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diff --git a/29544-h/29544-h.htm b/29544-h/29544-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c9de969 --- /dev/null +++ b/29544-h/29544-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9514 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Jolly Sally Pendleton, by Laura Jean Libbey</title> + <style type="text/css"> + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + visibility: hidden; + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .chapnum {text-align: right; vertical-align: top; padding-right: 1em;} + .chapname {text-align: left; vertical-align: top; padding-left: 1em; + padding-right: 1em; padding-bottom: 0.5em;} + .chappage {text-align: right; vertical-align: top; padding-left: 1em;} + + .chapter {margin-top: 2.5em;} + .chapheader {text-align: center; margin-left: 25%; + margin-right: 25%; margin-bottom: 1.25em;} + .tb {margin-top: 2.5em;} + .salutation {text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0em; padding-right: 2em;} + .salutation-2 {text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0em; padding-right: 4em;} + .signature {text-align: right; margin-top: 0em;} + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Jolly Sally Pendleton, by Laura Jean Libbey</h1> +<pre> +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 <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Jolly Sally Pendleton</p> +<p> The Wife Who Was Not a Wife</p> +<p>Author: Laura Jean Libbey</p> +<p>Release Date: July 29, 2009 [eBook #29544]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOLLY SALLY PENDLETON***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Steven desJardins<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 363px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="363" height="500" alt="cover" title="Jolly Sally Pendleton by Laura Jean Libbey" /> +</div> + +<h1><span class="smcap">Jolly Sally Pendleton</span></h1> + +<h2><span style="font-size: 60%;">OR</span><br /> +The Wife who was Not a Wife</h2> + +<h2><i>By Laura Jean Libbey</i></h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p class="center"><b>HART SERIES No. 43</b></p> + +<p class="center">COPYRIGHT 1897 BY GEORGE MUNRO'S SONS.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published by<br /> +THE ARTHUR WESTBROOK COMPANY<br /> +Cleveland, O., U. S. A.</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>INDEX</h2> + +<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr><td class="chapnum">I.</td> +<td class="chapname">BOTH GIRLS WERE SO STUNNINGLY PRETTY, AND WORE SUCH +ODD, BEWITCHING COSTUMES ON THEIR TANDEM, THAT THE +PEOPLE WHO STOPPED TO WATCH THE BEAUTIES AS THEY +WHIRLED BY NICKNAMED THEM "THE HEAVENLY TWINS."</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">5</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">II.</td> +<td class="chapname">IT IS ONE THING TO ADMIRE A PRETTY GIRL, QUITE ANOTHER THING TO FALL IN +LOVE WITH HER.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">10</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">III.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE TERRIBLE WAGER AT THE GREAT RACE.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">13</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">IV.</td> +<td class="chapname">WHICH WON?</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">19</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">V.</td> +<td class="chapname">"SHALL WE BREAK THIS BETROTHAL, THAT WAS MADE ONLY IN FUN?"</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">23</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">VI.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE WAY OF WOMEN THE WHOLE WORLD OVER.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">26</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">VII.</td> +<td class="chapname">BERNARDINE.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">31</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">VIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">"OH, I AM SO GLAD THAT YOU HAVE COME, DOCTOR!"</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">36</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">IX.</td> +<td class="chapname">"WHAT A LONELY LIFE FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL YOUNG GIRL!"</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">X.</td> +<td class="chapname">WHAT IS LIFE WITHOUT LOVE?</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">40</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XI.</td> +<td class="chapname">A SHADOW DARKENS THE PEACEFUL HOME OF THE BASKET-MAKER.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">45</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XII.</td> +<td class="chapname">"YOU ARE FALSE AS YOU ARE FAIR, BERNARDINE!"</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">48</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">HE WISHED HE COULD TELL SOME ONE HIS UNFORTUNATE LOVE STORY.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">52</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XIV.</td> +<td class="chapname">"HAVE I BROKEN YOUR HEART, MY DARLING?"</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">58</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XV.</td> +<td class="chapname">"I LOVE YOU! I CAN NOT KEEP THE SECRET ANY LONGER!"</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">61</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XVI.</td> +<td class="chapname">"WHERE THERE IS NO JEALOUSY THERE IS LITTLE LOVE!"</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">64</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XVII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">70</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XVIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">FATE WEAVES A STRANGE WEB.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">74</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XIX.</td> +<td class="chapname">"TRUE LOVE NEVER DOES RUN SMOOTH."</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">80</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XX.</td> +<td class="chapname">"IT WOULD BE WISER TO MAKE A FRIEND THAN AN ENEMY OF ME."</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">84</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXI.</td> +<td class="chapname">JASPER WILDE MEETS WITH AN ADVENTURE.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">87</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">92</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXIII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">95</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXIV.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">98</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXV.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">102</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXVI.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">105</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXVII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">109</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXVIII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">114</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXIX.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">117</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXX.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">125</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXXI.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">130</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXXII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">135</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXXIII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">141</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXXIV.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">145</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXXV.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">148</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXXVI.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">151</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXXVII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">156</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXXVIII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">161</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XXXIX.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">165</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XL.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XL">170</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XLI.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLI">176</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XLII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLII">177</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XLIII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIII">182</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XLIV.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIV">187</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XLV.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLV">191</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XLVI.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVI">196</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XLVII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVII">200</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XLVIII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVIII">205</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">XLIX.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIX">210</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">L.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_L">215</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">LI.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_LI">219</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">LII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_LII">224</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">LIII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_LIII">229</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">LIV.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_LIV">323</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">LV.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_LV">235</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">LVI.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_LVI">240</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">LVII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_LVII">244</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="chapnum">LVIII.</td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_LVIII">249</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h1>JOLLY SALLY PENDLETON</h1> + +<h2><span style="font-size: 60%;">OR</span><br /> +THE WIFE WHO WAS NOT A WIFE</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">BOTH GIRLS WERE SO STUNNINGLY PRETTY, AND WORE SUCH +ODD, BEWITCHING COSTUMES ON THEIR TANDEM, THAT THE +PEOPLE WHO STOPPED TO WATCH THE BEAUTIES AS THEY +WHIRLED BY NICKNAMED THEM "THE HEAVENLY TWINS."</p> + + +<p>As Jay Gardiner drove down the village street behind his handsome pair +of prancing bays, holding the ribbons skillfully over them, all the +village maidens promenading up the village street or sitting in groups +on the porches turned to look at him.</p> + +<p>He was certainly a handsome fellow; there was no denying that. He was +tall, broad-shouldered, with a fair, handsome face, laughing blue eyes, +a crisp, brown, curling mustache, and, what was better still, he was +heir to two millions of money.</p> + +<p>He was passing the summer at the fashionable little village of Lee, +among the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.</p> + +<p>That did more to advertise the place than all the glow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>ing newspaper +items the proprietor of the Summerset House could have paid for.</p> + +<p>Every mother of a marriageable daughter who had heard of the millionaire +managed to rake and scrape together enough money to pass the season at +Lee.</p> + +<p>It was laughable to see how adroitly these mothers managed to secure an +introduction, upon one pretext or another, to the handsome millionaire. +Then the daughters were duly brought forward and presented.</p> + +<p>Every one knew the story of Jay Gardiner. His lady-mother and elder +sister lived in what was called the Castle, the grandest and most famous +homestead by far in Great Barrington.</p> + +<p>With all the millions at her command, haughty Mrs. Gardiner had but one +great sorrow, and that was that her handsome son could not be induced to +remain at home and lead the life of a fashionable young gentleman of +leisure.</p> + +<p>At college he had declared his intention of studying medicine. He had +graduated with high honors, and, much to his mother's annoyance, had +established himself as a full-fledged M. D.</p> + +<p>If he had been poor, perhaps patients might not have come to him so +readily; but as it was, he found himself launched at once into a +lucrative practice.</p> + +<p>This particular summer upon which our story opens, his grand lady-mother +was unusually incensed against handsome Jay. He had refused to spend his +vacation at the Castle, because, as he explained, there was a bevy of +fashionable girls invited there for him to fall in love with, and whom +he was expected to entertain.</p> + +<p>"The long and the short of it is, mother, I shall not do it," he +decisively declared. "I shall simply run over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> to Lee and take up my +quarters in some unpretentious boarding-house, where I can come down to +my meals and lounge about in a <i>négligé</i> shirt, and read my papers and +smoke my cigars swinging in a hammock, without being disturbed by +girls."</p> + +<p>In high dudgeon his lady-mother and sister had sailed off to Europe, and +they lived all their after-lives to rue it, and to bemoan the fact that +they had not stayed at home to watch over the young man, and to guard +the golden prize from the band of women who were on the lookout for just +such an opportunity.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner found just such an ideal boarding-house as he was looking +for. Every woman who came to the village with a marriageable daughter +tried to secure board at that boarding-house, but signally failed.</p> + +<p>They never dreamed that the handsome, debonair young millionaire paid +the good landlady an exorbitant price to keep women out.</p> + +<p>Good Widow Smith did her duty faithfully.</p> + +<p>When Mrs. Pendleton, of New York, heard of the great attraction at Lee, +Massachusetts, she decided that that was the place where she and her two +daughters, Lou and Sally, should spend the summer.</p> + +<p>"If either of you girls come home engaged to this millionaire," Mrs. +Pendleton had declared, "I shall consider it the greatest achievement of +my life. True, we live in a fine mansion on Fifth Avenue, and we are +supposed to be very wealthy; but not one of our dear five hundred +friends has discovered that the house we live in is merely rented, nor +that your father's business is mortgaged to the full extent. We will +have a hard time to pull through, and keep up appearances, until you two +are married off."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>Mrs. Pendleton established herself at the Summerset House, with her two +daughters. Every Saturday afternoon the pompous old broker went out to +Lee, to make a show for the girls.</p> + +<p>"The next question is," said Mrs. Pendleton, after the trunks were +unpacked, and the pretty clothes hung up in the various closets, "which +one of you two will Mr. Gardiner prefer?"</p> + +<p>"Me!" said jolly Sally, with a mischievous laugh, complacently gazing at +the lovely face reflected in the mirror.</p> + +<p>"It might be as well to wait until after he is introduced to us before +you answer that question," said Lou. "But how are we to meet him?"</p> + +<p>"Your father will attend to that part of the business," said Mrs. +Pendleton. "He understands what he has to do, and will find a way to +accomplish it. Having marriageable daughters always sharpens a man's +wits. Your father will find some way to get in with young Mr. Gardiner, +depend upon that."</p> + +<p>It required three weeks for Mr. Pendleton to secure an introduction to +the young man. On the following day the two sisters, dressed in their +best, and hanging on their father's arms, paraded up and down the +village streets until they espied the object of their search. +Introductions naturally followed; but, much to the chagrin of the girls, +their father, after chatting for a moment with handsome Mr. Gardiner, +dragged them along.</p> + +<p>"I did not have a chance to say one word to him," said Lou, +disappointedly.</p> + +<p>"Nor I," said Sally, poutingly.</p> + +<p>"Don't make a dead set for a man the first time you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> see him," +recommended Mr. Pendleton, grimly. "Take matters easy."</p> + +<p>The proudest moment of their lives was when Jay Gardiner called upon +them at their hotel one afternoon. The girls were squabbling up in their +room when his card was handed them.</p> + +<p>"Did he say which one of us he wishes to see?" cried Lou, breathlessly.</p> + +<p>"The Misses Pendleton," replied the bell-boy.</p> + +<p>There was a rush for their best clothes, and an exciting time for the +mother in getting the girls into them.</p> + +<p>A moment later, two girls, both pretty as pictures, with their arms +lovingly twined about each other, glided into the parlor. Handsome Jay +turned from the window, thinking to himself that he had never beheld a +fairer picture.</p> + +<p>There was half an hour's chat, and then he took his departure. He never +knew why he did it, but he invited them both to drive with him the next +day. Sally was about to answer "yes," delightedly, on the spot; but her +sister, remembering her father's warning, was more diplomatic.</p> + +<p>"We will have to ask mamma if we can go," she said.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pendleton, who was passing through the corridor at that moment, was +called in. She and her elder daughter exchanged glances.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry," she said, apologetically, "but Sally and I have an +engagement for that afternoon."</p> + +<p>The young millionaire fell into the trap at once.</p> + +<p>"Then could not Miss Louise accompany me?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"If she cares to go, I really have no objection," said Mrs. Pendleton, +hiding her delight with an arch smile.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>When he left, and the two girls had returned to their room, the +stormiest kind of a scene followed.</p> + +<p>"Take care! take care!" cautioned Mrs. Pendleton, to Sally. "Your sister +Lou is twenty; you are but eighteen. You should not stand in her way."</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">IT IS ONE THING TO ADMIRE A PRETTY GIRL, QUITE ANOTHER THING TO FALL IN +LOVE WITH HER.</p> + + +<p>The next afternoon Sally Pendleton watched behind closed blinds as her +sister drove off, proud and happy as a queen, in Jay Gardiner's handsome +carriage. Louise Pendleton kissed her finger-tips gracefully to the +blinds, behind which she knew her rebellious sister was watching.</p> + +<p>The drive through the country roads was delightful, it was such a fine +day, so bright, so sunshiny. Jay Gardiner seemed to feel the influence +of it, and almost unconsciously cast aside the mantle of haughtiness and +pride, in which he usually wrapped himself, in order to make it pleasant +for the beautiful, graceful girl whom fortune and fate had flung in his +way.</p> + +<p>Louise realized what a golden chance she was having, and made the best +of it.</p> + +<p>That was the beginning of the strangest romance that ever was written.</p> + +<p>When Jay Gardiner helped his fair companion from the buggy, Louise +Pendleton looked shyly into her com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>panion's face, murmuring that she +had had the most delightful drive of her life.</p> + +<p>"I am glad you are so well pleased," answered Jay, raising his straw hat +with a low bow; adding, gallantly: "I must take your sister out and show +her what beautiful roads we have here."</p> + +<p>Louise was thoroughly diplomatic. A hot flush rose to her face, but she +crushed back the words that sprung to her lips, saying sweetly:</p> + +<p>"You are indeed thoughtful, Mr. Gardiner. I am sure Sally will +appreciate it."</p> + +<p>"We will arrange it for to-morrow," he said. "I would be delighted to +have you accompany us. I will drop in at the hop this evening, and you +can let me know."</p> + +<p>Louise and her mother had a long talk that afternoon.</p> + +<p>"I think she may as well go with you," said the mother. "I am positive +that he will prefer you to your sister. Fair men usually like their +opposites in complexion."</p> + +<p>The following afternoon the two sisters went driving with handsome Jay +in his splendid T-cart, and were the envy of every girl in the village.</p> + +<p>He did his best to entertain them. He drove them over to Great +Barrington, and through the spacious grounds that surrounded the Castle.</p> + +<p>The eyes of both sisters glowed as they caught sight of the magnificent, +palatial house, and each resolved, in the depths of her heart, that this +should be her home, and that she should reign mistress there.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner divided his attentions so equally between the two sisters +that neither could feel the least bit slighted.</p> + +<p>The fortnight that followed flew by on golden wings.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>There was not a day that Jay Gardiner did not take the two sisters on +some sight-seeing expedition.</p> + +<p>Every one began to wonder which of the sisters was the favorite.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pendleton watched affairs with the keenest interest.</p> + +<p>"If he has a preference for either, it is certainly Louise," she told +herself. "Sally seems content that it should be so."</p> + +<p>All night long, after these afternoon excursions, both girls would seek +their pillows, and dream the whole night through of handsome Jay +Gardiner.</p> + +<p>Louise would talk of him all the following morning, but Sally uttered no +word; her secret was buried down in the depths of her heart.</p> + +<p>Other young men of the village sought a pleasant word or a smile from +gay, capricious Sally Pendleton. But she would have none of them.</p> + +<p>"I will have a millionaire or nothing," she said, with a little laugh.</p> + +<p>On two or three occasions, much to Sally's chagrin, Mr. Gardiner invited +Louise to drive without her.</p> + +<p>"That shows which way the wind is beginning to blow," she thought; and +she looked at her sister critically.</p> + +<p>Louise and her mother often had long conferences when she came in from +her rambles with him.</p> + +<p>"Has he spoken?" Mrs. Pendleton would ask; and she always received the +same answer in a disappointed tone—"No!"</p> + +<p>"Any other girl would have had a declaration from the young man before +this time."</p> + +<p>"If I could make the man propose, I would be his be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>trothed without a +day's delay," Louise would reply, quite discontentedly.</p> + +<p>Sally would turn away quickly before they had time to notice the +expression on her face.</p> + +<p>One day, in discussing the matter, Mr. Pendleton observed his younger +daughter gazing fixedly at her mother and Louise.</p> + +<p>"Love affairs do not interest you, Sally," he said, with a laugh. "My +dear," he said, suddenly, "you are not at all like your mother in +disposition. Could you ever love any one very much?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know, papa," she answered. "I do not love many people. I only +care for a few. In the way you mean, love would be a fire with me, not a +sentiment."</p> + +<p>How vividly the words came back to him afterward when her love proved a +devastating fire!</p> + +<p>She had turned suddenly to the window, and seemed to forget his +question.</p> + +<p>No one knew what a depth of passion there was in the heart of this girl. +If any one should have asked her what she craved most on earth, she +would have replied, on the spur of the moment—"Love!"</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">THE TERRIBLE WAGER AT THE GREAT RACE.</p> + + +<p>A month had gone by since the two sisters had met the one man who was to +change the whole course of their lives.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>Louise Pendleton made no secret of her interest in handsome Jay +Gardiner. She built no end of air-castles, all dating from the time when +the young man should propose to her.</p> + +<p>She set out deliberately to win him. Sally watched with bated breath.</p> + +<p>There could be no love where there was such laughing, genial friendship +as existed between Louise and handsome Jay. No, no! If she set about it +in the right way, <i>she</i> could win him.</p> + +<p>As for Jay himself, he preferred dark-eyed Louise to her dashing, +golden-haired sister Sally.</p> + +<p>The climax came when he asked the girls, and also their father and +mother, to join a party on his tally-ho and go to the races.</p> + +<p>Both dressed in their prettiest, and both looked like pictures.</p> + +<p>The races at Lee were always delightful affairs. Some of the finest +horses in the country were brought there to participate in these +affairs.</p> + +<p>As a usual thing, Jay Gardiner entered a number of his best horses; but +on this occasion he had not done so. Louise declared that it would have +made the races all the more worth seeing had some of his horses been +entered.</p> + +<p>"Don't you think so, Sally?" she said, turning to her sister, with a gay +little laugh; but Sally had not even heard, she was thinking so deeply.</p> + +<p>"She is anticipating the excitement," said Mrs. Pendleton, nodding +toward Sally; and they all looked in wonder at the unnatural flush on +the girl's cheeks and the strange, dazzling brightness in her blue +eyes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>They would have been startled if they could have read the thoughts that +had brought them there.</p> + +<p>There was the usual crush of vehicles, for the races at Lee always drew +out a large crowd.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner's box was directly opposite the judge's stand, and the +group of ladies and gentlemen assembled in it was a very merry one, +indeed.</p> + +<p>Every seat in the grand stand was occupied. Both Louise and Sally were +in exuberant spirits.</p> + +<p>It was the first race which they had ever attended, and, girl-like, they +were dying with curiosity to see what it would be like.</p> + +<p>"Which horse have <i>you</i> picked for the winner?" asked Mr. Pendleton, +leaning over and addressing Jay.</p> + +<p>"Either General or Robin Adair. Both seem to stand an equal chance. +Well, I declare!" exclaimed Gardiner, in the same breath, "if there +isn't Queen Bess! It's laughable to see <i>her</i> entered for the race. +She's very speedy, but she isn't game. I have seen her swerve when +almost crowned with victory."</p> + +<p>Sally Pendleton listened to the conversation with unusual interest.</p> + +<p>In a few moments all the riders, booted and spurred, came hurrying out +from their quarters in response to the sharp clang of a bell, and in a +trice had mounted their horses, and were waiting the signal to start.</p> + +<p>The interest of the great crowd was at its height. They were discussing +their favorites freely.</p> + +<p>The buzz of voices was deafening for a moment.</p> + +<p>No one noticed Sally, not even Louise or her mother, as she leaned over +breathlessly, and said:</p> + +<p>"Which horse do <i>you</i> think is going to win, Mr. Gardiner?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>"I have no hesitancy in saying Robin Adair," he declared. "He has +everything in his favor."</p> + +<p>"I have an idea that the little brown horse with the white stockings +will win."</p> + +<p>He laughed, and a look indicative of superior judgment broke over his +face.</p> + +<p>"I feel very sure that your favorite, Queen Bess, will lose, Miss +Sally," he said.</p> + +<p>"I feel very confident that she will win," she said.</p> + +<p>He shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I should like to make a wager with you on that," she cried.</p> + +<p>"A box of candy—anything you like," he replied, airily; "but I must +warn you that it is not quite the correct thing to wager with a lady, +especially when you are sure that she will lose."</p> + +<p>"I'll take my chances," she replied, a strange look flashing into her +excited blue eyes.</p> + +<p>"You have not told me what the wager is to be."</p> + +<p>For a moment the girl caught her breath and gave a lightning-like glance +about her. No one was listening, no one would hear.</p> + +<p>"You have not told me," said Jay Gardiner, gallantly, as he bent +forward.</p> + +<p>She turned and faced him, and her answer came in an almost inaudible +whisper. But he heard it, though he believed he had not heard aright.</p> + +<p>"Do I understand you to say that your hand is the wager?" he asked, +surprisedly.</p> + +<p>"Yes!" she answered.</p> + +<p>For a moment he looked at her in the utmost astonishment. Then a laugh +suffused his fair face. Surely this was the strangest wager that he had +ever heard of.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> He was used to the jolly larks of girls; but surely this +was the strangest of them all. He knew that there was little hope of +Queen Bess winning the race. But he answered, with the utmost gravity:</p> + +<p>"Very well; I accept your wager. Your hand shall be the prize, if the +little mare wins."</p> + +<p>"She is so very young—only eighteen," he said to himself, "that she +never realized what she was saying. It was only a jolly, girlish prank."</p> + +<p>If there had been in his mind the very slightest notion that Queen Bess +would win, he should have refused to accept the wager. But she surely +would not win; he was certain of that.</p> + +<p>So, with an amused smile, he acquiesced in the strange compact. In the +midst of the talking and laughing, the horses came cantering on to the +course.</p> + +<p>It was a beautiful sight, the thorough-bred horses with their coats +shining like satin, except where the white foam had specked them, as +they tossed their proud heads with eager impatience, the gay colors of +their riders all flashing in the sunlight.</p> + +<p>A cheer goes up from the grand stand, then the starter takes his place, +and the half-dozen horses, after some little trouble, fall into +something like a line. There is an instant of expectancy, then the flag +drops, and away the horses fly around the circular race-track.</p> + +<p>For a moment it is one great pell-mell rush. On, on, they fly, like +giant grey-hounds from the leash, down the stretch of track, until they +are but specks in the distance; then on they come, thundering past the +grand stand at a maddening pace, with Robin Adair in the lead, General, +Yellow Pete, and Black Daffy going like the wind at his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> heels, and +Queen Bess—poor Queen Bess!—fully a score of yards behind.</p> + +<p>A mad shout goes up for Robin Adair. He looks every inch the winner, +with his eyes flashing, his nostrils dilated. Every man leans forward in +breathless excitement. Even the ladies seem scarcely to breathe. +Suddenly a horse stumbles, and the rider is thrown headlong. There is a +moment's hush; but the horse is only an outsider, and the crowd cheer +the rest encouragingly.</p> + +<p>For a time they seem to run almost level, then most of the horses seem +to show signs of the terrible strain. Robin Adair keeps steadily to the +fore, with General closely at his heels. The rest begin to fall off.</p> + +<p>Again a mad shout goes up for Robin Adair.</p> + +<p>"No, no—General!" comes the hoarse cry from a hundred throats.</p> + +<p>But through it all, the wiser ones notice the gallant little mare, Queen +Bess, coming slowly to the front.</p> + +<p>Some daring voice shouts:</p> + +<p>"Queen Bess! Queen Bess!"</p> + +<p>"She is fresh as a daisy!" mutters some one in the box adjoining Jay +Gardiner's.</p> + +<p>White to the lips, Sally Pendleton sits and watches, her hands clasped +tightly in her lap.</p> + +<p>The babble of voices is so deafening that she can not hear.</p> + +<p>Again the gallant steeds are specks in the distance. Now they pass the +curve, and are on the home-stretch, dashing swiftly to the finish.</p> + +<p>Nearer and nearer sounds the thunder of their oncoming hoofs. Ten +thousand people grow mad with excitement as they dash on.</p> + +<p>To the great surprise of the spectators, Queen Bess<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> is gaining steadily +inch by inch, until she passes those before her, even the General, and +there is but a ribbon of daylight between herself and the great Robin +Adair.</p> + +<p>The crowd goes wild with intense excitement. Nerves are thrilling as +down the stretch dashes the racers almost with the rapidity of +lightning.</p> + +<p>The grand stand seems to rock with the excited shouts. One great cry +rises from ten thousand throats. Queen Bess has reached the great Robin +Adair's flanks, and inch by inch she is gaining on him. And the excited +spectators fairly hold their breath to see which horse wins.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">WHICH WON?</p> + + +<p>Never in the history of the Lee races had there been such an exciting +scene as this. Jay Gardiner's face is as white as death, as, with bated +breath, he watches the two thorough-breds. Every one rises to his feet +in the hope of catching a full view of the flyers.</p> + +<p>Which will win the race—the great Robin Adair or the gallant little +Queen Bess?</p> + +<p>The mad shouts are deafening.</p> + +<p>Suddenly they notice that Robin Adair, who has been victor in a dozen +such races, begins to show signs of distress. The foam covers his dark +chest, and his eyes flash uneasily. It is all that his rider can do to +urge him on with whip and spur.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>There is only one more furlong to cover. Robin Adair and little Queen +Bess are side by side, neck to neck, both increasing their speed with +every stride.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Robin, the great Robin Adair, falters ever so slightly. The +seething mass of men and women hold their breath. Then, quick as a +flash, as if shot from a bow, gallant little Queen Bess passes him. A +great cry breaks from the vast multitude of spectators. One instant +later, and the cry has deepened into a mighty yell. Little Queen Bess, +with every muscle strained, passes under the wire—a winner!</p> + +<p>The next instant she is hidden from sight by the eager thousands who are +crowding and pushing one another to catch a glimpse of the winner. Jay +Gardiner stands for a moment as if dumbfounded. He is hardly able to +credit the evidence of his own senses.</p> + +<p>"Queen Bess had won!" cried the golden-haired girl by his side, and he +answers a hoarse—"Yes."</p> + +<p>The girl laughs, and the sound of that laugh lingers in his memory all +the long years of his after-life.</p> + +<p>"And I have won!" she adds, shrilly.</p> + +<p>Again he answers, in that same hoarse monotone—"Yes!"</p> + +<p>Before he has time even to think, Sally Pendleton turns around to her +father and mother, crying triumphantly:</p> + +<p>"Mamma—papa, Mr. Gardiner wants me to marry him. My hand is pledged to +him; that is, if you are willing!"</p> + +<p>The young man's face turned as white as it would ever be in death.</p> + +<p>The effect of her words can better be imagined than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> described. Mr. +Pendleton stared at his daughter as though he had not heard aright.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pendleton was dumbfounded. And Louise—poor Louise!—to her it +seemed as if life had ended for her.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pendleton recovered himself in an instant. He had been quite sure +that Mr. Gardiner preferred his elder daughter Louise to his younger +daughter, merry, rollicking Sally.</p> + +<p>"I am sure, I am very well pleased," he said, heartily extending his +hand to Mr. Gardiner. "Certainly I give my consent, in which my wife +joins me."</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner's face flushed. He could not make a scene by refusing to +accept the situation. He took the proffered hand. Mrs. Pendleton rose to +the occasion.</p> + +<p>"If he prefers Sally, that is the end of it as far as Louise is +concerned. Sally had better have him than for the family to lose him and +all his millions," she thought, philosophically.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner's friends congratulated the supposedly happy lovers. Louise +spoke no word; it seemed to her as though the whole world had suddenly +changed; her golden day-dreams had suddenly and without warning been +dispelled.</p> + +<p>During that homeward ride, Jay Gardiner was unusually quiet. His brain +seemed in a whirl—the strange event of the afternoon seemed like a +troubled dream whose spell he could not shake off, do what he would.</p> + +<p>He looked keenly at the girl by his side. Surely she did not realize the +extent of the mischief she had done by announcing their betrothal.</p> + +<p>It was not until he had seen his party home and found<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> himself alone at +last in his boarding-house that he gave full rein to his agitated +thoughts.</p> + +<p>It was the first time in the life of this debonair young millionaire +that he had come face to face with a disagreeable problem.</p> + +<p>Gay, jolly Sally Pendleton, with her flashing get-up—a combination of +strangely unnatural canary-yellow hair, pink cheeks and lips, and +floating, rainbow-hued ribbons—jarred upon his artistic tastes.</p> + +<p>He did not admire a girl who went into convulsions of laughter, as Sally +did, at everything that was said and done. In fact, he liked her less +each time he saw her. But she was young—only eighteen—and she might, +in time, have a little more sense, he reflected.</p> + +<p>What should he do? He looked at the matter in every light; but, +whichever way he turned, he found no comfort, no way out of the dilemma.</p> + +<p>If he were to explain to the world that the engagement was only the +outcome of a thoughtless wager, his friends would surely censure him for +trying to back out; they would accuse him of acting the part of a +coward. He could not endure the thought of their taking that view of it. +All his friends knew his ideas concerning honor, particularly where a +lady was concerned.</p> + +<p>And now he was in honor bound to fulfill his part of the wager—marry +Sally Pendleton, whom he was beginning to hate with a hatred that +startled even himself.</p> + +<p>Such a marriage would spoil his future, shipwreck his whole life, blast +his every hope. But he himself was to blame. When that hoidenish, +hair-brained girl had made such a daring wager, he should have declined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +to accept it; then this harvest of woe would not have to be reaped.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a thought, an inspiration, came to him. He would go to Sally, +point out to her the terrible mistake of this hasty betrothal, and she +might release him from it.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">"SHALL WE BREAK THIS BETROTHAL, THAT WAS MADE ONLY IN FUN?"</p> + + +<p>The thought was like an inspiration to Jay Gardiner. He would go to +Sally and ask her to break this hateful engagement; and surely she would +be too proud to hold him to a betrothal from which he so ardently +desired to be set free.</p> + +<p>The following day he put his plan into execution. It was early in the +afternoon when he entered the hotel, and going at once to the +reception-room, he sent up his card. He had not long to wait for Miss +Sally. He had scarcely taken two or three turns across the floor ere she +floated into the room with both hands outstretched, an eager smile on +her red lips.</p> + +<p>He took one of the outstretched hands, bowed ever it coldly, and hastily +dropped it.</p> + +<p>"I was expecting you this afternoon," said Sally, archly, pretending not +to notice his constraint, "and here you are at last."</p> + +<p>"Miss Pendleton," he began, stiffly, "would you mind<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> getting your hat +and taking a little stroll with me? I have something to talk over with +you, and I do not wish all those people on the porch, who are listening +to us even now, to hear."</p> + +<p>"I would be delighted," answered Sally. "Come on. My hat is right out +there on a chair on the veranda."</p> + +<p>He followed her in silence. It was not until they were some little +distance from the hotel that he found voice to speak.</p> + +<p>"You say you want to talk to your betrothed," laughed the girl, with a +toss of her yellow curls; "but you have maintained an unbroken silence +for quite a time."</p> + +<p>"I have been wondering how to begin speaking of the subject which weighs +so heavily on my mind, and I think the best way is to break right into +it."</p> + +<p>"Yes," assented Sally; "so do I."</p> + +<p>"It is about our betrothal," he began, brusquely. "I want to ask you a +plain, frank question, Miss Pendleton, and I hope you will be equally as +frank with me; and that is, do you consider what you are pleased to call +your betrothal to me, and which I considered at the time only a girlish +prank, actually binding?"</p> + +<p>He stopped short in the wooded path they were treading, and looked her +gravely in the face—a look that forced an answer. She was equal to the +occasion.</p> + +<p>"Of course I do, Mr. Gardiner," she cried, with a jolly little laugh +that sounded horrible in his ears. "And wasn't it romantic? Just like +one of those stories one reads in those splendid French novels, I +laughed——"</p> + +<p>"Pray be serious, Miss Pendleton," cut in Gardiner, biting his lip +fiercely to keep back an angry retort. "This is not a subject for +merriment, I assure you, and I had hoped to have a sensible conversation +with you concern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>ing it—to show each of us a way out of it, if that is +possible."</p> + +<p>"I do not wish to be set free, as you phrase it, Mr. Gardiner," she +answered, defiantly. "I am perfectly well pleased to have matters just +as they are, I assure you."</p> + +<p>His face paled; the one hope which had buoyed him up died suddenly in +his heart.</p> + +<p>Sally Pendleton's face flushed hotly; her eyes fell.</p> + +<p>"I will try to win your liking," she replied.</p> + +<p>"It is a man's place to win," he said, proudly; "women should be won," +he added, with much emphasis. "When two people marry without love, they +must run all the risk such a union usually incurs."</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, but I may as well speak the truth; you are the last girl on +earth whom I could love. It grieves me to wound you, but it is only just +that you should know the truth. <i>Now</i> will you insist upon carrying out +the contract?"</p> + +<p>"As I have told you from the start, my answer will always be the same."</p> + +<p>"We will walk back to the hotel," he said, stiffly.</p> + +<p>She rose from the mossy log and accompanied him without another word. At +last he broke the silence.</p> + +<p>"I am a gentleman," he said, "and am in honor bound to carry out this +contract, if you can not be induced to release me."</p> + +<p>"That is the only sensible view for you to take," she said.</p> + +<p>He crushed back the angry words that rose to his lips. He had never +disliked a woman before, but he could not help but own to himself that +he hated the girl by his side—the girl whom fate had destined that he +should marry.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">THE WAY OF WOMEN THE WHOLE WORLD OVER.</p> + + +<p>As Jay Gardiner and Sally walked to the hotel the young man had made up +his mind that the wedding should be put off as much as possible.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Sally touched him on the arm just as they reached the flight of +steps leading to the veranda.</p> + +<p>"I have one request to make of you," she said. "Please do not tell any +of my folks that you do not care for me, and that it is not a +<i>bonâ-fide</i> love-match."</p> + +<p>He bowed coldly.</p> + +<p>She went on: "Mamma has a relative—an old maiden cousin, ever so +old—who liked my picture so well that she declared she would make me +her heiress. She's worth almost as much as you are. They named me after +her—Sally Rogers Pendleton. That's how I happen to have such a +heathenish name. But I'll change it quick enough after the old lady dies +and leaves me her money.</p> + +<p>"And you will call to see me often?" asked Sally.</p> + +<p>"Before I promise that, I must ask what you call 'often.'"</p> + +<p>"You should take me out riding every afternoon, and call at least every +other evening."</p> + +<p>Again that angry look crossed Jay's handsome face.</p> + +<p>"In this case the usual customs must be waived," he answered, haughtily. +"I will call for you when I drive. That must suffice."</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner's thoughts were not any too pleasant as he wended his way +to his boarding-house. He had always prided himself on his skill in +evading women, lest a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> drag-net in the hands of some designing woman +might insnare him. Now he had been cleverly outwitted by an +eighteen-year-old girl.</p> + +<p>He suddenly lost all pleasure in driving. He was thankful for the rainy +week that followed, as he was not obliged to take Sally out driving.</p> + +<p>One day a telegram came from New York, requesting his immediate presence +in that city to attend a critical case. With no little satisfaction he +bid the Pendletons good-bye.</p> + +<p>"We intend to cut short our summer outing. We will return to New York in +a fortnight, and then I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you as often +as possible," Sally remarked.</p> + +<p>"I lead a very busy life in the city," he said. "A doctor's time is not +his own."</p> + +<p>"I shall not enjoy staying here after you have gone," she said, a trifle +wistfully.</p> + +<p>But he paid little heed to the remark.</p> + +<p>The happiest moment of his life was when the train steamed out of Lee.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you stay over and see the next race?" said one of his +friends, wringing his hand on the platform of the car.</p> + +<p>"I shall never go to another race," he remarked, savagely.</p> + +<p>"What! were you a plunger at the last race?" asked his friend.</p> + +<p>But Jay Gardiner made no answer.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry if I have called up bitter recollections," laughed his +friend.</p> + +<p>Then the bell sounded, and the train moved on.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>Jay Gardiner turned resolutely away from the window, that he might not +catch a look of the hotel.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if my patient, Miss Rogers, and the relative this girl speaks +of are one and the same person?" he asked himself.</p> + +<p>He had once saved the life of this Miss Rogers, and since that time she +had been a devoted friend of his.</p> + +<p>She was a most kind, estimable woman, and he admired her for her noble +character. Surely she could not be the lady of whom Sally Pendleton +spoke so derisively?</p> + +<p>He reached the city at last, and, without taking time to refresh +himself, hurried to see who it was that needed his help.</p> + +<p>It was eleven o'clock, and the crowds on the streets of the great +metropolis had begun to thin out.</p> + +<p>His office clerk, who was expecting him, said, in answer to his inquiry:</p> + +<p>"It is Miss Rogers, sir. She is dangerously ill, and will have no other +doctor."</p> + +<p>"I will go to her at once," said Jay Gardiner.</p> + +<p>But at that moment a man who had been hurt in a railway accident was +brought in, and he was obliged to devote half an hour of his valuable +time in dressing his wounds. Then with all possible haste he set out on +his journey.</p> + +<p>He gave orders to his driver to go to Miss Rogers' residence by the +shortest route possible.</p> + +<p>At that very moment, in another part of the city, a woman who had once +been young and beautiful lay dying. The room in which she lay was +magnificent in its costly hangings; the lace draperies that hung from +the windows represented a fortune, the carpets and rugs which covered +the floor were of the costliest description. Rare paint<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>ings and the +richest of bric-a-brac occupied the walls and other available places. +Even the lace counterpane on the bed represented the expenditure of a +vast sum of money. But the woman who lay moaning there in mortal pain +would have given all to have purchased one hour of ease.</p> + +<p>"Has the doctor come yet, Mary?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"No," replied her faithful attendant, who bent over her. "But he can not +be long now, my lady. It is several hours since we telegraphed for him, +and I have telephoned for him every hour since. At the office they say +that he has already started for here."</p> + +<p>"Are those carriage wheels? Go to the window, Mary, and see."</p> + +<p>The attendant glided noiselessly to the heavily draped window and drew +aside the hangings.</p> + +<p>"No," she answered, gently; "he has not yet come."</p> + +<p>"Something must have happened, Mary," half-sobbed the sufferer; "I am +sure of it."</p> + +<p>Ay, something out of the usual had happened to Doctor Gardiner.</p> + +<p>As his handsome brougham turned into Canal Street, the doctor, in +looking from the window, noticed a young girl hurrying along the street.</p> + +<p>There was something about the symmetrical figure that caused the doctor +to look a second time.</p> + +<p>He said to himself that she must be young; and a feeling of pity +thrilled his heart to see one so young threading the streets at that +hour of the night.</p> + +<p>So many people were making their way through the streets that the driver +was only able to proceed slowly. And thus the young girl, who had quite +unconsciously attracted the doctor's attention, kept pace with the +vehicle.</p> + +<p>Once, as Jay Gardiner caught sight of her face, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> felt as though an +electric shock had suddenly passed through him. For a moment he was +almost spell-bound. Where had he seen that face? Then suddenly it +occurred to him that it was the <i>fac-simile</i> of the picture he had +bought abroad.</p> + +<p>And as he gazed with spell-bound attention, much to his disgust he saw +the young woman stop in front of a wine-room and peer in at one of the +windows. This action disgusted the young doctor immeasurably.</p> + +<p>"How sad that one so fair as she should have gone wrong in the morning +of life," he thought.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she turned and attempted to dart across the street. But in that +moment her foot slipped, and she was precipitated directly under the +horses' hoofs.</p> + +<p>A cry broke from the lips of the doctor, and was echoed by the man on +the box.</p> + +<p>"Are you hurt?" cried Doctor Gardiner, springing from his seat and +bending over the prostrate figure of the girl.</p> + +<p>"No, no!" cried the girl, in the saddest, sweetest voice he had ever +heard. "They must not find me here when they come to the door; they will +be so angry!" she said, springing to her feet.</p> + +<p>At that moment there was a commotion in the wine-room, the door of which +had just been opened.</p> + +<p>As the girl turned to look in that direction, she saw a man pushed +violently into the street.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is father—it is father!" cried the young girl, wildly, shaking +herself free from the doctor's detaining hand. "Oh, they have killed my +father! See! he is lying on the pavement dead, motionless! Oh, God, pity +me! I am left alone in the wide, wide world!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">BERNARDINE.</p> + + +<p>Doctor Gardiner sprung forward quickly.</p> + +<p>"You are unnecessarily alarmed, my dear young lady," he said. "The +gentleman is only stunned."</p> + +<p>So it proved to be; for he had scarcely ceased speaking when the man +struggled to his feet and looked about him in dazed bewilderment.</p> + +<p>"Oh, papa, darling, have they killed you!" sobbed the young girl, +springing wildly forward and throwing her arms about the dust-begrimed +man.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, Bernardine," he answered in a shrill voice. "I am sure +every bone in my body is broken—quite sure."</p> + +<p>"No," interrupted Doctor Gardiner, pitying the young girl in her +distress; "you are only bruised. I am a doctor; if you will give me your +address, I will look in and give you something when I return this way. I +may return in an hour's time, I may be as late as to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>"We—we—could not pay for the services of a doctor, sir," sobbed the +young girl. "If there is anything the matter, I will have to take poor +papa to the hospital."</p> + +<p>"I would never go to the hospital, Bernardine," whined the man in a low +tone. "That will be the last of me if I ever have to go there."</p> + +<p>"I would make no charge whatever," said Doctor Gardiner. "My services +would be rendered gratis," he added, earnestly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>The young girl looked at him with tears shining in her great dark eyes.</p> + +<p>"We live in the tenement just around the corner, sir," she said, "on the +sixth floor. My father is David Moore, the basket-maker."</p> + +<p>Doctor Gardiner dared not remain another moment talking with them, and +with a hasty bow he re-entered his carriage. But during the remainder of +his journey he could think of nothing but the sad, beautiful face of +Bernardine Moore, the basket-maker's daughter.</p> + +<p>"What in the name of Heaven has come over me!" he muttered. "I have seen +a face, and it seems as though I have stepped through the gates of the +old world and entered a new one."</p> + +<p>He collected his thoughts with a start, as the carriage reached its +destination.</p> + +<p>He had not realized how quickly the time had passed. He resolutely put +all thoughts from him as he walked up the steps of the mansion before +which he found himself.</p> + +<p>The door opened before he could touch the bell.</p> + +<p>"We have been waiting for you, doctor," said the low-voiced attendant +who had come to the door.</p> + +<p>He followed her through the magnificent hall-way, and up the polished +stairs to the apartment above, where he knew his patient was awaiting +him.</p> + +<p>The wan face lying against the pillow lighted up as the doctor entered. +His bright, breezy presence was as good as medicine.</p> + +<p>"You!" he cried, advancing to the couch. "Why, this will never do, Miss +Rogers! Tut, tut! you are not sick, you do not look it! This is only an +excuse to send for me, and you know it. I can see at a glance that you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +are a long way from being ill, and you know it!" he repeated.</p> + +<p>He said it in so hearty a manner and in such apparent good faith, that +his words could not help but carry conviction with them.</p> + +<p>Already the poor lady began to feel that she was not nearly so ill as +she had believed herself to be.</p> + +<p>But the doctor, bending over her, despite his reassuring smile and light +badinage, realized with alarm that his patient was in great danger, that +there was but a fighting chance for her life.</p> + +<p>An hour or more he worked over her unceasingly, doing everything that +skill and science could suggest.</p> + +<p>With the dawning of the morning he would know whether she would live or +die.</p> + +<p>"Doctor," she said, looking up into his face, "do you think my illness +is fatal? Is this my last call?"</p> + +<p>He scarcely knew how to answer her. He felt that the truth should not be +kept from her. But how was he to tell her?</p> + +<p>"Because," she went on, before he could answer, "if it is, I had better +know it in time, in order to settle up my affairs. I—I have always +dreaded making a will; but—but there will come a time, sooner or later, +when it will be necessary for me to do so."</p> + +<p>Again Doctor Gardiner laughed out that hearty, reassuring laugh.</p> + +<p>"That is the natural feeling of a woman," he said. "Men never have that +feeling. With them it is but an ordinary matter, as it should be."</p> + +<p>"Would you advise me to make a will, doctor?" and the white face was +turned wistfully to him.</p> + +<p>"Certainly," he replied, with an attempt at light-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>heartedness. "It will +occupy your mind, give you something to think about, and take your +thoughts from your fancied aches and pains."</p> + +<p>"Fancied?" replied the poor lady. "Ah, doctor, they are real enough, +although you do not seem to think so. I—I want to leave all my money to +<i>you</i>, doctor," she whispered. "You are the only person in the whole +wide world who, without an object, has been kind to me," she added, with +sudden energy. The fair, handsome face of the young doctor grew grave.</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay," he said, gently. "While I thank you with all my heart for +the favor you would bestow on me, still I must tell you that I could not +take the money. No, no, my dear Miss Rogers; it must go to the next of +kin, if you have any."</p> + +<p>Her face darkened as an almost forgotten memory rose up before her.</p> + +<p>"No!" she said, sharply; "anything but that! They never cared for me! +They shall not fight over what I have when I am dead!"</p> + +<p>"But you have relatives?" he questioned, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said; "one or two distant cousins, who married and who have +families of their own. One of them wrote me often while I lived at San +Francisco; but in her letters she always wanted something, and such +hints were very distasteful to me. She said that she had named one of +her children after me, saying in the next sentence that I ought to make +the girl my heiress. I wrote to her to come on to San Francisco, when I +fell so ill, a few weeks ago. She answered me that she could not come, +that she was very sick herself, and that the doctors had ordered her out +to Lee, Massachusetts, to live on a farm, until she should become +stronger.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> When I grew stronger, I left San Francisco with my faithful +attendant, Mary. I did not let them know that I was in New York, and had +taken possession of this fine house, which I own. Suddenly I fell ill +again. I intended to wait until I grew stronger to hunt her up, and see +how I should like her before making overtures of friendship to her. I +should not like to make a will and leave all to these people whom I do +not know. There are hundreds of homes for old and aged women that need +the money more."</p> + +<p>"Still, a will should always be made," said the doctor, earnestly. "I +will send for some one at once, if you will entertain the idea of +attending to it."</p> + +<p>"No!" she replied, firmly. "If anything happens to me, I will let them +take their chances. Don't say anything more about it, doctor; my mind is +fully made up."</p> + +<p>He dared not argue with a woman who was so near her end as he believed +her to be.</p> + +<p>This case proved to be one of the greatest achievements of his life. +From the very Valley of the Shadow of Death he drew back the struggling, +fluttering spirit of the helpless lady. And when the first gray streaks +of dawn flushed the eastern sky, the doctor drew a great sigh of relief.</p> + +<p>"Thank God, she will live!" he said.</p> + +<p>When the sun rose later the danger was past—the battle of life had been +won, and death vanquished.</p> + +<p>Although Doctor Gardiner was very weary after his night's vigil, still +he left the house with a happy heart beating in his bosom.</p> + +<p>He scarcely felt the fatigue of his arduous labors as he stepped into +his carriage again. His heart gave a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> strange throb as he ordered the +driver to go to the tenement house, the home of the old basket-maker and +his beautiful daughter.</p> + +<p>How strange it was that the very thought of this fair girl seemed to +give his tired brain rest for a moment!</p> + +<p>He soon found himself at the street and number he wanted.</p> + +<p>"Does Mr. Moore, the basket-maker, live here?" he asked, pausing for a +moment to inquire of a woman who sat on the doorstep with a little child +in her arms.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered, in a surly voice; "and more's the pity for the rest +of us tenants, for he is a regular fiend incarnate, sir, and has a fit +of the delirium tremens as regularly as the month comes round. He's got +'em now. A fine dance he leads that poor daughter of his. Any other girl +would get out and leave him. Are you the doctor Miss Bernardine was +expecting? If so, walk right up. She is waiting for you."</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">"OH, I AM SO GLAD THAT YOU HAVE COME, DOCTOR!"</p> + + +<p>Doctor Jay Gardiner, with as much speed as possible, made his way up the +long, steep flights of dark, narrow stairs, and through the still darker +passages, which were only lighted by the open doors here and there, +revealing rooms inhabited by half a dozen persons. They were all +talking, fighting or scrambling at the same time; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> the odor of that +never-to-be-forgotten smell of frying onions and sausages greeted his +nostrils at every turn until it seemed to him that he must faint.</p> + +<p>"Great heavens! how can so fair a young girl live in an atmosphere like +this?" he asked himself.</p> + +<p>At length, almost exhausted, for he was unused to climbing, this +haughty, aristocratic young doctor found himself on the sixth floor of +the tenement house, and he knocked at the first door he came to.</p> + +<p>It was opened by the young girl Bernardine. He could see at a glance +that her face bore the traces of trouble, and the dark eyes, still heavy +with unshed tears, showed signs of recent weeping.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am so glad that you have come, doctor!" she said, clasping her +little hands. "My poor father is so much worse. Please step in this +way!"</p> + +<p>He was ushered into a little sitting-room, and as he entered it he saw +that everything was scrupulously neat and clean.</p> + +<p>"Poor papa is out of his mind, doctor. Please come quickly, and see +him!"</p> + +<p>It did not require a second glance for the doctor to understand all; and +straightway he proceeded to give the man a draught, which had the effect +of quieting him. The young girl stood by the man with clasped hands and +dilated eyes, scarcely breathing as she watched him.</p> + +<p>The young doctor turned impulsively to the girl by his side.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me for the question, but do you live alone with your father?" he +asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she replied in a voice that thrilled him as the grandest, +sweetest music he had heard had never had power to do. "We have only +each other," she added,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> watching the distorted face on the pillow with +a fond wistfulness that made the young doctor, who was watching her, +almost envy the father.</p> + +<p>"I will come again to-morrow," he said, "and prescribe for him. I have +done all the good that is possible for the present."</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, Miss Moore," he said, standing with his hat in his hand, +and bowing before her as if she were a princess. "If you should have +occasion to need me in a hurry, send for me at once. This is my +address." And he handed her his card.</p> + +<p>Again she thanked him in a voice so sweet and low that it sounded to him +like softest music.</p> + +<p>He closed the door gently after him; and it seemed to him, as he walked +slowly down the narrow dark stairs, that he had left Paradise and one of +God's angels in it.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">"WHAT A LONELY LIFE FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL YOUNG GIRL!"</p> + + +<p>All that day the sweet face of Bernardine Moore was before Doctor +Gardiner. He found himself actually looking forward to the morrow, when +he should see her again. He deceived himself completely as to the cause, +telling himself that it was because of his pity for her, and the +desolate life she was leading.</p> + +<p>The next day when he called, Bernardine again met him at the door.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>"Papa has been calling for you," she said. Then she stopped short, in +dire confusion, as she remembered the reason why he was so anxious to +see him. "He has just fallen into a light sleep. I will go and awaken +him at once and tell him you are here."</p> + +<p>"By no means," he said. "Pray do not awaken him; the sleep he is having +is better than medicine. Will you permit me to sit down and talk with +you for a few moments, until he awakens?"</p> + +<p>She looked anxiously at him for a moment, then said, with charming +frankness:</p> + +<p>"Would you mind very much if I went on with my work. I have several +baskets to be finished by night, when they will be called for."</p> + +<p>"By no means. Pray proceed with your work. Do not let me disturb you," +he answered, hastily. "I shall consider it a great favor if you will +allow me to watch you as you work."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said Bernardine, "if you will not mind coming into our +little work-shop," and she led the way with a grace that completely +charmed him.</p> + +<p>The place was devoid of any furniture save two or three wooden chairs, +which the girl and her father occupied at their work, the long wooden +bench, the great coils of willow—the usual paraphernalia of the +basket-makers' trade.</p> + +<p>She sat down on her little wooden seat, indicating a seat opposite for +him. He watched her eagerly as her slim white fingers flew in and out +among the strands of trailing willow quickly taking shape beneath her +magic touch.</p> + +<p>"It must be a very lonely life for you," said Jay Gardiner, after a +moment's pause.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>"I do not mind; I am never lonely when father is well," she answered, +with a sweet, bright smile. "We are great companions, father and I. He +regales me by the hour with wonderful stories of things he used to see +when he was a steamboat captain. But he met with an accident one time, +and then he had to turn to basket-making."</p> + +<p>As he conversed with the young girl, Jay Gardiner was indeed surprised +to see what a fund of knowledge that youthful mind contained. She was +the first young girl whom he had met who could sit down and talk +sensibly to a man. Her ideas were so sweet, so natural, that it charmed +him in spite of himself. She was like a heroine out of a +story-book—just such a one, he thought, as Martha Washington must have +been in her girlhood days. His admiration and respect for her grew with +each moment.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">WHAT IS LIFE WITHOUT LOVE?</p> + + +<p>Every evening, on some pretext or other, Jay Gardiner managed to pay +David Moore, the basket-maker, a visit, and the cynical old man began to +look forward to these visits.</p> + +<p>He never dreamed that his daughter was the magnet which drew the young +man to his poor home. They were evenings that Jay Gardiner never forgot.</p> + +<p>Bernardine was slightly confused at first by his pres<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>ence; then she +began to view the matter in another light—that the young doctor had +taken quite an interest in her father. He had certainly cured him of a +terrible habit, and she was only too pleased that her father should have +visits from so pleasant a man.</p> + +<p>She always had some work in her slender white hands when the doctor +called. Sometimes, glancing up unexpectedly, she would find the doctor's +keen blue eyes regarding her intently, and she would bend lower over her +sewing. Jay Gardiner, however, saw the flush that rose to her cheek and +brow.</p> + +<p>As he sat in that little tenement sitting-room—he who had been +flattered and courted by the most beautiful heiresses—he experienced a +feeling of rest come over him.</p> + +<p>He would rather pass one hour in that plain, unpretentious sitting-room +than visit the grandest Fifth Avenue mansion.</p> + +<p>And thus a fortnight passed. At the end of that time, Jay Gardiner stood +face to face with the knowledge of his own secret—that he had at last +met in Bernardine Moore the idol of his life. He stood face to face with +this one fact—that wealth, grandeur, anything that earth could give +him, was of little value unless he had the love of sweet Bernardine.</p> + +<p>It came upon him suddenly that the sweet witchery, the glamor falling +over him was—love.</p> + +<p>He realized that he lived only in Bernardine's presence, and that +without her life would be but a blank to him. His love for Bernardine +became the one great passion of his life. Compared with her, all other +women paled into insignificance.</p> + +<p>He fell, without knowing it, from a state of intense admiration into one +of blind adoration for her. He had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> never before trembled at a woman's +touch. Now, if his hand touched hers, he trembled as a strong tree +trembles in a storm.</p> + +<p>Looking forward to the years to come, he saw no gleam of brightness in +them unless they were spent with the girl he loved.</p> + +<p>Then came the awakening. He received a letter from Sally Pendleton, in +which she upbraided him for not writing. That letter reminded him that +he was not free; that before he had met Bernardine, he had bound himself +in honor to another.</p> + +<p>He was perplexed, agitated. He loved Bernardine with his whole heart, +and yet, upon another girl's hand shone his betrothal-ring.</p> + +<p>When the knowledge of his love for sweet Bernardine came to him, he told +himself that he ought to fly from her; go where the witchery of her +face, the charm of her presence, would never set his heart on fire; go +where he could never hear her sweet voice again.</p> + +<p>"Only a few days more," he said, sadly. "I will come here for another +week, and then the darkness of death will begin for me, for the girl who +holds me in such galling chains will return to the city."</p> + +<p>Why should he not see Bernardine for another week? It would not harm +her, and it would be his last gleam of happiness.</p> + +<p>At this time another suitor for Bernardine's hand appeared upon the +scene. On one of his visits to the Moores' home he met a young man +there. The old basket-maker introduced him, with quite a flourish, as +Mr. Jasper Wilde, a wine merchant, and his landlord. The two men bowed +stiffly and looked at each other as they acknowledged the presentation.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>Doctor Gardiner saw before him a heavy-set, dark-eyed young man with a +low, sinister brow. An unpleasant leer curled his thin lips, which a +black mustache partially shaded, and he wore a profusion of jewels which +was disgusting to one of his refined temperament.</p> + +<p>He could well understand that he was a wine merchant's son. He certainly +gave evidence of his business, and that he had more money than good +breeding. The word <i>roué</i> was stamped on his every feature.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner was troubled at the very thought of such a man being +brought in contact with sweet Bernardine. Then the thought flashed +through his mind that this was certainly the man whom the woman on the +doorstep had told him about.</p> + +<p>Jasper Wilde, looking at the young doctor, summed him up as a proud, +white-handed, would-be doctor who hadn't a cent in his pocket.</p> + +<p>"I can see what the attraction is here—it's Bernardine; but I'll block +his little game," he muttered. "The few weeks that I've been out of the +city he has been making great headway; but I'll stop that."</p> + +<p>The young doctor noticed that what the woman had told him was quite +true. He could readily see that Bernardine showed a feeling of +repugnance toward her visitor.</p> + +<p>But another thing he noticed with much anxiety was, that the old +basket-maker was quite hilarious, as though he had been dosed with wine +or something stronger.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner knew at once that this man must have known the +basket-maker's failing and slipped him a bottle, and that that was his +passport to favor.</p> + +<p>Doctor Gardiner talked with David Moore and his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> daughter, addressing no +remarks whatever to the obnoxious visitor.</p> + +<p>"The impudent popinjay is trying to phase me," thought Wilde; "but he +will see that it won't work."</p> + +<p>Accordingly he broke into every topic that was introduced; and thus the +evening wore on, until it became quite evident to Doctor Gardiner that +Mr. Jasper Wilde intended to sit him out.</p> + +<p>Bernardine looked just a trifle weary when the clock on the mantel +struck ten, and Doctor Gardiner rose to depart.</p> + +<p>"Shall I hold the light for you?" she asked. "The stair-way is always +very dark."</p> + +<p>"If you will be so kind," murmured the doctor.</p> + +<p>Jasper Wilde's face darkened as he listened to this conversation. His +eyes flashed fire as they both disappeared through the door-way.</p> + +<p>On the landing outside Doctor Gardiner paused a few moments.</p> + +<p>How he longed to give her a few words of advice, to tell her to beware +of the man whom he had just left talking to her father! But he +remembered that he had not that right. She might think him presumptuous.</p> + +<p>If he had only been free, he would have pleaded his own suit then and +there. That she was poor and unknown, and the daughter of such a father, +he cared nothing.</p> + +<p>Ah! cruel fate, which forbid him taking her in his arms and never +letting her go until she had promised to be his wife!</p> + +<p>As it was, knowing that he loved her with such a mighty love, he told +himself that he must look upon her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> face but once again, and then it +must be only to say farewell.</p> + +<p>"The night is damp and the air is chill, and these narrow halls are +draughty. Do not stand out here," he said, with eager solicitude; "you +might catch cold."</p> + +<p>She laughed a sweet, amused laugh.</p> + +<p>"I am used to all kinds of weather, Doctor Gardiner," she said. "I am +always out in it. I make the first track in winter through the deep +snows. I go for the work in the morning, and return with it at night. +You know, when one is poor, one can not be particular about such little +things as the weather; it would never do."</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">A SHADOW DARKENS THE PEACEFUL HOME OF THE BASKET-MAKER.</p> + + +<p>Sweet Bernardine Moore laughed to see the look of amazement upon the +young doctor's face.</p> + +<p>He who had been reared in luxury, pampered and indulged—ay, spoiled by +an over-indulgent mother, what had he ever known of the bitter realities +of life, the struggles many have to undergo for their very existence?</p> + +<p>He looked at this delicate, graceful girl, and his lips trembled, his +eyes grew moist with tears.</p> + +<p>Oh, if he but dared remove her from all this sorrow! The thought of her +toiling and suffering there was more than he could calmly endure.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>He turned away quickly. In another moment he would have committed +himself. He had almost forgotten that he was bound to another, and would +have been kneeling at her feet in another minute but for the sound of +her father's voice, which brought him to himself.</p> + +<p>"Bernardine!" cried her father, fretfully, "what are you doing out there +so long in the hall? Don't you know that Mr. Wilde is waiting here to +talk with you?"</p> + +<p>A pitiful shadow crossed the girl's face. Evidently she knew what the +man had to say to her.</p> + +<p>Tears which she could not resist came to her eyes, and her lovely lips +trembled.</p> + +<p>Doctor Gardiner could not help but observe this.</p> + +<p>"Bernardine," he cried, hoarsely, forgetting himself for the moment, "I +should like to ask something of you. Will you promise to grant my +request?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she murmured, faintly and unhesitatingly.</p> + +<p>"Do not trust the man to whom your father is talking."</p> + +<p>"There is little need to caution me in regard to him, Doctor Gardiner," +she murmured. "My own heart has told me that already——"</p> + +<p>She stopped short in great embarrassment, and Doctor Gardiner thought it +best not to pursue the subject further, for his own peace of mind as +well as hers.</p> + +<p>He turned abruptly away, and was quickly lost to sight in the labyrinth +of stair-ways.</p> + +<p>With slow steps Bernardine had re-entered her apartments again. As she +approached the door, she heard Jasper Wilde say to her father in an +angry, excited voice:</p> + +<p>"There is no use in talking to you any longer; it must be settled +to-night. I do not intend to wait any longer."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>"But it is so late!" whined the basket-maker in his high, sharp treble.</p> + +<p>"You knew I was coming, and just what I was coming here for. Why didn't +you get rid of the poor, penny doctor, instead of encouraging him?"</p> + +<p>"I could not say much to the doctor, for he had my life in his hands, +and saved it."</p> + +<p>"There might be worse things for you to face," replied the man, +menacingly. And the poor old basket-maker understood but too well what +he meant.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," he said, huskily, "you must certainly speak to Bernardine +this very night, if I can get her to give you a hearing. I will do my +best to influence her to have you."</p> + +<p>"Influence!" exclaimed the man, savagely. "You must command her!"</p> + +<p>"Bernardine is not a girl one can command," sighed the old man. "She +likes her own way, you know."</p> + +<p>"It isn't for her to say what she wants or doesn't want!" exclaimed the +man savagely. "I shall look to you to bring the girl round to your way +of thinking, without any nonsense. Do you hear and comprehend?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the old man, wearily. "But that isn't making Bernardine +understand. Some young girls are very willful!"</p> + +<p>Trembling with apprehension, the old basket-maker dropped into the +nearest chair.</p> + +<p>His haggard face had grown terribly pale, and his emaciated hands shook, +while his eyes fairly bulged from their sockets. The agony of mind he +was undergoing was intense.</p> + +<p>"Will Bernardine refuse this man?" he muttered to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> himself, "Oh, if I +but dared tell her all, would she pity, or would she blame me?"</p> + +<p>He loved the girl after his own fashion; but to save himself he was +willing to sacrifice her. Poor Bernadine! Had she but known all!</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">"YOU ARE FALSE AS YOU ARE FAIR, BERNARDINE!"</p> + + +<p>"I should think your own common sense would tell you. Surely you must +have guessed what I am so eager to say, Miss Bernardine?" Jasper Wilde +began, taking little heed of her father.</p> + +<p>The girl's white lips opened, but no sound came from them. He was right; +she quite expected it; but she did not tell him so.</p> + +<p>"I might as well break right into the subject at once," he said. "My +errand can be told in a few words. I have fallen deeply in love with +your pretty face, and I am here to ask you to marry me. Mind, I say to +marry me! What do you think of it?"</p> + +<p>The girl drew back hurriedly.</p> + +<p>"I think you might have guessed what my answer would have been, and thus +saved yourself."</p> + +<p>Again his face darkened, and an angry fire leaped into his eyes; but he +controlled himself by a great effort.</p> + +<p>"Why do you refuse me?" he asked. "I am a big catch, especially for a +girl like you. Come, I have taken<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> a notion to you, Bernardine, and +that's saying a good deal."</p> + +<p>"Spare yourself the trouble of uttering another word, Mr. Wilde," she +said, with dignity. "I would not, I could not marry you under any +circumstances. It is as well for you to know that."</p> + +<p>"So you think now; but I fancy we can change all that; can't we, Moore?"</p> + +<p>The old basket-maker's lips moved, but no sound came from them; the +terror in his eyes became more apparent with each moment.</p> + +<p>"I will never change my decision," said Bernardine.</p> + +<p>Jasper Wilde drew his chair up nearer to the girl.</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, Bernardine," he said. "You shall marry me, by all the +gods above and all the demons below! I have never been thwarted in any +wish or desire of my life. I shall not be thwarted in this!"</p> + +<p>"You would not wish me to marry you against my will?" said the girl.</p> + +<p>"That would make little difference to me," he rejoined. "You will like +me well enough after you marry me; so never fear about that."</p> + +<p>"I do not propose to marry you," replied Bernardine, rising haughtily +from her seat. "While I thank you for the honor you have paid me, I +repeat that I could never marry you."</p> + +<p>"And I say that you shall, girl, and that, too, within a month from +to-day," cried the other, in a rage.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bernardine, say 'Yes!'" cried the old man, trembling like an aspen +leaf.</p> + +<p>"I have never gone contrary to your wishes, father, in all my life," she +said; "but in this instance, where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> my interests are so deeply +concerned, I do feel that I must decide for myself."</p> + +<p>With a horrible laugh, Jasper Wilde quitted the room, banging the door +after him.</p> + +<p>With a lingering look at the beautiful young face, her father bid her +good-night, and with faltering steps quitted the little sitting-room and +sought his own apartment. A little later, Bernardine was startled to +hear him moaning and sobbing as though he were in great pain.</p> + +<p>"Are you ill, father?—can I do anything for you?" she called, going +quickly to his door and knocking gently.</p> + +<p>"No," he answered in a smothered voice. "Go to your bed, Bernardine, and +sleep. It is a great thing to be able to sleep—and forget."</p> + +<p>"Poor papa!" sighed the girl, "how I pity him! Life has been very hard +to him. Why are some men born to be gentlemen, with untold wealth at +their command, while others are born to toil all their weary lives +through for the meager pittance that suffices to keep body and soul +together?"</p> + +<p>She went slowly to her little room, but not to sleep. She crossed over +to the window, sat down on a chair beside it, and looked up at the bit +of starry sky that was visible between the tall house-tops and still +taller chimneys, then down at the narrow deserted street so far below, +and gave herself up to meditation.</p> + +<p>"No, no; I could never marry Jasper Wilde!" she mused. "The very thought +of it makes me grow faint and sick at heart; his very presence fills me +with an indescribable loathing which I can not shake off. How +differently the presence of Doctor Gardiner affects me! I—I find myself +watching for his coming, and dreading the time when he will cease to +visit papa."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>Doctor Gardiner's coming had been to Bernardine as the sun to the +violet. The old life had fallen from her, and she was beginning to live +a new one in his presence.</p> + +<p>As she sat by the window, she thought of the look the young doctor had +given her at parting. The remembrance of it quickened the beating of her +heart, and brought the color to her usually pale cheeks.</p> + +<p>How different the young doctor was from Jasper Wilde! If the young +doctor had asked her the same question Jasper Wilde had, would her +answer have been the same?</p> + +<p>The clock in an adjacent belfry slowly tolled the midnight hour. +Bernardine started.</p> + +<p>"How quickly the time has flown since I have been sitting here," she +thought.</p> + +<p>She did not know that it had been because her thoughts had been so +pleasant. She heard a long-drawn sigh come from the direction of her +father's room.</p> + +<p>"Poor papa!" she mused; "I think I can guess what is troubling him so. +He has spent the money we have saved for the rent, and fears to tell me +of it. If it be so, Jasper Wilde, at the worst can but dispossess us, +and we can find rooms elsewhere, and pay him as soon as we earn it. How +I feel like making a confidant of Doctor Gardiner!"</p> + +<p>Poor girl! If she had only done so, how much sorrow might have been +spared her!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">HE WISHED HE COULD TELL SOME ONE HIS UNFORTUNATE LOVE STORY.</p> + + +<p>During the weeks Doctor Gardiner had been visiting the old basket-maker +and thinking so much of his daughter, he had by no means neglected his +patient, Miss Rogers, in whom he took an especial, almost brotherly, +interest, and who rapidly recovered under his constant care, until at +length he laughingly pronounced her "quite as good as new."</p> + +<p>One day, in mounting the handsome brown-stone steps to make more of a +social than a business call, he was surprised to see the mansion closed.</p> + +<p>He felt quite grieved that his friend should have packed up and departed +so hastily—that she had not even remembered to say good-bye to him. He +felt all the more sorry for her absence just at this time, for, after +much deliberation, he had decided to make a confidante of Miss Rogers, +and pour into her kindly, sympathetic ear the whole of his unfortunate +love story from beginning to end, and ask her advice as to what course +he should pursue. He had also resolved to show her the last letter he +had received from Miss Pendleton, in which she hinted rather strongly +that the marriage ought to take place as soon as she returned to the +city.</p> + +<p>And now Miss Rogers was gone, he felt a strange chill, a disappointment +he could hardly control, as he turned away and walked slowly down the +steps and re-entered his carriage.</p> + +<p>The next mail, however, brought him a short note<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> from Miss Rogers. He +smiled as he read it, and laid it aside, little dreaming of what vital +importance those few carelessly-written lines would be in the dark days +ahead of him. It read as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Doctor Gardiner</span>—You will probably be +surprised to learn that by the time this reaches you I +shall be far away from New York, on a little secret +mission which has been a pet notion of mine ever since +I began to recover from my last illness. Do not be much +surprised at any very eccentric scheme you may hear of +me undertaking.</p> + +<p class="salutation">"Yours hastily and faithfully,</p> + +<p class="signature">"<span class="smcap">Miss Rogers</span>."</p></div> + +<p>The terse letter was characteristic of the writer. Doctor Gardiner +replaced it in its envelope, put it away in his desk, with the wish that +she had mentioned her destination, then dismissed it from his mind.</p> + +<p>At the identical moment Doctor Gardiner was reading Miss Rogers' letter, +quite a pitiful scene was being enacted in the home of the old +basket-maker.</p> + +<p>It was with a shudder that he awoke and found the sunshine which +heralded another day stealing into his narrow little room.</p> + +<p>Bernardine had been stirring about for some time, and at length the +savory odor of the frugal breakfast she was preparing reached him, and +at that moment she called him.</p> + +<p>When he made his appearance she saw at a glance that he must have passed +a sleepless night. He had no appetite, and pushed away the plate with +his food untouched, despite Bernardine's earnest efforts to induce him +to eat something.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>He watched her deft fingers in silence as she cleared the table at +length, washed and dried the dishes and put them away, and tidied the +little room.</p> + +<p>"Now, father," she said, at length, "the sun is shining now, and I will +give you half an hour of my time to listen to the story you have to tell +me. Don't look so distressed about it, dear; no matter what it is, I +will utter no word of complaint, you shall hear no bitter words from my +lips, only words of love, trust and comfort."</p> + +<p>"Tell me that again, Bernardine," he cried; "say it over again. Those +words are like the dew of Heaven to my feverish soul."</p> + +<p>She uttered the words again, with her soft white arms twined lovingly +around his neck, and she held them there until he came to the end of his +wretched story.</p> + +<p>"Bernardine," he began, softly, with a pitiful huskiness in his voice, +"I rely on your promise. You have given me your word, and I know you +will never break it. Don't look at me. Let me turn my face away from the +sight of the horror in your eyes as you listen. There, that is right; +let my poor whirling head rest on your strong young shoulder.</p> + +<p>"It happened only a few weeks ago, Bernardine," he continued, brokenly, +"this tragedy which has wrecked my life. One night—ah! how well I +remember it—even while I lie dying, it will stand out dark and horrible +from the rest of my life—I—I could not withstand the craving for drink +which took possession of me, and after you slept, I stole softly from my +couch and out of the house.</p> + +<p>"The few dimes I had in my pocket soon went where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> so many dollars of +my—yes, even your humble earnings have gone before—in the coffers of +the rum-shop.</p> + +<p>"The liquor I drank seemed to fire my brain as it had never been fired +before. I remember that I went to that place around the corner—the +place that you and Doctor Gardiner saw them throw me out of that night +you thought they had crippled me for life.</p> + +<p>"The man who keeps the place saw me coming in, and made a dash at me. +Then a terrible fight took place between us, and a crowd gathered, +foremost among whom I dimly saw the face of Jasper Wilde outlined amidst +the jeering throng.</p> + +<p>"To hasten the telling of an unpleasant tale, I will say he ejected me, +the while hurling the most insulting epithets at me. Then he spoke of +<i>you</i>, Bernardine, and—and turning upon him with the ferocity of an +enraged lion, I swore that I would kill him on sight.</p> + +<p>"'Beware! take care,' laughed Jasper Wilde, turning to my enemy; 'the +old basket-maker always keeps his word. You are in danger, my boy.'</p> + +<p>"At this the crowd jeered. I hurried away. I never remembered how far I +walked to still the throbbing of my heart and cool the fever in my +veins.</p> + +<p>"At length I turned my steps toward home. How far I had traversed in the +darkness I did not take note of; but as I was hurrying along, I heard a +loud cry for help. I ran around the corner from which it seemed to +proceed, and then I fell headlong across the body of a man lying prone +upon the pavement.</p> + +<p>"I drew a box of matches from my pocket, and hastily struck one. Yes, it +was a man dying with a wound in his breast, made from a clasp-knife, +which still stuck in it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>"In horror I snatched the knife away; and as I did so, the blood from +the wound spurted up into my face and covered my clothes. In that +instant I made the awful discovery that the knife was my own. I must +have lost it from my pocket during my encounter with my enemy, who kept +the wine-room.</p> + +<p>"By the flickering light of the half-burned match, which I held down to +the man's face, I saw—oh, God! how shall I tell it?—I saw that the man +who had been murdered with my knife was the man whom I had sworn before +the crowd I would kill on sight.</p> + +<p>"As I made this startling discovery, a man laid a heavy hand on my +shoulder, and Jasper Wilde's voice, with a demoniac ring, cried in my +horrified ears:</p> + +<p>"'I see you have kept your word, David Moore! You have murdered your +enemy!'</p> + +<p>"All in vain I protested my innocence. He only laughed at me, jeered at +my agony with diabolical glee.</p> + +<p>"'You will be hanged,' he said. 'Of course, you realize that, David +Moore.'</p> + +<p>"'I would not care for my life—what became of me—if it were not for +Bernardine!' I moaned, wildly.</p> + +<p>"'Yes, it <i>is</i> a pity for Bernardine,' he made answer. 'I am sorry for +you on her account. How sad it will be to see you torn away from her, +and she all alone in the world! Moore,' he hissed, close to my ear, 'for +her sake, and upon one condition, I will save you from the gallows. No +one but me has seen you bending over the murdered man with that knife in +your hand. If I keep silent, no one can <i>prove</i> the crime was done by +you. Do you comprehend—do you realize of what vital interest that which +I am saying is to you?'</p> + +<p>"'Yes,' I answered in a choked, awful voice. 'But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> the condition! What +have I, a poor, penniless basket-maker, even at this moment owing you +money—what have I which you, the son of a rich father, would stoop to +accept?' I cried in the utmost despair. He stooped nearer, and whispered +in my ear:</p> + +<p>"'You have a treasure which I long to possess. Give me Bernardine. I—I +will marry the girl, and will forever hold my peace. It will save you +from prison. Think and act quickly, man. You can <i>make</i> the girl accept +me if she should desire to refuse.'</p> + +<p>"I heard the whistle of an advancing policeman coming leisurely along +his beat. Another moment and he would turn the corner where I stood +almost paralyzed.</p> + +<p>"'Speak, man!' cried Jasper Wilde. 'Am I to save you, or call the +officer to arrest you? Am I to get Bernardine, or not?'</p> + +<p>"Oh, child! forgive me—pity me! Life to an old man even like me is +sweet. I could almost feel the rope of the gallows tightening about my +poor old throat, and I—oh, God, pity me—I promised him, Bernardine.</p> + +<p>"'Save me, and Bernardine shall marry you!' I cried; 'only save me! +Don't call the police, for the love of Heaven!'</p> + +<p>"'Then fly!' he cried, shrilly. 'Take the knife with you; go as quickly +as you can to my rooms, back of my place, and there I will give you +something to wear until you can get home!'</p> + +<p>"I made my way to his place, as he directed. He was there before me. He +took the blood-stained clothes and knife from me, remarking, grimly:</p> + +<p>"'I shall keep these, the evidences of your guilt, until you succeed in +making Bernardine my wife. If she refuses, I shall need them.'</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>"Oh, Bernardine, from that hour to this I have lived a perfect hell on +earth. I am as innocent of that crime as a babe; but everything is +against me. Jasper Wilde has proof enough to send your poor, wretched +old father to the gallows, if you refuse to marry him. Oh, Bernardine! I +dare not lift my head and look up into your dear young face. Speak to +me, child, and let me know the worst. This gnawing at my soul is +intolerable—I can not bear it and live!"</p> + +<p>But the lips of the hapless girl whose arms were twined about his neck +were mute and cold as marble.</p> + +<p>"Won't you speak to me, Bernardine?" he wailed out, sharply. "Your +silence is more than I can bear. For God's sake, speak!"</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">"HAVE I BROKEN YOUR HEART, MY DARLING?"</p> + + +<p>Bernardine Moore slowly untwined her white arms from about her father's +neck, and turned her white, anguished face toward him, and the awful +despair that lay in the dark eyes that met his was more piteous than any +words could have been.</p> + +<p>"Have I broken your heart, Bernardine?" he cried out. "Oh, my child, my +beautiful Bernardine, have I ruined your life by that fatal promise?"</p> + +<p>She tried to speak, but no words fell from her white lips; it seemed to +her that she would never speak again; that the power of speech had +suddenly left her.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>"My poor old life is not worth such a sacrifice, Bernardine!" he cried +out, sharply; "and you shall not make it. I will put a drop of something +I know of in a cup of coffee, and then it will be all over with me. He +can not pursue me through the dark gates of death."</p> + +<p>"No, no," said the girl, great, heavy tears—a blessed relief—falling +from her eyes like rain. "Your life is more precious to me than all the +world beside. I would take your place on the gallows and die for you, +father. Oh, believe me!—believe me!"</p> + +<p>"And you feel in your heart the truth of what I say—that I am innocent, +Bernardine?" he cried. "Say you believe me."</p> + +<p>"I would stake my life on your innocence, father," she replied, through +her tears. "I believe in you as I do in Heaven. You shall not die! I +will save you, father. I—I—will—marry Jasper Wilde, if that will save +you!"</p> + +<p>She spoke the words clearly, bravely. Her father did not realize that +they nearly cost her her life—that they dug a grave long and deep, in +which her hopes and rosy day-dreams were to be buried.</p> + +<p>"You have saved me, Bernardine!" he cried, joyously. "Oh, how you must +love me—poor, old, and helpless as I am!"</p> + +<p>She answered him with kisses and tears; she could not trust herself to +speak.</p> + +<p>She rose abruptly from her knees, and quitted the room with unsteady +steps.</p> + +<p>"Thank Heaven it is over!" muttered David Moore, with a sigh. +"Bernardine has consented, and I am saved!"</p> + +<p>The day that followed was surely the darkest sweet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> Bernardine Moore had +ever known. But it came to an end at last, and with the evening came Jay +Gardiner.</p> + +<p>He knew as soon as he greeted Bernardine and her father that something +out of the usual order had transpired, the old basket-maker greeted him +so stiffly, Bernardine so constrainedly.</p> + +<p>Bernardine's manner was quite as sweet and kind, but she did not hold +out to him the little hand which it was heaven on earth to him to clasp +even for one brief instant.</p> + +<p>Looking at her closely, he saw that her beautiful dark eyes were heavy +and swollen with weeping.</p> + +<p>"Poor child! She is continually grieving over the drinking habit of her +father," he thought; and the bitterest anger rose up in his heart +against the old basket-maker for bringing a tear to those beautiful dark +eyes.</p> + +<p>Again the longing came to him to beat down all barriers that parted her +from him, take Bernardine in his arms, and crying out how madly he loved +her, bear his beautiful love away as his idolized bride to his own +palatial home. But the thought of that other one, to whom he was in +honor and in duty bound, kept him silent.</p> + +<p>He realized that for his own peace of mind and hers he must never see +Bernardine again; that this must be the last time.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry your father has fallen asleep, yet I do not wish to waken +him, for I have come to say farewell to him and to you, Miss Moore," he +said, huskily.</p> + +<p>He saw the lovely face grow as white as a snow-drop; he saw all the glad +light leave the great dark eyes; he saw the beautiful lips pale and the +little hands tremble, and the sight was almost more than he could +endure, for he read by these signs that which he had guessed +be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>fore—that the sweet, fond, tender heart of Bernardine had gone out +to him as his had gone out to her.</p> + +<p>"Are you sorry, my poor girl?" he asked, brokenly.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered, not attempting to stay her bitter tears, "I shall +miss you. Life will never be the same to me again."</p> + +<p>He stopped before her, and caught her passionately to him.</p> + +<p>"Dear Heaven, help me to say good-bye to you!" he cried; "for you must +realize the truth, Bernardine. I love you—oh, I love you with all the +strength of my heart and soul! Yet we must part!"</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">"I LOVE YOU! I CAN NOT KEEP THE SECRET ANY LONGER!"</p> + + +<p>For a moment Bernardine rested in his arms while Jay Gardiner cried over +and over again, reckless as to how it would end:</p> + +<p>"Yes, I love you, Bernardine, with all my heart, with all my soul!"</p> + +<p>But it was for a moment only; then the girl struggled out of the strong +arms that infolded her, with the expression of a startled fawn in her +dark, humid eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Doctor Gardiner, don't; please don't!" she gasped, shrinking from +him with quivering lips, and holding up her white hands as though to +ward him off. "You must not speak to me; indeed, you must not!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>"Why should I not tell you the secret that is eating my heart away!" he +cried, hoarsely.</p> + +<p>Before he could add another word, she answered, quickly:</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you why it is not right to listen to you, Doctor Gardiner. +I—I am the promised wife of Jasper Wilde!"</p> + +<p>If she had struck him a blow with her little white hand he could not +have been more astounded.</p> + +<p>His arms fell to his sides, and his face grew ashen pale.</p> + +<p>"You are to marry Jasper Wilde?" he cried, hoarsely. "I can not believe +the evidence of my own senses, Bernardine!"</p> + +<p>She did not answer, but stood before him with her beautiful head drooped +on her breast.</p> + +<p>"You do not love him, Bernardine!" cried Jay Gardiner, bitterly. "Tell +me—answer me this—why are you to marry him?"</p> + +<p>Her lips moved, but no sound came from them.</p> + +<p>"If I should sue to you upon my bended knees to be mine, Bernardine, +would you not turn from him for me?"</p> + +<p>He knew by the piteous sob that welled from the very depths of her heart +how deeply this question must have struck her.</p> + +<p>"Bernardine," he cried, hoarsely, "if ever I read love in a girl's heart +when her eyes have met mine, I have read it in yours! You love me, +Bernardine. You can not, you dare not deny it. I repeat, if I were to +sue you on my bended knees, could you, would you refuse to be my wife?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>"I—must—marry—Jasper Wilde," she whispered, wretchedly.</p> + +<p>Without another word, stung by pride and pain, Jay Gardiner turned from +the girl he had learned to love so madly, and hurried down the dark, +winding stairs, and out into the street.</p> + +<p>For one moment poor Bernardine gazed at the open door-way through which +his retreating form had passed; then she flung herself down on her +knees, and wept as women weep but once in a life-time.</p> + +<p>Wounded love, outraged pride, the sense of keen and bitter humiliation, +and yet of dread necessity, was strong upon her. And there was no help +for her, no comfort in those tears.</p> + +<p>"Was ever a girl so wronged?" she moaned.</p> + +<p>She wept until there seemed to be no tears left in those dark, mournful +eyes. As she lay there, like a pale, broken lily, with her head and +heart aching, she wondered, in her gentle way, why this sorrow should +have fallen upon her.</p> + +<p>While she lay there, weeping her very heart out, Jay Gardiner was +walking down the street, his brain in a whirl, his emotions wrenching +his very soul.</p> + +<p>Miss Pendleton had written him that she would expect him to call that +evening. He had been about to write her that it would be an +impossibility; but now he changed his mind. Going there would be of some +benefit to him, after all, for it would bring him surcease of sorrow for +one brief hour, forgetfulness of Bernardine during that time.</p> + +<p>It touched him a little to see how delightedly the girl welcomed him. +She, too, was a money-seeker like the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> rest of her sex; but he could +also see that she was in love with him.</p> + +<p>"I have been home for three days, and you have not even remembered that +fact," she said, brightly, yet with a very reproachful look.</p> + +<p>"If you will pardon the offense, I will promise not to be so remiss in +the future."</p> + +<p>"I shall hold you to your word," she declared. "But dear me, how pale +and haggard you look! That will never do for a soon-to-be bridegroom!"</p> + +<p>His brow darkened. The very allusion to his coming marriage was most +hateful to him. Sally could see that, though she pretended not to notice +it.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Pendleton came in to welcome him, being so profuse in their +greeting that they annoyed him.</p> + +<p>Louisa was more sensible. Her welcome was quiet, not to say constrained.</p> + +<p>"If it had been Louisa instead of Sally," he mused, bitterly, "the fate +that I have brought upon myself would be more bearable."</p> + +<p>He was so miserable as he listened to Sally's ceaseless chatter that he +felt that if he had a revolver, he would shoot himself then and there, +and thus end it all.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">"WHERE THERE IS NO JEALOUSY THERE IS LITTLE LOVE!"</p> + + +<p>It was a relief to Jay Gardiner when he found himself out of the house +and on the street. The short two hours<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> he had passed in Sally's society +were more trying on his nerves than the hardest day's work could have +been.</p> + +<p>He groaned aloud at the thought of the long years he was destined to +live though, with this girl as his companion.</p> + +<p>He had come at seven, and made his adieu at nine. Sally then went +upstairs to her mother's room with a very discontented face, and entered +the <i>boudoir</i> in anything but the best of humors.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pendleton looked up from the book she was reading, with an +expression of astonishment and wonder.</p> + +<p>"Surely Doctor Gardiner has not gone so soon!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Yes, he has," replied Sally, laconically.</p> + +<p>"I suppose some important duty called him away so early?"</p> + +<p>"He did not say so," returned her daughter, crossly.</p> + +<p>"Is he coming soon again?" questioned Mrs. Pendleton, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," replied Sally; adding, slowly: "When I tried to find out +when he would call again, he seemed annoyed, and replied, curtly: 'That +will be hard for me to determine, Miss Pendleton. You must remember that +those in my profession have few leisure hours.' He would not set a time. +I had to let the matter rest at that."</p> + +<p>"He is not very much in love, then, I fear, my dear Sally," said her +mother, reflectively. "Still, bad beginnings often make good endings. +But I had almost forgotten to tell you the startling news, my dear," +added Mrs. Pendleton, hastily. "Your aunt, Sally Rogers, is here. Louisa +is entertaining her up in her <i>boudoir</i>. You must not be surprised, or +show too much amusement when you see her. She is a sight. We would be +eternally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> disgraced if the neighbors were to see her. She is fairly +covered with rags—yes, rags! There are holes in her shoes; there never +was such a bonnet worn since the time of the ark; and as for gloves, she +disdains such an article of feminine attire altogether. I do not think +one will have to wait long to come into possession of her fortune. But +run up to your sister's room and greet old Miss Sally as affectionately +as possible."</p> + +<p>Sally was rather glad of this intelligence, for it prevented her from +having a very bad case of the blues in thinking over her lover's +coldness, and how irksome this betrothal was to him.</p> + +<p>She found her sister doing her utmost to entertain the most grotesque +little old woman she had ever beheld. Her mother's description had +certainly not been overdrawn.</p> + +<p>Sally felt like bursting into uproarious laughter the moment her eyes +fell upon Miss Rogers, and it was only by a most superhuman effort she +controlled herself from letting her rising mirth get the better of her.</p> + +<p>"Dear me, <i>is</i> this, <i>can</i> this be jolly little Sally Pendleton, as you +used to sign the merry letters you wrote to me?" asked Miss Rogers, +stopping short in some remark she was making to Louisa, and gazing hard +at the slender, girlish figure that had just appeared on the threshold.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is I, Sally Pendleton," responded the girl, coming quickly +forward. "I just heard you were here, aunt, and I want to tell you how +delighted, enraptured, overjoyed I am to see you," she added, throwing +her arms around the bundle of rags which inclosed the thin little old +maid, with a bear-like hug and any amount of extravagant kisses, not +daring to look at Louisa the while.</p> + +<p>"This is indeed a hearty welcome, my dear!" ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>claimed Miss Rogers. +"Stand off, child," she added, holding Sally at arm's-length, "until I +get a good look at you."</p> + +<p>And she gazed long and steadily.</p> + +<p>Sally could not tell whether Miss Rogers was pleased or disappointed +with her, as her face never expressed her emotions.</p> + +<p>"I will call you and your sister my nieces; but you are not so nearly +related to me as that—-the line of relationship is a long way off. +There are many others as near to me as your family."</p> + +<p>"But none who love you anywhere near as well," put in Sally, quickly.</p> + +<p>"I hope you mean what you say," replied Miss Rogers, quietly; adding, +after a moment's pause, during which she wiped a suspicious moisture +from her eyes: "I am a very lonely woman, and life offers few charms for +me, because I am quite alone in the world, with no one to care for me. I +have often thought that I would give the whole world, if it were mine to +give, for just one human being to whom I was dear. I am desolate; my +heart hungers for sympathy and kindness, and—and a little affection. I +have neither father nor mother, sister nor brother, husband nor +children. I hope neither of you girls will ever experience the +hopelessness, the heartache conveyed in those words. It is hard, +bitterly cruel, to be left alone in the world. But I suppose Heaven +intended it to be so, and—and knows best."</p> + +<p>"You shall never know loneliness again, dear aunt," murmured Louisa. "To +make every moment of your life happy will be our only aim."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, my dear," replied Miss Rogers, tremulously.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>"You shall live with us always, if you will, aunt," said Sally, "and be +one of the family. You may have my <i>boudoir</i> all to yourself, and I will +take the small spare room next to it."</p> + +<p>"You are very good to me," said Miss Rogers, huskily.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pendleton had been busy getting the handsome guest-chamber ready +for their wealthy kinswoman. She entered just in time to overhear +Sally's last remark.</p> + +<p>"Miss Rogers shall have a larger, handsomer <i>boudoir</i> than yours, +Sally," remarked her mother. "The entire suite of rooms on this floor is +at her disposal, if she will only allow us to persuade her to remain +with us. My dear daughters, you must add your entreaties on this point +to your father's and mine."</p> + +<p>"How can I ever repay you for your deep interest in a lone body like +me?" murmured Miss Rogers.</p> + +<p>The eyes of the girls and those of their mother met; but they did not +dare express in words the thought that had leaped simultaneously into +their minds at her words.</p> + +<p>"You have had no one to look after your wardrobe, dear Aunt Rogers," +said Mrs. Pendleton; "so do, I beseech you, accept some of my gowns +until you desire to lay them aside for fresher ones."</p> + +<p>"I am bewildered by so much kindness," faltered Miss Rogers. And she was +more bewildered still at the array of silks and satins and costly laces +with which the three ladies deluged her.</p> + +<p>The very finest rooms in the house were given her. Miss Sally made her a +strong punch with her own hands, "just the way she said she liked it," +and Louisa bathed her face in fragrant cologne, and tried on a lace +night-cap with a great deal of fuss.</p> + +<p>Some one came in to turn down the night-lamp a little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> later on—a +quiet, slender figure in a dark-brown gown. It was not Mrs. Pendleton, +nor was it either of her daughters.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" asked Miss Rogers, perceiving at a glance that she was +evidently no servant of the household. A sweet, pale, wan face was +turned toward her.</p> + +<p>"I an Patience Pendleton," replied a still sweeter voice.</p> + +<p>"Dear me!" exclaimed Miss Rogers, "I never heard that there were three +daughters in this family." She could see, even in that dim light, the +pink flush steal quickly over the wan, white face.</p> + +<p>"I am a daughter by my father's first marriage," she answered, quietly. +"My step-mother and her daughters seldom mention me to any one."</p> + +<p>There was no suspicion of malice in her tone, only sadness; and without +another word, save a gentle good-night, she glided from the room.</p> + +<p>It was Sally, bright, jolly Sally, who awakened Miss Rogers the next +morning. Louisa insisted upon helping her to dress, while Mr. and Mrs. +Pendleton tapped at the door, and eagerly inquired if she had rested +well.</p> + +<p>She was given the seat of honor at the breakfast-table, and a huge +bouquet of hot-house roses lay at her plate.</p> + +<p>Sally had inquired the night before as to her favorite viands, and they +were soon placed before her deliciously prepared.</p> + +<p>Louisa brought a dainty hassock for her feet, and Mrs. Pendleton a +silken scarf, to protect her from the slightest draught from the open +windows.</p> + +<p>"You treat me as though I were a queen," said Miss Rogers, smiling +through her tears.</p> + +<p>She could scarcely eat her breakfast, Sally and Louisa hung about her +chair so attentively, ready to anticipate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> her slightest wish. But +looking around, she missed the sweet, wistful face that she had seen in +her room the night before.</p> + +<p>"Are all the family assembled here?" she inquired, wondering if it had +not been a dream she had had of a sweet white face and a pair of sad +gray eyes.</p> + +<p>"All except Patience," replied Mrs. Pendleton, with a frown. "She's +rather queer, and prefers not to join us at table or in the +drawing-room. She spends all her time up in the attic bedroom reading +the Bible and writing Christmas stories for children for the religious +papers. We don't see her for weeks at a time, and actually forget she +lives in this house. She's quite a religious crank, and you won't see +much of her."</p> + +<p>Miss Rogers saw the girls laugh and titter at their mother's remarks; +and from that moment they lowered in her estimation, while sweet +Patience was exalted.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + + +<p>The next few days that passed were like a dream to Miss Rogers. Every +one was so kind and considerate it seemed that she was living in another +world.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pendleton had cautioned the girls against mentioning the fact of +Sally's coming marriage, explaining that she might change her mind about +leaving her fortune to the family if she knew there was a prospect of +wealth for them from any other source.</p> + +<p>"But it would not be fair to let her make sister Sally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> her heiress," +said Louisa, bitterly. "She ought not to get both fortunes. She will +come into a magnificent fortune through marrying Jay Gardiner. Why +should you want her to have Miss Rogers' money, too? You ought to +influence that eccentric old lady to leave her fortune to <i>me</i>."</p> + +<p>"Hush, my dear. Miss Rogers might hear you," warned her mother.</p> + +<p>But the warning had come too late. In coming down the corridor to join +the family in the general sitting-room, as they had always insisted on +her doing, she had overheard Miss Louisa's last remark.</p> + +<p>She stopped short, the happy light dying from her eyes, and the color +leaving her cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Great Heaven! have I been deceived, after all? Was the kindness of the +Pendleton girls and their parents only assumed? Was there a monetary +reason back of it all?" she mused.</p> + +<p>A great pain shot through her heart; a wave of intense bitterness filled +her soul.</p> + +<p>"I will test these girls," muttered Miss Rogers, setting her lips +together; "and that, too, before another hour passes over my head."</p> + +<p>After a few moments more of deliberation, she arose, and with firm step +passed slowly down the broad hall to the sitting-room.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pendleton and her eldest daughter Louisa had left the apartment. +Sally alone was there, lounging on a divan, her hair in curl-papers, +reading the latest French novel.</p> + +<p>On her entering, down went the book, and Sally sprung up, her face +wreathed in smiles.</p> + +<p>"I was just wondering if you were lonely or taking a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> nap," she +murmured, sweetly. "Do come right in, Miss Rogers, and let me draw the +nicest easy-chair in the room up to the cool window for you and make you +comfortable."</p> + +<p>"How considerate you are, my dear child," replied Miss Rogers, fairly +hating herself for believing this sweet young girl could dissemble. "I +am glad to find you alone, Sally," she continued, dropping into the +chair with a weary sigh. "I have been wanting to have a confidential +little chat with you, my dear, ever since I have been here. Have you the +time to spare?"</p> + +<p>Sally Pendleton's blue eyes glittered. Of course Miss Rogers wanted to +talk to her about leaving her money to her.</p> + +<p>Sally brought a hassock, and placing it at her feet, sat down upon it, +and rested her elbows on Miss Rogers' chair.</p> + +<p>"Now," she said, with a tinkling little laugh that most every one liked +to hear—the laugh that had given her the <i>sobriquet</i>, jolly Sally +Pendleton, among her companions—an appellation which had ever since +clung to her—"now I am ready to listen to whatever you have to tell +me."</p> + +<p>After a long pause, which seemed terribly irksome to Sally, Miss Rogers +slowly said:</p> + +<p>"I think I may as well break right into the subject that is on my mind, +and troubling me greatly, without beating around the bush."</p> + +<p>"That will certainly be the best way," murmured Sally.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, my dear," said Miss Rogers, with harsh abruptness, "I am +afraid I am living in this house under false colors."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>Sally's blue eyes opened wide. She did not know what to say.</p> + +<p>"The truth is, child, I am not the rich woman people credit me with +being. I did not tell you that I had lost my entire fortune, and that I +was reduced to penury and want—ay, I would have been reduced to +starvation if you had not so kindly taken me in and done for me."</p> + +<p>"What! You have lost your great fortune? <i>You are penniless?</i>" fairly +shrieked Sally, springing to her feet and looking with amazement into +the wrinkled face above her.</p> + +<p>Miss Rogers nodded assent, inwardly asking Heaven to pardon her for +this, her first deliberate falsehood.</p> + +<p>"And you came here to us, got the best room in our house, and all of +mamma's best clothes, and you a beggar!"</p> + +<p>Miss Rogers fairly trembled under the storm of wrath she had evoked.</p> + +<p>"I—I did not mention it when I first came, because I had somehow hoped +you would care for me for myself, even though my money was gone, dear +child."</p> + +<p>A sneering, scornful laugh broke from Sally's lips, a glare hateful to +behold flashed from her eyes.</p> + +<p>"You have deceived us shamefully!" she cried. "How angry papa and mamma +and Louisa will be to learn that we have been entertaining a pauper!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you have been entertaining an angel unawares," murmured Miss +Rogers.</p> + +<p>"God forgive you, girl, for showing so little heart!" exclaimed Miss +Rogers, rising slowly to her feet.</p> + +<p>"I shall take no saucy remarks from you!" cried Sally, harshly. "Come, +make haste! Take off those fine clothes, and be gone as fast as you +can!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>"But I have nothing to put on," said Miss Rogers.</p> + +<p>Sally instantly touched the bell, and when the maid came in response to +her summons, she said, quickly:</p> + +<p>"Bring me that bundle of clothes mamma laid out for you to give to the +charity collector to-day."</p> + +<p>Wonderingly the maid brought the bundle, and she wondered still more +when Miss Sally ordered her to go down to the servants' hall, and not to +come up until she was called for.</p> + +<p>"Now, then," she cried, harshly, after the door had closed upon the +maid, "get into these duds at once!"</p> + +<p>Miss Rogers obeyed; and when at length the change was made, Sally +pointed to the door and cried, shrilly:</p> + +<p>"Now go!"</p> + +<p>"But the storm!" persisted Miss Rogers, piteously. "Oh, Sally, at least +let me stay until the storm has spent its fury!"</p> + +<p>"Not an instant!" cried Sally Pendleton, fairly dragging her from the +room and down the corridor to the main door, which she flung open, +thrust her victim through it, and out into the storm.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">FATE WEAVES A STRANGE WEB.</p> + + +<p>If Sally Pendleton had taken the trouble to look out after the trembling +old woman she had thrust so unceremoniously into the raging storm, she +would not have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> gone up to her own room with such a self-satisfied smile +on her face.</p> + +<p>Just as that little scene was taking place, a brougham, drawn by a pair +of spirited horses, was being driven rapidly down the street, and was +almost abreast of the house as this extraordinary little drama was being +enacted.</p> + +<p>Its occupant had ordered the driver to halt at the Pendleton mansion, +and looking out of the window, he had seen with amazement the whole +occurrence—had seen Sally Pendleton, who had always posed before him as +a sweet-tempered angel—actually thrust a feeble-looking, poorly-dressed +woman out of the house and into the street to face a storm so wild and +pitiless that most people would have hesitated before even turning a +homeless, wandering cur out into it.</p> + +<p>Doctor Gardiner's carriage drew up quickly before the curbstone, and as +he sprung from the vehicle, his astonishment can better be imagined than +described at finding himself face to face with his friend, Miss Rogers, +and that it was she who had been ejected so summarily. The poor soul +almost fainted for joy when she beheld the young physician.</p> + +<p>"My dear Miss Rogers!" he cried in amazement, "what in the name of +Heaven does the scene I have just witnessed mean?"</p> + +<p>"Take me into your carriage, and drive down the street; that is, if you +are not in a hurry to make a professional call."</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner lifted the drenched, trembling woman in his strong arms, +placed her in the vehicle, took his seat beside her, and the brougham +rolled down the avenue.</p> + +<p>Clinging to his strong young arm, Miss Rogers told, between her smiles +and tears, all that had taken place<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>—of the test which she had put the +Pendletons to before leaving her money to the girl Sally, who had been +named after her; of its disastrous ending when she told Sally she was +poor instead of rich; of the abuse the girl had heaped upon her, which +ended by throwing her into the street.</p> + +<p>She told all, keeping back nothing, little dreaming that Jay Gardiner +knew the Pendletons, and, least of all, that Sally was his betrothed.</p> + +<p>He listened with darkening brow, his stern lips set, his handsome, +jovial, laughing face strangely white.</p> + +<p>What could he say to her? He dared not give vent to his bitter thoughts, +and denounce the girl he was in honor bound to give his name and shield +from all the world's remarks.</p> + +<p>"You have learned your lesson, Miss Rogers," he said, slowly. "Now be +content to return to your own luxurious home and its comforts, a sadder +and wiser woman."</p> + +<p>"I have not tested <i>all</i> yet," she returned. "There is yet another +family, whose address I have recently discovered after the most patient +search. I had a cousin by marriage who ran off with a sea-captain. She +died, leaving one child, a little daughter. The father no longer follows +the sea, but lives at home with the girl, following the trade of +basket-making, at which he is quite an expert, I am told, if he would +only let drink alone."</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner started violently. The color came and went in his face, his +strong hands trembled. He was thankful she did not notice his emotion.</p> + +<p>"The man's name is David Moore," she went on, reflectively, "and the +girl's is Bernardine. A strange name for a girl, don't you think so?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>"A beautiful name," he replied, with much feeling; "and I should think +the girl who bears it might have all the sweet, womanly graces you long +to find in a human being."</p> + +<p>Miss Rogers gave him the street and number, which he knew but too well, +and asked him to drive her within a few doors of the place, where she +would alight.</p> + +<p>When she was so near her destination that she did not have time to ask +questions, he said, abruptly:</p> + +<p>"I know this family—the old basket-maker and his daughter. I attended +him in a recent illness. They seem very worthy, to me, of all +confidence. There is a world of difference between this young girl +Bernardine and the one you describe as Miss Sally Pendleton. Please +don't mention that you know me, Miss Rogers, if you would do me a +favor," he added, as she alighted.</p> + +<p>The landing was so dark she could hardly discern where the door was on +which to knock.</p> + +<p>She heard the sound of voices a moment later. This sound guided her, and +she was soon tapping at a door which was slightly ajar. She heard some +one say from within:</p> + +<p>"Some one is rapping at the door, Bernardine. Send whoever it is away. +The sight of a neighbor's face, or her senseless gossip, would drive me +crazy, Bernardine."</p> + +<p>"I shall not invite any one in if it annoys you, father," answered a +sweet, musical voice.</p> + +<p>Miss Rogers leaned against the door-frame, wondering what the girl was +like who had so kindly a voice.</p> + +<p>There was the soft <i>frou-frou</i> of a woman's skirts, the door was opened, +and a tall, slender young girl stood on the threshold, looking +inquiringly into the stranger's face.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>"I am looking for the home of David Moore and of his daughter +Bernardine," said Miss Rogers.</p> + +<p>"This is David Moore's home, and I am his daughter Bernardine," said the +young girl, courteously, even though the stranger before her was illy +clad.</p> + +<p>"Won't you invite me in for a few moments?" asked Miss Rogers, +wistfully. "I heard what some one, your father probably, said about not +wanting to see any one just now. But I can not well come again, and it +is raining torrents outside."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you may enter, and remain until the storm abates," said +Bernardine, cheerfully. "My father would not let any one leave his door +in such a storm as this. Pray come in, madame."</p> + +<p>"It is kind of you to say 'madame' to a creature like me," sighed the +stranger, following the girl into the poorly furnished but scrupulously +neat apartment.</p> + +<p>Bernardine smiled.</p> + +<p>"When I was very young, one of the first lessons my dear mother taught +me was to be polite to every one," she returned, quietly.</p> + +<p>"You look like your mother, my dear," said Miss Rogers, huskily. "I—I +was afraid you would not."</p> + +<p>"Did you know my mother?" exclaimed Bernardine, clasping her hands +together, and looking eagerly at the stranger in the coarse, ill-fitting +gown.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear; I knew her years ago, when we were both young girls. She +looked then as you do now. I was distantly related to her, in fact. I—I +was wealthy in those days, but I have since lost all my money, and am +now reduced to penury—ay, to want," murmured the shabbily dressed +woman.</p> + +<p>Bernardine sprung forward excitedly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>"Surely you can not be the great Miss Rogers of California, of whom I +have heard her speak thousands of times?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am Miss Rogers, my dear; great once, in the eyes of the world, +when I had money, but despised now, that I am reduced and in want."</p> + +<p>In a moment Bernardine's arms were around her, and tears were falling +from the girl's beautiful dark eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, do not say that, dear Miss Rogers!" she cried. "<i>I</i> love you +because my mother loved you in the days that are past. Money does not +always bring love, and the loss of it can not lessen the love of those +who owe us allegiance, and who have a true affection for us. Welcome, a +thousand times welcome to our home, dear aunt, if you will let me call +you that; and—and I shall use my influence to have father invite you to +share our humble home forever, if you only will."</p> + +<p>"No, no, Bernardine," replied Miss Rogers. "You have mouths enough to +earn bread for."</p> + +<p>"One more would not signify," declared Bernardine; "and your presence +beneath this roof would amply compensate me. I would take a world of +pleasure in working a little harder than I do now to keep you here."</p> + +<p>"Before you give me too much hope on that point you had better talk it +over with your father. He may think differently from what you do. He may +not want to keep a tramp's boarding-house," she added, quietly.</p> + +<p>"Father will be sure to think as I do," reiterated Bernardine. "He has a +rough exterior, but the kindest of hearts beats in his rugged bosom."</p> + +<p>"You are right there, Bernardine," said David Moore, pushing open an +inner door and coming forward. "I could not help overhearing all that +passed between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> you two. I am sorry you have lost all your money, Miss +Rogers; but that will not make any difference in the heartiness of the +welcome we give you; and if Bernardine wants you to stay here with us, +stay you shall. So take off your bonnet, and make yourself at home."</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">"TRUE LOVE NEVER DOES RUN SMOOTH."</p> + + +<p>Miss Rogers was quite overcome by the hearty welcome she received from +David Moore, the old basket-maker, and Bernardine, his lovely daughter. +It went straight to her lonely heart, because she knew it was genuine +friendship untainted by mercenary motives.</p> + +<p>She shared Bernardine's humble yet dainty apartment, and fell quite +naturally into being a member of the household.</p> + +<p>There was one thing which puzzled her greatly, and that was, the sighs +that would rend sweet Bernardine's breast while she was sleeping.</p> + +<p>"The girl has some secret sorrow which she is hiding from the world," +she thought, anxiously. "I must find out what it is."</p> + +<p>She had been an inmate of Bernardine's home for a week before she +learned that the girl was soon to be wedded. Bernardine's father told +her, hinting triumphantly that that event would mean the dawn of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> more +prosperous future for the family, as her intended husband was very +rich—had money to burn.</p> + +<p>"Don't say much about him to Bernardine," he added, quickly; "for she's +not in love with him by any means."</p> + +<p>"Then why is she going to marry him?" asked Miss Rogers, amazedly.</p> + +<p>"He has money," replied David Moore, nodding his head wisely; "and +that's what sharp girls are looking for nowadays."</p> + +<p>"I thought love was the ruling power which moved young girls' hearts," +responded Miss Rogers, slowly. "At least, it used to be when I was a +young girl like Bernardine."</p> + +<p>He laughed uneasily, but made no reply, as Bernardine entered the room +at that instant with an open letter in her hand.</p> + +<p>"Jasper Wilde has returned to the city, father," she said, tremulously, +"and—and he is coming here this evening to see us."</p> + +<p>As the girl uttered the words, Miss Rogers was quite sure she could +detect the sound of tears in her quivering voice.</p> + +<p>"I am very glad," replied David Moore, endeavoring to speak lightly. "I +shall be mighty pleased to see my prospective son-in-law."</p> + +<p>Bernardine drew back quickly, her lovely face pitifully pale, then +turned abruptly and hurried from the room.</p> + +<p>Miss Rogers followed her. The girl went to her own apartment, threw +herself on her knees, and burying her face in the counterpane, wept such +bitter, passionate tears that Miss Rogers was alarmed for her.</p> + +<p>"You poor child!" exclaimed Miss Rogers. "Sit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> down here beside me, and +tell me the whole story—let me understand it."</p> + +<p>"I can not tell you any more. I met one whom I <i>could</i> love, +and—we—parted. I sent him away because my father had declared that I +should marry this other one."</p> + +<p>"Because of his wealth?" said Miss Rogers, in a strangely hard voice.</p> + +<p>"No, no! Do not do my father that injustice. It was not because of his +wealth. I—I should have had to marry him had he been the poorest man in +the city."</p> + +<p>"It is cruel, it is outrageous, to ask a young girl to marry a man whom +she detests. It is barbarous. In my opinion, that is carrying parental +authority too far. This marriage must not take place, Bernardine. It +would be wicked—a sin against God."</p> + +<p>Although Miss Rogers did her best to probe into the mystery—for +Bernardine's sake—the girl was strangely obdurate. So she said no more +to her on the subject just then; but when she approached David Moore on +this topic, his incoherent replies puzzled her still more.</p> + +<p>"I am much obliged to you for taking such an interest in Bernardine's +affairs; but let me warn you of one thing, Miss Rogers, while you are +under my roof, don't attempt to meddle with what does not concern you in +any way. By heeding my remark, we shall keep good friends. This marriage +must take place. The young fellow is good enough, and she'll get to like +him after awhile. See if she doesn't."</p> + +<p>The harsh, abrupt manner in which he uttered these words told Miss +Rogers that little hope could be entertained from that source.</p> + +<p>Bernardine had almost cried herself ill by the time Jasper Wilde's knock +was heard on the door.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>Mr. Moore answered the summons.</p> + +<p>"Is there any use in my coming in?" asked Wilde, grimly, coming to a +halt on the threshold. "Does your daughter consent to marry me? I could +not make head or tail out of your letter."</p> + +<p>"Bernardine's answer is—yes," murmured the old man, almost +incoherently. "She consents for <i>my</i> sake; though Heaven knows I'm not +worth the sacrifice."</p> + +<p>"<i>Sacrifice!</i>" repeated Jasper Wilde in a high, harsh voice. "Come, now, +that's too good. It's me that's making the sacrifice, by cheating the +hangman and justice of their just due, Moore; and don't you forget it."</p> + +<p>Sooner than he expected, Bernardine made her appearance.</p> + +<p>Jasper Wilde sprung up to welcome her, both hands outstretched, his eyes +fairly gloating over the vision of pure girlish loveliness which she +presented.</p> + +<p>She drew back, waving him from her with such apparent loathing that he +was furious.</p> + +<p>"I do not pretend to welcome you, Jasper Wilde," she said, "for that +would be acting a lie from which my soul revolts. I will say at once +what you have come here to-night to hear from my lips. I will marry +you—to—save—my—poor—father," she stammered. "I used to think the +days of buying and selling human beings were over; but it seems not. The +white slave you buy will make no murmur in the after years; only I shall +pray that my life will not be a long one."</p> + +<p>Jasper Wilde frowned darkly.</p> + +<p>"You are determined to play the high and mighty tragedy queen with me, +Bernardine," he cried. "Take care that your ways do not turn my love for +you into hate! Beware, I tell you! A smile would bring me to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> your feet, +a scornful curl of those red lips would raise a demon in me that you +would regret if you aroused it."</p> + +<p>"Your hate or your love is a matter of equal indifference to me," +returned the young girl, proudly.</p> + +<p>This remark made him furious with wrath.</p> + +<p>"You love that white-handed fellow whom I met the last time I was here. +That's what makes you so indifferent to me!" he cried, hoarsely. "Speak! +Is it not so?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Bernardine, cresting her beautiful head, proudly. "Yes, I +love him, and I do not fear to tell you so!"</p> + +<p>"Then, by Heaven! I will kill him on sight!" cried Jasper Wilde. "I will +not brook a rival for your affections! The man you love is doomed!"</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">"IT WOULD BE WISER TO MAKE A FRIEND THAN AN ENEMY OF ME."</p> + + +<p>Bernardine Moore drew herself up to her full height, and looked the +scorn she felt for the man standing before her, as he gave utterance to +his hatred of Doctor Gardiner.</p> + +<p>"It is a coward only who threatens one who is not present to defend +himself!" she answered; adding, icily: "I imagine when you meet Doctor +Gardiner you will find a foeman worthy of your steel."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>"You are not in the most amiable mood this evening. I hope you will +receive me more pleasantly the next time. Good-night, my beautiful +sweetheart. <i>Au revoir</i> for the present, obstinate though fairest of all +sweethearts."</p> + +<p>Ere Bernardine had time to divine his intention, he had caught her in +his arms, pressed her close to his throbbing heart, and although she +struggled all she knew how, he succeeded in covering her face, her neck, +her brow with his hot, wine-tainted kisses, the while laughing +hilariously as he noted how loathsome they were to the lovely young +girl.</p> + +<p>Bernardine, with a wild shriek, broke at last from his grasp, and dashed +madly from the sitting-room to her own apartment, which she reached in +time to fall fainting in Miss Rogers' arms, the sting of those bitter +kisses burning her lips like flame.</p> + +<p>As Jasper Wilde leisurely put on his hat and walked out of the +sitting-room, Miss Rogers suddenly confronted him.</p> + +<p>"I would like a word with you, Jasper Wilde," she said, brusquely, +barring his way.</p> + +<p>"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" he demanded, with a harsh +imprecation on his lips, thinking her one of his father's tenants.</p> + +<p>"I want to intercede with you for poor Bernardine Moore," she said, +simply. "Let me plead with you to forego this marriage, which I +earnestly assure you is most hateful to her, for she loves another."</p> + +<p>The flashing fire in his hard black eyes might have warned her that he +was an edged tool, and that it was dangerous to encounter him.</p> + +<p>"Out of my way, you cursed old fool!" he cried, sav<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>agely; "or I'll take +you by the neck and fling you to the bottom of the stairs!"</p> + +<p>Miss Rogers was sorely frightened, but she nobly held her ground.</p> + +<p>"Your bullying does not terrify me in the least, Jasper Wilde," she +said, calmly. "I have seen such men as you before. I would have talked +with you quietly; but since you render that an impossibility, I will end +my interview with one remark, one word of warning. Attempt to force +Bernardine Moore into this hateful marriage, and it will be at your +peril. Hear me, and understand what I say: She shall never wed you!"</p> + +<p>"I should be as big a fool as you are, woman, if I lost time bandying +words with you!" he cried, sneeringly. "If Bernardine has deputized you +to waylay me and utter that nonsensical threat, you may go back and tell +her that her clever little plan has failed ignominiously. I am proof +against threats of women."</p> + +<p>Miss Rogers looked after him with wrathful eyes.</p> + +<p>"If there was ever a fiend incarnate, that man is one," she muttered. +"Heaven help poor Bernardine if she carries out her intention of +marrying him! He will surely kill her before the honeymoon is over! Poor +girl! what direful power has he over her? Alas! I tremble for her +future. It would be the marriage of an angel and a devil. Poor +Bernardine! why does she not elope with the young lover whom she loves, +if there is no other way out of the difficulty, and live for love, +instead of filial duty and obedience?"</p> + +<p>Bernardine worked harder than ever over her basket-making during the +next few days—worked to fill every moment of her time, so as to forget, +if she could, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> tragedy—for it was nothing less—of her approaching +marriage to Jasper Wilde.</p> + +<p>She grew thinner and paler with each hour that dragged by, and the tears +were in her eyes all the while, ready to roll down her cheeks when she +fancied she was not observed.</p> + +<p>Once or twice she spoke to Miss Rogers about the man she loved, telling +her how grand, noble, and good he was, and how they had fallen in love +with each other at first sight; but she never mentioned his name.</p> + +<p>"God help poor Bernardine!" she sobbed. "I do not know how to save the +darling girl. I think I will lay the matter before my dear young friend, +Doctor Gardiner. He is bright and clever. Surely he can find some way +out of the difficulty. Yes, I will go and see Jay Gardiner without +delay; or, better still, I will write a note to have him come here to +see me."</p> + +<p>She said nothing to Bernardine, but quietly wrote a long and very +earnest letter to her young friend, asking him to come without delay to +the street and number where he had left her a week previous, as she had +something of great importance to consult him about.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<p class="chapheader">JASPER WILDE MEETS WITH AN ADVENTURE.</p> + + +<p>Miss Rogers had taken the greatest pains to direct her all-important +letter to Doctor Jay Gardiner, and had gone to the nearest box to mail +it herself. But, alas! for the well-laid plans of mice and men which +gang aft aglee.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>Fate, strange, inexorable Fate, which meddles in all of our earthly +affairs, whether we will or not, ordained that this letter should not +reach its destination for many a day, and it happened in this way:</p> + +<p>Quite by accident, when it left Miss Rogers' hand, the letter dropped in +the depths of the huge mail-box and became wedged securely in a crevice +or crack in the bottom.</p> + +<p>The mail-gatherer was always in a hurry, and when he took up the mail on +his rounds, he never noticed the letter pressed securely against the +side down in the furthermost corner.</p> + +<p>Sitting anxiously awaiting a response to her missive, or her young +friend to come in person, Miss Rogers watched and waited for Jay +Gardiner, or any tidings of him, in vain.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the preparations for the obnoxious marriage which she seemed +unable to prevent went steadily on.</p> + +<p>All the long nights through Bernardine would weep and moan and wring her +little white hands. When Miss Rogers attempted to expostulate with her, +declaring no one could compel her to marry Jasper Wilde against her +will, she would only shake her head and cry the more bitterly, moaning +out that she did not understand.</p> + +<p>"I confess, Bernardine, I do not understand you," she declared, +anxiously. "You will not try to help yourself, but are going willingly, +like a lamb to the slaughter, as it were."</p> + +<p>David Moore seemed to be as unnerved as Bernardine over the coming +marriage. If he heard a sound in Bernardine's room at night, he would +come quickly to her door and ask if anything was the matter. He seemed +to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> be always awake, watching, listening for something. The next day he +would say to Miss Rogers:</p> + +<p>"I was sorely afraid something was happening to Bernardine last +night—that she was attempting to commit suicide, or something of that +kind. A girl in her highly nervous state of mind will bear watching."</p> + +<p>"Your fears on that score are needless," replied Miss Rogers. "No matter +whatever else Bernardine might do, she would never think of taking her +life into her own hands, I assure you."</p> + +<p>But the old basket-maker was not so sure of that. He had a strange +presentiment of coming evil which he could not shake off.</p> + +<p>Each evening, according to his declared intention, Jasper Wilde +presented himself at David Moore's door.</p> + +<p>"There's nothing like getting my bride-to-be a little used to me," he +declared to her father, with a grim laugh.</p> + +<p>Once after Jasper Wilde had bid Bernardine and her father good-night, he +walked along the street, little caring in which direction he went, his +mind was so preoccupied with trying to solve the problem of how to make +this haughty girl care for him.</p> + +<p>His mental query was answered in the strangest manner possible.</p> + +<p>Almost from out the very bowels of the earth, it seemed—for certainly +an instant before no human being was about—a woman suddenly appeared +and confronted him—a woman so strange, uncanny, and weird-looking, that +she seemed like some supernatural creature.</p> + +<p>"Would you like to have your fortune told, my bonny sir?" she queried in +a shrill voice. "I bring absent ones together, tell you how to gain the +love of the one you want——"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>"You do, eh?" cut in Jasper Wilde, sharply. "Well, now, if you can do +anything like that, you ought to have been able to have retired, worth +your millions, long ago, with people coming from all over the world to +get a word of advice from you."</p> + +<p>"I care nothing for paltry money," replied the old woman, scornfully. "I +like to do all the good I can."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you work for nothing, then? Good enough. You shall tell me my +fortune, and how to win the love of the girl I care for. It will be +cheap advice enough, since it comes free."</p> + +<p>"I have to ask a little money," responded the old dame in a wheedling +tone. "I can't live on air, you know. But let me tell you, sir, there's +something I could tell you that you ought to know—you have a rival for +the love of the girl you want. Look sharp, or you'll lose her."</p> + +<p>"By the Lord Harry! how did you find out all that?" gasped Jasper Wilde, +in great amazement, his eyes staring hard, and his hands held out, as +though to ward her off.</p> + +<p>She laughed a harsh little laugh.</p> + +<p>"That is not all I could tell if I wanted to, my bonny gentleman. You +ought to know what is going on around you. I only charge a dollar to +ladies and two dollars to gents. My place is close by. Will you come and +let me read your future, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned Jasper Wilde. "But, hark you, if it is some thieves' den +you want to entice me to, in order to rob me, I'll tell you here and now +you will have a mighty hard customer to tackle, as I always travel armed +to the teeth."</p> + +<p>"The bonny gentleman need not fear the old gypsy," returned the woman, +with convincing dignity.</p> + +<p>Turning, he walked beside her to the end of the block.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>She paused before a tall, dark tenement house, up whose narrow stair-way +she proceeded to climb after stopping a moment to gather sufficient +breath.</p> + +<p>Jasper Wilde soon found himself ushered into a rather large room, which +was draped entirely in black cloth hangings and decorated with mystic +symbols of the sorceress's art.</p> + +<p>An oil lamp, suspended by a wire from the ceiling, furnished all the +light the apartment could boast of.</p> + +<p>"Sit down," said the woman, pointing to an arm-chair on the opposite +side of a black-draped table.</p> + +<p>Jasper Wilde took the seat indicated, and awaited developments.</p> + +<p>"I tell by cards," the woman said, producing a box of black pasteboards, +upon which were printed strange hieroglyphics.</p> + +<p>It was almost an hour before Jasper Wilde took his departure from the +wizard's abode, and when he did so, it was with a strangely darkened +brow.</p> + +<p>He looked fixedly at a small vial he held in his hand as he reached the +nearest street lamp, and eyed with much curiosity the dark liquid it +contained.</p> + +<p>"I would do anything on earth to gain Bernardine's love," he muttered; +"and for that reason I am willing to try anything that promises success +in my wooing. I have never believed in fortune-tellers, and if this one +proves false, I'll be down on the lot of 'em for all time to come. Five +drops in a glass of water or a cup of tea."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + + +<p>While the preparations for the marriage which poor, hapless Bernardine +looked forward to with so much fear went steadily on, preparations for +another wedding, in which Jay Gardiner was to be the unwilling +bridegroom, progressed quite as rapidly.</p> + +<p>On the day following the scene in which Sally Pendleton had turned Miss +Rogers from the house—which had been witnessed by the indignant young +doctor—he called upon his betrothed, hoping against hope that she might +be induced to relent, even at the eleventh hour, and let him off from +this, to him, abhorrent engagement.</p> + +<p>He found Sally arrayed in her prettiest dress—all fluffy lace and +fluttering baby-blue ribbons—but he had no eyes for her made-up, +doll-like sort of beauty.</p> + +<p>She never knew just when to expect him, for he would never give her the +satisfaction of making an appointment to call, giving professional +duties as an excuse for not doing so.</p> + +<p>Sally arrayed herself in her best every evening, and looked out from +behind the lace-draped windows until the great clock in the hall chimed +the hour of nine; then, in an almost ungovernable rage, she would go up +to her room, and her mother and Louisa would be made to suffer for her +disappointment.</p> + +<p>On the day in question she had seen Jay Gardiner coming up the stone +steps, and was ready to meet him with her gayest smile, her jolliest +laugh.</p> + +<p>"It is always the unexpected which happens, Jay," she said, holding out +both her lily-white hands. "Welcome, a hundred times welcome!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>He greeted her gravely. He could not have stooped and kissed the red +lips that were held up to him if the action would have saved his life.</p> + +<p>He was so silent and <i>distrait</i> during the time, that Sally said:</p> + +<p>"Aren't you well this morning, Jay, or has something gone wrong with +you?" she asked, at length.</p> + +<p>"I do feel a trifle out of sorts," he replied. "But pardon me for +displaying my feelings before—a lady."</p> + +<p>"Don't speak in that cold, strange fashion, Jay," replied the girl, +laying a trembling hand on his arm. "You forget that I have a right to +know what is troubling you, and to sympathize with and comfort you."</p> + +<p>He looked wistfully at her.</p> + +<p>Would it do to tell her the story of his love for Bernardine? Would she +be moved to pity by the drifting apart of two lives because of a +betrothal made in a spirit of fun at a race? He hardly dared hope so.</p> + +<p>"I was thinking of a strange case that came under my observation +lately," he said, "and somehow the subject has haunted me—even in my +dreams—probably from the fact that it concerns a friend of mine in whom +I take a great interest."</p> + +<p>"Do tell me the story!" cried Sally, eagerly—"please do."</p> + +<p>"It would sound rather commonplace in the telling," he responded, "as I +am not good at story-telling. Well, to begin with, this friend of mine +loves a fair and beautiful young girl who is very poor. A wealthy +suitor, a dissipated <i>roué</i>, had gained the consent of her father to +marry her, before my friend met and knew her and learned to love her. +Now, he can not, dare not speak, for, although he believes in his heart +that she loves him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> best, he knows she is bound in honor to another; and +to make the matter still more pitiful, he is betrothed to a girl he is +soon to marry, though his <i>fiancée</i> has no portion of his great heart. +Thus, by the strange decrees of fate, which man can not always +comprehend the wisdom of, four people will be wedded unhappily."</p> + +<p>As Sally listened with the utmost intentness, she jumped to the +conclusion that the "friend" whose picture Jay Gardiner had drawn so +pathetically was himself, and she heard with the greatest alarm of the +love he bore another. But she kept down her emotions with a will of +iron. It would never do to let him know she thought him unfaithful, and +it was a startling revelation to her to learn that she had a rival. She +soon came to a conclusion.</p> + +<p>"It is indeed a strangely mixed up affair," she answered. "It seems to +me everything rests in the hands of this young girl, as she could have +either lover. Couldn't I go to her in the interest of your friend, and +do my best to urge her to marry him instead of the other one."</p> + +<p>"But supposing the young girl that he—my friend—is betrothed to +refuses to give him up, what then?"</p> + +<p>"I might see her," replied Sally, "and talk with her."</p> + +<p>"It is hard for him to marry her, when every throb of his heart is for +another," answered Jay Gardiner, despondently.</p> + +<p>"Who is this young girl who is so beautiful that she has won the love of +both these lovers?" she asked in a low, hard voice.</p> + +<p>"Bernardine—— Ah! I should not tell you that," he responded, +recollecting himself. But he had uttered, alas! the one fatal +word—Bernardine.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + + +<p>"I can never rest night or day until I have seen this Bernardine and +swept her from my path!" she cried.</p> + +<p>She made up her mind that she would not tell her mother or Louisa just +yet. It would worry her mother to discover that she had a rival, while +Louisa—well, she was so envious of her, as it was, she might exult in +the knowledge.</p> + +<p>But how should she discover who this beautiful Bernardine was of whom he +spoke with so much feeling?</p> + +<p>Suddenly she stopped short and brought her two hands together, crying, +excitedly:</p> + +<p>"Eureka! I have found a way. I will follow up this scheme, and see what +I can find out. Jay Gardiner will be out of the city for a few days. I +will see his office attendant—he does not know me—and will never be +able to recognize me again the way I shall disguise myself, and I will +learn from him what young lady the doctor knows whose name begins with +Bernardine. It is not an ordinary name, and he will be sure to remember +it, I am confident, if he ever heard it mentioned."</p> + +<p>It was an easy matter for Sally to slip out of the house early the next +day without attracting attention, although she was dressed in her +gayest, most stunning gown.</p> + +<p>Calling a passing cab, she entered it, and soon found herself standing +before Jay Gardiner's office, which she lost no time in entering.</p> + +<p>A young and handsome man, who sat at a desk, deeply engrossed in a +medical work, looked up with an expression of annoyance on his face at +being interrupted; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> when he beheld a most beautiful young lady +standing on the threshold, his annoyance quickly vanished, and a bland +smile lighted up his countenance. He bowed profoundly, and hastened to +say:</p> + +<p>"Is there anything I can do for you, miss?"</p> + +<p>"I want to see Doctor Gardiner," said Sally, in her sweetest, most +silvery voice. "Are you the doctor?"</p> + +<p>"No," he answered, with a shadow of regret in his tone. "I am studying +with Doctor Gardiner. He has been suddenly called out of the city. He +may be gone a day, possibly a week. Is there anything I can do for you?"</p> + +<p>"I fear not, sir. Still, I will tell you my errand, if I may be seated +for a few moments."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," he responded, placing a chair for his lovely young visitor; +adding: "Pray pardon my seeming negligence in not asking you to be +seated."</p> + +<p>Sally sunk gracefully into the chair the young physician watching her +the while with admiring eyes.</p> + +<p>"My call on Doctor Gardiner is not to secure his services in a +professional capacity," she began, hesitatingly; "but to learn from him +the address of a young lady I am trying to find."</p> + +<p>"If it is any one who is his patient, or has been at any time, I think I +can help you. He has the addresses down in a book."</p> + +<p>"But supposing he knew her socially, not professionally, her name would +not be apt to be down on his list, would it?" she queried, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"No," he admitted. "But I think I know every one whom the doctor knows +socially—every one, in fact, save the young lady—a Miss Pendleton, +whom he is soon to marry. You see, we were college chums, and I have +been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> his partner in office work over five years. So I will be most +likely to know if you will state the name."</p> + +<p>"That is just the difficulty," said Sally, with her most bewildering +smile, which quite captivated the young doctor. "I met the young lady +only once, and I have forgotten her address as well as her last name, +remembering only her Christian name—Bernardine. I met her in Doctor +Gardiner's company only a few weeks ago. He would certainly recollect +her name."</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly," declared the young physician. "I regret deeply that he is +not here to give you the desired information."</p> + +<p>"Would you do me a favor if you could, sir?" asked Sally, with a glance +from her eyes that brought every man she looked at in that way—save Jay +Gardiner—to her dainty feet.</p> + +<p>The young physician blushed to the very roots of his fair hair.</p> + +<p>"You have only to name it, and if it is anything in my power, believe +that I will do my utmost to accomplish it. I—I would do anything to—to +please you."</p> + +<p>"I would like you to find out from Doctor Gardiner the address of +Bernardine," said Sally, in a low, tremulous voice; "only do not let him +know that any one is interested in finding it out save yourself. Do you +think you can help me?"</p> + +<p>He pondered deeply for a moment, then his face brightened, as he said:</p> + +<p>"I think I have hit upon a plan. I will write him, and say I have found +the name Bernardine on a slip of paper which he has marked, 'Patients +for prompt attention,' the balance of the name being torn from the slip, +and ask the address and full information as to who she is."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>"A capital idea!" exclaimed Sally, excitedly. "I—I congratulate you +upon your shrewdness. If you find out this girl's address, you will +place me under everlasting obligations to you."</p> + +<p>"If you will call at this hour two days from now, I shall have the +address," he said, slowly.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + + +<p>Much to the delight of Doctor Covert, the little beauty did call again, +at the very hour he had set. But his pleasure had one drawback to it, +she was heavily veiled. But, for all that, he knew how lovely was the +face that veil concealed, how bright the eyes, how charming the dimples, +how white the pearly teeth, how sweet the ripe red cheeks, so like +Cupid's bow.</p> + +<p>He could not conceal his great joy at beholding her again. She noticed +his emotion at once. He would not have been so well pleased if he could +have seen how her red lip curled in scorn as she said to herself:</p> + +<p>"Fools fall in love with a pretty face on sight; but it is another thing +to get a desirable man to fall in love. They are hard to win. I have +heard of this Doctor Covert before. True, he did go to college with Jay +Gardiner, and is his chum; but one is rich and the other poor."</p> + +<p>"I hope you have been successful," murmured Sally, giving him her little +white hand to hold for an instant—an instant during which he was +intensely happy.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>"Yes, my dear miss," he answered, quickly. "I am overjoyed to think I +can be of service to you—in a way, at least. I did not communicate with +Doctor Gardiner, for it occurred to me just after you left that I <i>had</i> +heard him mention the name; but I am sure there is a mistake somewhere. +This girl—Bernardine—whom I refer to, and whom Doctor Gardiner knows, +can not possibly be a friend of yours, miss, for she is only the +daughter of an humble basket-maker, and lives on the top floor of a +tenement house in one of the poorest parts of the city."</p> + +<p>Sally Pendleton's amazement was so great she could hardly repress the +cry of amazement that arose to her lips.</p> + +<p>She had never for an instant doubted that this beautiful Bernardine, who +had won the proud, unbending heart of haughty Jay Gardiner, was some +great heiress, royal in her pomp and pride, and worth millions of money. +No wonder Doctor Covert's words almost took her breath away.</p> + +<p>"Are you quite sure?" she responded, after a moment's pause. "Surely, as +you remarked, then there must be <i>some</i> mistake."</p> + +<p>"I am positive Doctor Gardiner knows but this one Bernardine. In fact, I +heard him say that he never remembered hearing that beautiful name until +he heard it for the first time in the humble home of the old +basket-maker. And he went on to tell me how lovely the girl was, despite +her surroundings."</p> + +<p>The veiled lady arose hastily, her hands clinched.</p> + +<p>"I thank you for your information," she said, huskily, as she moved +rapidly toward the door.</p> + +<p>"She is going without my even knowing who she is,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> thought Doctor +Covert, and he sprung from his chair, saying, eagerly:</p> + +<p>"I beg a thousand pardons if the remark I am about to make seems +presumptuous; but believe that it comes from a heart not prompted by +idle curiosity—far, far from that."</p> + +<p>"What is it that you wish to know?" asked Sally, curtly.</p> + +<p>"Who you are," he replied, with blunt eagerness. "I may as well tell you +the truth. I am deeply interested in you, even though you are a +stranger, and the bare possibility that we may never meet again fills me +with the keenest sorrow I have ever experienced."</p> + +<p>Sally Pendleton was equal to the occasion.</p> + +<p>"I must throw him off the track at once by giving him a false name and +address," she thought.</p> + +<p>She hesitated only a moment.</p> + +<p>"My name is Rose Thorne," she replied, uttering the falsehood without +the slightest quiver in her voice. "I attend a private school for young +ladies in Gramercy Park. We are soon to have a public reception, to +which we are entitled to invite our friends, and I should be pleased to +send you a card if you think you would care to attend."</p> + +<p>"I should be delighted," declared Doctor Covert, eagerly. "If you honor +me with an invitation, I shall be sure to be present. I would not miss +seeing you again."</p> + +<p>Was it only his fancy, or did he hear a smothered laugh from beneath the +thick dark veil which hid the girl's face from his view?</p> + +<p>The next moment Sally was gone, and the young doctor gazed after her, as +he did on the former occasion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> with a sigh, and already began looking +forward to the time when he should see her again. Meanwhile, Sally lost +no time in finding the street and house indicated.</p> + +<p>A look of intense amazement overspread her face as she stood in front of +the tall, forbidding tenement and looked up at the narrow, grimy +windows. It seemed almost incredible that handsome, fastidious Jay +Gardiner would even come to such a place, let alone fall in love with an +inmate of it.</p> + +<p>"The girl must be a coarse, ill-bred working-girl," she told herself, +"no matter how pretty her face may be."</p> + +<p>A number of fleshy, ill-clad women, holding still more poorly clad, +fretful children, sat on the door-step, hung out of the open windows and +over the balusters, gossiping and slandering their neighbors quite as +energetically as the petted wives of the Four Hundred on the fashionable +avenues do.</p> + +<p>Sally took all this in with a disgusted glance; but lifting her dainty, +lace-trimmed linen skirts, she advanced boldly.</p> + +<p>"I am in search of a basket-maker who lives somewhere in this vicinity," +said Sally. "Could you tell me if he lives here?"</p> + +<p>"He lives right here," spoke up one of the women. "David Moore is out, +so is the elderly woman who is staying with him; but Miss Bernardine is +in, I am certain, working busily over her baskets. If you want to see +about baskets, she's the one to go to—top floor, right."</p> + +<p>Sally made her way up the narrow, dingy stairs until she reached the top +floor. The door to the right stood open, and as Sally advanced she saw a +young girl turn quickly from a long pine table covered with branches of +willow, and look quickly up.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>Sally Pendleton stood still, fairly rooted to the spot with astonishment +not unmingled with rage, for the girl upon whom she gazed was the most +gloriously beautiful creature she had ever beheld. She did not wonder +now that Jay Gardiner had given his heart to her.</p> + +<p>In that one moment a wave of such furious hate possessed the soul of +Sally Pendleton that it was with the greatest difficulty she could +restrain herself from springing upon the unconscious young girl and +wrecking forever the fatal beauty which had captivated the heart of the +man who was her lover and was so soon to wed.</p> + +<p>Sally had thrown back her veil, and was gazing at her rival with her +angry soul in her eyes.</p> + +<p>Seeing the handsomely dressed young lady, Bernardine came quickly +forward with the sweet smile and graceful step habitual to her.</p> + +<p>"You wish to see some one—my father, perhaps?" murmured Bernardine, +gently.</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> are the person I wish to see," returned Sally, harshly—"you, and +no one else."</p> + +<p>Bernardine looked at her wonderingly. The cold, hard voice struck her +ear unpleasantly, and the strange look in the stranger's hard, +steel-blue eyes made her feel strangely uncomfortable.</p> + +<p>Was it a premonition of coming evil?</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + + +<p>She was not to remain long in suspense.</p> + +<p>"In the first place," began Sally, slowly, "I wish to know what your +relations are, Bernardine Moore, with Doctor Jay Gardiner. I must and +will know the truth."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>She saw that the question struck the girl as lightning strikes a fair +white rose and withers and blights it with its awful fiery breath.</p> + +<p>Bernardine was fairly stricken dumb. She opened her lips to speak, but +no sound issued from them. She could not have uttered one syllable if +her life had depended on it.</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you how the case stands. I will utter the shameful truth +for you if you dare not admit it. He is <i>your lover</i> in secret, though +he would deny you in public!"</p> + +<p>Hapless Bernardine had borne all she could; and without a word, a cry, +or even a moan she threw up her little hands, and fell in a lifeless +heap at her cruel enemy's feet.</p> + +<p>For a moment Sally Pendleton gazed at her victim, and thoughts worthy of +the brain of a fiend incarnate swept through her.</p> + +<p>"If she were only dead!" she muttered, excitedly. "Dare I——"</p> + +<p>The sentence was never finished. There was a step on the creaking stairs +outside, and with a guilty cry of alarm, Miss Pendleton rushed from the +room and out into the darkened hall-way.</p> + +<p>She brushed past a woman on the narrow stairs, but the darkness was so +dense neither recognized the other; and Sally Pendleton had gained the +street and turned the nearest corner, ere Miss Rogers—for it was +she—reached the top landing.</p> + +<p>As she pushed open the door, the first object that met her startled eyes +was Bernardine lying like one dead on the floor.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>Despite the fact that she was an invalid, Miss Rogers' nerves were +exceedingly cool. She did not shriek out, or call excitedly to the other +inmates of the house, but went about reviving the girl by wetting her +handkerchief with water as cold as it would run from the faucet, and +laving her marble-cold face with it, and afterward rubbing her hands +briskly.</p> + +<p>She was rewarded at length by seeing the great dark eyes slowly open, +and the crimson tide of life drift back to the pale, cold cheeks and +quivering lips.</p> + +<p>A look of wonder filled Bernardine's eyes as she beheld Miss Rogers +bending over her.</p> + +<p>"Was it a dream, some awful dream?" she said, excitedly, catching at her +friend's hands and clinging piteously to them.</p> + +<p>"What caused your sudden illness, Bernardine?" questioned Miss Rogers, +earnestly. "You were apparently well when I left you an hour since."</p> + +<p>Still Bernardine clung to her with that awful look of agony in her +beautiful eyes, but uttering no word.</p> + +<p>"Has she gone?" she murmured, at length.</p> + +<p>"Has <i>who</i> gone?" questioned Miss Rogers, wondering what she meant.</p> + +<p>"The beautiful, pitiless stranger," sobbed Bernardine, catching her +breath.</p> + +<p>Miss Rogers believed that the girl's mind was wandering, and refrained +from further questioning her.</p> + +<p>"The poor child is grieving so over this coming marriage of hers to +Jasper Wilde that I almost fear her mind is giving way," she thought, in +intense alarm, glancing at Bernardine.</p> + +<p>As she did so, Bernardine began to sob again, breaking into such a +passionate fit of weeping, and suffering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> such apparently intense grief, +that Miss Rogers was at a loss what to do or say.</p> + +<p>She would not tell why she was weeping so bitterly; no amount of +questioning could elicit from her what had happened.</p> + +<p>Not for worlds would Bernardine have told to any human being her sad +story—of the stranger's visit and the startling disclosures she had +made to her.</p> + +<p>It was not until Bernardine found herself locked securely in the +seclusion of her own room that she dared look the matter fully in the +face, and then the grief to which she abandoned herself was more +poignant than before.</p> + +<p>In her great grief, a terrible thought came to her. Why not end it all? +Surely God would forgive her for laying down life's cross when it was +too heavy to be borne.</p> + +<p>Yes, that is what she would do. She would end it all.</p> + +<p>Her father did not care for her; it caused him no grief to barter her, +as the price of his secret, to Jasper Wilde, whom she loathed.</p> + +<p>It lacked but one day to that marriage she so detested.</p> + +<p>Yes, she would end it all before the morrow's sun rose.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + + +<p>Miss Rogers noticed that Bernardine was strangely silent and preoccupied +during the remainder of that day; but she attached no particular +importance to it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>She knew that the girl was wearing her heart out in brooding over the +coming marriage. Jasper Wilde refused to be bought off, and Bernardine +herself declared that it must take place. <i>She, alas! knew why!</i></p> + +<p>Miss Rogers had done her best to persuade David Moore to take Bernardine +away—to Europe—ay, to the furthest end of the world, where Jasper +Wilde could not find them, declaring that she would raise the money to +defray their traveling expenses.</p> + +<p>David Moore shook his head.</p> + +<p>"There is no part of the world to which we could go that he would not +find us," he muttered, burying his face in his shaking hands. "But we +will speak no more about it. It unmans me to think what would happen +were——" and he stopped short.</p> + +<p>He had often heard Miss Rogers make allusion to money she could lay her +hand on at any moment; but the old basket-maker never believed her. He +fancied that the poor woman had a sort of mania that she was possessed +of means which she could lay her hand on at any moment, and all she said +on the subject he considered as but visionary, and paid no attention to +it whatever.</p> + +<p>Poor Miss Rogers was in despair. What could she do to save Bernardine? +She worried so over the matter that by evening she had so severe a +headache that she was obliged to retire to her room and lie down.</p> + +<p>David Moore had drunk himself into insensibility early in the evening, +and Bernardine, sick at heart, alone, wretched, and desolate, was left +by herself to look the dread future in the face.</p> + +<p>The girl had reached a point where longer endurance was impossible. The +man whom she loved had been only deceiving her with his protestations of +affection; he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> laughed with his companions at the kisses he had +bestowed on her sweet lips; and she abhorred the man who was to claim +her on the morrow as the price of her father's liberty.</p> + +<p>No wonder the world looked dark to the poor girl, and there seemed +nothing in the future worth living for.</p> + +<p>As the hours dragged by, Bernardine had made up her mind what to do.</p> + +<p>The little clock on the mantel chimed the midnight hour as she arose +from her low seat by the window, and putting on her hat, she glided from +the wretched rooms that had been home to her all her dreary life.</p> + +<p>Owing to the lateness of the hour, she encountered few people on the +streets. There was no one to notice who she was or whither she went, +save the old night-watchman who patroled the block.</p> + +<p>"Poor child!" he muttered, thoughtfully, looking after the retreating +figure; "she's going out to hunt for that drunken old scapegrace of a +father, I'll warrant. It's dangerous for a fine young girl with a face +like hers to be on the streets alone at this hour of the night. I've +told the old basket-maker so scores of times, but somehow he does not +seem to realize her great danger."</p> + +<p>Bernardine drew down her dark veil, and waited until the people should +go away. She was dressed in dark clothes, and sat so silently she +attracted no particular attention; not even when she leaned over and +looked longingly into the eddying waves.</p> + +<p>Two or three ships bound for foreign ports were anchored scarcely fifty +rods away. She could hear the songs and the laughter of the sailors. She +waited until these sounds had subsided.</p> + +<p>The girl sitting close in the shadow of one of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> huge posts was not +observed by the few stragglers strolling past.</p> + +<p>One o'clock sounded from some far-off tower-clock; then the half hour +struck.</p> + +<p>Bernardine rose slowly to her feet, and looked back at the lights of the +great city that she was leaving.</p> + +<p>There would be no one to miss her; no one to weep over her untimely +fate; no one to grieve that she had taken the fatal step to eternity.</p> + +<p>Her father would be glad that there was no one to follow his step by +night and by day, and plead with the wine-sellers to give him no more +drink. He would rejoice that he could follow his own will, and drink as +much as he pleased.</p> + +<p>There was no dear old mother whose heart would break; no gentle sister +or brother who would never forget her; no husband to mourn for her; no +little child to hold out its hands to the blue sky, and cry to her to +come back. No one would miss her on the face of God's earth.</p> + +<p>Alas! for poor Bernardine, how little she knew that at that very hour +the man whose love she craved most was wearing his very heart out for +love of her.</p> + +<p>Bernardine took but one hurried glance backward; then, with a sobbing +cry, sprung over the pier, and into the dark, seething waters.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + + +<p>When Jay Gardiner left the city, he had expected to be gone a week, +possibly a fortnight; but, owing to an unexpected turn in the business +he was transacting, he was enabled to settle it in a day or so, and +return to the city.</p> + +<p>It was by the merest chance that he took passage by boat instead of +going by rail; or, more truly speaking, there was a fate in it. The boat +was due at the wharf by midnight; but, owing to an unaccountable delay, +caused by the breaking of some machinery in the engine-room, it was +after one o'clock when the steamer touched the wharf.</p> + +<p>Doctor Gardiner was not in such a hurry as the rest of the passengers +were, and he walked leisurely across the gang-plank, pausing, as he +reached the pier, to look back at the lights on the water.</p> + +<p>He felt just in the mood to pause there and enjoy what comfort he could +find in a good cigar. He was just about to light a cigar, when his gaze +was suddenly attracted toward a slender object—the figure of a woman +sitting on the very edge of the pier.</p> + +<p>She was in the shadow cast by a large post; but he knew from the +position in which she sat, that she must be looking intently into the +water.</p> + +<p>He did not like the steady gaze with which she seemed to be looking +downward, and the young doctor determined to watch her. He drew back +into the shadow of one of the huge stanchions, and refrained from +lighting his cigar.</p> + +<p>If she would but change her dangerous position, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> would call out to +her; and he wondered where was the watchman who was supposed to guard +those piers and prevent accidents of this kind.</p> + +<p>While he was pondering over this matter, the figure rose suddenly to its +feet, and he readily surmised from its slender, graceful build, which +was but dimly outlined against the dark pier, that she must be a young +girl.</p> + +<p>What was she doing there at that unseemly hour? Watching for some sailor +lover whose ship was bearing him to her from over the great dark sea, or +was she watching for a brother or father?</p> + +<p>He had little time to speculate on this theme, however, for the next +instant a piteous cry broke from the girl's lips—a cry in a voice +strangely familiar; a cry that sent the blood bounding through his heart +like an electric shock—and before he could take a step forward to +prevent it, the slender figure had sprung over the pier.</p> + +<p>By the time Jay Gardiner reached the edge of the dock, the dark waters +had closed over her head, a few eddying ripples only marking the spot +where she had gone down.</p> + +<p>In an instant Doctor Gardiner tore off his coat and sprung into the +water to the rescue. When he rose to the surface, looking eagerly about +for the young girl whom he was risking his life to save, he saw a white +face appear on the surface. He struck out toward it, but ere he reached +the spot, it sunk. Again he dived, and yet again, a great fear +oppressing him that his efforts would be in vain, when he saw the white +face go down for the third and last time.</p> + +<p>With a mighty effort Doctor Gardiner dove again. This time his hands +struck something. He grasped it firmly. It was a tightly-clinched little +hand.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>Up through the water he bore the slender form, and struck out for the +pier with his burden.</p> + +<p>Doctor Gardiner was an expert swimmer, but it was with the utmost +difficulty that he succeeded in reaching the pier, owing to the swell +caused by the many steamboats passing. But it was accomplished at last, +and almost on the verge of exhaustion himself, he succeeded in effecting +a landing and laying his burden upon the pier.</p> + +<p>"She is half drowned as it is," he muttered, bending closer to look at +the pallid face under the flickering light of the gas-lamp.</p> + +<p>As his eyes rested upon the girl's face, a mighty cry broke from his +lips, and he staggered back as though a terrible blow had been dealt +him.</p> + +<p>"Great God! it is Bernardine!" he gasped.</p> + +<p>The discovery fairly stunned him—took his breath away. Then he +remembered that the girl was dying; that every instant of time was +precious if he would save her.</p> + +<p>He worked over her as though his life were at stake, and his efforts +were rewarded at last when the dark eyes opened languidly.</p> + +<p>"Bernardine," he cried, kneeling beside her on the pier, his voice husky +with emotion, "why did you do this terrible deed? Speak, my love, my +darling!"</p> + +<p>And almost before he was aware of it, he had clasped her to his heart, +and was raining passionate kisses on the cheek, neck, and pale cold lips +of the girl he loved better than life.</p> + +<p>She did not seem to realize what had transpired; she did not recognize +him.</p> + +<p>"Do not take me home!" she sobbed, incoherently,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> over and over again. +"Anywhere but there. He—he—will kill me!"</p> + +<p>These words alarmed Doctor Gardiner greatly. What could they mean? He +knew full well that this must have been the last thought that crossed +her brain ere she took the fatal leap, or it would not have been the +first one to flash across her mind with returning consciousness.</p> + +<p>He saw, too, that she was getting into a delirium, and that she must be +removed with all possible haste.</p> + +<p>He did not know of Miss Rogers being in her home, and he reasoned with +himself that there was no one to take care of her there, save the old +basket-maker, and she could not have a worse companion in her present +condition; therefore he must take her elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Then it occurred to him that a very excellent nurse—a widow whom he had +often recommended to his patients—must live very near that vicinity, +and he determined to take her there, and then go after her father and +bring him to her.</p> + +<p>There was an old hack jostling by. Jay Gardiner hailed it, and placing +Bernardine within, took a place by her side. In a few moments they were +at their destination.</p> + +<p>The old nurse was always expecting a summons to go to some patient; but +she was quite dumbfounded to see who her caller was at that strange +hour, and to see that he held an unconscious young girl in his arms.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner explained the situation to the old nurse.</p> + +<p>"I will not come again for a fortnight, nurse," he said, unsteadily, on +leaving. "That will be best under the circumstances. She may be ill, but +not in danger. I will send her father to her in the meantime."</p> + +<p>"What an honorable man Jay Gardiner is!" thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> the nurse, admiringly. +"Not every man could have the strength of mind to keep away from the +girl he loved, even if he was bound to another."</p> + +<p>Doctor Gardiner dared not take even another glance at Bernardine, his +heart was throbbing so madly, but turned and hurried from the house, and +re-entering the cab, drove rapidly away.</p> + +<p>He had planned to go directly to David Moore; but on second thought he +concluded to wait until morning.</p> + +<p>It would be a salutary lesson to the old basket-maker to miss +Bernardine, and realize how much he depended upon the young girl for his +happiness.</p> + +<p>This was a fatal resolve for him to reach, as will be plainly seen.</p> + +<p>As soon as he had finished his breakfast, he hurried to the Canal Street +tenement house.</p> + +<p>There was no commotion outside; evidently the neighbors had not heard of +Bernardine's disappearance, and he doubted whether or not her father +knew of it yet.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner had barely stepped from the pavement into the dark and +narrow hall-way ere he found himself face to face with Jasper Wilde.</p> + +<p>The doctor would have passed him by with a haughty nod, but with one +leap Wilde was at his side, his strong hands closing around his throat, +while he cried out, in a voice fairly convulsed with passion:</p> + +<p>"Aha! You have walked right into my net, and at the right moment. Where +is Bernardine? She fled from me last night, and went directly to your +arms, of course. Tell me where she is, that I may go to her and wreak my +vengeance upon her! Answer me quickly, or I will kill you!"</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner was surprised for an instant; but it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> only for an +instant. In the next, he had recovered himself.</p> + +<p>"You cur, to take a man at a disadvantage like that!" he cried; adding, +as he swung out his muscular right arm: "But as you have brought this +upon yourself, I will give you enough of it!"</p> + +<p>Two or three ringing blows showed Jasper Wilde, that, bully though he +was, he had met his match in this white-handed aristocrat.</p> + +<p>He drew back, uttering a peculiar sharp whistle, and two men, who were +evidently in his employ, advanced quickly to Wilde's aid.</p> + +<p>"Bind and gag this fellow!" he commanded, "and throw him down into the +wine-cellar to await my coming! He's a thief. He has just stolen my +pocket-book. Quick, my lads; don't listen to what he says!"</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + + +<p>Quick as a flash, Jasper Wilde's two men seized Jay Gardiner from behind +and pinioned his arms, Wilde the while excitedly explaining something in +German to them.</p> + +<p>Doctor Gardiner, as we have explained, was an athletic young man. He +could easily have disposed of Wilde, and probably a companion; but it is +little wonder that the three men soon succeeded in overpowering him, +while Wilde, with one awful blow, knocked him into insensibility ere he +had time to refute the charge his antagonist had made against him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>"Take him to my private wine-cellar!" commanded Wilde, excitedly. "He's +a fellow we've been trying to catch around here for some time. He's a +thief, I tell you!"</p> + +<p>The men obeyed their employer's command, little dreaming it was an +innocent man they were consigning to a living tomb.</p> + +<p>It was an hour afterward ere consciousness returned to Jay Gardiner. For +a moment he was dazed, bewildered; then the recollection of the +encounter, and the terrible blow he had received over the temple, +recurred to him.</p> + +<p>Where was he? The darkness and silence of death reigned. The air was +musty. He lay upon a stone flagging through which the slime oozed.</p> + +<p>Like a flash he remembered the words of Jasper Wilde.</p> + +<p>"Take him to my private wine-cellar until I have time to attend to him."</p> + +<p>Yes, that was where he must be—in Wilde's wine-cellar.</p> + +<p>While he was cogitating over this scene, an iron door at the further end +of the apartment opened, and a man, carrying a lantern, hastily entered +the place, and stood on the threshold for a moment.</p> + +<p>Doctor Gardiner saw at once that it was Jasper Wilde.</p> + +<p>"Come to, have you?" cried Wilde, swinging the light in his face. "Well, +how do you like your quarters, my handsome, aristocratic doctor, eh?"</p> + +<p>"How dare you hold me a prisoner here?" demanded Jay Gardiner, striking +the floor with his manacled hands. "Release me at once, I say!"</p> + +<p>A sneering laugh broke from Wilde's thin lips.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dare!</i>" he repeated, laying particular stress upon the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> word. "We +Wildes dare anything when there is a pretty girl like beautiful +Bernardine concerned in it."</p> + +<p>"You scoundrel!" cried Jay Gardiner, "if I were but free from these +shackles, I would teach you the lesson of your life!"</p> + +<p>"A pinioned man is a fool to make threats," sneered Wilde. "But come, +now. Out with it, curse you! Where is Bernardine?—where have you hidden +her?"</p> + +<p>"I refuse to answer your question," replied Jay Gardiner, coolly. "I +know where she is, but that knowledge shall never be imparted to you +without her consent."</p> + +<p>"I will wring it from your lips, curse you!" cried Wilde, furiously. "I +will torture you here, starve you here, until you go mad and are glad to +speak."</p> + +<p>"Even though you <i>kill</i> me, you shall not learn from my lips the +whereabouts of Bernardine Moore!" exclaimed Jay Gardiner, hoarsely.</p> + +<p>As the hours dragged their slow lengths by, exhausted nature asserted +itself, and despite the hunger and burning thirst he endured, and the +pain in his head, sleep—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Tired Nature's sweet restorer—balmy sleep"—<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>came to him.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the door opened, and Jasper Wilde, still carrying a lantern, +looked in.</p> + +<p>"It is morning again," he said. "How have you passed the night, my +handsome doctor? I see the rodents have not eaten you. I shouldn't have +been the least surprised if they had. I assure you, I wonder they could +have abstained from such a feast."</p> + +<p>"You fiend incarnate!" cried Jay Gardiner, hoarsely. "Remove these +shackles, and meet me as man to man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> Only a dastardly coward bullies a +man who can not help himself."</p> + +<p>"Still defiant, my charming doctor!" laughed Wilde. "I marvel at that. I +supposed by this time you would be quite willing to give me the +information I desired."</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner could not trust himself to speak, his indignation was so +great.</p> + +<p>"<i>Au revoir</i> again," sneered Wilde. "The day will pass and the night +will follow, in the natural course of events. To-morrow, at this hour, I +shall look in on you again, my handsome doctor. Look out for the +rodents. Bless me! they are dashing over the floor. I must fly!"</p> + +<p>Again the door closed, and with a groan Jay Gardiner could not repress, +he sunk to the floor, smiting it with his manacled hands, and wondering +how soon this awful torture would end.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + + +<p>During the long hours of the night which followed, Jay Gardiner dared +not trust himself to sleep for a single instant, so great was his horror +of the rodents that scampered in droves across the damp floor of the +cellar in which he was a prisoner.</p> + +<p>He felt that his brain must soon give way, and that Jasper Wilde would +have his desire—he would soon be driven to insanity.</p> + +<p>He thought of Bernardine, who was waiting for him to return to her, and +he groaned aloud in the bitterness of his anguish, in the agony of his +awful despair.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>The manacles cut into his flesh, for his wrists had swollen as he lay +there, and the burning thirst was becoming maddening.</p> + +<p>"Great God in Heaven! how long—ah, how long, will this torture last?" +he cried.</p> + +<p>In the midst of his anguish, he heard footsteps; but not those for which +he longed so ardently. A moment later, and Jasper Wilde stood before +him.</p> + +<p>"Now let me tell you what my revenge upon the beautiful Bernardine will +be for preferring <i>you</i> to myself. I shall marry her—she dare not +refuse when I have her here—that I warrant you. As I said before, I +shall marry the dainty Bernardine, the cold, beautiful, haughty +Bernardine, and then I shall force her to go behind the bar, and the +beauty of her face will draw custom from far and near.</p> + +<p>"Nothing could be so revolting to her as this. It will crush her, it +will kill her, and I, whose love for her has turned into hate—yes, +deepest, deadly hate—will stand by and watch her, and laugh at her. Ha! +ha! ha!"</p> + +<p>With a fury born of madness, Doctor Gardiner wrenched himself free from +the chains that bound him, and with one flying leap was upon his enemy +and had hurled him to the floor, his hand clutching Wilde's throat.</p> + +<p>"It shall be death to one or other of us!" he panted, hoarsely.</p> + +<p>But he had not reckoned that in his weak condition he was no match for +Jasper Wilde, who for the moment was taken aback by the suddenness of +the attack.</p> + +<p class="tb">That the encounter would have ended in certain death to Jay Gardiner, in +his exhausted state, was quite appar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>ent to Jasper Wilde; but in that +moment fate intervened to save him. Hardly had the two men come together +in that desperate death-struggle, ere the startling cry of "Fire!" rang +through the building.</p> + +<p>Jasper Wilde realized what that meant. There was but one exit from the +cellar, and if he did not get out of it in a moment's time, he would be +caught like a rat in a trap. Gathering himself together, he wrenched +himself free from the doctor's grasp, and hurling him to the floor with +a fearful blow planted directly between the eyes, sprung over the +threshold.</p> + +<p>Wilde paused a single instant to shout back:</p> + +<p>"I leave you to your fate, my handsome doctor! Ha! ha! ha!"</p> + +<p>But fate did not intend Jay Gardiner to die just then, even though he +sunk back upon the flags with an awful groan and fully realized the +horror of the situation.</p> + +<p>That groan saved him. A fireman heard it, and in less time than it takes +to tell it, a brawny, heroic fellow sprung through the iron door-way, +which Wilde in his mad haste had not taken time to close.</p> + +<p>A moment more, and the fireman had carried his burden up through the +flames, and out into the pure air.</p> + +<p>The fresh air revived the young doctor, as nothing else could have done.</p> + +<p>"Give me your name and address," he said, faintly, to the fireman. "You +shall hear from me again;" and the man good-naturedly complied, and then +turned back the next instant to his duty.</p> + +<p>In the excitement, he forgot to ask whose life it was he had saved.</p> + +<p>The fire proved to be a fearful holocaust. Canal Street had never known +a conflagration that equaled it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>Doctor Gardiner made superhuman efforts to enter the tenement-house, to +save the life of the old basket-maker—Bernardine's hapless father—who +stood paralyzed, incapable of action, at an upper window. But no human +being could breast that sea of flame; and with a cry of horror, the +young doctor saw the tenement collapse, and David Moore was buried in +the ruins.</p> + +<p>He had forfeited his life for the brandy he had taken just a little +while before, which utterly unfitted him to make an effort to get out of +the building.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner, sick at heart, turned away with a groan. He must go to +Bernardine at once; but, Heaven help her! how could he break the news of +her great loss to her?</p> + +<p>As he was deliberating on what course to pursue, a hand was suddenly +laid on his shoulder, and a voice said, lustily:</p> + +<p>"By all that is wonderful, I can scarcely believe my eyes, Jay Gardiner, +that this is you! I expected you were at this moment hundred of miles +away from New York. But, heavens! how ill you look! Your clothes are +covered with dust. What can be the matter with you, Jay?"</p> + +<p>Turning suddenly at the sound of the familiar voice, Doctor Gardiner +found himself face to face with the young physician who took charge of +his office while he was away.</p> + +<p>"Come with me; you shall not tell me now, nor talk. Come to the office, +and let me fix up something for you, or you will have a spell of +sickness."</p> + +<p>And without waiting to heed Jay Gardiner's expostulations—that he must +go somewhere else first—he called a passing cab, and hustled him into +it.</p> + +<p>Owing to his splendid physique, he felt quite as good as new the next +morning, save for the pain in his head<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>, where he had fallen upon the +stone flagging of the wine cellar.</p> + +<p>Without any more loss of time than was absolutely necessary, he set out +for the old nurse's house, at which he had left Bernardine two days +before. He had half expected to find her ill, and he was not a little +surprised when she came to the door in answer to his summons.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Gray is out," she said, "and I saw you coming, Doctor Gardiner, +and oh, I could not get here quick enough to see you and thank you for +what you have done for me—risked your own life to save a worthless one +like mine."</p> + +<p>"Hush, hush, Bernardine! You must not say that!" he cried, seizing her +little hands.</p> + +<p>He drew her into the plain little sitting-room, seated her, then turned +from her abruptly and commenced pacing up and down the room, his +features working convulsively.</p> + +<p>It was by the greatest effort he had restrained himself from clasping +her in his arms. Only Heaven knew how great was the effort.</p> + +<p>"Why did you attempt to drown yourself, Bernardine?" he asked, at +length. "Tell me the truth."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I will tell you," sobbed Bernardine, piteously. "I did it because +I did not wish to become Jasper Wilde's bride."</p> + +<p>"But why were you driven to such a step?" he persisted. "Surely you +could have said 'No,' and that would have been sufficient."</p> + +<p>For a moment she hesitated, then she flung herself, sobbing piteously, +on her knees at his feet.</p> + +<p>"If I tell you <i>all</i>, will you pledge yourself to keep my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> secret, and +my father's secret, come what may?" she cried, wringing her hands.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he replied, solemnly. "I shall never divulge what you tell me. +You can speak freely, Bernardine."</p> + +<p>And Bernardine <i>did</i> speak freely. She told him all without reserve—of +the sword Jasper Wilde held over her head because of her poor father, +whom he could send to the gallows, although he was an innocent man, if +she refused to marry him.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner listened to every word with intense interest.</p> + +<p>"While I have been here I have been thinking—thinking," she sobbed. +"Oh, it was cruel of me to try to avoid my duty to poor father. I must +go back and—and marry Jasper Wilde, to save poor papa, who must now be +half-crazed by my disappearance."</p> + +<p>Doctor Gardiner clasped her little hands still closer. The time had come +when he must break the awful news to her that her father was no longer +in Jasper Wilde's power; that he had passed beyond all fear of him, all +fear of punishment at the hand of man.</p> + +<p>"Are you strong enough to bear a great shock, Bernardine?" he whispered, +involuntarily gathering the slender figure to him.</p> + +<p>The girl grew pale as death.</p> + +<p>"Is it something about father? Has anything happened to him?" she +faltered, catching her breath.</p> + +<p>He nodded his head; then slowly, very gently, he told her of the fire, +and that he had seen her father perish—that he was now forever beyond +Jasper Wilde's power.</p> + +<p>Poor Bernardine listened like one turned to stone: then, without a word +or a cry, fell at his feet in a faint.</p> + +<p>At that opportune moment the old nurse returned.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>Doctor Gardiner soon restored her to consciousness; but it made his +heart bleed to witness her intense grief. She begged him to take her to +the ruins, and with great reluctance he consented.</p> + +<p>Ordering a cab at the nearest stand, he placed her in it, and took a +seat by her side, feeling a vague uneasiness, a consciousness that this +ride should never have been taken.</p> + +<p>She was trembling like a leaf. What could he do but place his strong arm +about her? In that moment, in the happiness of being near her, he forgot +that he was in honor bound to another, and that other Sally Pendleton, +whom he was so soon to lead to the altar to make his wife.</p> + +<p>The girl he loved with all the strength of his heart was so near to +him—ah, Heaven! so dangerously near—the breath from her lips was +wafted to him with each passing breeze, and seemed to steal his very +senses from him.</p> + +<p>Oh, if he could but indulge in one moment of happiness—could clasp her +in his arms but a single moment, and kiss those trembling lips just +once, he would be willing to pay for it by a whole life-time of sorrow, +he told himself.</p> + +<p>Ah! why must he refuse himself so resolutely this one draught of +pleasure that fate had cast in his way?</p> + +<p>He hesitated, and we all know what happens to the man who hesitates—he +is lost.</p> + +<p>At this moment Bernardine turned to him, sobbing piteously:</p> + +<p>"Oh, what shall I do, Doctor Gardiner? Father's death leaves me all +alone in the world—all alone, with no one to love me!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>In an instant he forgot prudence, restraint; he only knew that his +heart, ay, his very soul, flowed out to her in a torrent so intense no +human will could have restrained it.</p> + +<p>Almost before he was aware of it, his arms were about her, straining her +to his madly beating heart, his passionate kisses falling thrillingly +upon her beautiful hair and the sweet, tender lips, while he cried, +hoarsely:</p> + +<p>"You shall never say that again, beautiful Bernardine! <i>I</i> love +you—yes, I love you with all my heart and soul! Oh, darling! answer +me—do you care for me?"</p> + +<p>The girl recoiled from him with a low, wailing sob. The words of the +fashionably attired young girl who had called upon her so mysteriously +on that never-to-be-forgotten day, and taunted her with—"He is +deceiving you, girl! Doctor Gardiner may talk to you of love, but he +will never—never speak to you of marriage. Mark my words!"—were +ringing like a death-knell in her ears.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bernardine!" he cried, throwing prudence to the winds, forgetting +in that moment everything save his mad love for her—"oh, my darling! +you are <i>not</i> alone in the world! <i>I</i> love you! Marry me, Bernardine, +and save me from the future spreading out darkly before me—marry me +within the hour—<i>now</i>! Don't refuse me. We are near a church now. The +rector lives next door. We will alight here, and in five minutes you +will be all my own to comfort, to care for, to protect and idolize, to +worship as I would an angel from Heaven!"</p> + +<p>He scarcely waited for her to consent. He stopped the coach, and fairly +lifted her from the vehicle in his strong arms.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Doctor Gardiner, is it for the best?" she cried,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> clinging to him +with death-cold hands. "Are you <i>sure</i> you want me?"</p> + +<p>The answer that he gave her, as he bent his fair, handsome head, must +have satisfied her. Loving him as she did, how could she say him nay?</p> + +<p>They entered the parsonage, and when they emerged from it, ten minutes +later, Bernardine was Jay Gardiner's wedded wife.</p> + +<p>And that was the beginning of the tragedy.</p> + +<p>"I shall not take you to the scene of the fire just now, my darling," he +decided. "The sight would be too much for you. In a day or two, when you +have become more reconciled to your great loss, I will take you there."</p> + +<p>"You know best, Doctor Gardiner," she sobbed, as they re-entered the +vehicle. "I will do whatever you think is best."</p> + +<p>"Where to, sir?" asked the driver, touching his cap.</p> + +<p>"We will go to Central Park," he answered; then turning to Bernardine, +he added: "When we reach there, we will alight and dismiss this man. We +will sit down on one of the benches, talk matters over, and decide what +is best to be done—where you would like to go for your wedding-trip; +but, my love, my sweetheart, my life, you must not call me 'Doctor +Gardiner.' To you, from this time on, I am Jay, your own fond husband!"</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> + + +<p>Jay Gardiner had taken fate in his own hands. He had married the girl he +loved, casting aside every barrier that lay between them, even to facing +the wrath, and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> perhaps, the world's censure in deserting the girl to +whom he was betrothed, but whom he did not love.</p> + +<p>He was deeply absorbed in thinking about this as the cab stopped at the +park entrance.</p> + +<p>"Come, my darling!" exclaimed Jay, kissing fondly the beautiful face +upturned to him, "we will alight and talk over our plans for the +future."</p> + +<p>She clung to him, as he with tender care, lifted her from the vehicle.</p> + +<p>He was her husband, this grand, kingly, fair-haired man, at whom the +women passing looked so admiringly. She could hardly realize it, hardly +dare believe it, but for the fact that he was calling her his darling +bride with every other breath.</p> + +<p>He found her a seat beneath a wide-spreading tree, where the greensward +was like velvet beneath their feet, and the air was redolent with the +scent of flowers that rioted in the sunshine hard by.</p> + +<p>"Now, first of all, my precious Bernardine, we must turn our thoughts in +a practical direction long enough to select which hotel we are to go to; +and another quite as important matter, your wardrobe, you know."</p> + +<p>Bernardine looked up at him gravely.</p> + +<p>"This dress will do for the present," she declared. "The good, kind old +nurse dried and pressed it out so nicely for me that it looks almost as +good as new. And as for going to a hotel, I am sure it is too expensive. +We could go to a boarding-house where the charges would be moderate."</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner threw back his handsome head, and laughed so loud and so +heartily that Bernardine looked at him anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Now that I come to think the matter over, I don't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> think I ever told +you much concerning my financial affairs," he said, smiling.</p> + +<p>"No; but papa guessed about them," replied Bernardine.</p> + +<p>"Tell me what he guessed?" queried Jay. "He thought I was poor?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Bernardine, frankly. "He said that all doctors had a very +hard time of it when they started in to build up a practice, and that +you must be having a very trying experience to make both ends meet."</p> + +<p>"Was that why he did not want me for a son-in-law?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so," admitted Bernardine, blushing.</p> + +<p>"Tell me this, my darling," he said, eagerly catching at the pretty +little hands lying folded in her lap; "why is it that <i>you</i> have waived +all that, that you have married me, not knowing whether I had enough to +pay for a day's lodging?"</p> + +<p>The most beautiful light that ever was seen flashed into the tender dark +eyes, a smile curved the red lips that set all the pretty dimples +dancing in the round, flushed cheeks.</p> + +<p>"I married you because——" and then she hesitated shyly.</p> + +<p>"Go on, Bernardine," he persisted; "you married me because——"</p> + +<p>"Because I—I loved you," she whispered, her lovely face fairly covered +with blushes.</p> + +<p>"Now, the first thing to do, sweetheart, is to call a cab, that you may +go to the nearest large dry-goods store and make such purchases as you +may need for immediate use. I can occupy the time better than standing +about looking at you. I will leave you at the store, and have the cabby +drive me around to the old nurse and explain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> what has occurred, and +tell her that you won't come back. Then I can attend to another little +matter or two, and return for you in an hour's time. And last, but not +least, take this pocket-book—I always carry two about me—and use +freely its contents. The purse, and what is in it, are yours, sweet!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I couldn't think of taking so much money!" declared Bernardine, +amazed at the bulky appearance of the pocket-book at the first glance.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner laughed good-naturedly.</p> + +<p>"You shall have everything your heart desires, my precious one," he +declared. "Don't worry about the price of anything you want; buy it, and +I shall be only too pleased, believe me."</p> + +<p>There was no time to say anything further, for the store was reached, +and Jay had barely time to snatch a kiss from the beautiful lips ere he +handed her out.</p> + +<p>"I will return in just an hour from now, Bernardine, with this cab," he +said. "If you are not then at the door, looking for me, I shall wait +here patiently until you do come out."</p> + +<p>"How good you are to me!" murmured the girl, her dark eyes brimming over +with tears. "If papa could only know!"</p> + +<p>"There, there now, my darling, it hurts me to see those eyes shed tears! +The past is past. Your father would be glad to know you have a protector +to love and care for you. Try to forget, as much as you can, the sad +calamity, for <i>my</i> sake."</p> + +<p>And with another pressure of the hands, he turned away and sprung into +the cab, watching the slender form from the window until it disappeared +in the door-way and was lost to sight.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>"Love thrust honor and duty aside," he murmured. "I married sweet +Bernardine on the impulse of the moment, and I shall never regret it. I +will have a time with Sally Pendleton and her relatives; but the +interview will be a short one. She has other admirers, and she will soon +console herself. It was my money, instead of myself, that she wanted, +anyhow, so there is no damage done to her heart, thank goodness. I +will——"</p> + +<p>The rest of the sentence was never finished. There was a frightful +crash, mingled with the terrific ringing of car-bells, a violent plunge +forward, and Jay Gardiner knew no more.</p> + +<p>With a thoughtful face, Bernardine walked quickly into the great +dry-goods store.</p> + +<p>She tried to do her husband's bidding—-put all thoughts of it from her +for the time being—until she could weep over it calmly, instead of +giving way to the violent, pent-up anguish throbbing in her heart at +that moment.</p> + +<p>She had not been accustomed to spending much money during her young +life. The very few dresses she had had done duty for several years, by +being newly made over, sponged, and pressed, and freshened by a ribbon +here, or a bit of lace there. So it did not take long to make the few +purchases she deemed necessary, and even then she felt alarmed in +finding that they footed up to nearly seven dollars, which appeared a +great sum to her.</p> + +<p>Six o'clock now struck, and the clerks hustled away the goods en the +counters, and covered those on the shelves with surprising agility, much +to the annoyance of many belated customers who had come in too late "to +just look around and get samples."</p> + +<p>To the surprise of the clerks, as they reached the sidewalk from a side +entrance of the building, they saw the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> beautiful young girl still +standing in front of the store with the parcel in her hand and a look of +bewilderment on her face.</p> + +<p>"It is a little after six," murmured Bernardine, glancing up at a clock +in an adjacent store. "He has not yet returned, but he will be here +soon. I do not wonder that the driver of the cab he is in can make but +little headway, the crowds on the street and crossings are so great."</p> + +<p>One cab after another whirled by, their occupants in many instances +looking back to catch another glimpse of that perfect face with its +wistful expression which had turned toward them so eagerly and then +turned away so disappointedly.</p> + +<p>"A shop girl waiting for some fellow who is to come in a cab and take +her out to supper," remarked two dudes who were sauntering up Broadway.</p> + +<p>Bernardine heard the remark, and flushed indignantly.</p> + +<p>How she wished she dared tell them that she was waiting for her husband! +Yes, she was waiting—waiting, but he came not.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2> + + +<p>The sun dipped low in the West; the great crowds hurrying hither and +thither were beginning to thin out. New York's busy throngs were seeking +their homes to enjoy the meal which they had worked for in factory and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +shop, for they were mostly working people who composed this seething +mass of humanity.</p> + +<p>Slowly time dragged on. Seven o'clock tolled from a far-off belfry. +Bernardine was getting frightfully nervous.</p> + +<p>What could have happened to her handsome young husband, who had left her +with the promise that he would return within the hour?</p> + +<p>The policeman pacing to and fro on that beat watched her curiously each +time he passed.</p> + +<p>Eight o'clock struck slowly and sharply. The wind had risen, and was now +howling like a demon around the corners of the great buildings.</p> + +<p>"What shall I do? Oh, Heaven, help me! what shall I do?" sobbed +Bernardine, in nervous affright. "He—he must have forgotten me."</p> + +<p>At that moment a hand fell heavily on her shoulder.</p> + +<p>Looking up hastily through her tears, Bernardine saw a policeman +standing before her and eyeing her sharply.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing here, my good girl?" he asked. "Waiting for +somebody? I would advise you to move on. We're going to have a storm, +and pretty quick, too, and I judge that it will be a right heavy one."</p> + +<p>"I—I am waiting for my husband," faltered Bernardine. "He drove me here +in a cab. I was to do a little shopping while he went to find a +boarding-house. He was to return in an hour—-by six o'clock. I—I have +been waiting here since that time, and—and he has not come."</p> + +<p>"Hum! Where did you and your husband live last?" inquired the man of the +brass buttons.</p> + +<p>"We—we didn't live anywhere before. We—we were just married to-day," +admitted the girl, her lovely face suffused with blushes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>"The old story," muttered the officer under his breath. "Some rascal has +deluded this simple, unsophisticated girl into the belief that he has +married her, then cast her adrift."</p> + +<p>"I am going to tell you what I think, little girl," he said, speaking +kindly in his bluff way. "But don't cry out, make a scene, or get +hysterical. It's my opinion that the man you are waiting for don't +intend to come back."</p> + +<p>He saw the words strike her as lightning strikes and blasts a fair +flower. A terrible shiver ran through the young girl, then she stood +still, as though turned to stone, her face overspread with the pallor of +death.</p> + +<p>The policeman was used to all phases of human nature. He saw that this +girl's grief was genuine, and felt sorry for her.</p> + +<p>"Surely you have a home, friends, here somewhere?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Bernardine shook her head, sobbing piteously.</p> + +<p>"I lived in the tenement house on Canal Street that has just been burned +down. My father perished in it, leaving me alone in the world—homeless, +shelterless—and—and this man asked me to marry him, and—and I—did."</p> + +<p>The policeman was convinced more than ever by her story that some <i>roué</i> +had taken advantage of the girl's pitiful situation to lead her astray.</p> + +<p>"That's bad. But surely you have friends <i>somewhere</i>?"</p> + +<p>Again Bernardine shook her head, replying, forlornly:</p> + +<p>"Not one on earth. Papa and I lived only for each other."</p> + +<p>The policeman looked down thoughtfully for a mo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>ment. He said to himself +that he ought to try to save her from the fate which he was certain lay +before her.</p> + +<p>"I suppose he left you without a cent, the scoundrel?" he queried, +brusquely.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't speak of him harshly!" cried Bernardine, distressedly. "I am +sure something has happened to prevent his coming. He left his +pocket-book with me, and there is considerable money in it."</p> + +<p>"Ah! the scoundrel had a little more heart than I gave him credit for," +thought the policeman.</p> + +<p>He did not take the trouble to ask the name of the man whom she believed +had wedded her, being certain that he had given a fictitious one to her.</p> + +<p>"There is a boarding-house just two blocks from here, that I would +advise you to go to for the night, at least, young lady," he said, "and +if he comes I will send him around there. I can not miss him if he +comes, for I will be on this beat, pacing up and down, until seven +o'clock to-morrow morning. See, the rain has commenced to come down +pretty hard. Come!"</p> + +<p>There was nothing else to do but accept the kind policeman's suggestion. +As it was, by the time she reached the house to which he good-naturedly +piloted her, the fierce storm was raging in earnest.</p> + +<p>He spoke a few words, which Bernardine could not catch, to the +white-haired, benevolent-looking lady who opened the door.</p> + +<p>She turned to the girl with outstretched hands.</p> + +<p>"Come right in, my dear," she said, gently; "come right in."</p> + +<p>"I was waiting for my husband, but somehow I missed him," explained +Bernardine. "The policeman will be sure to run across him and send him +around here."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>The lady looked pityingly at the beautiful young face—a look that made +Bernardine a little nervous, though there was nothing but gentleness and +kindness in it.</p> + +<p>"We will talk about that in the morning," she said. "I will show you to +a room. The house is quite full just now, and I shall have to put you in +a room with another young girl. Pardon the question, but have you had +your supper?"</p> + +<p>"No," replied Bernardine, frankly, "and I am hungry and fatigued."</p> + +<p>"I will send you up a bowl of bread and milk, and a cup of nice hot +tea," said the lady.</p> + +<p>"How good you are to me, a perfect stranger!" murmured Bernardine. "I +will be glad to pay you for the tea and——"</p> + +<p>The lady held up her white hand with a slow gesture.</p> + +<p>"We do not take pay for any services we render here, my dear," she said. +"This is a young girls' temporary shelter, kept up by a few of the very +wealthy women in this great city."</p> + +<p>Bernardine was very much surprised to hear this; but before she could +reply, the lady threw open a door to the right, and Bernardine was +ushered into a plain but scrupulously neat apartment in which sat a +young girl of apparently her own age.</p> + +<p>"Sleep here in peace, comfort and security," said the lady. "I will have +a talk with you on the morrow," and she closed the door softly, leaving +Bernardine alone with the young girl at the window, who had faced about +and was regarding her eagerly.</p> + +<p>"I am awfully glad you are come," she broke in quickly; "it was terribly +slow occupying this room all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> alone, as I told the matron awhile ago. It +seems she took pity on me and sent you here. But why don't you sit down, +girl? You look at me as though you were not particularly struck with my +face, and took a dislike to me at first sight, as most people do."</p> + +<p>She was correct in her surmise. Bernardine <i>had</i> taken a dislike to her, +she scarcely knew why.</p> + +<p>Bernardine forgot her own trials and anxiety in listening to the +sorrowful story of this hapless creature.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you try to find work in some other factory or some shop?" +asked Bernardine, earnestly.</p> + +<p>"My clothes are so shabby, my appearance is against me. No one wants to +employ a girl whose dress is all tatters."</p> + +<p>A sudden thought came to Bernardine, and she acted on the impulse.</p> + +<p>"Here," she said, pulling out her pocket-book—"here is ten dollars. Get +a dress, and try to find work. The money is not a loan; it is a gift."</p> + +<p>The girl had hardly heard the words, ere a cry of amazement fell from +her lips. She was eyeing the well-filled pocket-book with a burning +gaze.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2> + + +<p>The girl took the money which Bernardine handed to her, her eyes +following every movement of the white hand that placed the wallet back +in her pocket.</p> + +<p>"You must be rich to have so much money about you,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> she said, slowly, +with a laugh that grated harshly on Bernardine's sensitive ears.</p> + +<p>"It is not mine," said Bernardine, simply; "it is my husband's, and +represents all the years of toil he has worked, and all the rigid +economy he has practiced."</p> + +<p>The girl looked at her keenly. Could it be that she was simple enough to +believe that the man who had deserted her so cruelly had <i>married</i> her? +Well, let her believe what she chose, it was no business of hers.</p> + +<p>The bowl of bread and milk and the cup of tea were sent up to +Bernardine, and she disposed of them with a heartiness that amused her +companion.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid you will not sleep well after eating so late," she said, +with a great deal of anxiety in her voice.</p> + +<p>"I shall rest all the better for taking the hot milk. I fall asleep +generally as soon as my head touches the pillow, and I do not wake until +the next morning. Why, if the house tumbled down around me, I believe +that I would not know it. I will remove my jacket, to keep it from +wrinkling."</p> + +<p>This information seemed to please her companion. She breathed a sigh of +relief, and an ominous glitter crept into her small black eyes.</p> + +<p>"But I do not want to go to sleep to-night," added Bernardine in the +next breath. "I shall sit by the window, with my face pressed against +the pane, watching for my—my husband."</p> + +<p>Her companion, who had introduced herself as Margery Brown, cried out +hastily:</p> + +<p>"Don't do that. You will look like a washed-out, wilted flower by +to-morrow, if you do, and your—your husband won't like that. Men only +care for women when they are fresh and fair. Go to bed, and I will sit +up and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> watch for you, and wake you when he comes; though it's my +opinion he won't come until to-morrow, for fear of disturbing you."</p> + +<p>But Bernardine was firm in her resolve.</p> + +<p>"He may come any minute," she persisted, drawing her chair close to the +window, and peering wistfully out into the storm.</p> + +<p>But a tired feeling, caused by the great excitement She had undergone +that day, at length began to tell upon her, and her eyes drooped wearily +in spite of her every effort to keep them open, and at last, little by +little, they closed, and the long, dark, curling lashes, heavy with +unshed tears, lay still upon the delicately rounded cheeks.</p> + +<p>Margery Brown bent forward, watching her eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Asleep at last," she muttered, rising from her seat and crossing the +room with a stealthy, cat-like movement, until she reached Bernardine's +side.</p> + +<p>Bending over her, she laid her hand lightly on her shoulder.</p> + +<p>Bernardine stirred uneasily, muttering something in her, sleep about +"loving him so fondly," the last of the sentence ending in a troubled +sigh.</p> + +<p>"They used to tell me that I had the strange gift of being able to +mesmerize people," she muttered. "We will see if I can do it <i>now</i>. I'll +try it."</p> + +<p>Standing before Bernardine, she made several passes with her hands +before the closed eyelids. They trembled slightly, but did not open. +Again and again those hands waved to and fro before Bernardine with the +slowness and regularity of a pendulum.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha!" she muttered at length under her breath, "she sleeps sound +enough now."</p> + +<p>She laid her hand heavily on Bernardine's breast.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> The gentle breathing +did not abate, and with a slow movement the hand slid down to the pocket +of her dress, fumbled about the folds for a moment, then reappeared, +tightly clutching the well-filled wallet.</p> + +<p>"You can sleep on as comfortably as you like now, my innocent little +fool!" she muttered. "Good-night, and good-bye to you."</p> + +<p>Hastily donning Bernardine's jacket and hat, the girl stole noiselessly +from the room, closing the door softly after her.</p> + +<p>So exhausted was Bernardine, she did not awaken until the sunshine, +drifting into her face in a flood of golden light, forced the long black +lashes to open.</p> + +<p>For an instant she was bewildered as she sat up in her chair, looking +about the small white room; but in a moment she remembered all that had +transpired.</p> + +<p>She saw that she was the sole occupant of the apartment, and concluded +her room-mate must have gone to breakfast; but simultaneously with this +discovery, she saw that her jacket and hat were missing.</p> + +<p>She was mystified at first, loath to believe that her companion could +have appropriated them, and left the torn and ragged articles she saw +hanging in their place.</p> + +<p>As she arose from her chair, she discovered that her pocket was hanging +inside out, and that the pocket-book was gone!</p> + +<p>For an instant she was fairly paralyzed. Then the white lips broke into +a scream that brought the matron, who was just passing the door, quickly +to her side.</p> + +<p>In a hysterical voice, quite as soon as she could command herself to +articulate the words, she told the good woman what had happened.</p> + +<p>The matron listened attentively.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>"I never dreamed that you had money about you my poor child," she said, +"or I would have suggested your leaving it with me. I worried afterward +about putting you in this room with Margaret Brown; but we were full, +and there was no help for it. That is her great fault. She is not +honest. We knew that, but when she appealed to me for a night's lodging, +I could not turn her away. The front door is never locked, and those who +come here can leave when they like. We found it standing open this +morning, and we felt something was wrong."</p> + +<p>But Bernardine did not hear the last of the sentence. With a cry she +fell to the floor at the matron's feet in a death-like swoon.</p> + +<p>Kind hands raised her, placed her on the couch, and administered to her; +but when at length the dark eyes opened, there was no glance of +recognition in them, and the matron knew, even before she called the +doctor, that she had a case of brain fever before her.</p> + +<p>This indeed proved to be a fact, and it was many a long week ere a +knowledge of events transpiring around her came to Bernardine.</p> + +<p class="tb">During the interim, dear reader, we will follow the fortunes of Jay +Gardiner, the young husband for whom Bernardine had watched and waited +in vain.</p> + +<p>When he was picked up unconscious after the collision, he was recognized +by some of the passengers and conveyed to his own office.</p> + +<p>It seemed that he had sustained a serious scalp-wound and the doctors +who had been called in consultation looked anxiously into each other's +faces.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>"A delicate operation will be necessary," said the most experienced +physician, "and whether it will result in life or death, I can not say."</p> + +<p>They recommended that his relatives, if he had any, be sent for. It was +soon ascertained that his mother and sister were in Europe, traveling +about the Continent. The next person equally, if indeed not more +interested, was the young lady he was betrothed to marry—Miss +Pendleton. Accordingly, she was sent for with all possible haste.</p> + +<p>A servant bearing a message for Sally entered the room.</p> + +<p>The girl's hands trembled. She tore the envelope open quickly, and as +her eyes traveled over the contents of the note, she gave a loud scream.</p> + +<p>"Jay Gardiner has met with an accident, and I am sent for. Ah! that is +why I have not heard from him for a week, mamma!" she exclaimed, +excitedly.</p> + +<p>"I will go with you, my dear," declared her mother. "It wouldn't be +proper for you to go alone. Make your toilet at once."</p> + +<p>To the messenger's annoyance, the young lady he was sent for kept him +waiting nearly an hour, and he was startled, a little later, to see the +vision of blonde loveliness that came hurrying down the broad stone +steps in the wake of her mother.</p> + +<p>"Beautiful, but she has no heart," was his mental opinion. "Very few +girls would have waited an hour, knowing their lover lay at the point of +death. But it's none of my business, though I <i>do</i> wish noble young +Doctor Gardiner had made a better selection for a wife."</p> + +<p>The cab whirled rapidly on, and soon reached Doctor Gardiner's office.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>Sally looked a little frightened, and turned pale under her rouge when +she saw the group of grave-faced physicians evidently awaiting her +arrival.</p> + +<p>"Our patient has recovered consciousness," said one of them, taking her +by the hand and leading her forward. "He is begging pitifully to see +some one—of course, it must be yourself—some one who is waiting for +him."</p> + +<p>"Of course," repeated Sally. "There is no one he would be so interested +in seeing as myself."</p> + +<p>And quite alone, she entered the inner apartment where Jay Gardiner lay +hovering between life and death.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2> + + +<p>The room into which Sally Pendleton was ushered was so dimly lighted +that she was obliged to take the second glance about ere she could +distinguish where the couch was on which Jay Gardiner lay. The next +moment she was bending over him, crying and lamenting so loudly that the +doctors waiting outside were obliged to go to her and tell her that this +outburst might prove fatal to their patient in that critical hour.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner was looking up at her with dazed eyes. He recognized her, +uttered her name.</p> + +<p>"Was it to-night that I left your house, after settling when the +marriage was to take place?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Miss Pendleton humored the idea by answering "Yes," instead of telling +him that the visit he referred to had taken place several weeks before.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>"To-day was to have been our wedding-day," she sobbed, "and now you are +ill—very ill. But, Jay," she whispered, bending down and uttering the +words rapidly in his ear, "it could take place just the same, here and +now, if you are willing. I sent a note to a minister to come here, and +he may arrive at any moment. When he comes, shall I speak to him about +it?"</p> + +<p>He did not answer; he was trying to remember something, trying, oh, so +hard, to remember something that lay like a weight on his mind.</p> + +<p>Heaven help him! the past was entirely blotted out of his memory!</p> + +<p>He recollected leaving Miss Pendleton's house after setting the date for +his marriage with her, but beyond that evening the world was a blank to +him.</p> + +<p>He never remembered that there were such people as David Moore, the +basket-maker, and a beautiful girl, his daughter Bernardine, to whom he +had lost his heart, and whom he had wedded, and that she was now waiting +for him. His mind was to be a blank upon all that for many a day to +come.</p> + +<p>"What do you say, Jay?" repeated Miss Pendleton; "will not the ceremony +take place to-day, as we had intended?"</p> + +<p>"They tell me I am very ill, Sally," he whispered. "I—I may be dying. +Do you wish the ceremony to take place in the face of that fact?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she persisted. "I want you to keep your solemn vow that you would +make me your wife; and—and delays are dangerous."</p> + +<p>"Then it shall be as you wish," he murmured, faintly, in an almost +inaudible voice, the effort to speak being so great as to cause him to +almost lose consciousness.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>Sally stepped quickly from Jay's beside out into the adjoining room.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Gardiner wishes our marriage to take place here and now," she +announced. "A minister will be here directly. When he arrives, please +show him to Doctor Gardiner's bedside."</p> + +<p>Mamma Pendleton smiled and nodded her approval in a magnificent way as +she caught her daughter's eye for a second. The doctors looked at one +another in alarm.</p> + +<p>"I do not see how it can take place just now, Miss Pendleton," said one, +quietly. "We have a very dangerous and difficult operation to perform +upon your betrothed, and each moment it is delayed reduces his chance of +recovery. We must put him under chloroform without an instant's delay."</p> + +<p>"And I say that it shall not be done until after the marriage ceremony +has been performed," declared Sally, furiously; adding, spitefully: "You +want to cheat me out of becoming Jay Gardiner's wife. But I defy you! +you can not do it! He <i>shall</i> marry me, in spite of you all!"</p> + +<p>At that moment there was a commotion outside. The minister had arrived.</p> + +<p>Sally herself rushed forward to meet him ere the doctors could have an +opportunity to exchange a word with him, and conducted him at once to +the sick man's bedside, explaining that her lover had met with an +accident, and that he wished to be married to her without a moment's +delay.</p> + +<p>"I shall be only too pleased to serve you both," replied the good man.</p> + +<p>"You must make haste, sir," urged Miss Pendleton sharply. "See, he is +beginning to sink."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>The minister did make haste. Never before were those solemn words so +rapidly uttered.</p> + +<p>How strange it was that fate should have let that ceremony go on to the +end which would spread ruin and desolation before it!</p> + +<p>The last words were uttered. The minister of God slowly but solemnly +pronounced Sally Pendleton Jay Gardiner's lawfully wedded wife.</p> + +<p>The doctors did not congratulate the bride, but sprung to the assistance +of the young physician, who had fallen back upon his pillow gasping for +breath.</p> + +<p>One held a sponge saturated with a strong liquid to his nostrils, while +another escorted the minister, the bride, and her mother from the +apartment.</p> + +<p>"Remain in this room as quietly as possible," urged the doctor, in a +whisper, "and I will let you know at the earliest possible moment +whether it will be life or death with your husband, Mrs. Gardiner."</p> + +<p>At last the door quickly opened, and two of the doctors stood on the +threshold.</p> + +<p>"Well, doctor," she cried, looking from one to the other, "what tidings +do you bring me? Am I a wife or a widow?"</p> + +<p>"Five minutes' time will decide that question, madame," said one, +impressively. "We have performed the operation. It rests with a Higher +Power whether it will be life or death."</p> + +<p>And the doctor who had spoken took out his watch, and stood motionless +as a statue while it ticked off the fatal minutes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2> + + +<p>Sally Pendleton and her mother watched their faces keenly.</p> + +<p>The time is up. They open the inner door reluctantly. The two doctors, +bending over their patient, look up with a smile.</p> + +<p>"The heart still beats," they whisper. "He will live."</p> + +<p>And this is the intelligence that is carried out to the young bride, the +words breaking in upon her in the midst of her selfish calculations.</p> + +<p>She did not love Jay Gardiner. Any genuine passion in her breast had +been coolly nipped in the bud by his indifference, which had stung her +to the quick.</p> + +<p>She could not make him jealous. She knew that he would have been only +too relieved if she had fallen in love with some one else, and had been +taken off his hands.</p> + +<p>He always treated her in a cool, lordly manner—a manner that always +impressed her with his superiority. She was obliged to acknowledge him +her master; she could never make him her slave.</p> + +<p>And now he was to live, and she was his wife. She would share his +magnificent home, all the grandeur that his position would bring to her. +She had been brought up to regard money as the one aim of existence. +Money she must have. She coveted power, and she was girl of the world +enough to know that money meant power.</p> + +<p>"Yes, he will live; but whether he will gain his full reasoning powers +is a matter the future alone can decide," the doctors declare.</p> + +<p>Two long months, and Doctor Gardiner is slowly con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>valescing. His young +wife flits about the room, a veritable dream in her dainty lace-trimmed +house-gowns, baby pink ribbons tying back her yellow curls. But he looks +away from her toward the window with a weary sigh.</p> + +<p>He has married her, and he tells himself over and over again, that he +must make the best of it. But "making the best of it" is indeed a bitter +pill, for she is not his style of woman.</p> + +<p>During the time he has been convalescing, he has been studying her, and +as one trait after another unfolds itself, he wonders how it will all +end.</p> + +<p>He sees she has a passionate craving for the admiration of men. She +makes careful toilets in which to receive his friends when they call to +inquire after his health; and last, but not least, she has taken to the +wheel, and actually appears before him in bloomers.</p> + +<p>What would his haughty old mother and his austere sister say when they +learned this?</p> + +<p>There had been quite an argument between the young husband and Sally on +the day he received his mother's letter informing him of her return from +abroad, and her intense amazement at his hasty marriage.</p> + +<p>"I had always hoped to persuade you to let <i>me</i> pick out a wife for you, +Jay, my darling son," she wrote. "I can only hope you have chosen wisely +when you took the reins into your own hands. Come and make us a visit, +and bring your wife with you. We are very anxious to meet her."</p> + +<p>Sally frowned as he read the letter aloud.</p> + +<p>Never in the world were two united who were so unsuited to each other. +Why did the fates that are supposed to have the love affairs of mortals +in charge, allow the wrong man to marry the wrong woman?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>There was one thing over which Sally was exceedingly jubilant, and that +was his loss of memory. That he had known such a person as Bernardine +Moore, the old basket-maker's beautiful daughter, was entirely +obliterated from his mind.</p> + +<p>Some one had mentioned the great tenement-house fire in Jay Gardiner's +presence, and the fact that quite a quaint character, a tipsy +basket-maker, had lost his life therein, but the young doctor looked up +without the slightest gleam of memory drifting through his brain. Not +even when the person who was telling him the story went on to say that +the great fire accomplished one good result, however, and that was the +wiping out of the wine-house of Jasper Wilde & Son.</p> + +<p>"Wilde—Jasper Wilde! It seems to me that I have heard that name before +in connection with some unpleasant transaction," said Doctor Gardiner, +slowly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no doubt. You've probably read the name in the papers connected +with some street brawl. Jasper Wilde, the son, is a well-dressed tough."</p> + +<p>"Before going to see your mother, why not spend a few weeks at Newport +with Sally," suggested Mrs. Pendleton to the doctor. "You know she has +not been away on her wedding-trip yet."</p> + +<p>He laughed a dry, mirthless laugh.</p> + +<p>"She can go if she likes," he replied. "I can endure it."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pendleton bit her lip to keep back the angry retort, but wisely +made no reply.</p> + +<p>"It will never do to have the least disagreement with my wealthy, +haughty son-in-law, if I can help it," she said to herself. "Especially +as my husband is in such sore straits, and may have to come to him for a +loan any day."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>The following week Jay Gardiner and his bride reached Newport. The +season was at its height. Yachts crowded the harbor; the hotels were +filled to overflowing; every one who intended going to Newport was there +now, and all seemed carried away on the eddying current of pleasure.</p> + +<p>Young Mrs. Gardiner—<i>née</i> the pretty Sally Pendleton—plunged into the +vortex of pleasure, and if her greed for admiration was not satisfied +with the attention she received, it never would be.</p> + +<p>Young Mrs. Gardiner knew no restraint. Her society was everywhere sought +after. She was courted in every direction, and she took it all as her +just due, by virtue of her marriage with the handsome millionaire, whom +all the married belles were envying her, sighing to one another:</p> + +<p>"Oh! how handsome he is—how elegant! and what a lordly manner he has! +But, best of all, he lets his wife do just as she pleases."</p> + +<p>But the older and wiser ones shook their heads sagaciously, declaring +they scented danger afar off.</p> + +<p>Little did they dream that the terrible calamity was nearer than they +had anticipated.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2> + + +<p>Although, outwardly, young Mrs. Gardiner and her handsome husband lived +ideal lives, yet could one have taken a peep behind the scenes, they +would have seen that all was not gold that glittered.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>In their own apartments, out of sight of the world's sharp eyes, Jay +Gardiner and his wife used each other with the scantest possible +courtesy. He never descended to the vulgarity of having words with her, +though she did her utmost to provoke him to quarrel, saying to herself +that anything was better than that dead calm, that haughty way he had of +completely ignoring her in his elegant apartments.</p> + +<p>During what every one believed to be the most blissful of honey-moons, +Sally learned to hate her proud husband with a deadly hatred.</p> + +<p>On the evening Mr. Victor Lamont made his appearance at the Ocean House, +there was to be a grand ball given in honor of the guests, and, as every +one had hoped, Mr. Lamont strolled in during the course of the evening, +accompanied by mine host, who was over head and ears with delight in +having such an honored guest stopping at his hotel.</p> + +<p>Scores of girlish eyes brightened as they entered the arched door-way, +and scores of hearts beat expectantly under pretty lace bodices. But +their disappointment was great when this handsome Apollo glanced them +all over critically, but did not ask any of them out to dance, and all +the best waltzes were being then played.</p> + +<p>Victor Lamont seemed quite indifferent to their shy glances.</p> + +<p>During this time he was keeping up quite an animated conversation with +his host, who was telling him, with pride, that <i>this</i> pretty girl was +Miss This, and that pretty girl Miss So-and-So. But Victor Lamont would +sooner have known who their fathers were.</p> + +<p>At length, as his eyes traveled about the great ball-room with +business-like carefulness, his gaze fell upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> a slender figure in rose +pink and fairly covered with diamonds. They blazed like ropes of fire +about the white throat and on the slender arms; they twinkled like +immense stars from the shell-like ears and coyly draped bosom, and rose +in a great tiara over the highly piled blonde hair.</p> + +<p>She was standing under a great palm-tree, its green branches forming +just the background that was needed to perfect the dainty picture in +pink.</p> + +<p>She was surrounded as usual by a group of admirers. Victor Lamont's +indifference vanished. He was interested at last.</p> + +<p>"Who is the young lady under the palm directly opposite?" he asked, +quickly.</p> + +<p>"The belle of Newport," was the reply. "Shall I present you?"</p> + +<p>"I should be delighted," was the quick response. Instantly rebellion +rose in the heart of every girl in the room, and resentment showed in +scores of flushed cheeks and angry eyes as the hero of the evening was +led over to pretty Sally Gardiner.</p> + +<p>No wonder they watched him with dismay. From the moment graceful Mr. +Lamont was presented to her, he made no attempt to disguise how +completely he was smitten by her.</p> + +<p>"That is a delightful waltz," he said, bending over the little hand as +the dance music struck up.</p> + +<p>Sally bowed, and placed a dainty little hand lightly on his shoulder, +his arm encircled the slender waist, and away they went whirling through +the bewildering stretch of ball-room, a cloud of pink and flashing +diamonds, the curly blonde head and the blonde, mustached face +dangerously near each other.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2> + + +<p>If young Mrs. Gardiner heard the ominous whispers on all sides of her, +regarding her open flirtation with handsome Victor Lamont, she did not +heed them. She meant to show the haughty husband whom she had learned to +hate with such a deadly hatred, that other men would show her attention.</p> + +<p>The world owed her pleasure, a good time, and love by right of her youth +and beauty, and she meant to have them at whatever cost.</p> + +<p>Victor Lamont struck her fancy. He was gay, debonair, and was certainly +in love with her; and, in open defiance of the consequences, she rushed +madly on, in her quest of pleasure, toward the precipice covered with +flowers that was yawning to receive her.</p> + +<p>The beginning of the end came in a very strange way. One evening there +was a grand hop at the Ocean House. It was one of the most brilliant +affairs of the season. The magnificent ball-room was crowded to +overflowing with beauty and fashion. Every one who was any one in all +gay Newport was present. Jay Gardiner had been suddenly called away to +attend to some very important business in Boston, and consequently would +not be able to attend. But that made no difference about Sally's going; +indeed, it was a relief to her to know that he would not be there.</p> + +<p>It occasioned no surprise, even though comments of disapproval waged +louder than ever, when the beautiful young Mrs. Gardiner, the married +belle of the ball, entered, leaning upon Victor Lamont's arm.</p> + +<p>Those who saw her whispered one to another that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> reigning beauty of +Newport quite surpassed herself to-night—that even the buds had better +look to their laurels. The maids and the matrons, even the gentlemen, +looked askance when they saw Victor Lamont and young Mrs. Gardiner dance +every dance together, and the murmur of stern disapproval grew louder.</p> + +<p>At last, the couple was missed from the ball-room altogether. Some one +reported having seen them strolling up and down the beach in the +moonlight. There was no mistaking the tall, broad-shouldered, handsome +Englishman, and the trim, dainty little figure in fleecy white, with the +ermine wrap thrown over the pretty plump shoulders and round neck, on +which rare diamonds, that would have paid a king's ransom, gleamed +fitfully whenever the sportive breeze tossed back the ermine wrap.</p> + +<p>Victor Lamont's fickle fancy for his companion had been a short-lived +one. Like all male flirts, he soon tired of his conquests, and longed +for new fields and new faces. He was considering this matter, when he +received a letter that set him thinking. It was from his boon companion, +Egremont, who was doing Long Branch.</p> + +<p>There were four pages, written in cipher, which only Lamont could +understand. The last one read as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Report has it that you are head and ears in love with +a married beauty, and are carrying on a very open +flirtation. Egad! my boy, that will never do. You have +no time to waste in sentiment over other men's wives. +You went to Newport with the avowed intention of +capturing an heiress—some widow's daughter.</p> + +<p>"You know how we stand as regards money. Money we must +get somehow, some way—<i>any way</i>. We must realize five +thousand dollars to save Hal, between now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> and this day +week. It remains for you to think of some way to obtain +it. If Hal peached on us, we would go up along with +him, so, you see, the money <i>must</i> be raised somehow.</p> + +<p>"My fall on the day I landed here, laying me up with a +sprained ankle, was an unfortunate affair, for it +prevented me from making the harvest we counted on. So +everything falls on your shoulders.</p> + +<p>"You must have learned by this time who is who, and +where they keep their jewels and pocket-books. If I am +able to get about, I will run over to see you on +Saturday next. Two or three of our friends will +accompany me.</p> + +<p class="salutation">"Yours in haste,</p> + +<p class="signature">"<span class="smcap">Egremont</span>."</p></div> + +<p>The day appointed saw three men alight from the early morning train. +They had occupied different cars, and swung off onto the platform from +different places. But the old policeman, who had done duty at the +station of the famous watering-place for nearly two decades, noted them +at once with his keen, experienced eye.</p> + +<p>"A trio of crooks," he muttered, looking after them. "I can tell it from +their shifting glances and hitching gait, as though they never could +break from the habit of the lock-step; I will keep my eye on them."</p> + +<p>Although the three men went to different hotels, they had been scarcely +an hour in Newport before they all assembled in the room of the man who +had written to Lamont, signing himself Egremont.</p> + +<p>"It is deuced strange Victor doesn't come," he said, impatiently. "He +must have received both my letter and telegram."</p> + +<p>At that moment there was a step outside, the door opened, and Victor +Lamont, the subject of their conversation, strode into the apartment.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>"It was a mighty risky step, pals, for you to come to Newport, and, +above all, to expect me to keep this appointment with you to-day!" he +exclaimed, excitedly. "Didn't you know that?"</p> + +<p>And with that he pulled the door to after him with a bang.</p> + +<p>It was nearly two hours ere Victor Lamont, with his hat pulled down over +his eyes, quitted the hostelry and his companions, and then he went by a +side entrance, first glancing quickly up and down the street to note if +there was any one about who would be apt to recognize him.</p> + +<p>The coast being apparently clear, he stepped out into the street, walked +rapidly away, and turned the nearest corner.</p> + +<p>"If it could be done!" he muttered, under his breath. "The chance is a +desperate one, but, as Egremont says, we must raise money <i>somehow</i>. +Well, it's a pretty daring scheme; but I am in for it, if the pretty +little beauty can be induced to stroll on the beach to-night."</p> + +<p>Night had come, and to Victor Lamont's great delight, he received a +pretty, cream-tinted, sweet-scented, monogrammed note from Sally +Gardiner, saying that she would be pleased to accept his escort that +evening, and would meet him in the reception-room an hour later.</p> + +<p>Lamont's eyes sparkled with joy as he saw her, for she was resplendent +in a dream of white lace, and wore all her magnificent diamonds.</p> + +<p>He was obliged to promenade and dance with her for an hour or so, +although he knew his companions would be waiting with the utmost +impatience on the shore.</p> + +<p>When he proposed the stroll, he looked at her keenly, his lips apart, +intense eagerness in his voice.</p> + +<p>To his great relief, she acquiesced at once.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>"Though," she added, laughingly, "I do not suppose it would be as safe +to wear all my diamonds on the beach as it would be if we just +promenaded the piazza."</p> + +<p>"It would be a thousand times more romantic," he whispered, his glance +thrilling her through and through, his hand tightening over the little +one resting on his arm.</p> + +<p>And so, as the moth follows the flickering, dancing flame, foolish Sally +Gardiner, without a thought of danger, took the arm of the handsome +stranger whom she had known but a few short weeks, and sauntered out +upon the beach with him.</p> + +<p>There were hundreds of promenaders, and no one noticed them +particularly.</p> + +<p>On and on they walked, Lamont whispering soft, sweet nothings into her +foolish ears, until they had left most of the throng far behind them.</p> + +<p>"Hack, sir!—hack to ride up and down the beach!" exclaimed a man, +stopping a pair of mettlesome horses almost directly in front of them.</p> + +<p>Victor Lamont appeared to hesitate an instant; but in that instant he +and the driver had exchanged meaning glances.</p> + +<p>"Shall we not ride up and down, instead of walking?" suggested Lamont, +eagerly. "I—I have something to tell you, and I may never have such an +opportunity again. We can ride down as far as the light-house on the +point, and back. Do not refuse me so slight a favor, I beg of you."</p> + +<p>If she had stopped to consider, even for one instant, she would have +declined the invitation; but, almost before she had decided whether she +should say yes or no,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> Victor Lamont had lifted her in his strong arms, +placed her in the cab, and sprung in after her.</p> + +<p>Pretty, jolly Sally Gardiner looked a trifle embarrassed.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how imprudent, Mr. Lamont!" she cried, clinging to his arm, as the +full consciousness of the situation seemed to occur to her. "We had +better get out, and walk back to the Ocean House."</p> + +<p>But it was too late for objections. The driver had already whipped up +his horses, and instead of creeping wearily along, after the fashion of +tired hack horses, they flew down the beach like the wind.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mrs. Gardiner—Sally!" cried Victor Lamont, in a voice apparently +husky with emotion, "the memory of this ride will be with me while life +lasts!"</p> + +<p>Victor Lamont's voice died away in a hoarse whisper; the hand which +caught and held her own closed tighter over it, and the hoarse murmur of +the sea seemed further and further away.</p> + +<p>Sally Gardiner seemed only conscious of one thing—that Victor Lamont +loved her.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVII.</h2> + + +<p>For a moment the words falling so passionately from the lips of the +handsome man sitting beside her, the spell of the moonlight, and the +murmur of the waves, seemed to lock her senses in a delicious dream. But +the dream<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> lasted only a moment. In the next, she had recovered herself.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Lamont, we must—we must get right out and walk back to the +hotel! What if any one should see us riding together? Jay would be sure +to hear of it, and there would be trouble in store for both of us."</p> + +<p>"It is all in a life-time," he murmured. "Can you not be happy here with +me——"</p> + +<p>But she broke away from his detaining hand in alarm. She had been guilty +of an imprudent flirtation; but she had meant nothing more. She had +drifted into this delusive friendship and companionship without so much +as bothering her pretty golden head about how it would end. Now she was +just beginning to see how foolish she had been—when this handsome +stranger could be nothing to her—nothing.</p> + +<p>"We must not ride any further," she declared. "Give orders for the coach +to stop right here, Mr. Lamont."</p> + +<p>"It is too late, dear lady," he gasped. "The horses are running away! +For God's sake, don't attempt to scream or to jump, or you will be +killed!"</p> + +<p>With a wild sob of terror, Sally flung herself down on her knees, and +the lips that had never yet said, "God be praised," cried "God be +merciful!"</p> + +<p>"Don't make such a confounded noise!" exclaimed Lamont, attempting to +lift her again to the seat beside him. "We won't get hurt if you only +keep quiet. The driver is doing his best to get control of the horses. +They can't keep up this mad pace much longer, and will be obliged to +stop from sheer exhaustion."</p> + +<p>After what appeared to be an age to the terrified young woman crouching +there in such utter fright, the vehicle stopped short with a sharp thud +and a lurch for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>ward that would have thrown Sally upon her face, had not +her companion reached forward and caught her.</p> + +<p>"Well, driver," called out Lamont, as he thrust open the door and looked +out, "here's a pretty go, isn't it? Turn right around, and go back as +quickly as your horses can take us!"</p> + +<p>"I am awfully sorry to say that I won't be able to obey your order, +sir," replied the man on the box, with a slight cough. "We've had an +accident. The horses are dead lame, and we've had a serious break-down, +and that, too, when we are over thirty miles from Newport. Confound the +luck!"</p> + +<p>Sally had been listening to this conversation, and as the driver's words +fell on her ears, she was filled with consternation and alarm. Her +tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth, and her eyes nearly jumped from +their sockets.</p> + +<p>Miles away from the Ocean House, and she in those white kid slippers! +How in the name of Heaven was she to get back? Jay Gardiner would return +on the midnight train, and when he found she was not there, he would +institute a search for her, and some one of the scouting party would +find her in that broken-down coach by the road-side, with Victor Lamont +as her companion.</p> + +<p>She dared not think what would happen then. Perhaps there would be a +duel; perhaps, in his anger, Jay Gardiner might turn his weapon upon +herself. And she sobbed out in still wilder affright as she pictured the +scene in her mind.</p> + +<p>"There is but one thing to be done. You will have to ride one of your +horses back to Newport, and bring out a team to fetch us back," declared +Victor Lamont, with well-simulated impatience and anger.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>"That I could do, sir," replied the man, "and you and the lady could +make yourselves as comfortable as possible in the coach."</p> + +<p>"Bring back some vehicle to get us into Newport before midnight, and +I'll give you the price of your horse," cried Victor Lamont in an +apparently eager voice.</p> + +<p>"All right, sir," replied the driver. "I'll do my best."</p> + +<p>And in a trice he was off, as Sally supposed, on his mission. She had +listened, with chattering teeth, to all that had been said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, goodness gracious! Mr. Lamont," she asked, "why are you peering out +of the coach window? Do you see—or hear—anybody?"</p> + +<p>He did not attempt to take her hand or talk sentimental nonsense to her +now. That was not part of the business he had before him.</p> + +<p>"Do not be unnecessarily frightened," he murmured; "but I fancied—mind, +I only say fancied—that I heard cautious footsteps creeping over the +fallen leaves. Perhaps it was a rabbit, you know—a stray dog, or +mischievous squirrel."</p> + +<p>Sally was clutching at his arm in wild affright.</p> + +<p>"I—I heard the same noise, too!" she cried, with bated breath, "and, +oh! Mr. Lamont, it <i>did</i> sound like a footstep creeping cautiously +toward us! I was just about to speak to you of it."</p> + +<p>Five, ten minutes passed in utter silence. Victor Lamont made no effort +to talk to her. This was one of the times when talking sentiment would +not have been diplomatic.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Lamont!" cried Sally, clinging to him in the greatest terror, "I +am sure we both could not have been mistaken. There <i>is</i> some one skulking +about under the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> shadow of those trees—one—two—three—persons; I see +them distinctly."</p> + +<p>"You are right," he whispered, catching her trembling, death-cold hands +in his, and adding, with a groan of despair: "Heaven help us! what can +we do? Without a weapon of any kind, I am no match for a trio of +desperadoes!"</p> + +<p>Young Mrs. Gardiner was too terrified to reply. She could not have +uttered a word if her life had depended upon it.</p> + +<p>At that instant the vehicle was surrounded by three masked figures. The +light from a bull's-eye lantern was flashed in Sally's face as the door +was thrown violently back, and a harsh voice cried out, as a rough hand +grasped her:</p> + +<p>"Just hand over those jewels, lady, and be nimble, too, or we'll tear +'em off you! Egg, you relieve the gent of his money and valuables."</p> + +<p>"Help! help! help!" cried Sally, struggling frantically; but the man who +had hold of her arm only laughed, declaring she had a good pair of +lungs.</p> + +<p>Victor Lamont made a pretense of making a valiant struggle to come to +her rescue. But what could he do, with two revolvers held close to his +head, but stand and deliver.</p> + +<p>Then the magnificent Gardiner diamonds, with their slender golden +fastenings, were torn from her, and were soon pocketed by the desperado, +who had turned a revolver upon her.</p> + +<p>"Thanks, and good-bye, fair lady," laughed the trio, retreating.</p> + +<p>But Sally had not heard. She had fallen back on the seat of the coach in +a dead faint.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</h2> + + +<p>Seeing that his victim had lost consciousness, the man paused in his +work, and turned around to Lamont with a loud laugh.</p> + +<p>"A capital night's work," he declared. "You ought to have made good your +time by having three or four simpletons like this one, who wears +expensive jewels, fall in love with you."</p> + +<p>It was fully an hour after Victor Lamont's accomplices—for such they +were—had retreated, that Sally opened her eyes to consciousness.</p> + +<p>For a moment she was dazed. Where was she? This was certainly not her +room at the Ocean House.</p> + +<p>In an instant all the terrible scenes she had passed through recurred to +her. She was in the cab—<i>alone</i>! With a spasmodic gesture, she caught +at her neck. Ah, Heaven! the diamond necklace, all her jewels, were +indeed gone!</p> + +<p>With a cry that was like nothing human, she sprung to her feet, and at +that moment she heard a deep groan outside, and she realized that it +must be Victor Lamont. Perhaps they had hurt him; perhaps he was dying.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Lamont," she cried out in agony, "where are you?" and waited +breathlessly for his response.</p> + +<p>"Here," he groaned; "bound fast hand and foot to the wheel of the cab. +Can you come to my aid?"</p> + +<p>With feet that trembled under her, and hands shaking like aspen leaves, +she made her way to him, crying out that her diamonds were gone.</p> + +<p>"How shall I ever forgive myself for this night's work!" he cried. "Oh, +Mrs. Gardiner—Sally—why<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> don't you abuse me? Why don't you fling it +into my face that it was all my fault, persuading you to take this ride +that has ended so fatally? For myself I care not, though I am ruined. +They have taken every penny I had with me. But it is for you I grieve."</p> + +<p>Sally listened, but made no reply. What could she say?</p> + +<p>She tried her utmost to undo the great cords which apparently bound her +companion; but it was quite useless. They were too much for her slender +fingers.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," he said, speaking faintly. "I have borne the torture of +these ropes cutting into my flesh so many hours now, that I can stand it +until that cabman returns. I bribed him to return within an hour; but +his horse is so lame, that will be almost impossible."</p> + +<p>"How dark it is!" moaned Sally. "Oh, I am fairly quaking with terror!"</p> + +<p>"It is the darkness which precedes the dawn," he remarked; and as he +uttered the words, he coughed twice.</p> + +<p>A moment later, Sally cried out, joyfully:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I hear the sound of carriage wheels! That cabman is returning at +last, thank the fates."</p> + +<p>Yes, it was the cabman, who seemed almost overwhelmed with terror when +he saw the condition of the two passengers, and heard of the robbery +which had taken place.</p> + +<p>"I'll get you back to Newport by daylight, sir," he cried, turning to +Victor Lamont, "and we can drive direct to the police-station, where you +can report your great loss."</p> + +<p>"No, no, no!" cried Sally, clinging to Lamont's arm, as she imagined +herself standing before a police magistrate, and trying to tell him the +story.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>"I understand your feelings perfectly," whispered Lamont, pressing her +arm reassuringly. "The story of our losses must not get out. No, we +<i>dare not</i> ask the police to help us recover your diamonds and my money, +because of the consequences."</p> + +<p>Wretched Sally was obliged to agree with this line of thinking.</p> + +<p>Neither spoke much on that homeward ride. Sally was wondering if she +would be able to evade suspicion, and gain her rooms unrecognized; and +Lamont was wondering if the beautiful married flirt realized how +completely she was in his power.</p> + +<p>He had concocted a brilliant scheme, and he meant to put it into +execution with as little delay as possible.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner was lavish in giving money to his young wife, and +he—Lamont—meant to have some of that cash—ay, the most of it. He had +thought of a clever scheme to obtain it.</p> + +<p>The driver was as good as his word this time. He landed them as near to +the hotel as possible, and that, too, when the early dawn was just +breaking through the eastern horizon.</p> + +<p>With cloak pulled closely about her, and veil drawn close over her face, +Sally accompanied the driver of the coach to the servants' entrance.</p> + +<p>It was not without some shame and confusion that she heard the ignorant +coachman pass her off as his sweetheart, and ask his brother, the +night-watchman, to admit her on the sly, as she was one of the girls +employed in the house.</p> + +<p>She fairly flew past them and up the broad stairway, and never paused +until she reached her own room, threw, open the door, and sprung into +it, quaking with terror.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>Antoinette, her French maid, lay dozing en a velvet couch. She hoped +that she would be able to slip past her without awakening her; but this +was destined not to be.</p> + +<p>Antoinette heard the door creak, and she was on her feet like a flash.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my lady, it is you!" she whispered, marveling much where her +mistress got such a queer bonnet and cloak. "Let me help you take off +your wrap. You look pale as death. Are you ill?"</p> + +<p>"No, no, Antoinette," replied Mrs. Gardiner, flushing hotly, annoyed +with herself, the inquisitive maid, and the world in general. But she +felt that she must make some kind of an excuse, say something. "Yes, I'm +tired out," she replied, quickly. "I was called away to see a sick +friend, and had to go just as I was, as there was not a moment to lose."</p> + +<p>"You were very prudent, my lady, to remove your magnificent jewels. +Shall I not take them from your pocket, and replace them in their +caskets, and lock them safely away?"</p> + +<p>"I will attend to them myself, Antoinette," she panted, hoarsely. "Help +me off with this—this ball-dress, and get me to bed. I am fagged out +for want of sleep. I do not want any breakfast; do not awake me."</p> + +<p>Looking at her mistress keenly from beneath her long lashes, Antoinette +saw that she was terribly agitated.</p> + +<p>Long after the inner door had closed on her, Antoinette sat thinking, +and muttered, thoughtfully:</p> + +<p>"I shall find out where my lady was last night. Trust me to learn her +secret, and then she will be in my power!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXXIX.</h2> + + +<p>Victor Lamont had been quite correct in his surmise. Jay Gardiner had +reached Newport several hours later than he had calculated, and had gone +directly to his own apartments.</p> + +<p>He was so tired with his long trip that he would have thrown himself on +his couch just as he was, had not a letter, addressed to himself, +staring at him from the mantel, caught his eye, and on the lower +left-hand corner he observed the words: "Important. Deliver at once."</p> + +<p>Mechanically he took it down and tore the envelope. The superscription +seemed familiar—he had seen that handwriting before.</p> + +<p>He looked down at the bottom of the last page, to learn who his +correspondent was, and saw, with surprise, and not a little annoyance, +that it was signed "Anonymous."</p> + +<p>He was about to crush it in his hand and toss it into the waste-paper +basket, when it occurred to him that he might as well learn its +contents.</p> + +<p>There were but two pages, and they read as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"To <span class="smcap">Doctor Jay Gardiner, Esq.</span>, Ocean House, Newport.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dear Sir</i>—I know the utter contempt in which any +warning given by an anonymous writer is held, but, +notwithstanding this, I feel compelled to communicate +by this means, that which has become the gossip of +Newport—though you appear to be strangely deaf and +blind to it.</p> + +<p>"To be as brief as possible, I refer to the conduct of +your wife's flirtations, flagrant and above board, with +Victor Lamont, the English lord, or duke, or count, or +whatever he is. I warn you to open your eyes and look +about, and listen a bit, too.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>"When your wife, in defiance of all the proprieties, is +seen riding alone with this Lamont at midnight, when +you are known to be away, it is time for a stranger to +attempt to inform the husband.</p> + +<p class="salutation-2">"Yours with respect,</p> + +<p class="signature">"<span class="smcap">An Anonymous Friend.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>For some moments after he had finished reading that letter, Jay Gardiner +sat like one stunned; then slowly he read it again, as though to take in +more clearly its awful meaning.</p> + +<p>"Great God!" he cried out; "can this indeed be true?"</p> + +<p>If it was, he wondered that he had not noticed it. Then he recollected, +with a start of dismay, that since they had been domiciled at the Ocean +House he had not spent one hour of his time with Sally that could be +spent elsewhere. He had scarcely noticed her; he had not spoken to her +more than half a dozen times. He had not only shut her out from his +heart, but from himself.</p> + +<p>He had told himself over and over again that he would have to shun his +wife or he would hate her.</p> + +<p>She had seemed satisfied with this so long as she was supplied with +money, horses and carriages, laces and diamonds.</p> + +<p>Was there any truth in what this anonymous letter stated—that she had +so far forgotten the proprieties as to ride with this stranger.</p> + +<p>He springs from his seat and paces furiously up and down the length of +the room, the veins standing out on his forehead like whip-cords. He +forgets that it is almost morning, forgets that he is tired.</p> + +<p>He goes straight to his wife's room. He turns the knob, but he can not +enter for the door is locked. He knocks, but receives no answer, and +turning away, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> enters his own apartment again, to wait another hour. +Up and down the floor he walks.</p> + +<p>Can what he has read be true? Has the girl whom he has married, against +his will, as it were, made a laughing-stock of him in the eyes of every +man and woman in Newport? <i>Dared</i> she do it?</p> + +<p>He goes out into the hall once more, and is just in time to see his +wife's French maid returning from breakfast. He pushes past the girl, +and strides into the inner apartment.</p> + +<p>Sally is sitting by the window in a pale-blue silk wrapper wonderfully +trimmed with billows of rare lace, baby blue ribbons and jeweled +buckles, her yellow hair falling down over her shoulders in a rippling +mass of tangled curls.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner does not stop to admire the pretty picture she makes, but +steps across the floor to where she sits.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Gardiner," he cries, hoarsely, "if you have the time to listen to +me, I should like a few words with you here and now."</p> + +<p>Sally's guilty heart leaps up into her throat.</p> + +<p>How much has he discovered of what happened last night? Does he know +all?</p> + +<p>He is standing before her with flushed face and flashing eyes. She +cowers from him, and if guilt was ever stamped on a woman's face, it is +stamped on hers at that instant. If her life had depended upon it, she +could not have uttered a word.</p> + +<p>"Read that!" he cried, thrusting the open letter into her hand—"read +that, and answer me, are those charges false or true?"</p> + +<p>For an instant her face had blanched white as death, but in the next she +had recovered something of her usual<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> bravado and daring. That heavy +hand upon her shoulder seemed to give her new life.</p> + +<p>She took in the contents of the letter at a single glance, and then she +sprung from her seat and faced him defiantly. Oh, how terribly white and +stern his face had grown since he had entered that room.</p> + +<p>"Did you hear the question I put to you, Mrs. Gardiner?" he cried, +hoarsely, his temper and his suspicions fairly aroused at Sally's +expression.</p> + +<p>The truth of the words in the anonymous letter is slowly forcing itself +upon him.</p> + +<p>If ever a woman looked guilty, <i>she</i> did at that moment. She stands +trembling before him, her eyes fixed upon the floor, her figure +drooping, her hands tightly clasped.</p> + +<p>"Well?" he says, sharply; and she realizes that there is no mercy in +that tone; he will be pitiless, hard as marble.</p> + +<p>"It ought never to have been," she said, as if speaking to herself. "I +wish I could undo it."</p> + +<p>"You wish you could undo what?" asked her husband, sternly.</p> + +<p>"Our marriage. It was all a mistake—all a mistake," she faltered.</p> + +<p>She must say something, and those are the first words that come across +her mind. While he is answering them, she will have an instant of time +to think what she will say about the contents of the letter.</p> + +<p>Deny it she will with her latest breath. Let him <i>prove</i> that she went +riding with Victor Lamont—<i>if he can!</i></p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner's face turns livid, and in a voice which he in vain tries +to make steady, he says:</p> + +<p>"How long have you thought so?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>"Since yesterday," she answered, her eyes still fixed on the floor.</p> + +<p>"Since yesterday"—Jay Gardiner is almost choking with anger as he +repeats her words—"since you, another man's wife, took that midnight +ride which this letter refers to?"</p> + +<p>The sarcasm which pervades the last words makes her flush to the roots +of her yellow hair.</p> + +<p>"But that I am too much amused, I should be tempted to be angry with you +for believing a story from such a ridiculous source," she declared, +raising her face defiantly to his.</p> + +<p>"Then you deny it?" he cried, grasping her white arm. "You say there is +no truth in the report?"</p> + +<p>"Not one word," she answered. "I left the ball-room early, because it +was lonely for me there <i>without you</i>, and came directly to my room. +Antoinette could have told you that had you taken the pains to inquire +of her."</p> + +<p>"It would ill become me to make such an inquiry of a servant in my +employ," he replied. "You are the one to answer me."</p> + +<p>"If the ridiculous story <i>had</i> been true, you could not have wondered at +it much," she declared, with a hard glitter in her eye, and a still +harder laugh on her red lips. "When a man neglects his wife, is it any +wonder that she turns to some one else for amusement and—and comfort?"</p> + +<p>"Call your maid at once to pack up your trunks. We leave the Ocean House +within an hour."</p> + +<p>With these words, he strode out of the room, banging the door after him.</p> + +<p>"God! how I hate that man!" hissed Sally. "I think his death will lay at +my door yet."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XL" id="CHAPTER_XL"></a>CHAPTER XL.</h2> + + +<p>Leave Newport when the season was at its height! The very thought of +such a thing was bitterness itself to Sally Gardiner, this butterfly of +fashion, who loved the whirl of society as dearly as the breath of life.</p> + +<p>Antoinette entered, bearing a bouquet of fragrant crimson roses in her +hand.</p> + +<p>Sally sprung from the chair, into which she had sunk a moment before, +with a frightened little cry.</p> + +<p>What if Jay Gardiner had by chance been in the room when those roses +were brought in, with Victor Lamont's card attached? What if he had +snatched them from Antoinette's hand, and discovered the note that was +hidden in their fragrant depths?</p> + +<p>"The handsome English gentleman sends these, with his compliments, to +madame," whispered the girl, after casting a furtive glance about the +apartment, to make sure Doctor Gardiner had gone.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," murmured Sally, blushing furiously. "Hand them to me, and +then go into the next room. I shall not want you for a few moments. When +I do, I will ring."</p> + +<p>She could hardly restrain her impatience until the door had closed to +learn what Victor Lamont had been so rash, after last night's escapade, +as to write to her about.</p> + +<p>She had little difficulty in finding the note.</p> + +<p>There were but a few lines, and they read as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Mrs. Gardiner—Sally</span>—I must see you <i>without +delay</i>. I am pacing up and down the beach,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> waiting for +you to come to me. You would not <i>dare</i> fail me if you +knew all that depends upon my seeing you.</p> + +<p class="salutation">"Yours, in haste and in waiting,</p> + +<p class="signature">"<span class="smcap">Victor</span>."</p></div> + +<p>"Great Heaven!" muttered Sally, "how <i>can</i> I go to him after the stormy +interview I have just had with my husband? It is utterly impossible, as +we go from here within the hour. I ought to say good-bye to the poor +fellow. But what if Jay should be out on the beach, or on the piazza, or +in the office, and see me slip out of the hotel? He would be sure to +follow me, and then there would be a scene, perhaps a fight."</p> + +<p>Again and again she read the note, which she was twisting about her +white fingers.</p> + +<p>We all know what happens to the woman who hesitates—she is lost.</p> + +<p>She touched the bell with nervous fingers.</p> + +<p>"Antoinette," she said, when her French maid appeared, "I should like to +borrow your cloak, hat, and veil for a little while. One does not always +like to be known when one goes out on a mission of charity."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, madame," replied Antoinette. "Take anything I have in +welcome. But, oh, dear me, my smartest jacket will look wofully clumsy +on madame's lovely form!"</p> + +<p>"Help me on with them quickly, my good girl," cut in Sally, nervously; +"and if any one asks for me when I am out—no matter who it is—say that +I have lain down with a severe headache, and can not on any account, be +disturbed."</p> + +<p>In a few moments more, a trim, dainty figure was gliding swiftly along +the beach, heavily veiled and all alone.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>Yes, he was there waiting for her. There was no mistaking that splendid +figure, which was attracting the attention of so many young girls and +their chaperons.</p> + +<p>With a sweep of her white hand, Sally put back her veil, and stood +before him in the garb of her French maid.</p> + +<p>For an instant, this unexpected discovery and the remembrance of the +remark he had but just uttered recurred to him, and a dull red swept +over his face.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Gardiner—Sally!" he cried, rapturously, "I—I was just about to +give the woman to whom I intrusted that note to give to your Antoinette +a fine setting out."</p> + +<p>"Let us walk leisurely along," he suggested. "We will then be less +likely to attract attention. I was anxious to know if you reached your +apartments in safety," he went on in his most winning tone; but before +she had time to reply, he went on quickly: "I was not so fortunate in +escaping recognition. I no sooner stepped into the office of the hotel, +than a gentleman approached me.</p> + +<p>"'Ah, Lamont,' he exclaimed, 'I am very glad to see you, though you have +given me a deuce of a long wait.'</p> + +<p>"Turning quickly, I beheld, to my utter dismay, the gentleman from New +York to whom I owed that large sum of money I told you about.</p> + +<p>"'I was here in time to take in the ball last night,' he went on. 'I +came on particularly to see you. You were having such a good time +dancing, with that pretty little creature in white that I did not +disturb you by letting you know of my presence; but after the ball you +suddenly disappeared, and I have been waiting in this office for you, +expecting you to appear every moment. I could not wait a moment longer +than was absolutely necessary, my business with you is so imperative.'</p> + +<p>"To make a long story short, Mrs. Gardiner—Sally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>—he informed me that +he should be obliged to draw upon me at once for money I owed him; in +fact, that he <i>must</i> have it to-day."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what will you do, Mr. Lamont?" cried Sally, sympathetically. "What +in the world will you do—what will you say?"</p> + +<p>"That is just the trouble—what shall I do—what can I say to him? He is +a man of iron will and terrible temper. He knows, he has learned through +my bankers in New York, that I drew out every cent I had in their bank +to pay him. How am I to face him, and tell him that it is gone? I know +full well he will have me arrested, and the coachman will be brought +forward who drove me up to the door, and then the whole story will leak +out."</p> + +<p>"Oh! oh! oh!" cried Sally, standing quite still on the sands, wringing +her hands and commencing to cry, "if that story comes out, I am ruined. +Jay Gardiner will leave me, and I will be a beggar!"</p> + +<p>"Just so," returned Victor Lamont, softly. "We must make every effort to +keep the matter quiet, and there is but one way out of the tangle—only +one."</p> + +<p>"And what is that?" cried Sally.</p> + +<p>"You must save me, and in doing so, save yourself. Sally—Mrs. +Gardiner," he whispered, rapidly, "you must help me raise money somehow +to meet this man's demands."</p> + +<p>"But I haven't any money!" moaned Sally. "I have spent the money my +husband gave me—spent it long ago!"</p> + +<p>"You must get it somehow," he declared, hoarsely. "Borrow it from some +of the husbands of your lady friends, and tell them not to let Jay +Gardiner know. You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> are a woman of wealth and influence; you can easily +raise the money I want—and <i>you must do it</i>!"</p> + +<p>"I shall not have time to even try to get the money," she declared. "We +leave Newport within the hour. Antoinette is packing the trunks now. It +will be almost time to leave when I reach the hotel."</p> + +<p>"You must ask Jay Gardiner for the money, then," he replied, doggedly, +"and instruct Antoinette to hand it to me in the reading-room, and that, +too, ere you step into your carriage."</p> + +<p>"Is that a threat?"</p> + +<p>She had hardly time to ask the question, ere she saw Antoinette coming +hurriedly toward her.</p> + +<p>With a hurried, "You heard what I said; do not fail me," Victor Lamont +raised his hat, turned on his heel, and strode away.</p> + +<p>She was racking her brains as to how she should raise the money for +Victor Lamont in a half hour's time, in order to save herself from the +exposure that would be sure to follow if she failed to do so.</p> + +<p>She was driven to extremities. Yes, there was no other way but to borrow +it from some of the guests she knew, and this could not be accomplished +without Antoinette's assistance.</p> + +<p>By the time the girl returned, she had made up her mind as to what +course she would pursue. To-day's work would put her forever in the +French maid's power; but there was no help for it—none whatever.</p> + +<p>"Antoinette," she said in an unsteady voice, as soon as she had drained +the wine the maid had brought, "I am in trouble, and I want you to help +me."</p> + +<p>"You can rely upon me, my lady," replied the girl. "I will do anything +in the world for you, and tell no one."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>"You are very good," murmured her young mistress incoherently. "I—I +have lost something valuable belonging to my husband. It will take a +great deal of money to replace it, and it must be replaced at once, +before he misses it. To do this, I am obliged to borrow money until I +get my next allowance from him. There are several persons in the hotel +who would willingly loan me the money if they but knew of my +predicament. I must see one after another in that little private parlor +off the reception-room, until I have secured the amount I need. You will +bring them to me."</p> + +<p>"I understand, my lady," nodded the maid.</p> + +<p>Flushed, and trembling with excitement, Sally stepped down to the +private parlor, after giving Antoinette a score of names on a slip of +paper.</p> + +<p>One by one, the clever French maid conducted the persons she had been +sent in search of to her mistress.</p> + +<p>Each gentleman listened in surprise to the appeal young Mrs. Gardiner +made to them—she the bride of a man worth millions.</p> + +<p>In most instances, the gentlemen carried large sums of money with them, +and their hands flew to their well-filled pockets at once. They would be +only too pleased, they declared. How much would she need?</p> + +<p>Sally named as large a sum as she thought each of them could stand, and +in less than half an hour she had the full amount which Victor Lamont +had said he must have.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XLI" id="CHAPTER_XLI"></a>CHAPTER XLI.</h2> + + +<p>"Now send Mr. Lamont to me here without delay," she said to Antoinette.</p> + +<p>The girl did not have to do much searching. Mr. Lamont was in the +corridor. He hastened to answer the summons with alacrity.</p> + +<p>"There is the money," cried Sally, almost swooning from excitement. +"Thirty thousand dollars, and——"</p> + +<p>"By George! you are a trump, my dear!" exclaimed Victor Lamont, +restraining himself by the greatest effort from uttering a wild whoop of +delight. "That was splendidly done!"</p> + +<p>Sally looked the disgust that swept over her.</p> + +<p>"I have it all to pay back within three months," she said. "You have +forgotten that, it seems, Mr. Lamont, and by that time I shall expect +you to have procured the money to reimburse these gentlemen."</p> + +<p>Victor Lamont laughed a sarcastic laugh.</p> + +<p>"I shall not detain you longer, my dear Mrs. Gardiner," he said. "Your +husband will be waiting to take you to the train. I shall not say +good-bye, but <i>au revoir</i>. I will write you, sending my letters +addressed to your maid, Antoinette. She will give them to you."</p> + +<p>"No, no!" answered Sally, nervously; "you must never write to me, only +send me the money to repay today's indebtedness. Our friendship, which +we drifted into unconsciously, was a terrible mistake. It has ended in +disaster, and it must stop here and now."</p> + +<p>"As the queen wills," murmured Lamont, raising to his lips the little +white hand that had given him so much money.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>But deep down in his heart he had no intention of letting slip through +his fingers a woman who had turned into a veritable gold mine under his +subtle tuition. Ah, no! that was only the beginning of the vast sums she +must raise for him in the future.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XLII" id="CHAPTER_XLII"></a>CHAPTER XLII.</h2> + + +<p>As the carriage containing Jay Gardiner and Sally came to a sudden stop, +he put his head out of the window to learn the cause, and found they had +already reached the station.</p> + +<p>"We shall reach home by nightfall," he said in a tone of relief.</p> + +<p>But to this remark Sally made no reply. She was wondering how she could +ever endure life under the same roof with his prying mother and sister.</p> + +<p>While we leave them speeding onward, toward the place which was to be +the scene of a pitiful tragedy, we must draw back the curtain which has +veiled the past, and learn what has become of beautiful, hapless +Bernardine.</p> + +<p>After her desertion by the young husband whom she had but just wedded, +and the theft of the money which he had placed in her hands, she lay +tossing in the ravages of brain fever for many weeks in the home to +which the kind-hearted policeman had escorted her.</p> + +<p>But her youth, health, and strength at last gained the victory, and one +day, in the late summer, the doctor in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> charge pronounced her well, +entirely cured, but very weak.</p> + +<p>As soon as she was able to leave her bed, Bernardine sent for the +matron.</p> + +<p>"You have all been very kind to me," she said, tears shining in her dark +eyes. "You have saved my life; but perhaps it would have been better if +you had let me die."</p> + +<p>"No, no, my dear; you must not say that," responded the good woman, +quickly. "The Lord intends you to do much good on earth yet. When you +are a little stronger, we will talk about your future."</p> + +<p>"I am strong enough to talk about it now," replied Bernardine. "You know +I am poor, and the only way by which a poor girl can live is by +working."</p> + +<p>"I anticipated what you would say, my dear, and I have been making +inquiries. Of course, I did not know exactly what you were fitted for, +but I supposed you would like to be a companion to some nice lady, +governess to little children, or something like that."</p> + +<p>"I should be thankful to take anything that offers itself," said +Bernardine.</p> + +<p>"It is our principal mission to find work for young girls who seek the +shelter of this roof," went on the matron, kindly. "The wealthy ladies +who keep this home up are very enthusiastic over that part of it. Every +week they send us lists of ladies wanting some one in some capacity. I +have now several letters from a wealthy woman residing at Lee, +Massachusetts. She wants a companion; some one who will be willing to +stay in a grand, gloomy old house, content with the duties allotted to +her."</p> + +<p>Bernardine's face fell; there was a look of disappointment in her dark +eyes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>"I had hoped to get something to do in the city," she faltered.</p> + +<p>"Work is exceedingly hard to obtain in New York just now, my dear +child," replied the good woman. "There are thousands of young girls +looking for situations who are actually starving. A chance like this +occurs only once in a life-time."</p> + +<p>Still, Bernardine looked troubled. How could she leave the city which +held the one that was dearer than all in the world to her? Ah, how could +she, and live?</p> + +<p>"Let me show you the paper containing her advertisement," added the +matron. "I brought it with me."</p> + +<p>As she spoke, she produced a copy of a paper several weeks old, a +paragraph of which was marked, and handed it to Bernadine.</p> + +<p>"You can read it over and decide. Let me know when I come to you an hour +later. I should advise you to try the place."</p> + +<p>Left to herself, Bernardine turned to the column indicated, and slowly +perused the advertisement. It read as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Wanted</span>—A quiet, modest young lady as companion to an +elderly woman living in a grand, gloomy old house in +the suburbs of a New England village. Must come well +recommended. Address <span class="smcap">Mrs. Gardiner</span>, Lee, Mass."</p></div> + +<p>"Gardiner!"</p> + +<p>The name fairly took Bernardine's breath away, for it was the name +bestowed upon her by the young man who had wedded and deserted her +within an hour.</p> + +<p>The very sight of it made her heart grow sick and faint. Still, it held +a strange fascination for her. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> turned to look at it again—to study +it closely, to see how it appeared in print, when, to her amazement, she +caught the name "Jay Gardiner" in a column immediately adjoining it.</p> + +<p>She glanced up at the head-lines, and as she did so, the very breath +seemed to leave her body.</p> + +<p>It was a sketch of life at Newport by a special correspondent, telling +of the gayety that was going on among the people there, particularly at +the Ocean House. Nearly, half a column was given to extolling the beauty +of young Mrs. Gardiner, <i>née</i> Sally Pendleton, the bride of Doctor Jay +Gardiner, her diamonds, her magnificent costumes, and smart turn-outs.</p> + +<p>The paper fell from Bernardine's hands. She did not faint, or cry out, +or utter any moan; she sat there quite still, like an image carved in +stone. Jay Gardiner was at Newport with his bride!</p> + +<p>The words seemed to have scorched their way down to the very depths of +her soul and seared themselves there. Jay Gardiner was at Newport with +his bride!</p> + +<p>What, then, in Heaven's name was <i>she</i>?</p> + +<p>Poor Bernardine! It seemed to her in that moment that she was dying.</p> + +<p>Had he played a practical joke upon her? Was the marriage which she had +believed in so fully no marriage at all?</p> + +<p>She had no certificate.</p> + +<p>It was scarcely an hour from the time the matron had left her until she +returned; but when she did so, she cried out in alarm, for Bernardine's +face was of an ashen pallor, her dark eyes were like coals of fire, and +her hands were cold as death. The matron went up to her in great alarm, +and gently touched the bowed head.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>"Bernardine," she murmured, gently—"Bernardine, my poor child, are you +ill? What has happened?"</p> + +<p>After some little correspondence back and forth, Bernardine was accepted +by the lady, and in a fortnight more she was able to make the journey.</p> + +<p>The matron went down to the depot with her, to see her off, and prayed +that the girl would not change her mind ere she reached her destination.</p> + +<p>The train moved off, and she waved her handkerchief to the sweet, sad, +tear-stained face pressed close to the window-pane until a curve in the +road hid it from her sight; then she turned away with a sigh.</p> + +<p>Bernardine fell back in her seat, not caring whether or not she lived to +reach her destination.</p> + +<p>It was almost dusk when the train reached the lovely little village of +Lee, nestling like a bird's nest amid the sloping green hills.</p> + +<p>Bernardine stepped from the car, then stood quite still on the platform, +and looked in bewilderment around her.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Gardiner had written that she would send a conveyance to the +station to meet her; but Bernardine saw none.</p> + +<p>While she was deliberating as to whether she should inquire the way to +the Gardiner place of the station agent, that individual suddenly turned +out the lights in the waiting-room, and in an instant had jumped on a +bicycle and dashed away, leaving Bernardine alone in a strange place.</p> + +<p>At that moment, a man stepped briskly beneath the swinging light. One +glance, and she almost swooned from horror.</p> + +<p>The man was Jasper Wilde!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XLIII" id="CHAPTER_XLIII"></a>CHAPTER XLIII.</h2> + + +<p>For a moment it seemed to Bernardine as though she must surely fall dead +from fright as her startled gaze encountered her greatest enemy, Jasper +Wilde.</p> + +<p>Had he followed her? Had he come all the way on the same train with her?</p> + +<p>She realized that she was alone with him on this isolated railway +platform, miles perhaps from any habitation, any human being, far beyond +the reach of help.</p> + +<p>The thick, heavy twilight had given place to a night of intense +darkness. The flickering light of the solitary gas-lamp over the station +door did not pierce the gloom more than three feet away. Bernardine did +not know this, and she sunk back in deadly fear behind one of the large, +old-fashioned, square posts. The long dark cloak and bonnet she wore +would never betray her presence there.</p> + +<p>Bernardine soon became aware that he had not seen her, for he stopped +short scarcely a rod from her, drew out his watch, and looked at the +time; then, with a fierce imprecation on his lips, he cried aloud:</p> + +<p>"Missed the train by just one minute! Curse the luck! But then it's +worth my trip here, and the trouble I've been put to, to know that the +Mrs. Jay Gardiner in question is some New York society belle instead of +Bernardine. Ah, if it were Bernardine, I would have followed him to the +end of the earth and murdered him; taken her from him <i>by force</i>, if no +other way presented itself. I love the girl to madness, and yet <i>I hate +her</i> with all the strength of my nature!"</p> + +<p>As he uttered the words, he wheeled about, hurried down the platform, +and stepped into the darkness, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> sound of his quick tread plainly +dying away in the distance.</p> + +<p>It seemed to Bernardine that her escape from the clutches of Jasper +Wilde was little short of miraculous. Trembling in every limb, she +stepped out from behind the large pillar which shielded her.</p> + +<p>He had not come by the same train; he did not know she was here. But +what caused him to come to this place to look for Jay Gardiner and his +bride? Perhaps it was because he had learned in some way that a family +named Gardiner resided here, and he had come out of his way only to +discover that they were <i>not</i> one and the same.</p> + +<p>While Bernardine was ruminating over this, she saw the short, thick-set +figure of a man approaching.</p> + +<p>Should she advance or retreat? She felt sure he had seen her. He stopped +quite short and looked at her.</p> + +<p>"Surely <i>you</i> can't be Miss Moore?" he inquired, incredulously.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Bernardine in a voice in which he detected tears.</p> + +<p>The man muttered something under his breath which she did not quite +catch.</p> + +<p>"If you please, Miss, where is your luggage?"</p> + +<p>"I—I have only this hand-bag," she faltered.</p> + +<p>"Come this way, miss," he said; and Bernardine followed him, not without +some misgiving, to the end of the platform from which Jasper Wilde had +so recently disappeared.</p> + +<p>Here she saw a coach in waiting, though she had not heard the sound of +the horses' hoofs when they arrived there.</p> + +<p>Then came a long ride over a level stretch of country. It was a great +relief to Bernardine to see the moon come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> forth at last from a great +bank of black clouds; it was a relief to see the surrounding country, +the meadows, and the farm-houses lying here and there on either side of +the steep road up which they went.</p> + +<p>"Would the lady like her or be displeased with her?" she asked herself.</p> + +<p>She determined to throw herself heart and soul into her work and try to +forget the past—what might have been had her lover proved true, instead +of being so cruelly false. Her red lips quivered piteously at the +thought.</p> + +<p>Her musings were brought to an end by the lumbering coach turning in at +a large gate-way flanked by huge stone pillars, and proceeding leisurely +up a wide road that led through a densely wooded park.</p> + +<p>Very soon Bernardine beheld the house—a granite structure with no end +of gables and dormer-windows—half hidden by climbing vines, which gave +to the granite pile a very picturesque appearance just now, for the +vines were literally covered with sweet-scented honeysuckles in full +bloom.</p> + +<p>Mrs. King, the housekeeper, received Bernardine.</p> + +<p>"I hope you will like it here," she said, earnestly; "but it is a dull +place for one who is young, and longs, as girls do, for gayety and life. +You are too tired to see Mrs. Gardiner to-night after your long journey. +I will show you to your room after you have had some tea."</p> + +<p>The housekeeper was right in her surmise. It did look like an +inexpressibly dreary place when Bernardine looked about at the great +arched hall.</p> + +<p>Grand old paintings, a century old, judging by their antiquated look, +hung upon the walls. A huge clock stood in one corner, and on either +side of it there were huge elk heads, with spreading antlers tipped with +solid gold.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>To add to the strangeness of the place, a bright log fire burned in a +huge open fire-place, which furnished both light and heat to the main +corridor.</p> + +<p>"This fire is never allowed to burn out, either in summer or winter," +the housekeeper explained, "because the great hall is so cold and gloomy +without it."</p> + +<p>While Bernardine was drinking her tea, a message came to her that Mrs. +Gardiner would see her in her <i>boudoir</i>.</p> + +<p>The housekeeper led the way through a long corridor, and when she +reached the further end of it, she turned toward the right, and drawing +aside the heavy crimson velvet <i>portières</i>, Bernardine was ushered into +a magnificent apartment.</p> + +<p>The windows were of stained glass, ornamented with rare pictures, +revealed by the light shining through them from an inner room; the +chandeliers, with their crimson globes, gave a deep red glow to the +handsome furnishings and costly bric-a-brac. There was something about +the room that reminded Bernardine of the pictures her imagination had +drawn of Oriental <i>boudoirs</i>.</p> + +<p>Her musings were interrupted by the sound of a haughty voice saying:</p> + +<p>"Are <i>you</i> Miss Bernardine Moore?"</p> + +<p>By this time Bernardine's eyes had become accustomed to the dim, +uncertain light. Turning her head in the direction whence the sound +proceeded, she saw a very grand lady, dressed in stiff, shining brocade +satin, with rare lace and sparkling diamonds on her breast and fair +hands, sitting in a crimson velvet arm-chair—a grand old lady, cold, +haughty, and unbending.</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame," replied Bernardine, in a sweet, low voice, "I am Miss +Moore."</p> + +<p>"You are a very much younger person than I supposed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> you to be from your +letter, Miss Moore. Scarcely more than a child, I should say," she +added, as she motioned Bernardine to a seat with a wave of the hand. "I +will speak plainly," she went on, slowly. "I am disappointed. I imagined +you to be a young lady of uncertain age—say, thirty or thirty-five. +When a woman reaches that age, and has found no one to marry her, there +is a chance of her becoming reconciled to her fate. I want a companion +with whom I can feel secure. I do not want any trouble with love or +lovers, above all. I would not like to get used to a companion, and have +her leave me for some man. In fine, you see, I want one who will put all +thought of love or marriage from her."</p> + +<p>Bernardine held out her clasped hands.</p> + +<p>"You need have no fear on that score, dear madame," she replied in a +trembling tone. "I shall never love—I shall never marry. I—I never +want to behold the face of a man. Please believe me and trust me."</p> + +<p>"Since you are here, I may as well take you on trial," replied the grand +old lady, resignedly. "Now you may go to your room, Miss Moore. You will +come to me here at nine to-morrow morning," she said, dismissing +Bernardine with a haughty nod.</p> + +<p>The housekeeper had said she would find the room that had been prepared +for her at the extreme end of the same corridor, and in groping her way +to it in the dim, rose-colored light which pervaded the outer hall, she +unconsciously turned in the wrong direction, and went to the right +instead of the left.</p> + +<p>The door stood ajar, and thinking the housekeeper had left it in this +way for her, Bernardine pushed it open.</p> + +<p>To her great astonishment, she found herself in a beautifully furnished +sleeping apartment, upholstered in white<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> and gold of the costliest +description, and flooded by a radiance of brilliant light from a grand +chandelier overhead.</p> + +<p>But it was not the magnificent hangings, or the long mirrors, in their +heavy gilt frames, that caught and held the girl's startled gaze.</p> + +<p>It was a full-length portrait hanging over the marble mantle, and it +startled her so that she uttered a low cry, and clasped her little hands +together as children do when uttering a prayer.</p> + +<p>Her reverie lasted only for a moment. Then she drifted back to the +present. She was in this strange house as a companion, and the first +thing she came across was the portrait, as natural as life itself, +of—Jay Gardiner!</p> + +<p>A mad desire came over her to kneel before the picture and—die!</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XLIV" id="CHAPTER_XLIV"></a>CHAPTER XLIV.</h2> + + +<p>Bernardine did not have much time to study the portrait, for all of a +sudden she heard footsteps in the corridor without, and in another +moment Mrs. King, the housekeeper, had crossed the threshold, and +approached her excitedly.</p> + +<p>"I feared you would be apt to make this mistake," she said, +breathlessly. "Your room is in the opposite direction, Miss Moore."</p> + +<p>Bernardine was about to turn away with a few words of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> apology, but the +housekeeper laid a detaining hand on her arm.</p> + +<p>"Do not say that you found your way into this apartment, Miss Moore," +she said, "or it might cause me considerable trouble. This is the only +room in the house that is opened but once a year, and only then to air +it.</p> + +<p>"This is young master's room," went on the housekeeper, confidentially, +"and when he left home, after quite a bitter scene with his mother, the +key was turned in the lock, and we were all forbidden to open it. That +is young master's portrait, and an excellent likeness it is of him, too.</p> + +<p>"The whole house was recently thrown into consternation by a letter +being received from him, saying that he was about to bring home his +bride. His mother and sister took his marriage very much to heart. The +bride is beautiful, we hear; but, as is quite natural, I suppose his +mother thinks a queen on her throne would have been none too good for +her handsome son.</p> + +<p>"My lady has had very little to say since learning that he would be here +on the 20th—that is to-morrow night; and his sister, Miss Margaret, is +equally as silent.</p> + +<p>"I think it will be better to give you another room than the one I had +at first intended," said Mrs. King. "Please follow me, and I will +conduct you to it."</p> + +<p>Bernardine complied, though the desire was strong upon her to fly +precipitately from the house, and out into the darkness of the +night—-anywhere—anywhere, so that she might escape meeting Jay +Gardiner and his bride.</p> + +<p>Up several flights of carpeted polished stairs, through draughty +passages, along a broad corridor, down another passage, then into a +huge, gloomy room, Bernardine fol<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>lowed her, a war of conflicting +emotions surging through her heart at every step.</p> + +<p>"You have plenty of room, you see," said the housekeeper, lighting the +one gas-jet the apartment contained.</p> + +<p>"Plenty!" echoed Bernardine, aghast, glancing about her in dismay at the +huge, dark, four-poster bed in a far-off corner, the dark dresser, which +seemed to melt into the shadows, and the three darkly outlined windows, +with their heavy draperies closely drawn, that frowned down upon her.</p> + +<p>"You must not be frightened if you hear odd noises in the night. It's +only mice. This is the old part of the mansion," said the housekeeper, +turning to go.</p> + +<p>"Am I near any one else?" asked Bernardine, her heart sinking with a +strange foreboding which she could not shake off.</p> + +<p>"Not very near," answered the housekeeper.</p> + +<p>"Would no one hear me if I screamed?" whispered Bernardine, drawing +closer to her companion, as though she would detain her, her frightened +eyes burning like two great coals of fire.</p> + +<p>"I hope you will not make the experiment, Miss Moore," returned the +housekeeper, impatiently. "Good-night," and with that she is gone, and +Bernardine is left—alone.</p> + +<p>The girl stands quite still where the housekeeper has left her long +after the echo of her footsteps has died away.</p> + +<p>She is in <i>his</i> home, and he is coming here with his bride! Great God! +what irony of fate led her here?</p> + +<p>Her bonnet and cloak are over her arm.</p> + +<p>"Shall I don them, and fly from this place?" she asks herself over and +over again.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>But her tired limbs begin to ache, every nerve in her body begins to +twitch, and she realizes that her tired nature has endured all it can. +She must stay here, for the night at least.</p> + +<p>Despite the fatigue of the previous night, Bernardine awoke early the +next morning, and when the housekeeper came to call her, she found her +already dressed.</p> + +<p>"You are an early riser, Miss Moore," she said. "That is certainly a +virtue which will commend itself to my mistress, who rises early +herself. You will come at once to her <i>boudoir</i>. Follow me, Miss Moore."</p> + +<p>She reached Mrs. Gardiner's <i>boudoir</i> before she was aware of it, so +intent were her thoughts. That lady was sitting at a small marble table, +sipping a cup of very fragrant coffee. A small, very odorous broiled +bird lay on a square of browned toast on a silver plate before her. She +pushed it aside as Bernardine entered.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, Miss Moore," she said, showing a trifle more kindliness +than she had exhibited on the previous evening; "I hope you rested well +last night. Sit down."</p> + +<p>Bernardine complied; but before she could answer these commonplace, +courteous remarks, an inner door opened, and a lady, neither very young +nor very old, entered the room.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, mamma," she said; and by that remark Bernardine knew that +this was Jay's sister.</p> + +<p>She almost devoured her with eager eyes, trying to trace a resemblance +in her features to her handsome brother.</p> + +<p>"Margaret, this is my new companion, Miss Moore," said Mrs. Gardiner, +languidly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>Bernardine blushed to the roots of her dark hair, as two dark-blue eyes, +so like Jay's, looked into her own.</p> + +<p>"Welcome to Gardiner Castle, Miss Moore," replied Margaret Gardiner.</p> + +<p>She did not hold out her hand, but she looked into the startled young +face with a kindly smile and a nod. Whatever her thoughts were in regard +to her mother's companion, they were not expressed in her face.</p> + +<p>A score of times during the half hour that followed, Bernardine tried to +find courage to tell Mrs. Gardiner that she must go away; that she could +not live under that roof and meet the man she loved, and who was to +bring home a bride.</p> + +<p>But each time the words died away on her lips. Then suddenly, she could +not tell how or when the feeling entered her heart, the longing came to +her to look upon the face of the young girl who had gained the love she +would have given her very life—ay, her hope of heaven—to have +retained.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XLV" id="CHAPTER_XLV"></a>CHAPTER XLV.</h2> + + +<p>To sit quietly by and hear mother and daughter discuss the man she +loved, was as hard for Bernardine to endure as the pangs of death.</p> + +<p>"He is sure to be a worshipful husband," said Miss Margaret. "I always +said love would be a grand passion with Jay. He will love once, and that +will be forever, and to his wife he will be always true."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>Poor, hapless Bernardine could have cried aloud as she listened. What +would that proud lady-mother and that haughty sister say if they but +knew how he had tricked her into a sham marriage, and abandoned her then +and there? Oh, would they feel pity for her, or contempt?</p> + +<p>The servants, in livery, had taken their posts; everything was in +readiness now to welcome the five hundred guests that were to arrive in +advance of the bridal pair.</p> + +<p>In her <i>boudoir</i>, the grand old lady-mother, resplendent in ivory-satin, +rare old point lace and diamonds, was viewing herself critically in the +long pier-glass that reached from ceiling to floor. Her daughter +Margaret stood near her, arrayed in satin and tulle, with pearls white +as moonbeams lying on her breast, clasping her white throat and arms, +and twined among the meshes of her dark hair.</p> + +<p>The contrast made poor Bernardine look strangely out of place in her +plain gray cashmere dress, with its somber dark ribbons.</p> + +<p>"You look quite tired, Miss Moore. I would suggest that you go into the +grounds for a breath of fresh air before the guests arrive. Then I shall +want you here," said Miss Gardiner, noticing how very white and drawn +the girl's face looked.</p> + +<p>Oh, how thankful she was to get away from them—away from the sight of +the pomp and the splendor—to cry her heart out, all alone, for a few +moments! With a grateful murmured "Thank you," she stepped from the long +French window out on to the porch and down the private stair-way into +the grounds.</p> + +<p>Margaret Gardiner stepped to the window, drew aside<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> the heavy lace +curtains, and watched the dark, slim figure until it was lost to sight +among the grand old oak-trees.</p> + +<p>It seemed to Bernardine that she had escaped just in time, for in +another instant she would have cried out with the pain at her heart, +with the awful agony that had taken possession of her.</p> + +<p>One by one grand coaches began to roll up the long white road, turn in +at the great stone gate-way, and rattle smartly up the serpentine drive +to the broad porch.</p> + +<p>Then they commenced to arrive scores at a time, and the air was filled +with the ringing hoofs of hundreds of horses, the voices of coachmen and +grooms, and the gay sound of laughter.</p> + +<p>The din was so great no one heard the solitary little figure among the +trees crying out to Heaven that she had counted beyond her strength in +remaining there to witness the home-coming of the man she loved and his +bride.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she heard the sound of her own name.</p> + +<p>"Miss Moore! Miss Moore! Where are you?" called one of the maids. "My +lady is asking for you!"</p> + +<p>"Tell your mistress I shall be there directly."</p> + +<p>"Dear me! what an odd creature that Miss Moore is!" thought the maid, as +she flew back to the house. "Instead of being in the house, enjoying the +music and the grand toilets of the aristocracy that's here to-night, +she's out in the loneliest part of the grounds. But, dear me! what an +amazing goose I am to be sure. She must have a lover with her, and in +that case the grove's a paradise. Too bad my lady was so imperative. I +would have pretended that I couldn't find her—just yet."</p> + +<p>Bernardine stooped down, and wetting her handkerchief in the brook, +laved her face with it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>She dared not approach the grand old lady with her face swollen with +tears, as she was sure it must be.</p> + +<p>Bernardine found her quite beside herself with excitement.</p> + +<p>"I heard the whistle of the incoming train some fifteen minutes ago, +Miss Moore," she said. "My son has reached the station by this time. I +have sent our fastest team down to meet him. He will be here at any +moment. Ah! that is his step I hear now in the corridor! I am trembling +so with excitement that I can hardly stand. Do not leave, Miss Moore. I +may need you in case this meeting is too much for me and I should faint +away in his strong arms."</p> + +<p>The footsteps that Bernardine remembered so well came nearer.</p> + +<p>She pressed her hand tightly over her heart to still its wild beating.</p> + +<p>Bernardine could have cried aloud in her agony; but her white lips +uttered no moan, no sound, even when the door was flung open and a tall, +handsome form sprung over the threshold.</p> + +<p>"Where are you, mother?" cried Jay Gardiner. "The room is so dark that I +can not see where you are!"</p> + +<p>The next moment the proud, stately old lady was sobbing on the breast of +the son she idolized.</p> + +<p>She forgot that in the shadow of the alcove stood her companion; she +forgot the existence of every one save her darling boy, whom she clasped +so joyfully.</p> + +<p>Bernardine watched him herself, unseen, her whole heart in her eyes, +like one turned into stone.</p> + +<p>His handsome face was pale, even haggard; the dark hair, that waved back +from the broad brow, was the same; but his eyes—those bonny, sunny, +laughing blue<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> eyes—were sadly changed. There was an unhappy look in +them, a restless expression, deepening almost into despair. There was a +story of some kind in his face, a repressed passion and fire, a +something Bernardine could not understand.</p> + +<p>"I am not alone, you must remember, mother, dear," he said in his deep, +musical voice. "I have brought some one else for you to welcome. Look up +and greet my wife, mother."</p> + +<p>Slowly the grand old lady unwound her arms from about the neck of her +handsome, stalwart son, and turned rather fearfully toward the slender +figure by her side.</p> + +<p>At that moment young Mrs. Gardiner took a step forward, which brought +her in the full glow of the lamp, and as Bernardine gazed, her heart +sunk within her.</p> + +<p>She saw, as the lovely young stranger threw back her gray silk +traveling-cloak, a slim, beautiful creature, with golden hair, round, +dimpled face, flushed cheeks and lips, and the brightest of blue, +sparkling eyes—a girl who looked like some dazzling picture painted by +some old master, and who had just stepped out of a gilded frame. Her +face was so lovely, that, as Bernardine gazed, her heart grew so heavy +and strained with pain, that she thought it must surely break. <i>She was +the same girl who had visited her at her humble home.</i></p> + +<p>The grand old lady took the haughty young beauty in her arms, calling +her "daughter," and bidding her welcome to Gardiner Castle, her future +home.</p> + +<p>"Ah! no wonder the man I loved deserted me for this beautiful being all +life, all sparkle, all fire," was the thought that rushed through +Bernardine's breaking heart.</p> + +<p>Then suddenly the old lady remembered her, and turned to her quickly, +saying:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>"Come forward, my dear girl. I wish to present my new companion to my +son and his bride."</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XLVI" id="CHAPTER_XLVI"></a>CHAPTER XLVI.</h2> + + +<p>Bernardine stood still. She could not have moved one step forward if her +life depended on it; and thinking she had not heard, the old lady turned +to her, and repeated:</p> + +<p>"I want my son and his wife to know you, my dear. You have been but a +short time beneath this roof, but in that time you have made yourself so +indispensable to me that I could not do without you."</p> + +<p>Both Jay Gardiner and his wife glanced carelessly in the direction +indicated by his mother.</p> + +<p>The room was in such dense shadow that they only saw a tall, slim form +in a dark dress that seemed to melt into and become a part of the +darkness beyond.</p> + +<p>They bowed slightly in the most thoughtless manner; then turned their +attention to Mrs. Gardiner, who had commenced telling them how eagerly +she had watched for their coming, and of the strange presentiment that +something was going to happen.</p> + +<p>That moment stood out forever afterward in the life of hapless +Bernardine.</p> + +<p>She thought that when her eyes rested on the face that had been all the +world to her, she would fall dead at his feet. But she did not; nor did +the slightest moan or cry escape her white lips.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>She had expected that Jay Gardiner would cry out in wonder or in anger +when he saw her; that he would recognize her with some show of emotion. +But he only looked at her, and then turned as carelessly away as any +stranger might have done. And in that moment, as she stood there, the +very bitterness of death passed over her.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Gardiner's next remark called their attention completely away from +her, for which she was most thankful.</p> + +<p>"Dear me, how very selfish I am!" exclaimed the grand old lady, in +dismay. "I had forgotten how time is flying. The guests will be +wondering why you and your bride tarry so long, my dear boy. A servant +will show you to your suite of rooms. Your luggage must have been +already taken there. You will want to make your toilets. When you are +ready to go down to the reception-room, let me know.</p> + +<p>"Do not forget to wear all the Gardiner diamonds to-night, my dear," +were the lady-mother's parting words. "Every one is expecting to see +them on you. They are famous. You will create a sensation in them; you +will bewilder, dazzle, and astonish these country folk."</p> + +<p>Bernardine did not hear the young wife's reply. She would have given all +she possessed to throw herself on her knees on the spot his feet had +pressed and wept her very life out.</p> + +<p>Ah! why had he wooed her in that never-to-be-forgotten past, made her +love him, taken her heart from her, only to break it?</p> + +<p>A moment later, Miss Margaret glided into the room and went straight up +to her mother's side.</p> + +<p>"I have just greeted and welcomed Jay and his bride, mamma," she said, +speaking before her mother's com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>panion quite as though she had not been +present. But she paused abruptly as though she thought it best to cut +the sentence short.</p> + +<p>"Well," replied her mother, eagerly, "do you like Jay's bride, Margaret? +You always form an opinion when you first meet a person, which usually +proves to be correct."</p> + +<p>"My brother does not look quite happy," replied Miss Margaret, slowly. +"His bride is most beautiful—indeed, I have never met a young woman so +strangely fascinating—but there is something about her that repels even +while it draws me toward her."</p> + +<p>"I experienced the same feeling, Margaret," returned Mrs. Gardiner. "But +it seems to me only natural that we should experience such a sensation +when looking upon the face of the woman who has taken first place in the +heart of my only boy and your only brother. As to Jay not being quite +happy, I think that is purely your imagination, Margaret. Theirs was a +love match, and they are in the height of their honey-moon. Why should +he not be happy, I ask you!"</p> + +<p>"And I reply, mamma, that I do not know," replied Miss Margaret, +thoughtfully. "It is simply the way the expression of his face and his +manners struck me. But I must hurry down to our guests again. Will you +accompany me, mamma, that we may both be together to receive them in the +drawing-room and present them?"</p> + +<p>The young wife stood before the long French mirror, scarcely glancing at +the superb picture she presented, as Antoinette, her maid, deftly put +the finishing touches to her toilet.</p> + +<p>"There is only one thing needed to make my lady fairly radiant +to-night," declared Antoinette, in her low,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> purring voice, "and that is +the diamonds. You will let me get them all and deck you with them—twine +them about that superb white neck, those perfect arms and——"</p> + +<p>"Hush!" exclaimed Sally, impatiently. "Didn't you hear me say I +shouldn't wear the diamonds to-night."</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner, entering his wife's <i>boudoir</i> unexpectedly at that moment, +could not help overhearing her remark.</p> + +<p>His brow darkened, and a gleam of anger shot into his blue eyes. He +stepped quickly to his wife's side.</p> + +<p>"You <i>will</i> wear the diamonds!" he said in the most authoritative tone +he had yet used to her. "You heard my mother express the wish that you +should do so. Moreover, it has been the custom in our family for +generations for brides to wear them at a reception given in honor of +their home-coming."</p> + +<p>With these words, he strode into his own room—an inner apartment—and +closed the door after him with a bang.</p> + +<p>Looking up into her young mistress's face, the shrewd Antoinette saw +that she was greatly agitated, and pale as death. But she pretended not +to notice it.</p> + +<p>"Shall I not get the diamonds from your little hand-bag, my lady?" she +asked, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"No; you can not get them," cried Sally, hoarsely, her teeth chattering, +her eyes fairly dilating with fright; "<i>they are not there!</i>"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XLVII" id="CHAPTER_XLVII"></a>CHAPTER XLVII.</h2> + + +<p>Young Mrs. Gardiner stooped down until her lips were on a level with the +maid's ear.</p> + +<p>"My diamonds are not in the little leather hand-bag, Antoinette," +she panted. "The hour has come when I must make a confidant of you, +and ask you to help me, Antoinette. You are clever; your brain is +full of resources; and you must help me out of this awful web that +has tangled itself about me. I—I lost the diamonds on the night of +the grand ball—the last night we were at Newport, and—and I dare +not tell my husband. Now you see my position, Antoinette. I—I can +not wear the diamonds, and I do not know how to turn my husband from +his purpose of making me put them on. He may refuse to go down to +the reception-room—or, still worse, he may ask for them. I can not +see the end, Antoinette. I am between two fires. I do not know which +way to leap to save myself. Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly, my lady," returned the wily maid. "Leave your trouble to me. +I will find some way to get you out of it."</p> + +<p>"You must think quickly, Antoinette!" cried Sally, excitedly. "He said +he would return for me within ten minutes. Half that time has already +passed. Oh—oh! what shall I do?"</p> + +<p>"You must not excite yourself, my lady," replied Antoinette, quickly. +"Worry brings wrinkles, and you can not afford to have any but pleasant +thoughts. I have said you can rely upon me to think of some way out of +the dilemma."</p> + +<p>"That is easier said than done, Antoinette," declared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> her mistress, +beginning to pace excitedly up and down the room, the color burning in +two bright red spots on her cheeks.</p> + +<p>Antoinette crossed over to the window, and stood looking out +thoughtfully into the darkness. Her brain was busy with the numerous +schemes that were flitting through it.</p> + +<p>At that, moment fate pointed out an unexpected way to her. She heard +footsteps in the corridor, and just then it flashed upon Antoinette that +she had heard her master giving orders to his valet to bring him a glass +of brandy. The man was returning with it.</p> + +<p>Quick as a flash, Antoinette crossed the room and flung open the door.</p> + +<p>"Andrew," she whispered to the man who was passing, "I want you to do a +favor for me."</p> + +<p>"A hundred if you like," replied the man, good-humoredly. "But I haven't +time to listen to you now. I'll take master this brandy—which, by the +way, is the best of its kind. I wish he'd take a notion to leave half of +it in the glass, for it's fairly nectar—then I'll be back in a trice, +and you can consider me at your service for the rest of the evening."</p> + +<p>"But it's <i>now</i> I want you, Andrew—this very minute!" cried Antoinette. +"Set your glass right down here; nobody will see it; I'll keep guard +over it. My errand won't take you more than a minute. Master won't miss +his brandy for that short time. He'll enjoy it all the more when he gets +it."</p> + +<p>Andrew hesitated an instant, and we all know what happens to the man who +hesitates—he is lost.</p> + +<p>"Well, what is it you want, Antoinette?" he replied,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> good-humoredly. +"If it only takes me a minute, as you say, I don't mind accommodating +you."</p> + +<p>"I lost my little gold cross in the lower hall a few moments ago. I +heard something drop as I was hurrying along, but did not miss it until +just now, and I can't leave my lady to go and get it. Some one may come +along and find it, and I'd never get it again. For goodness' sake, go +quick, Andrew, and look for it. Not an instant's to be lost."</p> + +<p>Suspecting nothing, the good fellow hurriedly set down the glass, and +hastened away to do her bidding.</p> + +<p>His back was scarcely turned ere Antoinette flew to her own apartments, +which adjoined her mistress's, and took from a trunk, which she unlocked +with a very strange-looking key, a small vial. A few grains of the +contents she emptied into the palm of her hand, and in less time than it +takes to write it, they were transferred to the glass of brandy and +dissolved at once with its amber contents.</p> + +<p>She had scarcely accomplished this ere Andrew returned, quite flushed +from hurrying.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to bring you bad news, Antoinette," he said; "but some one +has been there before me and picked up your cross. I met the butler, and +we both searched for it. He has promised to make strict inquiries +concerning it, and get it back for you if it be possible."</p> + +<p>"You are very good to take so much trouble upon yourself," declared +Antoinette, with a well-enacted sigh. "I suppose I shall survive the +loss of it. It is a trinket that isn't of much value only as a +keep-sake. But I won't keep you standing there talking any longer, +Andrew; your master will be waiting for the brandy."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>"I'll see you later, Antoinette," he said, nodding as he picked up his +glass.</p> + +<p>The next moment he had disappeared within his master's apartments.</p> + +<p>When she returned to her mistress she found Mrs. Gardiner in a state of +nervousness.</p> + +<p>"The time is almost up, and you have devised no plan as yet, +Antoinette," she cried, wringing her hands. "See! the ten minutes have +almost elapsed. Oh—oh! what shall I do?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur will not come in ten minutes' time, my lady," replied the +maid, with a knowing nod; "nor will he go to the reception. There was +but one way out of it," declared Antoinette. "If he came after you to go +down to the reception, the diamonds would have to be produced, so I said +to myself he must not come, he must be prevented at all hazards. I knew +of but one way, and acted upon the thought that came to me. Monsieur had +ordered some brandy; I intercepted the valet, sent him off on a fool's +errand, holding the glass until he returned, and while he was gone I put +a heavy sleeping potion, which I often take for the toothache, in +monsieur's glass of brandy. After taking it, he will fall into a deep +sleep, from which no one will be able to awake him. The consequence is, +he will not come for my lady to take her down to the reception to-night, +and she is free to suit herself as to whether she will wear diamonds or +not. No other occasion for wearing them may take place for some time. I +will think of something else by that time."</p> + +<p>"You have saved me, Antoinette!" cried the guilty woman, sinking down +upon the nearest chair and trembling with excitement. "Oh, how can I +ever thank you!"</p> + +<p>"If my lady would do something in the way of raising<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> my pay, I would be +much obliged," replied the girl, her black eyes glittering.</p> + +<p>She knew the trembling woman before her was in her power. The game had +been commenced, the first trump had been played, and Antoinette meant to +win all in the end.</p> + +<p>"I shall be only too glad to do so," returned Sally, realizing for the +first time the unpleasantness of being dictated to by her maid.</p> + +<p>"And if madame would make me a present of some money to-night, I could +make excellent use of it."</p> + +<p>"I haven't any ready money just now," returned Sally, a dull red flush +creeping over the whiteness of her face. "I have spent all last month's +allowance, and it's only the middle of the month now."</p> + +<p>"I would take the gold chain in the jewel-case which madame never +wears," replied the girl, boldly.</p> + +<p>"Antoinette, you are a fiend!" cried Sally Gardiner, starting to her +feet in a rage. "How dare you expect that I would give you my gold +chain, girl?"</p> + +<p>"Madame could not afford to refuse my request," answered the girl. "If +she wants me to keep her secret, she must pay well. The service I have +rendered to-night is worth what I ask."</p> + +<p>"Take the chain," said young Mrs. Gardiner, with a short gasp. "I—I +shall not need your services after to-night. Take the chain, and—go!"</p> + +<p>"So, so, madame!" cried the girl. "That is the way you would repay me +for what I have done, for you? Discharge Antoinette, eh? Oh, no, my +lady; you will think better of those hasty words, especially as I have a +suspicion of where madame's diamonds have gone."</p> + +<p>"I lost them at the ball that night in Newport," cried<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> Sally, springing +hastily to her feet, and facing the girl, her temper at a white heat.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Victor Lamont was with my lady when she lost them," returned +Antoinette, softly. "She wore them when she entered the carriage on the +beach that night, and she returned at day-break without them. You would +not like monsieur to know of that romantic little episode, eh?"</p> + +<p>"I repeat, you are a fiend incarnate!" gasped Sally, trembling like an +aspen leaf.</p> + +<p>"My lady sees it would be better to temporize with Antoinette than to +make an enemy of her. She will think better of discharging one whose +assistance may prove valuable to her. I will say no more. They are +coming to see what detains madame and her husband, little dreaming what +is in store for them."</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XLVIII" id="CHAPTER_XLVIII"></a>CHAPTER XLVIII.</h2> + + +<p>At that moment Andrew, the valet, came flying out of his master's room.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Margaret! Miss Margaret!" he cried, hoarsely, "how can I ever +tell you what had happened? But it was a mistake—indeed it was all a +mistake! I do not see how I ever came to do it!"</p> + +<p>Margaret Gardiner hurriedly caught the man's arm in a firm grasp, +looking sternly in his face.</p> + +<p>"Andrew," she said, with great calmness, "stop that shouting, and tell +me instantly what the matter is. Has—has—anything happened my brother +or—or his wife?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>Her quiet tone brought the valet to his senses more quickly than +anything else could have done.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll tell you, Miss Margaret," he answered, hoarsely; "and though +master turns me off to-morrow for it, I swear to you earnestly that it +was all a terrible mistake."</p> + +<p>"What has happened?" repeated Miss Margaret, sternly. "Get to the point +at once, Andrew."</p> + +<p>"It was this way, Miss Margaret," he cried. "Master sent me for a glass +of brandy. I brought it to him. He always likes a few drops of cordial +put in it, and I went to his dresser, where I had placed the cordial a +few minutes before, took up the bottle hurriedly, and shook in a +generous quantity. Now it happened that I had also taken out a bottle of +drops—quieting drops which master had been taking for the last two +nights for a violent toothache—it is a powerful narcotic—to make him +sleep and forget his pain, he told me. I—I—don't know how I could have +done it; I—I was not conscious of doing it; but somehow I must have put +the drops instead of the cordial into his brandy, for he has fallen into +a deep sleep, from which I am unable to awaken him."</p> + +<p>"Thank Heaven, it is no worse!" sobbed Miss Margaret. "I—I was afraid +some terrible accident had happened."</p> + +<p>While he was speaking, Sally had run into the corridor and made the +pretense of listening to the valet's dilemma, while Antoinette stood +back in the shadow laugh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>ing to herself at the strange way fate or +fortune or luck, or whatever it was, had played into her clever hands.</p> + +<p>This was, indeed, an unexpected dilemma. Following the valet into her +brother's apartments, she found Andrew's statement indeed true—her +brother was in a sound sleep, from which all their efforts were futile +to awake him.</p> + +<p>"There is nothing else to be done but to go down without him," she said +at length in despair, turning to Sally. "The effect of the potion ought +to wear off in an hour or so, then he can join the guests."</p> + +<p>The entrance of Miss Margaret and the bride created quite a sensation; +but when the former explained the ludicrous mistake which caused the +doctor's temporary absence from them, their mirth burst all bounds, and +the very roof of the grand old mansion shook with peal after peal of +hearty laughter.</p> + +<p>So the fun and merriment went on until he should join them, and the +happy, dazzling, beautiful young bride was the petted queen of the hour.</p> + +<p>Old Mrs. Gardiner was greatly disappointed because her beautiful +daughter-in-law did not wear the famous family diamonds, but when Sally +slipped up to her and whispered that she had forgotten, in her +excitement over Jay's mishap, to don them, the old lady was mollified.</p> + +<p>The evening ran its length, and ended at last. Midnight had come, giving +place to a new moon, and in the wee sma' hours the festive guests had +taken their depar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>ture, each wishing with a jolly little laugh, to be +remembered to their host when he should awake. The lights were out in +the magnificent drawing-room and in the corridor.</p> + +<p>Young Mrs. Gardiner was at last in her own <i>boudoir</i>, in the hands of +Antoinette.</p> + +<p>It was generally late in the morning when those pretty blue eyes opened. +But it was little more than daylight when Antoinette came to her couch, +grasped hurriedly the pink-and-white arm that lay on the lace coverlet, +saying, hoarsely:</p> + +<p>"You are wanted, my lady. You must come at once. Master is worse; that +is, he is sleeping more heavily than ever. Miss Margaret did not leave +his side all night, Andrew tells me, and she says the nearest doctor +must be sent for. I thought it would look better if you were at his +bedside, too, when the doctor came."</p> + +<p>"You did quite right to awaken me, Antoinette," replied young Mrs. +Gardiner. "Get me my morning robe, and slippers to match, at once, and +take my hair out of these curl-papers. One can not appear before one's +husband's relatives without making a careful toilet and looking one's +best, for their Argus eyes are sure to take in any defects. I hope my +husband will not have a long sickness or anything like that. I can not +endure a sick-room. I think I should go mad. Hurry, Antoinette! Arrange +my toilet as quickly as possible. I shall go into the grounds for a +breath of fresh air before I venture<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> into the heated atmosphere of that +room, in which no doubt the lamps are still burning."</p> + +<p>"I would advise you <i>not</i> to go into the grounds, my lady," replied +Antoinette, quietly.</p> + +<p>"Why, I should like to know?" asked young Mrs. Gardiner, very sharply.</p> + +<p>"I have a reason for what I say," returned Antoinette; "but it is best +not to tell you—just now."</p> + +<p>"I demand to know!" declared her mistress.</p> + +<p>"If you <i>must</i> know, I suppose I may as well tell you now as at any +other time, my lady," replied Antoinette; "though the news I have to +tell may make you a trifle nervous, I fear. I was just out in the +grounds gathering roses for your vase, when, to my astonishment, I heard +my name called softly, but very distinctly, from the direction of a +little brook which runs through the grounds scarcely more than a hundred +feet from the hedge where the roses grew that I was gathering. I turned +quickly in that direction. At first I saw no one, and I was about to +turn away, believing my ears must have deceived me, when suddenly the +tall alder-bushes parted, and a man stepped forth, beckoning to me, and +that man, my lady, was—Mr. Victor Lamont!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XLIX" id="CHAPTER_XLIX"></a>CHAPTER XLIX.</h2> + + +<p>Sally Gardiner grew deathly pale as Antoinette's words fell upon her +ear. Had she heard aright, or were her ears playing her a horrible +trick?</p> + +<p>"Mr. Victor Lamont is in the grounds, my lady, hiding among the thick +alder-bushes down by the brook, and he vows he will stay there, be it +day, week, month, or year, until he gets an opportunity to see and speak +with you."</p> + +<p>"You must manage to see him at once, Antoinette, and give him a message +from me. Tell him I will see him to-morrow night—at—at midnight, down +by the brook-side. I can not, I dare not, come before that, lest I might +attract the attention of the inmates of the house. If—if he should +question you about my affairs, or, in fact, about anything, make answer +that you do not know to all inquiries—all questions. Be off at once, +Antoinette. Delays are dangerous, you know."</p> + +<p>As soon as she found herself alone, young Mrs. Gardiner turned the key +in the lock, and flew at once to her writing-desk. Antoinette had laid +several letters upon it. The letters—the writing upon two of which +seemed rather familiar to her—were from the gentlemen who had loaned +her the money a short time before at Newport. One stated that he should +be in that vicinity at the end of the week, asking if she could find it +convenient to pay part of the loan he had made to her when he called +upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> her. The other letter stated that the writer would be obliged if +she could pay the money to his daughter when it became due. "She is a +great friend of Miss Margaret Gardiner's," he went on to state, "and has +decided to accept an invitation to spend a fortnight at the mansion, and +would arrive there the following week."</p> + +<p>Sally Gardiner tore both letters into shreds, and cast them from her +with a laugh that was terrible to hear.</p> + +<p>"I shall trust my wit to see me safely through this affair," she +muttered. "I do not know just how it is to be done, but I shall +accomplish it somehow."</p> + +<p>There was a tap at the door. Thrusting the letters quickly in her desk, +she closed the lid, securely locked it, and put the key in the pocket of +her dress.</p> + +<p>She was about to say "Come in," when she suddenly remembered that she +had fastened the door. When she opened it, she found Andrew, her +husband's valet, standing there with a very white, troubled face.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to hurry you, my lady," he said in a tremulous voice; "but +master seems so much worse we are sore afraid for him. Miss Margaret +bids me summon you without a moment's delay."</p> + +<p>"I shall be there directly," replied the young wife; and the valet +wondered greatly at the cool way in which she took the news of her +husband's serious condition.</p> + +<p>"Those pretty society young women have no hearts," he thought, +indignantly. "She married my poor young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> master for his money, not for +love; that is quite evident to me."</p> + +<p>Young Mrs. Gardiner was just about to leave her <i>boudoir</i>, when +Antoinette returned.</p> + +<p>"You saw him and delivered my message?" said Sally, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, my lady," returned the girl.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Sally, expectantly, "what did he say?"</p> + +<p>"He was raving angry, my lady," laughed Antoinette. "He swore as I told +him all; but at length he cooled down, seeing that his rage did not mend +matters. 'Take this to your mistress, my good girl,' he said, tearing a +leaf from his memorandum-book, and scribbling hastily, upon it. Here it +is, my lady."</p> + +<p>As she spoke, she thrust a crumpled bit of paper into young Mrs. +Gardiner's trembling hand.</p> + +<p>There was no date; the note contained but a few lines, and read as +follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I shall be by the alder-bushes at midnight to-morrow +night, and shall expect you to be equally punctual. No +subterfuge, please. If for any reason you should fail +to keep your appointment, I shall call upon you +directly after breakfast the following morning, and +shall see you—<i>at any cost</i>!</p> + +<p style="text-align: right;"><span class="smcap">"Lamont."</span></p></div> + +<p>She would not give herself any worry until she stood face to face with +Victor Lamont; then some sort of an excuse to put him off would be sure +to come to her.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>There was another tap at the door. It was Andrew again, standing on the +threshold, shaking like an aspen leaf.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, my lady; Miss Margaret begs me to urge you to make all +possible haste."</p> + +<p>"I am coming now," she answered; and, looking into her face, Andrew +marveled at the indifferent expression on it, and at the harshness of +her voice.</p> + +<p>She followed him without another word. A frightened cry broke from her +lips as she hastily crossed the room, and bent over the couch on which +her husband lay.</p> + +<p>He was marble white, and looked so strange, she thought he was certainly +dying.</p> + +<p>"We have sent for all the doctors about here. They are expected every +moment," said Miss Margaret, touching her sister-in-law on the arm. "I +thought that in a consultation they would find some way to save him if +it lay in human power."</p> + +<p>Sally looked up in affright into the calm white face beside her. She +tried to speak, but no sound fell from her cold, parched lips.</p> + +<p>When the great doctors came, they would find that Jay Gardiner had not +taken the mild sleeping draught which poor Andrew believed he had +administered to him by mistake; but, instead, a most powerful drug, an +overdose of which meant death. Yes, they would find it out, and then—— +She dared not think what would happen then.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>"I have been looking carefully into this affair," continued Miss +Margaret, in that same calm, clear voice, "and I have reason to believe +there is something terribly wrong here. I have often taken the same +drops for sleeplessness that Andrew says has been administered to my +brother, and it never produced that effect upon me, and on several cases +I have taken an overdose."</p> + +<p>"I—I—suppose—the—the—drug—acts differently upon different +constitutions," answered young Mrs. Gardiner.</p> + +<p>Her eyes seemed fairly glued upon the still, white face lying back on +the not whiter pillow. She could not have removed her gaze if her very +life had been at stake.</p> + +<p>"I have a strange theory," continued Miss Margaret, slowly, and in that +terribly calm voice that put Sally's nerves on edge. "A very strange +theory."</p> + +<p>Margaret Gardiner saw her sister-in-law start suddenly and gasp for +breath, and her face grew alarmingly white as she answered, hoarsely:</p> + +<p>"A theory of—of—how your brother's condition came about!" she +gasped, rather than spoke the words. "Then you—you—do +not—believe—Andrew's—statement?"</p> + +<p>"No!" replied Margaret Gardiner, in that same high, clear, solemn voice +that seemed to vibrate through every pore of Sally's body. "I think +Andrew fully believes what he states to be the truth; but he has not +deceived. He has been most cleverly fooled by some one else."</p> + +<p>"What—what—makes you—think that?" cried Sally,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> sharply. "Those are +strong words and a strange accusation to make, Miss Margaret."</p> + +<p>"I am quite well aware of that," was the slow reply.</p> + +<p>And as Jay's sister uttered the words, Sally could feel the strong gaze +which accompanied them burn like fire to the very depths of her beating +heart.</p> + +<p>What did Margaret Gardiner suspect? Surely, she would never think of +suspecting that she—his bride—had any hand in Jay's illness? There +would be no apparent reason.</p> + +<p>"Shall I tell you whom I suspect knows more of this than——"</p> + +<p>"Doctor Baker, miss," announced one of the servants; and the coming of +the famous old doctor put a stop to all further conversation for the +present, much to Sally's intense relief.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_L" id="CHAPTER_L"></a>CHAPTER L.</h2> + + +<p>Young Mrs. Gardiner looked fearfully and eagerly into the face of the +stern-countenanced old doctor who had just entered and had stepped up +hurriedly to his patient's bedside.</p> + +<p>He had heard from the messenger who had come for him just what had +occurred to Jay Gardiner, and he was greatly puzzled.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>"The toothache drops you speak of were compounded by me," he declared, +"and they certainly do not act as you describe. Ten drops would produce +balmy sleep. An overdose acts as an emetic, and would not remain a +moment's time on the stomach. That is their chief virtue—in rendering +an overdose harmless. I am confident the mischief can not lie with the +toothache drops."</p> + +<p>Doctor Baker had entered and gone directly to the bedside of his +patient, as we have said, simply nodding to Miss Margaret, and not +waiting for an introduction to the bride. The moment his eyes fell upon +his patient, he gave a start of surprise.</p> + +<p>"Ah," he muttered, "my case of instruments! Hand them to me quickly. +This is a case of life or death! Not an instant's time is to be lost. I +dare not wait for the coming of the consulting physicians who have been +sent for."</p> + +<p>"What are you about to do?" cried Sally, springing forward, her eyes +gleaming.</p> + +<p>"I am about to perform a critical operation to save my patient's life, +if it be possible. Every instant of time is valuable."</p> + +<p>"I say it shall not be done!" cried young Mrs. Gardiner. "I, his wife, +command that you do not proceed until the rest of the doctors sent for +arrive and sanction such an action!"</p> + +<p>The old doctor flushed hotly. Never, in all the long years of his +practice, had his medical judgment ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> been brought into question +before, and at first, anger and resentment rose in quick rebellion in +his heart; the next instant he had reasoned with himself that this young +wife should be pardoned for her words, which had been uttered in the +greatest stress of excitement.</p> + +<p>"My dear Mrs. Gardiner—for such I presume you to be—your interference +at this critical moment, attempting to thwart my judgment, would—ay, I +say <i>would</i>—prove fatal to your husband. This is a moment when a +physician must act upon his own responsibility, knowing that a human +life depends upon his swiftness and his skill, I beg of you to leave all +to me."</p> + +<p>"I say it shall not be!" cried Sally, flinging herself across her +husband's prostrate body. "Touch him at your peril, Doctor Baker!"</p> + +<p>For an instant all in the apartment were almost dumbfounded. Miss +Margaret was the first to recover herself.</p> + +<p>"Sally," she said, approaching her sister-in-law slowly, her blue eyes +looking stealthily down into the glittering, frenzied green ones, "come +with me. You want to save Jay's life, don't you? Put down that knife, +and come with me. You are wasting precious moments that may mean life or +death to the one we both love. Let me plead with you, on my knees, if +need be, to come with me, dear."</p> + +<p>Sally Gardiner stood at bay like a lioness. Quick as a flash, she had +thought out the situation.</p> + +<p>If Jay Gardiner died, she would be free to fly with Victor Lament. If +she refused to allow the doctor to touch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> him, he would die, and never +discover the loss of the diamonds, or that she had borrowed money from +his friends on leaving Newport.</p> + +<p>If he died, she would be a wealthy woman for life, and she would never +be obliged to look again into the face of the handsome husband whom she +hated—the husband who hated her, and who did not take the pains to +conceal it in his every act each day since he had married her.</p> + +<p>Ah! if he only died here and now it would save her from all the ills +that menaced her and were closing in around her. This was her +opportunity. Fate—fortune had put the means of saving herself in her +hands.</p> + +<p>Even the good doctor was sorely perplexed. He saw that young Mrs. +Gardiner was a desperate woman, and that she meant what she said.</p> + +<p>"Will nothing under Heaven cause you to relent?" cried Margaret, +wringing her hands, her splendid courage breaking down completely under +the great strain of her agony. "My poor mother lies in the next room in +a death-like swoon, caused by the knowledge of her idolized son's fatal +illness. If he should die, she would never see another morning's sun +after she learned of it. One grave would cover both."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_LI" id="CHAPTER_LI"></a>CHAPTER LI.</h2> + + +<p>We must now return to Bernardine, dear reader.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I was mad—mad to remain a single instant beneath this roof when I +discovered whose home it was!" she moaned, sinking down on the nearest +hassock and rocking herself to and fro in an agony of despair. "I—I +could have lived my life better if I had not looked upon his face again, +or seen the bride who had won his love from me. I will go, I will leave +this grand house at once. Let them feast and make merry. None of them +knows that a human heart so near them is breaking slowly under its load +of woe."</p> + +<p>She tried to rise and cross the floor, but her limbs refused to act. A +terrible numbness had come over them, every muscle of her body seemed to +pain her.</p> + +<p>"Am I going to be ill?" she cried out to herself in the wildest alarm. +"No, no—that <i>must not</i> be; they would be sure to call upon <i>him</i> +to—to aid me, and that would kill me—yes, kill me!"</p> + +<p>Her body seemed to burn like fire, while her head, her feet, and her +hands were ice cold. Her lips were parched with a terrible thirst.</p> + +<p>"I must go away from here," she muttered. "If I am going to die, let it +be out in the grounds, with my face pressed close to the cold earth, +that is not more cold to me than the false heart of the man to whom I +have given my love beyond recall."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>Like one whose sight had suddenly grown dim, Bernardine groped her way +from the magnificent <i>boudoir</i> out into the corridor, her one thought +being to reach her own apartment, secure her bonnet and cloak, and get +out of the house. She had scarcely reached the first turn in the +corridor, ere she came face to face with a woman robed in costly satin, +and all ablaze with diamonds, who was standing quite still and looking +about her in puzzled wonder.</p> + +<p>"I—I beg your pardon, miss," said the stranger, addressing Bernardine. +"I am a bit turned around in this labyrinth of corridors."</p> + +<p>What was there in that voice that caused Bernardine to forget her own +sorrows for an instant, and with a gasp peer into the face looking up +into her own?</p> + +<p>The effect of Bernardine's presence, as the girl turned her head and the +light of the hanging-lamp fell full upon it, was quite as electrifying +to the strange lady.</p> + +<p>"Bernardine Moore!" she gasped in a high, shrill voice that was almost +hysterical. "Do my eyes deceive me, or is this some strange coincidence, +some chance resemblance, or are you Bernardine Moore, whom I have +searched the whole earth over to find?"</p> + +<p>At the first word that fell from her excited lips, Bernardine recognized +Miss Rogers.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered, mechanically, "I am Bernardine Moore, and you are +Miss Rogers. But—but how came you here, and in such fine dress and +magnificent jewels?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> You, whom I knew to be as poor as ourselves, when +you shared the humble tenement home with my father and me!"</p> + +<p>Miss Rogers laughed very softly.</p> + +<p>"I can well understand your bewilderment over such a Cinderella-like +mystery. The solution of it is very plain, however. But before I answer +your question, my dear Bernardine, I must ask what <i>you</i> are doing +beneath this roof?"</p> + +<p>"I am Mrs. Gardiner's paid companion," responded Bernardine, huskily.</p> + +<p>"And I am Mrs. Gardiner's guest, surprising as that may seem. But let us +step into some quiet nook where we can seat ourselves and talk without +interruption," said Miss Rogers. "I have much to ask you about, and much +to tell you."</p> + +<p>"Will you come to my apartment?" asked Bernardine.</p> + +<p>The little old lady nodded, the action of her head setting all her +jewels to dancing like points of flame.</p> + +<p>Bernardine led the way to the modestly furnished room almost opposite +Mrs. Gardiner's, and drawing forward a chair for her companion, placed +her in it with the same gentle kindness she had exhibited toward poor, +old, friendless Miss Rogers in those other days.</p> + +<p>"Before I say anything, my dear," began Miss Rogers, "I want to know +just what took place from the moment you fled from your father's humble +home up to the present time. Did you—elope with any one?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>She saw the girl's fair face flush, then grow pale; but the dark, true, +earnest eyes of Bernardine did not fall beneath her searching gaze.</p> + +<p>"I am grieved that you wrong me to that extent, Miss Rogers," she +answered, slowly. "No, I did not elope. I simply left the old tenement +house because I could not bear my father's entreaties to hurry up the +approaching marriage between the man I hated—Jasper Wilde—and myself. +The more I thought of it, the more repugnant it became to me.</p> + +<p>"I made my way down to the river. I did not heed how cold and dark it +was. I—I took one leap, crying out to God to be merciful to me, and +then the dark waters, with the awful chill of death upon them, closed +over me, and I went down—down—and I knew no more.</p> + +<p>"But Heaven did not intend that I should die then. I still had more +misery to go through; for that was I saved. I was rescued half +drowned—almost lifeless—and taken to an old nurse's home, where I lay +two weeks hovering between life and death.</p> + +<p>"On the very day I regained consciousness, I learned about the terrible +fire that had wiped out the tenement home which I had known since my +earliest childhood, and that my poor, hapless father had perished in the +flames.</p> + +<p>"I did my best to discover your whereabouts, Miss Rogers, at first +fearing you had shared my poor father's fate; but this fear proved to be +without foundation, for the neighbors remembered seeing you go out to +mail a letter a short time before the fire broke out.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>"I felt that some day we should meet again, but I never dreamed that it +would be like this."</p> + +<p>"Have you told me <i>all</i>, Bernardine?" asked Miss Rogers, slowly. "You +are greatly changed, child. When you fled from your home, you were but a +school-girl, <i>now</i> you are a woman. What has wrought so great a change +in so short a time?"</p> + +<p>"I can not tell you that, Miss Rogers," answered Bernardine, +falteringly. "That is a secret I must keep carefully locked up in my +breast until the day I die!" she said, piteously.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry you will not intrust your secret to me," replied Miss +Rogers. "You shall never have reason to repent of any faith you place in +me."</p> + +<p>"There are some things that are better left untold," sobbed Bernardine. +"Some wounds where the cruel weapons that made them have not yet been +removed. This is one of them."</p> + +<p>"Is love, the sweetest boon e'er given to women, and yet the bitterest +woe to many, the rock on which you wrecked your life, child? Tell me +that much."</p> + +<p>"Yes," sobbed Bernardine. "I loved, and was—cruelly—deceived!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, do not tell me that!" cried Miss Rogers. "I can not bear it. Oh, +Heaven! that you, so sweet, and pure, and innocent, should fall a victim +to a man's wiles! Oh, tell me, Bernardine, that I have not heard +aright!"</p> + +<p>Miss Rogers was so overcome by Bernardine's story,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> that she could not +refrain from burying her face in her hands and bursting into tears as +the girl's last words fell on her startled ear.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_LII" id="CHAPTER_LII"></a>CHAPTER LII.</h2> + + +<p>Tears were falling from Bernardine's eyes and sobs were trembling on the +tender lips, she could restrain her feelings no longer, and, catching up +the thin, shriveled-up figure of the dear little old spinster in her +arms, she strained her to her heart and wept.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my dear girl. <i>You</i> are the good angel who took me in and cared for +me, believing me to be a pauper.</p> + +<p>"And now know the truth, my darling Bernardine. I, your distant +kinswoman, am very rich, far above your imagination. I have searched for +you since that fire, to make you my <i>heiress</i>—heiress to three millions +of money. Can you realize it?"</p> + +<p>Bernardine was looking at her with startled eyes, her white lips parted +in dismay.</p> + +<p>"Now you can understand better why I am here as the guest of Margaret +Gardiner and her proud mother? The wealthy Miss Rogers, of New York, is +believed to be a valuable acquisition to any social gathering. I loved +your mother, my fair, sweet, gentle cousin. I should love you for her +sake, did I not love you for your own."</p> + +<p>"You will make the necessary arrangements to leave Mrs. Gardiner's +employ at the earliest moment, my dear,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> for I wish you to take your +place in society at once as my heiress."</p> + +<p>But much to Miss Rogers' surprise, Bernardine shook her head sadly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, do not be angry with me, dear Miss Rogers," she sobbed, "but it can +never be. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kind +intentions, but it can never be. Heaven did not wish me to be a favorite +of fortune. There are those who are born to work for a living. I am one +of them. I have no place in the homes of aristocrats. One fell in love +with me, but he soon tired of me and deserted me."</p> + +<p>"He will be glad enough to seek you again when you are known as my +heiress," declared Miss Rogers, patting softly the bowed, dark curly +head.</p> + +<p>"No, no!" cried Bernardine; "if a man can not love you when you are +poor, friendless and homeless, he can not love you with all the +trappings of wealth about you. I say again, I thank you with all my +heart and soul for what you are disposed to do for me; but I can not +accept it at your hands, dear friend. Build churches, schools for little +ones, homes for the aged and helpless, institutions for the blind, +hospitals for those stricken low by the dread rod of disease. I am young +and strong. I can earn my bread for many a long year yet. Work is the +only panacea to keep me from thinking, thinking, thinking."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay," replied Miss Rogers; "let me be a judge of that. I know +best, my dear. It will be a happiness to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> me in my declining years to +have you do as I desire. The money will all go to you, and at the last +you may divide it as you see fit. Do not refuse me, my child. I have set +my heart upon seeing you the center of an admiring throng, to see you +robed in shining satin and magnificent diamonds. I will not say more +upon the subject just now; we will discuss it—to-morrow. I shall go +down and join the feasters and revelers; my heart is happy now that I +have found you, Bernardine. Early to-morrow morning we will let Mrs. +Gardiner and her daughter Margaret into our secret, and they will make +no objection to my taking you quietly away with me—at once. Do not let +what I have told you keep you awake to-night, child. I should feel sorry +to see you look pale and haggard to-morrow, instead of bright and +cheerful."</p> + +<p>With a kiss, she left Bernardine, and the girl stood looking after her +long afterward, wondering if what she had just passed through was not a +dream from which she would awaken presently.</p> + +<p>The air of the room seemed to stifle Bernardine. Rising slowly, she made +her way through one of the long French windows out into the grounds, and +took a path which led in the direction of the brook around which the +alders grew so thickly.</p> + +<p>She was so preoccupied with her own thoughts, she hardly noticed which +way her footsteps tended. All she realized was, that she was walking in +the sweet, rose-laden grounds, away—far away—from the revelers, with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> +the free, cool, pure air of Heaven blowing across her heated, feverish +brow.</p> + +<p>"An heiress!" She said the words over and over again to herself, trying +to picture to herself what the life of an heiress would be.</p> + +<p>If she had been an heiress, living in a luxurious, beautiful home, would +Jay Gardiner have deserted her in that cruel, bitterly cruel, heartless +fashion?</p> + +<p>She never remembered to have heard or read of the lover of a wealthy +heiress deserting her. It was always the lovers of poor girls who dared +play such tricks.</p> + +<p>How shocked Jay Gardiner would be when he heard that she was—an +heiress!</p> + +<p>Would he regret the step he had taken? The very thought sent a strange +chill through her heart.</p> + +<p>The next instant she had recovered herself.</p> + +<p>"No, no! There will be no regrets between us now," she sobbed, hiding +her white face in her trembling hands. "For he is another's and can +never be anything more to me save a bitter-sweet memory. To-night I will +give my pent-up grief full vent. Then I will bury it deep—deep out of +the world's sight, and no one shall ever know that my life has been +wrecked over—what might have been."</p> + +<p>Slowly her trembling hands dropped from her face, and, with bowed head, +Bernardine went slowly down the path, out of the sound of the +dance-music and the laughing voices, down to where the crickets were +chirping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> amid the long grasses, and the wind was moaning among the tall +pines and the thick alders.</p> + +<p>When she reached the brook she paused. It was very deep at this +point—nearly ten feet, she had heard Miss Margaret say—and the bottom +was covered with sharp, jagged rocks. That was what caused the hoarse, +deep murmur as the swift-flowing water struck them in its hurried flight +toward the sea.</p> + +<p>Bernardine leaned heavily against one of the tall pines, and gave vent +to her grief.</p> + +<p>Why had God destined one young girl to have youth, beauty, wealth, and +love, while the other had known only life's hardships? Miss Rogers' +offer of wealth had come to her too late. It could not buy that which +was more to her than everything else in the world put together—Jay +Gardiner's love.</p> + +<p>The companionship of beautiful women, the homage of noble men, were as +nothing to her. She would go through life with a dull, aching void in +her breast. There would always be a longing cry in her heart that would +refuse to be stilled. No matter where she went, whom she met, the face +of Jay Gardiner, as she had seen it first—the laughing, dark-blue eyes +and the bonny brown curls—would haunt her memory while her life lasted.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, my lost love! It is best that you and I should never meet +again!" she sobbed.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she became aware that she was not standing there alone. +Scarcely ten feet from her she beheld the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> figure of a man, and she +realized that he was regarding her intently.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_LIII" id="CHAPTER_LIII"></a>CHAPTER LIII.</h2> + + +<p>For a single instant Bernardine felt her terror mastering her; it was +certainly not an idle fear conjured up by her own excited brain.</p> + +<p>The clock from an adjacent tower struck the hour of midnight as she +stood there by the brookside, peering, with beating heart, among the +dense shadow of the trees.</p> + +<p>She gazed with dilated eyes. Surely it was her fancy. One of the +shadows, which she had supposed to be a stunted tree, moved, crept +nearer and nearer, until it took the form of a man moving stealthily +toward her.</p> + +<p>Bernardine's first impulse was to turn and fly; but her limbs seemed +powerless to move.</p> + +<p>Yes, it was a man. She saw that he was moving more quickly forward now, +and in a moment of time he had reached her side, and halted directly +before her.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he cried in a voice that had a very Frenchy accent. "I am +delighted to see you, my dear lady. Fate has certainly favored me, or, +perhaps, my note reached you and you are come in search of me. Very +kind—very considerate. They are having a fine time up at the mansion +yonder in your honor, of course. Knowing your <i>penchant</i> for lights, +music, laughter, and admiration, I confess I am <i>very</i> much surprised to +see that you have stolen a few minutes to devote to—me."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>Bernardine realized at once that this stranger mistook her for some one +else—some one who had expected to see him. She tried to wrench herself +free from the steel-like grasp of his fingers, that had closed like a +vise about her slender wrist; but not a muscle responded to her will, +nor could she find voice to utter a single sound.</p> + +<p>"Let us come to an understanding, my dear Mrs. Gardiner. I do not like +this new move on your part."</p> + +<p>It was then, and not till then, that Bernardine found her voice.</p> + +<p>"I am not Mrs. Gardiner!" she exclaimed, struggling to free herself from +the man's detaining hold on her arm.</p> + +<p>The effect of her words was like an electric shock to the man. He reeled +back as though he had been suddenly shot.</p> + +<p>"You—are—not—young Mrs. Gardiner?" he gasped, his teeth fairly +chattering. "Then, by Heaven! you are a spy, sent here by her to +incriminate me, to be a witness against me! It was a clever scheme, but +she shall see that it will fail signally."</p> + +<p>"I am no spy!" replied Bernardine, indignantly, "No one sent me here, +least of all, young Mrs. Gardiner!"</p> + +<p>"I do not believe you!" retorted the man, bluntly. "At any rate, you +know too much of this affair to suit me. You must come along with me."</p> + +<p>"You are mad!" cried Bernardine, haughtily. "I have, as you say, +unwittingly stumbled across some secret<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> in the life of yourself and one +who has won the love of a man any woman would have been proud to have +called—husband!"</p> + +<p>"So you are in love with the handsome, lordly Jay, eh?" sneered her +companion. "It's a pity you had not captured the washing millionaire, +instead of pretty, bewitching, coquettish Sally," he went on, with a fit +of harsh laughter.</p> + +<p>"Sir, unhand me and let me go!" cried Bernardine. "Your words are an +insult! Leave me at once, or I shall cry out for help!"</p> + +<p>"I believe you would be fool-hardy enough to attempt it," responded her +companion; "but I intend to nip any such design in the bud. You must +come along with me, I say. If you are wise, you will come along +peaceably. Attempt to make an outcry, and—well, I never yet felled a +woman, but there's always the first time. You invite the blow by going +contrary to my commands. My carriage is in waiting, fortunately, just +outside the thicket yonder."</p> + +<p>Bernardine saw that the man she had to deal with was no ordinary person. +He meant every word that he said. She tried to cry out to Heaven to help +her in this, her hour of need, but her white lips could form no word.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she felt herself lifted in a pair of strong arms, a hand fell +swiftly over her mouth, and she knew no more. Sky, trees, the dark, +handsome, swarthy face<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> above her and the earth beneath her seemed to +rock and reel.</p> + +<p>Carrying his burden swiftly along a path almost covered by tangled +underbrush, the man struck at length into a little clearing at one side +of the main road. Here, as he had said, a horse and buggy were in +waiting.</p> + +<p>A lighted lantern was in the bottom of the vehicle. He swung this into +the unconscious girl's face as he thrust her upon the seat. He had +expected to see one of the servants of the mansion—a seamstress, or one +of the maids, perhaps—but he was totally unprepared for the vision of +girlish loveliness that met his gaze.</p> + +<p>While he had gazed with fascinated eyes at the faultlessly beautiful +face of Bernardine, his heart had gone from him in one great, mad throb +of passionate love.</p> + +<p>"This lovely bird has walked directly into my drag-net," he muttered. +"Why should she not be mine, whether she loves or <i>hates</i> me?"</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_LIV" id="CHAPTER_LIV"></a>CHAPTER LIV.</h2> + + +<p>On and on the dark-browed stranger urges the almost thoroughly exhausted +horse, until after an hour's hard driving he comes upon a small +farm-house standing in the midst of a clearing in the dense wood.</p> + +<p>Here he drew rein, uttering a loud "Halloo!"</p> + +<p>In answer to his summons, two men and a woman came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> hurrying forward, +one of the men going toward the horse.</p> + +<p>"Mercy on us!" exclaimed the woman, amazedly, "Victor Lament has brought +the young woman with him."</p> + +<p>"No comments!" exclaimed Lamont, harshly, as he lifted his unconscious +burden out of the buggy.</p> + +<p>"And why not, pray?" demanded the woman, impudently. "Why should I not +make comments when my husband is your pal in all your schemes; that is, +he does the work while you play the fine gentleman, and he doesn't get +half of the money by a long shot?"</p> + +<p>"But I insist upon knowing now," declared the woman. "Who is the girl +you are carrying in your arms, and why have you brought her here—of all +places in the world?"</p> + +<p>By this time they had reached the house, and Lamont strode in and laid +his unconscious burden upon a wooden settee, which was the only article +of furniture the apartment possessed.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you answer, Victor Lamont?" cried the woman, shrilly. "Ten to +one it's some girl whose puny, pretty face has fascinated you, and +you're in love with her."</p> + +<p>"Well, supposing that is the case," he replied, coolly; "what then?"</p> + +<p>"I would say your fool-hardiness had got the better of your reason," she +replied.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>"That is the case with most men who do so foolish a thing as to fall in +love," he answered, carelessly.</p> + +<p>"Keep an eye on the girl, and do not let her leave this farm-house until +after our work around here is done."</p> + +<p>"I will promise under one condition," replied his companion; "and that +is that you will not attempt to see the girl, or speak to her."</p> + +<p>"Do you think I am a fool?" retorted Lamont.</p> + +<p>"I do not think; I am certain of it—where a pretty face is concerned," +responded the woman, quickly and blandly.</p> + +<p>"I shall make no promises," he said, rudely turning on his heel. "Attend +to the girl; she is recovering consciousness. You <i>dare not</i> permit her +to escape, no matter what you say to the contrary. I must return to the +Gardiner mansion to direct the movements of the boys. They will be +waiting for me. Order a fresh horse saddled, and be quick about it. I've +already wasted too much time listening to your recriminations."</p> + +<p>Very reluctantly the woman turned to do his bidding. She saw that she +had gone far enough. His mood had changed from a reflective to an angry +one, and Victor Lamont was a man to fear when he was in a rage.</p> + +<p>As soon as the woman had quitted the room, Lamont returned to his +contemplation of the beautiful face of the girl lying so white and still +on the wooden settee, as re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>vealed to him by the light of the swinging +oil lamp directly over her head.</p> + +<p>The longer Victor Lamont gazed, the more infatuated he became with that +pure, sweet face.</p> + +<p>"You shall love me," he muttered; "I swear it! Victor Lamont has never +yet wished for anything that he did not obtain, sooner or later, by fair +means or foul; and I wish for your love, fair girl—wish, long, crave +for it with all my heart, with all my soul, with all the depth and +strength of my nature! I will win you, and we will go far away from the +scenes that know me but too well, where a reward is offered for my +capture, and where prison doors yawn to receive me. I will marry you, +and then I will reform—I will do anything you ask of me; but I must, I +<i>will</i> have your love, or I—will—kill—you! I could never bear to see +you the bride of another."</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_LV" id="CHAPTER_LV"></a>CHAPTER LV.</h2> + + +<p>"Yes, you shall marry me, though Heaven and earth combine to take you +from me!" muttered Victor Lamont, gazing down upon the pure, +marble-white face of Bernardine. "It is said that some day, sooner or +later, every man meets his fate, and when he does meet that one of all +others, his whole life changes. The past, with all those whom he has met +and fancied before, is as nothing to him now, and his dreams are only of +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> future and that elysium where he is to wander hand in hand with the +one he loves.</p> + +<p>"Hand in hand—will I ever <i>dare</i> clasp in mine that little white hand +that I know must be as pure and spotless as a lily leaf? Would not my +own hand, dark and hardened in sin, ay, bathed in blood even, wither +away at the contact?</p> + +<p>"If I had lived a good, honorable, upright life, I might have won the +love and the respect of this young girl. If she knew me as I am, as the +police know me, she would recoil from me in horror; but <i>she must never +know</i>—never! I do not think she saw my face—ay, I could swear that she +did not. I will tell her that I was a traveler happening to pass and saw +her at the mercy of a ruffian, and rescued her.</p> + +<p>"I will have her thanks, her heartfelt gratitude. I will tell her that I +will see her safely back to her friends, as soon as my horse—which +became lame in the encounter—is able to make the journey, which will +not be later than a day or two at the furthest. In the meantime, I will +comfort her, pity her, sympathize with her.</p> + +<p>"I have always been successful in winning the hearts of women without +scarcely any effort on my part whatever, and I vow that I will win this +girl's.</p> + +<p>"The <i>La Gascoigne</i> sails in three days from now. I will sail away in +her, and this beautiful treasure shall sail with me as my bride, my +beauteous bride.</p> + +<p>"I will turn everything into cash. I will see young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> Mrs. Gardiner, and +at the point of a revolver, if need be, cause her to beg, borrow, or +steal a few thousand more for me from that handsome, aristocratic +husband of hers.</p> + +<p>"Then I will desert this gang that hang like barnacles about me, that +know too much about me, and would squeal on me any moment to save +themselves if they got into a tight place. I will go so far away that +they will never get money enough together to attempt to follow me."</p> + +<p>The clock on the mantel of an inner room warned him that time was flying +swift-winged past him.</p> + +<p>He stooped to kiss the beautiful, marble-like lips, that could not utter +a demur, locked as they were in unconsciousness; then he drew back.</p> + +<p>Even in her utter helplessness there was something like an armor about +her—even as the innocent bud is encompassed and protected by the +sharpest thorns from the hand that would ruthlessly gather it.</p> + +<p>"The kiss from those pure lips must be freely offered, not stolen," he +muttered; and turning on his heel, he hurried quickly from the apartment +while that worthy resolution was strong upon him and his good impulses +in the ascendency.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dick was suspiciously near the door; in his own mind he felt sure +that she had been spying upon him through the key-hole.</p> + +<p>"Your horse is ready, Victor Lamont," she said.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>"It took you a long time to go upon your errand," he replied, +tauntingly. "No doubt you harnessed the horse yourself, to spare that +lazy husband of yours the trouble of doing it," he added.</p> + +<p>The woman muttered something between her teeth which he did not quite +catch; nor did he take the trouble to listen.</p> + +<p>Vaulting quickly into the saddle, his mettlesome horse was off quite as +soon as he could grasp the reins, and in an instant he was lost to sight +in the dense gloom which precedes the dawn.</p> + +<p>It was quite light when Victor Lamont reached the spot by the +brook-side—the spot where he had met the lovely young stranger but a +short time before.</p> + +<p>What a strange fate it was that caused him to discover a flask of brandy +in the pocket of the saddle!</p> + +<p>That was his failing—drink! He had always guarded against taking even a +single draught when he had an important duty to perform; but on this +occasion he told himself he must make an exception.</p> + +<p>"I will drink to the health of my beautiful bride to be," he muttered, +raising the flask to his lips; and he drank long and deep, the brandy +leaping like fire through his veins.</p> + +<p>He had not long to wait in his place of concealment ere he heard the +sound of footsteps.</p> + +<p>Looking through the heavy branches, he saw the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> figure of a woman—a +familiar figure, it seemed to him—moving rapidly to and fro among the +blooms.</p> + +<p>He called to her, believing this time he was face to face with young +Mrs. Gardiner, when he found to his keen disappointment it was only +Antoinette, the clever French maid.</p> + +<p>She should take a message to her mistress, he determined; and tearing a +leaf from his memorandum-book, he hastily penciled a note to Sally +Gardiner, which he felt sure would bring her with all possible haste to +the place at which he awaited her.</p> + +<p>"Give this to your mistress with dispatch, Antoinette," he said.</p> + +<p>He knew the golden key that would be apt to unlock this French maid's +interest to do his bidding. As he spoke, he took from his pocket-book a +crisp bank-note, which he told the girl she was to spend for bon-bons or +ribbons for herself.</p> + +<p>He had always made it a point to fee the French maid well, that he might +have a powerful ally in the home of his intended victim.</p> + +<p>The money, together with a little judicious flattery now and then, had +won Antoinette completely over.</p> + +<p>As Victor Lamont sat on the mossy bowlder by the brook-side, watching +and waiting, he observed, early as the hour was, that the servants of +the mansion had begun to bestir themselves. One hour passed after +Antoinette had returned to the house; then another.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>Young Mrs. Gardiner did not come to the rendezvous.</p> + +<p>"Why is she not here?" he asked himself; and for the first time in his +life he quite lost control of himself in a fit of terrible anger, and to +calm himself he had recourse more than once to the silver flask which he +carried in his breast-pocket.</p> + +<p>Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed; then slowly one, two, three, +four—another five; then replacing his watch in his pocket, and +quivering with rage, Victor Lamont started for the house.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_LVI" id="CHAPTER_LVI"></a>CHAPTER LVI.</h2> + + +<p>The sound of the galloping hoofs of Victor Lamont's steed had scarcely +died away in the distance ere Bernardine opened her eyes and looked +wonderingly about her. For an instant she believed that her strange +surroundings—the bare room, with its curtainless windows, and the +strange women bending over her—were but the vagaries of a too realistic +dream from which she was awakening. But even while this impression was +strong upon her, the woman said, sneeringly:</p> + +<p>"So you have regained consciousness—that's bad;" and she looked crossly +at the girl.</p> + +<p>"Where am I—and who are you?" asked Bernardine, amazedly, sitting bolt +upright on the wooden settee, and staring in wonder up at the hard face +looking down into her own. But before she could answer, a wave of memory +swept over Bernardine, and she cried out in terror:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> "Oh, I remember +standing by the brook, and the dark-faced man that appeared—how he +caught hold of my arms in a grasp of steel, and I fainted. Did he bring +me away from Gardiner Castle?" she demanded, indignantly—"<i>dared</i> he do +such a thing?"</p> + +<p>"Do not get excited," replied the woman, coolly. "Always take everything +cool—that's the best way."</p> + +<p>"But why did he bring me here?" insisted Bernardine.</p> + +<p>"You will have to ask him when he comes back. He is the only one who can +answer that," returned the woman.</p> + +<p>Bernardine sprung quickly to her feet; but it was not until she +attempted to take a step forward that she realized how weak she was.</p> + +<p>"What are you intending to do?" asked the woman, sneeringly.</p> + +<p>"Leave this place," replied Bernardine, sharply. "I have no idea as to +why I was brought here; but I do not intend to stop for explanations. +Step out of my way, please, and allow me to pass."</p> + +<p>The woman laughed, and that laugh was not pleasant to hear.</p> + +<p>"That is contrary to my orders. You are to remain here, in my charge, +under my eye, until—well, until the person who brought you here says +you may go."</p> + +<p>Bernardine's dark eyes flashed; she looked amazed.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to infer that I am to be detained here—against my will?" +demanded the girl.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>"That is as you choose to look at it, miss. I am to coax you to keep me +company here, and, if you refuse, to insist upon your doing so; and +finally, if it becomes necessary, to <i>make</i> you accede to my wishes, or, +rather, the wishes of the one who brought you here."</p> + +<p>Bernardine drew herself up to her full height, and looked at the woman +with unflinching eyes, saying, slowly:</p> + +<p>"You have lent yourself to a most cruel scheme to entrap an innocent +girl; but know this: I would die by my own hand sooner than marry the +villain who had me conveyed in this most despicable way to this isolated +place. I have no doubt you know the whole story; but I say this: When my +poor father died, I was freed forever from the power of my mortal foe. +His sword fell from over my head, where he had held it suspended. He can +not pursue my hapless father beyond the gates of death."</p> + +<p>"What you are talking about is an enigma to me," returned the woman, +grimly.</p> + +<p>"If he has not told you the truth about this matter, listen to me, and +let me tell it," cried Bernardine, trembling with excitement. "I—I have +known this man who had me brought here for long years, and I know him +only to fear and distrust him—more than words can express.</p> + +<p>"One day, quite by accident, he met me on the street—right before my +own door—and he stopped short, looking at me with evident admiration +expressed in his coarse face and glittering black eyes."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>"'Ah, ha! you turn up your little nose at me, eh?' he cried. 'Well, you +shall be sorry for that, and in a fortnight, too, I'll warrant.'</p> + +<p>"I would have passed him by without deigning him a reply; but he caught +me by the shoulder, and held me fast.</p> + +<p>"'No, you don't move on like that!' he yelled in my ear, a great flush +rising to his already florid, wine-stained features. 'You shall kiss me, +my pretty, here and now!'</p> + +<p>"I endeavored to pass him, but he still clutched me tightly, fiercely in +his strong grasp, and I—I dealt him a stinging blow across the face +with the palm of my hand.</p> + +<p>"The action surprised him so that he released me from his grasp for a +single instant, and in that instant I darted away from him like a +startled hare.</p> + +<p>"'You shall pay for this!' he cried, looking after me. 'He laughs best +who laughs last!'</p> + +<p>"It was within a fortnight after that most unfortunate event that the +crisis came. My father sent for me, and told me he had had a proposal +for my hand.</p> + +<p>"'The man who wants to marry you will make a great lady of you, my +girl,' said my father, eagerly. 'You are lucky! I repeat you are <i>very</i> +lucky! Why are you looking at me with troubled eyes,' he demanded, 'when +you ought to be clapping your hands in delight and asking me who it is?'</p> + +<p>"'I am silent because I fear to inquire the name,' I replied, slowly, +'lest you should utter a name which I loathe.'</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>"'The man is rich,' he said, leaning forward eagerly.</p> + +<p>"'Riches do not bring happiness,' I replied. 'I know of a man whom the +world calls rich, and yet I would not marry him if he had all the wealth +of the world to pour at my feet. But who is this man who has come to you +without even the formality of finding out if it was worth his +while—without deigning to take the trouble to find out if I could care +for him to the extent of becoming his wife?'</p> + +<p>"'The son of our landlord,' replied my father, his voice a little husky.</p> + +<p>"'Were I not so angry I should be amused,' I answered. 'If there was not +another man on the face of the earth, I would not marry Jasper Wilde. +I——'"</p> + +<p>The woman had been listening to Bernardine's story indifferently enough +until she uttered that name. At the sound of it, she caught her breath +sharply, and sprung suddenly forward.</p> + +<p>"What name did you say? What is the name of the man who wanted to marry +you?" she gasped. "Did I understand you to say Jasper Wilde?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Bernardine, wonderingly; and her wonder grew into the +utmost consternation when the woman fell at her feet shrieking with +rage.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_LVII" id="CHAPTER_LVII"></a>CHAPTER LVII.</h2> + + +<p>Bernardine was tender of heart. She saw that the woman who was groveling +at her feet was suffering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> mental pain, and she realized that in some +vague way the name Jasper Wilde, which she had just uttered, had +occasioned it.</p> + +<p>She forgot her surroundings, forgot the woman had declared it her +intention to detain her there even against her will; she remembered only +that a human being was suffering, and she must aid her if she could.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the woman struggled to her feet.</p> + +<p>"I did not know who you were talking about until you mentioned <i>that +name</i>!" she cried, excitedly and almost incoherently; "for it was <i>not</i> +Jasper Wilde who brought you here. It never occurred to me that Jasper +Wilde had a hand in it—that he had anything to do with it. I am Jasper +Wilde's wife, girl, and the story you have told is a revelation to me. +He must have got the other man to bring you here, and he means to fly +with you and desert me! Ha, ha, ha! I always find out everything he +attempts to do in <i>some</i> way!"</p> + +<p>"He went off on his horse just as you were brought in. Before he comes, +I will set you free."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I thank you more than words can express!" said Bernardine, +fervently.</p> + +<p>"You can take the horse and buggy that they always have hitched and +ready for an emergency. If they took you from Gardiner mansion, you will +find it a good hour's drive; but if you start at once you will get there +by sunrise. You may meet some of them on the road; but you seem to be a +brave girl. You have a horse that not one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> of them could overtake in a +five-mile race, if you lay on the whip. Now go!"</p> + +<p>"But you?" cried Bernardine. "I can not go and leave you suffering here. +You are very ill—I see it in your face. You are white as death. Let me +take you to the nearest doctor—there are several hereabouts——"</p> + +<p>But the woman shook her head sadly.</p> + +<p>"I feel that it is of no use," she whispered, hoarsely. "I feel that I +am doomed—that my hour has come. Your startling news has done it," she +gasped. "Jasper once dealt me a terrible blow over the heart. I—I did +not die then, but my heart has been weak ever since. Go—go, girl, while +the opportunity is yours. You can not escape him, if he returns and +finds you here! Leave me to my fate. It is better so."</p> + +<p>As she uttered the last word, she fell back with a dull thud, and +Bernardine saw—ah, she knew—that the patient heart of this poor +creature who had loved faithless, cruel Jasper Wilde to the bitter end +had slowly broken at last.</p> + +<p>Reverently covering the white, staring face with her apron, and +breathing a sobbing prayer for her, Bernardine fled from the room.</p> + +<p>A faint belt of light over the eastern hills told her that dawn was not +far off.</p> + +<p>She found the horse and buggy where the woman had indicated, and with +hands trembling with nervous excitement untied the bridle.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>The animal scarcely gave her time to climb into the vehicle, ere he was +off with the speed of the wind through the stubble fields of the old +deserted farm and on to the high-road.</p> + +<p>It was all that Bernardine could do to cling to the reins, let alone +attempt to guide the animal, whose speed was increasing perceptibly at +every step he took.</p> + +<p>The trees, the wild flowers by the road-side, the dark pines and +mile-posts, seemed to whirl past her, and she realized, with a terrible +quaking of the heart, that the horse was getting beyond her control and +was running away.</p> + +<p>The light buggy seemed to fairly spin over the road without touching it. +From a run, the horse had broken into a mad gallop, which the small +white hands clinging to the reins was powerless to stop.</p> + +<p>Suddenly from a bend in the road, as she reached it, she saw a horseman +riding leisurely toward her on a chestnut mare which she recognized at +once as belonging to the Gardiner stables. He could not be one of the +grooms, nor could he be one of the guests astir at that hour; still, +there was something familiar in the form of the man advancing toward her +at an easy canter.</p> + +<p>He seemed to take in the situation at a glance, and quickly drew back +into the bushes to give the runaway horse full swing in the narrow road.</p> + +<p>But as Bernardine advanced at that mad, flying pace, she heard the man +shout:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>"My horse, by all that is wonderful! But that isn't Mag in the buggy. +Who in thunder can it be in that wagon, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>That loud, harsh voice! No wonder Bernardine's heart almost ceased +beating as she heard it. It was the voice of Jasper Wilde.</p> + +<p>Only Heaven's mercy kept her from swooning outright, for she knew Jasper +Wilde would recognize her as soon as he came abreast of her.</p> + +<p>This proved to be the case.</p> + +<p>"Bernardine Moore!" he shouted, hardly believing he had seen aright.</p> + +<p>For one moment of time he was taken so completely by surprise that he +was quite incapable of action, and in that moment Bernardine's horse was +many rods past him.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is Bernardine Moore!" he cried out, excitedly.</p> + +<p>He did not ask himself how she happened to be there; he had no time for +that.</p> + +<p>Cursing himself for the time he had lost through his astonishment at the +discovery, he wheeled his horse about with so sharp a jerk that it +almost brought the animal upon its haunches; then started in mad pursuit +of the girl, shouting at the top of his voice to Bernardine to saw hard +on both lines, and jerk quickly backward.</p> + +<p>To his intense rage, he saw Bernardine take out the whip and lay it on +the back of the runaway horse, and it flashed across his mind what that +meant.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>She had seen and recognized him as she flew past him. She knew he was +hurrying after her, and she preferred death rather than that he should +overtake her.</p> + +<p>Curses loud and deep broke from his lips. He yelled to her to draw rein; +but she only urged the horse on the faster.</p> + +<p>He had searched the world over to find Bernardine Moore, and now that he +had come across her by chance, she should not escape him like this.</p> + +<p>A mere chit of a girl should not outwit him in that fashion.</p> + +<p>A mad thought occurred to him.</p> + +<p>There was but one way of stopping that horse and overtaking Bernardine, +and that was to draw his revolver and shoot the animal dead in its +tracks.</p> + +<p>He liked the horse; but nothing on earth should prevent him from +capturing the girl he still loved to desperation.</p> + +<p>To think, with him, was to act; and quick as a flash, he drew a weapon +from his hip-pocket, and the loud report of a shot instantly followed.</p> + + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="CHAPTER_LVIII" id="CHAPTER_LVIII"></a>CHAPTER LVIII.</h2> + + +<p>The shot which rang out so clearly on the early morning air missed its +mark, and the noise only succeeded in sending Bernardine's horse along +the faster. Taking one terrified glance backward, Bernardine saw Jasper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +Wilde's horse suddenly swerve, unseating her rider, and the next instant +he was measuring his length in the dusty road-side.</p> + +<p>The girl did not pause to look again, nor did she draw rein upon the +panting steed, until, covered with foam, and panting for breath, he drew +up of his own accord at the gate of Gardiner mansion.</p> + +<p>One of the grooms came running forward, and Bernardine saw that he was +greatly excited.</p> + +<p>"The maids missed you, and feared something had happened to you, Miss +Moore," he said; "but we were all so alarmed about young master, it +caused us to forget everything else, we all love Master Jay so well."</p> + +<p>A sharp pain, like that caused by a dagger's thrust, seemed to flash +through Bernardine's heart as those words fell upon her startled ear.</p> + +<p>"What has happened to your master, John?" she asked, huskily; and her +voice sounded terribly unnatural.</p> + +<p>In a voice husky with emotion the groom explained to her what was +occurring—how young Mrs. Gardiner stood guard over her husband, +refusing to allow the doctor to perform an operation which might save +their young master, who was dying by inches with each passing moment of +time—how she had caught up a thin, sharp-bladed knife which the doctor +had just taken from his surgical case, and, brandishing it before her +with the fury of a fiend incarnate, defied any one to dare approach.</p> + +<p>Both Mrs. Gardiner and Miss Margaret had gone into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> hysterics, and had +to be removed from the apartment to an adjoining room.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Moore, surely your services were never so much needed as now, +you seem so clever! Oh, if you could, by any means in earthly power, +coax young Mrs. Gardiner from her husband's bedside, the operation would +be performed, whether she consented or not! In God's name, see what you +can do!"</p> + +<p>Bernardine waited to hear no more, but, like a storm-driven swallow, +fairly flew across the lawn to the house, without even stopping a moment +to give the least explanation concerning the strange horse and buggy +which she had left in the groom's hands.</p> + +<p>As the man had said, the greatest excitement pervaded the mansion. +Servants were running about hither and thither, wringing their hands, +expecting to hear each moment—they knew not what.</p> + +<p>Like one fairly dazed, Bernardine flew along the corridor toward the +blue and gold room which she knew had been set apart for Jay Gardiner's +use.</p> + +<p>She could hear the murmur of excited voices as she reached the door.</p> + +<p>She saw that it was ajar. A draught of wind blew it open as she +approached.</p> + +<p>As she reached the threshold, Bernardine stood rooted to the spot at the +spectacle that met her gaze.</p> + +<p>Young Mrs. Gardiner was bending over her hapless husband with a face so +transformed by hate—yes, hate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>—there was no mistaking the +expression—that it nearly took Bernardine's breath away. In her right +hand she held the gleaming blade, the end of which rested against Jay's +bared breast.</p> + +<p>The doctor had sunk into the nearest seat, and in that unfortunate +moment had taken his eyes off the sufferer, whose life was ebbing so +swiftly, and had dropped his face in his trembling hands to think out +what he had best do in this dire moment of horror.</p> + +<p>All this Bernardine took in at a single glance.</p> + +<p>Jay Gardiner's life hung in the balance. She forgot her surroundings, +forgot everything, but that she must save him even though at the risk of +her own life. She would have gladly given a hundred lives, if she had +them, to save him.</p> + +<p>She did not stop an instant to formulate any plan, but with a cry of the +most intense horror, born of acute agony, she had cleared the space +which divided her from young Mrs. Gardiner at a single bound, and in a +twinkling had hurled the blade from her hands.</p> + +<p>Sally Gardiner was taken so entirely by surprise for an instant that she +did not stoop to recover the gleaming knife which had fallen between her +assailant and herself.</p> + +<p>In that instant, the doctor, who had witnessed the scene which had taken +place with such lightning-like rapidity, sprung forward and grasped the +furious woman, pinioning her hands behind her, and called loudly upon +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> servants to come to his aid and remove her from Jay Gardiner's +bedside.</p> + +<p>But there was little need of their assistance. Sally Gardiner stood +regarding Bernardine, her hands hanging by her sides, her eyes staring +eagerly at the intruder.</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> here!" she muttered, in an almost inaudible voice. "What are +<i>you</i> doing in his sick-room, <i>you</i> whom he always loved instead of me? +He married <i>me</i> from a sense of honor, but he loved you, and never +ceased to let me understand that to be the case. What are you doing here +now—<i>you</i> of all other women?"</p> + +<p>"Come with me quietly into the other room and I will tell you how it +happens that I am here—in <i>his</i> home," whispered Bernardine, huskily.</p> + +<p>"No," she shrieked, laughing a hard, jeering, terrible laugh in +Bernardine's white, pain-drawn face as she battled fiercely to shake off +the doctor's hold of her pinioned arms. "I shall not go—I shall not +leave my post until he is <i>dead</i>! Do you hear?—until he is dead! I +shall not save him for you! I'd rather be his widow than his unloved +wife!"</p> + +<p>"Come!" whispered Bernardine, sternly. "A human life is at stake—he is +dying. You <i>must</i> come with me and let the doctor be free to do his +work. I command you to come!" she added, in a stern, ringing, sonorous +voice that seemed to thrill the other to her very heart's core and +fascinate her—ay, fairly paralyze her will-power. "Come!" repeated +Bernardine, laying a hand on her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> shoulder—"come out into the grounds +with me, Mrs. Gardiner—out into the fresh air. I have something to tell +you. I had an encounter with Victor Lamont last night," she added in a +whisper, her eyes fixed steadily on the young wife as she slowly uttered +the words.</p> + +<p>Their effect was magical on Sally Gardiner. She reeled forward like one +about to faint.</p> + +<p>"Let me go out into the grounds alone," she cried, hoarsely. "I must +collect my scattered thoughts. Come to me there in half an hour, and +tell me. I—I can listen to you then."</p> + +<p>And with these words, the fiery creature left the room, staggering +rather than walking through the open French window.</p> + +<p>The doctor caught Bernardine's hand in his.</p> + +<p>"If he lives, it will be to your strategy that he owes his life," he +said, hurriedly. "Now leave the room quickly. In ten minutes I will call +you, and you shall tell his mother and sister whether it be life or +death."</p> + +<p>True to his promise, within the prescribed time the doctor called +Bernardine.</p> + +<p>"It will be life," he said, joyously; "and in performing the operation, +I also found a small piece of bone resting against the brain, which was +the cause of the strange lapse of memory he complained to me about +several months ago. His brain is perfectly clear now. I heard from his +lips a startling story," continued the doctor, taking Bernardine aside. +"Come to him."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>She refused, saying she was just about to leave the house; but the +doctor insisted, and at length, accompanied by Jay's mother and his +sister, she went to his bedside.</p> + +<p>Jay's joy at beholding Bernardine was so great they almost feared for +his life. And then the truth came out: his marriage to Bernardine was +legal and binding before God and man, and that, directly after he had +left her on the day of the ceremony, he had met with an accident which +completely obliterated the event from his mind; even all remembrance of +Bernardine's existence.</p> + +<p>"What, then, is poor Sally?" cried his mother, in horror. "She wedded +you, knowing nothing of all this!"</p> + +<p>Before he could answer, they heard a great commotion in the corridor +below; and, forgetful of the sick man, Antoinette rushed in weeping +wildly, crying out that her young mistress had just been found dead in +the brook.</p> + +<p>She died without knowing the truth, and they were all thankful for +that—not even her family or Miss Rogers ever knew the sad truth.</p> + +<p>Two men fled from the vicinity that day—Victor Lamont and Jasper Wilde.</p> + +<p class="tb">When Jay Gardiner was able to travel, he and his mother and sister and +Bernardine went abroad; but, out of respect to poor Sally's memory, it +was a year before they took their places in the great world as—what +they had been from the first—husband and wife.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>In the sunshine of the happy years that followed, Bernardine never +reproached her husband for that blotted page in their history which he +would have given so much to efface.</p> + +<p>Sally's father and mother and sister grieved many a long year over her +death.</p> + +<p>Antoinette stole quietly away, and was seen no more. Old Mrs. Gardiner +and Miss Margaret are as happy as the day is long in the love of Jay's +sweet, grave young wife, while her husband fairly adores her, though two +others share his love as the sunny days flit by—a sturdy youngster whom +they call Jay, and a dainty little maiden named Sally—named after Miss +Rogers, and whom that lady declares is to be her heiress—a jolly little +maiden, hoidenish and mischievous, strangely like that other one who +came so near wrecking her father's and mother's life.</p> + +<p>The little girl has but one fear—she never goes near the brook; perhaps +its babbling waters could reveal a strange story—who can tell?</p> + +<p>Over a grave on the sloping hill-side there is a marble shaft. The name +engraved upon it is Sally Gardiner, that the world may not know the +story of her who rests there.</p> + +<p>The sun does not fall upon it, the shadow of the trees is so dense; but +soft and pityingly falls the dew on the hearts of the flowers that cover +the grave where Sally sleeps.</p> + +<p style="margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 3em; text-align: center; font-size: 120%; font-weight: bold;">THE END.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>THE HART SERIES</h2> + +<p class="center">Laura Jean Libbey<br /> +Miss Caroline Hart<br /> +Mrs. E. Burke Collins<br /> +Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller<br /> +Charlotte M. Braeme<br /> +Barbara Howard<br /> +Lucy Randall Comfort<br /> +Mary E. Bryan<br /> +Marie Corelli</p> + +<p class="center">Was there ever a galaxy of names representing such +authors offered to the public before?</p> + +<p class="center">Masters all of writing stories that arouse the +emotions, in sentiment, passion and love, their books +excel any that have ever been written.</p> + + +<p class="center" style="margin-top: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 1.25em;">NOW READY</p> + +<p class="center">1—Kidnapped at the Altar, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +2—Gladiola's Two Lovers, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +3—Lil, the Dancing Girl, Caroline Hart.<br /> +5—The Woman Who Came Between, Caroline Hart.<br /> +6—Aleta's Terrible Secret, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +7—For Love or Honor, Caroline Hart.<br /> +8—The Romance of Enola, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +9—A Handsome Engineer's Flirtation, Laura J. Libbey<br /> +10—A Little Princess, Caroline Hart.<br /> +11—Was She Sweetheart or Wife, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +12—Nameless Bess, Caroline Hart.<br /> +13—Della's Handsome Lover, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +14—That Awful Scar, Caroline Hart.<br /> +15—Flora Garland's Courtship, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +16—Love's Rugged Path, Caroline Hart.<br /> +17—My Sweetheart Idabell, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +18—Married at Sight, Caroline Hart.<br /> +19—Pretty Madcap Dorothy, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +20—Her Right to Love, Caroline Hart.<br /> +21—The Loan of a Lover, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +22—The Game of Love, Caroline Hart.<br /> +23—A Fatal Elopement, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +24—Vendetta, Marie Corelli.<br /> +25—The Girl He Forsook, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +26—Redeemed by Love, Caroline Hart.<br /> +28—A Wasted Love, Caroline Hart.<br /> +29—A Dangerous Flirtation, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +30—A Haunted Life, Caroline Hart.<br /> +31—Garnetta, the Silver King's Daughter, L. J. Libbey.<br /> +32—A Romance of Two Worlds, Marie Corelli.<br /> +34—Her Ransom, Charles Garvice.<br /> +36—A Hidden Terror, Caroline Hart.<br /> +37—Flora Temple, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +38—Claribel's Love Story, Charlotte M. Braeme.<br /> +39—Pretty Rose Hall, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +40—The Mystery of Suicide Place, Mrs. Alex. Miller.<br /> +41—Cora, the Pet of the Regiment, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +42—The Vengeance of Love, Caroline Hart.<br /> +43—Jolly Sally Pendleton, Laura Jean Libbey.<br /> +44—A Bitter Reckoning, Mrs. E. Burke Collins.<br /> +45—Kathleen's Diamonds, Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.<br /> +46—Angela's Lover, Caroline Hart.<br /> +47—Lancaster's Choice, Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.<br /> +48—The Madness of Love, Caroline Hart.<br /> +49—Little Sweetheart, Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.<br /> +50—A Working Girl's Honor, Caroline Hart.<br /> +51—The Mystery of Colde Fell, Charlotte M. Braeme.<br /> +52—The Rival Heiresses, Caroline Hart.<br /> +53—Little Nobody, Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.<br /> +54—Her Husband's Ghost, Mary E. Bryan.<br /> +55—Sold for Gold, Mrs. E. Burke Collins.<br /> +56—Her Husband's Secret, Lucy Randall Comfort.<br /> +57—A Passionate Love, Barbara Howard.<br /> +58—From Want to Wealth, Caroline Hart.<br /> +59—Loved You Better Than You Knew, Mrs. A. Miller.<br /> +60—Irene's Vow, Charlotte M. Braeme.<br /> +61—She Loved Not Wisely, Caroline Hart.<br /> +62—Molly's Treachery, Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.<br /> +63—Was It Wrong? Barbara Howard.<br /> +64—The Midnight Marriage, Mrs. Sumner Hayden.<br /> +65—Ailsa, Wenona Gilman.<br /> +66—Her Dark Inheritance, Mrs. E. Burke Collins.<br /> +67—Viola's Vanity, Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.<br /> +68—The Ghost of the Hurricane Hills, Mary E. Bryan.<br /> +69—A Woman Wronged, Caroline Hart.<br /> +70—Was She His Lawful Wife? Barbara Howard.<br /> +71—Val, the Tomboy, Wenona Gilman.<br /> +72—The Richmond Secret, Mrs. E. Burke Collins.<br /> +73—Edna's Vow, Charlotte M. Stanley.<br /> +74—Heart's of Fire, Caroline Hart.<br /> +75—St. Elmo, Augusta J. Evans.<br /> +76—Nobody's Wife, Caroline Hart.<br /> +77—Ishmael, Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth.<br /> +78—Self-Raised, Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth.<br /> +79—Pretty Little Rosebud, Barbara Howard.<br /> +80—Inez, Augusta J. Evans.<br /> +81—The Girl Wife, Mrs. Sumner Hayden.<br /> +82—Dora Thorne, Charlotte M. Braeme.<br /> +83—Followed by Fate, Lucy Randall Comfort.<br /> +84—India, or the Pearl of Pearl River, Southworth<br /> +85—Mad Kingsley's Heir, Mrs. E. Burke Collins.<br /> +86—The Missing Bride, Mrs. E.D.E.N. Southworth.<br /> +87—Wicked Sir Dare, Charles Garvice.<br /> +88—Daintie's Cruel Rivals, Mrs. Alex. McV. Miller.<br /> +89—Lillian's Vow, Caroline Hart.<br /> +90—Miss Estcourt, Charles Garvice.<br /> +91—Beulah, Augusta J. Evans.<br /> +92—Daphane's Fate, Mrs. E. Burke Collins.<br /> +93—Wormwood, Marie Corelli.<br /> +94—Nellie, Charles Garvice.<br /> +95—His Legal Wife, Mary E. Bryan.<br /> +96—Macaria, Augusta J. Evans.<br /> +97—Lost and Found, Charlotte M. Stanley.<br /> +98—The Curse of Clifton, Mrs. Southworth.<br /> +99—That Strange Girl, Charles Garvice.<br /> +100—The Lovers at Storm Castle, Mrs. M. A. Collins<br /> +101—Margerie's Mistake, Lucy Randall Comfort.<br /> +102—The Curse of Pocahontas, Wenona Gilman.<br /> +103—My Love Kitty, Charles Garvice.<br /> +104—His Fairy Queen, Elizabeth Stiles.<br /> +105—From Worse than Death, Caroline Hart.<br /> +106—Audrey Fane's Love, Mrs. E. Burke Collins.<br /> +107—Thorns and Orange Blossoms, Charlotte Braeme.<br /> +108—Ethel Dreeme, Frank Corey.<br /> +109—Three Girls, Mary E. Bryan.<br /> +110—A Strange Marriage, Caroline Hart.<br /> +111—Violet, Charles Garvice.<br /> +112—The Ghost of the Power, Mrs. Sumner Hayden.<br /> +113—Baptised with a Curse, Edith Stewart Drewry.<br /> +114—A Tragic Blunder, Mrs. H. Lovett Cameron.<br /> +115—The Secret of Her Life, Edward Jenkins.<br /> +116—My Guardian, Ada Cambridge.<br /> +117—A Last Love, Georges Ohnet.<br /> +118—His Angel, Henry Herman.<br /> +119—Pretty Miss Bellew, Theo. Gift.<br /> +120—Blind Love, Wilkie Collins.<br /> +121—A Life's Mistake, Mrs. H. Lovett Cameron.<br /> +122—Won By Waiting, Edna Lyall.<br /> +123—Passions Slave, King.<br /> +124—Under Currents, Duchess.<br /> +125—False Vow, Braeme.<br /> +126—The Belle of Lynne, Braeme.<br /> +127—Lord Lynne's Choice, Braeme.<br /> +128—Blossom and Fruit, Braeme.<br /> +129—Weaker Than a Woman, Braeme.<br /> +130—Tempest and Sunshine, Mary J. Holmes.<br /> +131—Lady Muriel's Secret, Braeme.<br /> +132—A Mad Love, Braeme.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Hart Series books are for sale everywhere, or they +will be sent by mail, postage paid, for 30 cents a +copy, by the publisher; 4 copies for $1.00. Postage +stamps taken the same as money.</p></div> + +<p class="center">THE ARTHUR WESTBROOK COMPANY,<br />Cleveland, Ohio, U. S. A.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Transcriber's note:</p> + +<p>The original edition from which this electronic +book was scanned contained the table of contents for a different novel. +This erroneous page has been deleted and a new table of contents +created.</p> + +<p>In addition, the following typographic errors in the original edition +have been corrected.</p> + +<p>In Chapter I, "and. what was better still" was changed to "and, what was +better still", and "had establish himself" was changed to "had +established himself".</p> + +<p>In Chapter II, "If she has a preference for either" was changed to "If +he has a preference for either".</p> + +<p>In Chapter III, "boated and spurred" was changed to "booted and +spurred".</p> + +<p>In Chapter IX, a quotation mark at the beginning of the paragraph +opening "As he conversed" was deleted.</p> + +<p>In Chapter XII, "a notion to your" was changed to "a notion to you".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XVI, "It was not Mrs. Pendlteon" was changed to "It was not +Mrs. Pendleton".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XVIII, "her stern lips set" was changed to "his stern lips +set".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXII, "a hundreds times welcome" was changed to "a hundred +times welcome".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXVIII, "In an instant Doctor Gardner" was changed to "In an +instant Doctor Gardiner".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXIX, "hundred of miles away" was changed to "hundreds of +miles away", and "You clothes are covered with dust" was changed to +"Your clothes are covered with dust".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXXVIII, "It an instant all the terrible scenes" was changed +to "In an instant all the terrible scenes".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XL, "a sever headache" was changed to "a severe headache".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XLVII, "of much vaule" was changed to "of much value".</p> + +<p>In Chapter LVI, "who had be conveyed" was changed to "who had me +conveyed".</p> + +<p>In the list of books advertised on the back cover, "A Passionate Love, +Barabara Howard" has been changed to "A Passionate Love, Barbara +Howard", and "Miss Estcourt, Charles Gorvice" has been changed to "Miss +Estcourt, Charles Garvice".</p></div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOLLY SALLY PENDLETON***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 29544-h.txt or 29544-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/9/5/4/29544">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/5/4/29544</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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