of those remarkable women who can adapt themselves to all
+kinds of society and circumstances. She could be delightful in a
+drawing-room full of cultured people; she could entertain a group of
+children by the hour, while the young people pronounced her the most
+charming companion imaginable.
+
+It was not long, therefore, before she made Violet entirely forget
+herself and her recent sadness, and the young girl soon found herself
+laughing heartily over some droll incident of which Mrs. Hawley had
+recently been the amused and appreciative observer.
+
+They were standing in a group by themselves, and by degrees became so
+gay and merry that two gentlemen, standing a short distance from them,
+became infected with their mirth.
+
+"A gay party, isn't it, Ralph?" remarked the elder of the two.
+
+"Jolly; I wish we knew them; and they are about as pretty a pair of
+girls as I have ever seen. Do you suppose they are sisters?"
+
+"No, I do not believe it; they have not a feature or characteristic in
+common, as far as I can see. That golden-haired one is a perfect little
+Hebe; her complexion and features are perfect, her figure faultless,
+while she has the daintiest hands and feet that I ever saw," said the
+first speaker.
+
+"Really, Cameron, I believe you are hard hit, at last," laughed his
+companion. "I never knew you to express yourself so enthusiastically
+regarding a woman before."
+
+"I never had occasion," returned Cameron, dryly. "We must manage some
+way to make the acquaintance of yonder party--eh, Henderson?"
+
+Fate seemed anxious to give him the opportunity he desired, for, just at
+that moment, a gust of wind lifted Violet's jaunty hat from her head and
+sent it flying toward the two distinguished-looking strangers, and in
+another moment it would have been swept into the sea and lost beyond
+recovery.
+
+But the one who had been called Cameron sprang forward, and, with a
+quick, agile movement, one sweep of his strong right arm, caught it just
+as it was going over the rail.
+
+With a gratified smile on his handsome face, and an air of courtly
+politeness, he approached Violet, and bowing, remarked:
+
+"Allow me to restore the bird that took such unceremonious flight."
+
+He glanced at the golden-winged oriole which nestled so jauntily in its
+brown velvet nest upon the hat as he spoke.
+
+The fair girl thanked him, flushed slightly beneath his admiring look,
+and Mrs. Hawley graciously echoed her appreciation of his dexterity.
+
+"Allow me to compliment you, sir, upon your agility," she said, in her
+cordial, outspoken way; "that was a leap worthy of an accomplished
+athlete."
+
+"Thanks, madame," young Cameron returned, lifting his hat in
+acknowledgment of her praise.
+
+Then he would have withdrawn himself from their presence, though he
+longed to stay, but Mr. Hawley, who had been attracted by his fine face
+and gentlemanly bearing, remarked:
+
+"Since we are to be fellow-voyagers for a week or more, may I ask to
+whom we are indebted? My name is Hawley, of the firm of Hawley & Blake,
+Cincinnati, Ohio."
+
+"Thank you," the young man replied, with a genial smile, "and I am known
+as Vane Cameron. I am as yet connected with no firm, but my home has for
+many years been in New York."
+
+"Cameron--Cameron," repeated Mrs. Hawley, meditatively. "I wonder if he
+can be a relative of that Anson Cameron who married the Earl of
+Sutherland's daughter about the time of our marriage. It created
+considerable talk among the grandees of New York, I remember, for the
+lady was very beautiful as well as of noble blood."
+
+Mrs. Hawley's reflection were here cut short by her husband, who
+introduced her to the handsome young stranger, and then he proceeded to
+perform the same ceremony for the other members of his party.
+
+Mr. Vane Cameron was apparently about thirty years of age, fine-looking,
+neither very dark nor very light, with a clear-cut patrician face, a
+grandly developed form, a dignified bearing, and irreproachable manners.
+
+He conversed in an easy, self-possessed manner with his new
+acquaintances for a few moments, and then craved permission to introduce
+his friend.
+
+This request was cordially granted, and Mrs. Hawley ere long
+congratulated herself upon having secured a very pleasant addition to
+her party, for Mr. Ralph Henderson proved to be no less entertaining,
+although a much younger man, than his _compagnon du voyage_.
+
+By a few very adroit questions, and putting this and that together, Mrs.
+Hawley learned that Mr. Vane Cameron was the son of Mr. Anson Cameron
+and the grandson of the late Earl of Sutherland, consequently the heir
+of the distinguished peer; and, more than that, she gleaned the
+interesting item that he was now on his way to England to take
+possession of his fine inheritance.
+
+It is remarkable how much one woman can find out in a short time. Mrs.
+Hawley also learned that Mr. Ralph Henderson belonged to an aristocratic
+family who were numbered among the envied "four hundred" of New York.
+
+"If I do not improve my opportunities during the next eight or nine
+days, it will be because my usual wit and ability fail me," the lady
+said to herself, after making these discoveries. "I have two pretty
+girls under my wing, and these young men are not backward in realizing
+the fact either. Violet, my pansy-eyed darling, I'll manage to make you
+forget that carpenter lover of yours long before your stipulated three
+months are at an end, or my name isn't Althea. I'd like nothing better
+than to write you among my list of friends as Countess of Sutherland;
+and Nellie, my modest little brunette, you would make a delightful
+little spouse for that agreeable Mr. Henderson."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+"DEATH HAS RELEASED YOU FROM YOUR PROMISE."
+
+
+The voyage across the Atlantic proved to be a most delightful one.
+
+Vane Cameron and Ralph Henderson, by tacit consent, joined Mrs. Hawley's
+party, and were so entertaining and attentive that they all
+congratulated themselves upon having secured so pleasant an addition to
+their company.
+
+By the time they reached England Vane Cameron had surrendered his
+hitherto impregnable heart entirely to Violet, and when he bade Mrs.
+Hawley and her charges good-by, after seeing them comfortably
+established in the hotel where they were to remain during their sojourn
+in London, he asked the privilege of bringing his mother--who had
+preceded him to England by several months--to make their acquaintance.
+
+This was an honor which Mrs. Hawley had hardly anticipated; she well
+knew the exclusive proclivities of British blue blood, and was highly
+elated by the prospect of being introduced into London society by
+Isabel, only child of the late Earl of Sutherland.
+
+It is needless to state she graciously accorded the young man the
+privilege he asked, and delightfully looked forward to the promised
+visit.
+
+She had not long to wait, for before the week was out Lady Isabel,
+accompanied by her son, came to make her call, and she appeared to be no
+less attracted by the beauty and winning manner of Violet than young
+Cameron had been.
+
+Mrs. Hawley made herself exceedingly agreeable by her courtesy and
+cultured self-possession, and before she left it was arranged that her
+ladyship would give a reception at an early date for the purpose of
+introducing her new acquaintances to London society.
+
+After that there followed a whirl of pleasure and excitement such as
+Violet and Nellie had read about, but never expected to enjoy.
+
+Mr. Henderson and the young girl, as he was now commonly recognized,
+attended them everywhere, until it began to be remarked in select
+circles that the son was likely to follow the example of his mother by
+marrying a wealthy American.
+
+Mrs. Hawley's reports to Mrs. Mencke of all this were highly
+satisfactory, and the worldly minded sister congratulated herself that
+she had sent Violet abroad instead of insisting upon her going to
+Canada.
+
+She had neither seen nor heard anything of young Richardson since
+Violet's departure, although Mr. Mencke had tried to post himself
+regarding his movements. All he could learn, however, was that he had
+left Cincinnati a few weeks after Violet sailed, but no one could tell
+him whither he had gone.
+
+This was something of a relief, although the Menckes would have been
+glad to keep track of him, for a dim suspicion that he might have
+followed Violet haunted them.
+
+The young girl expected to hear from her lover soon after reaching
+London, but three weeks went by, and not one line had she received. She
+was getting very anxious and impatient, but of course she did not dare
+to betray anything of the feeling, and so strove to bear her
+disappointment with as bold a front as possible.
+
+She, however, faithfully wrote to Wallace every two or three days, and
+in each letter mentioned the fact that she had not heard from him, and
+begged him not to keep her longer in suspense.
+
+She imagined that she exercised great care in sending her letters so
+that Mrs. Hawley would not suspect the correspondence, for she went down
+to the hotel letter-box to post every one with her own hands.
+
+But Mrs. Hawley had received orders from Mrs. Mencke to intercept all
+such missives, and she, in turn, gave instructions to the hotel clerk
+that all epistles addressed to "Wallace Richardson, Cincinnati, Ohio,"
+be returned to her.
+
+Thus the lovers never heard one word from each other--though, to the
+woman's credit be it said, if there was any credit due her--she
+conscientiously burned every letter, unopened, for she was secretly very
+fond of Violet and could not bring herself to wrong her still further by
+perusing the sacred expressions of her loving little heart, or the fond
+words which Wallace intended only for her eye.
+
+But Violet, though anxious, could not find much time to indulge her
+grief, for she was kept in such a constant round of excitement. Several
+times Nellie awoke in the night to find her weeping, but, upon inquiring
+the cause of her tears, Violet would either avoid a direct reply, or
+allow her friend to attribute her grief to homesickness.
+
+One day, about six weeks after Mrs. Hawley and her party reached London,
+every one appeared very much surprised by the arrival of Mr. and Mrs.
+Mencke at the same hotel.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Hawley alone were in the secret of their coming, but they
+did not betray the fact in their greeting, and Violet, though she met
+her sister affectionately, was at heart very much annoyed by her
+arrival.
+
+Mrs. Mencke and Mrs. Hawley improved the first opportunity to have a
+long, confidential talk upon all that had occurred during the period of
+their separation, and the former was fairly jubilant over her friend's
+account of the Earl of Sutherland's attentions to Violet.
+
+"An English earl!" she exclaimed, with a glowing face. "That is
+positively bewildering! And you think that Violet likes him?"
+
+"She cannot help liking him," responded Mrs. Hawley; "for he has a way
+that is perfectly irresistible. As I wrote to you, he is a good deal
+older than she is, and he possesses a quiet dignity, and a certain
+masterful manner that carries everything before it."
+
+"If he will only prove himself masterful enough to conquer Violet's will
+and make her marry him, I shall be too proud and thankful to contain
+myself," said Mrs. Mencke, earnestly.
+
+"It is very evident that he intends to do so if he can," returned her
+friend, "and we must leave no opportunity unimproved to help him in his
+wooing. We must keep Violet so busy with engagements that she will have
+no time to think about her carpenter lover."
+
+Two more weeks passed, and still Violet did not hear from Wallace, and
+the secret suspense and anxiety were beginning to tell visibly upon her.
+
+She lost color and spirit, and but for the fear of exciting suspicion,
+she would have refused to mingle in the gay scenes which were becoming
+wearisome to her.
+
+There was still a ceaseless round of pleasure, receptions, parties,
+opera, and theatre, and everywhere the party was attended by two young
+gentlemen who had become so deeply enamored of the beautiful American
+girls.
+
+Violet tried her best to resist the force of the stream that seemed to
+be hurrying her on whither she would not go, but without avail; for Vane
+Cameron was always at her side, and everybody appeared to take it for
+granted that he had a right to be there, while it became evident to
+Violet that he was only waiting for a favorable opportunity to declare
+himself her lover.
+
+What she dreaded came at last.
+
+They all attended the opera one evening, and a brilliant appearance they
+made as they sat in one of the proscenium boxes. But Violet did not
+enjoy the performance, and could not follow it; her thoughts would go
+back to that fateful day when her life was saved by the coolness and
+determination of Wallace Richardson. From that moment her soul had
+seemed to become linked to his by some mysterious and indissoluble bond.
+
+All through the brilliant performance she sat absorbed, feeling sad,
+depressed, and inexpressibly anxious, and looking like some pale,
+beautiful spirit in her white dress trimmed with swan's-down, that was
+scarcely less colorless than herself.
+
+Lord Cameron thought he had never seen her so lovely, but he realized
+that something was not quite right with her, and, though he had received
+Mrs. Mencke's permission to speak when he would, he resolved not to
+trouble her that night with any expression of his affection.
+
+After their return to the hotel, Mrs. Mencke followed Violet to her
+room, pride and triumph written upon every line of her face.
+
+"Have you anything to tell me, Violet?" she asked, a tremulous eagerness
+in her tones.
+
+"No; what could you imagine that I should have to tell you?" the young
+girl replied, regarding her with surprise.
+
+"What ails you, Violet?" Mrs. Mencke asked, with a sudden heart-throb,
+as she noticed her unusual pallor. "Are you sick? Has--anything
+happened?"
+
+"No, I am not sick," Violet answered, with a heavy sigh; "and what could
+happen that you would not know about?"
+
+"I know what I wish would happen," returned her sister, eagerly, "and
+what Lord Cameron wishes, too. He had eyes for no one but you to-night,
+and I must say I never saw you look so pretty before. Your dress is just
+exquisite, and it cost a heap of money, too; but that counts for nothing
+in comparison with the conquest you have made."
+
+Violet could not fail to understand what all this meant. She flushed
+hotly, and nervously began to pull off her gloves.
+
+Mrs. Mencke smiled at the blush; it was ominous for good, she thought.
+
+"You comprehend, I perceive," she said, airily; "you know that you have
+captured a prize--that the Earl of Sutherland is ready and waiting to
+offer you a name and position such as does not fall to the lot of one
+girl in ten thousand."
+
+"Nonsense, Belle! I wish you would not talk so to me about Lord
+Cameron," Violet petulantly exclaimed.
+
+"It is not nonsense, child, for Vane Cameron has formally proposed for
+your hand in marriage--has asked Will's and my consent to win you if he
+can."
+
+"Belle!"
+
+Violet turned upon her sister, crimson to the roots of her hair, blank
+dismay written upon every feature of her fair face.
+
+"It is true," Mrs. Mencke continued, "and it is wonderful luck for you.
+Just think, Violet, what it means to step into such a position! I am
+proud of your conquest."
+
+Violet suddenly grew cold and pale as snow.
+
+"Belle, you know it can never be," she began, with white lips, when Mrs.
+Mencke interrupted her angrily.
+
+"It can be--it must be--it shall be; for I have given my unqualified
+consent to his lordship's proposal," she cried, actually trembling from
+excitement.
+
+"Belle, you have not dared to do such a thing! You know that I am
+promised to another," the young girl cried with blazing eyes.
+
+A queer look shot over Mrs. Mencke's face at this reply, and she opened
+her lips as if to make one sharp, unguarded retort. Then she suddenly
+checked herself, and, after a moment, remarked, in a repressed tone:
+
+"You know well enough that that foolish escapade of yours counts for
+nothing, and that young Richardson has no right to hold you bound by any
+promise you may have impulsively given him from a feeling of gratitude."
+
+"I hold myself bound, nevertheless," Violet returned, with tremulous
+lips, "and not from any feeling of gratitude either; but because I love
+him with all my heart."
+
+"You shall never marry him," retorted her sister, angrily. "Are you mad
+to think of throwing away such a chance as this for a low-born fellow
+like that? It is not to be thought of for one moment; and, Violet, you
+shall marry Vane Cameron.
+
+"Take care, Belle, you are going a little too far now," Violet cried, a
+dangerous flame leaping into her eyes. "I shall not marry Lord Cameron.
+I have given my word to Wallace, and I shall abide by it."
+
+"Violet!" cried her sister, sternly, and she was now as white as the
+snowy lace about her neck, "there shall be no more of this child's play.
+You shall not ruin your life by any such foolishness. What will Vane
+Cameron think of me for granting him the permission he craved? It was
+equivalent to admitting that he would find no obstacle in his path. What
+could you tell him?"
+
+"The truth--that I do not love him; that I do love some one else,"
+bravely and steadfastly returned the young girl.
+
+"You shall not! I should die with mortification and disappointment,"
+cried Mrs. Mencke, wringing her hands in distress. Then bridling again,
+she went on, in an inflexible tone: "I will give you just one week to
+reconsider your folly; I will intimate to Lord Cameron that you are a
+little shy of the subject--that it will be just as well for him not to
+speak for perhaps a couple of weeks; but--hear me, Violet--if you refuse
+to come to my terms at the end of that time, I will take you to France
+and shut you up in a convent, where you shall stay until you will
+solemnly promise me that you will give up your miserable Yankee lover."
+
+She turned and abruptly left the room without giving Violet a chance to
+reply.
+
+Violet stood still a moment, looking wretched enough to break one's
+heart; then throwing herself upon her bed, she gave way to a passion of
+tears and sobbing.
+
+"Oh, Wallace, where are you?" she moaned, "why don't you write to me? I
+feel as if I was being led into a trap, and"--with a sudden light
+seeming to burst upon her--"I believe they have been intercepting our
+letters, for I know that you would be faithful to me. Oh, I am homesick
+for you, and now that Belle and Will have come I know they will not let
+me go back at the end of three months. What shall I do? Of course I
+cannot marry Lord Cameron, and I shall tell him the truth if he asks
+me."
+
+She lay for a long time trying to think of some way out of her troubles.
+At last, when she had become more calm, she arose, exchanged her
+beautiful evening dress for a wrapper, and then wrote a long letter to
+Wallace, telling him all about her perplexity and suspicions, begging
+him to send her some news of himself and to address his letter to
+Nellie.
+
+Not having received any of his letters, she of course did not know that
+he had removed from Cincinnati; therefore she directed her letter as
+usual, and, of course, he never got it; although she slyly posted it in
+the letter-box on one of the public buildings of the city while she was
+out sight-seeing the next day.
+
+At the end of a week Mrs. Mencke sought Violet and renewed the subject
+of Vane Cameron's proposal.
+
+"I wish you would let me alone about that, Belle," the young girl
+responded, wearily. "It is useless for you to try to change my
+decision--my word is pledged to Wallace, and only death will ever
+release me from it, for if I live to go home I shall redeem it."
+
+"That is your ultimatum, is it?" demanded her sister, with a face as
+hard as adamant.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then you oblige me to communicate a fact which, for several reasons, I
+should have preferred to withhold from you," said Mrs. Mencke, bending a
+strange look upon her.
+
+"What do you mean?" Violet inquired, startled by her manner.
+
+"Death has released you from your promise to that fellow. Read that,"
+was the stunning reply, as the woman drew a paper from her pocket, and,
+laying it before Violet, pointed to a marked paragraph.
+
+"Belle!" came in a low, shuddering voice from the blanched lips of the
+beautiful girl before her, as she seemed instinctively to know what was
+printed here.
+
+"Read," commanded Mrs. Mencke, relentlessly.
+
+With hands that shook like leaves in the wind, Violet picked up the
+paper. It was the Cincinnati _Times-Star_, and she read with a look of
+horror on her young face:
+
+    Died, on the 28th instant, Wallace Richardson,
+    aged 23 years and 6 months.
+
+The next moment a piercing shriek rang through the room, and Violet lay
+stretched senseless at her sister's feet.
+
+"Heavens! I did not think she would take it to heart like this," cried
+the now thoroughly frightened woman, as she threw herself upon her knees
+beside the motionless girl and began to loosen her clothing and chafe
+her hands.
+
+That heart-broken cry had been heard in the adjoining room, and Mrs.
+Hawley and Nellie came rushing upon the scene to ascertain the cause of
+it.
+
+They assisted in getting Violet to bed, and a physician was immediately
+sent for.
+
+"She has had some sudden and violent shock," he said at once, while he
+regarded Mrs. Mencke searchingly.
+
+"Yes," she confessed, with as much composure as her guilty conscience
+would allow her to assume; "she read an account of the death of a--a
+friend, in an American paper."
+
+"Hem!" was the medical man's brief comment, as he again turned his
+attention to his patient, whom, it was evident, he considered to be in a
+critical state.
+
+It was long before he could restore suspended animation, and even then
+Violet did not come back to consciousness; fever followed, and she began
+to rave in the wildest delirium.
+
+"It's going to be a neck-and-neck race between life and death," the
+doctor frankly told her friends, "and you must be vigilant and patient."
+
+This unforeseen calamity, of course, put an end to all gayety.
+
+It was thought best that Nellie should at once repair to Milan, and Mrs.
+Hawley left two days later to see her safely and comfortably settled at
+her work, after which she returned to London to assist Mrs. Mencke in
+the care of her sister.
+
+It was more than a month before Violet was pronounced out of danger; and
+then, as soon as she was able to sit up, the physician advised a change
+of climate; a few weeks at Mentone, he thought, would do her good.
+
+The poor girl looked as if a rude breath would quench what little life
+she had, and Mrs. Mencke, who still secretly clung to the hope of
+affecting an alliance between her and Lord Cameron, was anxious to do
+everything to build her up; consequently she immediately posted off with
+her invalid to that far-famed resort. She had a private interview first,
+however, with his lordship, from whom the real cause of Violet's illness
+had been kept a profound secret, and promised to send for him just as
+soon as her sister was able to see him.
+
+The mild and genial atmosphere of Mentone produced a favorable change in
+the invalid immediately. Her appetite improved, and with it strength and
+something of her natural color.
+
+But the child was pitifully sad--heart-broken. Nothing appeared to
+interest her, and she seemed to live from day to day only because nature
+was stronger than her grief.
+
+She never spoke of Wallace, nor referred to the fact that her illness
+had been caused by the dreadful tidings of his death. She was patient,
+gentle, and submissive, doing whatever she was told to do, simply
+because it was easier than to resist, and, as she slowly but surely
+gained, Mrs. Mencke told herself that the way was clear to the
+consummation of her ambitious hopes.
+
+A month passed thus, and then Vane Cameron appeared upon the scene,
+having been summoned by an encouraging letter from Violet's sister.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+"YOU HAVE GIVEN YOUR PROMISE AND YOU MUST STAND BY IT."
+
+
+When Mrs. Mencke informed Violet of the arrival of the Earl of
+Sutherland, something of her old spirit manifested itself for the first
+time since her illness.
+
+"Did you send for him, Belle?" she demanded, an ominous flash leaping
+into her heavy eyes.
+
+The woman colored. She did not like to confess that she had done so, but
+such was the fact, nevertheless.
+
+"Why, Violet, you forget how anxious Lord Cameron would naturally be
+regarding the state of your health," she answered, evasively; "besides,
+he has waited a long time for the answer to a certain proposal, and
+doubtless he is impatient for that."
+
+"He shall have it," the young girl returned, with sudden animation, a
+crimson flush suffusing her cheeks. "Send for him to come directly here,
+and I will give it at once."
+
+Mrs. Mencke regarded her doubtfully.
+
+"And it will be----" she began.
+
+"No!" replied Violet, emphatically, as she paused.
+
+"Oh, Violet, I beg of you to be reasonable," pleaded the woman, almost
+in tears. "Just think what your life must be! One of the highest
+positions in England is offered you by a young man of irreproachable
+character; he loves you devotedly, and there is nothing he would not do
+for you if you consent to become his wife. Besides a large income which
+he will settle upon you, you will have an elegant home in Essex County,
+a town house in London, and a villa on the Isle of Wight. There is no
+earthly reason now, whatever there may have been two months ago, why you
+should not listen to his suit."
+
+Violet shivered with sudden pain as her sister thus referred to the
+death of her lover, and the fact that no plighted troth now stood in the
+way of her accepting Lord Cameron's proposal of marriage.
+
+"No," she wailed, "I suppose there is no reason, save that I do not love
+him--that my heart is dead, and I have no interest in life, no desire to
+live."
+
+"You may imagine now that you can never love him, but time heals all
+wounds," her sister returned; "and since you can now feel that you will
+wrong no one else by marrying him, you might at least devote yourself to
+him and secure his happiness by accepting him."
+
+"Do you imagine that he would be willing to marry a loveless woman--one
+who had no heart to give him?" Violet questioned, with curling lips.
+
+"He only can answer that question himself," responded Mrs. Mencke, with
+a sudden heart-bound, as she thought she saw signs of yielding in her
+sister. "Oh, Violet, do not throw away such a chance. What are you going
+to do in the future? How do you expect to spend the rest of your life if
+you refuse to marry at all?"
+
+A thrill of intense agony ran through the young girl's frame at these
+probing questions.
+
+How indeed was she to spend her life? How could she live without
+Wallace?
+
+She had not thought of this before, and she was startled and appalled by
+the apparent blackness of the future.
+
+"Oh, I don't know--I don't know!" she burst forth, in a voice of
+despair.
+
+"As the wife of Lord Cameron you would at least have it in your power to
+do a great deal of good, to say nothing of the happiness you would
+confer upon him," suggested Mrs. Mencke, craftily.
+
+It impressed Violet, however, and she sat in thoughtful silence for some
+time.
+
+One thing had forced itself upon her during this conversation, and that
+was that she could not spend her life with her sister and her husband.
+Every day she became more and more conscious that there could never be
+any real congeniality and sympathy between them, and that it would be
+better if they should separate. But what was to become of her if she
+separated from them? Could she live alone--take her destiny in her own
+hands, and cut herself free from them? It would certainly be very
+lonely, very forlorn, to have no one in the world to care for her.
+
+She knew that Vane Cameron was a man in a thousand. He was noble and
+amiable; whatever he did, he was actuated by pure motives, and she felt
+that any woman who could love him would have cause to be proud in
+becoming his wife.
+
+She knew that he loved her devotedly, as her sister had said; but would
+he be willing to marry one who did not love him? Would it be right for
+her to accept all and be able to give nothing in return?
+
+No, she did not believe he would be satisfied to live out his future in
+any such way.
+
+Still she conceived a sudden resolution. She would see him; she would
+tell him the truth, and she believed he would sympathize with her and at
+once withdraw his suit, while her sister would have to accept his
+decision as final, and cease to importune her further upon the subject.
+
+Having arrived at this conclusion, she leaned back in her chair, with a
+deep sigh, as if relieved of a heavy burden.
+
+"Well?" said Mrs. Mencke, inquiringly.
+
+She had been watching her closely, and surmised something of what was
+being revolved in her mind.
+
+"I will see Lord Cameron," Violet quietly replied.
+
+"And you will promise to marry him?" cried her companion, eagerly.
+
+Violet sighed again. She was so weary of it all.
+
+"No, I will not promise anything now; but I will see him--I will tell
+him the whole truth, and then----"
+
+"Well?" was the almost breathless query, as Violet faltered and her lips
+grew white.
+
+"Then he shall decide for me," she said, in a low tone.
+
+Mrs. Mencke arose delighted, for she felt that her point was gained. She
+would encourage Vane Cameron to take Violet, in spite of everything, and
+try to make him feel that once she was his wife he would have little
+difficulty in eventually winning her love.
+
+She bent over Violet, in the excess of her joy, to kiss her, but the
+young girl drew back from her.
+
+"No, Belle," she said, quietly but sadly, "do not make any pretense of
+affection for me; you have not shown yourself a good sister; I believe
+you have intercepted my letters, and you have tried to ruin my life, and
+I do not want your kisses. I hope I shall not always feel thus," she
+added, regretfully, as she saw the guilty flush which mounted to the
+woman's forehead, "but, just now, I am afraid I do not love you very
+much, and I will not be hypocritical enough to pretend that I do."
+
+Mrs. Mencke had nothing to say to this, for she well knew that she
+richly deserved it; but she passed quickly from the room, and at once
+sought an interview with Lord Cameron.
+
+An hour later he was sitting beside Violet, with a grave and pitiful
+face, but with a look of eager hope in his fine eyes, which told that he
+had no thought of leaving her presence a rejected lover.
+
+"Your illness has changed you greatly, Miss Huntington," he remarked,
+regarding her thin, white face sorrowfully, "but I hope that you will
+soon be yourself again, and--and now may I at once speak of what is
+nearest my heart? I believe in a frank course at all times, and of
+course you cannot be ignorant of my object in coming to you. I am sure
+you must realize, by this time, something of the depth of my love for
+you. Indeed my one hope, ever since our pleasant voyage across the
+water, has been to win you. Darling, words cannot express one-half that
+I feel; I have lived almost thirty years without ever meeting any one
+with whom I could be willing to spend my life until now, and all the
+long-pent-up passion of my nature goes forth to you. Violet, will you be
+my wife? will you come to me and let me shelter you in the arms of my
+love--let me try to make your future the brightest one that woman has
+ever known? My love! my love! put your little hands in mine and say that
+you will give yourself to me."
+
+Violet made such a gesture of pain at these words, while her face was
+convulsed with such anguish, that Vane Cameron caught his breath and
+regarded her with astonishment.
+
+When Mrs. Mencke had told him that Violet had consented to see him, she
+hinted at some childish attachment, but encouraged him to hope for a
+favorable issue of the interview.
+
+He realized now, however, that this "childish attachment" had left a far
+deeper wound in Violet's heart than he had been allowed to suspect.
+
+"Is my confession distasteful to you, Violet?" he gravely asked, when he
+could command himself to speak. "I was led to believe--I hoped that it
+would meet with a ready response from you."
+
+"Oh, Lord Cameron! I do not know what to say to you," Violet began, in a
+trembling voice. Then resolutely repressing her emotion, she continued:
+"I have known, of course, that you regarded me in a very friendly way;
+but it almost frightens me to have you express yourself so strongly as
+you have just done."
+
+"Frightens you to learn of the depth of my affection," he said, with
+some surprise.
+
+"Yes--to know that it has taken such a hold upon your life and that such
+a responsibility has fallen upon me. I know that you are good, and true,
+and noble, and you have my deepest esteem; but--but oh----"
+
+"Violet, what does this mean? I do not understand your distress at all,"
+Lord Cameron said, looking deeply pained.
+
+"Did not my sister tell you that I had a confession to make to you?" the
+young girl asked, with burning cheeks.
+
+"No," the young man returned, very gravely; "she told me that you would
+receive me--that I might hope for a favorable answer to my suit. She did
+hint, however, that there had once been a childish attachment, as she
+expressed it; but I hardly gave the matter a thought since she made so
+light of it."
+
+"Belle has done wrong, then, to let you hope for so much; and now, Lord
+Cameron, may I tell you all there is in my heart? May I make a full
+confession to you? and then you shall judge me as you will."
+
+"Certainly, you may tell me anything you wish," he replied, wondering
+more and more at her excessive emotion. "Do not be so distressed, dear
+child," he added, as she covered her face with her thin hands, and he
+saw the tears trickling between her fingers. "I should blame myself more
+than I can tell you, for seeking this interview, if by so doing I cause
+you so much unhappiness. I will even go away and never renew this
+subject--though that would darken all my future life--rather than
+agitate you thus."
+
+"Forgive me," Violet said, wiping her tears. "I will try not to break
+down like this again, and I will deal with you with perfect frankness; I
+know I do not need to ask you to respect my confidence."
+
+"Thank you," he simply answered.
+
+Violet then began by relating the accident of the incline plane and its
+frightful consequences; she told how, almost miraculously, she and
+Wallace were saved; about her illness in his home, and of their growing
+fondness for each other during her convalescence. When she told of
+Wallace's confession of his love for her and hers for him, she bowed her
+face again upon her hands and went on, in quick, passionate tones, as if
+it was too sacred to be talked about and she was anxious to have the
+recital over as soon as possible. She spoke of her sister's opposition
+to this affection and its consequences, with all the passion and trouble
+it had aroused, and Vane Cameron's face grew graver, yet very tender and
+pitiful as she proceeded. It was all told at last--Violet had concealed
+nothing of her affection for Wallace, nothing of her rebellion against
+her sister's wishes regarding her marriage with himself, and having thus
+unburdened her soul, she still sat with bowed head before him, waiting
+for his judgment of her.
+
+There was a silence of several minutes after she had concluded, while
+both seemed to be battling with the emotions which filled their hearts;
+then Lord Cameron spoke, and the tender cadence of his voice thrilled
+the young girl as it had never done before.
+
+"Poor child! poor wounded, loving heart!" he said. "I wonder how you
+have borne your sorrow. I know there is no human sympathy that can heal
+your wound--only One, who has all power, can do that. But, Violet, I can
+see, even though you shrink from saying it--even though you have tried
+to hide as much of the wrong done you by others as you could--I can see
+that you are unhappy from other causes than the loss of this dear one.
+Your heart is starving for sympathy, love, and comfort. Now, just as
+frankly as you have talked to me, I am now going to talk to you. You
+have said that the drama of your life is played out--has ended in
+tragedy; that you have loved and lost--your heart has exhausted itself,
+and you can never love again. This may be so, Violet; we will assume
+that it is"--his lip quivered painfully as he said it, and his face was
+very pale--"still, in all probability, there are many years of life
+before you--years which may be filled with much of good for those about
+you, if not of absolute happiness for yourself. Could you make up your
+mind to spend them with me? Do not be startled by the proposition,
+dear," he said, as he saw the quiver that agitated her; "you shall think
+of it as long as you will, and shall not be urged to anything from which
+you shrink. I love you--that fact remains unalterable, in spite of all
+that you have told me, and though your heart may not have one responsive
+vibration to mine, yet I feel that I would gladly devote all my future
+to the work of winning you to a more cheerful frame of mind--that I
+should be happier in doing that than in living without you. Let me take
+care of you. You have said you were tired of traveling--that you long
+for home and rest. Come to my home--you shall have all the rest and
+seclusion you wish--you shall live as you will; only let me give you the
+protection of my love and my name and throw around you all the
+comforting influences that I can. Forgive me if I refer to your sad
+past; but only for this once. The dear one whom you have honored with
+your love is gone; I do not ask you to forget him, or to violate, in any
+way, the affection that belongs to him; but, since your life must be
+lived out somewhere, I ask you to let it be with me. Do not allow your
+sensitiveness to restrain you--do not feel that you will be 'wronging
+me' as you have expressed it, 'by giving me only the ashes of your
+love;' I shall be content if you will but come. Violet, will you?"
+
+Violet was nearer loving him at that moment than she had ever been.
+
+How grand, how noble he seemed in his utter self-abnegation--thinking
+only of her and of the comfort that he might manage to throw around her
+broken life!
+
+Oh, she thought, if he was only her brother, how gladly she would go
+with him and give him all the affection that a sister might bestow upon
+one so worthy.
+
+It was a great temptation as it was, for the barriers that had come
+between herself and her sister, and which she knew would become stronger
+and almost intolerable, if she disappointed her in her ambitious
+schemes, made her feel as if it would be impossible to remain with her,
+and the world seemed very desolate.
+
+Still, to consent to become the wife of this good man, to accept all the
+benefits which his position would confer upon her, to be continually
+surrounded by his care and thoughtful love, seemed the height of
+selfishness to her, when she had nothing but her broken life to give in
+return, and she shrank from the sacred bond and the responsibility of
+its obligations.
+
+"I am afraid--it does not seem right," she faltered, yet she lifted her
+eyes to him with a wistfulness that was pathetic in the extreme, and
+which moved him deeply.
+
+"Violet, come," he repeated, earnestly, as he held out his strong right
+hand to her.
+
+"I dare not," she said, "and yet----"
+
+"You want to--you will!" he cried, eagerly, as, leaning toward her, he
+clasped the small hand that lay upon the arm of her chair.
+
+It was icy cold, and glancing anxiously into her face, he saw that she
+had fainted away.
+
+The excitement of the interview, the desolation of her wounded heart,
+and the longing for home and rest, were too much for her frail strength,
+and she had swooned, even while he thought she was consenting to be his
+wife.
+
+He sprang to the bell and rang for assistance, then gathering her in his
+arms, he gently laid her upon a sofa, just as the door opened and Mrs.
+Mencke entered.
+
+"I am afraid that I have overtaxed her strength," Lord Cameron said, in
+a tone of self-reproach, as he lifted a rueful face to her.
+
+"Have you won?" she asked, eagerly.
+
+"I think so, but----"
+
+Mrs. Mencke waited for nothing more.
+
+"She will soon recover from this," she interrupted, a triumphant ring in
+her tone, as she began to sprinkle Violet's face with water from a
+tumbler which she seized from a table. "Leave her with me now, and I
+will call you again when she is better."
+
+The young girl was already beginning to revive, and fearing that his
+presence might agitate her again, Lord Cameron stole softly from the
+room, but looking strangely sad for a man who believed he had prospered
+in his wooing.
+
+"You are better, Violet," Mrs. Mencke said, with unwonted tenderness, as
+her sister opened her eyes and looked around the room as if in search of
+some one.
+
+She brought a glass of wine to her, and putting it to her lips, bade her
+drink.
+
+She obeyed, and the stimulating beverage soon began to warm her blood
+and restore her strength.
+
+"Has he gone?" she asked, glancing toward the door.
+
+"Lord Cameron? Yes; he thought you had had excitement enough for one
+day, and as soon as you began to come to yourself he stole away. Do you
+wish me to call him back?" her sister inquired, regarding her curiously.
+
+"No," but there was a perplexed look upon her fair face.
+
+"He tells me that you are going to make him happy, Vio," pursued her
+sister, anxious to learn just how matters stood, "that you will marry
+him. I am delighted, dear, and I know that he will do all in his power
+to make your life a perfect one."
+
+"Did he tell you that? Did I promise?" Violet cried, with a startled
+look and putting her hand to her head in a dazed way.
+
+"Violet Huntington! what a strange child you are! Here you have just
+given a man to understand that you have accepted him and yet, when you
+are congratulated upon the fact, you affect not to know what you have
+done!" cried Mrs. Mencke, pretending to be entirely out of patience with
+her.
+
+She meant to carry things with a high hand now. She saw that there had
+been a momentary yielding upon Violet's part, though there was some
+doubt as to just what she had intended to do, and she was determined to
+make it count if she could do so by any means, legitimate or otherwise.
+
+"Don't be cross with me, Belle," Violet pleaded, with a quivering lip,
+"for I really cannot remember. Lord Cameron was so kind, so generous,
+and I began to say something to him--I don't know what--when I felt
+queer and knew nothing more until I awoke and found you here."
+
+Mrs. Mencke saw her advantage in all this, and did not fail to make the
+most of it.
+
+"Well, you must have given him to understand that you accepted him, for
+he told me that he had won you, and now I hope we shall not have any
+more nonsense about the matter. Lord Cameron is too good to be trifled
+with. You have given your promise, and must stand by it," she concluded,
+in an authoritative tone.
+
+"Yes, if I have promised, I suppose--I must," gasped unhappy Violet, and
+then fainted away again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE DAY IS SET FOR VIOLET'S MARRIAGE.
+
+
+Mrs. Mencke privately informed Lord Cameron that Violet had acknowledged
+the engagement, and would see him again when she was a little stronger.
+
+His lordship thanked her with a beaming face, and tried to think that he
+was the happiest man on the Continent, but there was, nevertheless, an
+aching void in his heart that could not be fully satisfied with the
+result of his wooing.
+
+The morning following his betrothal he sent Violet an exquisite bouquet
+composed of blue and white bell-flowers, cape jasmine, and box, which
+breathed to the young girl, who was versed in the language of flowers,
+of gratitude, constancy, and joyfulness of heart.
+
+She turned white and faint again at the sight of them, and a
+broken-hearted sob burst from her lips.
+
+"Did I promise? did I promise?" she moaned. "I do not remember; but if
+he says I did, it must be so, for I know that he is too noble to deceive
+me. I wish I could die! for it seems like sacrilege to become Lord
+Cameron's wife when my heart is so filled with the image of another."
+
+Mrs. Mencke came in and found her in tears, and was secretly very much
+annoyed, besides being a trifle conscience-smitten over the strategy
+which she had employed to bring about this longed-for marriage. But she
+exerted herself to amuse her troublesome invalid, while she told herself
+that she should consider it a lucky day when she got her off her hands
+altogether.
+
+The second morning after matters had been thus settled, Vane Cameron was
+told that he might pay his betrothed another visit.
+
+This he was, of course, only too glad to do, and his face lighted with
+positive joy when, upon entering her presence, he saw a cluster of
+bluebell flowers fastened upon her breast among the folds of her dainty
+white _robe-de chambre_.
+
+He went forward and took both her hands in his, pressing his lips first
+to one and then the other, in a chivalrous, reverent way that touched
+Violet deeply, and smote her, too, with a sense of guilt and shame.
+
+"God is good to me in granting my heart's desire," he said, in a low,
+earnest tone. "May His richest blessings be yours in the future, my
+Violet."
+
+The fair girl could not utter one word in reply. Her heart was beating
+so rapidly and heavily that for a moment she thought she must suffocate,
+while that mute cry again went up from its wounded depths:
+
+"Oh! Wallace, Wallace, did I promise?"
+
+Lord Cameron saw that she was deeply agitated, and, seating himself
+beside her, he began to talk of subjects to distract her mind from
+herself and their new relations to each other.
+
+He possessed great tact and a wonderful fund of anecdote and incident,
+and before he left her presence he had actually made her laugh over a
+droll account of an experience of the previous day.
+
+After that he enticed her out for a drive about the beautiful bay, and
+having once achieved this much, it was comparatively easy to plan
+something for her pleasure and amusement every day.
+
+While Violet was with him she could not fail to feel the charm of his
+presence, and she would, for the time, forget herself and her trouble;
+but the moment she was alone, the old aversion to the thought of
+becoming his wife, together with all her love and grief for Wallace,
+would revive to make her wretched.
+
+One day, as they were nearing their hotel after a longer drive than
+usual, and Violet had seemed to enjoy herself more than she was wont to
+do, Lord Cameron ventured to broach a subject that lay very near his
+heart.
+
+"Mrs. Mencke informs me that she and her husband are contemplating a
+tour of the Alps this summer," he remarked, by way of introduction.
+
+Violet looked up surprised. She had not heard her sister say anything
+about such a tour, and there was nothing that she dreaded so much, in
+the present weakened state of her mind and body, as being taken about to
+various fashionable resorts and to be obliged to meet gay
+pleasure-seekers.
+
+She sighed heavily, but made no other reply to Lord Cameron's
+information.
+
+"You feel that it would be rather hard for you to make such a trip, do
+you not?" her companion inquired, gently. Then, without waiting for a
+reply, he went on: "How would you like, instead, to come with me to the
+Isle of Wight and spend a quiet, restful summer, interspersed perhaps,
+with a little yachting now and then?"
+
+A great shock went through Violet at this, as she realized that he
+wanted her to become his wife immediately and go home with him.
+
+A blur came before her eyes, a great lump seemed to rise in her throat
+and almost choke her.
+
+Oh, she thought, if she could only flee away to her own room at home in
+Cincinnati and stay by herself, out of the sight or sound of everybody,
+what a relief it would be!
+
+She shrank more and more from Belle and Will and the idea of going about
+from place to place with them; still, a feeling of guilt and wrong
+oppressed her every time she thought of marrying this good, noble man,
+and giving him only the ashes of a dead love in return for the wealth of
+his affection for her.
+
+Yet, of the two plans, the going to the Isle of Wight, to quiet and
+rest, seemed the most attractive, while the yachting proposal was very
+alluring, for Violet was intensely fond of the sea.
+
+Vane Cameron was conscious of the shock which had so thrilled her, but
+whether it had been caused by pleasure or repugnance he could not tell.
+He feared the latter, for his sweet bride-elect had, thus far, been very
+unresponsive to his love and devotion.
+
+He sat regarding her very gravely and somewhat sadly, while she seemed
+to be considering his proposition.
+
+His thought had been more for her health and comfort than of his own
+desire or pleasure, but he would not bias her decision one way or the
+other.
+
+Finally Violet lifted her eyes to his face, while a faint flush tinged
+her pale cheek.
+
+"I will do whatever you like--whatever you think best," she said,
+quietly.
+
+His heart leaped as he remarked the flush, but he returned, earnestly,
+tenderly:
+
+"Not what I would like, dear, but what you would prefer. I would not
+force you a hair's breadth against your inclination, much as I long to
+have you go with me. Would you enjoy the tour through the Alps with your
+sister?"
+
+"No, no!" Violet cried, in a strained, unnatural voice, as she felt the
+net of circumstances closing hopelessly about her. "Oh, I wish I could
+go home!" and yet where, on the face of the earth, had she now a home?
+
+This wistful, almost despairing cry actually brought tears to the eyes
+of the strong man at her side, while his heart sank heavily within him,
+for surely there had been no thought of him or of his great love in that
+homesick wail.
+
+But bravely putting aside self, as he always did where she was
+concerned, he gently returned:
+
+"You shall go home if you wish--you shall do anything you like, and I
+will not urge you to any step against which your heart rebels; still, if
+you are willing to go with me, I will gladly take you home to America.
+Mr. and Mrs. Mencke, I know, have no thought of returning at present, as
+they have told me that they intend to travel for the next year or two,
+and hope to see the most of Europe during that time. It seemed to me
+that you were not strong enough, just now, to begin such a ceaseless
+round of travel, and that is why I proposed the Isle of Wight. Shall we
+go there to rest until you are a little more robust, and then, if you
+wish, we will return to America?"
+
+How good--how kind he was! And if he had only been her brother, Violet
+could have thrown herself upon his breast and wept out her gratitude for
+and appreciation of his thoughtfulness.
+
+But to speak the words that would settle her destiny for life--to tell
+him that she would become his wife immediately--how could she?
+
+Still she knew it must be one thing or the other--either a hurry and
+rush over Europe with uncongenial companions, or a going away to some
+peaceful retreat as the Countess of Sutherland.
+
+At last, with a mighty effort to control the nervous trembling that
+seized her, but with a sense of despair in her heart, she murmured, in a
+scarcely audible voice:
+
+"I will go to the Isle of Wight."
+
+Vane Cameron made no reply to this, though his heart gave a great leap
+of gladness. He simply laid one hand gently and tenderly upon hers for a
+moment, then touching up his horse, drove rapidly up the avenue leading
+to the hotel, where upon the wide piazza, they saw Mr. and Mrs. Mencke
+seated among the other guests of the house.
+
+"May I tell your sister that you have decided against the tour through
+the Alps?" Vane whispered, as he lifted Violet's light form from the
+carriage.
+
+"Yes," she assented, and then fled to her own room, where she sank
+nearly fainting upon her bed.
+
+She felt that she was irrevocably bound now; that she had given her
+unqualified consent to become Lord Cameron's wife. She would soon be a
+countess and occupy a position which half the women in Europe would
+envy, and yet she was utterly wretched.
+
+A little later her sister came to her, and in all her life Violet could
+not remember that she had ever manifested so much affection for her.
+
+"Vane has told me," she said, in an exultant tone, as she bent down and
+softly kissed Violet's forehead. "I am very glad, and I fully agree with
+him that it will be best for you to go quietly to the Isle of Wight
+until your health is fully established. He says he has a yacht there
+also, and intends to give you an occasional taste of the ocean which you
+love so much. It will be delightful. And now we must begin to think of
+the necessary preparations, for Vane says, if you are agreeable, he
+would like the marriage to take place just a month from to-day, when you
+will start immediately for England."
+
+For the life of her Violet could not prevent the shiver which shook her
+from head to foot at this announcement, and a wild desire for death and
+oblivion shot through her heart.
+
+"Well, dear, what shall I tell him?" Belle asked, after waiting some
+time for a response and receiving none.
+
+"Suit yourselves--it makes no difference to me," Violet said, wearily,
+and though it was a rather doubtful and unsatisfactory concession, Mrs.
+Mencke made the most of it; and, feeling perfectly jubilant over this
+happy termination to all her ambitious plotting and scheming, she stole
+away to impart the gratifying information to her husband, who, of late,
+had seemed to be very impatient of the delay to bring matters to a
+crisis.
+
+They did not trouble the young girl much after that. Vane said she must
+not be annoyed by petty details, so he took everything that was possible
+upon himself.
+
+Matters of importance, which he did not feel at liberty to decide alone,
+he submitted to Mrs. Mencke, who pretended to consult Violet; but it was
+only pretense, for she settled everything to suit herself, and the
+preparations for the wedding went steadily and rapidly forward.
+
+The ambitious woman was so delighted that she felt she must have some
+outlet for her feelings, which would have been out of taste for her to
+exhibit there, so she sent notices to different American papers of the
+approaching marriage of her sister, "Miss Violet Draper Huntington to
+his lordship the Earl of Sutherland," etc. etc.
+
+Violet kept her room most of the time, for she shrank from mingling with
+the guests of the hotel, since she knew there would be a great deal of
+gossip over her approaching nuptials, and she did not like to be
+conspicuous.
+
+She drove nearly every day with her betrothed, however, and while with
+him exerted herself to appear interested and entertained, and grateful
+for his unwearied kindness.
+
+He was very considerate of her feelings--he seldom referred to their
+approaching marriage, but sought by every means in his power to keep her
+mind engaged with amusing and pleasant topics.
+
+The ceremony was to be performed in the English church of the place, and
+Mrs. Mencke had sent to Paris for a suitable trousseau for the occasion.
+She had spared no expense, for she was determined that the affair should
+be as brilliant as circumstances would permit.
+
+The day preceding that set for the wedding Violet was so ill--so nervous
+and prostrated by her increasing dread and sense of wrong as the fatal
+hour drew near--that she did not rise until noon, while it was nearly
+evening before she felt able to grant Vane an interview which he
+particularly requested.
+
+He startled back appalled, when, as he entered her parlor, she turned
+her wan, colorless face toward him.
+
+"You are ill! I had no idea that you were so sick!" he cried, in a voice
+of deep concern and surprise, for Mrs. Mencke had made light of Violet's
+indisposition.
+
+"No, not ill, only tired and a little nervous," she replied, trying to
+smile, reassuringly.
+
+He sat down beside her and began to tell her about the arrangements he
+had made for going "home," and she was touched to see how, in every
+detail, he had had only her comfort and pleasure in mind.
+
+"Shall you like it?" he asked, when he had sketched the proposed journey
+to her.
+
+"Yes, thank you; you are very kind," she tried to say, heartily, but, in
+spite of her effort, the tone sounded cold and formal.
+
+The young man's face fell. He had so hoped to see hers light up with
+anticipation.
+
+"Is there anything that you would like changed? Would you prefer to go
+another way, or to take in other places on the route?" he asked,
+wishing, oh, so earnestly, that she would express some preference, or
+even make some objection to his plans; anything would be more endurable
+than such apathetic acquiescence.
+
+"No, let it stand, please, just as you have it," she answered, in a
+somewhat weary tone.
+
+"Have you everything you wish? Are there no little things that you
+need--that have been overlooked--for--to-morrow?" he asked, wistfully,
+his voice dropping to a tender cadence at that last word, as he realized
+how nearly the one great desire of his heart was within his grasp.
+
+Was it his imagination, or did a shiver of repulsion run over Violet's
+frame at this reference to their wedding-day?
+
+She was as white as the fleecy shawl that was thrown about her
+shoulders, and there was a pathetic droop about her lovely mouth that
+pained him exceedingly.
+
+"No, thank you," she quietly replied; "Belle has attended to
+everything."
+
+He arose, feeling disappointed. If she had made but a single request of
+him, no matter how simple, it would have made him so happy to execute
+it; but his hands were tied--he could not force favors upon her.
+
+"I will not remain longer, dear," he said, gently; "I want you to get
+all the rest possible to-night, so as to be strong for our journey
+to-morrow."
+
+Violet arose also, and stood pale and motionless before him. She was
+very lovely, and he never forgot the picture she made, with the crimson
+light of the setting sun flooding her white-robed form, tinging her pale
+face with an exquisite color, and giving a deeper, richer tint to her
+golden hair.
+
+Oh, if he had but been sure of her love, how supremely happy they might
+be, he thought, with all the bright prospects before him.
+
+An irrepressible wave of tenderness and longing swept over him, and,
+involuntarily reaching out his arms, he drew her gently within his
+embrace.
+
+"My darling," he whispered, "you are all the world to me. I pray that I
+may be able to prove to you by and by, how wholly you occupy this heart
+of mine."
+
+He lifted her face with one hand and searched it earnestly for a moment,
+then, bending forward, he pressed his lips to hers in a lingering
+caress.
+
+It was the first time that he had kissed her, or made any outward
+demonstration of his great love since their betrothal.
+
+Violet broke away from him, with a low, thrilling cry of anguish, and
+sank, pale and quivering in every nerve, into the chair from which she
+had just arisen.
+
+That caress had recalled the last passionate kiss of farewell that
+Wallace had given her just before the steamer left its pier in New York,
+while it had also revealed to her the fact that he would always be more
+to her, even though he were dead, than Lord Cameron, with all his love,
+his goodness, and generosity, could ever hope to be, living.
+
+He was deeply hurt, however, by this repulse and her cry of despair. He
+stood for a moment looking down upon her, mingled pain and remorse for
+what he had done plainly written on his face. Then he said, in a
+repressed tone:
+
+"Forgive me, Violet; I will try not to wound you thus again."
+
+She threw out her hand to him with an appealing gesture,
+conscience-smitten, for his tone plainly told her how deeply she had
+hurt him.
+
+"Forgive me," she said, contritely, a little sob pointing her words.
+
+He took the hand and pressed it gently.
+
+"I have nothing to forgive, dear. Now good-night, and try to sleep
+well," he returned kindly, and then went softly out from her presence,
+but looking grave and troubled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+"THERE WILL BE NO WEDDING TO-DAY."
+
+
+"Oh, if my mother were only alive!" burst passionately from Violet's
+lips, as the door closed after her betrothed. "My heart is broken, and
+there is no one in the wide, wide world to whom I can tell my trouble. I
+have no friends, no home, and am forced to marry a man whom I do not
+love, in order to find one. Belle, who ought to care for me, sympathize
+with, and comfort me, thinks only of the wealth and position I am to
+secure, and"--a bitter smile curling her lips--"is even greatly elated
+at the prospect of getting rid of me in such fine style. I cannot--I
+cannot bear it; and to-morrow--to-morrow I am to be bound for life!"
+
+She sprang wildly to her feet, a bright spot of fever burning upon each
+cheek, and began pacing the floor with nervous tread. For an hour she
+kept this up, going mechanically from one end of the luxurious apartment
+to the other, apparently unconscious of what she was doing.
+
+In the midst of this almost frantic state of mind Mrs. Mencke came
+sweeping in upon her.
+
+"What ails you, Violet?" she demanded, regarding her with anxious eyes.
+"You have been moving about incessantly during the last hour. You must
+not work yourself into such a nervous state, or you will be wholly
+unfitted for the ceremony to-morrow. I want you to look your best, and
+you will surely be pale and hollow-eyed, if not positively ill, if you
+keep on at this rate. Besides, Lady Isabella arrived a short time ago,
+and has asked to be allowed to see you for a little while."
+
+"Oh! I cannot see her to-night, Belle. Let me alone for the few hours
+that remain to me," Violet moaned, as she threw herself upon the lounge
+and buried her hot face in the cool, silken pillow.
+
+"The few hours that remain to you, indeed! One would think you were
+about to be executed, instead of married to an earl. Do not be so
+insufferably childish," returned her sister, impatiently. "There will be
+no time to-morrow for you to see Lady Cameron, and it is uncourteous,
+uncivil to refuse her request."
+
+Violet made no response to this; she was too weak and wretched to assert
+herself, and she knew that Belle would carry her point regarding this
+interview as she had done in all other things of late.
+
+Mrs. Mencke brought her some quieting drops, which she obediently
+swallowed, and after a few moments began to grow more composed.
+
+"I will tell Lady Cameron that you are nervous and tired, and ask her
+not to stay long," Belle said, when she saw that Violet was more calm;
+"but you must see her for a few minutes, and I hope you will have the
+good taste not to offend her in any way," she concluded, significantly.
+
+"Very well; let her come," Violet answered, resignedly, and thinking it
+better to have the ordeal over as soon as possible.
+
+She had always liked and admired Lady Cameron; had always enjoyed her
+society, and, under other circumstances, would have been glad to see her
+now; but everything and every one connected with her approaching
+marriage seemed positively hateful to her, in her present state.
+
+Mrs. Mencke did not wait for her to change her mind, but went
+immediately to tell her ladyship that Violet would see her, and a few
+minutes later, there came a gentle knock upon the door of the young
+girl's room.
+
+Before she could arise to admit her visitor, it was softly opened, and a
+lovely, sweet-faced lady of about fifty years entered.
+
+She was clad in a simple yet elegant costume of silver-gray silk,
+trimmed with rich black lace. A cluster of pearls gleamed fair and white
+at her throat, and a dainty little cap of costly lace rested lightly
+upon her soft, brown hair, which as yet had not a visible thread of
+silver in it.
+
+"Do not rise, dear," she said, as Violet attempted to do so. "Your
+sister has told me that you are still far from being well, and that I
+must not stay long. Let me sit right here beside you," she continued,
+drawing a low rocker close to the lounge, and then, bending down, she
+kissed Violet fondly upon the forehead.
+
+Violet returned her greeting with what composure she could, but the
+observing lady could easily see that it required a great effort,
+although she imagined that embarrassment was the cause.
+
+"I knew that I could not see you to-morrow," she resumed, "and I felt as
+if I must have just a few minutes' chat with you on this last evening of
+your maiden life. You have no mother, dear, and though I am sure your
+sister has tried to do everything that was wise and kind, yet she cannot
+quite take the place of a mother at such a time as this, and my heart
+yearned to come to you."
+
+Violet was deeply moved by these kind words, and she clasped more
+closely the hand that had sought hers in such fond sympathy. Still her
+heart ached more keenly, if that were possible, than before, while a
+feeling of guilt stole over her--a consciousness of wrong toward this
+loving mother in the injury she felt she was about to do her son.
+
+"I was wishing for my mother just as you came," she murmured, a little
+sob bursting from her lips.
+
+Lady Isabel leaned forward and wound her arms about the slight form of
+the girl.
+
+"Then, dear child, let me take her place, as far as I can," she said, in
+a low, winning tone; "and to-morrow you will have the right to call me
+by that sacred name, while I shall have a dear daughter. Ah, Violet, I
+cannot tell you how much I have always wanted a daughter--one who would
+be a companion and a confidante. But I have had only my son until now.
+My dear, I know we shall love each other, and I am looking forward, with
+more delight than I can express, to the future when you will belong to
+us and brighten our home with your fresh young life. I have been drawn
+toward you from the first day of our meeting in London, and if Vane had
+asked me to select a bride for him, I could not have chosen one more to
+my mind. I know that you will make him a very loving and faithful wife."
+How Violet cringed beneath those words, which so plainly told her that
+Vane had not confided to his mother the doubtful relations that existed
+between them! "He is a noble fellow," the fond woman went on; "he was
+always a good and dutiful boy, and has been such a comfort to me. Better
+than all, Violet, he is a true Christian, and it is delightful to hear
+him talk of his plans regarding the welfare of his tenants, and of the
+improvements he hopes to make in the condition of the poor upon his
+estates. Do you know," she continued, with a sweet seriousness that was
+very charming, "that I think it is a great thing--a wonderful thing for
+an earl to be such a Christian, and one who wishes so earnestly to carry
+his Christianity into his every-day life? There is so much
+responsibility in such a position, and such an opportunity for doing
+good. You are a Christian also, are you not, Violet? and you will
+sympathize with and help Vane carry out all his plans? What is it,
+dear?"
+
+This last anxious question was drawn forth by the violent start which
+Violet had given, as a new and solemn thought suddenly burst upon her at
+these probing questions.
+
+"Am I wearying you--are you feeling ill?" she added, regarding her with
+deep concern.
+
+With a great effort Violet controlled the trembling that had seized her,
+and strove to reply calmly:
+
+"No, I am not ill, dear Lady Cameron, but your asking me if I am a
+Christian made me suddenly remember something that I had not thought of
+before."
+
+"What was that, dear?" Lady Isabel questioned. "Unburden yourself just
+as you would to your own mother on this last night of your single life."
+
+An expression of pain clouded Violet's brow, but after a moment she
+said, gravely:
+
+"Yes, I have called myself a Christian for more than a year, and I
+believe my strongest desire is to do what is right always; but life has
+so many temptations that I know I have often failed. I will try--to do
+right in the future," she went on, but seemingly strangely agitated, her
+companion thought. "I will do what I can to--to make Lord Cameron--at
+least, I will try not to hinder him in any good work. I would like to
+make him happy and you--dear Lady Cameron, I truly wish that I might
+make you happy also," Violet concluded, raising her head from her pillow
+and looking eagerly, wistfully into the beautiful face beside her.
+
+The lady bent and kissed her again, though she wondered a little at the
+undertone of pain and passion that rang through her words.
+
+"With such a spirit I am sure you cannot fail to be a help to Vane, and
+I know we shall all be very happy," she said fondly.
+
+Still Violet continued to regard her with that earnest, wistful look,
+while the nervous trembling, which she strove so hard to conceal, began
+to be apparent in spite of her efforts.
+
+"I hope," she said, timidly, appealingly, "that you will always believe
+in me. I am liable to be mistaken in my view of what is right--promise
+me, oh, promise me, that, whatever I may do, you will trust me--you will
+believe that I want to be true, and that you will never cease to think
+kindly of me."
+
+She clung to her companion with passionate longing, her hot little hands
+grasping hers with a painful, trembling clasp, while she seemed so
+completely unstrung by some inward emotion that Lady Cameron was
+alarmed.
+
+"My dear child, this will never do," she said, regarding her anxiously,
+"you must not allow yourself to become so excited, and I blame myself
+for directing our conversation into such a serious channel. I must run
+away at once and leave you to get calm. Of course, my love, I shall
+always trust you, while you already have such a firm hold upon my heart
+that I do not believe I could cease to love you if I would. There, you
+shall not talk any more," as Violet opened her lips as if to speak;
+"good-night, pleasant dreams, and a refreshing slumber. This," with a
+light laugh, "is the last kiss I shall ever give Violet Huntington; when
+next my lips touch yours you will be somebody's dear wife."
+
+With a lingering caress the beautiful woman released her from her arms,
+and then stole softly from the room, thinking what a sweet, lovable wife
+Vane would have on the morrow.
+
+But if she could have seen Violet as she lay there on her couch after
+she had gone, she would have marveled more than she had done over her
+previous excitement.
+
+She clasped her hands across her eyes as if to shut out some dreadful
+vision, and seemed to cower and shrink as if some one was smiting her
+with a stinging lash.
+
+"Oh, what have I done!" she moaned. "A Christian, and on the point of
+perjuring myself before God's altar! A Christian, and weakly yielding to
+what I know would be a sin of deepest dye! A Christian, and consenting
+to take the poison of my wretchedness--of a heart that is filled with a
+hopeless love for another--into a good man's life and home! No--a
+thousand times no! I have been blind, wicked, reckless. Vane Cameron is
+too good a man to have his life hampered and ruined thus, and I honor
+him far too much to do him such wrong, now that I see it in its true
+light. Oh, if he were but my brother, with his noble principles, his
+strong, true heart and boundless sympathy, I could stand by him, help
+him to carry out the good that he has planned, and devote my whole life
+to him; but as his wife--never!" and she broke into a perfect tempest of
+tears and sobs as she arrived at this crisis.
+
+Daylight faded; the last crimson flush died out of the western sky;
+darkness settled upon the mountain-tops that overlooked the beautiful
+bay, and gradually wrapping itself about them like a mantle, finally
+dropped like a pall upon the gay watering-place and the adjacent
+village, which all day long had been in a fever of excitement and
+expectation over the prospect of the grand wedding that was to occur on
+the morrow.
+
+Nothing else had been talked of for a week, and everybody was anxious to
+see the beautiful girl whom the distinguished English earl had won, but
+who had so resolutely secluded herself that but very few had had even a
+glimpse of her face; but on the morrow everybody would have an
+opportunity to judge for themselves, whether she was one who would honor
+the high position which had been offered her.
+
+About nine o'clock Mrs. Mencke went up to her sister's room to see if
+she needed anything before retiring.
+
+She tried the door and found it locked.
+
+"Are you in bed, Violet?" she called, in a low tone, with her lips at
+the key-hole.
+
+"No, Belle, but I am busy with a little writing which I wish to do,"
+Violet answered, in calm, even tones. "But never mind me--go back to
+your dancing; I can take care of myself and would rather not be
+disturbed by any one again to-night."
+
+"I will come up again in half an hour," Mrs. Mencke returned, not
+satisfied to leave her thus for the night.
+
+"No, do not, Belle, please--I prefer that you should not," pleaded her
+sister.
+
+"Will you be sure to take your drops? You will need all the strength
+that you can get for to-morrow," persisted Mrs. Mencke.
+
+"Yes, I will take them; I know that I shall need strength," was the
+grave reply.
+
+"All right; good-night, then, and a good rest to you," said Mrs. Mencke,
+and the rustle of her silken garments on the stairs, a moment later,
+told Violet that she had gone back to the gay company below which she
+enjoyed so much.
+
+Two hours later, when she came up to bed, she stopped again before
+Violet's door, as she was passing to her own room, and bent her head to
+listen.
+
+All was quiet within, except for the ticking of the clock which stood on
+a bracket near the door, and which, somehow, sounded strangely clear,
+and almost seemed to give an ominous click with each motion of its
+pendulum.
+
+She did not try to enter; she thought if Violet was sleeping quietly it
+would be unwise to disturb her, and so she moved on to her own chamber,
+yet with a somewhat anxious and unsatisfied feeling at her heart.
+
+She slept very soundly, and did not awake until nearly eight o'clock the
+next morning. Her husband had gone to Nice a couple of days previous,
+and was to return on the first train that day, so there had been no
+movement in her room to disturb her.
+
+When she realized how late it was, and how much there was to be done,
+for the wedding had been set for eleven o'clock, she sprang from her
+bed, and hastily throwing on her clothing, went immediately to Violet's
+apartments.
+
+The door yielded to her touch, and she entered the parlor, to find no
+one there.
+
+She passed on to Violet's chamber, and rapped upon the door.
+
+There was no answer, and entering, she was surprised to see that it was
+empty, and somewhat startled, also, to see that the bed was nicely made,
+and the room in perfect order.
+
+"What can this mean?" she muttered, and then rang the bell a vigorous
+peal.
+
+A servant answered it immediately.
+
+"Have you been called to attend Miss Huntington this morning?" she
+demanded.
+
+"No, madame."
+
+"Have you seen her anywhere about the house?" Mrs. Mencke questioned,
+greatly perplexed by her sister's strange movements.
+
+"No, madam."
+
+"What! did you not put her room in order this morning?" she asked,
+sharply.
+
+Again she was doomed to hear the simple, respectful, "No, madame."
+
+More and more perplexed, and not a little alarmed, Mrs. Mencke hastened
+out into the hall, and was proceeding down stairs to seek Lord Cameron,
+when she met him just coming up to inquire for his betrothed.
+
+He greeted her with his usual courteous manner; then, observing her
+troubled look, became suddenly grave.
+
+"What is it?" he quickly asked. "I hope Violet is not ill."
+
+"No--I do not know--I--I--have you seen her?" faltered and stumbled Mrs.
+Mencke, in a tone of distress.
+
+"Seen her?" the young man replied, greatly surprised; for on this
+morning, of all others, Violet would, of course, be supposed to be
+invisible. "No; certainly not," he added, recovering himself. "Is she
+not in her room?"
+
+"No, and it looks as if it had not been occupied during the night," Mrs.
+Mencke whispered, with pale lips.
+
+"Do not tell me that," Lord Cameron said, sternly, his face growing
+ashen pale at the information.
+
+He turned, and leaping two stairs at a time, was at the top in a moment,
+and striding forward toward Violet's room.
+
+Reaching it, he stopped, his innate delicacy forbidding him to enter
+without permission, and waited until Mrs. Mencke joined him.
+
+They went in together, and he observed with a terrible heart-sinking the
+perfect order in which everything had been left in both rooms.
+
+Mrs. Mencke explained that she had questioned the chambermaid, but that
+she knew nothing about Violet's movements.
+
+"She may have gone out for a walk--to get the air," the wretched
+groom-elect remarked, but he was white to his lips as he said it.
+
+"Gone out for a walk on her wedding-morning, when there was scarcely
+time to prepare for the ceremony! I wish I could even believe it
+possible that she would do such an unheard-of thing," said Mrs. Mencke,
+in a tone of despair, and feeling nearly paralyzed by this sudden and
+inexplicable absence.
+
+Nevertheless they exerted themselves to ascertain if the missing
+bride-elect was anywhere about the premises, Lord Cameron, with the
+proprietor of the hotel, to whom alone he confided his trouble, going
+out in search of her.
+
+Meantime Mrs. Mencke went back to Violet's rooms to ascertain if
+anything was missing, but everything appeared to be in its accustomed
+place. Every drawer was daintily arranged, as she was in the habit of
+keeping them; all her jewels, laces, and ribbons were in their
+respective boxes; even the rings, which she usually wore, lay upon her
+pincushion, where she always put them before taking a bath.
+
+Her dresses hung in her wardrobe--all but the traveling dress which she
+had worn when she came to Mentone. It was a dark-gray cloth, trimmed
+with narrow bands of blue silk. The hat to match, with its bows of blue
+velvet, and a single gray wing, together with a thick blue vail, were
+also missing, and a pair of thick walking-boots, together with a light
+traveling shawl.
+
+Beyond these few things nothing, as far as she could ascertain upon so
+hasty an examination, was gone; not even a change of clothing, toilet
+articles, or a traveling-bag, things which Violet would be sure to need
+if she had contemplated flight.
+
+Mrs. Mencke was somewhat reassured after these investigations, and tried
+to think that her sister had gone out for a walk--possibly to the town
+to post the letter she had been writing the previous night, rather than
+to wait for it to go later with the hotel mail.
+
+Still, she was terribly anxious, and her face was pallid with fear and
+anxiety.
+
+She had staked so much--far more than any one save herself knew--to
+achieve this brilliant marriage for Violet, and it seemed more than she
+could bear to have it fail at the last moment, and after all the heavy
+expense of the beautiful trousseau from Worth's.
+
+She wandered restlessly from room to room in an agony of suspense, Lady
+Cameron following her and vainly trying to speak words of comfort and
+cheer, while they waited for the return of those who had gone to search
+for the missing one.
+
+Lord Cameron came back after a time, accompanied by Mr. Mencke, who had
+arrived on the first train from Nice, but he brought no tidings of
+Violet.
+
+"There will be no wedding to-day, even if she is found," he said, with a
+stern, set face, "so let all preparations be stopped at once."
+
+Then without another word, he went out, mounted his horse, and rode away
+toward the mountains.
+
+The wretched day passed, and evening shut down again upon the place,
+where but one theme was thought of or talked about. Many believed that
+the young girl had gone out for a walk in the early morning and had,
+perhaps, fallen into some ravine among the mountains, or into the sea
+and been drowned.
+
+There were only a few who thought otherwise, and these were Mr. and Mrs.
+Mencke, Lord Cameron, and his mother.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Mencke did not lisp their suspicions that Violet might have
+fled from an uncongenial marriage to a suicide's fate; but Lord Cameron,
+who remembered his last interview with his betrothed, had a terrible
+fear that such might be the case; while Lady Cameron, having told him of
+Violet's strange excitement and remarks of the evening previous,
+suggested that she might have fled to escape wronging him and being
+untrue to herself.
+
+"It may be so," the wretched young man said, "but oh, I fear she is
+dead. I shall search for her until I am satisfied of either one thing or
+the other."
+
+When Lord Cameron had said there would be no wedding, even if Violet
+were found, Mrs. Mencke went away and shut herself in the room where
+Violet was to have dressed for her bridal, and where, spread out before
+her, were the lovely dress of white silk tulle, with its delicate
+garnishings of lilies of the valley and white violets the beautiful
+Brussels net vail, with its chaplet of the same flowers, the dainty
+white satin boots, gloves, and handkerchief; and there she gave vent to
+the rage, disappointment, and grief which she could no longer contain.
+
+It was the most wretched day of her whole life, and she afterward
+confessed that there, for the first time, in the presence of these
+voiceless accusers of her for her treachery and heartlessness toward the
+young girl whom she should have tenderly cherished and shielded from all
+unhappiness, her guilty conscience began to upbraid her, and remorse to
+sting her with their relentless lashings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+"SHE IS MY WIFE."
+
+
+It was later in the season than people were in the habit of remaining at
+Mentone; but the unusual attraction of a wedding in high life had
+induced many to delay their departure and so a large number had tarried,
+much to the gratification and profit of hotel proprietors and other
+natives, only to be disappointed by missing the wedding, after all.
+
+Everything possible was done to obtain some clew to the missing girl,
+but all to no purpose. Three weeks went by, and every one, save Lord
+Cameron, had given up all hope of ever solving the sad mystery. He alone
+still patiently kept up his search day by day.
+
+By the beginning of the fourth week, Mr. and Mrs. Mencke both agreed
+that the girl must be dead, and announced their intention of leaving in
+a few days for Switzerland. Mrs. Mencke was so confirmed in her opinion
+that Violet was not living that she assumed mourning for her, and while
+she remained in Mentone her deeply bordered handkerchiefs were never out
+of her hands, and were frequently brought into ostentatious use.
+
+The day before the one set for their departure was intensely warm and
+oppressive, and everybody was almost prostrated by the heat.
+
+Lady Cameron and Mrs. Mencke could only exist by lying, lightly clad, in
+hammocks swung upon the north piazza of the hotel, while Mr. Mencke
+idled away the hours as best he could, in the smoking and reading-room,
+or in imbibing mint juleps.
+
+Lord Cameron, as was his invariable custom, had departed, in spite of
+the heat, upon one of his long rides immediately after breakfast. His
+quest for the girl whom he had so fondly loved was becoming almost a
+mania.
+
+He had grown thin and pale; his appetite failed, until he seemed not to
+eat sufficient to keep life in him. He was depressed, and absent-minded,
+and so nervous and restless that his mother suffered the keenest anxiety
+lest all this strain upon his mind and body should end in insanity!
+
+"Oh, what an interminable day this has seemed!" sighed Lady Cameron to
+her companion, as, soft on the saltry stillness of the air, there came
+to them the sound of a distant church clock striking the hour of six. "I
+hope I may never pass another like it--I could neither read nor work,
+while my thoughts and the dread of something--I know not what--have
+nearly driven me wild."
+
+Mrs. Mencke shivered, in spite of the heat, at these words. She also had
+felt as if she could never live through another twelve hours like the
+past, and she believed if she could but once get away from the place
+where she had suffered so much of disappointment and wretchedness, this
+terrible oppression and weight would in a measure disappear.
+
+Tomorrow they would go, and she longed for tomorrow to come. During the
+latter part of the afternoon she had simply lain still and watched the
+lengthening shadows, which told that the sun was declining and evening
+drawing on apace, and longed for night and slumber to lock her senses in
+oblivion.
+
+"I believe the name of Mentone will always give me a chill after this,"
+she said, in a husky tone.
+
+"Hark! is not that the sound of a horse's hoofs?" cried Lady Cameron,
+starting up to look down the road. "Yes, there comes Vane and--Mrs.
+Mencke, he is riding at a break-neck pace! Can he--do you believe he has
+any--news?"
+
+The woman was so overcome by the thought that the last word was uttered
+in a whisper, while her eager eyes were intently fastened upon the
+approaching horseman.
+
+Mrs. Mencke started to a sitting posture, and waited with breathless
+interest for Lord Cameron to arrive.
+
+Nearer and nearer he came, and now they could see that his noble steed
+was flecked with foam.
+
+Vane checked his headlong speed as he caught sight of the two figures
+upon the piazza; but, as he entered the grounds of the hotel, both
+ladies could see that his face was frightful in its ghastliness.
+Instinctively they knew that he was the bearer of evil tidings.
+
+Arriving at the steps, he threw his bridle to a man who approached to
+take his horse, then turned to enter the hotel.
+
+"Vane--you have--news!" his mother said, in an awe-stricken voice, as
+she went forward to meet him.
+
+He glanced up at her, and the sympathy and love written on her gentle
+face seemed to unman him for a moment.
+
+He staggered, reeled, and then caught at a post, while he put his hand
+to his head and groaned aloud with anguish.
+
+"Tell me," gasped Mrs. Mencke, coming toward him, her own face now as
+white as his, "have you heard anything of--Violet?"
+
+He nodded, but hid his face from the gaze of the two women, while a
+shudder shook him from head to foot; then he said, in a hollow tone:
+
+"Yes--she is found."
+
+"Found!" repeated his startled hearers, in shrill, tense voices. "Where?
+Alive?"
+
+He shook his head at that last word.
+
+"Dead!" whispered Mrs. Mencke, hoarsely.
+
+"Dead," said Lord Cameron, in an awful tone and with another groan.
+
+Then with a mighty effort he partially recovered his composure, made
+them sit down, and told them as briefly as he could all about his
+dreadful day.
+
+He had started out that morning determined to make one last vigorous
+effort--to spare neither himself, his horse, nor his purse to gain some
+clew; then, if he learned nothing of the fate of his lost love, he would
+give up his search and go home to England with his mother.
+
+He followed the coast along the gulf, as he had done a dozen times
+before, but intending to extend his search farther than he had yet done.
+He rode many miles, until the heat became so intense that he was forced
+to turn back without as yet having made any discovery.
+
+Suddenly, however, as he was nearing Mentone, he saw a group of
+fishermen gathered around something which they had evidently just drawn
+from the water at the foot of a cliff, along the edge of which the
+highway ran.
+
+Approaching nearer, he saw what appeared to be a long black object, and
+knew that it was contemplated with horror by the spectators, for the
+men's faces were gray and awe-stricken.
+
+A nameless fear seized upon his own heart, and leaping from his horse,
+he fastened him to a tree, and springing down the cliff with all the
+speed he could force into his faltering feet, he saw, while a groan of
+despair burst from him, that the object lying upon the beach was the
+body of a woman.
+
+Such a horror he had never looked upon before--he hoped never to look
+upon again.
+
+The woman was clad, not in black, as he had at first thought, but in a
+dark gray suit trimmed with bands of blue silk. Upon the head was a grey
+hat, also trimmed with blue, and having a gray wing among the folds of
+velvet, and wound about this was a thick blue vail.
+
+"Violet?" moaned Mrs. Mencke, with a shiver, as Lord Cameron reached
+this portion of his tale.
+
+"Yes, Violet, without any doubt," he answered, in a hollow voice, "for
+the clothing all corresponded exactly with your description of what she
+wore away; but otherwise she was past all recognition, excepting the
+hair, which was golden like hers, though sadly matted and disheveled by
+the action of the sea. What her object was in leaving the hotel we can
+probably never know; perhaps it was simply a walk--I hope that was her
+object," the young man said, something like a sob bursting from him;
+"but she must have wandered too near the edge of the cliff, missed her
+foothold, and fallen into the sea. The coast is very bold near
+there--overhanging the water in many places, while the road runs very
+near the edge of the cliff. It was a terrible fate for the poor child,
+and the experiences of this day will haunt me as long as I live."
+
+It was a horrible story, gently as he tried to break it to them, and the
+hearts of his listeners stood still with awe and misery. And yet,
+dreadful as it was, they all felt that the certainty of knowing that
+Violet was no more, did not equal the agonizing suspense which had
+tortured them during the last four weeks.
+
+There was not much sleep for any of them that night, and Lord Cameron
+looked as if he had just risen from a long illness when he appeared the
+next morning.
+
+He was calmer, however, than on the previous evening, and went about his
+sad duties with a sorrowful dignity which deeply impressed and touched
+every one.
+
+Of course all thoughts of any of the party leaving Mentone for the next
+few days were given up, for their loved dead must be cared for before
+they could turn their faces northward.
+
+The authorities would not allow the body to be removed from the place;
+but ordered that the young girl should be buried there without delay.
+
+After this was attended to, the few mourning friends, together with many
+sympathizing residents of Mentone, gathered in the church, where the
+grand wedding was to have taken place, and a simple memorial service was
+observed, after which they all repaired to the spot where the
+unfortunate girl had been laid to rest.
+
+Lord Cameron had chosen the spot, which was a little remote from other
+graves in the place of burial and beneath a beautiful, wide-spreading
+beech. The low mound had been covered with myrtle and a profusion of
+choice flowers, the greensward was like velvet about it, and not far
+away could be seen the deep blue sea which Violet had loved so much.
+
+Mrs. Mencke appeared to be greatly overcome as she visited this lonely
+grave, and many glances of sympathy were bent upon her by those gathered
+about; but they could not know of the guilty secret which lay so heavily
+upon her conscience and caused remorse to outweigh whatever of natural
+grief she might otherwise have experienced. She alone knew that she was
+wholly responsible for all the sorrow and trouble which had thus
+overtaken the fair girl in the very morning of her life.
+
+The next day they all spent in resting, for they had arranged to leave
+Mentone the following morning.
+
+Lady Cameron and Mrs. Mencke remained in their rooms until evening, only
+coming down to join the gentlemen after tea for a little while.
+
+They were gathered in a small private parlor, where each seemed to
+strive to assume a cheerfulness which no one felt.
+
+Suddenly there came a sharp, imperative knock upon the door.
+
+Lord Cameron arose to open it, and found himself face to face with a
+young man several years his junior, and who would have been regarded as
+strikingly handsome but for the worn and haggard look upon his face, and
+the wild, almost insane expression in his restless eyes.
+
+Vane bowed to him courteously, then inquired:
+
+"Can I do anything for you, sir? Whom do you wish to see?"
+
+"Lord Cameron, Earl of Sutherland," was the brief but stern reply.
+
+"I am he," the young man began, when his visitor unceremoniously pushed
+his way into the room, closing the door behind him.
+
+At this act Wilhelm Mencke and his wife started to their feet, one with
+a cry of surprise and dismay, the other with an oath of anger, while
+both had grown deathly pale.
+
+"Pardon me, sir, but are you not somewhat brusque and uncourteous in
+your demeanor?" Vane demanded, with some hauteur. "Who are you, and what
+do you want?"
+
+"I want to meet the woman whom report says you are to marry or have
+married. I want to meet her here and now, in your presence," was the
+quick, passionate, quivering response.
+
+Lord Cameron shuddered and grew white to his lips at this imperative
+demand, and wondered if the man was mad.
+
+"That is impossible," he said, in a husky voice. Then he added, in a
+conciliatory tone, for something seemed to tell him that the man was in
+great mental suffering, though he had not a suspicion of its cause: "But
+pray explain why you make such a request. Who are you sir?"
+
+"My name is Wallace Hamilton Richardson," tersely returned the stranger.
+
+Vane Cameron recoiled as if the man had struck him a blow instead of
+simply stating his name.
+
+He was so much overcome by the announcement that those observing him
+feared he was upon the point of fainting, strong man though he was.
+
+"Wallace Richardson--from America?" he whispered, hoarsely.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I--I thought you were dead! She believed you were dead!" the young lord
+returned, with ashen lips.
+
+"Dead!" repeated Wallace, wonderingly, his hitherto inflexible face
+softening a trifle. "Oh, say it again--does Violet really believe that I
+am dead?" and the eager, quivering tones rang sharply through the room.
+
+"Yes, she believes so; it was so announced in one of the American
+papers," Lord Cameron replied, with something more of composure, but
+never losing that first look of horror.
+
+Like a flash Wallace wheeled about and faced Wilhelm Mencke and his
+trembling wife.
+
+"Then that was some more of your miserable work!" he cried, in a
+terrible voice, "a diabolical plot to separate us. From the first you
+have left nothing undone to part us, and so, when all else failed, you
+reported me dead, knowing well that she would never marry another while
+she believed me to be living. Oh! I see it all now, and my love, my
+love, I have wronged you!" he concluded, in a tone of anguish.
+
+When he had turned with such fiery denunciation upon them, Mrs. Mencke
+shrank from him with such an expression of awe, fear, and guilt upon her
+face, that she was instantly self-condemned; every one in the room was
+as sure that she had caused that lying paragraph, announcing Wallace's
+death, to be inserted in the paper to mislead Violet, as if she had
+openly confessed it.
+
+"Did you do it--did you drive that poor child thus to promise to become
+my wife?" demanded Lord Cameron, in a voice that was like the ominous
+calm before a tempest.
+
+The woman was speechless; but her guilty eyes drooped beneath his stern
+look, for she knew that her miserable secret was revealed.
+
+"You do not know what you have done," Wallace cried, growing wild again,
+"but you will pay dearly for your treachery--ha! ha! you little dream
+how dearly it will cost you, when the consequences of your wretched plot
+shall be noised abroad from the aristocratic summit upon which you have
+hitherto so proudly stood, and from which you will soon be ruthlessly
+hurled."
+
+Wilhelm Mencke, having by this time begun to recover somewhat from the
+shock of Wallace's unexpected appearance, commenced to bluster:
+
+"Look here, you young upstart," he cried, growing very red in the face,
+and assuming a threatening attitude, "all these charges and accusations
+may or may not be true--we won't discuss that point just now; but
+whether it is or not, it can be no possible concern of yours. I should
+like to know what you mean by bursting in upon respectable people in
+this rude way. What was Violet to you?--what right or business have you
+to interfere with whatever she might have chosen to do?"
+
+"The most sacred right in the world, sir, for--she is my wife!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+"I MUST FIND HER--I MUST FOLLOW HER."
+
+
+This thrilling and unexpected announcement was electrical in its
+results.
+
+Mrs. Mencke gave vent to a shriek of horror, and sank, weak and
+trembling, upon a chair, while her husband gazed at the young man with a
+look of blank astonishment and dismay; indeed, for the moment, he seemed
+almost paralyzed by the astounding declaration, for if Violet was indeed
+Wallace's wife, he and his wife had been criminally guilty in trying to
+drive her into a marriage with Lord Cameron, and in view of what the
+consequence might have been had they succeeded and Violet had lived, he
+had every reason to feel appalled.
+
+Lady Cameron, also realizing all this, bowed her blanched face upon her
+hands and sat quivering as if with ague. What a terrible fate had been
+spared her son; but at what a fearful cost!
+
+Lord Cameron alone betrayed no surprise, made no comment, though he
+still remained as colorless as when Wallace had first revealed his
+identity; while he stood regarding the young man with a sad, pitying
+look, for he saw that Wallace did not suspect what they yet had to tell
+him--had not even noticed that they spoke of her in the past tense or
+that Mrs. Mencke was clad in deep mourning.
+
+There was an oppressive silence in the room for the space of three or
+four minutes then Wilhelm Mencke started forward, his phlegmatic nature
+for once all aflame.
+
+"It is an infernal lie!" he cried, shaking his massive fist before
+Wallace's face; "all an infernal lie, I tell you, made up for the
+occasion, with the design, perhaps, of claiming her money. But you'll
+find, my would-be smart young man, that you have tackled the wrong
+parties this time."
+
+Wallace made no verbal reply to this coarse outbreak, but, quietly
+slipping one hand within a breast-pocket, he drew forth a folded paper,
+which he opened and held before the man.
+
+"Read," he said, briefly.
+
+With rapidly fading color, with eyes that grew round and wide, with
+mingled conviction and dismay, Wilhelm Mencke read the marriage
+certificate, which proved that Wallace Hamilton Richardson and Violet
+Draper Huntington had been legally united, by a well-known clergyman of
+Cincinnati, about three weeks previous to the sailing of the young girl
+for Europe.
+
+The man knew it was the truth, and this conviction was plainly stamped
+upon his face as he read; but he was so enraged by the fact, and also by
+the secret fear that Wallace might make him some trouble pecuniarily,
+that he lost control of his temper and reason.
+
+A coarse, angry oath escaped him, and then he cried out, as he grew
+crimson with passion:
+
+"It is a ---- forgery, cleverly executed for the purpose of gaining his
+own ends."
+
+Lord Cameron colored and drew himself up with dignity, while he
+remarked, with marked displeasure:
+
+"Mr. Mencke, allow me to request you to refrain from profanity in the
+presence of my mother."
+
+"Beg pardon, your lordship," said Mencke, looking somewhat abashed, "but
+I am so upset by this blamed trick that I forgot myself entirely."
+
+"It is no trick, sir--it is the truth," quietly returned Vane Cameron.
+
+"What do you mean, Lord Cameron? How can you know anything about it?"
+cried Mrs. Mencke, forgetting, for the moment, her weakness and
+agitation in her surprise at his positive declaration.
+
+"Violet told me--she confided the fact of her marriage to me," he calmly
+returned.
+
+"She told you," Wallace cried, his face lighting, his voice dropping to
+a tender cadence, as he began to realize how true Violet had been to
+him, in spite of her apparent faithlessness.
+
+"Yes, when I asked her to become my wife," replied his lordship; then he
+added: "But sit down, Mr. Richardson, and let us freely discuss this
+matter, so that you can clearly understand it."
+
+Vane rolled forward a comfortable chair for his visitor, a sad deference
+in his manner, which betrayed how strongly his sympathies were enlisted
+for the young man, who still had no suspicion of the sad news in store
+for him. He then seated himself near him and proceeded to relate all
+that had occurred in connection with his proposed marriage with Violet.
+
+He would not tell him at once that the ceremony had never taken place,
+for Wallace was still greatly excited, and he felt that his news must be
+all broken to him gradually, or he would be completely unnerved.
+
+"Evidently you have not learned that Miss Huntington was very ill for
+several weeks in London," he began.
+
+"No," Wallace said, with a start.
+
+"Yes, she was very sick with brain fever. The attack was caused by
+reading the notice of your death, and for a month her life was nearly
+despaired of. When she began to recover, her physician recommended that
+she be brought to Mentone for a change, and Mrs. Mencke acted
+immediately upon his advice. Just previous to her illness I had confided
+my feelings to Mrs. Mencke, and solicited her permission to address her
+sister. It was freely given, but, of course, I could not avail myself of
+it while Miss Huntington was so ill, and it was arranged--without her
+knowledge, I have since learned--that I was to follow her hither when
+she should have gained somewhat in strength. She had been here about a
+month when I received word that I might come. A few days later I was
+granted an interview, during which I confessed my affection and asked
+her to become my wife.
+
+"She told me frankly at once that she did not love me well enough to
+marry me, and then, with sudden impulse, asked if she might make a
+confession--might open her whole heart to me. Of course this request was
+readily granted, and then she told me of her love for you, Mr.
+Richardson; how it had originated, and how, when"--bending a grave look
+upon Mrs. Mencke as he said this--"sorely pressed and alarmed by the
+fear of being sent away from home and deprived of her liberty, she had
+begged you to advise her what to do, and you told her that the only
+safe-guard that you could throw around her would be to make her your
+wife----"
+
+"Yes," Wallace here interrupted, "Violet had been threatened with being
+sent to a convent unless she would promise to cast me off. Such a fate
+seemed to possess excessive terrors for her, and, being fully convinced
+that nothing could change our affection for each other, I suggested that
+we should be privately married, and then, if she was deprived of her
+liberty, it would be in my power to aid her by claiming her as my wife."
+
+"Yes, that was what she told me in substance," said Lord Cameron. "She
+stated that you were married, but that you did not propose to claim her,
+because of the opposition of her friends, until a year or two should
+elapse and you were in a better position to make a home for her; that
+you advised her to travel and see all of the world that was possible,
+while you pursued your profession. Then came your separation, and she
+made no secret of the unhappiness that this caused her, or of her
+absorbing affection for you, and she spoke of the intense anxiety that
+she experienced because she received no letters from you after leaving
+home."
+
+Surely Lord Cameron, with his usual noble self-abnegation, was doing all
+in his power to soothe Wallace's wounded heart and prepare him for the
+trial before him.
+
+"But I wrote twice every week for more than two months," Wallace here
+interposed, "without receiving a single letter from her. This fact also
+we doubtless owe to the sisterly interposition that has been so vigilant
+and active regarding her welfare," he concluded, bitterly.
+
+"Her grief and despair over your supposed death," continued the young
+earl, "was too deep for expression, and she said that life seemed hardly
+worth the living. She told me that she dared not become my wife, feeling
+thus; that her heart was dead, her dream of life was over, and she would
+not wrong me by giving me the ashes of her love in return for the
+devotion I offered her."
+
+Lord Cameron paused a moment here, as if the memory of that
+never-to-be-forgotten interview was too much for him; but presently he
+controlled himself, and went on:
+
+"I take upon myself all the blame for what followed," he said, "for I
+still urged her to give herself to me. I knew she was not happy
+here--that she was still weak from her illness and weary of travel, and
+longed for rest and quiet. I told her I would be content if she would
+but allow me to throw around her the protection of my name and love, and
+let me take her, just as she was, into my heart and home. Her answer
+was, 'I dare not, and yet----' That simple qualification made my heart
+bound, for I accepted it as a sign of yielding.
+
+"'And yet you want to--you will?' I said, assuming that that was what
+she meant, and as I clasped her hand to seal the compact, I saw that she
+had fainted. Later her sister came to me and said that it was all
+right--that Violet had said she would marry me. Of course I was elated,
+for I believed that I should win her in time--that eventually she must
+yield to my love and devotion, when her wounded heart should have a
+chance to heal, and I was satisfied to take her thus, even though she
+had frankly said she could never love me as a wife should love her
+husband. Still, as time passed, I began to fear that she regretted her
+promise, and during an interview with her, on the evening previous to
+the day set for our marriage, I was deeply pained and troubled by her
+manner and a certain wretchedness which she could not conceal. But I
+reasoned that when the wedding was once over, and we were quietly
+settled in our home, she would gradually grow content."
+
+Wallace had listened thus far with absorbing interest. At times when
+Lord Cameron spoke of Violet's faithfulness to and love for him, of her
+despairing grief over his supposed death, and her reluctance to become
+the wife of another, his face would light up for an instant or grow
+tender with love, as his emotions moved him; but gradually, as the
+narrator drew near the end of his tale, he grew nervous and restless,
+the tense lines of pain settled again about his mouth, his eyes grew
+dark and moody in expression, while the spasmodic twitching of his
+nerves could be plainly seen by every one in the room.
+
+"'When once the wedding was over,'" he interposed hoarsely, at this
+point of the story; "that was--a month ago--to-day----"
+
+"Yes, that was the date set for the ceremony," Vane Cameron responded,
+with a sinking heart, as he bent a pitying look upon the young and
+terribly stricken husband.
+
+Bitter as his own grief and disappointment had been when he lost Violet,
+they now seemed to dwindle into nothing in comparison with Wallace's
+greater suffering and the terrible tidings which he yet had to reveal to
+him. His heart sank with a sickening dread; no duty had ever seemed so
+hard before.
+
+"I--I read a notice of it in a Cincinnati paper, and I started for
+England at once----" Wallace began excitedly.
+
+"You started at once!" said Lord Cameron, surprised. "It was announced a
+month previous."
+
+"I know--I know; but I did not get the paper for some time after," was
+the agitated reply. "At the time Violet left for Europe I was called to
+New York to consult with an architect about going into partnership with
+him and accepting an important contract. The partnership was
+consummated, the contract accepted, and I have been in New York ever
+since. This was why I did not get the news earlier--it was a mere chance
+that I got it at all. The paper stated that you were to start
+immediately for your residence on the Isle of Wight, consequently I went
+directly there, thus losing much more time. But--oh, I cannot stop for
+all these details now," the young man cried, with a ghastly face, the
+perspiration standing in great beads upon his brow, while he was
+terribly excited. "Of course Violet is not your wife, even though ten
+thousand ceremonies were performed over you. She is mine--mine! Oh,
+Heaven! am I going mad? Where is she? Tell me--tell me! Why are you
+still here? Why did you not go to the Isle of Wight? Why do you not
+speak? Why do you keep me in such suspense?"
+
+It was dreadful to look upon him, and no pen could portray the anguish
+that was written upon his countenance, that vibrated in his hoarse,
+quivering tones.
+
+"We--did not go because--that marriage ceremony never took place," said
+Lord Cameron, gravely, but inwardly quaking over what he must tell him
+next.
+
+Wallace sprang to his feet, a thrilling cry of joy bursting from him.
+
+"Never took place!" he repeated, panting for breath. "Thank Heaven!
+Violet, my love! you are still my own! Oh, say it again--say those
+blessed words again!"
+
+"Be calm, I beseech you, Mr. Richardson," said Lord Cameron, pitifully,
+while convulsive sobs broke from Lady Isabel; "do not allow yourself to
+become so unnerved and you shall learn all. I told you, if you remember,
+that Violet--nay, do not frown when I speak of her thus," the noble
+young man gently interposed, as Wallace's brow grew dark, to hear that
+loved named drop so familiarly from his lips, "for had I known the
+truth, I would have scorned to wrong either of you by even a confession
+of my love. But I told you that she appeared strangely during my last
+interview with her. I offered her a caress--I tell you this," he
+interposed, a crimson flush mounting to his brow, "that you may have all
+the comfort possible in knowing how wholly her heart belonged to
+you--and she shrank from me in pain, if not with absolute loathing.
+Later on, during the same evening, my mother saw her for a few minutes,
+and she made some remarks which seemed very strange at the time, but
+which were readily comprehended later; for the next morning when her
+sister went to her room, to help her prepare for her bridal, she was not
+there. She had gone--left the house and the place, and no one knew
+whither."
+
+A cry of mingled thankfulness and anxiety broke from Wallace at this,
+and his sorely tried nerves, so long strung to their utmost tension,
+gave way, and sob after sob burst from his overcharged heart as he sank
+weakly back in his chair.
+
+It was a pitiful sight to see that brave, strong young man weep thus
+over the discovery of the faithfulness of his loved one.
+
+It was almost more than Lord Cameron could bear and retain his
+composure, while Lady Cameron wept unrestrainedly.
+
+Wilhelm Mencke and his wife sat stolidly by viewing this affecting
+sight, one racked with feelings of mingled anger, guilt, and remorse,
+the other uneasily considering the chances of trouble for himself
+regarding the disposition of Violet's fortune.
+
+But Wallace soon mastered his emotion; he was not one to remain long
+inactive when there was anything to be done.
+
+"My faithful, true-hearted little wife!" he murmured, as he dashed aside
+his tears, new hope and courage already glowing on his face, "her love
+and instinct were stronger than the force of circumstances. But,"
+starting again to his feet, "I must find her; I must follow her to the
+ends of the earth, if need be, and when I do find her, as I surely
+shall,"--with a stern glance at Mr. and Mrs. Mencke--"nothing save death
+shall ever separate us again."
+
+A chill ran over every listener at these confident words, and an ominous
+silence fell over the shrinking group.
+
+"Have you any idea whither she went? Has any one tried to follow her?"
+Wallace asked, turning to Lord Cameron, and wondering why he should look
+so ghastly; why Lady Cameron's sobs should have burst forth again with
+renewed violence.
+
+"Every possible effort was made to find her; day after day we have
+searched for her," began his lordship, falteringly.
+
+"And you have learned nothing--gained no clew?" impatiently demanded the
+anxious young husband.
+
+"Nothing--until the day before yesterday."
+
+"Ah! then you have news at last!" cried Wallace, eagerly. "Tell
+me!--tell me!--what have you learned?"
+
+"Heaven help me! how can I tell you?" exclaimed Lord Cameron, in an
+agonized tone. Then with a great effort for self-control, he solemnly
+added: "Mr. Richardson, be brave--Violet is dead!--drowned! we found her
+two days ago. She doubtless missed her footing during her flight in the
+night, and fell into the sea."
+
+But these last words fell upon unheeding ears, for when Lord Cameron
+said that she was "dead"--"drowned"--Wallace had cast one horrified,
+despairing look around upon those white, hopeless faces, and then,
+without a word or cry, as if smitten by some mighty unseen power, he
+fell forward on his face and lay like a log upon the floor, at Vane
+Cameron's feet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+LORD CAMERON AND WALLACE BECOME FIRM FRIENDS.
+
+
+"Help me!" Vane Cameron commanded of Mr. Mencke, as he stooped to assist
+the fallen man, his noble face full of pity and compassion for him.
+
+They lifted Wallace and laid him upon a lounge, where Vane, after
+loosening his necktie and collar, strove to revive him by sprinkling his
+face plentifully with cold water and chafing his hands vigorously.
+
+But Wallace showed no signs of recovering; he lay motionless,
+breathless--like a man dead, and at last, becoming alarmed, Lord Cameron
+sent a servant for the nearest physician.
+
+Upon his arrival, and after an examination of Wallace's condition, he
+pronounced it to be an attack of coma produced by hemorrhage in the
+brain, caused by excessive excitement and long continued anxiety of
+mind.
+
+"It is a serious attack," he said, gravely, "but the poor fellow is
+young and has a splendid physique; if he can hold out long enough--until
+the clot is absorbed--he may recover. Is he a relative of milord?"
+
+"No, I never saw him until this evening," Vane answered, "but I want
+everything possible done to save his life, and I will be responsible."
+
+The energetic little French doctor needed no better incentive than this,
+for the wealth and generosity of the young English earl had been common
+talk in the town ever since his arrival, and he threw himself into the
+work of effecting Wallace's recovery with all his heart. Every luxury
+that Vane could think of or the doctor suggest, was supplied for his
+benefit and comfort.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Mencke took a hasty leave the day following the disclosures
+related in the foregoing chapter.
+
+Their treachery and unnatural harshness toward Violet had been unmasked,
+and Lady Cameron and her son did not take any pains to conceal their
+condemnation of such atrocious conduct; consequently Violet's sister and
+her husband were anxious to escape from Mentone as quickly as possible.
+
+"You must go home also, mother," Vane said to Lady Isabel, after their
+departure, "it will not do for you to remain longer in this enervating
+climate."
+
+"And what of you, my son?" the fond mother questioned, anxiously.
+
+"I shall stay with him until he recovers, or at least until he is able
+to be moved farther north," the young man quietly responded.
+
+"Vane----"
+
+"Do not oppose me, mother, please," he interrupted, "he is a stranger in
+a strange country, with not a friend to minister to his need or comfort;
+and, if I am not mistaken, he has only a scant supply of money."
+
+"But the nurse and physician can look after him, and the bills can all
+be sent to you, if you wish," urged Lady Cameron.
+
+"The nurse and physician will both do their duty more faithfully if I am
+here to watch them," Vane answered, inflexibly. "For her sake," he
+added, in a low tone, and with white lips, "I shall do my utmost to
+bring him back to health, while if, in spite of all, he dies, I shall
+lay him by her side, and then take up the broken thread of my own life
+as best I can."
+
+Lady Cameron stole to his side and wound her arms about his neck.
+
+"Vane," she murmured, while tears streamed over her cheeks, "my noble
+boy! it is like you to do this and like the Master who said, 'I was a
+stranger and ye took me in.' But it breaks my heart to hear you speak in
+that hopeless tone. I know--I feel sure that the 'broken thread of your
+life,' as you express it, will be joined again. I cannot contemplate
+with resignation that you, with your noble character and grand
+possibilities for doing good, should carry this unhealed wound to your
+grave. But I shall not go home to leave you here," she added,
+resolutely; "if you stay to care for this poor, suffering stranger, I
+shall stay to look after you."
+
+"Mother, I cannot permit it," Vane began, but she interrupted him.
+
+"I am inexorable," she said, firmly. "You know that the warm weather is
+not depressing to me, as to most people, and anxiety would prey upon me
+more than the climate, so it will be useless to urge me further."
+
+Thus it was settled, and those two royal-hearted people remained for
+another month in that deserted hotel, and devoted themselves to the care
+of Wallace Richardson during his critical illness.
+
+He was very, very ill, but as the physician had said, possessed a
+splendid constitution, and, after a fierce battle with disease, he began
+slowly to recover--at least his physical health.
+
+But his mind seemed sadly clouded, a condition caused by the pressure of
+a clot of blood upon his brain, the doctor said, and time alone would
+show whether he would ever entirely regain the use of his mental
+faculties; absorption was the only process by which it could be
+achieved, and this might be slow or rapid, as his general health
+improved.
+
+At the end of four weeks it was thought that he might safely be moved;
+indeed, the physician advised it, thinking he would gain strength faster
+in a more invigorating atmosphere, and Vane determined to convey him
+directly to the Isle of Wight, whither he had intended taking Violet.
+
+It seemed almost like the mockery of fate that, instead of taking the
+woman whom he had loved and hoped to make his wife to this beautiful
+summer home, he should remove hither the man whom she had loved and
+secretly married, to nurse him back to health.
+
+The change proved to be very beneficial, and Wallace began to gain
+strength, both physically and mentally, almost immediately.
+
+Possibly the change in medical treatment had also something to do with
+this improvement, for Lord Cameron placed him under the care of one of
+the most skillful physicians of London, who happened to be summering on
+the island.
+
+He did not appear to regard the case so seriously as the French doctor
+had done.
+
+"He will be all right again in a couple of months," Doctor Harkness
+said. "Give him plain, nourishing diet, plenty of moderate out-door
+exercise, and keep his mind free from all exciting subjects."
+
+Time proved the truth of this prophecy; there was a steady improvement
+in Wallace from the moment of his arrival upon the island, and twelve
+weeks from the day of his attack he was pronounced a well man again.
+
+During his convalescence, as he came, little by little, to realize his
+position, together with the kindness and care which had been thrown
+around him during his illness, he tried to manifest his appreciation of
+it.
+
+The first time he referred to the subject was one delightful afternoon,
+when the two young men were sitting together upon the broad piazza of
+Lord Cameron's elegant villa, which overlooked the sea.
+
+Vane had been reading to his companion an amusing story, which both had
+seemed to enjoy thoroughly. When he finished it and closed his book
+Wallace looked up and remarked, gratefully:
+
+"What a good friend you have been to me, Cameron! I hope you do not
+think me unappreciative, but I have only just begun to have sense enough
+to find it out."
+
+"I trust we are good friends," Vane answered, cordially but evading a
+direct reply to his gratitude, "and that we shall continue to be such
+throughout our lives."
+
+He had grown to admire the young architect exceedingly during the long
+weeks that he had so patiently borne his weakness and enforced idleness;
+while, as his mind gradually became stronger and clearer, he saw that he
+was no ordinary person, that he possessed great ability--a strong
+character, and unswerving principles of rectitude.
+
+"Thank you," Wallace answered, gratefully; "I hope so, too. But how am I
+ever to repay you for your unexampled kindness? It is a problem beyond
+my ability to solve."
+
+"By pledging the friendship I desire, and saying no more about the
+obligation--if any there is," Vane replied, with a genial smile, and
+holding out his hand to his companion.
+
+Wallace instantly laid his within it, and the two men thus sealed the
+compact with a violent but heart-felt clasp.
+
+Later Wallace spoke of Violet for the first time since his illness, and
+begged for more information regarding her sojourn at Mentone and the
+circumstances of her flight, though he touched as lightly as possible
+upon the revolting story of the discovery of the body upon the beach and
+its burial; but he would not even hint his suspicion of suicide.
+
+The subject was a depressing one to both, and to change it Vane said,
+after a long pause:
+
+"If you feel like it, would you mind coming with me into the library to
+look over some plans that came from London to-day? I am about to erect a
+school building for the children of my tenants, and also a home for aged
+people and orphans. Perhaps, being an architect, you can make some
+suggestions that will be useful to me."
+
+This was merely a ruse to divert Wallace's mind from the sad and
+exciting train of thought into which he had fallen; but the young man
+arose with alacrity at the mention of plans. He dearly loved his
+profession, and was already beginning to be anxious to get into active
+service again.
+
+He followed his friend to the library, where they found the plans spread
+out upon a table, and both soon became deeply interested in discussing
+them.
+
+Wallace was quick to discover that they were defective, and far from
+being practical, in many respects. They were imposing, and looked well
+on paper, but he knew that when completed the buildings would be very
+disappointing in various ways.
+
+He modestly pointed out the defects, but in a way that betrayed he knew
+his business thoroughly, and Lord Cameron, who would never have
+discovered them until the buildings were completed, became disgusted
+with the plans, and said at once that he should discard them entirely.
+
+"Nay, do not be too hasty in your condemnation. I am afraid I have been
+too critical," Wallace said, regretfully. "With some changes, you might
+still use them; but, if you will allow me, I will make you some
+drawings, giving you my ideas regarding these buildings; then, perhaps,
+you can combine the two sets, and get something more to your mind."
+
+"Do," said Lord Cameron, eagerly; "and if they prove to be what I want,
+you shall have the price Mac Cumber is going to charge me for these--it
+is no mean one, either."
+
+"The price!" exclaimed Wallace, flushing. "No, indeed! Do not mention
+such a thing after all your bounty to me during these many weeks."
+
+"Ah, but that was on the score of friendship, you know," lightly
+returned Vane. "That is all settled for. Remember your pledge. This will
+be business."
+
+Wallace made no reply, but the settling of the firm lines about his
+mouth plainly indicated that he meant to have his own way in this
+matter.
+
+He went immediately to work, all his old enthusiasm awakening the moment
+he took his pencil in his fingers.
+
+He was not yet strong enough mentally to apply himself very closely,
+neither would Lord Cameron allow him to be imprudent; but by working a
+few hours every day he made good progress, and at the end of a couple of
+weeks laid before Lord Cameron two sets of plans which, for convenience,
+beauty of design, and elegance of workmanship, far exceeded anything
+that he had even seen.
+
+"You are a genius, Richardson!" he exclaimed, after he had thoroughly
+examined them, and Wallace had explained everything. "You have utilized
+every square foot of space, and that, too, without infringing in any way
+upon the beauty and proportions. I shall use these plans, and Mac Cumber
+would do well to come and take lesson of you."
+
+Wallace was of course very much pleased with this high praise, while he
+was no less gratified when, the following week, Lord Cameron proposed
+that they should take a trip to his estate, so that he might judge if
+the proposed site for the new buildings were just what it should be, or
+whether it could be improved upon by choosing some other.
+
+The next seven days were spent in Essex County, at the country seat of
+the young Earl of Sutherland, and where Wallace was entertained as an
+honored guest, while every day the bond of friendship between the two
+men became more firmly cemented.
+
+The site proved all that could be desired, and Wallace assured his
+friend that the buildings would make a very fine appearance upon it when
+completed.
+
+After that Vane said that he must see some of the "lions of London," and
+he took him up to his town house, where they spent two weeks very
+enjoyably.
+
+It was now about the first of October, and Wallace, claiming that he was
+now as well as ever, said that he must return to his business in New
+York.
+
+Dr. Harkness was consulted, and expressed the opinion that he was able
+to go, and, accordingly, the day of his departure was set for the fifth.
+
+"I am very loath to let you go," Vane said, regretfully, as, on the
+evening before his departure, they sat together in his "bachelor nest,"
+as his smoking-room was called.
+
+"I shall regret the separation as much as you possibly can," Wallace
+replied, gravely, "but I must go back to my work. I have but one object
+in life now--my profession. I shall devote all my energies to it, and
+try to forget my great loss in making a name for myself."
+
+"There can be no doubt that you will do that, with your talent," Lord
+Cameron replied; then drawing an envelope from his pocket, he quietly
+passed it to him. "Do not open it until you reach New York," he said,
+with some embarrassment.
+
+"Forgive me if I do," Wallace said, cutting the end and drawing forth
+the paper within it, for he was confident that he knew the nature of its
+contents.
+
+He found a check on the Bank of England for a hundred pounds.
+
+"Cameron! I cannot take it," he said, flushing hotly.
+
+"I beg you will," said Vane, earnestly.
+
+"I should never respect myself again if I did," Wallace returned, with
+emotion. "You are more than welcome to the plans, if this check was
+intended as a remuneration for them, while I shall never cease to feel
+that I owe you a debt which I can never repay for all your kindness to
+my loved one, not to mention the vetoed subject of my obligations to
+you."
+
+"But--have you funds sufficient for your needs?" Vane asked, flushing.
+
+"Yes, for all present needs," his companion answered. "I was paid five
+thousand dollars for the injuries which I received in that accident I
+told you of, and I took a letter of credit for a thousand when I came
+abroad, so I have abundant means for my expenses to America."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE FACE AT THE WINDOW.
+
+
+Lord Cameron admired Wallace's independence, yet while he saw he would
+hurt him deeply by insisting upon his acceptance of the check, he could
+not feel satisfied to accept as a gift the valuable plans which he had
+executed for him.
+
+He therefore said no more about the money, but, before he slept, he
+wrote several letters to prominent parties in New York, whom he knew, in
+which he spoke with highest praise of Wallace's talents as an architect,
+and solicited their influence and patronage for him in the future.
+
+"Perhaps these may prove to be of more advantage to you than the
+contents of that other envelope which you rejected," he remarked, with a
+smile, as he slipped a half dozen letters of introduction into his hands
+just before they retired.
+
+"You are very thoughtful, Cameron," Wallace said, appreciatively; "and I
+will thankfully make use of these."
+
+The fifth of October, the date of Wallace's departure, dawned a bright,
+lovely morning.
+
+Lord Cameron had engaged to accompany him to Liverpool, determined to
+delay their parting to the last moment, and dreading, more than he could
+express, the return to his estate in Essex County, when he would begin
+to realize something of the loneliness of his own situation. Wallace's
+illness, and the care which he had been forced to give him, he now
+realized had been a great blessing to him, for it had prevented, in a
+measure, his brooding over his own troubles.
+
+Vane had made thoughtful provision for his friend's voyage, supplying
+him with everything he could think of to make his passage comfortable
+and pleasant, and the two men, after taking an affectionate leave of
+Lady Isabel, who also had become very fond of Wallace, drove away to
+catch the express for Liverpool.
+
+As they were passing through one of the busy thoroughfares of the city,
+their progress was hindered for a few moments by a blockade of vehicles.
+
+While waiting for an opportunity to advance, another carriage, going in
+the opposite direction, slowly passed them--for the stream of teams was
+not blocked on the other side of the street--and when it was directly
+opposite them the face of a woman looked forth from the window for an
+instant, then the coach passed on, and she was lost to view.
+
+An agonized cry had burst from Wallace at that moment, and that, with
+his fixed stare at the passing carriage, caused Lord Cameron also to
+glance that way; but he only caught a fleeting glimpse of the outline of
+a delicate face framed in golden hair, then it vanished beyond his
+sight.
+
+"Violet!" gasped Wallace, with ashen lips, and trembling violently from
+head to foot. "Did you see her? Oh, let me out, quick! quick! I must
+find her!"
+
+He was terribly agitated and unnerved, almost frantic, in fact, and Lord
+Cameron greatly feared another attack such as had previously prostrated
+him.
+
+He reached out his hand, and pushed him firmly yet kindly back upon his
+seat.
+
+"Be quiet, Richardson!" he said, with gentle authoritativeness. "It
+could not have been Violet. It was but a delusion, a fancied
+resemblance, or a trick of the imagination. Violet is dead. Did I not
+see her with my own eyes? Did I not care for her, and lay her to rest
+beneath the shade of that grand old beech?--while you yourself have seen
+her grave."
+
+"Oh, but it--the face--was so like--so like!" murmured Wallace, still
+fearfully overcome.
+
+"My friend," Vane continued, while he tried to control his own startled
+nerves, "you must not allow yourself to be so unnerved by a fancied, or
+even a real resemblance to the loved one whom you have lost. It is not
+unlikely you may meet it again some time, but you must bear it bravely.
+This great sorrow has been sent upon you, and you must meet it with
+courage and resignation, as one who believes in God should meet the
+trials which He sends upon you. There is work in the world for you to
+do, or your life would not have been spared; take it up, carry it on to
+its fulfillment, and do not ruin your health, your brain, your great
+talent, by allowing the ghost of your lost happiness to haunt and weaken
+you thus."
+
+The young man spoke gravely and very earnestly, but his own face was
+almost as pallid as Wallace's and it was easy to see that he had been
+deeply moved by what had occurred. It might even be that he was striving
+to fortify his own sore heart and wounded spirit with the admonitions
+that he was giving his friend.
+
+Wallace wiped the perspiration from his face, and strove manfully to
+recover his self-possession; but it was no easy thing to do, and it was
+long before he regained his natural color, or ceased to tremble visibly.
+
+"I know what you say must be true," he returned, when he could speak,
+"and my common sense tells me that I was deceived--that the face could
+not have been Violet's; and yet--if--I could follow and find the woman
+who looks so much like her--who seemed to be her exact counterpart, I
+believed it would comfort me--would help to ease this ceaseless aching,
+this never-ending longing of my heart."
+
+"It would not," said Lord Cameron, positively; "it would but unsettle
+you the more; and now that I come to think of it the more, that
+face--though I caught but the merest glimpse of its outline--was thinner
+and older than Violet's."
+
+He immediately changed the subject, and strove to divert the mind of his
+friend from the painful incident, but while he endeavored to talk and
+appear like himself, he was secretly greatly shaken by what had
+occurred.
+
+Most of the journey to Liverpool was spent in discussing Lord Cameron's
+plans regarding the school for the children of his tenants and the home
+for aged people and orphans, and the young earl exacted a promise from
+Wallace that, when the buildings were completed and ready for occupancy,
+he would come again to England to be present at their dedication, and
+pronounce his verdict upon them.
+
+"You will not need to be absent from your business more than three weeks
+or a month," he said, "and I am sure you will have earned the right to
+that much of a vacation by that time. However, I shall see you again
+before then, since I do not intend to entirely desert the land of my
+birth, even though my home must be in England, and every year I shall
+make a short trip to America. I am not going to lose sight of my friend
+either; remember, Richardson, we are pledged to each other for life."
+
+The hand which he extended with this remark was warmly grasped, and both
+young men felt that their souls were "knit unto each other," in a bond
+as strong and tender as that which had united David and Jonathan of old.
+
+The steamer was to sail at sundown, and the little time that intervened,
+after their arrival in Liverpool, the two friends spent in looking over
+the mammoth vessel.
+
+When at last the signal for departure sounded, they parted with a
+lingering hand-clasp and a simple "God bless you;" but Lord Cameron, as
+he journeyed back alone to his princely home, felt as if half the light
+had suddenly gone out of his life.
+
+Wallace had a quick and comfortable passage, and, having cabled the time
+of his departure, and the name of the steamer, found his partner
+awaiting him at the pier upon his arrival in New York.
+
+He greeted him with great warmth, which had in it an undertone of
+genuine sympathy for his troubles, and then informed him that he had
+just secured a contract for a sixty-thousand-dollar building; remarking,
+too, that he hoped Wallace felt in the spirit for work, as they would
+have their hands full during the coming year.
+
+"Work will be the mainspring of my life after this," Wallace briefly
+returned, but he appeared gratified with the encouraging report of
+business which his partner had given him.
+
+He threw himself heart and soul into his profession from that day. He
+worked at his office from morning until evening, when not out upon
+duties of inspection, and for hours in his own room at night; worked to
+keep his mind from dwelling upon his great sorrow, and until he was so
+weary in body that sleep came to him, unbidden, as soon as his head
+touched his pillow.
+
+He took the earliest opportunity possible to present his letters of
+introduction to the parties whom Lord Cameron had addressed in his
+behalf.
+
+These recommendations proved to be worth a great deal to him, for to be
+the valued friend of an English earl and a man of genius as well, were
+facts calculated to give him prestige with even the most conservative,
+and business flowed in upon the firm of Harlow & Richardson in such a
+continuous stream that they bade fair to have more work than they could
+handle.
+
+At the close of the first year, after Wallace's return, they found they
+had cleared twenty thousand dollars, while they had contracts ahead for
+another twelve months, besides applications that were constantly coming
+in.
+
+Wallace had never been in better health than during this time. He loved
+his work and forgot himself in it, and was fast winning a name and fame
+that promised to place him, not far in the future, at the head of his
+profession; while already rumors of his success had somehow been set
+afloat in his old home in Cincinnati, and people there were beginning to
+talk of that "promising young Richardson" whom they had once known only
+as an humble carpenter.
+
+He had acquired also during this year both strength of character and
+dignity of bearing, and was a grand looking young man.
+
+He went, now and then, into society, for Mr. Harlow, who was some years
+his senior, had a delightful home and a lovely wife, and they insisted
+upon his visiting them occasionally. In this way he met many agreeable
+people, who, in their turn, solicited his presence in their homes.
+
+But society had comparatively few attractions for him, even though
+several ambitious mothers smiled encouragingly upon the rising young
+architect, and many fair, bright-eyed damsels shot alluring glances at
+him.
+
+But he had no heart to offer any one, and met all these advances with
+quiet but dignified courtesy.
+
+He heard regularly from Lord Cameron, who was throwing all his energies
+toward pushing his benevolent schemes to completion, and the buildings
+which Wallace had planned would, he wrote, be finished and ready for
+occupancy by another spring.
+
+He had intended to visit America before this, his last letter said, but
+the press of business and the delicate state of his mother's health had
+thus far prevented; he hoped, however, before many weeks should pass to
+tread again the familiar streets of New York.
+
+He also stated that he had met Mr. and Mrs. Mencke once during the past
+year. It was during the London season, and he and his mother had run
+across them at a brilliant reception--a circumstance that surprised him
+somewhat, as he did not suppose they would go into society so soon after
+the death of their sister.
+
+The meeting had occurred in this way.
+
+After making an extended tour of the Alps, Mr. and Mrs. Mencke had
+returned to London, to meet Mrs. Hawley, who was to spend a few weeks
+there and then go on to Milan, to remain for the winter with Nellie
+Bailey, who had concluded to devote another year to her beloved music
+before returning to America.
+
+Mrs. Hawley was a woman who dearly loved society, and always had a long
+list of engagements--one who had it in her power to be so charming could
+not fail to be a welcome guest wherever she went--consequently, it was
+perfectly natural that she should wish her friend to participate in her
+enjoyment.
+
+Mrs. Mencke at first faintly demurred upon the ground of being in
+mourning, but Mrs. Hawley, who did not believe in mourning anyway,
+easily overruled her scruples.
+
+"What is the harm?" she questioned. "You cannot do Violet any good by
+secluding yourself, and no one here knows you well enough to gossip
+about you. It would be different, perhaps, if you were at home, where
+people have known you all your life."
+
+So Mrs. Mencke, who liked gay life as well as any one, smothered her
+conscience, and, never doing things by halves, went everywhere.
+
+It was at a reception given by the American Consul that she met Lord
+Cameron and his mother, Lady Isabel having been an intimate friend of
+the gentleman's family when her home was in New York.
+
+Mrs. Mencke, ignoring entirely the barriers that had arisen between them
+at Mentone, appeared delighted to meet her "dear friends," but the
+greetings upon their part were decidedly cool, while Lady Cameron looked
+the reproaches she could not utter at Mrs. Mencke's gay manner and
+attire, and uttered a sigh of regret that the gentle girl, whom she had
+begun to love as a daughter, should so soon have been forgotten by her
+only relative.
+
+"Are you in London for any length of time, Lady Cameron?" Mrs. Mencke
+inquired, secretly hoping that she might get an invitation to visit her
+at her town-house.
+
+"Only for a week or two longer, as my son's affairs call him to his
+estate in Essex," was the somewhat formal reply.
+
+"Indeed! and have you been in town long?"
+
+"About a month."
+
+"Really? I wonder that we have not met before, then," Mrs. Mencke
+remarked, with some surprise.
+
+"It is not strange," said Lady Cameron, with a sigh, "for my son and I
+are still too sad to care to go much into company, and we should not
+have been here this evening but for a special request of your consul,
+who is an old and valued friend."
+
+Mrs. Mencke colored vividly at this reply, and began to make excuses for
+her own presence there; but Lady Cameron, with a disapproving glance
+over her elegant and showy costume, only bowed with reserved courtesy in
+reply, and then, as Lord Cameron accosted an acquaintance who was
+approached, she excused herself and turned to greet her friend, leaving
+Mrs. Mencke boiling with rage over their distant reception, and bitterly
+disappointed at not having secured an invitation even to call upon them.
+
+She felt humiliated as well as angry, and too wrought up to longer enjoy
+the gayeties of the evening, she retired at an early hour from the
+reception.
+
+The unhappy woman had other causes, aside from the failure of her
+matrimonial schemes and the contempt of the Camerons, for anxiety and
+unhappiness.
+
+Her husband, during the last few months, while visiting various resorts,
+had developed an alarming taste for gambling, and had, to her knowledge,
+lost large sums of money; while he seemed perfectly reckless in his
+expenditure, and she felt sure, though she did not yet dream the worst,
+that their own as well as Violet's fortune was fast melting away.
+
+Deep and frequent potations at the cup, too, were showing their effect
+upon him; he was growing more gross and coarse, and his temper suffered
+in proportion with the continuous nervous excitement under which he was
+laboring.
+
+All this must have an end sooner or later, she knew, but she was not
+prepared to have it come so soon as it did.
+
+Four weeks after her meeting with the Camerons the man returned to her,
+late one night, from a terrible orgie. His face was bloated and crimson
+from drink; his eyes wild and blood-shot, his hair disheveled, and his
+clothing soiled and disordered.
+
+Coming rudely into his wife's presence, he cried out with a shocking
+oath:
+
+"It's all gone!--hic--every--dollar we had in the world, and, Belle,
+we're--hic--beggars!"
+
+"What do you mean, Will?" his wife demanded, with a sinking heart and
+white face.
+
+"Are you deaf?" he bawled, with another oath. "We're--hic--beggars, I
+tell--hic--you. I've just--hic--rattled away the hic--last dollar."
+
+There was a scene then, as might be expected, for Mrs. Mencke was not a
+woman to tamely submit to such wrong and abuse, and the thought that the
+whole of her own, as well as Violet's fortune, had been squandered at
+the gaming-table and the race-track was more than she could bear. She
+could talk as few women can talk, and when she had ceased her
+denunciations, Wilhelm Mencke was completely sobered, and sat pale and
+sullen and cowed before her.
+
+She did not realize how exceedingly bitter and stinging her
+denunciations were until the next morning, when, upon rising, she found
+the jewel-box, in which she kept the jewelry which she commonly wore
+(her diamonds and more valuable gems being locked in a trunk,
+fortunately) together with all that Violet had possessed, was rifled of
+its contents and her husband gone, together with his traveling-bag and a
+change of clothes.
+
+The desertion of her husband was the most humiliating of all her
+troubles; but her proud spirit would not yield to even this blow. She
+calmly stated that her husband had been suddenly called home and that
+she was to follow him by the next steamer.
+
+Fortunately she had considerable money with her, and she settled every
+bill with a grave front, and finally took her departure from the hotel
+with as much pomp and state as she had maintained throughout her sojourn
+there.
+
+A week from the day of her husband's flight she was crossing the
+Atlantic alone, and immediately upon reaching New York proceeded to
+Cincinnati in the hope of saving something by the sale of her house and
+furniture. The house had already been disposed of, though she learned
+that not much had been realized on it, for it had been heavily mortgaged
+and the sale was a forced one.
+
+This fact told her that her husband was in America, although no one had
+seen him, for the sale had been made through an agent, and she tried to
+feel thankful that he had had the grace to leave her the furniture. This
+she turned into money, but it did not bring her a third of its real
+value, for she was forced to sacrifice it at auction.
+
+Where now was the proud woman's boasted wealth and position? Where now
+her vaunted superiority over the "low-born carpenter" because of his
+poverty?
+
+Gone! for she had not--aside from some valuable jewels and clothing--a
+thousand dollars in the world, while she had the exceeding mortification
+of realizing the stern fact that she would be obliged to seek some
+employment in order to live honestly.
+
+It was the bitterest drop in her already bitter cup, and too proud to
+remain in the city where she had hitherto been a leader in society, she
+suddenly disappeared from the place and no one knew whither she had
+gone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+A RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE.
+
+
+It was on the fourteenth of May, nearly a year and a half previous to
+the sudden downfall and disappearance of Wilhelm Mencke and his wife,
+that a curious incident occurred which has an important bearing upon our
+story.
+
+At the foot of one of the mountains which skirt the Gulf of Genoa just a
+few miles east of the line which separate France and Italy, there stood
+at that time the dwelling of a well-to-do Italian peasant.
+
+That the man was above the majority of his class, his neat homestead,
+his thrifty fields and vineyards, and the general air of comfort which
+pervaded his dwelling plainly betokened.
+
+But he was a stern, harsh man, bestowing little affection upon his
+family, yet exacting unquestioning obedience and diligent toil from
+every member, to help him maintain the thrift for which he was noted and
+to fill his pockets with money.
+
+On a dark and starless night, long after Tasso Simone and most of his
+family were wrapped in slumber, the door of his dwelling was softly
+opened, whereupon a slight, girlish figure stole forth and sped
+noiselessly across the vineyard of olive trees, toward the highway which
+skirted the gulf.
+
+Upon reaching the road, the flying fugitive moderated her pace, but
+walked on with a firm, elastic step toward Mentone, which was the
+nearest town over the French line.
+
+For an hour she walked steadily on, appearing to be perfectly familiar
+with the way, even in that intense darkness, until finally she paused
+before a low, rude building, or shed, which had been constructed out of
+rough boards to protect fishermen from the hot rays of the sun, while
+cleaning their fish for market.
+
+She sat down to rest just outside upon a rude bench, which she seemed to
+know was there, and opening a parcel which she carried in her hands, she
+began to eat of its contents.
+
+Suddenly she paused and listened, for a slight movement behind her,
+within the shed, had attracted her attention.
+
+A sigh that was almost a moan had greeted her ears.
+
+She did not move for several moments, but waited for the sound to be
+repeated.
+
+Soon she heard it again; a long-drawn, sobbing sigh like some one deeply
+grieved or in distress.
+
+The girl arose, and, without a trace of fear in her manner, made her way
+within the shed, showing by her quick, decisive movements that she was
+as familiar with the ground as with her own home.
+
+Here she struck a match and lighted a piece of candle, which she took
+from her pocket, when she saw, with evident amazement, a beautiful girl
+lying asleep upon a shawl which had been spread over a pile of seaweed
+in one corner of the place.
+
+The light also revealed the fugitive, whom we have followed thus far, to
+be a slight, graceful form, straight as an arrow, and having a wiry
+energy and resolution in her every movement which betrayed unusual
+self-reliance in one so young.
+
+She was very light in complexion, having yellow hair, black eyes, and
+bright, rosy cheeks, a somewhat unusual combination in one who was a
+native of that Southern clime.
+
+She was dressed in the costume of the country, and with a neatness and
+trimness that made her seem almost dainty in the homely dress, while on
+her head she wore a large, coarse straw hat, over which a bright
+handkerchief had been thrown, and was tied under her pretty, rounded
+chin.
+
+She softly approached and leaned over the sleeper, astonishment depicted
+upon every feature of her young face; and well she might look surprised,
+for the lovely girl who lay upon that wretched bed of sea-weed was
+richly and tastefully clad, and bespoke the petted child of luxury and
+fortune.
+
+She knelt beside her, and, laying her hand lightly upon her shoulder,
+said, in low, musical Italian:
+
+"Wake, signorina."
+
+The touch aroused the fair sleeper, and she started up affrighted; but,
+upon seeing the kindly face of a young girl about her own age bending
+above her, her expression of terror changed to one equally surprised
+with that of her companion.
+
+"Why is the signorina sleeping here in this miserable place?" the
+peasant girl asked.
+
+But her companion could not understand or speak Italian, and shook her
+head, intimating that she did not know what she had said.
+
+To her surprise the girl then addressed her in broken French, repeating
+her question, and then the fair stranger, appearing to think it best to
+confide in her, answered, though with some embarrassment:
+
+"I am in great trouble, and I am running away from it. I have walked a
+long distance, but became so weak and faint I could go no farther, and
+stumbled in here to rest, and must have fallen asleep from weariness."
+
+A look of pity and sympathy swept over the peasant girl's face.
+
+"Mademoiselle is hungry, perhaps?" she remarked.
+
+"Yes; I had no supper. I could not eat and am faint. I have been ill and
+am far from strong."
+
+The girl stuck her candle upon a rock and then, going outside the shed,
+brought in her own lunch which she had left lying upon the bench. It
+consisted of some coarse bread and cheese, some cakes fried in olive
+oil, with a few dried figs, and all wrapped in a clean linen cloth.
+
+"Eat, mademoiselle," she said, as she placed it upon her companion's
+lap.
+
+The beautiful stranger seized a fig and quickly disposed of it with
+evident relish; then she suddenly paused and asked:
+
+"But do you not need this yourself? I must not rob you."
+
+The girl shrugged her shoulders, and shook her head.
+
+"Eat, signorina, eat," she said, mixing her French and Italian; and the
+other, without waiting to be urged further, and apparently ravenously
+hungry, quickly disposed of everything save the cheese.
+
+"You are very good," she said, gratefully, when the last fig was eaten.
+"I thank you very much." Then with sudden curiosity, she inquired: "But
+how do you also happen to be abroad alone at this hour of the night?"
+
+Again the peasant girl shrugged her shoulders, and a dark look of
+passion swept over her face.
+
+"I, too, am running away," she said. "I do not like my home; I have a
+step-father; he is cruel, harsh, and wants to marry me to a man I do not
+love."
+
+"How strange," murmured her companion, a look of wonder coming into her
+beautiful eyes, while an expression of sympathy crept over her lovely
+face.
+
+"My father owes him for a fine pair of mules, just bought," the girl
+resumed, a look of scorn gleaming in here eyes, "and Beppo will call the
+debt square if I marry him. I will not be exchanged for brutes--I will
+not be sold like a slave, and to one I hate and loathe, and I fly from
+him," she concluded, indignantly, the rich blood mounting to her
+forehead.
+
+"Where are you going?" questioned the other, eagerly.
+
+"To Monaco, to find service in some family, as maid or nurse, until I
+can earn money to go to some school to learn to study," was the earnest
+reply.
+
+"You are not an Italian?" the fair stranger said, inquiringly.
+
+The girl shook her head, a sneer curling her red lips.
+
+Evidently to be an Italian was not very desirable in her estimation.
+
+"My mother is Swiss, my own father was French," she briefly answered.
+
+"Ah! that is how you happen to be so light and to speak the French
+language. Will you tell me your name?"
+
+"You will not betray me? You will not set them on my track, if I tell
+you?" said the peasant girl, apparently longing to confide in the
+beautiful maiden, but secretly questioning the wisdom of so doing.
+
+"Surely not. Am I not flying from trouble also? Besides, I am going to
+another country," was the reassuring reply.
+
+"I am Lisette Vermilet," the girl then said. "I am eighteen years old. I
+have worked from sunrise till sunset every day for seven long years, in
+the field, in the vineyard, or the dairy, ever since my poor, foolish
+mother married her tyrant husband. I do it no more. I take care of
+myself and be no man's slave, and I marry whom I will, when the right
+one and the right time come. But first," she continued, eagerly, her
+face lightning with intense longing, "I study; I learn about the world
+and other things, like some lovely French girls I saw at Mentone last
+year, who told me all about the flowers, the birds, the earth, and the
+sea. Oh! I weep when I think of how much there is to know, and I have
+lost it all--all!" and her voice grew tremulous with repressed feeling
+as she concluded.
+
+"Poor child! you surely ought to have an education if you want it so
+much," said her sympathetic listener, in a kindly tone, while she
+regarded the girl's eager face almost affectionately. "But are you not
+afraid that your cruel step-father will go after you and bring you
+back?"
+
+"Tasso Simone would beat me black and blue if he should catch me," she
+said, with a shiver, as if she recalled some experience of the kind.
+"Ah! if I had but a disguise he would not know me--I get away better."
+
+A bright idea seemed suddenly to strike her companion, for her face
+lighted eagerly.
+
+"Let us exchange clothing," she exclaimed, "then no one will recognize
+either of us."
+
+"Ah! but the signorina has such beautiful clothes, while mine are so
+poor," sighed Lisette, in a deprecatory tone, but with a wistful glance
+over the daintily made traveling suit, at the tasteful hat, and
+expensive boots which her companion wore.
+
+"Never mind; yours are neat and whole, and no one would ever think of
+looking for me in them, while you will be much more likely to succeed in
+eluding your cruel father in mine," the young stranger persisted.
+
+"The signorina is very kind," Lisette said, gratefully, as, with an
+impulsive movement, she bent forward and kissed the fair white hand that
+lay within her reach, while it seemed to her simple heart that she
+should feel like a princess in that lovely dark-grey cloth dress, with
+its daintily stitched bands of blue silk.
+
+Alas! she did not dream that it was to become her shroud.
+
+Yes, as has doubtless been surmised, it was Violet whom Lisette Vermilet
+had found lying asleep upon the pile of sea-weed in the fisherman's
+shed.
+
+After refusing to admit her sister to her room on the night previous to
+the day appointed for her wedding, she had continued her occupation of
+writing for some time. When she was through she read over what she had
+written, and then deliberately tore it into atoms.
+
+"No, I will not tell them anything," she muttered, with a frown; "I will
+just go and leave no trace behind me. It may seem unkind to Lord
+Cameron, but some time I will explain it all."
+
+She then arose and dressed herself in her traveling suit, tied a
+dark-blue vail about her face, and brought a thick shawl from her
+closet. She then began to lay out a change of clothing and her toilet
+articles, but suddenly stopped in the midst of her work.
+
+"No, I will not burden myself with anything," she murmured,
+thoughtfully. "I am not strong, and I need all the strength I have to
+get myself away; besides, I can easily buy what I need in any town."
+
+She hastily drew on her gloves, without observing that the rings, which
+she usually wore and which she prized very highly, were still lying upon
+her cushion where she had left them before taking her bath. She did not
+even think to take her watch, which she sadly missed and regretted
+afterward; her only thought was to get away as quickly as possible from
+all danger of violating her conscience and of wronging a noble and
+generous man.
+
+She then put out her light and sat alone in the darkness, waiting for
+the house to become quiet so that she could steal forth unobserved.
+
+Two hours passed, all in the house seemed to be at rest, and she
+noiselessly crept out of a window upon the piazza, made her way swiftly
+around the house to where a flight of stairs led to the ground, and then
+sped away in the darkness, with no definite idea whither she was going.
+
+She took the highway leading away from Mentone, because she dreaded lest
+some one should meet and accost her in the town. She had a dim idea that
+if she could get to San Remo, which was about twelve miles east of
+Mentone, she could take a train going north without being discovered,
+and accordingly she bent her footsteps in this direction.
+
+Her way led along the cliffs overhanging the sea, before mentioned, and
+how she, to whom the way was entirely strange, should have escaped the
+fate which every one afterward supposed to have been hers was wondered.
+But escape it she did, and after safely passing this perilous point she
+descended the hill, and then the road closely followed the beach for
+some distance.
+
+Here she came upon the rude hut, or shelter, which has been described,
+and being foot-sore and weary with her long walk, she spread her shawl
+upon a mass of sea-weed which she found in one corner, and throwing
+herself upon it soon fell into a profound slumber, from which she was
+awakened by the light touch of Lisette Vermilet.
+
+With this brief explanation of Violet's flight, we will return to the
+two girls who were discussing a change of apparel.
+
+Violet was much strengthened by the food which she had eaten and greatly
+refreshed by her nap, while she was encouraged by the presence of the
+young girl, who was also, strangely enough, flying from a fate similar
+to her own.
+
+She overcame the scruples of Lisette, and insisting upon the plan she
+had proposed, the two girls, under cover of that rude shed, made the
+exchange, Violet declaring that every article be transferred in order to
+make the disguise more complete. She only reserved her shawl, as, in
+traveling, she knew she would need it.
+
+"Now," she said, when their task was completed, "can you tell me the
+best way to get north. I am going to England, and from there to America,
+and I want to get away from this region as soon as possible."
+
+"Mademoiselle would do well to come with me to Mentone and take a train
+from there," Lisette replied.
+
+"Oh, I could not do that," Violet cried. "I have just come from Mentone,
+and would not go back there for anything."
+
+It will be observed that she had refrained from saying much about
+herself thus far, for she did not wish even this simple girl to know the
+circumstances which had caused her flight.
+
+Lisette thought a minute, then she told her to go on to a village about
+a mile distant, where, in a couple of hours, a train would make a brief
+stop at a crossing.
+
+This, she said, would bear her back in the same direction she had come,
+but she could go on to Nice, where she could take an express direct for
+Paris.
+
+Violet, much as she dreaded passing through Mentone again, saw that this
+would be the wisest course to pursue, and decided that she would follow
+the girl's advice.
+
+"You will not betray that you have met me, if any one should question
+you, and you will keep out of sight of people in Mentone as much as
+possible," Violet pleaded.
+
+"Surely I will not betray you, signorina, and I will not show myself by
+daylight in Mentone," Lisette said, earnestly, "and you will get away
+without any trouble, for a peasant girl can go about alone in this
+country where an English lady could not. Take courage, signorina;
+nothing will harm you, and may the Holy Virgin go with you."
+
+"I feel anxious about your passing through Mentone," Violet said. "If
+you should be seen there tomorrow you would surely be stopped, for my
+clothing would instantly be recognized by those who will search for me;
+they would compel you to tell where and how you met me, and then they
+would telegraph ahead and have me stopped."
+
+"Do not fear, signorina," Lisette responded. "I shall pass through
+Mentone before light, for I am a rapid walker. I go straight to Monaco,
+and seek service in some French family going to Paris."
+
+Violet looked relieved at this.
+
+"Have you money?" she asked.
+
+"I have forty francs, signorina. I have saved for eighteen months every
+sou I could get."
+
+Eighteen months saving eight dollars!
+
+Violet regarded the girl with sorrowful astonishment.
+
+"That is very little; let me give you some more," she cried, and eagerly
+opening her well-filled purse, counted out some gold-pieces amounting to
+fifty francs more.
+
+"No, signorina, not a sou," Lisette returned, firmly, as she waved back
+Violet's extended hand. "My heart is heavy now with all you have done
+for me--giving me these beautiful clothes in exchange for a poor
+peasant's dress. I cannot take your money."
+
+"Please," persisted Violet. "I have plenty, and can easily spare you
+this."
+
+But the girl made a proud gesture of dissent.
+
+"The signorina must go; and I must get on also," she said, gravely.
+"Keep to the straight road until you come to the track in the village.
+You can get no ticket, but the guard will charge you a couple of francs
+for your fare. Adieu, signorina."
+
+She was about turning away, when Violet stopped her.
+
+"Lisette," she said, holding out her hand, "good-by. You have been very
+kind to me, and I shall always remember you kindly. I hope we shall meet
+again some time."
+
+Tears were in Lisette's eyes as she responded in a similar strain, and
+then led Violet from the shed.
+
+"That way, go; adieu!" she said, pointing eastward; then raising the
+hand she held, she pressed her lips impulsively to it and dropped it.
+
+With a softly breathed farewell in response, Violet turned and walked
+quickly away, while Lisette went back into the shed, put out her candle
+and threw the end away, after which she turned in the opposite direction
+and began to climb the steep hills or cliffs, along which the highway
+led toward Mentone.
+
+Violet went on her way in the darkness, her heart beating rapidly with
+fear lest she should encounter some rude fisherman or peasant who would
+stop and question her.
+
+She was foot-sore and weary long before she came in sight of the
+village, for a mile was a long distance to her unaccustomed muscles,
+while Lisette's heavy shoes hurt her tender feet sorely.
+
+But, guided by the lights along the railroad track, she found her way to
+the crossing the girl had told, her about, and, sinking down upon a pile
+of sleepers by the road-bed, she uttered a sigh of relief that she had
+reached the end of her long walk.
+
+She did not have a great while to wait, for presently the cars came
+thundering along, and soon she was on the train for Nice, whence she
+took an express for Paris. Now she felt safe from pursuit, as she was
+being whirled northward at the rate of forty miles an hour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+VIOLET RETURNS TO AMERICA.
+
+
+Meanwhile the kind-hearted peasant girl, Lisette, feeling as if she had
+suddenly been changed into another being by some good fairy--and she
+certainly looked like a different person, clad as she was like a
+lady--was walking at a swinging pace toward Mentone, and--her doom.
+
+She intended to walk until the day began to dawn, and then beg a ride to
+Monaco in one of the market-carts which made daily trips from the
+country to that city.
+
+It was still very dark, and the road, which lay up a steep hill, was
+very narrow, and ran dangerously near the cliffs which overhung the sea.
+
+The girl had worked very hard the previous day, while she had slept none
+that night, for she had been too much excited, over the thought of
+leaving her home, to rest, and she now began to experience a feeling of
+weariness and languor stealing over her. It was the reaction coming on,
+while added to that was a feeling of dread and loneliness over the
+uncertainty of the future.
+
+More than this, she found the boots, which Violet had insisted must go
+with the rest of her costume, were too tight to be comfortable, and this
+greatly impeded her progress.
+
+She climbed to the top of the cliffs and there sat down by the road-side
+upon a huge bowlder, where she had rested many a time before, to recover
+herself a little before going on.
+
+The stone was an irregular one, with a projection which formed a support
+for her back, and leaning against this, she was overcome by weariness
+before she knew it and fell into a sound sleep.
+
+It did not seem as if ten minutes had elapsed since she sat down, though
+in reality it was more than half an hour when the sound of a galloping
+horse aroused her.
+
+She started to her feet, a cry of terror and dismay breaking from her.
+It was still so dark that she could see nothing any distance away, but
+the sound of that swiftly advancing horse made her heart beat with
+fearful throbs.
+
+Was it some pursuer coming in search of her?
+
+Had her flight been discovered at home, and was her tyrannical
+step-father coming to force her back into wearisome servitude? or, worse
+yet, to sell her to another man equally brutal and unkind?
+
+She started to flee, but, not being able to clearly distinguish the
+road, while she was sadly bewildered by having been so suddenly aroused
+from her sleep, she turned in the wrong direction and made straight for
+the edge of the cliff.
+
+It was very strange--as familiar as she was with every inch of the
+ground between her home and Mentone--that she could have become so
+confused and lost as to her location, and it was only when she caught
+the ominous sound of the washing of the waves against the rocks below
+that she became conscious of her danger.
+
+But she was rushing at such headlong speed she could not save herself; a
+low shuddering cry of terror burst from her lips as she suddenly lost
+her balance; there was a short interval of silence, followed by a heavy
+splash in the waters below, then the waves closed over the unfortunate
+girl, and the ocean held the secret of her fate, as well as of Violet's
+mysterious disappearance.
+
+The cliff was very high at that point, and projected considerably over
+the sea, which was very deep just there.
+
+The girl sank at once to the bottom, and her clothing probably becoming
+entangled among the rocks, her body was held there for some weeks, and
+only disturbed and washed far below to the point where the fishermen had
+found it after a storm of considerable violence.
+
+It was, of course, unrecognizable, but every article which she wore
+tended to prove that she was Vane Cameron's lost bride-elect. As such he
+claimed her, without a doubt as to her identity, and, as we already
+know, laid her to rest beneath the shadow of the venerable beech in one
+corner of the church-yard at Mentone.
+
+Lisette's parents never once suspected what her fate had been.
+
+Upon discovering that she had fled, her iron-hearted master had started
+in search of her, vowing that she should pay dearly for daring to run
+away from him, and the future that he had planned for her.
+
+He learned that a peasant girl, answering to her description, had
+boarded the westward-bound train at the village, in the early morning,
+and had left it again at Nice.
+
+He hastened hither at once, and was told that such a girl had been seen
+in the waiting-room of the station; but further than that he could get
+no trace of her, and was finally obliged to return to his home, where,
+upon the other members of his family, he vented his disappointment and
+anger over the loss of such valuable help.
+
+The mother, who was far superior to her husband in every way, grieved
+long and bitterly over the loss of her first-born, but it was many
+months before she learned the truth regarding her untimely end.
+
+                           *  *  *  *  *  *
+
+Violet's journey to Paris was accomplished with very little weariness
+and nothing of incident. Her first business upon reaching the French
+metropolis was to go to a lady's furnishing house, where she purchased a
+simple but comfortable outfit, after which she proceeded to a
+respectable _pension_, which she had heard highly recommended by some
+Americans whom she had met in London.
+
+It was fortunate that she had a liberal supply of money in her
+possession. She had never been stinted, for it was supposed that she was
+the heir to a large fortune, and a certain income was paid to her
+quarterly. Since she had been joined by her sister and her husband she
+had not had occasion to use much money, as Mr. Mencke had settled all
+her bills, and she had several hundred dollars in her possession at the
+time of her flight.
+
+This fact, together with the discovery that she could find a very safe
+and pleasant home for a time in the _pension_, where she was stopping,
+somewhat changed her original plan of returning directly to America, and
+she resolved to remain in Paris a while for the purpose of perfecting
+herself more fully in French, and also to take a few finishing lessons
+in music, for she had determined to make use of these branches in
+supporting herself in the future.
+
+She threw her whole heart into her work, and few people would have
+recognized in this grave, studious girl, the bright, laughing, care-free
+Violet who had been such a favorite among her friends in Cincinnati the
+year previous.
+
+She put herself under the best of teachers, and made the most of her
+time and opportunities; thus nearly four months slipped by, and then she
+resolved to go home to America.
+
+It was the last of September when she left Paris for London, where she
+remained several days to make preparations for her voyage, before
+proceeding to Glasgow to take the steamer, she having decided to sail
+from there, because she could obtain a comfortable passage at cheaper
+rates on the Anchor Line, and it was now becoming necessary for her to
+husband her funds a little.
+
+It was the fifth of October when she left London for Glasgow, and it was
+her face that Wallace had seen looking from that carriage window as he
+was detained for a few minutes by a blockade in the street.
+
+Violet, however, was wholly unconscious of her proximity to her
+lover--or her husband, as we now know him to be. She was deeply absorbed
+in her own thoughts, and was gazing at nothing in particular; therefore,
+the carriage that she was in had passed Lord Cameron's without her
+having a suspicion that she had attracted the attention of any one.
+
+She was driven on to the Midland Grand station, where she took a train
+for Glasgow, and that evening boarded the Circassia for New York, where
+she arrived eleven days later--three days after the return of Wallace,
+who had sailed on a faster vessel.
+
+One can imagine something of the loneliness and desolation which this
+young and delicately reared girl experienced upon finding herself adrift
+and an utter stranger in that great city and with but little money in
+her purse.
+
+She longed to learn the circumstances of Wallace's supposed death, her
+grief over which had been newly aroused on returning to her native land.
+
+She had known before leaving for Europe that he had received an offer of
+partnership with some New York architect; but he had not mentioned the
+name of the gentleman before she left, and not having received any of
+his letters, she did not know whether he had closed with the offer, and
+therefore, did not know where to go to make any inquiries relative to
+his movements after her departure.
+
+She dare not go to Cincinnati to ascertain--she dare not write to ask
+anything about him, for she was determined that her sister should not
+know where she was. She had become entirely alienated by her unkindness,
+and felt that she would much prefer to toil for her daily bread than to
+go back to her and be subject to her arbitrary control again.
+
+"There are hundreds of girls as young as I, even younger, who have to
+support themselves, and I believe I am just as capable of earning my own
+living," she mused, considering her future. "At any rate, I am
+determined to make the trial, and if I find I cannot earn a living there
+will be time enough then to appeal to the court to appoint a different
+guardian for me, and demand my money from Wilhelm."
+
+The poor child had yet to learn that there was no money to demand.
+
+She found a quiet, respectable boarding-place a few days after her
+arrival in New York, and then took time by the forelock, by inserting
+the following advertisement in two of the daily papers:
+
+    A LADY, JUST RETURNED FROM EUROPE,
+    and fitted to teach music and French, would like
+    a few pupils. Address H, at this office.
+
+Two days thereafter Violet received a single letter in answer to her
+advertisement, and it read thus:
+
+    "If H. will call at No. ---- Fifth avenue, she
+    may learn something to her advantage."
+
+Violet was greatly disappointed to receive only one response; but she
+argued that one pupil might open the way for others; so she dressed
+herself with great care, took her music-roll under her arm, and made her
+way to the address mentioned.
+
+"No. ---- Fifth avenue" proved to be a palatial residence, with the name
+Lawrence gleaming in silver letters upon the door, and Violet's heart
+sank a little as she mounted the marble steps, for she feared that she
+might not be competent to teach in an aristocratic family such as
+doubtless inhabited this elegant mansion.
+
+Her ring was answered by a colored servant, in livery to whom she stated
+her errand, giving him her card, whereupon she was ushered into a
+reception-room upon the right of a magnificent hall.
+
+Everything about her bespoke unlimited wealth, while the most perfect
+taste was displayed in the harmonizing tints of everything, the costly
+pictures, statuettes, bric-a-brac, and curios.
+
+Ten minutes elapsed. It seemed an age to anxious Violet; then the rich
+draperies of the archway leading into the hall were swept aside, and a
+tall, finely proportioned man of perhaps fifty years entered her
+presence.
+
+He was distinguished-looking, with clear-cut features, an intelligent,
+expressive eye, and a grandly shaped head; but there was a worn look on
+his brow, a sad and anxious expression on his face that bespoke care and
+sorrow.
+
+"Miss Huntington, I presume," he remarked, bowing gravely yet
+courteously to her, as he glanced at the card which she had sent him by
+the servant.
+
+"Yes, sir," Violet replied, and taking the letter, which she had
+received that morning, from her hand-bag, she passed it to him, while
+she added: "I have come to inquire if I am to find a pupil here. I
+judged that such must be the fact, since the letter was in response to
+my advertisement."
+
+Mr. Lawrence did not reply immediately; he seemed to be studying the
+beautiful girl before him--the sad though lovely face, which was crowned
+with such a mass of gleaming gold; the graceful figure, in its simple
+but tasteful costume, while the small hand, so neatly incased in its
+perfectly fitting glove, and the little foot, in its natty walking-boot,
+did not escape his observation.
+
+It was easy to perceive that he was favorably impressed by his fair
+visitor, for when he did speak, he was more kind and courteous than
+before.
+
+"I was impressed, Miss Huntington, when I read your advertisement, that
+you were a young lady in search of employment," he said; "and as I am
+also looking for some young lady to fill a vacancy, it occurred to me
+that, although you had advertised for 'pupils,' you might be
+persuaded--if we should be mutually pleased with each other--to devote
+yourself to one, provided the remuneration were sufficient."
+
+"Ah! you are looking for a governess," Violet remarked, with a quiet
+smile, and in no wise displeased by the proposition.
+
+"Not a governess, according to the common acceptation of the term," the
+gentleman returned, in a sad tone. "But let me tell you exactly how I am
+situated, and what I desire; then you can decide as to the desirability
+of the position. I have a daughter," Mr. Lawrence resumed, after a
+moment of thought, "who is in her twelfth year. She is blind----"
+
+"Blind!" repeated Violet, in such a tender, sympathetic tone, and with
+such a compassionate glance that her companion's face lighted with a
+grateful smile.
+
+"Yes," he answered, "she was born totally blind. It is a peculiar case,
+and I have been told there is only one other on record like it. It is
+called cataract of the lens; but when my child was nine months old a
+noted oculist, whom we consulted, thought that an operation might be
+performed which would at least give her a portion of her sight. Of
+course, I was willing to consent to anything that would mitigate, even
+to the smallest extent, her heavy affliction. The cataracts were
+punctured through the pupils, and she saw, very faintly at first, but,
+as time elapsed and the cataracts began to be absorbed, her sight
+strengthened somewhat. Her sight is very limited, however; she can see
+to get about the house, and distinguishes objects of any size with the
+aid of glasses, but not well enough to read, and whatever she learns is
+taught by reading aloud to her. She has a remarkable memory, as most
+blind people have, I believe, and she is extremely fond of music, both
+vocal and instrumental. Do you sing, Miss Huntington?" Mr. Lawrence
+asked, suddenly breaking in upon his account of his little daughter's
+condition.
+
+"Yes, sir, I have spent more time upon vocal culture than upon
+instrumental music," Violet responded, and this assurance drew forth a
+smile of approbation from her host.
+
+"I have had many governesses for her," the gentleman resumed, "and she
+has spent two years in an institution for the blind, though for the last
+six months I have been obliged myself to teach her all that she has
+learned. And now I come to the most trying portion of my story," he
+added, a slight flush tinging his face. "I feel it is only right that I
+should be perfectly frank with you in the matter, and so feel obliged to
+tell you that Bertha possesses a very strong, an almost indomitable
+will, and there are times when she becomes sullen and unmanageable. She
+will not study, she will not practice, or do anything which she imagines
+is required of her; and thus, for a time, the whole household is in a
+most uncomfortable state; for while she refuses obedience to others, she
+is equally insistent upon requiring instant compliance with all her
+demands. When the fit passes she is again gentle, merry and lovable.
+Now, my object in sending for you Miss Huntington, was, providing I was
+favorably impressed with you, to ask if you would consent to devote all
+your time to one pupil instead of several. The position will require a
+steady, persistent, even temperament--one of mingled gentleness and
+firmness--and I believe I see lines of decision in your face; you have a
+strong will, have you not?"
+
+"I have been told that I have," Violet replied, smiling, "but"--growing
+very grave again--"whether I possess firmness sufficient to cope with
+the will you have described, I cannot say. I have never had any
+experience in the government of children; but I should say that tact
+would prove more effective in the management of your daughter than an
+obstinate insistence regarding obedience."
+
+Mr. Lawrence's face lighted at this remark.
+
+"That is the wisest observation that I have ever heard any governess
+make regarding the control of Bertha," he said. "Miss Huntington, will
+you make a trial of it for a while?"
+
+Still Violet looked grave. She felt that the responsibility would be a
+great one, and she trembled for the result.
+
+Yet her sympathies were enlisted both for this careworn, perplexed
+father, and for his afflicted child, while, too, the idea of a
+permanent, pleasant home was an attractive feature to her.
+
+"Money would be no object," Mr. Lawrence continued, as she did not
+reply, "if the right person could be obtained, and if you could but
+achieve a strong influence over the child and sway her by tact, or by
+any other method, I would gladly give you any price you choose to name.
+Somehow I feel impelled to urge you to come to us--the very fact that
+you hesitate to accept the position assures me that you are wise in the
+consideration of all projects."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+VIOLET MAKES AN ENGAGEMENT.
+
+
+Violet was deeply touched by the sad account to which she had listened.
+It seemed very hard that this poor child, who lived amid all this
+luxury, and who was surrounded with everything to make life delightful,
+should be so deprived of the enjoyment of it, and the young girl's heart
+yearned toward the unfortunate little heiress; her eyes grew moist and
+tender with pity; her face shone with a sincere sympathy, and the
+anxious father, as he watched her, felt an increasing desire to secure
+her services for his afflicted daughter.
+
+"I fear that I am too young and inexperienced to assume such a
+responsibility," Violet began, at length. "Truth compels me to tell you
+frankly that I have never taught, and that only recent reverses have
+driven me to the necessity of earning my own living. Do you think that
+Miss Bertha's mother would approve----"
+
+She checked herself suddenly, for the expression of pain which swept
+over her companion's face warned her that she had touched upon a tender
+subject.
+
+"I should have told you, to begin with, Miss Huntington, that Bertha has
+no mother--she died at the time of Bertha's birth, and my poor little
+girl has had to grow up without a mother's love or care," Mr. Lawrence
+replied, with evident emotion. "As far as your youthfulness is
+concerned," he resumed, after a moment of thought, "I am inclined to
+think that it is in your favor, and that you will succeed better with
+Bertha on that account. I am afraid that I have made a mistake
+heretofore in employing companions who were too mature to sympathize
+with her in her childish tastes and desires, as a younger person would
+perhaps have done. If you should decide in favor of the position, you
+would of course reside here with us, and your time would be chiefly
+occupied with Bertha, for she needs constant care. I would like her to
+have regular lessons--by that I mean you would have to read aloud what
+she was to learn, and talk it over with her until it became fixed in her
+memory. Then--your advertisement stated that you desired pupils in
+French; do you speak the language readily?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I have studied years under a native teacher, while, during
+most of the past year I was abroad, the last four months I spent in
+Paris and devoted exclusively to perfecting myself in music and French."
+
+"I am gratified to learn that," Mr. Lawrence said, "because I wish
+Bertha to be able to speak French as readily as she can English, as I
+intend to take her abroad at no distant day--to Paris--to see if
+something more cannot be done to improve her sight. As for music, you
+will have no difficulty in teaching her that, for the child is
+passionately fond of it, and is never so happy as when she is at the
+piano or organ. You perceive that you would have to be both teacher and
+companion--I hope I do not frighten you with all these requirements,
+Miss Huntington," the gentleman interposed, smiling, "but I wish you to
+fully understand, at the outset, what your duties will be. Do you object
+to giving up your plan of having a number of pupils and taking one
+instead?"
+
+"Oh, no," Violet answered, thoughtfully; "I think, on the whole, that I
+should prefer to do so, if I were sure of my competency for the
+position. It appears a great responsibility to have the care and
+training of a motherless girl like Miss Bertha."
+
+"Are you fond of children?" Mr. Lawrence inquired.
+
+Violet's face lighted, as she replied:
+
+"Yes, indeed, although I have been very little with them during my life;
+while my heart goes forth with a strange yearning toward your little
+daughter, and I believe I would really like to devote myself to her--at
+least, make the trial--and see if I cannot make the time pass agreeably
+and profitably to her."
+
+Mr. Lawrence was very much gratified at this response. He saw that
+Violet was wholly sincere in what she said, while her apparent sympathy
+for his afflicted child touched him deeply.
+
+"I am very much pleased to hear you say that," he remarked, with a
+genial smile, and Violet was greatly surprised that he did not ask for
+references regarding either her character or qualifications. "Now, would
+you like to see Bertha?" he asked. "I suppose we shall be obliged to
+secure her sanction to this arrangement, for, to be perfectly frank with
+you, her intuitions are very keen; she is a child of strong likes and
+dislikes, and unless she is favorably impressed with a person, it is
+almost impossible for that one to influence her."
+
+Violet's heart sank at this, for if her future was to be governed by the
+capricious fancies of a willful child, she feared that a very trying
+experience lay before her.
+
+Nevertheless she signified her desire to see this young autocrat, who
+appeared to exercise such supreme control in that household. Rising, she
+followed Mr. Lawrence from the room, up a wide, richly carpeted
+stair-way, to a large, sunny apartment which overlooked the busy street.
+
+It was a very pleasant room, and furnished with every luxury and device
+to amuse, that the most exacting nature could desire.
+
+In a large, richly upholstered chair, by one of the windows, sat a very
+pretty girl of about twelve years. She had a clear, beautiful
+complexion, with brown hair, rather massive features for one so young,
+but upon which there were plainly written great strength of will and
+decision of character; yet there was a sweet expression about her mouth
+which bespoke a loving nature, and at once attracted Violet.
+
+Her eyes were blue, but it was evident that they were very defective in
+sight, though they were partially concealed by the glasses which she
+wore.
+
+She was amusing herself with some gayly dressed dolls that lay upon
+another chair in front of her, while a maid sat near by, engaged in
+dressing another.
+
+The child looked up eagerly as the door opened, for she had recognized
+her father's step; her lips wreathed with fond smiles, which plainly
+indicated that she was devotedly attached to him.
+
+"Why, papa!" she exclaimed, in a tone of surprise; "I didn't know that
+you were at home. Did you bring me some candy? Who is that with you?"
+she added, quickly, as she caught the sound of Violet's light steps.
+
+"I have brought you something far better than candy," her father
+responded, with a tender note in his voice; "I have invited a young lady
+to come up to see you. Miss Huntington, this is my little daughter,
+Bertha."
+
+"Come here, Miss Huntington!" the child said, imperatively, and Violet
+went at once to her side, greeting her in her gentle voice.
+
+"You are very good to come to see me," the child said, more courteously
+than she had previously spoken, for Violet's sweet tones had attracted
+her. "I like your voice. Put your face down and let me see it."
+
+Violet knelt beside her chair, thus bringing her face on a level with
+Bertha's.
+
+The young girl strained her gaze to get a view of it, but this not
+proving satisfactory, she passed her fingers lightly over Violet's
+delicate features, their touch lingering longest upon her sweet lips.
+
+"You are lovely," she said, naively, after the examination. "Are you one
+of papa's especial friends?"
+
+Violet smiled, and a dash of exquisite color shot into her cheeks at the
+form of the question.
+
+"No, dear; I am simply here to ascertain if I will be a suitable
+governess and companion for you," she answered, thinking it best to come
+to the point at once.
+
+"Oh!" and Miss Bertha's tone changed instantly. Evidently the subject of
+a governess was not an acceptable one to her. "I hate governesses; they
+are stiff and proper. Do you get cross and ill-natured when little girls
+don't mind you, Miss Huntington?"
+
+Violet laughed out in her musical, merry way at this personal question.
+
+"Because if you do," the child went on, gravely, "I don't want you. All
+my governesses have been cross and wouldn't let me do as I want to. What
+a nice smile you have!" she rambled on, her fingers lingering
+caressingly about Violet's mouth, "and you laugh out so prettily I like
+to hear it. You are pretty and--and nice, aren't you?"
+
+"Perhaps it would be just as well, dear, not to discuss those points at
+present," Violet returned, with some embarrassment, for Mr. Lawrence's
+smiling eyes told her that he fully concurred in his daughter's admiring
+remarks; "but I hope I could never be cross or ill-natured toward any
+little girl," and the sudden tenderness that leaped into her tone seemed
+to add, as plainly as words could have done, "who could not see."
+
+"I reckon you are nice," said Bertha, reflectively. "Do you like dolls?"
+she asked, as she laid her hand upon the group in her lap.
+
+"Yes, indeed," and Violet laughed and flushed consciously. "Do you
+know," she added, confidentially, "after I became so old that I was
+ashamed to be seen playing with them, I used to beg to be allowed to
+dress them for fairs and for the children of my friends? Of course under
+those circumstances I could not be accused of playing with them, and
+yet, between you and me, I had a very nice time with them."
+
+Violet thereupon began making some inquiries regarding the doll family
+before her, and quite an entertaining conversation was kept up for
+several minutes, greatly to the amusement of Mr. Lawrence and the maid,
+who had never before seen a would-be-governess put herself so _en
+rapport_ with her prospective pupil. They had always seemed to think
+they must be "stiff" and "proper," as Bertha had said.
+
+"Do you play the organ and piano, and can you sing?" Bertha inquired,
+eagerly, after the subject of dolls had been exhausted.
+
+"Yes; would you like me to play you something?" Violet asked, as she
+began to draw off her gloves.
+
+"Yes, yes!" cried the child, an earnest look of expectation and pleasure
+flashing into her face.
+
+Violet went directly to a fine Steinway piano that was in the room, and
+without the slightest consciousness or embarrassment, thinking only of
+contributing to the young girl's employment, played a couple of
+selections with great expression and correctness.
+
+"Now sing," commanded Miss Bertha, upon the conclusion of the second
+piece; and Violet sang a lovely little ballad in her clear, pure,
+cultivated tones.
+
+There was not a sound in the room until the last note died away; then
+Bertha exclaimed, in a voice that thrilled with feeling:
+
+"Oh, that was beautiful!"
+
+Violet glanced at her, and saw that great tears were rolling down her
+cheeks, and she told herself that there must be much of good in a nature
+that could be so affected by music.
+
+She could easily perceive that she had a strong will and was of a
+somewhat arbitrary temperament; but she believed that she had been
+antagonized and confirmed in these faults by unwise government.
+
+She went again to her side, saying in a tender tone:
+
+"You are fond of music, aren't you, dear?" and as she spoke she gently
+wiped her tears away with her own dainty handkerchief.
+
+The child, moved by some sudden impulse, caught her hand and kissed it
+passionately.
+
+"I like you, Miss Huntington, and you shall stay with me!" she cried.
+
+"Bertha," interposed her father, reprovingly, "you should not speak in
+such a way, and that is a matter which Miss Huntington will have to
+decide for herself."
+
+"Will you stay?" urged Bertha, appealingly, and still clinging to the
+hand she had kissed.
+
+"Yes, dear, if you think that you could be happy with me," Violet
+answered, and Bertha asserted confidently that she could--that she
+should be unhappy without her, while she promised that she would "be
+good" and attentive to her lessons; that she would even "try real hard"
+to learn the multiplication table, which had hitherto been a sharp thorn
+in the flesh, and a bone of contention between herself and her former
+governesses.
+
+Mr. Lawrence was very much pleased to observe how readily Violet
+appeared to acquire an influence over the willful, headstrong girl, who
+had in every previous instance rebelled against the engagement of a
+governess, and he felt that he would be very fortunate in securing her
+services.
+
+"I am exceedingly gratified that you are willing to undertake the
+charge," he said, gratefully.
+
+"I almost wonder at your willingness to trust her to me," Violet
+answered, smiling, yet her lips quivered slightly, for it seemed like a
+very sacred charge to her.
+
+"On account of youth and inexperience, I suppose," he returned; then
+added, reassuringly: "But, as I said before, I believe that will be in
+your favor, although I warn you that you will have to exercise firmness
+and judgment at all times. But when can you come to us, Miss
+Huntington?"
+
+"Whenever you wish," she replied.
+
+"At once?--to-morrow?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I have but to give up my lodgings and have my trunk removed."
+
+"That will be perfectly delightful, papa," Bertha exclaimed, eagerly,
+"and you will sing and play to me; you will amuse me every day, will you
+not, Miss Huntington?"
+
+"Yes, to a reasonable extent; but, in return, you will try faithfully to
+learn all that I wish to teach you?" stipulated Violet.
+
+"Yes, I will try," the child said, earnestly, as she again pressed her
+lips to Violet's hand.
+
+"Now, my pet, you will have to excuse us," said Mr. Lawrence, rising. "I
+have a few more arrangements to make with Miss Huntington, and we must
+not detain her longer."
+
+"I wish you did not need to go at all," Bertha said, wistfully.
+
+"Perhaps you will be wishing to send me away before a great while,"
+Violet remarked, with a quiet laugh.
+
+"No, indeed; I am sure I shall never want to give you up," persisted the
+child, confidently.
+
+Violet bent to kiss the sweet face upraised to hers, and then followed
+Mr. Lawrence from the room, having first promised to "come early
+to-morrow."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+VIOLET AND HER UNRULY PUPIL.
+
+
+Mr. Lawrence led Violet back to the reception-room below, remarking, as
+he courteously rolled a chair forward for her:
+
+"I cannot tell you how pleased I am, Miss Huntington, with the cordial
+reception that Bertha has given you. It is seldom that she is so
+strongly attracted by a stranger, and if you can but retain your
+influence over her I am sure you cannot fail to do her good. I know that
+you will not be easily discouraged."
+
+"To be 'forewarned is to be forearmed,' you know, sir," Violet smilingly
+responded; then she added more seriously, and with a firmness which told
+her companion that she was far from lacking in decision of character:
+"As I have already told you, I know but very little about teaching and
+less about governing, from personal experience, but, while I mean to do
+my duty faithfully and be all that is kind or considerate toward Miss
+Bertha, I believe it will be better for both of us, if I insist upon
+obedience and a cheerful compliance with my wishes--upon a regular
+routine, during certain hours of the day, after which I shall be pleased
+to attend to her pleasure and amusement."
+
+Mr. Lawrence's smile told Violet that he approved of the course which
+she had suggested, even before he replied:
+
+"I agree with you most heartily, Miss Huntington," he said, "and if you
+can, by any means, put your theory into practice, you will succeed in
+doing more than any one else has ever done. Bertha is perfectly well and
+strong, with the exception of her imperfect sight, and she ought to have
+regular duties; but she is so willful and obstinate at times that others
+have found it impossible to make her learn her lessons. She is naturally
+affectionate and tender-hearted, and good when she is not crossed; then
+there comes a severe trial of patience. But she is always repentant and
+remorseful after her willfulness until--she is crossed again. Now, what
+will you consider adequate remuneration for the giving up of your own
+plans and assuming the responsibility which I desire to commit to you?"
+
+Violet regarded her companion with unfeigned surprise.
+
+This was a new way of making terms with a governess, she thought--to
+request her to set her own price for her services.
+
+"That is a matter which I supposed you would regulate yourself," she
+remarked, flushing slightly, "at least until we can ascertain whether I
+am to be successful in my position. I hope that Miss Bertha and I will
+get on very agreeably," she concluded, earnestly.
+
+"I feel very sure that you will," Mr. Lawrence replied, confidently. "My
+family," he continued, "consists only of my daughter, my housekeeper,
+and myself, besides the servants. I fear it may be somewhat dull for you
+here, at times, as we live so quietly; but we will endeavor to make it
+as pleasant as possible for you. We will enter into no formal contract
+at present--I would not ask you to pledge yourself to remain any length
+of time, until you have an opportunity to realize what your duties and
+responsibilities will be; but if--while you do remain--a hundred dollars
+a quarter will be sufficient for your needs, I shall consider myself
+fortunate in securing your services for that amount."
+
+"The sum will be ample, thank you," Violet returned, secretly thinking
+it a very generous offer, while she began to realize that she was also
+very fortunate in securing so pleasant a home and such a remunerative
+position, instead of having to trust to promiscuous pupils for her
+living.
+
+Still, she knew that it would be no light task to have to be eyes for
+the blind, and subject to the willfulness and obstinacy of a capricious
+and over-indulged child. That there would be many severe trials in her
+position she did not doubt, but there would also be comfort in having
+the protection of a home, and, perhaps, the occasional companionship of
+a cultured gentleman like Mr. Lawrence.
+
+She arose to take her leave now, and Mr. Lawrence himself accompanied
+her to the door instead of calling a servant to show her out.
+
+He bade her a courteous good-day, saying he should hope to see her as
+early as convenient on the morrow, and offering to send his carriage for
+her if she would give him her address.
+
+Violet thanked him, but declined his kind offer, for she was not quite
+sure at what hour she would be ready to leave her lodgings, as she had
+two or three errands to do in the morning.
+
+But about eleven o'clock the next day she arrived at her future home,
+where she found Mr. Lawrence just going to his office down town.
+
+He greeted her warmly, waiting until her trunk was brought in, and
+directed that it should be carried up to the blue room.
+
+Then, as he was about leaving he remarked, with earnest hospitality:
+
+"Pray make yourself perfectly at home, Miss Huntington, call upon the
+servants for anything you want, and command me at any time."
+
+Violet thanked him, and then followed her trunk to the blue room, which
+she found to be a lovely apartment with an alcove, adjoining Bertha's
+sitting-room, and furnished with all the comfort and elegance to which
+she had been accustomed to all her life in her own home.
+
+And now a strange, new life opened before her.
+
+Hitherto she had lived a life of ease and pleasure; with plenty of money
+at her command, she had been able to gratify every whim or caprice; in
+her luxurious home, servants had waited upon her, and she had been
+petted and indulged, and, as a general thing, allowed to have her own
+way.
+
+Now she was to serve and be subject to an arrogant and overbearing
+child.
+
+She knew that her duties would call for unlimited patience and
+self-control, and now that she found the die was cast, she was almost
+appalled to think that she had dared to assume so much.
+
+To all intents and purposes, she was alone in the world--separated and
+alienated from her sister and her husband; cut off, as she believed, by
+death, from her beloved young husband, she had no one to whom she could
+turn in any trouble or emergency.
+
+But the varied experiences of the last four months had begun to develop
+powers within her, which she had never before dreamed that she
+possessed. She had grown strong, resolute, and self-reliant in
+character; she had learned to plan for herself financially, and to feel
+that life had been given to her for some other purpose than simple
+enjoyment and pleasure.
+
+The gayety and impulsiveness which had characterized her previous to her
+troubles, had given place to a sweet and quiet dignity, a charming
+gentleness and grace which were very attractive, and so, with a brave,
+firm heart, and an unwavering trust in the strong Hand, on which she had
+begun to lean during her illness in Mrs. Richardson's home and under her
+influence, she bravely took up the burden of her lonely life, and
+resolved to do her very best in the trying position she had assumed.
+
+But she had many sad hours, nevertheless; the bright past would
+sometimes arise, like some alluring phantom to remind her of her former
+happy, care-free life, and mock her in her present loneliness and
+sorrow, and for the time being the deep waters would seem to roll over
+her soul and threaten to swamp her beneath their cruel waves.
+
+But she never yielded to such depression long--her bruised heart would
+always rise above her sorrow after a time, and turn with trusting
+confidence to the Comforter in whom her faith was every day growing
+stronger.
+
+Bertha Lawrence, as has been seen from her father's account, had been an
+over-indulged child all her life.
+
+From the hour when he had first discovered the dreadful fact that his
+motherless little girl was blind--a discovery which had nearly unsettled
+his reason--he had felt that the devotion of himself and all that he
+possessed could not make up to her for the loss of her sight, and he had
+spared nothing that would contribute to her comfort or enjoyment. He had
+literally showered luxuries and expensive gifts upon her from the very
+first, and once, when a friend had chided him for his lavishness and
+extravagance, he had replied that he "should regard a fortune as well
+spent if it would give her pleasure."
+
+This, of course, was mistaken kindness, though prompted by tenderest
+love, for pleasure and unlimited gratification palled upon her after a
+while, and this course of indulgence only developed a selfish spirit and
+an unusually strong will, which she had inherited from both parents.
+
+If she was crossed ever so lightly, a spirit of antagonism and obstinacy
+was instantly aroused, which it sometimes took days to overcome, and was
+often made worse by servile coaxing and bribing on the part of those who
+had the care of her, this being considered the easiest way to get along
+with her.
+
+Violet had a trial of this nature not very many days after she assumed
+her duties as companion, and governess, and how she met it will be
+developed.
+
+Miss Bertha always took her breakfast in her private sitting-room,
+because, as she retired early, she awoke earlier in the morning than the
+other members of the family, and it was thought best that she should not
+wait to eat with them.
+
+When Violet learned this, she at once said that she would take her
+breakfast with her charge, if it would be agreeable to her.
+
+Bertha thought this was very kind, and a delightful arrangement, and for
+a few days everything moved along harmoniously.
+
+But one morning there came a storm to dispel this unusual calm.
+
+Bertha had given orders for something that she particularly wanted for
+breakfast, but through some misunderstanding or oversight, it was not
+provided, although the table was very nicely laid with broiled chicken,
+hot rolls, Lyonnaise potatoes, and an omelet, the latter usually being a
+favorite with the young lady.
+
+"Where are my oysters?" Miss Bertha demanded, with a frown, after the
+servant had named over the various viands upon the table, and she
+discovered that her order had been ignored.
+
+"The man did not bring them, Miss Bertha," the girl answered.
+
+"But I want some broiled oysters," persisted the unreasonable child.
+
+"I am very sorry, I am sure----" began the servant, when Bertha
+interrupted her, angrily:
+
+"That doesn't make any difference; I'm going to have the oysters, and I
+shall not eat any breakfast until I get them."
+
+A threat of this kind usually resulted in somebody flying around to
+procure the desired delicacy, for the child was stubborn enough to keep
+her word, and it was believed it would never do to allow one born to
+such luxury to fast.
+
+"I am sure this is a very nice breakfast, Bertha," Violet here
+interposed. "This broiled chicken is delicious; those hot rolls are just
+a lovely brown, and the sight of that golden omelet makes my mouth
+water."
+
+But Bertha would not be coaxed--that had been tried too often already
+without avail. She threw herself back in her chair, a sullen, determined
+look on her face.
+
+"Come, dear; I am really quite hungry," persevered Violet, as she took
+her by the hand to lead her to the table.
+
+Bertha snatched it rudely away.
+
+"I do not want any breakfast," she pouted.
+
+"But it is very nice, and you can have the oysters to-morrow morning,"
+urged Violet.
+
+"I want them now. Mary, send John for them at once, and then have them
+cooked immediately," the child commanded, arbitrarily.
+
+"But, miss, it would take a long time, and you would be half famished
+before you got your breakfast," remonstrated Mary.
+
+"I don't care; I will have them!" Bertha insisted, passionately.
+
+"No, dear, not this morning," Violet said, kindly, but firmly, and
+thinking it best to take matters into her own hands and settle them once
+for all. "Mary, roll Miss Bertha's chair to the table, and we will eat
+what we have."
+
+The girl turned to obey, but Bertha struck at her, saying that she was
+to be let alone; she would not have any breakfast.
+
+Violet thought a moment; then, with a significant glance at the servant,
+she said, quietly:
+
+"Very well, Mary; if Miss Bertha does not care to eat, of course she
+need not. I will, however, have my breakfast now, as this nice chicken
+will be getting cold. You may pour out a cup of coffee for me, if you
+please."
+
+She seated herself at the table and began to help herself to the various
+viands, and entirely ignoring the presence of the sulky girl on the
+other side of the room.
+
+The servant looked very much amused at this new departure, while Bertha
+appeared speechless from astonishment.
+
+She had never been dealt with in this manner before, and did not exactly
+know how to meet such treatment.
+
+Violet was assured, and indeed Mr. Lawrence had told her, that Bertha
+was a perfectly well child; therefore, she thought it would do her no
+harm to fast, and she was not at all troubled by her refusal to eat, at
+least not more so than what the unpleasant occurrence caused her to
+feel.
+
+She proceeded quietly with her own employment, talking a little now and
+then with Mary, but not once addressing Bertha.
+
+When she finished her meal, she asked, as a matter of form merely:
+
+"Bertha, is there anything you would like from the table before Mary
+removes the service?"
+
+"No; I want my oysters," was the pouting reply.
+
+"Very well; then, Mary, you may take the things away, and you can tell
+the cook that we will have the broiled oysters to-morrow morning,"
+Violet said, composedly.
+
+Bertha lifted her head, a look of blank dismay written on every feature.
+Her face flushed an angry red, but apparently she did not know just what
+to do under the circumstances, and so continued to remain sulkily
+silent.
+
+She was too proud and obstinate to succumb and eat anything, although
+the cravings of her healthful appetite were making themselves keenly
+felt, and so the tempting breakfast was removed.
+
+When the servant finally disappeared, after brushing up and putting the
+room in order, Bertha's passion broke all bounds.
+
+She threw herself prone upon the floor, and began to cry and sob
+violently.
+
+Violet paid no attention, however, to this outbreak, but taking up a
+book, appeared to be reading, although she was so excited and troubled
+by this first conflict with her pupil that she was unconscious that her
+book was upside down.
+
+The child cried for nearly half an hour, and not one word was spoken
+during that time. At last Bertha arose from her prostrate position, and
+moved toward the electric button which governed a bell in the kitchen.
+
+"What are you going to do, Bertha?" Violet quietly asked.
+
+"I am going to have my oysters," was the sullen yet determined reply.
+
+"No, dear, you cannot have any oysters this morning; you must wait for
+them until to-morrow," Violet said, with a ring of decision in her tone
+which plainly indicated that there would be no repeal of the sentence.
+"If you are really hungry, Mary may bring you a cup of chocolate and
+some toast."
+
+"I hate chocolate and toast, and I want my breakfast. Nobody ever dared
+to treat me so before. I will have oysters," she concluded, shrieking
+out those last words passionately.
+
+Violet made no reply, and the child stood irresolute for a few moments,
+then threw herself into a chair and began to swing her feet back and
+forth violently, kicking the frame with every movement.
+
+This uncomfortable state of affairs lasted until the clock struck nine,
+when Violet laid aside her book, saying, pleasantly, and as if nothing
+unusual had happened:
+
+"Come, Bertha, it is time for our lessons."
+
+She arose and wheeled the small table, upon which their text books were
+always kept, toward the bay-window where Bertha liked to sit, and
+seating herself, took up a history and began to read aloud, as was her
+custom.
+
+"No," cried Bertha, in an irritating tone, "I am not going to have any
+lessons this morning. I want my breakfast."
+
+Violet was astonished at such persistent obstinacy in one so young; but
+she was determined that she would not yield to it. She felt that if she
+conquered in this first conflict she would be reasonably sure to come
+off victor in other encounters, while if she allowed herself to be
+beaten she might as well give up her position at once, for she would be
+able to do the child no earthly good without a curbing influence over
+her.
+
+So she went quietly on with her reading, whereupon Miss Bertha clapped
+her hands over her ears as if to shut out the sound of her teacher's
+voice.
+
+Violet was not going to waste her breath reading to the four walls, so
+she shut and laid down her book with a heavy sigh, and wondering how
+long this would last, and what she ought to do next.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+VIOLET GAINS A SIGNAL VICTORY.
+
+
+The child was only pretending not to hear.
+
+She caught the sound of her much-tried companion's sigh, and instantly
+her lips began to twitch and curve slightly in a smile that had
+suspicion of triumph in it.
+
+Violet saw it, and instantly the lines about her own mouth grew firmer
+and more resolute.
+
+"She thinks to tire me out and gain her point," she said to herself,
+"but I am going to settle who is to rule, once for all, for if I cannot
+have her respectful obedience it will be useless for me to remain here."
+
+She arose and passed into her own room, but presently returned bringing
+with her a dainty little basket in which there lay some fancy-work and
+bright flosses.
+
+Resuming her seat by the window, she busied herself with her embroidery,
+apparently oblivious of the fact that there was any one else in the
+room.
+
+The hour that followed was tedious in the extreme to both teacher and
+pupil, for not one single word was spoken during that time.
+
+When the clock struck ten--the hour generally devoted to music--Violet
+arose, and, going to the piano, began to play.
+
+Instantly Bertha's chubby hands went up to her ears again, but her young
+teacher, without appearing to notice the movement, kept on, and did a
+faithful half-hour's practice for herself.
+
+Then she began to sing a sweet little ballad which she had learned soon
+after her mother's death. It was plaintive, and told the story of a
+lonely little heart longing for mother-love, and she had not reached the
+end of the second verse when she saw the tears streaming over Bertha's
+little face, and knew that her wedge had entered the obstinate little
+soul.
+
+Still she pretended to ignore her, keeping on with her song until she
+had finished it, then she went back to her work in the window.
+
+Presently a timid, somewhat uncertain voice said:
+
+"Miss Huntington."
+
+"Well, dear."
+
+"May--may I have oysters for my lunch?"
+
+"Ah! those oysters! Were ever such tender things so hard to be disposed
+of?" But she took courage from the form of the request and the appealing
+tone.
+
+"No, dear," she quietly answered.
+
+"Why?" imperatively.
+
+"Because I have said, once, that you cannot have them, and have given
+Mary orders to provide them for your breakfast to-morrow morning," was
+the calm response; then she added: "Now, let us talk no more about the
+unpleasant subject, but attend to our duties. It is time for your
+geography lesson."
+
+"I do not want my geography. I must do my history first," was the
+rebellious response.
+
+"The history hour is past, and will not come again until to-morrow,"
+Violet replied.
+
+She knew that the child was very much interested in her history--she
+always listened attentively while she read it to her, and seldom had to
+be prompted in repeating it; but the lessons had all been assigned for
+certain hours in the day, and she did not intend to break her rules or
+be governed by the caprices of this spoiled girl of twelve.
+
+"I don't care; I shall not do my geography until I have done my
+history," retorted Bertha, angrily.
+
+"Bertha," said Violet, gravely, "we are going to do the lessons in their
+regular order every day, for if we jumble things we shall never have any
+system. Now, I hope you are going to do right, because only those who do
+their duty are happy. I know you are unhappy now because you have done
+wrong this morning, and it makes me sad also. We did not begin the day
+just as we should, but let us go on and finish it as well as we can, and
+try to do better to-morrow."
+
+"No-o; if I cannot do my history, I shall not do anything else," the
+girl answered, defiantly.
+
+"Very well," Violet said, coldly, "then there will be no lessons to-day,
+nor reading of any kind."
+
+"Oh! aren't you going to read to me from that nice book that papa
+brought to me yesterday?" Bertha demanded, anxiously.
+
+"No, I cannot read to any little girl who will not obey me."
+
+"I never obey anybody but papa," was the pouting rejoinder.
+
+"Your father wishes you to obey me, Bertha, and--if you do not I shall
+be obliged to go away. I shall never ask you to do anything save what I
+believe to be right, and if you cannot give me your obedience I shall
+have to find some other little girl to teach."
+
+A look of dismay passed over Bertha's face for a moment; but having
+always won the victory in all previous battles with other governesses,
+she imagined that she would win this, eventually.
+
+"I don't care--I am not going to do any lessons today," she said,
+shortly, and Violet felt severely tried--indeed, almost discouraged.
+
+But she had made up her mind not to yield her point, and so kept quietly
+on with her work.
+
+Bertha brought out her dolls and began to play with them, and for a
+couple of hours she managed to get on very well. At the end of that time
+she grew tired of being so by herself, and begged Violet to read to her.
+
+"Come here, Bertha, if you please," Violet said, without replying
+directly to her question.
+
+Bertha, wondering at the grave tone, went and stood before her teacher.
+
+"Can you see my face, dear?" she asked.
+
+"Yes," the child said, peering up at her curiously.
+
+"Can you see my eyes?"
+
+"Yes, I see them," Bertha replied, bringing her face very close to
+Violet's.
+
+"Tell me how they look."
+
+"They look kind of--sorry, and your face is like papa's when he is
+grieved and displeased with me."
+
+"I am sorry and grieved; more grieved than I can tell you, to have had
+this trouble with my little friend," Violet said, sadly. "You know,
+dear, that you are not doing right, and that I should be doing you wrong
+and injury to let you have your own way. You would not respect me or
+believe me truthful if I should give up to you. I have told you just how
+the lessons must go on, and I shall make no change, and if you cannot do
+as I wish, you must amuse yourself as best you can."
+
+"And you will not read me any stories at all today?" and there was a
+suspicious tremor in the young tones, for the child dearly loved this
+recreation, and Violet was a very entertaining reader.
+
+"No; the stories only come after lessons, you know."
+
+Bertha went thoughtfully back to her dolls, and played by herself until
+luncheon was brought up, when she sat down at the table and ate
+heartily, for by this time she was very hungry.
+
+No mention was made of oysters, and Violet earnestly hoped that that
+battle would not have to be fought over again.
+
+After luncheon, blocks and other playthings were called into service,
+and the child busied herself with them during the greater part of the
+afternoon.
+
+Now and then she would ask some question of Violet, who answered kindly
+and pleasantly, but always without looking up from her work or appearing
+to be in the least interested in Bertha's employment.
+
+When twilight began to gather, Bertha left her toys and came to sit down
+by her teacher--who had now laid aside her work--her young face wearing
+a very sober look. After a while she slipped one hand into that of
+Violet, who clasped it kindly and drew her still nearer.
+
+"Will you please sing me something, Miss Huntington?" the child asked,
+after a while.
+
+"I should be very glad to, Bertha, but I cannot today," was the grave
+reply.
+
+Nothing further was said upon that subject, and presently they fell to
+talking in a quiet, social way, and this was kept up until dinner was
+announced, when Violet and her pupil went down, as was their custom, to
+eat with Mr. Lawrence.
+
+"How have the lessons been getting on to-day, little daughter?" Mr.
+Lawrence inquired during the meal, and observing that Bertha was more
+quiet than usual.
+
+The child grew suddenly crimson, hesitated a moment, and then said:
+
+"I didn't feel much like lessons to-day. Will you take me out for a
+drive to-morrow, papa?"
+
+It was evident to all that Miss Bertha wished to change the subject
+introduced by her father, and Mr. Lawrence smiled as he glanced
+significantly at Violet, thus showing that he understood there had been
+trouble in the school-room.
+
+"Perhaps so, dear," he answered. "We will see how the lessons get on
+to-morrow," and then he began talking of other things.
+
+After dinner, however, he asked Violet if there had been any
+disturbance, and she gave him a truthful account of all that had
+occurred, remarking, as she concluded:
+
+"I believed that if I could be firm at the outset and make the dear
+child understand that I must have her obedience, it would be better for
+all of us. If I had allowed her to conquer me in this, I am convinced
+that it would have been but the beginning of trouble, and I could be of
+but little service to her."
+
+"You are right, Miss Huntington," Mr. Lawrence said, bestowing a glance
+of approbation upon her, and secretly well pleased with this evidence of
+her decision of character, "and it would have been far better if Bertha
+had had a firm rule like this from early childhood. All her other
+governesses have yielded to her, and I fear I have not carried as steady
+a hand with her as I should have done. Keep on as you have begun, Miss
+Huntington, and you will secure my unbounded gratitude, if you can
+conquer this singular obstinacy which has seemed to possess the child
+all her life."
+
+Violet was much relieved to find that he regarded her course of action
+so sensibly, and she felt strengthened to go on as she had begun.
+
+The next morning the much-contested oysters appeared upon the
+breakfast-table, and they were broiled to a delicious flavor.
+
+No remark was made about them until Violet put a bountiful supply upon a
+plate and told Mary to pass them to Miss Bertha.
+
+"I do not want any oysters, and I shall not eat any," that young lady
+asserted, much to Violet's dismay, for she had flattered herself that
+there would be no trouble on that question that morning.
+
+"Then give them to me, if you please, Mary," she quietly said, then
+helped Bertha to a nice bit of steak, which she requested the girl to
+cut up for her.
+
+"I wonder if we are going to have yesterday's experience repeated," the
+young teacher said to herself, but she could see by the expression on
+Bertha's face that she was greatly disappointed at being taken at her
+word. She had evidently expected to be coaxed to eat her oysters, and
+when she was not, she was ashamed to ask for them. "I am sorry for her,"
+thought Violet, with a sigh, "but I do believe the lesson will do her
+good, and will never need to be repeated."
+
+She began to chat pleasantly upon other subjects, and the meal was
+finished in the most friendly manner.
+
+At nine o'clock Violet took up the history, and began to read the
+neglected lesson of yesterday, while Bertha paid earnest attention to
+every word, after which she gave a very clear account of what she had
+heard.
+
+She then went to her practice without a word of objection, and performed
+her work faithfully, after which her other lessons were taken up as
+usual.
+
+All during the day she was obedient and respectful, and when the lessons
+were completed, Violet, with a tenderer feeling for her than she had yet
+experienced, read her the most charming story that she could find.
+
+By the middle of the afternoon Mr. Lawrence paid them a visit, and
+finding his daughter in a sunnier mood than usual, looked the pleasure
+he felt.
+
+He told them that he had come to take them to drive in Central Park, and
+a few minutes after they were rolling rapidly out toward that beautiful
+spot, behind a pair of handsome bays.
+
+That evening, just before it was time for Bertha to retire, she stole
+softly to Violet's side, wound her arms about her neck, and, peering
+eagerly into her face, shyly remarked:
+
+"Miss Huntington, your eyes do not look 'sorry' tonight."
+
+"No, indeed, dear; they ought to look very bright and happy, after such
+a delightful day as we have had," Violet answered.
+
+"It has been a good day, hasn't it?" Bertha questioned, laying her head
+fondly on her teacher's shoulder.
+
+"Yes, and all days will be 'good days,' if we do right," was the gentle
+response, as Violet passed her arm around the child and drew her closer
+to her.
+
+"I wonder, Miss Huntington, if you will get to love me by and by,"
+Bertha said, wistfully, after a little pause.
+
+"I love you now, dear," was the sweet-voiced assurance.
+
+"Truly."
+
+"Yes, truly and dearly," and a soft kiss emphasized the statement.
+
+"But----"
+
+"But what, Bertha?"
+
+"You didn't love me yesterday."
+
+"Oh, yes, I did, my dear child."
+
+"How could you? It did not seem like love when you were so--so stern and
+set."
+
+"I certainly should not have shown love for you it I had allowed you to
+have your own way."
+
+"Shall you always be so?"
+
+"'So'--how?"
+
+"Why, set--determined."
+
+"I hope I shall always be firm enough to do what is right, dear."
+
+"Is it right to make little girls do what they do not want to?"
+
+"Yes, if what they wish to do is wrong."
+
+"Don't you ever say 'yes,' when you have once said 'no,' Miss
+Huntington?"
+
+"I do not mean to, Bertha, for I am afraid that a certain little girl,
+whom I know, would not trust or respect me if I should," Violet
+answered, gravely.
+
+"I love you," said the child, impulsively, and Violet felt that she had
+won no mean victory, and the one influence of which would be felt as
+long as she retained her present position.
+
+Those three simple, earnest words told her that, by continuing firm
+during their recent contest, she had gained an influence and hold upon
+the young girl's heart that she would never lose, and she resolved to
+persevere in the course she had laid out for herself.
+
+It was easy to resolve when her pupil was in such a delightful mood, but
+it was not so easy to execute, and Violet had to exercise all the
+patience and self-control of which she was possessed, for during the
+next few weeks there were several repetitions of willfulness and
+obstinacy on the part of her pupil, although she never held out so long
+again and was more easily conquered each time.
+
+She finally seemed to realize that her governess meant just what she
+said--that sooner or later she must yield her the obedience which she
+demanded; and after a while it became evident to Violet that she was
+really trying to conquer her antagonistic disposition, and was truly
+anxious to please her.
+
+There were many struggles and many failures, for over-indulgence had
+pampered her disposition and fostered a selfishness which was not easily
+mastered; but the strong will was now being bent in the right direction,
+and the fruits of firmness and decision were making themselves manifest;
+while, as Violet was always patient and gentle, tender in reproof, and
+sympathetic whenever Bertha manifested sorrow, the child gradually grew
+to love her almost to idolatry.
+
+Six months after the young teacher took up her abode in that elegant
+home, one would hardly have recognized the docile, obedient child, and
+every one in the house marveled at the change in her.
+
+Study grew delightful to her; she made rapid progress in her music, and
+became so gentle and courteous to the servants, so affectionate and
+companionable with her father, that she was like a sunbeam in the house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+VIOLET MEETS WITH AN ACCIDENT.
+
+
+Violet's life became more and more pleasant as time went on. Her pupil
+continued to make marked and steady progress in her studies, while in
+music she was becoming wonderfully proficient. She also grew more
+cheerful and equable in temperament, and Mr. Lawrence was constantly
+congratulating himself upon having secured such a treasure for a
+governess.
+
+He was not long in discovering, also, that she was a very cultivated
+young woman and exceedingly companionable as well, for, while Violet was
+conscientious in the discharge of her duties toward her charge, she did
+not neglect any opportunity to improve herself.
+
+She took up a course of reading which could not fail to expand her mind
+and enlarge her views of life; kept herself informed regarding passing
+events, while she devoted the greater portion of her evenings, after
+Bertha had retired, to music, both vocal and instrumental.
+
+No one who had known her in the old days in Cincinnati would have
+believed it possible that she could have changed in so short a time from
+a careless girl into this self-contained yet gracious woman, who charmed
+every one with her sweet dignity, her beautiful face, and cultured
+conversation, and Mr. Lawrence was not slow to appreciate his good
+fortune in having so lovely a woman in his home.
+
+"She would grace the highest position in the land," he told himself, one
+night, when, at his request, she had presided over his table at a select
+dinner party, bearing herself with so much ease and grace, and
+displaying so much tact, that he was charmed and his guests eloquent in
+their praises of her.
+
+From that time he began to show her, in a quiet way, numberless little
+attentions. If he heard her express a desire, it was unostentatiously
+gratified within twenty-four hours. If she mentioned a book or picture,
+it appeared as if by magic--the one among the collection upon Bertha's
+shelves, the other somewhere upon the walls of her sitting-room, while
+every day the choicest of flowers found their way, by some unseen
+agency, to the little table which was devoted to Violet's especial use.
+
+Once or twice every week Mr. Lawrence would come home to luncheon,
+bringing opera or theater tickets for a matinee, and though Bertha and
+the housekeeper were always included in these pleasures, for form's
+sake, it was evident that the gentleman was most anxious to contribute
+to the enjoyment of the fair governess, for he always managed to
+ascertain her preference, and in this way Violet had opportunity to hear
+the best histrionic and musical talent.
+
+Every pleasant afternoon he would plan a drive or a visit to some
+picture-gallery or museum of art for her and Bertha, who,
+notwithstanding her imperfect sight, enjoyed listening to a description
+of the beautiful and interesting things about her, while it was
+something new and delightful to have her papa such a devoted and
+faithful attendant.
+
+One day, for a change, they drove out to one of the reservoirs which
+supply New York city with water.
+
+Violet had been unusually happy all the week; her pleasant life, the
+kind care and attention so constantly thrown around her, all contributed
+to make the world seem a very delightful place once more, even though
+its chief joy and light for her had been removed.
+
+She and Bertha had been in an unusually gay mood for them, and Mr.
+Lawrence thought he had never seen Miss Huntington look so pretty and
+appear so charming.
+
+Her musical laugh, her ready repartee, her bright and animated
+countenance, amused and cheered him, making him feel younger by a score
+of years than he really was.
+
+They rode about the reservoir, over the broad smooth drives for a while,
+and then Bertha begged that they might get out and walk about, for she
+wanted to get nearer the water.
+
+Mr. Lawrence, always willing to indulge her, acceded to her request, and
+all three alighting, he told the coachman to drive slowly about until he
+should signal for him.
+
+Then they spent half an hour or more strolling along the water's edge,
+to Bertha's great enjoyment, after which Violet expressed a wish to see
+the inside of the gatehouse, for she had never had an opportunity to
+visit one.
+
+They proceeded thither, it being quite near, and, Mr. Lawrence having
+obtained permission of the keeper, they went in to view the huge vaults,
+together with the massive engine, by which the engineer controlled the
+waters which swept with such ceaseless roar through the caverns below
+and on toward their various channels in the city.
+
+They all became very much interested in watching the ponderous
+machinery, and there was a strange fascination in the endless hurry and
+rush of the water beneath them.
+
+But all at once, nobody could ever tell afterward how it happened,
+Bertha made a misstep, and would have fallen beneath the railing and in
+among the machinery had not Violet darted forward, seized her by her
+clothing, and drawn her quickly out of harm's way. In doing so, however,
+she herself fell, or was thrown, with great force against the railing,
+and when Mr. Lawrence led them both farther away, she was very pale and
+quivering from head to foot, from mingled pain and fright.
+
+"Are you hurt, Bertha?" she asked, bending over the weeping girl, who
+had been terribly startled by the accident.
+
+"I guess not, but--oh! my heart beats so I cannot breathe," she panted,
+in reply.
+
+"I am very glad--I--was--afraid----"
+
+Violet could get no further, but reeled dizzily, and would have fallen
+if Mr. Lawrence had not sprung to her side, and, throwing his arm about
+her slight form, asked, with great anxiety:
+
+"What is it, Miss Huntington--are you hurt?"
+
+"My arm," Violet murmured, with white lips, and, glancing down, he saw
+that her left arm was hanging helplessly by her side.
+
+"Ah! you must have hurt it when you fell against the railing," he said,
+his face and tone both expressing great concern. Then he added: "Can you
+lift it? Can you move it?"
+
+Violet made an effort to do so, but the pain it produced was
+intolerable, and the next moment she was lying unconscious in Mr.
+Lawrence's arms.
+
+He laid her gently upon the floor, and took advantage of her
+insensibility to make an examination of the injured member, when, to his
+consternation, he discovered that it was broken just above the elbow.
+
+Bidding Bertha stay close beside her teacher, he then darted out of the
+building, and, his carriage fortunately being within hailing distance,
+he signaled for the coachman to come there.
+
+Without waiting for Violet to recover consciousness, he, with the
+assistance of one of the men who belonged in the gate-house, lifted her
+into the carriage, placing her as comfortably as possible upon one of
+the seats, and then bade the coachman drive with all possible speed back
+to the city.
+
+Mr. Lawrence had saturated his handkerchief with water before starting,
+and now devoted himself to the task of reviving the insensible girl, by
+bathing her face, and chafing her uninjured hand to restore circulation.
+
+Violet soon began to come to herself, but only to experience intense
+suffering, while her bruised and broken arm had begun to swell
+frightfully.
+
+"This is very unfortunate--I am very sorry," Mr. Lawrence said, deep
+solicitude expressed in both tone and countenance, while Bertha sat
+beside him weeping silently from sympathy.
+
+Violet tried to bear her pain with fortitude. She made no outward
+demonstration or complaint; but her colorless face, contracted brow, and
+the wild look in her eyes betrayed but too plainly that her suffering
+was excruciating.
+
+The fleet horses made good time, and in less than an hour they were
+home.
+
+Violet was tenderly lifted from the carriage and borne to her own room,
+whither the housekeeper and servants were summoned to attend her, while
+Mr. Lawrence himself went for a surgeon.
+
+Mrs. Davis was a kind and motherly woman, and seemed to know just what
+needed to be done in this emergency. She cut away the sleeve of Violet's
+dress and underclothing, thus releasing the wounded arm from its painful
+bondage, and then wrapped it in wet cloths to reduce the swelling and
+allay the inflammation.
+
+Twenty minutes after a skillful surgeon was on the spot, ether was
+administered to his patient, then the broken bone was quickly and nicely
+set, the arm bandaged, and Doctor Ashley declared that it would be as
+good as new in the course of three or four weeks.
+
+When Violet came to herself again, the agonizing pain which she had
+suffered before the administration of ether was gone, and though she was
+weak and feverish, she was comparatively comfortable.
+
+But the shock to her system had been severe, and she was obliged to keep
+her bed for several days, although she told Mrs. Davis and Bertha that
+it was simply a pleasure to be sick when every one was so kind and
+attentive to her.
+
+Of course Mr. Lawrence did not see her during this time, and he began to
+be conscious of an oppressive feeling of loneliness; the house seemed
+empty, desolate, without her.
+
+This sensation followed him everywhere he went; at table he could not
+eat as usual, while his glance constantly roved to Violet's empty chair.
+In his library, where usually he could find plenty of entertainment, and
+even in Bertha's sitting-room, where he spent much time trying to amuse
+her, and to make up to her as much as possible for the loss of her
+companion, he was conscious of something wanting.
+
+"If I miss her like this for a few days, what shall I do if she ever
+goes away to stay?" he asked himself one evening, when he was feeling
+more lonely than usual.
+
+A wave of hot color mounted to his brow; then receding as quickly, left
+his face blanched with a sudden discovery and an unaccountable feeling
+of dread.
+
+"What is all this?" he muttered, half angrily; "am I, after all these
+years, going to lose my head over a girl not half my age?"
+
+He sprang to his feet and began to pace the floor with a nervous,
+uncertain tread, while during the next few days he appeared as if
+oppressed by some heavy burden.
+
+Before a week had passed from the day of Violet's accident, she was up
+and anxious to resume her usual duties.
+
+Mr. Lawrence went up stairs, one morning, to Bertha's room to amuse the
+child, as he had been doing of late, and found the young teacher sitting
+beside her pupil at the piano, trying to direct her practice, and his
+fine face at once assumed a look of undisguised disapproval, even though
+Violet glanced up and bade him a smiling good-morning.
+
+"My dear Miss Huntington, this will not do at all," he said, gravely;
+"you are not to try your strength or take up your regular duties until
+your arm is entirely well, and you have fully recovered from the effects
+of your injury."
+
+"But, I assure you, I am feeling nicely. If this left hand of mine was
+only at liberty, I should be wholly myself again," Violet replied,
+bending a regretful look upon the helpless member in its sling.
+
+"That may be; but I am nevertheless going to prohibit all lessons, at
+least until you can dispense with this," the gentleman replied, as he
+softly touched the spotless handkerchief suspended about her neck.
+
+"What shall we do with ourselves, Bertha, if papa is going to be so
+tyrannical?" asked Violet, in a tone of mock despair, but bestowing at
+the same time a grateful glance upon her patron for his consideration.
+
+"The days are very long, papa, when I don't attend to my lessons with
+Miss Huntington," Bertha said, with a sigh; "but I love her so well that
+I do not want her to do anything to make herself ill."
+
+"That is my good girl," Mr. Lawrence replied, heartily; "but I imagine
+we can arrange everything satisfactorily. Suppose we begin by seeing
+what we can do with the two hours between now and lunch-time," and he
+drew a new book from one of his pockets as he spoke; "I think I have
+something nice here for you both."
+
+He wheeled an easy-chair into the bay-window, where the sun shone in
+most invitingly, and made Violet occupy it; then, with Bertha on a
+hassock at his feet, he began to read a recent and extremely interesting
+story.
+
+The two hours slipped by on magic wings and then, as Mary appeared with
+a tray of tempting viands, Mr. Lawrence invited himself to lunch with
+them, and they had a right merry time together as they ate.
+
+A little later he ordered the carriage, and they all went for a drive,
+returning just in time to prepare for dinner.
+
+Violet had not dined with the family since her injury, for, having only
+one hand at her command, she was sensitive about appearing awkward. But
+to-day Mr. Lawrence particularly requested that she would favor them
+with her presence again, if she felt able to come down.
+
+She flushed.
+
+"I am so helpless----" she began, when he interrupted her, saying, with
+a strange note in his voice, which she had never heard before:
+
+"And for that very reason, I wish to make myself useful to you; besides,
+Bertha and I are very lonely without you."
+
+The color grew deeper upon Violet's cheek, for both his look and tone
+were very earnest; but she promised to come down to dine with them, and
+then ran up to her room to make some slight change in her attire.
+
+During dinner Mr. Lawrence was kindly attentive. He cut her meat for
+her, and unostentatiously prepared whatever would be awkward for her to
+manage, talking all the while upon some entertaining subject, and made
+himself so agreeable and helpful throughout the meal that Violet was
+glad that she had consented to resume her place at the table.
+
+After that she came down every day, and grew quite used to having him
+care for her, and found it very pleasant, too.
+
+"He is like a dear, kind father, only a great deal more thoughtful and
+attentive than most fathers would be," she told herself, when thinking
+it over afterward, and how he had interposed in every way to prevent her
+from feeling awkward in accepting his attentions.
+
+Mr. Lawrence kept his word--he would allow no more lessons while she was
+crippled, but planned some amusement or pleasant trip for every day,
+until she was entirely well.
+
+Once she remonstrated against the idle life she was leading.
+
+"Mr. Lawrence," she said, "I do not feel right about this. I ought to be
+at work--I am not earning my salt."
+
+"And why should you?" he asked, gravely.
+
+"But I came here to perform certain duties, and I am doing nothing but
+playing--just drifting along, and having a pleasant time," she
+explained.
+
+"I hope so; but I am very sorry if you feel any weight of obligation,
+when that should rest upon me," he returned, in the same tone as before.
+"Miss Huntington, do you imagine that it is nothing to me that you saved
+my child from some serious accident--perhaps from death? Do you think me
+so ungrateful as not to wish to do everything possible for you, when you
+have suffered so much in your efforts to save her? I hope we shall hear
+no more about your earning your salt--that, and everything else, has
+been already earned a good many times over," he concluded, with a
+luminous smile.
+
+Violet had not thought of it in this way before, but she was effectually
+silenced, and objected no more at anything he chose to do for her.
+
+One rainy morning, they had an unusually merry time over a humorous
+story which Mr. Lawrence read to them.
+
+"What a jolly time we are having, papa!" Bertha remarked, with a
+long-drawn breath of content, when the story was concluded.
+
+"You are right, pet, and I only hope you will always be as happy," her
+father returned, fondly, as he stroked her glossy hair.
+
+"Of course, I am sorry that Miss Huntington's arm had to be broken," the
+child continued, naively, "but we have had such a delightful time during
+these last three weeks that I wish it could always last, don't you?"
+
+"It would be very pleasant, Bertha," said her father, musingly.
+
+"I think we three make just the nicest chums," the little miss went on;
+"wouldn't it be fine if we could stay so and always be together?"
+
+Mr. Lawrence's fine eyes were resting upon the fair face of his child's
+governess at that moment, and there was a strangely wistful look in
+them, a tender, tremulous expression about his handsome mouth, also.
+
+"It would, indeed, dear," he said, more as if speaking to himself than
+in answer to her, but in such an intensely earnest tone that it sent a
+sudden thrill through Violet's heart.
+
+Involuntarily she lifted her eyes, met his look, and something in it
+made the hot blood come surging up to her brow and lose itself amid the
+waves of golden hair that lay in such pretty confusion there.
+
+"Don't you wish so, too, Miss Huntington?" Bertha questioned, turning to
+her, and all unconscious that she was treading upon delicate ground.
+
+Violet's eyes drooped, and she turned to the window to hide the vivid
+color in her cheeks.
+
+She hesitated a moment before replying to the child's question, then she
+said, in a low, quiet voice:
+
+"I have been very happy since I came to stay with you, dear."
+
+The further trials and experiences of Violet and how her future
+happiness was secured is told in the sequel to this story entitled "With
+Heart So True," and is published in handsome cloth binding uniform with
+this volume.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
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