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@@ -1,39 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bride of the Tomb and Queenie's -Terrible Secret, by Mrs. Alexander McVeigh Miller - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Bride of the Tomb and Queenie's Terrible Secret - -Author: Mrs. Alexander McVeigh Miller - -Release Date: February 18, 2013 [EBook #42100] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRIDE OF THE TOMB *** - - - - -Produced by Demian Katz and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images courtesy -of the Digital Library@Villanova University -(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/)) - - - - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42100 *** CONTENTS @@ -139,7 +104,7 @@ CONTENTS BY MRS. ALEX. M^cVEIGH MILLER - STREET & SMITH x PUBLISHERS x NEW YORK + STREET & SMITH × PUBLISHERS × NEW YORK @@ -427,7 +392,7 @@ PUBLISHED EVERY WEEK (Sweet As a Rose) 241--Her Love and Trust By Adeline Sergeant. =240--Saved by the Sword= =By St. George Rathborne= - 239--Don Caesar De Bazan By Victor Hugo. + 239--Don Cæsar De Bazan By Victor Hugo. 238--That Other Woman By Annie Thomas. 237--Woman or Witch? By Dora Delmar. =236--Her Humble Lover= =By Charles Garvice= @@ -18624,362 +18589,4 @@ Page 119, changed "condemed" to "condemned." 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Bride of the Tomb and Queenie's Terrible Secret - -Author: Mrs. Alexander McVeigh Miller - -Release Date: February 18, 2013 [EBook #42100] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRIDE OF THE TOMB *** - - - - -Produced by Demian Katz and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images courtesy -of the Digital Library@Villanova University -(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/)) - - - - - - - - - -CONTENTS - - The Bride of the Tomb; or, Lancelot Darling's Betrothed - Chapter I. - Chapter II. - Chapter III. - Chapter IV. - Chapter V. - Chapter VI. - Chapter VII. - Chapter VIII. - Chapter IX. - Chapter X. - Chapter XI. - Chapter XII. - Chapter XIII. - Chapter XIV. - Chapter XV. - Chapter XVI. - Chapter XVII. - Chapter XVIII. - Chapter XIX. - Chapter XX. - Chapter XXI. - Chapter XXII. - Chapter XXIII. - Chapter XXIV. - Chapter XXV. - Chapter XXVI. - Chapter XXVII. - Chapter XXVIII. - Chapter XXIX. - Chapter XXX. - Chapter XXXI. - Chapter XXXII. - Chapter XXXIII. - Chapter XXXIV. - Chapter XXXV. - Chapter XXXVI. - Chapter XXXVII. - Chapter XXXVIII. - Chapter XXXIX. - Chapter XL. - - Queenie's Terrible Secret; or, A Young Girl's Strange Fate - Chapter I. - Chapter II. - Chapter III. - Chapter IV. - Chapter V. - Chapter VI. - Chapter VII. - Chapter VIII. - Chapter IX. - Chapter X. - Chapter XI. - Chapter XII. - Chapter XIII. - Chapter XIV. - Chapter XV. - Chapter XVI. - Chapter XVII. - Chapter XVIII. - Chapter XIX. - Chapter XX. - Chapter XXI. - Chapter XXII. - Chapter XXIII. - Chapter XXIV. - Chapter XXV. - Chapter XXVI. - Chapter XXVII. - Chapter XXVIII. - Chapter XXIX. - Chapter XXX. - Chapter XXXI. - Chapter XXXII. - Chapter XXXIII. - Chapter XXXIV. - Chapter XXXV. - Chapter XXXVI. - Chapter XXXVII. - Chapter XXXVIII. - Chapter XXXIX. - Chapter XL. - Chapter XLI. - Chapter XLII. - Chapter XLIII. - - - - - EAGLE SERIES No. 426 - - - THE BRIDE OF THE TOMB - AND - QUEENIE'S TERRIBLE SECRET - - [Illustration] - - BY - MRS. ALEX. M^cVEIGH MILLER - - STREET & SMITH × PUBLISHERS × NEW YORK - - - - -_The Eagle Series_ - -_OF POPULAR FICTION_ - - _Principally Copyrights._ _Elegant Colored Covers_ - - -This is the pioneer line of copyright novels. Its popularity has -increased with every number, until, at the present time, it stands -unrivaled as regards sales and contents. - -It is composed, mainly, of popular copyrighted titles which cannot be -had in any other lines at any price. The authors, as far as literary -ability and reputation are concerned, represent the foremost men and -women of their time. The books, without exception, are of entrancing -interest, and manifestly those most desired by the American reading -public. A purchase of two or three of these books at random, will make -you a firm believer that there is no line of novels which can compare -favorably with the EAGLE SERIES. - -PUBLISHED EVERY WEEK - - - =To be Published During May= - - 466--Love, the Victor By a Popular Southern Author - - =To be Published During April= - - =465--Outside Her Eden= =By Mrs. Harriet Lewis= - =464--The Old Life's Shadows= =By Mrs. Harriet Lewis= - =463--A Wife's Triumph= =By Effie Adelaide Rowlands= - 462--A Stormy Wedding By Mary E. Bryan - - =To be Published During March= - - 461--Above All Things By Adelaide Stirling - =460--Dr. Jack's Talisman= =By St. George Rathborne= - 459--A Golden Mask By Charlotte M. Stanley - =458--When Love Meets Love= =By Charles Garvice= - - =To be Published During February= - - =457--Adrift in the World= =By Mrs. Harriet Lewis= - =456--A Vixen's Treachery= =By Mrs. Harriet Lewis= - =455--Love's Greatest Gift= =By Effie Adelaide Rowlands= - 454--Love's Probation By Elizabeth Olmis - - =To be Published During January= - - 453--A Poor Girl's Passion By Gertrude Warden - 452--The Last of the Van Slacks By Edward S. Van Zile - =451--Helen's Triumph= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - =450--Rosamond's Love= =By Mrs. Harriet Lewis= - =449--The Bailiff's Scheme= =By Mrs. Harriet Lewis= - - * * * * * - - 448--When Love Dawns By Adelaide Stirling - =447--A Favorite of Fortune= =By St. George Rathborne= - 446--Bound with Love's Fetters By Mary Grace Halpine - =445--An Angel of Evil= =By Effie Adelaide Rowlands= - 444--Love's Trials By Alfred R. Calhoun - 443--In Spite of Proof By Gertrude Warden - 442--Love Before Duty By Mrs. L. T. Meade - 441--A Princess of the Stage By Nataly von Eschstruth - =440--Edna's Secret Marriage= =By Charles Garvice= - 439--Little Nan By Mary A. Denison - =438--So Like a Man= =By Effie Adelaide Rowlands= - 437--The Breach of Custom By Mrs. D. M. Lowrey - =436--The Rival Toreadors= =By St. George Rathborne= - 435--Under Oath By Jean Kate Ludlum - 434--The Guardian's Trust By Mary A. Denison - =433--Winifred's Sacrifice= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 432--Breta's Double By Helen V. Greyson - =431--Her Husband and Her Love,= =By Effie Adelaide Rowlands= - 430--The Honor of a Heart By Mary J. Safford - 429--A Fair Fraud By Emily Lovett Cameron - 428--A Tramp's Daughter By Hazel Wood - =427--A Wizard of the Moors= =By St. George Rathborne= - 426--The Bride of the Tomb and Queenie's Terrible Secret, - By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 425--A College Widow By Frank H. Howe - =424--A Splendid Man= =By Effie Adelaide Rowlands= - 423--A Woman's Way By Capt. Frederick Whittaker - 422--Lady Kildare By Mrs. Harriet Lewis - 421--Her Sweet Reward By Barbara Kent - 420--A Sweet Little Lady By Gertrude Warden - =419--The Other Woman= =By Charles Garvice= - 418--An Insignificant Woman By W. Heimburg - =417--Brave Barbara= =By Effie Adelaide Rowlands= - =416--Down in Dixie= =By St. George Rathborne= - =415--Trixy= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 414--A Girl's First Love By Elizabeth C. Winter - 413--Were They Married? By Hazel Wood - 412--The Love That Lives By Capt. Fred'k Whittaker - 411--Fettered and Freed By Eugene Charvette - 410--Miss Mischief By W. Heimburg - =409--A Girl's Kingdom= =By Effie Adelaide Rowlands= - 408--On a False Charge By Seward W. Hopkins - =407--Esther, the Fright= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - =406--Felipe's Pretty Sister= =By St. George Rathborne= - 405--The Haunted Husband By Mrs. Harriet Lewis - 404--The Captive Bride By Capt. Fred'k Whittaker - 403--The Rival Suitors By J. H. Connelly - 402--A Silent Heroine By Mrs. D. M. Lowrey - 401--The Woman Who Came Between Effie Adelaide Rowlands - 400--For Another's Wrong By W. Heimburg - =399--Betsey's Transformation= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 398--Cupid's Disguise By Fanny Lewald - 397--A Gilded Promise By Walter Bloomfield - =396--Back to Old Kentucky= =By St. George Rathborne= - 395--Wooing a Widow By E. A. King - 394--A Drama of a Life By Jean Kate Ludlum - 393--On the Wings of Fate By Effie Adelaide Rowlands - 392--A Resurrected Love By Seward W. Hopkins - =391--Marguerite's Heritage= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 390--A Mutual Vow By Harold Payne - 389--Sundered Hearts By Mrs. Harriet Lewis - 388--Two Wives By Hazel Wood - 387--A Heroine's Plot By Katherine S. MacQuoid - 386--Teddy's Enchantress By St. George Rathborne - 385--A Woman Against Her By Effie Adelaide Rowlands - 384--Yet She Loved Him By Mrs. Kate Vaughn - 383--A Lover From Across the Sea By Mary J. Safford - =382--Mona= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 381--The Sunshine of Love By Mrs. Harriet Lewis - 380--Her Double Life By Mrs. Harriet Lewis - 379--Blinded by Love By Nataly Von Eschstruth - 378--John Winthrop's Defeat By Jean Kate Ludlum - 377--Forever True By Effie Adelaide Rowlands - =376--The Red Slipper= =By St. George Rathborne= - 375--Transgressing the Law By Capt. Fred'k Whittaker - 374--True Daughter of Hartenstein By Mary J. Safford - =373--A Thorn Among Roses= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - =372--A Girl in a Thousand= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 371--Cecil Rosse By Mrs. Harriet Lewis - 370--Edith Trevor's Secret By Mrs. Harriet Lewis - 369--At a Great Cost By Effie Adelaide Rowlands - =368--The Pride of Her Life= =By Charles Garvice= - 367--Hearts and Coronets By Jane G. Fuller - =366--Comrades In Exile= =By St. George Rathborne= - 365--Under a Cloud By Jean Kate Ludlum - 364--A Fool's Paradise By Mary Grace Halpine - 363--The Opposite House By Nataly Von Eschstruth - =362--Stella Rosevelt= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - =361--The Ashes of Love= =By Charles Garvice= - 360--An Only Daughter By Hazel Wood - 359--The Spectre's Secret By Sylvanus Cobb, Jr. - 358--Beryl's Husband By Mrs. Harriet Lewis - =357--Montezuma's Mines= =By St. George Rathborne= - 356--Little Kit By Effie Adelaide Rowlands - 355--Wife and Woman By Mary J. Safford - =354--A Love Comedy= =By Charles Garvice= - 353--Family Pride, Vol. II. By Mary J. Holmes - 352--Family Pride, Vol. I. By Mary J. Holmes - =351--The Churchyard Betrothal= =By Mrs. G. Sheldon= - 350--A Wronged Wife By Mary Grace Halpine - 349--Marion Grey By Mary J. Holmes - =348--My Florida Sweetheart= =By St. George Rathborne= - =347--The Eyes of Love= =By Charles Garvice= - 346--Guy Tresillian's Fate By Mrs. Harriet Lewis - 345--Tresillian Court By Mrs. Harriet Lewis - 344--Leah's Mistake By Mrs. H. C. Hoffman - 343--Little Sunshine By Adah M. Howard - 342--Her Little Highness By Nataly von Eschstruth - 341--Bad Hugh, Vol. II. By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes - 340--Bad Hugh, Vol. I. By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes - =339--His Heart's Queen= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - =338--A Daughter of Russia= =By St. George Rathborne= - 337--Dear Elsie By Mary J. Safford - 336--Rose Mather By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes - 335--We Parted at the Altar By Laura Jean Libbey - 334--Miss McDonald By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes - =333--Stella's Fortune= =By Charles Garvice= - (The Sculptor's Wooing) - 332--Darkness and Daylight By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes - 331--Christine By Adeline Sergeant - 330--Aikenside By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes - =329--My Hildegarde= =By St. George Rathborne= - =328--He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not= =By Charles Garvice= - (Valeria) - 327--Was She Wife or Widow? By Malcolm Bell - 326--Parted by Fate By Laura Jean Libbey - 325--The Leighton Homestead By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes - 324--A Love Match By Sylvanus Cobb, Jr. - 323--The Little Countess By S. E. Boggs - 322--Mildred By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes - 321--Neva's Three Lovers By Mrs. Harriet Lewis - =320--Mynheer Joe= =By St. George Rathborne= - 319--Millbank By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes - =318--Staunch of Heart= =By Charles Garvice= - (Adrien Le Roy) - 317--Ione By Laura Jean Libbey - 316--Edith Lyle's Secret By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes - 315--The Dark Secret By May Agnes Fleming - 314--A Maid's Fatal Love By Helen Corwin Pierce - 313--A Kinsman's Sin By Effie Adelaide Rowlands - =312--Woven on Fate's Loom= =By Charles Garvice= - (And Farmer Holt's Daughter) - =311--Wedded by Fate= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 310--A Late Repentance By Mary A. Denison. - 309--The Heiress of Castle Cliffe By May Agnes Fleming. - 308--Lady Ryhope's Lover By Emma Garrison Jones. - =307--The Winning of Isolde= =By St. George Rathborne= - 306--Love's Golden Rule By Geraldine Fleming. - =305--Led by Love= =By Charles Garvice= - =304--Staunch as a Woman= =By Charles Garvice= - (A Maiden's Sacrifice) - 303--The Queen of the Isle By May Agnes Fleming. - 302--When Man's Love Fades By Hazel Wood. - 301--The False and the True By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - =300--The Spider and the Fly= =By Charles Garvice= - (Violet) - =299--Little Miss Whirlwind= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 298--Should She Have Left Him? By William C. Hudson. - 297--That Girl from Texas By Mrs. J. H. Walworth. - =296--The Heir of Vering= =By Charles Garvice= - 295--A Terrible Secret By Geraldine Fleming. - =294--A Warrior Bold= =By St. George Rathborne= - 293--For Love of Anne Lambart By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - =292--For Her Only= =By Charles Garvice= - (Diana) - =291--A Mysterious Wedding Ring=, =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 290--A Change of Heart By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - 289--Married in Mask By Mansfield T. Walworth. - =288--Sibyl's Influence= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - =287--The Lady of Darracourt= =By Charles Garvice= - 286--A Debt of Vengeance By Mrs. E. Burke Collins. - 285--Born to Betray By Mrs. M. V. Victor. - =284--Dr. Jack's Widow= =By St. George Rathborne= - =283--My Lady Pride= =By Charles Garvice= - (Floris) - =282--The Forsaken Bride= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 281--For Love Alone By Wenona Gilman. - =280--Love's Dilemma= =By Charles Garvice= - (For an Earldom) - 279--Nina's Peril By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - 278--Laura Brayton By Julia Edwards. - =277--Brownie's Triumph= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - =276--So Nearly Lost= =By Charles Garvice= - (The Springtime of Love) - 275--Love's Cruel Whim By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - 274--A Romantic Girl By Evelyn E. Green. - =273--At Swords Points= =By St. George Rathborne= - =272--So Fair, So False= =By Charles Garvice= - (The Beauty of the Season) - 271--With Love's Laurel Crowned By W. C. Stiles. - 270--Had She Foreseen By Dora Delmar. - 269--Brunette and Blonde By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - =268--Olivia; or, It Was for Her Sake= =By Charles Garvice= - =267--Jeanne= =By Charles Garvice= - (Barriers Between) - 266--The Welfleet Mystery By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon. - 265--First Love is Best By S. K. Hocking. - 264--For Gold or Soul By Lurana W. Sheldon. - =263--An American Nabob= =By St. George Rathborne= - 262--A Woman's Faith By Henry Wallace. - 261--A Siren's Heart By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - 260--At a Girl's Mercy By Jean Kate Ludlum. - 259--By a Golden Cord By Dora Delmar. - 258--An Amazing Marriage By Mrs. Sumner Hayden. - =257--A Martyred Love= =By Charles Garvice= - (Iris; or, Under the Shadow) - 256--Thy Name is Woman By F. H. Howe. - =255--The Little Marplot= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - =254--Little Miss Millions= =By St. George Rathborne= - 253--A Fashionable Marriage By Mrs. Alex. Frazer. - 252--A Handsome Sinner By Dora Delmar. - 251--When Love is True By Mabel Collins. - =250--A Woman's Soul= =By Charles Garvice= - (Doris; or, Behind the Footlights) - 249--What Love Will Do By Geraldine Fleming. - 248--Jeanne, Countess Du Barry By H. L. Williams. - 247--Within Love's Portals By Frank Barrett. - 246--True to Herself By Mrs. J. H. Walworth. - 245--A Modern Marriage By Clara Lanza. - =244--A Hoiden's Conquest= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 243--His Double Self By Scott Campbell. - =242--A Wounded Heart= =By Charles Garvice= - (Sweet As a Rose) - 241--Her Love and Trust By Adeline Sergeant. - =240--Saved by the Sword= =By St. George Rathborne= - 239--Don Cæsar De Bazan By Victor Hugo. - 238--That Other Woman By Annie Thomas. - 237--Woman or Witch? By Dora Delmar. - =236--Her Humble Lover= =By Charles Garvice= - (The Usurper; or, The Gipsy Peer) - 235--Gratia's Trials By Lucy Randall Comfort. - 234--His Mother's Sin By Adeline Sergeant. - =233--Nora= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 232--A Debt of Honor By Mabel Collins. - =231--The Earl's Heir= =By Charles Garvice= - (Lady Norah) - 230--A Woman's Atonement, and A Mother's Mistake, By Adah M. Howard. - 229--For the Sake of the Family By May Crommelin. - 228--His Brother's Widow By Mary Grace Halpine. - 227--For Love and Honor By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - 226--The Roll of Honor By Annie Thomas. - 225--A Miserable Woman By Mrs. H. C. Hoffman. - 224--A Sister's Sacrifice By Geraldine Fleming. - =223--Leola Dale's Fortune= =By Charles Garvice= - =222--The Lily of Mordaunt= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 221--The Honorable Jane By Annie Thomas. - 220--A Fatal Past By Dora Russell. - =219--Lost, A Pearle= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.= - 218--A Life for a Love By Mrs. L. T. Meade. - 217--His Noble Wife By George Manville Fenn. - 216--The Lost Bride By Clara Augusta. - =215--Only a Girl's Love= =By Charles Garvice= - 214--Olga's Crime By Frank Barrett. - 213--The Heiress of Egremont By Mrs. Harriet Lewis. - 212--Doubly Wronged By Adah M. Howard. - 211--As We Forgive By Lurana W. Sheldon. - =210--Wild Oats= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 209--She Loved but Left Him By Julia Edwards. - =208--A Chase for a Bride= =By St. George Rathborne= - 207--Little Golden's Daughter By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - 206--A Daughter of Maryland By G. Waldo Browne. - 205--If Love Be Love By D. Cecil Gibbs. - 204--With Heart So True By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - =203--Only One Love= =By Charles Garvice= - 202--Marjorie By Katharine S. MacQuoid. - 201--Blind Elsie's Crime By Mary Grace Halpine. - 200--In God's Country By D. Higbee. - =199--Geoffrey's Victory= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 198--Guy Kenmore's Wife, and The Rose and the Lily, - By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - 197--A Woman Scorned By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - =196--A Sailor's Sweetheart= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 195--Her Faithful Knight By Gertrude Warden. - 194--A Sinless Crime By Geraldine Fleming. - 193--A Vagabond's Honor By Ernest De Lancey Pierson. - 192--An Old Man's Darling and Jacquelina, By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - 191--A Harvest of Thorns By Mrs. H. C. Hoffman. - 190--A Captain of the Kaiser By St. George Rathborne. - 189--Berris By Katharine S. MacQuoid. - =188--Dorothy Arnold's Escape= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 187--The Black Ball By Ernest De Lancey Pierson. - 186--Beneath a Spell By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - 185--The Adventures of Miss Volney By Ella Wheeler Wilcox. - 184--Sunlight and Gloom By Geraldine Fleming. - 183--Quo Vadis By Henryk Sienkiewicz. - 182--A Legal Wreck By William Gillette. - 181--The Baronet's Bride By May Agnes Fleming. - 180--A Lazy Man's Work By Frances Campbell Sparhawk. - 179--One Man's Evil By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - 178--A Slave of Circumstances By Ernest De Lancey Pierson. - =177--A True Aristocrat= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 176--Jack Gordon, Knight Errant By William C. Hudson. - (Barclay North) - 175--For Honor's Sake By Laura C. Ford. - =174--His Guardian Angel= =By Charles Garvice= - =173--A Bar Sinister= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - =172--A King and a Coward= =By Effie Adelaide Rowlands.= - 171--That Dakota Girl By Stella Gilman. - 170--A Little Radical By Mrs. J. H. Walworth. - 169--The Trials of an Actress By Wenona Gilman. - 168--Thrice Lost, Thrice Won By May Agnes Fleming. - 167--The Manhattaners By Edward S. Van Zile. - =166--The Masked Bridal= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 165--The Road of the Rough By Maurice M. Minton. - 164--Couldn't Say No By the author of Helen's Babies. - 163--A Splendid Egotist By Mrs. J. H. Walworth. - 162--A Man of the Name of John By Florence King. - =161--Miss Fairfax of Virginia= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 160--His Way and Her Will By Frances Aymar Mathews. - 159--A Fair Maid of Marblehead By Kate Tannatt Woods. - 158--Stella the Star By Wenona Gilman. - 157--Who Wins? By May Agnes Fleming. - 156--A Soldier Lover By Edward S. Brooks. - =155--Nameless Dell= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 154--Husband and Foe By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - 153--Her Son's Wife By Hazel Wood. - 152--A Mute Confessor By Will N. Harben. - 151--The Heiress of Glen Gower By May Agnes Fleming. - 150--Sunset Pass By General Charles King. - 149--The Man She Loved By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - 148--Will She Win? By Emma Garrison Jones. - =147--Under Egyptian Skies= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 146--Magdalen's Vow By May Agnes Fleming. - 145--Country Lanes and City Pavements By Maurice M. Minton. - =144--Dorothy's Jewels= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 143--A Charity Girl By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - =142--Her Rescue from the Turks=, =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 141--Lady Evelyn By May Agnes Fleming. - 140--That Girl of Johnson's By Jean Kate Ludlum. - 139--Little Lady Charles By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - 138--A Fatal Wooing By Laura Jean Libbey. - 137--A Wedded Widow By T. W. Hanshew. - 136--The Unseen Bridegroom By May Agnes Fleming. - 135--Cast Up by the Tide By Dora Delmar. - =134--Squire John= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - =133--Max= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 132--Whose Was the Crime? By Gertrude Warden. - 131--Nerine's Second Choice By Adelaide Stirling. - =130--A Passion Flower= =By Charles Garvice= - (Madge) - 129--In Sight of St. Paul's By Sutton Vane. - 128--The Scent of the Roses By Dora Delmar. - 127--Nobody's Daughter By Clara Augusta. - =126--The Girl from Hong-Kong= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 125--Devil's Island By A. D. Hall. - 124--Prettiest of All By Julia Edwards. - 123--Northern Lights By A. D. Hall. - =122--Grazia's Mistake= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 121--Cecile's Marriage By Lucy Randall Comfort. - 120--The White Squadron By T. C. Harbaugh. - =119--'Twixt Smile and Tear= =By Charles Garvice= - (Dulcie) - 118--Saved from the Sea By Richard Duffy. - =117--She Loved Him= =By Charles Garvice= - 116--The Daughter of the Regiment By Mary A. Denison. - =115--A Fair Revolutionist= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 114--Half a Truth By Dora Delmar. - 113--A Crushed Lily By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - 112--The Cattle King By A. D. Hall. - =111--Faithful Shirley= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 110--Whose Wife Is She? By Annie Lisle. - =109--Signa's Sweetheart= =By Charles Garvice= - (Lord Delamere's Bride) - =108--A Son of Mars= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 107--Carla: or, Married at Sight By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - 106--Lillian, My Lillian By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - 105--When London Sleeps By Chas. Darrell. - 104--A Proud Dishonor By Genie Holzmeyer. - 103--The Span of Life By Sutton Vane. - =102--Sweet Cymbeline= =By Charles Garvice= - (Bellmaire) - =101--A Goddess of Africa= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 100--Alice Blake By Francis S. Smith. - =99--Audrey's Recompense= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - =98--Claire= =By Charles Garvice= - (The Mistress of Court Regna) - 97--The War Reporter By Warren Edwards. - 96--The Little Minister By J. M. Barrie. - =95--A Wilful Maid= =By Charles Garvice= - (Philippa) - 94--Darkest Russia By H. Gratton Donnelly. - 93--A Queen of Treachery By T. W. Hanshew. - 92--Humanity By Sutton Vane. - 91--Sweet Violet By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - 90--For Fair Virginia By Russ Whytal. - 89--A Gentleman from Gascony By Bicknell Dudley. - =88--Virgie's Inheritance= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 87--Shenandoah By J. Perkins Tracy. - 86--A Widowed Bride By Lucy Randall Comfort. - =85--Lorrie: or, Hollow Gold= =By Charles Garvice= - =84--Imogene= =By Charles Garvice= - (Dumaresq's Temptation) - 83--The Locksmith of Lyons By Prof. Wm. Henry Peck. - 82--Captain Impudence By Edwin Milton Royle. - 81--Wedded for an Hour By Emma Garrison Jones. - =80--The Fair Maid of Fez= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - =79--Out of the Past= =By Charles Garvice= - (Marjorie) - 78--The Yankee Champion By Sylvanus Cobb, Jr. - =77--Tina= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 76--Mavourneen From the celebrated play. - 75--Under Fire By T. P. James. - 74--The Cotton King By Sutton Vane. - =73--The Marquis= =By Charles Garvice= - 72--Wilful Winnie By Harriet Sherburne - =71--The Spider's Web= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - =70--Sydney= =By Charles Garvice= - (A Wilful Young Woman) - 69--His Perfect Trust By a popular author. - 68--The Little Cuban Rebel By Edna Winfield. - 67--Gismonda By Victorien Sardou. - =66--Witch Hazel= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 65--Won by the Sword By J. Perkins Tracy. - 64--Dora Tenney By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - 63--Lawyer Bell from Boston By Robert Lee Tyler. - 62--Stella Stirling By Julia Edwards. - 61--La Tosca By Victorien Sardou. - =60--The County Fair= =From the celebrated play= - 59--Gladys Greye By Bertha M. Clay. - =58--Major Matterson of Kentucky= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 57--Rosamond By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - 56--The Dispatch Bearer By Warren Edwards. - =55--Thrice Wedded= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 54--Cleopatra By Victorien Sardou. - 53--The Old Homestead By Denman Thompson. - 52--Woman Against Woman By Effie Adelaide Rowlands. - 51--The Price He Paid By E. Werner. - =50--Her Ransom= =By Charles Garvice= - (Paid For) - 49--None But the Brave By Robert Lee Tyler. - 48--Another Man's Wife By Bertha M. Clay. - =47--The Colonel by Brevet= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 46--Off with the Old Love By Mrs. M. V. Victor. - 45--A Yale Man By Robert Lee Tyler. - =44--That Dowdy= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 43--Little Coquette Bonnie By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - 42--Another Woman's Husband By Bertha M. Clay. - =41--Her Heart's Desire= =By Charles Garvice= - (An Innocent Girl) - =40--Monsieur Bob= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 39--The Colonel's Wife By Warren Edwards. - =38--The Nabob of Singapore= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 37--The Heart of Virginia By J. Perkins Tracy. - 36--Fedora By Victorien Sardou. - =35--The Great Mogul= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 34--Pretty Geraldine By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - =33--Mrs. Bob= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 32--The Blockade Runner By J. Perkins Tracy. - 31--A Siren's Love By Robert Lee Tyler. - =30--Baron Sam= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 29--Theodora By Victorien Sardou. - =28--Miss Caprice= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 27--Estelle's Millionaire Lover By Julia Edwards. - =26--Captain Tom= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - 25--Little Southern Beauty By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - =24--A Wasted Love= =By Charles Garvice= - (On Love's Altar) - =23--Miss Pauline of New York= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - =22--Elaine= =By Charles Garvice= - 21--A Heart's Idol By Bertha M. Clay. - 20--The Senator's Bride By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - 19--Mr. Lake of Chicago By Harry DuBois Milman. - =18--Dr. Jack's Wife= =By the author of Dr. Jack= - =17--Leslie's Loyalty= =By Charles Garvice= - (His Love So True) - 16--The Fatal Card By Haddon Chambers and B. C. Stephenson. - =15--Dr. Jack= =By St. George Rathborne= - 14--Violet Lisle By Bertha M. Clay. - 13--The Little Widow By Julia Edwards. - =12--Edrie's Legacy= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 11--The Gypsy's Daughter By Bertha M. Clay. - 10--Little Sunshine By Francis S. Smith. - 9--The Virginia Heiress By May Agnes Fleming. - 8--Beautiful But Poor By Julia Edwards. - =7--Two Keys= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - 6--The Midnight Marriage By A. M. Douglas. - 5--The Senator's Favorite By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller. - 4--For a Woman's Honor By Bertha M. Clay. - 3--He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not By Julia Edwards. - =2--Ruby's Reward= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - =1--Queen Bess= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon= - - - - - The Bride of the Tomb - - AND - - Queenie's Terrible Secret - - BY - - MRS. ALEX. McVEIGH MILLER - - AUTHOR OF - - "A Crushed Lily," "Brunette and Blonde," "Nina's Peril," etc. - - [Illustration] - - NEW YORK - - STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS, - 79-89 SEVENTH AVENUE - - - - - Copyright, 1883 - By Norman L. Munro - - The Bride of the Tomb - Queenie's Terrible Secret - - - - - THE BRIDE OF THE TOMB; - - OR, - - Lancelot Darling's Betrothed. - - By MRS. ALEX. McVEIGH MILLER. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - -Sweet Lily Lawrence had committed _suicide_! - -Oh! impossible! A girl so young, so gifted, so lovely, the darling of -her father's heart, the idol of her brilliant lover, the heiress of a -splendid fortune--what had she to do with the grim king of terrors? -Death to her was an enemy to be shunned and dreaded rather than a lover -to be courted. - -And to-morrow was her bridal day! - -Yet there she lay prone on the velvet carpet, with its delicate pattern -of myosotis, and the soft light of the June morning shining through the -open window on the still form, robed in creamy white satin and priceless -lace, the fair hair streaming across the floor, the turquoise blue eyes -wide-open with a look of unutterable horror frozen in their upward -stare, the small and dimpled white hand clinching tightly a tiny jeweled -dagger whose murderous thrust had left a ghastly, gory, crimson stain on -the snowy satin lace above her heart. By that crimson stain death -claimed her for his own--the fairest bride the grim monarch ever took to -his icy arms. - -A thrill of universal horror ran through the great city where she had -been known and loved, not more for her beauty and wealth than for her -sweet and gentle character. Friends came and went through the portals of -Banker Lawrence's splendid brown stone mansion on Fifth avenue for a -sight of the beautiful suicide who had been expected to appear so soon -as a happy bride. Mr. Lawrence, the bereaved and sorely stricken father, -appeared like one dazed with grief and horror. Ada, his younger and only -remaining daughter, was confined to her room in strong hysterics, -attended by the maids. Mrs. Vance, the beautiful widow of a second -cousin of Mrs. Lawrence, a lady who made her home at the banker's, was -the only one in the house who retained sufficient calmness to attend to -anything at all. It was she who kept back the curious throng of the -news-seekers who would fain have invaded the mansion. It was she who -talked with sympathizing friends, breaking now and then into a -heart-wrung sob, and hiding her eyes in her damp lace handkerchief. - -"Oh, doctor," she cried, as the physician who had been hastily summoned -after the shocking discovery, bent over the pale form trying to see if -any spark of life remained--"oh, doctor, she is not really dead, is she? -Surely our darling Lily is not gone from us forever!" - -The physician looked up curiously at the dark, beautiful face of the -speaker now convulsed with grief and horror. He bent again over the -recumbent form, closely examining the beautiful white features of the -girl, touched her wide-open eye-lids, felt her tightly clenched hands -carefully, and laid his ear over the still breast whose crimson blood -had stiffened the bridal robe above the tender heart so lately bounding -with the joyous pulses of youth and hope and perfect happiness. - -"I am sorry to say," he answered, rising and looking down with a pale -face and trembling hands, "that Miss Lawrence is, indeed, no more. Life -has been extinct for hours." - -A few hours later a coroner's inquest was held over the remains. Mrs. -Vance, Miss Ada Lawrence, and the deceased girl's waiting-maid were the -three who had seen Lily Lawrence last in life. Their testimony was -accordingly taken. - -The maid deposed that on the night on which the fatal event had -transpired her mistress had kept her in her room until about eleven -o'clock, for the purpose of making some trifling alterations in the fit -of the elegant white satin bridal robe. - -While thus engaged Miss Ada Lawrence and Mrs. Vance had come in for a -chat with Miss Lawrence. Miss Ada, a young school-girl, and fond of -finery, had persuaded her sister to don the beautiful dress and veil. - -After staying awhile and admiring the loveliness of Miss Lawrence, the -maid had been dismissed, her young mistress saying that she would -herself remove the dress, having already laid aside the veil and wreath -of orange blossoms. - -She (the maid) had accordingly bidden the ladies good-night. The next -morning, as usual, she had gone at eight o'clock to call her young -mistress. She had found the door locked on the inside. - -In response to repeated knocks and calls no answer had been elicited, -and becoming frightened she had repeated the fact to the family, who -were just assembling at breakfast. Mr. Lawrence had caused the door to -be forced immediately. On entering they had found Miss Lawrence lying -dead upon the floor, arrayed in her bridal dress, and clutching in her -right hand a small, jeweled dagger. - -She was asked here by the coroner if the dagger had belonged to Miss -Lawrence. She answered in the affirmative, saying that Mrs. Vance had -presented it to her a few days before as a bridal present, and that it -had lain on the dressing-table ever since as an ornament. - -Being asked why they had supposed it to be suicide instead of murder, -the affectionate girl burst into tears, and replied that her sweet young -mistress had not an enemy on earth, so that no one could have murdered -her for malice; and that none of her splendid jewelry or bridal presents -had been touched, so that no one could have murdered her for gain; and -that the natural inference was that Miss Lawrence had taken her own life -with her own weapon. - -The young lady had seemed much as usual in her manner when she last saw -her, had betrayed no undue agitation of mind and was only anxious about -the fit of the bridal robe in which she was to appear on the morrow. The -maid was suffered to leave the stand, on which Miss Ada Lawrence, -dreadfully nervous and agitated, was led in and took her place. - -Her testimony was merely a corroboration of the maid's. She had left the -room in Mrs. Vance's company shortly after the maid's dismissal. Both -had kissed her good-night and left her standing at the mirror smiling at -her lovely reflection. Lily had seemed in good health and spirits. She -did not know of any reason for her sister's committing suicide; but as -she had no enemies, and nothing had been touched in the room, it was the -natural inference. She had not seen her sister again until the next -morning, when she lay cold and dead in the middle of her room. - -Mrs. Vance gave substantially the same testimony, with the addition that -she had heard Miss Lawrence lock her room door after their departure. -She knew of no cause that could have driven the young girl to take her -own life. For a few months past she had noticed that Lily had strange -fits of depression and abstraction. She had thought then that some -secret sorrow preyed on the mind of her cousin, but she did not know of -what nature. She was suffered to retire, her agitation growing -uncontrollable, while many admiring glances followed her graceful form -as she swept from the room. - -Dr. Pratt was next called to the stand. He was a tall, dark, -sinister-looking man, with restless black eyes and nervous manner. He -gave his testimony briefly and to the point. - -He was not Mr. Lawrence's family physician. He was riding past the house -on his way to visit a patient when he had been suddenly called in by the -summons of a domestic who rushed frantically into the street after him. -He had gone into Miss Lawrence's room, where he found the family -assembled and indulging in the wildest grief. The young bride-elect lay -dead upon the floor, grasping a small dagger in her right hand. Upon -examination he found that life had been extinct for eight or nine hours. -He thought that death must have been instantaneous with the -dagger-thrust. From the pose of the body and the position of the right -arm and hand, together with the direction of the deadly weapon, all the -probabilities pointed to an act of self-destruction. - -A few more witnesses were examined, but nothing new was elicited, and -the jury retired to consult. - -The verdict was given to the effect that "Miss Lawrence came to her -death by a dagger-thrust inflicted by her own hand--probably under a -temporary aberration of mind." - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - -Doctor Pratt attended the funeral of Miss Lawrence, looking grave and -sad, and dignified as the mournful occasion demanded. His restless eyes -took in every detail, noted the grief of the mourners and friends, -peered beneath the heavy crape veil of handsome Mrs. Vance, noted the -absence of the bereaved bridegroom-elect; he even entered the gloomy -vault and stood by the open coffin among the friends who were taking -their last look at the pallid features of the beautiful suicide whose -golden hair strayed over the white satin pillow, mingling with fragrant -rosebuds and lilies. - -After the funeral was over he drove to a fashionable street, and -stopping at a fine hotel, sent up his card to a person whom he -designated as Mr. Colville. - -After a brief delay he was shown up to that gentleman's room. - -Mr. Colville was a rather handsome but dissipated-looking man, of -perhaps forty years. He was dressed in the extreme of fashion, and the -elegance of his apparel, his costly diamonds, as well as the -luxuriousness of the furniture about him, betokened a man of wealth and -ease. - -He removed his cigar from his dark mustached lips, and said, with a -light laugh: - -"Ah, Pratt, what deviltry are you up to now?" - -"I have just come from attending a funeral," Doctor Pratt answered -sedately, as he seated himself in a satin-cushioned arm-chair. - -"A funeral!" Mr. Colville started and grew pale. "Was it that of--of -Miss Lawrence?" - -"The same," was the calm reply. - -"Ah! beautiful Lily--so you are gone to be the bride of death--to be -clasped to her icy heart! Well, better so," said Colville, bitterly. - -"I wonder at your coldness," said Doctor Pratt, eying him keenly. "I -thought you loved her to desperation." - -"Man, man--I did, I did!" cried out Colville, starting up and pacing the -floor wildly, "but what of that? She would not have my love. She laughed -it to scorn, and was about to give herself to my haughty rival. Great -Heaven! I was nearly crazed by the knowledge. It was a happy madness -that armed her hand against her own life! I am glad she is dead. I would -rather she were the prey of the worm than given to the arms of another." - -"Sit down, sit down," said the physician, shortly. "Calm yourself, or -you will fall in a fit as did your horror-struck rival on hearing the -dreadful news of her death." - -"Fell in a fit, did he?" said Colville, stopping short in his hurried -walk. "I wish he had died. But, no! he might have rejoined her then in -some better land than this." - -"If there be a better land, which I doubt," said Pratt, with a cold -sneer. - -Colville threw himself down into an arm-chair and looked moodily across -at the physician. - -"Well, what have you come after?" he asked, abruptly and testily. "You -have put me up to so many devilish schemes that I always expect some -villany when I see your satanic countenance." - -"I have put my freedom in jeopardy this week for the sake of your -happiness," Doctor Pratt answered with assumed indifference, "but if you -take such a high tone I can leave with my secret untold." - -"A secret!" said Colville, looking up with some interest; "your secrets -are always worth hearing, doctor. Let me have it, I beg you." - -"This one is worth hearing, any way," said Doctor Pratt grimly, and, -rising, he turned the door-key in the lock, after looking out -suspiciously into the wide hall. Returning, he drew his chair close to -Colville's and continued, calmly: "I cannot afford to give you this -secret, Colville, I will sell it to you for the pretty little sum of ten -thousand dollars--a mere bagatelle, that, to a man of your wealth." - -"Ten thousand dollars! is the man mad?" muttered Colville. "Why, man -alive, there is not a secret under the sun I would pay that much for!" - -"Is there not?" smiled the other, and bending a little nearer he -whispered in low, impressive accents: "What would you give me, Harold -Colville, if I could take Lily Lawrence from her coffin to-night, cheat -the grave-worm of its prey, and give her to your arms, warm, living, -beautiful--dead to all the world, alive only to you?" - -"Great Heaven! the half of my fortune were not too great a price for -such a miracle," breathed Colville, excitedly. "But, Pratt, you are -raving! Even your skill, great though I own it to be, could not -accomplish that, unless you are leagued with the devil, as I have often -suspected you are." - -"Thanks," said the grim physician, curtly, then interrogated calmly: "So -ten thousand dollars would not weigh much in the scale against Lily -Lawrence living?" - -"Not a feather's weight! I would give it to you freely, gladly, but, -Pratt, you cannot do it!" - -"I _can_ do it! Listen to me, Colville," he whispered breathlessly. -"Lily Lawrence lies in her coffin to-night, to all the world dead: but -to me she is a living woman, and as such may be resurrected." - -"But how--why----" - -"Be calm, I will explain all. When her lifeless form was discovered I -was hastily called in. I went; I carefully examined the body, which lay, -to all appearance, cold and dead. I found an almost imperceptible warmth -about her heart, a tinge of color in the palms of her hands, and a -vacant stare in the eyes resembling death, but which might be only -produced by that rare and strange disease known to medical men as -'catalepsy.' There was a slight flesh-wound about the heart; but the -blow had been struck by such a trembling hand that it had failed to -penetrate a vital part, and the dreadful shock of the attempted murder -(for I do not believe in the sapient jury's verdict of suicide) threw -the poor girl into a state of syncope, or catalepsy, so closely -resembling death that it deceived all but my professional eyes." - -"Yet you suffered them to entomb a living woman?" - -"For your sake, remember, Colville; for as I knelt by the beautiful -creature, half stunned by my startling discovery, the thought of you -darted into my head like an inspiration. I remembered what you must -suffer if she lived to bless your rival with her love. I said to -myself--It will be several days, most likely, before she rouses from -this trance of death. Let them bury her, and make to themselves other -idols. In the meantime I will resurrect her, give her to Colville's -eager arms, and earn his eternal gratitude as well as a more substantial -fee for myself." - -"Pratt, you are a demon!" - -"Is that the way you thank me for my friendship?" - -"No, oh, no; you have done well--you have done right, and you shall have -your reward. But, Heavens! to think of her lying there in her living -beauty among the skeletons and the worms--perhaps even now she is waking -amid those gloomy shades! Ugh!" he shuddered, and started from the -chair. - -"No danger, I think," said the dark physician, smiling contemptuously; -"I observed her closely this evening, and there were no signs of -reviving. Patience, my friend, I bribed the old sexton, I have the key -to the vault. In a few hours it will be night, and then we will bear -away your drooping Lily to revive beneath the sunshine of your love." - -"But where can we take her? If the theft is discovered there will be a -hue and cry raised about the body." - -"I know of a safe place. You remember the old couple in the suburbs? the -same who kept poor Fanny till her ravings ended in her death?" - -"Oh, God! do not remind me of such horrible things--let the dead past -lie! Yes, I remember!" - -"We will take her _there_. I have been to see them, and prepared them -for our coming. You will have to pay heavily, of course, but you will -not mind that in such a cause. Now, then, will you go with me to the -graveyard to-night?" - -"I will, and may the devil, who certainly helps you in your evil deeds, -doctor, aid us both in this precarious scheme, and restore my living -love to my devoted arms!" - -"Amen!" breathed Doctor Pratt piously. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - -It was the day following the funeral of sweet Lily Lawrence--a sunny -day, fragrant and bloomy with the wealth of summer. Outside of Mr. -Lawrence's stately mansion in the handsome grounds enclosing it, flowers -blossomed, the fountain threw up its diamond spray, and birds twittered -and chirped. - -But within the house all was silence and gloom. Mr. Lawrence was shut up -in the library alone with his grief; Ada Lawrence lay ill of a low, -nervous fever, induced by her poignant sorrow, and Mrs. Vance sat in the -drawing-room alone, nervous and ill, and starting at every trivial -sound. - -The stately-looking widow was very handsome this morning. She wore a -dress of thin black grenadine, relieved by creamy old lace at throat and -wrists, and delicate ribbons of heliotrope color. Her wavy black hair -was braided about her small head like a coronet, and a cluster of -heliotrope blossoms nestled in its silken darkness. - -A faint roseate bloom tinted her lips and cheeks, and hightened by -contrast the restless brightness of her full, dark eyes, and the -whiteness of her low brow. She was fully thirty-five years old, but -nature and art had combined so gracefully in her make-up that she did -not appear twenty-five. - -A sudden peal of the door-bell made her spring up suddenly in nervous -terror of she scarce knew what. She had hardly reseated herself when an -obsequious servant ushered in a tall, exceedingly distinguished-looking -young man. It was Lancelot Darling, the betrothed lover of the dead -girl. - -He was a splendidly handsome and imposing gentleman, but his elegant -dress was disordered, his face was pale, almost to the verge of -ghastliness, his large, brilliant dark eyes were so wild in their -expression of grief that they almost seemed to glare upon the lady who -advanced toward him with extended hands. - -"Mr. Darling," she murmured in a low tone of surprise and pleasure. "You -are better, you are able to be out." - -He pressed her hand speechlessly, and tottered to a sofa, falling -heavily upon it while his eyes closed for a minute. In a fright at the -look of exhaustion on his white face, Mrs. Vance darted from the room, -soon returning with a glass of cordial. - -She lifted his head on her arm and pressed the goblet to his lips, -trembling excessively the while. In a moment he revived, and rising on -his elbow looked up while a faint flush mounted to his white forehead. - -"Pardon me," he said, in a broken voice. "This is unmanly, I know, but I -have been very ill, Mrs. Vance, and I am weak still--and it is hard, oh! -so hard to come here like this!" He sat up, pushing the dark locks back -from his brow, while a shudder ran through his strong frame. - -"Believe me, I sympathize with you, I grieve with you," murmured the -lady in silvery tones. "Our poor, lost Lily!" and her face was hidden in -her handkerchief while a sob seemed to shake her graceful form. - -"They say she died by her own hand," he cried, excitedly. "My God! what -mystery is here, Mrs. Vance? What hidden cause drove the girl who was -almost my wife to that fearful deed?" - -"Did you suspect no cause?" asked she, looking at him sadly. - -"None--there could be none. Young, beautiful, loving and beloved, she -had no cause for sorrow." - -"So it seemed to _you_," she answered, in low, soft tones, looking down -as if she could not bear the anguish written on his features; "but -strange as it may seem, Lily had some trouble unknown to us all, but -which I suspected months ago. She had strange moods of deep depression -and abstraction, followed by a feverish, unnatural gaiety. My suspicion -of some mysterious trouble weighing on her heart was only confirmed by -her sad and tragic death." - -"Of what nature did you suspect her mysterious trouble to be?" asked the -young man, looking at her in surprise and anxiety. - -"I had nothing but conjecture to build on," said she, reluctantly. "It -would be cruelty to harrow your soul with suspicions that may be -baseless." - -"But I insist on your telling me," said he, with unconscious -imperiousness of tone and look. - -"I fancied--mind, I only _fancied_," said she, deprecatingly, "that -Lily, though betrothed to you, had conceived an unrequited attachment -for another, or that perhaps she was the victim of some boarding-school -entanglement which threatened to mar her happiness." - -"Oh, impossible!" he answered, decisively. "Lily had no silly -school-girl entanglements. She told me so. And she loved me alone--loved -me as devotedly as I loved her--I am perfectly certain of that. No, Mrs. -Vance, you are mistaken. The theory of the jury is the only one I can -accept. The fatal deed must have been committed under a temporary -aberration of mind." - -The sudden entrance of Mr. Lawrence checked the mournful expression that -rose to her lips. - -As the two men shook hands in silence, each noted the ravages grief had -made in the other. - -Mr. Lawrence's portly form was bowed feebly, his genial face was seamed -with lines of grief and care, while premature silver threads shone amid -his chestnut-brown hair. - -The ghastly pallor of Lancelot Darling, his wild eyes, his trembling -hands, attested how maddening and soul-harrowing was his despair. - -"Lance, my poor boy, you have been ill," said the banker, in a gentle -tone of sympathy. - -"Yes, I have been ill," said Lancelot, brokenly; then almost crushing -the banker's hand in his strong, unconscious grasp, he broke out wildly: -"Mr. Lawrence, I have come here to beg a favor of you." - -"Name it," said Mr. Lawrence, kindly. - -"I want the key of your vault. I want to see my Lily's face once more," -he answered, in an imploring tone. - -"Would it be well? Would it be wise?" asked the other in a tone of -surprise and pain. - -"I do not know, I do not ask," said Lancelot, impetuously. "I only know -that my soul hungers for a sight of my darling's face. Do not refuse me, -my friend. Let me see her once more before death has obliterated all her -beauty!" - -"Better think of her, Lance, as when you last saw her in life and -health," said the banker uneasily. "She is already changed. You are too -weak to bear the agitation that would ensue if I granted your request." - -"You refuse me, then," said the young man in a voice of passionate -grief. "She was to have been my wife ere now, yet you will not suffer me -to press one last, long kiss on the cold lips of my darling." - -"Oh, do not refuse him," cried Mrs. Vance, gliding forward and laying a -persuasive little hand on the banker's arm. "Think of his bleeding heart -and blighted hopes. Remember how fondly he loved her. Go with him to the -vault, and show him our broken Lily lying asleep in the deep rest she -coveted." - -Lancelot's heavy, dark eyes flashed a look of gratitude upon the -beautiful pleader as she ceased to speak. - -The banker paused irresolutely. - -"If I thought he could bear it," he murmured. - -"I _can_ bear it, I _will_!" said Lancelot, firmly. "Only grant my -request." - -"The sexton has the key of the vault," said Mr. Lawrence, yielding -reluctantly. "I will go with you, Lance." - -"Let it be at once then. My carriage is at the gate," said the half -frenzied young lover, moving off after a slight bow to Mrs. Vance. - -Mr. Lawrence followed him, the door was closed, and the handsome widow -stood alone in the center of the splendid drawing-room. She took one or -two turns up and down the room, her black dress trailing its gloomy -folds over the rich carpet. - -"Let him go," she said at last, pausing and clenching her delicate hands -together. "Let him go! That marble mask of his beautiful love can but -disenchant him. I have already dropped a suspicion of her love into his -heart. He does not heed it yet, but no matter, it shall take root, it -shall grow, it shall bear fruit an hundredfold! He shall turn to me yet. -I love him with a love passing everything, and I will stop at nothing -till I call him mine!" - -She laughed aloud as the thought of her future triumph swept through her -heart. It was a strange, eerie laugh--It sounded as if a beautiful fiend -had laughed in Hades. - - * * * * * - -The elegant carriage, with its high stepping, spirited gray horses, -bowled rapidly along the busy streets of New York, and at length paused -before the beautiful cemetery in which Mr. Lawrence's vault was -situated. The banker then stepped into the sexton's house where he -called for the key of the vault. The sexton gave it to him with some -surprise at the request, and the gentleman returned to Lancelot Darling -who was impatiently pacing a graveled path in the "fair Necropolis of -the dead." - -The banker paused and laid his hand on the young man's arm. - -"I have the key, Lance," he said, "but even now I wish I could persuade -you not to enter the vault; I dread the effect on your already weak -nerves. Remember what a difference there must be between the blooming -Lily you last looked upon and the poor, faded flower in yon gloomy stone -vault." - -"Mr. Lawrence, you do but torture me," said the young man, with a -gesture of wild despair. "However she may be changed let me see her. Yet -I cannot believe that that beautiful face can be altered so soon. Cruel -death would stay his defacing hand when he looked on such loveliness." - -With a sigh of regret the elder man turned and walked on down the shady -path. Lancelot followed him, taking no note of the beautiful day and the -song of the birds and the fragrance of the rare flowers all around him. -Over the low mounds everywhere gentle hands of affection had planted -lovely flowers and shrubs, trying to make grim death beautiful. But he -heeded them not as he stopped in front of the marble vault, guarded by a -marble angel, and followed Mr. Lawrence into its dim recesses. - -They walked down the echoing aisle, between rows of moldy, decaying -coffins, and paused with beating hearts and labored breath beside a new -casket, loaded with wreaths and crosses of fragrant white hot-house -flowers. - -The murky air of the charnel house was heavy with the scent of -tube-roses, violets and pale white roses. With trembling hands they -removed these tokens of affection, until the lid of the coffin was -disclosed. With a shudder Lancelot read the inscription on the silver -plate: - - "LILY LAWRENCE. - "_Aged eighteen._" - -Mr. Lawrence drew out the silver screws and removed the lid. - -"My God!" he cried, as he gazed within. - -The costly casket was empty. The white satin cushioning that love had -devised to make the bed of death a soft one, held the impress of her -form, the pillow was lightly dented where her golden head had lain, but -the cold form that rested there yesterday with white hands folded over -the quiet heart, with pale lips shut over the woful secret of her death, -that loved form was gone from their gaze. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - -Go with me, kind reader, to the outskirts of the great city; enter with -me an humble house; we pass invisibly inside the locked door, we glide -unseen up the staircase, and into a plainly furnished, low-ceiled room. -Our acquaintance, Doctor Pratt, is there--also his co-conspirator, -Harold Colville, is there. Both are bending anxiously over a low, white -bed where a girlish, recumbent form lies extended. - -At the foot of the bed stands an old crone with gray elf-locks floating -under a tawdry black lace cap. Wrinkled, and bent, and witch-like, with -beady black eyes and parchment-like skin, she is frightful to look at as -she peers curiously into the beautiful white face lying on the pillow. - -"Pratt, you have deceived me," Colville breaks out sternly; "all your -restoratives have failed, all your potent art is at fault. Look at that -marble face, those breathless lips. It is death, not life, we look -upon." - -"Bah!" said Doctor Pratt. Rising and going to the young lady's head, he -gently turned it on one side: at the same time he changed the position -of one arm. _Both retained for a short time their new position_ then -slowly resumed their former place. He raised her eyelids and they -remained open a brief interval, then gently closed again. The beautiful -blue eyes they disclosed were neither glassy nor corpse-like, though -fixed in a vacant, unnatural stare. The physician resumed his seat and -said, calmly: - -"You see, Colville, it is life, not death. I tell you it is that rare, -mysterious affection we call _catalepsy_--a state fearfully blending the -conditions of life and death--a seeming life in death, or death in life. -It is true that all my remedies have failed: but it is equally true that -life is not extinct, though the spark may perish from exhaustion if she -does not soon revive. It is now four days since the cold steel entered -her side and this mysterious unconsciousness fell upon her. But the -horrid spell must soon be broken, or death will ensue as a consequence -of loss of blood and vitality." - -They withdrew a little further from the bed, Pratt still keeping a -watchful eye upon the patient, while Colville tried to keep his roving -glance away from the death-like face that sent a shudder of fear now and -then along his frame. It seemed fearfully like death despite the learned -theory of the case which Doctor Pratt was patiently explaining to him. - -"You said the first time we talked of this that you believed Miss -Lawrence had been murdered," said Colville, suddenly. "Why did you form -that opinion despite the contrary evidence?" - -"There was no evidence to the contrary," said the dark physician, -complacently. "I formed it on the evidence of my own eyes. True, Miss -Lawrence's door was locked on the inside; but"--he paused a moment to -give effect to his words--"but a heavy, luxuriant honeysuckle vine was -trained from the ground up to her window in the second story. The -murderer, or murderess, entered her room by the door, turned the key, -perpetrated the dreadful deed, and escaped by sliding down the -thickly-twisted vine to the ground." - -"That is only your theory, doctor, I suppose." - -"It is a fact, not theory, monsieur. I furtively examined the vine -myself. It was broken in places, bruised in its tender parts, and -quantities of leaves and flowers were strewn upon the ground. It plainly -showed that a heavy body had slid down upon it and injured it. I wonder -that it escaped the dull eyes of the jury." - -"You are an astute man, doctor. Who, then, was the assassin of one so -young and fair?" - -"I do not know, but I half suspected the beautiful woman who lives at -Lawrence's--a sort of cousin, I think--a Mrs. Vance by name. Her -evidence went a little further than the rest. She asserted that she -heard the young lady lock her door that night--she seemed to favor the -idea of suicide also by pressing a theory of her own, that Miss Lawrence -had a secret trouble--was subject to fits of abstraction and depression. -Yes, decidedly, I suspect the beautiful widow." - -"What motive could she have had?" - -"That I do not know. I could find out though if I set my wits to work. -But I have no interest in knowing." - -"I have it," said Colville, suddenly; "I am acquainted with Mrs. Vance. -When I used to visit the Lawrences I found out--no matter how--that Mrs. -Vance was in love with Lancelot Darling. If she did the deed it was -jealousy that goaded her to its commission." - -"Very probably," said the doctor. - -They had talked on, forgetful or regardless of the old woman who sat at -the foot of the bed. She was listening eagerly, with twitching fingers, -and muttered inaudibly, "Gold, gold." - -"What are you muttering about, old hag?" said Pratt, overhearing her. -"None of your jargon now. And don't repeat what we have been saying to -your old man. If you do I will send your black soul to its doom sooner -than it would go of its own accord! Do you hear me, old witch?" - -"Yes, I hear; I will never repeat it, never," whined the old wretch, -grinning horribly. - -"See that you don't, then," said Colville. - -The evening hours wore on to midnight, and the three watchers in the -quiet room kept their places, undisturbed by even a breath from the pale -form on the bed. The old crone sat wide awake and on the alert: Doctor -Pratt leaned back and watched the patient through half-closed lids; -Colville dozed in a large arm-chair. Surely there never was a patient -who gave so little trouble to the nurses. No querulous complaint came -from the pale lips, no restless hands tossed aside the bed-clothes, no -fever-parched tongue cried out for the cooling draught of ice-water. -Still and pale she lay through the panting summer night, taking no note -of time or aught earthly. - -Hark! the midnight hour tolled solemnly and sharply. Mysterious hour -when crime stalks abroad under shelter of darkness, when disembodied -spirits re-visit the haunts of men! Colville started from his uneasy -dozing, then settled himself again as the last loud stroke died away in -hollow echoes. But he did not sleep again, for a simultaneous cry from -the physician and the old woman turned his glance toward the bed. Ah! -what was that? - -The awful spell of death was _broken_. The patient presented a ghastly -appearance. Her large, blue eyes were wide open, and staring an -indescribable look of horror at the witch-like face of the old woman. -Her lips were slightly apart, and a thin stream of blood was trickling -from her mouth and nostrils. - -"Begone," said the physician, sharply. "Bring warm water and sponges." - -She quickly returned with the necessary articles. Doctor Pratt gently -sponged away the blood with warm water so as not to entirely check the -bleeding. A long, deep sigh quivered over the patient's lips, and -turning her head she looked languidly about her. Doctor Pratt made a -sign to Colville and he hastily drew aside out of range of her vision. - -"Drink this wine, Lily," said the physician, putting a wine-glass to her -lips. She feebly swallowed the contents, then closing her eyes with a -languid sigh fell into a deep, refreshing sleep, breathing softly and -audibly. He turned to Colville with a triumphant smile. - -"What about my theory _now_?" said he. - -Colville was trembling with excitement. He came forward, and looked at -the face sleeping calmly on the pillow, its rigid lines softening into -natural repose. - -"Surely, Pratt, you are in league with the devil," said he, -half-fearfully. "An hour ago I could have sworn that it was grim death -we looked upon, but now----" - -"But now," said Doctor Pratt, "she is doing well--she will soon recover. -And then you can set about your wooing." - -"Ah!" said Colville, doubtfully. "I wish that your potent art could -insure me her love as skillfully as you insured me her life!" - -The patient's deep slumber lasted till the rosy dawn of the summer morn -began to break over the earth. Then the blue eyes opened with a look of -bewilderment in their beautiful depths. - -"Where am I?" she languidly interrogated, sweeping her small white hand -across her brow. - -Colville had gone, but the unwearied physician sitting by the bedside -answered, calmly: - -"You are in good hands, Miss Lawrence. I am your physician. You have -been very ill, and must not agitate yourself by asking questions yet." - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - -"You say I have been very ill?" said Lily, looking up into the dark face -bending over her. - -"Yes, you have been near to death's door; but indeed you must not talk; -you will exhaust yourself." - -"But I must talk," said the patient, willfully. "Why am I here? This is -not my home," glancing round the poor, ill-furnished room. "Where are my -father, my sister, my maid? Oh, God!" and a piercing shriek burst from -her lips. "I remember everything--the murderous dagger-thrust, the -horrid spell that bound me hand and foot and tongue. I could not speak, -I could not move; but I heard them weeping round me; I heard----" - -"For Heaven's sake, cease! You will kill yourself indeed, Miss -Lawrence!" cried the physician in alarm. - -But she waved him off, and sitting upright in bed continued wildly: - -"I heard your voice telling them that I was dead. I heard the horrid -inquest held over me. I heard the funeral service while I lay in the -open coffin, unable to stir, unable to comfort my weeping loved ones. -They bore me away. They locked me--me, a living, agonized human -creature--into the dreadful vault with the horrible dead for companions. -Ah! then, indeed, I became unconscious. I knew no more. Oh! oh! what -torture, what agonies I have endured!" cried the girl, waving her white -hands over her head and screaming aloud in her terrified recollection of -the dreadful agonies she had borne while in her cataleptic state. - -"She will kill herself indeed," muttered Pratt, hastily forcing a -composing draught between her writhing lips. - -She continued to rave wildly until the potent drug took effect on her -overwrought system and produced a deep, unnatural slumber. - -He went away and left her to the care of the witchlike old woman. She -awoke toward evening and found the old woman knitting away by her -bedside. The beautiful girl looked at her in wonder and fright. - -"Are you a vision from another world or only a fevered phantom of my -brain?" she inquired in a weak voice. - -The creature only scowled at her in reply, but she rose and brought a -bowl of fresh arrowroot and fed the patient, who found it very -refreshing after her protracted fasting. - -Old Haidee, as she was called, left the room with the empty bowl, and -Lily lay still, looking about her with a vague dread creeping into her -heart. Had she indeed died in that horrible vault, and was she now in -another world inhabited by such hideous beings as the one who had just -left her? She shuddered and closed her eyes. The sound of a footstep -aroused her. A man was entering the room. It was Harold Colville. He -came and stood by the bed-side, looking down at her pale face with -passionate tenderness shining in his eyes. - -Her white cheeks turned crimson. - -"Mr. Colville!" she cried, angrily, "what means this unwarrantable -intrusion?" - -"Oh, Lily! this from you!" he cried in sorrowful reproach. "Lily, I have -saved your life, my darling, and this is my reward; when all others -deserted you and left you in your coffin my love could not rest without -one more look at your dear face. Yes, the love you spurned in happier -days clung to you then and sought you amid the horrors of the dreadful -charnel-house. I entered the vault; I opened the coffin; I kissed the -lips that were dearer to me dead than those of any living woman. And -then I discovered faint signs of life! In my rapture at the discovery I -bore you away in my carriage and placed you under the care of a splendid -physician. You revived; you lived--yes, dead to all the world beside, -you live alone for me, my fair, my peerless Lily!" - -He smiled triumphantly, while a look of horror dawned in her eyes. - -"You--you will restore me to my friends?" she gasped in breathless -agitation. - -"Lily, can you ask it? Can I bear to give you up, long and truly as I -have loved you? When death, in compassion for my sorrow, has given you -up from the very tomb itself to my loving arms could I give you back to -your less devoted lover and live my life without you, my peerless -darling? Lily, do not ask me for such a sacrifice." - -"I am never to see father, sister, friends, again?" asked she, with -whitening lips. - -"Yes, yes, Lily. Only consent to reward my fidelity with your dear hand, -and you shall see them all again." - -"I cannot," she moaned, faintly; "I am betrothed to another." - -"Death has broken the bond," said he; "your lover has torn you from his -heart ere this in angry resentment at your supposed suicide. He believes -that you loved another and chose death in preference to a loveless -marriage with him. Give yourself to me, Lily, and that will confirm his -belief." - -"Oh, never, never! I do not love you," she cried, vehemently. - -"Love would come in time, darling. Gratitude to the savior of your life -would create love. I could make you happy, Lily; I have wealth, -position, influence--all the things that woman values most." - -"I can never love anyone but Lancelot Darling," she said, while a blush -tinged her cheek at the sweet confession. - -His brow grew dark as night. - -"Speak not the name of my hated rival," he cried, angrily. "I saved your -life, not he! Yet this is your gratitude!" - -"Oh, indeed I am grateful if indeed you saved my life," she cried. "But -ask me for some other reward. Take my eternal gratitude, my undying -friendship, take the last penny of my fortune, but spare me my -happiness!" - -"You rave, Lily," he answered, coldly. "Nothing you have offered me has -any value in my eyes except yourself. I will never, never resign you. -You are in my power here. To all the world you are dead. You shall -remain so until you marry me!" - -"I will never, never marry you!" she cried, with passionate defiance. - -"We shall see," he answered, angrily; but his words fell on deaf ears. -She had fallen back in a deep swoon. He went out and sent Haidee to -assist her while he hurriedly left the house. - -The swoon was a deep one. Lily lay quite exhausted after she revived, -and was still and speechless for some hours. Doctor Pratt came that -night and gave her another sleeping potion. She took it quietly without -remark, and slept heavily all night. The sun was high in the heavens -next day when old Haidee, sitting by her pillow, started to find those -large blue eyes fixed thoughtfully upon her. She ran and brought a -nourishing breakfast up-stairs to her patient. - -"You are better," said she, in her cracked voice, seeing that Lily ate -with an appetite. - -"I am stronger," said she, as Haidee removed the tray. - -She was quiet a while after the old crone had taken her seat and resumed -her knitting. Presently she asked, abruptly: - -"What is your name?" - -"They call me Haidee," said the old woman, shortly. - -"Do you live here alone, Haidee?" - -"My old man lives with me," said she. - -"You are very poor, I suppose," said Lily, letting her eyes rove over -the poorly furnished bedroom. - -"Miserably poor, honey," said old Haidee, while an avaricious light -gleamed in her small black eyes. - -"Is this place in New York?" asked the patient. - -"Thereabouts," answered old Haidee. - -"Would you like to earn some money--heaps of shining gold?" asked the -girl, timidly. - -The old woman's beady eyes sparkled. "Aye, that I would," said she. - -"If you will carry a little note to my father for me, I'll give you -plenty of money," said Lily, tremblingly. - -"Where is your money?" asked Haidee, cautiously. - -"I have no money with me," said Lily, "but my father will give you some -when you take him this note." - -"The pay must be in advance," said Haidee, provokingly, "I can't trust -your promise." - -Lily looked about her despairingly. There was nothing valuable about her -except a diamond ring on her finger. Her eyes fell upon that. - -"I will give you my diamond ring if you will carry the note to my -father." - -"Aye, aye, but your captors would miss it from your finger," said -Haidee, watching the sparkling jewel with greedy eyes. "They would -suspect you had bribed me, and they would kill old Haidee." - -"That is true," murmured the patient, sadly. She lay a little while lost -in thought, then her face grew bright. - -"I will tell you what I will do," said she. "See, there are five -diamonds in my ring. Each one is worth a hundred dollars. I will loosen -one of the stones and give it to you if you will help me to escape from -here. They will not miss one single stone from the ring, or if they do -they will think it had become loosened from the setting and lost. Come, -what do you say?" - -"It is a risky undertaking, and the reward is small," muttered the old -creature. - -"My father shall give much more if you help me. Haidee, will you do it?" -asked Lily, imploringly. - -"Yes, I will," said the old woman, greedily. - -"Now?" asked Lily. - -"Yes, now, before the doctor or Mr. Colville comes back. My old man can -take care of you until I return." - -Lily shuddered at the mention of the old man, but hastily begged for -writing materials. - -There were none to be had except the stub of an old pencil and some -light brown wrapping-paper. The old crone brought her these with a -muttered apology for her poverty, and sitting up in bed, Lily wrote a -few feeble, incoherent lines to her father. - - "Dear papa," she wrote, "I am not dead, though you put me in a - coffin and locked me in the vault with all the dead and gone - Lawrences. I was stolen from the vault, and a doctor brought me to - life again. I am kept a prisoner here by Harold Colville, who - swears he will not release me until I marry him. I have hired the - old woman who takes care of me to take you this letter. You must - give her money, papa dear, for her kindness. She will conduct you - here where I am. Oh! hasten, papa, and release me from this - horrible prison. - - "Your loving daughter, - - "LILY." - -Taking the old woman's knitting needle she carefully pryed out one of -the diamonds from her ring, and putting it with the note into Haidee's -hand bade her hasten. - -"It is a long way from here. It will take me several hours to go," was -the answer. - -"I shall count the minutes till you return," said Lily. "God bless you, -Haidee, for your goodness to me at this trying time." - -The old woman chuckled as she went out, and locked the door after her. -At the foot of the stairs she paused and carefully reread the -superscription of the letter. - -"Number 1800 Fifth avenue," said she, gloatingly. "Ah! the outside of -this letter is all I want to see." - -She hobbled into her room, set her old man on guard to watch her -prisoner, and blithely wended her way cityward. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - -"Mrs. Vance, there is an old woman down-stairs says she has brought the -laces you wished to see," said a trim little serving maid at Mrs. -Vance's door. - -Mrs. Vance looked up impatiently from her book. - -"I have not ordered any laces at all," said the lady, sharply. "Send the -lying old creature away, Agnes." - -The trim maid hesitated. - -"You ought to look at them, Mrs. Vance," said she, timidly; "such lovely -laces I never saw. They are as delicate as sea-foam and very cheap. I -expect they are smuggled goods." - -"Well, well, let her come up then, but I do not need any of her wares." - -Agnes went away and presently reappeared a moment at the door, and -ushered in old Haidee with a basket on her arm. The maid then left them -together. - -"Now, then," said the lady, sharply, "what did you mean by saying I had -ordered your laces?" - -"Oh! pretty lady, forgive an old woman's lie to the maids for the sake -of getting in. I have bargains, lady--lovely laces smuggled through the -Custom House without any duty--I can sell them to you much cheaper than -the merchants can afford to do." - -"Let me see them, then," said the lady, with apparent indifference. - -Old Haidee unpacked her wares and exhibited a small but fine assortment -of real laces. Her prices were extremely low, and Mrs. Vance, though she -pretended indifference, was charmed with their elegance, and the small -sum asked by the vender. After a good deal of haggling she selected -several yards, and paid for them in gold pieces taken from a silken -netted purse through whose interstices gleamed many more pieces of the -same kind. Old Haidee's eyes gleamed greedily at the sight. - -"Gold-gold!" she muttered, working her claw-like fingers. "Give me the -purse, pretty lady." - -Mrs. Vance withdrew a step in amazement. - -"Old woman, you are crazy. Go, leave the room this very instant!" - -"Give me the gold," still pleaded the miserly old hag. - -"I will have you turned out of the house this minute, miserable old -beggar!" cried Mrs. Vance, moving toward the bell. - -"Stop one moment, lady, I have something to say to you--a secret to tell -you. You would not have me tell it before the servants, would you?" said -the old woman, in such a meaning tone that Mrs. Vance actually -hesitated, with her hand on the bell-rope. - -"Say on," said she, haughtily, and thinking to herself that the old -lace-vender was insane. - -"Bend closer, lady, the walls have ears sometimes. This is a terrible -secret," said Haidee, with a solemn air. - -Mrs. Vance moved a step nearer, impressed in spite of herself by the -eerie, witch-like gestures and sepulchral air of the speaker. - -"Lady, a few nights ago a fair young girl was murdered within these -stately walls. Ah! you tremble; she trembled too when the jealous woman -stole into her room, turned the key in the lock, and struck her down as -she stood looking at her sweet reflection in her bridal dress--yes, -struck her down with a brutal dagger-thrust in her heart. The wicked -murderess stooped to see if her guilty work was done, then escaped down -the ladder of vines that climbed up to the window. The jury said that -the poor girl committed suicide; but we know better--do we not, -beautiful lady?" - -"You are a fiend," cried Mrs. Vance, from the chair where she had sunk -down, still clutching the heavy purse of gold coins in her cold hand. -"You lie! no one murdered her--she died by her own hand." - -"Lady, I shall not tell my secret to any one but you," said Haidee, with -a low and fiend-like laugh. "Now, will you give me the gold?" - -"Never! You have come here to blackmail me! you wish to frighten me by -trumped up suspicion; I will not buy your silence!" cried Mrs. Vance, -passionately. - -"Very well, lady, I will go to Mr. Lawrence, I will go to Mr. Darling, I -will tell them what I have told you," said the lace-vender, rising to -leave. - -"Stay--who knows this lying tale besides yourself?" - -"No one, lady. I, Haidee Leveret, am the only witness of your crime, and -you can buy my silence with that purse of gold," said the old crone, -sepulchrally. - -"Take it, then," said Mrs. Vance, flinging it down at her feet "and keep -the secret till your dying day! you need not return to blackmail me -again. That is all the gold I have. I am a poor woman. I can get no more -to give you!" - -The old woman gathered up the purse of coins, hid it in her bosom, and -trotted out, mouthing and mumbling to herself. Mrs. Vance fell down upon -the floor writhing in terror. "My sin has found me out," she cried, -wringing her white hands helplessly. "Oh, Lancelot, Lancelot, it was all -for you!" - - * * * * * - -"A lucky day," said old Haidee to herself as she trotted down the -street. "A fine piece of work, and well paid for! A purse of gold and a -diamond! Well, well!" - -She stopped and took poor Lily's note from her pocket where it had lain -concealed, and tearing it into minute fragments threw it into the -street. A gentleman passing by observed the action curiously. It was Mr. -Lawrence. Ah! if he had but known whose hand had written the note whose -coarse, brown fragments lay under his feet, if he had but turned and -followed that hideous old witch, what months of sorrow might have been -spared him. But he did not know, and he went on to his home, bowed and -heart-broken, while old Haidee trotted quickly past, crooning a low tune -in the pride of her gratified avarice and cunning. - -As she went into the door of her home, Doctor Pratt came in suddenly -after her. - -"Now where have you been, Haidee?" he asked, suspiciously. - -"Only to market, doctor," said she, trembling, sidling past him with the -basket on her arm. - -He found his patient restless and excited. She was tossing uneasily from -side to side of the bed, and her cheeks were flushed and feverish. He -took the small hand, and found the pulse bounding rapidly beneath his -touch. - -"This will not do," said he, "you must not excite yourself unduly." - -The door opened, admitting Haidee with a bowl of fresh arrowroot. Lily -looked wistfully beyond her, but she was quite alone. She saw in -Haidee's cautious, negative shake of the head that her mission had -failed. She fell back, crushed with her disappointment. - -"Come, take your nourishment," said Pratt, kindly. - -She shook her head. A choking sensation arose in her throat, and she -could not swallow. She determined to make one appeal to this -grim-looking man. - -"Doctor," she said, clasping her hands imploringly, "I appeal to your -honor, to your generosity, to your humanity, to restore me to my home -and father!" - -Doctor Pratt shook his head decisively. - -"It is impossible for me to do that," he answered; "you are in the power -of Mr. Colville; I am merely employed by him to attend you in your -illness. You must make your appeal to him." - -"He is a villain, a designing wretch!" she broke out, indignantly. "I -will make no appeal to him. But, doctor, if you will go and tell my -father where to find me, I will give you five thousand dollars the day I -am liberated from this prison-house." - -He laughed and drew a newspaper from his pocket. Putting it in her -hands, he directed her attention to a marked paragraph. She read it with -streaming eyes. It ran simply: - -"Much sympathy has been excited for the Lawrence family in the painful -discovery that the body of Miss Lily Lawrence has been stolen from the -vault of her father. The well-known wealth of the great banker makes it -seem probable that the foul deed was committed with a view to a heavy -ransom. It will be seen in our reward column that Mr. Lawrence offers -ten thousand dollars for the return of the corpse." - -"So your father offers more for the repose of your dead body than you do -for your living one," he said, laughing. "No, Miss Lawrence, I cannot -accept your munificent bribe. My duty to Mr. Colville forbids. And _au -revoir_. I must be going. I leave you some medicine and will see you -again to-morrow. Take the best care of her, Haidee." - -He went away, and they heard the hall door clang behind him. Lily turned -to her silent attendant. - -"Haidee, you did not go," she murmured, in a reproachful tone. - -"Oh! yes, I did, miss, but your father was not there," readily answered -the treacherous old woman. - -"Oh! then you left the note for him, and also your address?" said Lily -in a more hopeful tone. - -"Aye, that I did, miss," said old Haidee, lying glibly; "I gave it to a -very pretty lady." - -"It was my sister Ada, then," said Lily. - -"No, miss; your sister lies ill of a fever. I gave it to a lady called -Mrs. Vance," lied Haidee, watching the patient's face keenly. - -A startling change swept over the girl's white features. Fear, terror, -resentment--all were blended in that look. - -"Oh!" she cried, "then indeed I have no hope of release! She will not -give the letter to my father. She is my murderess--she tried to kill me. -She will come here and make her fatal work sure! Watch for her, -Haidee--do not allow her to enter here. She will kill me, indeed she -will kill me!" - -"Oh, me, honey, I am so sorry that I gave her the note," said Haidee, -artfully; "but do not be afraid, she shall not come here to finish her -devil's work--no, not she, my poor deary." - -Alas! alas! poor Lily! Doctor Pratt's opiates could not bring oblivion -of her troubles that night. She raved and tossed through the long and -weary night, while Haidee, thoroughly alarmed, was very glad to see the -physician's face quite early the next morning. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - -"Come home and dine with me, Lance," said Mr. Lawrence, meeting -Lancelot Darling amid the bustle and stir of Wall street. - -Poor Lance had been strolling carelessly up and down with a care-worn, -wretched look upon his handsome face. Time went very slowly with him -now. He turned about and, shaking hands with his friend, walked on by -his side. - -"Is there any news?" he asked, his mind reverting instantly to the -painful event which occupied all his waking thoughts. - -"None," answered the banker, sadly. "Some of the sharpest detectives in -the city are trying to trace it, but as yet there is not the faintest -clew." - -He sighed and Lancelot echoed the sigh. Both walked silently on. At -length the banker signaled a car and, entering it, they became at once -the cynosure of all the eyes within it. Their recent terrible affliction -was so well known that sympathy shone on them from every eye. But little -was said to them even by the friends they encountered. The mute trouble -of their faces seemed to repel the mere trivialities of conversation, -and no one wished to speak of the mournful tragedy whose impress was -written so legibly on the faces of both the sufferers. - -"You are looking very ill," Mrs. Vance said, in a gentle tone of -sympathy, when the banker had left the guest in the drawing-room while -he went up to see Ada, whose illness had not as yet taken any favorable -turn. - -"I am quite well, thank you," he answered, absently, and with an -unconscious, heart-wrung sigh. He was looking about him sadly, seeing in -fancy the graceful, girlish form that had so often flitted through this -grand room. She saw the turn his mind had taken, and instantly diverted -it to the present. - -"Has anything been heard from our poor Lily yet?" she asked, in low, -mournful tones. - -"Nothing, nothing. Oh! Mrs. Vance, this suspense is very hard to bear," -said he, impetuously, won by the gentle sympathy in her face and voice -to an outburst he had not intended. "It is almost killing me!" - -"Poor Lance," said she, in a broken voice; "your features show the -traces of your great suffering. It is hard for us all to bear, but -harder still for you." - -Her delicate hand fluttered down upon his own with a pressure of mute -sympathy, while she buried her face in her handkerchief, sobbing softly. - -"I should not have brought my gloomy face here to sadden you still -more--forgive me for my reckless outburst," said he, pained by the sight -of her womanly grief, which always goes to a man's heart. - -"Do not regret it," she answered, through her sobs. "Let me grieve with -you, poor boy, in your trouble. Believe me, sympathy is very sweet." - -"Thank you," he answered, gently. "Ah! this indeed is a house of -mourning. Is Ada any better to-day, Mrs. Vance?" - -"I am sorry to say she is not," answered the lady, making a pretence of -drying her eyes, which, however, had not been wet by a single tear. "She -has a low, intermittent fever, which does not as yet yield at all to the -physician's treatment. God grant we are not to lose our lovely Ada, -too. Ah! that would indeed be a sad consequence of poor Lily's rash -suicide." - -He shuddered through all his strong young frame at that concluding word. - -"Oh, God!" he groaned, "the mystery of it! Suicide! Suicide! If God had -taken her from us, I could learn to say, 'It is well'--but that she -should weary of us all, that she should rush out of this life that I -thought to make so fair and beautiful to her in our united future! I -cannot understand it--it is horrible, maddening!" - -Musingly she murmured over a few lines from Tom Hood's mournful poem, -"The Bridge of Sighs:" - - "Mad from Life's history, - Swift to Death's mystery, - Glad to be hurled - Anywhere, anywhere, out of the world!" - -The words seemed to madden him. Impatiently he strode up and down the -floor. - -"She never loved me as I loved her!" he broke out, passionately. "I -could not have done aught to grieve her so. If earth had been a desert, -it must still have been Paradise to me while she walked upon it. Oh! -Lily, Lily, you were very cruel!" - -"Do not grieve so, I beseech you," said the widow's gentle voice. -Timidly she took his hand and led him to a seat. "You will make yourself -ill. We cannot afford to lose you, too. You were so near becoming one of -the family that you seem almost to take the place of our dear one who -has left us." - -"You think me almost a madman," said he, remorsefully. "I startle you -with my wild words. I should not have come here." - -"Yes, you should," she answered, kindly. "You should come oftener than -you do and let me sympathize with you in your trouble. Who can grieve -with you so well as I who knew and loved your dear one? Promise to come -every day, dear Lance, and let us share our trouble together." - -"I will try," he answered, moved by her gentle friendliness, and -thinking as he looked up that she was a very handsome woman. Not with -the beauty of his lost Lily. _Her_ angelic, blonde fairness typified the -highest beauty to him. But handsome with a certain queenliness that was -very winning. How dark and soft her eyes were--how beautiful the sweep -of the long, dark lashes. And her cheeks--how rich and soft was the -color that glowed upon them and deepened to crimson tints upon her full -lips. And when that dark, bright face glowed with tenderness and feeling -how very fascinating it became. When she took on herself the _role_ of -comforter how softly she could pour the oil of healing on the troubled -waves of feeling. She had Lance soothed and quieted before Mr. Lawrence -came down, with a pale and troubled face, from Ada's sick room. - -Dinner went off rather soberly and solemnly. The array of silver and -cut-glass was dazzling, the edibles costly and dainty, but Lance -scarcely made a pretence of eating. Mr. Lawrence merely trifled with the -viands, and Mrs. Vance was the only one whose appetite was equal to the -demands of the occasion. Conversation lagged, though the beautiful -widow tried to keep it up with all the consummate art of which she was -mistress. But the gentlemen did not second her efforts, and she was -relieved when the formal ceremony was over and they went out to smoke -their cigars. - -"I will go in and see Ada a little," thought she. "The nurse says the -fever is not infectious." - -She tripped lightly up the steps and into the room where poor Ada lay -tossing in her burning fever. She was very much like her sister in -appearance, but the luxurious chamber where she lay was in great -contrast with that in which poor suffering Lily was now immured. True, -Lily had all the comforts her sickness needed, but here the capricious -eyes of an invalid found everything to charm and soothe the weary eye. -Here delicate curtains of silk and lace shut out the too dazzling light -of day; here dainty white hangings delighted the eye with their coolness -and purity. Here and there were set vases of freshly-cut flowers filling -the air with sweetness, and rare and costly paintings looked down from -the softly tinted walls. - -An expression of annoyance swept over the girl's fair, ingenuous face as -Mrs. Vance bent airily over her and touched her feverish brow with her -delicately rouged lips. - -"You should not kiss me," said she, pettishly, "this fever may be -infectious." - -"The doctor said it was not infectious, my dear," murmured the lady -sweetly. "I asked him myself this morning." - -"Oh! you did, eh? I suppose wild horses could not have dragged you in -here to see me if it had been," said Ada, sarcastically. - -"Is there anything I can do for you, my love?" asked Mrs. Vance, -gracefully ignoring the spoiled girl's incivility. - -"Nothing--only do not talk to me--talking hurts my head," replied the -invalid, turning her face away. - -"Ah, then, if I only disturb you I will take my leave," said the -handsome widow, tripping out of the room. - -"You were rather rude, my dear," said the nurse, surprised at her gentle -patient's sudden petulance. - -"I don't care," said Ada vehemently, "I hate that woman! I cannot tell -why it is, but I have hated her ever since she came here to live, nearly -two years ago. She knows I do not like her, but she affects -unconsciousness of it. Keep the door locked, nurse, and do not let her -come in here again--tell her I am too ill to see anyone. When she kissed -me just now I felt as if a great slimy snake had crawled over me--ugh!" -she said, shuddering at the recollection. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - -The great agitation of poor imprisoned Lily Lawrence culminated in a -severe fit of illness, and Doctor Pratt found need for all his skill -before convalescence set in again. Mr. Colville prudently kept himself -in the background now, so she was not troubled by the sight of the -villain's face for several weeks. Haidee proved herself a careful and -efficient nurse, and in three weeks' time poor Lily rose from her -sick-bed pale, weak and weary, her girlish heart filled with heaviness -and despair. She had again and again entreated old Haidee to go to her -father, but in vain. The old woman stubbornly turned a deaf ear to all -her entreaties. The old crone's husband Lily had not yet seen, though -she frequently heard his gruff and brutal tones in the next room to -hers, which appeared to be his sleeping-apartment. - -She was sitting up one day in the great arm-chair puzzling her brain -over some plan of escape. She looked very lovely still, though wasted by -illness and sorrow. Haidee had provided her with a neat blue wrapper, -and her fairness was almost dazzling by contrast with its becoming hue. -Her rich golden hair was gathered in a loose coil at the back of her -graceful little head, showing the whiteness of her neck, and the rosy -tinting of her small, shell-like ears. A fancy seized her to look out of -the window which was always covered with thick curtains. It was warm and -sultry and she longed for a breath of the sweet and balmy air outside -her gloomy-looking room. - -Rising with feeble steps she went to the window, and pulled aside the -curtain. - -Horrors! the window was barred with great, heavy iron bars! - -Some vague, indefinite plan of escape through that window had been -forming in her mind. She almost screamed in her despair as she saw the -futility of her plan. - -"Hateful prison-bars!" said she, angrily, and clenching one in her small -hand she shook it with angry violence. To her surprise the rotten -wood-work yielded, and the bar fell from its place and remained in her -hand. Very cautiously she looked through the aperture just formed. - -She saw that she was in an old and weather-beaten house set in the midst -of a large garden whose overgrown shrubs and bushes had grown wild and -tangled, and over-run the paths. There was not another house within half -a mile of this one. She was far out on the suburbs, she comprehended at -once. - -A noise below startled her from her reconnoissance. Hastily fitting the -heavy bar back to its place, she dropped the curtains and tottered back -to her seat, assuming an air of indifference and weariness. - -The door opened and Harold Colville entered. - -"Good-evening, Miss Lawrence," said he, coolly; "I trust you find -yourself improving." - -Lily vouchsafed him no answer save a look of scorn and contempt. - -"Come--come, fair lady," said he, seating himself near her, "have you no -kinder greeting for your devoted admirer?" - -"Leave the room, if you please," said she, while the indignant crimson -suffused her cheeks. "I have nothing to say to you, sir!" - -"Nothing? surely it were wiser, Lily, to try to make terms with me than -to bandy angry words. Remember you are in my power. I love you, and I -want your love in return. But, proud girl, beware how you change my love -into hate." - -"Mr. Colville," said she, "it is cruel, it is unmanly thus to persecute -a defenseless girl. I beseech you, restore me to my home and my father. -Think of my poor father, my suffering sister. There are other women who -will love you, women who have not given away their hearts as I have -done." - -"There is but one woman on earth to me, Lily, and I have sworn to make -her my own. You cannot move me by all you say--as well try to topple a -mountain from its base as to move me from my firm will. Better, far -better were it for you, Lily Lawrence, to waive all this useless -pleading, make yourself as charming as you well know how to do, and -become my wife. If you still persist in refusing there may be worse -things in store for you." - -She could not misunderstand the insulting meaning of his angry speech. -The hot blood flushed into her face, then receded and left her pale as -death. In bitter shame at his rudeness she bowed her face in her hands. - -"You understand me," said he with a low, malignant laugh; "so much the -better! Now listen to reason, Lily. I love you, and you are in my power! -you are dead to the world, dead to the father who reared you, the sister -who loved you, the man you would have wedded. Consent to marry me, and -within an hour after I call you my wife you shall see your friends -again, and tell them the romantic story of my love, and how it saved -your life; you can tell them that such devotion won you to reward my -fidelity with your hand. All this I offer you in good faith and honor, -and give you time for decision. But refuse--and--well, you know you are -still in my power!" - -She rose and stood confronting him in all the pride and dignity of -outraged and insulted purity. She was rarely, peerlessly beautiful with -that scarlet tide staining her cheeks, that lightning flash in the -violet eyes. - -"Villain, coward, dog!" she cried, in the white heat of passionate -resentment, "how dare you threaten me thus? Know that I defy you! I -spurn you! I will never be your wife! I will die first, do you hear me? -I will die by my own hand rather than be so disgraced." - -"Rave on, my beauty," he answered, laughing tauntingly. "Flap your -pretty wings against your prison bars, my little bird, you will only -ruffle your feathers in vain. By Jove, you only make me more determined! -I never saw you so beautiful, so utterly fascinating! I did not think -you had so queenly a spirit, my fair one! you would make your fortune on -the tragic stage!" - -"Oh! go, go," she gasped, lifting her hand with a wild gesture toward -the door, "go, leave me, unless you wish to see me dying!" - -He paused irresolute an instant; then her flashing eye and dauntless air -cowed his craven spirit into submission. With a slight bow he turned and -went out of the door. - -Face downward on the bed, Lily wept and sobbed unrestrainedly. She was -determined, if release did not come ere long, to die by her own hand. -"Better than dishonor," thought she with another burst of anguished -tears. - -She looked about her for some instrument to secrete in case she should -be driven to the last stronghold of honor. There was nothing to secure. -Old Haidee had made sure of that. "Well," she thought, "if there is -nothing else I can strangle myself with my handkerchief." - -The hours wore on to twilight. Old Haidee brought her supper, grumbled -because she did not eat it, and scowlingly withdrew. Lily was left alone -with her sad thoughts for companions. She went to the window, pulled -aside the curtain, and looked out. The twilight had faded, a few pale -stars glimmered in the cloudy sky, a crescent moon gave forth a weak and -watery light. A wild thought darted into her mind. "Oh! if I could -escape through these broken bars. Ah! why not?" - -She stood still and listened. Familiar sounds from the adjoining room -informed her that the Leverets were retiring. She crouched down and -waited perhaps half an hour. Then a dual chorus of snores announced that -her lynx-eyed guardians slept. - -Breathlessly she stole to the window and removed the iron bar. It left -an aperture large enough to admit her slight form. She tried the other -bars, but they seemed more firmly fixed than the first one she had -tried. They resisted her strongest efforts. - -"If I only had a strong rope," she thought to herself, "I could secure -it to these bars and slide down it to the ground." - -She leaned her head through the aperture and looked down to see how far -she would have to descend. The distance appeared to be about thirty -feet. - -"If I only had a rope," she thought again, "I could certainly gain my -freedom--freedom! that means home again, papa, Ada, Lancelot!" - -She sat down, her heart beating wildly at the thought. They believed her -dead. She pictured their wild, incredulous joy at first when she burst -in among them, their own living darling. What a story she would have to -tell, and how swiftly the vengeance of papa and Lancelot would descend -on Mrs. Vance and Harold Colville. Her breath came quick and fast, her -courage mounted high within her. - -"I must escape," she murmured with passionate vehemence; "surely there -must be some way out of this horrible prison." - -She thought of all the stories she had heard and read of the escape of -prisoners--she remembered that she had read of one man who had torn his -bed-clothes into strips and made a rope of them by which he descended -from the window. Why could not she do the same? - -Cautiously, so as not to awaken the sleepers in the next room, she -removed the bed-covers. There were not many, for the sultry summer -weather precluded the possibility of their use, but there were two -strong linen sheets. - -"These would do, I think," she murmured to herself. "I am so light it -would not need a very strong rope to bear my weight. I will tear these -sheets into four long strips each. That will make eight strips. I will -tie them together in knots, fasten the rope thus formed to a bar, and -lower myself from the window. If the rope is not long enough I must jump -the remainder of the distance. Then, free from this dreadful prison, I -must trust in Providence to find the way home." - -She set to work diligently. She was obliged to be very cautious for fear -the sound of her work should penetrate the ears of her jailers. She had -nothing with which to cut the cloth, and it was strong and difficult to -tear. But by dint of hard labor with teeth and fingers she at length -accomplished it, and set to work tying the slips of linen together. - -It took some time to make these knots secure. When that was done she -secured the end of her impromptu rope to the lowest bar of the window, -and looked out to see how far the end escaped the ground. Joy, joy! it -was only about ten feet. - -"I can easily jump that distance," she thought, with a thrill of triumph -at her success. - -She looked about for some wrapping to put over her thin blue dress. A -long dark cloak with hood attached hung conveniently against the wall. - -"They must have put that around me when I was brought here," she said, -"so I will wear it to go away in," and, taking it down, she rolled it -into a compact bundle and threw it out of the window. - -Nothing now remained but to follow the bundle. She stood still a moment -with streaming eyes raised to Heaven while with clasped hands she -invoked the divine mercy and protection on her perilous undertaking. -Then shuddering, she climbed into the window, forced her body through -the narrow opening, and, catching to the rope, swung herself downward. - -Hark! there was a swish in the shrubbery in the garden below as if some -heavy body had dashed through them. Her heart leaped into her throat, -her clasp on the rope grew unconsciously looser, and she slipped much -lower; so low that she heard distinctly on the ground beneath a deep, -low, hurried breathing. - -In an agony of dread and fear she clung tightly to the rope and waited -for some demonstration from below. Some unexpected peril had intervened -between her and freedom. - -Hush! Hark! Suddenly, as if all Hades had broken loose, there rose a -fearful, blood-curdling sound on the soft warm air of the summer night. -Louder and deeper still it grew, and Lily, hanging there by the clasp of -her frail little hands, midway between the window and the ground, knew -that it was the cruel, hungry, relentless baying of a deep-mouthed -blood-hound. - -A scream of terror burst from her lips as she heard the dangerous -creature at work beneath her wreaking its vengeance on the cloak she had -thrown down--tearing it and rending it with fangs and paws. Thus, she -thought, with a gasp of agony, the terrible beast would soon be rending -her warm, living body. - -Its vengeance sated on the cloak, the blood-hound began to make hungry -leaps into the air towards Lily's body, at the same time uttering -murderous yelps that froze the blood in the poor young creature's veins. -She felt herself growing weak and faint, and knew that she could hold on -but a few minutes longer ere she must faint and fall into the devouring -jaws of the blood-thirsty animal. Oh! God, she thought, what a horrible -death, to be torn limb from limb by that hungry brute! Papa and Lancelot -would never know all she had suffered. - -She had escaped death by steel, death by living entombment, to be rent -in twain by this awful blood-hound! - -Suddenly, with a cry of rage, a night-capped head was thrust out of a -window above. The Leverets had been awakened by the noise, and now -hastened to the rescue. Lily heard them coming and tried to hold on yet -a little longer; but her strength was spent, her bruised hands relaxed -their hold, and with a shriek of horror she was hurled downward into the -hungry jaws that were waiting for her. She heard the wild, prolonged -howl of joy given by the dog, felt its hot breath on her face, then -unconsciousness supervened and she knew no more. - -At that moment when her death would have been but the work of an -instant, a powerful hand grasped the dog's collar and dragged him, -howling and yelping away to his kennel, while old Haidee raised the -unconscious girl carefully up and looked at her limp form in the -moonlight. - -"Is she dead?" muttered the old witch. "Has the hound killed her? Here, -Peter," as the old man came back from fastening the dog into his kennel, -"carry the girl up-stairs--I believe the dog has killed her." - -They carried her back and laid her down upon the bed whose coverings she -had stripped and rent with such high hope an hour ago. - -White and cold she lay there as if indeed life had been driven from its -beautiful citadel forever. Old Haidee carefully examined her face and -limbs. There was no sign of any wound from the animal's fangs. - -"He has not bitten her. If she be dead, it is sheer fright that has -killed her," said she. "Peter, you ugly brute, stand aside. If she were -to revive, the sight of you would be enough to frighten her to death!" - -Peter removed his homely countenance to one side, while old Haidee -pursued her task of bringing the unconscious girl out of her swoon. Cold -water, camphor, burnt feathers and ammonia were successively tried by -the old crone before faint breath began to flutter again over the pale -lips. Her eyes opened and she looked up in bewilderment. - -"Where am I?" she moaned. "What is the matter--oh! what is that?" - -Her wandering gaze had fastened on old Peter Leveret, and she regarded -him with looks of horror. And no wonder, for old Peter was hump-backed -and deformed, and had a countenance so wicked it resembled that of a -brute more than a human being. A shock of bristly, unkempt red hair -surmounted his visage, and his straggling beard was of the same fiery -hue. He leered maliciously at her looks of terror. - -"Pshaw! that is only my old man, miss," said Haidee, shortly. "You need -not put on so many airs at sight of him, for I do assure you that if he -had not pulled old Nero off you just in the very nick of time, the -hound would have torn you to pieces long before this." - -"I thank you," said Lily, timidly, forcing herself to look gently at the -repulsive old creature. "Oh, where did the dreadful dog come from?" - -"We keeps it chained up all day in the garden, and at night we lets him -loose to purwent you from escaping, miss," answered old Peter, doggedly. - -"Strange that I never heard him before," mused Lily, reflectively. - -"He never had occasion to make himself heard before," said Haidee, -grimly. - -Lily shuddered and remained silent. - -"Pray, miss," said old Peter, who had been examining the window -curiously, "how did you get the iron bar out of this here window? You -don't look strong enough to have wrenched it out." - -"The woodwork was rotten," she answered, quietly. "I pulled the bar out -at the first effort." - -"Peter," said old Haidee, "go into the third room from this and see if -the bars are strong in that window." - -Old Peter hobbled out on his errand, and Haidee said, shortly: - -"I did not think you would try to give us the slip, miss, or I would -have warned you long ago about old Nero. There is no use trying to -escape from here--you are as secure in this house as if you were in your -grave. Grave perils await you the moment you step over this threshold. -Old Nero was but a foretaste of what you may meet with, so I advise you -to marry Mr. Colville, and content yourself." - -"I will never, never marry him, Haidee," said the young girl, sadly, yet -dauntlessly. "And you need not try to frighten me from trying to escape, -for I shall use every endeavor to that end. I can but die, and death is -preferable to what I must endure in this house." - -She lay back and closed her eyes wearily. - -Peter Leveret entered and reported the bars as strong and tight in the -third room. - -"You may sit here by the patient, then, while I go and prepare that room -for her reception," said his wife. - -"You will not put her in _that_ room," said Peter, with vague surprise -and doubt. - -"Yes, in that very room--there is no other where the windows are barred. -She must occupy that until we can get this window fixed. Nothing will -hurt her. I dare say she is not afraid of ghosts," said Haidee, grimly, -as she passed out. - -She was absent half an hour or more. Lily lay still with closed eyes all -the while, dreading to see again the villanous countenance of old Peter, -for hideous as Haidee had appeared to her startled eyes, her aspect was -beauty in comparison with that of her husband. It was with feelings of -relief, therefore, that Lily welcomed her return. - -"Come," said the old crone, shortly, "I will conduct you to a more -secure apartment, miss." - -She led Lily along a dark passage, thrust her rudely into a -dimly-lighted room, and locked the door upon her. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - -Thus rudely disposed of, Lily stood still a moment in the center of the -floor whither the old woman's rude push had landed her, and looked about -her with a swelling heart full of grief and indignation. - -She found herself in a meagerly furnished, low-ceiled room, very similar -to the one she had just quitted. The single window was barred with iron -strongly and securely fitted in. The low, white bed had a very -refreshing look to her worn and agitated frame, and throwing herself -upon it, dressed as she was, Lily fell into a deep and weary slumber, -broken now and then by a sob that welled up from her heart. - -It was probably midnight when she was awakened by the peal of thunder -overhead, and the patter of heavy rain upon the roof. A violent summer -storm was in progress, and Lily lay still awhile and listened in awe to -the raging elements warring furiously together. In a temporary lull of -the storm, she fancied she heard groans of pain arising from beneath the -floor, and sprang up in bed, trembling violently. She listened again, -but the sound was not repeated, and the girl smiled as she said to -herself: - -"It was only my nervous fancy, giving a human voice to the winds and -rain. There can be no one in this old house save my cruel jailers and -myself." - -She laid her head down again upon the pillow, and as the ominous sounds -were not repeated, and the wild thunder-storm decreased in violence, she -fell asleep and did not wake until the sun was high in the summer -heavens. - -Haidee, entering with her breakfast and fresh water for her ablutions, -scowled at her suspiciously. - -"Did you sleep well?" interrogated she. - -"Very well," answered Lily, coldly and briefly. - -"Did nothing disturb you through the night?" said the old witch, -watching the young girl keenly from beneath her shaggy, over-hanging -eyebrows. - -"Thunder awakened me," replied Lily, calmly, "and once, in a pause of -the storm, it seemed to me I heard a human voice groaning; but I became -satisfied afterward that it was only the wind in the trees." - -"Most likely," said Haidee. "I'm glad you were not frightened. But they -do say this room is haunted. A woman died in here, and they do say she -walks about and wrings her hands and groans. I know nothing about it -myself, but I will own that I have heard strange sounds here." - -The long, lonely day wore on while she sat absorbed in her painful -thoughts. Colville, with "malice prepense," had denied her the solace of -books, work, or music, thinking that the unutterable weariness and -stagnation of her life would drive her sooner into his eager arms. - -Time passed on leaden footsteps to the impatient young creature whose -life hitherto had held every pleasure that love and wealth combined -could lavish on its beautiful idol. - -Noon brought Haidee and her dinner. Wearied by the length of the sultry -day and her own vexing thoughts, Lily scarcely tasted the food brought -her. - -"Take it away," she said, indifferently, "I have no appetite, Haidee." - -Haidee obeyed in silence, and left her walking up and down the floor in -passionate impatience. Now and then she shuddered with fear at -remembering her escape of the previous night. - -"I shall have to die," she thought, despairingly. "There is no hope of -escape from this house. But, oh! may it not be by such a dreadful method -as that." - -Her meditations were suddenly interrupted by a horrible sound. It was -the far-off clank of a heavy chain mingled with the anguished wail of an -unearthly voice. It broke so suddenly on the stillness that Lily started -in affright, the very hairs on her head seeming to stand erect in her -over-mastering horror. - -She had never been a believer in the supernatural, but what was that, -she asked herself, with a wildly beating heart. The sounds continued, -muffled by distance, yet distinctly horrible and realistic. They seemed -to rise from the floor beneath her feet. She covered her ears with her -hands, but the sounds penetrated to her whirling brain in spite of her -efforts not to hear--dreadful sounds of woe from the suffering lips of -some human or inhuman creature. All the while the heavy chain seemed -clanking in unison with the voice. - -Was Haidee's ghost-story true after all, Lily asked herself, in doubt -and bewilderment. No, she would not believe it. Only the narrow-minded -and superstitious believed in such things. Suddenly the solution of the -mystery broke on her mind like the light of an inspiration. She -understood Haidee's anxiety that she should believe in the unearthly -nature of the sound she was likely to hear. - -"It is nothing supernatural," she said to herself, firmly. "I am not the -only prisoner in this house. Some poor being, more wretchedly treated -even than myself, perhaps driven to madness, as they will probably drive -me, is confined in some loathsome dungeon below me, and Haidee does not -wish me to know it." - -"Poor soul, poor soul!" murmured Lily in divine pity and compassion for -the unknown prisoner. - -As she sat musing sadly her eyes fell absently on the carpet beneath her -feet. It had evidently been laid down the night before in a great hurry, -for it was unevenly spread, and was not tacked down. There was no carpet -in the room she had occupied before. Why had old Haidee been so -particular about placing one here? - -"It is rather strange," she thought to herself. "Haidee had something to -conceal. I will look under that carpet." - -She glanced toward the key-hole, fearing that argus eyes might be -watching her. No one was there. She rolled up a piece of wrapping paper -that lay carelessly upon the floor and pushed it into the opening. - -"Now I will see what that carpet hides," said the brave girl to herself. - -She advanced to the corner of the room and slowly turned back the -corners of the gay flowered carpet as far as the middle. She was -rewarded by more than she expected. The carpet had been drawn over a -trap-door in the center of the room. It had recently been used, too, -thought the girl, for it was free from dust and a small crevice appeared -at one end. She inserted her fingers in the opening thus found, and -cautiously pushed against it. The door slid back under the flooring -lightly and easily, and disclosed below Lily's room a long and narrow -winding stairway. It looked gloomy and dark, as if the footsteps of the -wicked alone trod over its hidden way, and with a shudder Lily pushed -the door back into its place, carefully replaced the carpet, removed the -paper from the key-hole, and sat down with a wildly-beating heart and -trembling limbs. - -"That stairway evidently leads to the dungeon of that poor chained -prisoner," was her inward comment. "Who can it be that Haidee has -immured there? Perhaps another victim of Dr. Pratt and Harold Colville. -Oh! God, that such infamous villany should go unpunished beneath the sky -of heaven!" - -She walked to the iron-barred window, and looked out through the -grating. - -The sun was shining in the blue heavens--the tangled old garden, -refreshed by the storm of the previous night, was a wilderness of bloom. -Untrimmed, the roses spread their wild, loving arms over the ground, or -climbed heavenward by whatever frail support they could reach. Vines -broken down from their frames blossomed luxuriantly on the ground, and -ran across the winding path. A high stone wall ran around the whole -place, shutting out all the bloom and sweetness from the curious gaze of -any who might chance to pass. Poor Lily inhaled the fragrant air that -rose to her window with a heart-wrung sigh. What sunshine and sweetness -and beauty were outside of her horrible prison--what grief, what -desolation, perhaps even madness, within. - -The fresh pure air infused new courage into her fainting heart; the -memory of those mournful, anguished wails became less dreadful as her -courage rose. - -"I will go down that winding stairway to-night," was the resolve taking -shape in her mind. "I will try and find that poor soul imprisoned -beneath me. Ah! can I, dare I? Who knows what awful shape of idiocy or -madness may affright me thence? No matter; after enduring the dread -companionship of the dead in the charnel house, I can bear that chained -creature also." - -The day wore on. Twilight came with its dusky shadows and passed. Old -Haidee entered with supper and a freshly trimmed lamp. Lily could -scarcely eat, she was so excited by the thought of her projected night -adventure. - -"I suppose you are trying to starve yourself to death, miss," said she -grimly; "I shall send word to Dr. Pratt and he will give you some stuff -to stimulate your appetite." - -Lily made no reply. - -"I suppose you'll not try to escape to-night," continued Haidee -maliciously. "If you do old Nero will be on the watch for you. He never -sleeps at night." - -"I will make my next attempt at daylight then," replied Lily coolly. - -"You'll not find another loose bar," retorted the old woman angrily, as -she went out with the scarcely touched dishes. - -Lily waited a long while in perfect silence for the sound of the old -people going up-stairs. At length she heard their harsh footsteps -creaking up the stairs. As she had expected old Haidee's course was -straight towards her room. She sprang into bed, drew the covers up to -her chin, and feigned slumber. The key grated in the lock and the old -woman's fiendish visage peered in. - -"Ah! there you are safe in your nest, pretty bird," croaked she; "well, -happy dreams to you." So saying, she turned the key again and went away, -satisfied that her charge was safe for that night. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - -Lily lay perfectly still, but quite sleepless for more than two hours. -During that time she heard several groans from below, accompanied by the -ominous clank of the chain. At length, as the cries grew louder and more -frequent, she determined at all hazards to seek the poor, suffering -creature. - -She rose and removed the carpet, slid back the trap-door, and gazed down -into the gloomy pit below. All was blackness and darkness, but the -harsh, wailing sounds arose more distinctly than before. She took up the -lamp in her hand, and with an irrepressible shudder, began to descend -the winding stair. Presently she stood at the foot of the stairs in a -narrow passage-way. - -At the further end was a door. Trembling so that she could scarcely hold -the lamp, Lily advanced and tried the handle. It yielded to her touch -and swung open. She found herself in an empty, dismal room, its walls -festooned with cobwebs, its cold flooring formed of solid stone. - -As she looked about by the dim light of the lamp she saw another door, -and resolutely advancing she caught the knob and swung it open. Another -instant and she had stepped across the threshold and stood in the -presence of the mystery. - -It was an empty, cobwebbed room like the first, its only furniture -consisting of a narrow cot-bed. Close beside it an iron staple was -driven into the stone floor. A long and heavy iron chain was fastened to -this staple. At its opposite end it was linked to a strong leathern belt -wound about the frame of a poor creature lying at full length on the bed -and wasted to a living _skeleton_! - -In all her speculations regarding the mysterious prisoner, Lily had not -imagined aught as dreadful as the reality. There lay the poor frame upon -the bed, its tattered dress scarce covering its bony knees, its -claw-like hands twisted wildly together. The limbs presented the -appearance of bones with parchment-like skin drawn tightly over them. - -Masses of long, black hair, tangled and unkempt, strayed over the coarse -pillow, and fierce, dark eyes, sunken and dim, peered from their hollow -orbits in a face shriveled simply to skin and bone, the cheeks fallen -in, the temples hollow, the purple lips drawn away from the glistening -white teeth. This dreadful creature stopped its frenzied cries at Lily's -entrance, and crouching into a frightened heap wailed out submissively: - -"I will hush, I will hush! Do not beat me again!" - -"Poor creature, I will not harm you," answered Lily, gently. - -She stood in the center of the room, holding the lamp in her shaking -hand, its light streaming over her lovely face and golden hair. The poor -creature turned suddenly at the sound of her compassionate voice and -looked at her with an expression of awe in her great, hollow eyes. - -"Are you an angel?" she asked, abruptly. - -"No, poor soul; I am a wronged and unhappy prisoner like yourself!" - -"Another one of _his_ victims?" queried the living skeleton, sitting up -on the cot and folding her emaciated arms around her skinny knees. - -Lily came forward and seated herself on the foot of the bed, and set her -lamp on the floor. - -"Of whom are you speaking?" asked she. - -"Of Harold Colville, to be sure," said the poor woman, shuddering as the -name writhed over her blanched lips. "Has he married you, too, eh?" - -"God forbid," ejaculated her visitor with a strong shiver of disgust. "I -am a poor girl whom he is trying to force into a marriage with him. He -has stolen me away from my friends and is keeping me locked up here -until I consent to be his wife. But I will never, never do so!" she -cried, passionately. - -"You do not love him?" said the poor frame beside her. - -"No, I hate him! But who are you?" asked Lily, her interest deepening in -the poor creature whose mind it was evident still burned clearly in her -wrecked frame. - -"I am Fanny Colville," was the answer, in a low and bitter tone. "I am -Harold Colville's lawful wife--I was married to him four years ago." - -"Is it possible?" cried Lily, with a violent start. "Then why are you -here?" - -"My husband wearied of me," said poor Fanny, her dark eyes burning like -coals. "He stole me away from my friends, too, lady, but I went -willingly because I loved him--yes, I loved him then! He married me and -I hid away the certificate the good minister gave me. We traveled for a -year or so, and lived very happily. Then he wearied of me and brought me -here. He told me our marriage ceremony was a farce--that we had not been -lawfully married--he demanded the certificate the minister had given me. -But I was not a fool, I knew he lied to me, and I would not give up the -paper for the sake of the little child that was soon coming to me. I -kept it hidden away, and he raved and swore at me, then went away and -left me. He hired the Leverets to kill me and the child also when my -hour should arrive. The day came--my child was born--a healthy, living -boy. They took it away from me and said that it died. I knew they had -killed it. But they were not merciful enough to kill me. They drove me -mad with their cruelty. I became a raving, dangerous maniac for awhile, -and they chained me down here like a dog. Here I have remained nearly -two years, fed on a scanty supply of bread and water. You see what they -give for a week's subsistence," said she, pointing to a half-eaten loaf -of bread and a jug of water, both upon the floor. - -Lily looked and shuddered. - -"Does your husband ever come to see you?" she inquired. - -"No, no; he thinks me dead--he paid old Peter Leveret to murder me. But -they are slowly starving me to death instead of thrusting a knife into -my heart. And I am so strong, it takes me a long while to die!" - -She paused a moment, catching her breath painfully, then continued: - -"Dreadful deeds have been committed here--murder's red right hand has -been lifted often. Look down into that pit, lady." - -She pointed to a trap-door near the iron staple. - -Lily pushed it aside and looked down, but saw only thick darkness, while -a noisome smell rushed out of the pit. She closed it hurriedly. - -"I see nothing," she said, "but darkness." - -"Because it is night," said Fanny Colville. "You should come when it is -daylight, lady. You would see horrible, grinning skeletons then. I look -at them sometimes. They are the only companions I have." - -"Poor Fanny, I wish you could escape out of this horrible place. Would -you like to do so?" - -"Oh! so much," said the living skeleton, clasping her bony hands. "I -have dear friends far away from here whom I love so much. They know -nothing of my whereabouts. How gladly they would welcome me back." - -"My case is the same," said Lily, mournfully. "I have tried to escape, -but was near losing my life through falling into the clutches of the -blood-hound they keep here. But I am going to try again, Fanny, and I -will try to help you out of your prison also. I will come and see you -again," said she, taking up her lamp and turning to go. - -"Do not go yet, sweet lady," cried the prisoner, imploringly; "I love to -look at you and hear you speak. I have not heard a kind word for more -than two years until you came in like an angel to-night." - -"I must go now," replied Lily, gently. "I am afraid old Haidee will miss -me and trace me here. Keep up a brave heart--I will come again to-morrow -night if nothing happens. Good-night, now, Fanny." - -"Good-night, miss," said the unfortunate creature, seizing Lily's hand -and kissing it. "I am happier for your coming, and I shall expect you -again to-morrow night!" - -The young girl took up her lamp and went away, leaving the poor creature -alone in her dreadful solitude once more. But hope, like a brightly -beaming star, had penetrated that gloomy dungeon and beamed into Fanny -Colville's lacerated heart. She lay awake all night, thinking feverishly -of the beautiful girl who had visited her, and building bright -air-castles on the slight hint of escape she had thrown out. - -And Lily, too, tossed on a feverish bed which gentle slumber refused to -visit with its benign influence. Fear, horror and indignation filled her -heart against Harold Colville and the Leverets, mixed with deep sorrow -and pity for the injured Fanny. She understood now the depth of villany -of which her would-be suitor was capable, and the wickedness of Haidee -and Peter appeared more dreadful than before. No wonder Haidee found her -tossing on a bed of pain the next morning, racked by a nervous headache. -Colville called to see her, but went away when he heard she was ill, and -sent Doctor Pratt instead, who prescribed a sedative and left her -sleeping heavily and profoundly. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - -Late in the evening she awoke, feeling rested and refreshed by her long -sleep. Her headache was quite gone, and Haidee found her sitting in the -arm-chair when she came in with supper. - -She drank a cup of tea, ate a few mouthfuls of food, and declared -herself much better. Old Haidee, however, brought in her knitting and -pertinaciously sat out the evening with her, with the intention, no -doubt, of listening for sounds from below and marking their effect on -her captive. But no sound, no groans, broke the stillness. Fanny -Colville, in the new hope that had dawned upon her, had refrained all -day from the groans and cries that usually gave vent to her despair. She -was impatiently waiting for the return of her visitor of the night -before. - -Haidee had not visited the poor chained captive since the night she had -incarcerated Lily in her new lodging. In fact, there was no entrance to -the dungeon except through the trap-door in this room. Haidee had taken -her a week's rations that night, and scowlingly bade her to abstain from -her noise or it would be worse for her. She now concluded that the -captive had obeyed her mandate, or that death had at last removed her -out of her power. It was with a feeling of relief at the last thought -that she left Lily's room, telling her with a malicious grin that old -Nero was loose in the garden as usual. - -It was almost midnight before Lily ventured to seek poor Fanny Colville -again. Long before she descended the stairs she could hear the sound of -the rusty chain as the poor woman tossed restlessly on her bed of pain. -Her wild eyes lighted glaringly at the young girl's entrance. - -"I thought you were not coming," she said pathetically. - -"I dared not come earlier," Lily answered, relating the cause of her -detention. - -"Old Haidee is a fiend," said Fanny, briefly and comprehensively. - -"I have been revolving in my mind a plan of escape for us both," said -Lily, proceeding to detail it to her eager listener. - -But Fanny sighed and looked down at her skeleton limbs and the heavy -chain. - -"That would do for you, but not for me," she said; "I am too weak. It is -a long way from here to the city. We have no money--we have to walk -several miles to your father's house. You see I know the distance--I -came here in daylight. I can tell _you_ the way to go, but my wasted -limbs would not carry me a mile. I should only fall by the way, and be a -hindrance to you." - -Lily sighed as her clear-headed companion thus presented the -difficulties in their way. - -"I had forgotten your exceeding weakness in the ardor of my hopes," said -she. - -"Besides," continued Fanny, "look at this chain. We have nothing with -which to cut the leather or file the iron. I cannot get away from this -staple." - -"Can I, then, do nothing to help you, my poor creature?" cried Lily, in -great distress as she saw how futile was the plan she had proposed. - -"Of course there is," answered Fanny, hopefully. "The plan you spoke of -is quite feasible for you. Put it into operation as soon as possible. I -feel almost assured of your success. Then as soon as you have told your -story to your father, tell him mine also, and entreat him to send a -force of police out here to arrest the Leverets and liberate me." - -"Certainly, I could do that," said Lily, brightening, "that would be the -better plan after all--but still I cannot bear to leave you here alone, -poor soul, in your wretchedness. Who can tell what may happen ere relief -can reach you? Perhaps this slow starvation may finish its dreadful work -upon you." - -"Never fear," was the hopeful reply. "I have subsisted like this for two -long years, yet I feel the flame of life still brightly burning in my -wasted frame. And, think you, I cannot endure a few more days' -confinement when you have given me such hope to feed upon?" - -Her eyes were brightly burning in her wasted face, and her parched lips -tried to smile. She took her visitor's little white hand caressingly -between her own bony members and looked at it in fond admiration. - -"You are a beautiful girl," she said. "Ah, would you believe that I was -once a pretty girl, and that I am young still--but little older than -you, perhaps, for I am only twenty, though, trouble and starvation have -made me prematurely old!" - -Lily looked the astonishment she felt, for indeed that poor face with -all the curves and lines of flesh stricken out of it by the sharp pangs -of starvation, had indeed no mark to discern whether she were young or -old. True, the matted locks of black hair were too thick for those of -age, but they were thickly streaked with silver threads. Harold -Colville's wretched victim retained now no trace of either youth or -beauty. - -Lily remained with her several hours, feeling all the while that she ran -a great risk in remaining, yet still unwilling to leave the unhappy -woman who showed such pitiful pleasure in seeing once more the friendly -face of a human being. But she was forced to go at length, having -listened to the story of Fanny's life, and exchanged a like friendly -confidence. - -"I may not see you again, Fanny," she said, "for I may make the attempt -to-morrow. It must be made in the day-time, you know, when Nero is -chained up. But you may rest assured that if I succeed in escaping I -shall lose no time in having you liberated, and your guilty captors -brought to punishment." - -"May God help you," said the prisoner, fervently. "I will pray for your -success." - -And with a sigh she kissed the white hands and looked lovingly after the -slight form as it glided away. - -Lily went back to her room half apprehensive that the old witch might be -waiting for her there. But all was safe; the room was vacant of all but -her own sweet presence. She disrobed herself, extinguished the lamp, and -lying down upon the bed fell into a light slumber, broken by many fitful -and strangely-troubled dreams. - -She awakened only when the summer sun was shining high in the heavens. -Haidee was waiting with her breakfast, and seemed even more petulant -than usual. - -"It seems to me you require more sleep than anyone I ever saw," she -said, tartly. "After sleeping all day yesterday, you cannot even get -awake for your breakfast this morning." - -"I dare say you would sleep heavily yourself, Haidee, if you had been -drugged as I was yesterday," retorted the young girl, good-humoredly. -"And really, I am feeling ill and weary this morning. This warm weather -and close confinement begin to tell on my health sadly. Perhaps I may -escape you yet through the welcome gates of death." - -"No danger of that," was the quick reply. "Youth and health can bear -much more than you have had to stand yet, my fine lady." - -She went out and did not return until noon. Her prisoner lay dressed -upon the bed with flushed and burning cheeks and strangely glittering -eyes. - -"Haidee," she said, "I cannot eat my dinner. I am feeling very -strangely. I have a dreadful feeling here." She pressed her hand upon -her heart and seemed to gasp for breath. "Go, send for the doctor as -quickly as possible. Perhaps I am about to die!" - -Haidee looked at her in doubt a moment. The suffering aspect of the -captive reassured her. She was evidently ill. - -"I will send at once for Doctor Pratt," said she, leaving the room in -haste, but not forgetting to lock the door. - -"I have sent old Peter for the doctor," said she, returning "but it may -be several hours before he returns. It is a long way to the city." - -"Sit down and stay with me, then, Haidee. I am afraid to remain alone -when I feel so strangely." - -Ten, fifteen minutes elapsed, then the patient said, faintly: - -"Haidee, for the love of Heaven, try and get me a glass of wine! Perhaps -it may relieve this wild fluttering and palpitation of my heart!" - -Again Haidee went out, locking the door as before. The patient sprang up -and stood waiting when the witch returned. The key grated, the door -swung open--but at that instant Haidee received a dexterous push that -sent her sprawling into the middle of the room, the wine glass crashing -on the floor. Before she could rise, Lily sprang past her, into the -hall, slammed and locked the door, removed the key and ran wildly down -the stairs. - -The outer door was fastened, but the key was in the lock. As she paused -to remove it, she could hear the old woman's frenzied shrieks of anger -and despair on realizing her situation. She flung the door open, flew -down the path, pushed open the heavy iron gate, and ran wildly down the -lonely country road, the afternoon sun beating hotly down on her -unprotected head, the dust flying thick and fast beneath the rapid -pit-a-pat of her small, slippered feet. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - -She was free, she was free! that happy thought beat time in Lily's heart -to her wildly rushing feet. She was outside of that horrible prison, old -Haidee was locked in, and could not pursue her, old Peter could not -return for several hours. She had that much time in advance of them. -Only a few miles lay between her and her loved home. Surely, surely, -with the start she had she could distance her enemies and reach the -haven of rest for which she yearned and prayed. - -She ran on and on, her brain reeling, her heart beating almost to -suffocation, the perspiration running down her face in streams. - -Sheer exhaustion at last caused her to slacken her pace and look behind -her at the lonely stretch of road over which her flying feet had swiftly -carried her. The old house in which she had passed such awful hours was -out of sight; a turn in the road had hidden it from view. No baleful -pursuer was on her track yet. She turned and looked before her. A long -stretch of country road, dotted here and there with poor-looking houses, -lay ahead. She wet her handkerchief in a rill that trickled by the side -of the road, bound it about her throbbing head, and set forward again, -steadily, but at a less swinging pace than she had used before. -Exhausted nature could not hold out at the rapid rate with which she had -begun. - -On and on she went through the blistering sunshine. Her head ached, the -hot road burnt her feet, the warm wind blew the dust into her strained -and weary eyes. No matter--she did not heed these trifling things. She -was free! That was the glad refrain to which her bounding heart kept -time. She was so happy she could not realize her great physical weakness -and weariness. - -It seemed to her at last that hours had passed since she had set forth -on her journey, carefully following some directions Fanny Colville had -given her. The houses and lots began to stand nearer together. She was -getting nearer to the great city. She began to be afraid that she would -meet old Peter Leveret returning to his home after his errand to Doctor -Pratt. - -At last she came to a little house standing apart from the others. She -peeped in and saw an elderly woman sitting at the open door sewing on a -coarse garment, and singing blithely at her task. She opened the gate -and went up to her. - -"Will you let me come in and rest, and have a drink of water?" said she, -gently. "I am very tired!" - -The woman looked up in surprise. God knows what she thought of the poor -girl standing there bareheaded and dusty, in her blue morning dress, -looking so drooping and weary, but she moved aside and said kindly: - -"Yes! dear heart, come in and rest, and have a bit and a sup--you look -as if you needed all three." - -The kind words and gentle smile went to the lonely girl's heart. Tears -started into her eyes as she took the offered glass of water and drained -it thirstily. - -"I thank you, I do not wish anything to eat," she answered wearily, "but -if you will give me an old bonnet I will be glad--I have no bonnet, you -see--and an old dress, for I do not wish to go into the city with this -morning-dress--I will pay you well, indeed I will. See, I will give you -my diamond ring." - -The woman started in surprise as her strange visitant turned the costly -ring upon her finger. - -"Here is some strange mystery," she thought within herself. "The girl is -running away, mayhap, and wants a disguise." - -She went to a closet, and brought out an old straw hat and thick veil, -and a long, light sack somewhat worn. - -"I will not take your ring, my dear," she said kindly. "You may take -these things, though, and welcome. Maybe I am doing wrong in helping you -to run away, but then again I may be doing you a great kindness. You -look very forlorn, my poor dear." - -Lily went to work in a dazed kind of way putting on the long sack over -her dress and the hat on her head. This done she wound the thick veil -tightly over her face and turned to go. - -"I thank you for your kindness, my good woman," she said. "I will come -back here some time and reward you richly, I will indeed. Now I am -going. If anybody comes here to ask about me be sure and tell them I -have not been here. Do not let them know----" - -Whatever else she was going to say died unuttered on her pale lips. -Exhausted nature was giving away. She threw up her hands wildly, -staggered forward a step, and fell fainting on the floor. - -"Poor soul," said the good woman, kneeling down on the floor, and -loosening the hat and veil from her head, "she is dead tired-out." - -She straightened Lily out upon the floor, and dashed cold water into her -white face, but with no success. The swoon was a deep one, and it was -fully an hour before the girl was sufficiently revived to be lifted up -by the woman's strong arms and laid upon a clean white bed. - -"A beauty and no mistake," thought the warm-hearted creature, smoothing -back the damp, golden ringlets from the marble white brow on the pillow. - -Lily's large, blue eyes opened and looked up at her in amaze. - -"Am I sick? Have I been here long?" she inquired, struggling up to a -sitting posture and looking out through the window anxiously. "Why, the -sun is setting," said she, turning her bewildered face on her kind -attendant. - -"Yes, you fainted and were a long time coming to," was the answer: "you -have been here more than an hour." - -Lily slipped down from the bed and began to put on her hat and veil with -trembling hands. - -"I must be going," she said; "I have far to go yet, and it is growing so -late." - -Before the astonished woman could remonstrate, she was out of the house, -going slowly on her way. She was so weak she could not walk very fast. -Her impetuous will alone sustained her dragging footsteps. Thick -twilight had fallen before she entered the busy, bustling city. Sorely -frightened at finding herself alone in the gathering darkness, yet -afraid that the glare of the gaslights would reveal her shrinking form -to her pursuers, she shrank along in the friendly shadows, drawing back -nervously from the hurrying forms that brushed past her, and trembling -at every footstep behind her. But in spite of her nervousness she at -length entered the elegant street where her father resided. - -All was gaiety and life in the brilliant houses as she hurried past -them. The light from the drawing-rooms streamed out upon her shrinking -form. - -Wild and entrancing strains of music filled the night air. Long lines of -carriages were drawn up in front of some of the houses whose owners were -holding balls and receptions. She knew them all; they were all friends -of hers: but she flitted past them like a spirit, pausing not in her -frightened yet happy course until she stood before the windows of her -father's handsome mansion. - -These windows were lighted, too, but not so brightly as some; music, -too, stole through them, but it was soft and subdued. Death had been -there so recently they had not the heart to be gay, she thought. - -Wild with her joy she threw off her disguising hat and veil and running -up the broad, marble steps rang the bell. It was opened by the stately -old servitor whom she had been accustomed to from childhood. But instead -of welcoming her home, the gray-haired old man fled wildly down the hall -after one glance into her lovely white face. - -"He takes me for a ghost," she thought, laughing and running after him -down the wide hall till she reached the drawing-room door which stood -open for coolness that sultry night. - -She stopped in the doorway, framed like a picture in the hall gaslights, -and looked into the room. - -They were all there before her--her dear ones! The piano stood in the -center of the room, its back towards her, with Mrs. Vance on the -music-stool, directly facing her. Her white hands strayed over the pearl -keys, and Lancelot Darling stood beside her, and turned the leaves of -her music. - -A low divan was drawn near them, and Ada rested upon it, looking very -fair and ethereal in her deep mourning dress. Her father sat beside her -looking very grave and sad. - -"Papa, papa!" cried poor Lily in a choking voice. - -The passionate cry, low as it was, was distinctly heard by the -quartette. They all looked up and saw her standing there in the light -with her wild, white face and streaming golden hair. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - -The group in the drawing-room gazed at Lily for a moment in mingled awe -and consternation, but suddenly, before word or sound broke the trance -of silence, the beautiful picture was wholly blotted out and obliterated -by a blackness of darkness that filled and flooded the wide hall. - -Then the sound of women's screams filled the grand drawing-room. - -"Lily, Lily!" screamed Ada, throwing herself into her father's arms, -while Mrs. Vance fell writhing upon the floor, shrieking in abject -terror. - -Lancelot Darling paused a moment to extricate himself from the clinging -hands of the kneeling woman, then bounded out into the hall. - -Darkness met him only as he ran excitedly up and down its length. There -was no one there. The front door, standing wide open, attracted his -attention. He went out on the porch and looked up and down. Just then -Mr. Lawrence came out and joined in the search. There was no one -passing. They went in and found Willis, the aged servitor, who had -returned to his post, and was lighting up the gas again. - -"Willis, what is the meaning of this?" he asked, sharply. "The hall door -open, the gas out, and you absent from your post!" - -"On my soul, Mr. Lawrence. I could not help it! I saw a ghost," said the -man, looking about him in visible trepidation. - -"Explain yourself," said his master, sternly. - -"I went to answer the door-bell," said Willis, trembling, "and when I -opened the door there stood a ghost, all in white, looking at me and -smiling. I was so frightened I let go the door-handle and ran away; I -beg your pardon for neglecting my duty, sir, and leaving the door ajar," -concluded the man, humbly. - -"What sort of a ghost did you see?" asked Mr. Darling. - -The man's eyes grew large and wild. - -"Perhaps I ought not to tell you," said he, "but, begging your pardon, -Mr. Lawrence, and yours, Mr. Darling, it was the spirit of our poor lost -Miss Lily!" - -Mr. Lawrence grew pale as he looked at the man. - -"Come, Lance; come, Willis," he said, "we will search the house from top -to bottom. There is some mystery here which we may penetrate." - -They looked into every room and closet, they neglected no hiding place -from garret to cellar, but no one, either ghost or being, was -discovered. Mr. Lawrence went up to Ada's room to see if she were -recovering from her agitation. - -She was lying in bed pale, but very quiet, attended by her maid. He sent -the girl away, and told his daughter what Willis had seen, and how -vainly they had searched the house. - -"Papa, what do you think?" asked she, in low, awe-struck tones. "Was it, -indeed, as the man asserts, the restless spirit of my sister? It was -like her, only paler and more shadowy, as a spirit well might be." - -"Ada, I do not know what to think," said her father in low, moved tones, -"I am lost in a maze of doubt and conjecture. Can it be that my -daughter's soul cannot rest while her poor desecrated body remains -uncoffined?" - -"It may be so," said Ada, weeping. "What a mournful tone was in that -voice as it breathed your name!" - -He started up, pacing the floor in wild agitation. - -"I must go down to Lance," he said. "We will go and see the detective -again to-night, and learn if any clew has been found. We must find her -body if skill and money combined can accomplish it; I cannot bear for -her restless soul to be seeking its body at my hands!" - -Mrs. Vance had retired to her room in a state of abject terror. - -She believed that she had seen and heard the veritable spirit of the -girl she had murdered, instigated thereto by jealousy. - -Her bold and venturesome spirit had never yet felt the promptings of -remorse for her dreadful deed. She rejoiced that Lily was dead, and that -the shameful stigma of suicide lay upon her memory; though she was the -daily witness of the bereaved family's sorrow, though she saw that -Lancelot Darling was aged as if ten years had passed over his head in -the past few weeks, still she felt no grief for her sin, and kept on her -resolute way, swearing in her secret soul to win the young man whom she -passionately adored, and whose wealth and position made him the most -eligible _parti_ in the whole city. Love and ambition alike spurred her -on to the attainment of her cherished object. - -But the dreadful revelation of old Haidee had struck a lightning flash -of terror to her guilty soul. - -She had believed herself secure in her sin; she had thought it known -only to herself of all the world, and the knowledge that her secret -belonged to another had almost crazed her with the fear of its betrayal. -She regretted that she had not followed the old witch home that day and -struck another secret blow that would have sealed the old woman's lips -forever. - -She who had struck down so ruthlessly the fair and blooming life of Lily -Lawrence would have felt no compunction in ending prematurely the old -and sin-blasted existence of Haidee Leveret. All that she lacked was the -chance. - -Now another scathing monition had been hurled against her guilty -conscience. In the hour when old Haidee's continued silence and absence -had begun to inspire her with confidence again, when the wooing tones -had brought Lancelot Darling to her side, when she could almost feel his -breath upon her cheek as he bent to turn the pages of her music--in that -supreme hour the image of the woman she hated had risen to blast her -sight, and to come between her and the love she sought. It was horrible, -it was maddening. - -She sought her solitary apartment and flung herself face downward on the -bed, afraid to lift her heavy eyes lest they should be blasted by the -sight of the restless spirit which her guilty hand had driven forth a -wanderer from the fair citadel it once inhabited. - -"Do the dead walk?" she said to herself, in fearful agitation, "do they -revisit the haunts of life and love? Do they ever return and denounce -their murderers? Oh! God, why do I ask myself these fruitless questions? -Do I not know? Have I not looked upon the face of the dead this night? -Ah! what if she had pointed a ghostly finger at me, and said before them -all, 'Thou art my murderess!'" - -Shivering as if with the ague she buried her head in the bed-clothes. - -A sudden rap at the door caused her to start violently. - -"Enter," said she, almost inaudibly. - -It was only one of the neat housemaids. She looked concerned at the -ghastly white face the widow lifted on her entrance. - -"Are you ill, Mrs. Vance?" she inquired. - -"No--yes--that is, my head aches badly," was the confused answer. - -The maid had heard the story of the ghostly visitor from Willis, and -rightly attributed the agitation of the lady to that cause. - -She did not allude to it, however, as Mrs. Vance did not. She simply -said: - -"I found this trinket in the hall as I was passing through it, Mrs. -Vance. I have shown it to Miss Lawrence, but she does not know anything -about it, so I came to ask if it belonged to you?" - -She held the piece of gold in her hand. Mrs. Vance arose and examined it -by the light. - -It was the broken half of a golden locket such as gentlemen wear on -their watch-chains. It was of costly workmanship, richly chased, with a -delicate monogram set in minute diamonds. The intertwined letters were -"H. C." - -"It does not belong to me, Mary," answered Mrs. Vance. "It has probably -broken off from some gentleman's watch-chain, and dropped as he was -passing through the hall. But I do not know to whom it can belong. We -have had no visitors to-day, and indeed I cannot recollect any -acquaintance we have with the initials, 'H. C.' What do you intend to do -with it?" - -"I shall ask Mr. Lawrence to take charge of it as soon as he returns," -replied Mary. "It may be that he can find the owner. It is quite -valuable, is it not, ma'am?" - -"Yes, it has some value, Mary--the monogram is set with real diamonds, -though they are very small. It evidently belongs to a person of some -means," said Mrs. Vance, returning the trinket to Mary's hand. - -The trim little maid said a polite good-night and tripped away with the -jewel carefully wrapped in a handkerchief. Mrs. Vance, with her thoughts -turned into a new channel, sat musing thoughtfully over the little -incident. The longer she thought it over the more mysterious it -appeared. - -"To whom can it belong?" said she to herself. "No gentlemen at all have -called here to-day. Can it have any connection with our mysterious -visitation to-night?" - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - - -Mr. Lawrence detailed to the special detective, Mr. Shelton, the -particulars of his daughter's appearance that evening. He was listened -to with the closest attention. - -When he had concluded his story, the detective said, respectfully: - -"I am a very practical man, Mr. Lawrence, and my profession only makes -me more so. When I am brought in contact with a mystery I invariably -suspect crime. And I must tell you that I do not believe in the -visionary nature of the girl you saw in your hall this evening. I am not -a believer in the supernatural." - -"What then, is your opinion of the phenomenon?" inquired Mr. Lawrence. - -"That it was no phenomenon at all," answered Mr. Shelton, smiling. "It -was palpably an attempt at robbery. Some girl with a resemblance to your -lost daughter was employed to frighten off the man at the door, while -her accomplices entered the hall, turned off the light and perpetrated a -burglary." - -"But there was nothing stolen," objected Mr. Lawrence. "The house was -searched immediately, for I had an idea rather similar to yours at -first. But nothing had been taken nor was there any person concealed in -the house." - -The detective smiled blandly in the comfortable knowledge of his own -superior wisdom. - -"The thieves were only frightened off that time," said he; "they will -come again, feeling secure in the belief that the girl played the ghost -to perfection. The next time do not be frightened but make an instant -effort to capture her, and she can soon be forced to reveal her -accomplices." - -"You have learned nothing yet about the grave-robbers?" asked Mr. -Lawrence, dismissing the first subject, thinking it quite possible that -Mr. Shelton's exposition of the case was a very correct one. - -"I have found the first link in the chain," said the detective -brightening up. - -"You have?" said the banker, gladly. - -"It is a very slight clew, though," said Mr. Shelton. "I would not have -you build your hopes on it, Mr. Lawrence, for it may not lead to -anything. The case is a very mysterious one, and so far has completely -baffled thorough investigation." - -"But that you have discovered anything at all is an earnest of hope," -said the banker. "Slight things lead to great discoveries sometimes. -Will you give us the benefit of your discovery?" - -"It must be held in the strictest confidence," said Mr. Shelton, looking -from Mr. Lawrence to Mr. Darling, who had sat quite silent throughout the -interview. "Of course you know that if suffered to get abroad it would -put the guilty party on their guard." - -Both gentlemen promised that they would preserve inviolable secrecy. - -"Briefly, then, I have learned that the sexton was bribed to lend out -the key of your vault the night of the funeral, Mr. Lawrence." - -"The villain!" said Mr. Lawrence, hotly. - -"Softly," said the detective; "he is not so bad as you think. His error -lay in the possession of a soft heart unfortunately abetted by a soft -head." - -"I fail to catch your meaning," said the banker. - -"I mean," said the detective, "that poor old man had no thought or dream -of abetting a robbery. His consent was most reluctantly forced from him -by the sighs and protestations of a pretended lover, who only desired -that he might be permitted to look once more on the beloved face of the -dead. The sighing Romeo prevailed over the old man's scruples with his -frantic appeals and obtained the key, rewarding the sexton with all a -lover's generosity. It was returned to him in a short while, and so -implicit was his faith in the romantic lover that he never even looked -in the vault to see if all was secure. The shocking discovery made the -following day by Mr. Darling and yourself so appalled him with its -possibilities of harm to himself, that he feared to reveal the fact of -his unconscious complicity in the theft." - -"Yet he revealed it to you," said Mr. Lawrence. - -"The detectives are a shrewd lot for worming secrets out of people," -said Shelton, with one of his non-committal smiles. "I used much -_finesse_ with the old man before I made my discovery. I suppose I may -feel safe in supposing that you will not molest him at the present -critical time? Much depends on secrecy." - -"The case is in your hands--rest assured I shall not make any disastrous -move in it," returned Mr. Lawrence, reassuringly. - -"One thing further," said Mr. Shelton. "I learned that the man who -enacted the hypocritical _role_ of the despairing lover was tall and -dark, but have not succeeded in identifying him yet. That is the meager -extent of my information at present." - -"I hope and trust it may soon lead to an entire elucidation of the -mystery," said the banker, rising to leave. - -"I will report all discoveries tending that way immediately, sir," -answered the detective, bowing his visitors out of the office. - -"How are you impressed with Mr. Shelton's powers as a detective, Lance?" -asked Mr. Lawrence as they walked on a few blocks before hailing a car. - -"I believe he is an able man, but--I am not prepared to subscribe to his -theory of the event which happened to-night," was the somewhat -hesitating reply of the young man. - -"You are not? What, then, is your opinion?" asked the banker, in some -surprise. - -"Mr. Lawrence, I believe that it was really and truly our lost Lily whom -we beheld to-night," said Lancelot, earnestly. - -"Really and truly our Lily! Come, Lance, you talk wildly. Has your -affliction turned your brain, poor boy? Recollect that Lily is dead." - -"I know--I know. Who could realize that fact more forcibly than I do? -But, my dear friend, I did not mean that it was Lily in the flesh. What -I meant was that Lily's spirit, the better part of her which is -imperishable, really and truly appeared to us to-night," said the young -man, who was of a very impressive and imaginative cast of mind. - -Mr. Lawrence regarded him curiously. - -"But why should you persist in this belief, Lance, when the clever Mr. -Shelton has so clearly shown us the fallacy of the idea?" - -"He has not shown us the fallacy of the idea at all," answered Lancelot -Darling earnestly, as before. "He has only given us his practical theory -regarding it." - -"Have you any conjecture regarding her object in so appearing to us--if, -indeed, you take the right view of the matter, Lance?" asked the banker, -impressed by the serious manner of his young friend. - -"I have not thought of it, Mr. Lawrence. I have no distinct or tangible -impression at all except this one, which is indelibly fixed on my mind. -I believe that the pure, white soul of Lily Lawrence looked out visibly -upon us to-night from the eyes of the girl whom we saw in the hall. I -cannot be mistaken. My soul leaped forth to meet hers as it could not -have done for any other woman, mortal or immortal," replied the loyal -lover earnestly. - -"Well, here is my car," said the banker, hastening to signal it. - -"Good-night, sir," said Lance, turning a corner and going down the -street toward his hotel to pass the weary night in restless tossing and -sleeplessness, while visions of his beautiful lost love haunted his -feverish brain until he was well-nigh driven to madness. - -Mr. Lawrence went back to the detective next day with the costly broken -jewel that Mary, the housemaid, had found in the hall. He explained to -Mr. Shelton that no gentleman had called at the house the day previous -except Mr. Darling, who said he had never seen it before. - -"This confirms my view of the case," said Mr. Shelton, triumphantly "Did -I not say that the girl had one or more accomplices? This was probably -dropped by the man in his hurried flight. Yet it would seem to have -belonged to a person of taste and wealth. Such a one would not be -engaged in burglary. The mystery only deepens." - -"But may not this be a clew by which to discover the perpetrators of the -dastardly act?" inquired the banker. - -"It ought to do so," said the detective, frankly. - -He remained lost in thought a few moments then inquired: - -"Have you any acquaintance who can claim these initials, Mr. Lawrence?" - -"Let me think. My circle of acquaintance is large, but I cannot recall -anyone claiming H. C. as his monogram. My memory may not serve me -correctly, though." - -"Perhaps your card-receiver may do better, Mr. Lawrence. Will you -examine that and let me know?" - -"Certainly. Suppose you accompany me, and let us find out at once? I do -not feel disposed to let this vexing matter rest." - -"With pleasure, as I have a leisure hour at my disposal." - -They returned to the house together and entered at once upon their -quest. - -It was not long before their labors were rewarded with success The -detective looked up with a small square of pasteboard in his hand, from -which he read aloud triumphantly. - -"Harold Colville!" - -"'H. C.' Harold Colville!" exclaimed the banker. "Why, really I had -forgotten Mr. Colville." - -"He visits here then, of course," said the detective. - -"He did--at one time--frequently. Latterly he has discontinued his -visits. Indeed, it has been four or five months since he called upon -us." - -"Had he any reason for the cessation of his visits?" - -"Yes," said the banker, promptly. "He was a suitor for the hand of my -daughter, Lily. She rejected him--being already engaged to Mr. Darling." - -"I have seen Mr. Colville," said Shelton. "He is a man of wealth and -leisure--dissipated and fast, I have heard." - -"You have been correctly informed," was the reply. - -"Indeed?" said Mr. Shelton. He laid the card back as he spoke, and rose -to take leave. - -"Does this discovery throw any light on the mystery?" said the other. - -"I will be frank with you, Mr. Lawrence. It does not. The case seems -complicated at present, but it is my business to unravel the crooked -skein, and I hope to do so. You will suffer me to retain this bit of -jewelry for the present. I wish to see if Mr. Colville can furnish the -missing half." - -"You suspect him, then--" said the banker, breaking off his sentence -because perplexed how to end it. - -"I suspect him of nothing at present," was the reply. "This trinket may -have been stolen from him and lost by another, I have that to find out. -If it be proved that Mr. Colville lost this locket in your hall last -night, my theory of a projected theft will not hold water. A gentleman -of his wealth and position would not need to descend to that phase of -crime. Some other object must have actuated him." - -He paused, drawing on his gloves. - -"There is one thing more," he resumed. "Keep this mutual discovery we -have made a dead secret until I give you leave to reveal it. Do not even -mention it to your daughter or to Mr. Darling. He does not believe the -theory I advanced last night. I read it in his expressive features. He -thinks he really saw a spirit. Let him think so still; I am gathering -the tangled ends of a fearful mystery in my hands. But if human skill -can unravel it I will not fail to do so. Good-day, Mr. Lawrence." - -He tripped airily away down the street with the air and manner of a -well-bred gentleman. Few who saw the well-dressed man swinging his natty -little cane so jauntily and wearing that supremely indifferent air would -have supposed him to be the most daring and accomplished detective in -the State of New York. So thought Mr. Lawrence as he watched him walk -away. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - - -The rage of old Haidee Leveret at finding herself duped and outwitted by -such a weak girl as Lily Lawrence was frightful to witness and -impossible to describe. She raved, she stormed, she tore her scanty gray -locks and blasphemed in the most frightful and blood-curdling terms. - -In vain she tried the door-handle, in vain she shook the iron bars in -the window. They resisted her most vigorous efforts. - -In her terrible rage she fell to breaking and tearing everything in her -room that could be destroyed. She threw down the dishes containing -Lily's untasted dinner and shivered them into fragments. She tore off -the bed-covers and rent them in pieces in the hight of her insane fury. -If Lily had fallen into her cruel hands just then she would have killed -her remorselessly. - -At length, having sated her rage momentarily by wreaking it on those -poor inanimate things, she began to quiet down somewhat and to consider -the situation. - -The enemy had worsted her, that was self-evident. Stratagem had -succeeded against brute force and power. - -Lily Lawrence had freed herself from captivity, and there was no one to -pursue her and bring her back. Old Peter was not likely to return for -several hours. If Lily's strength held out she would be safe in her home -ere the old man could get back to town and carry the tidings to Doctor -Pratt and Harold Colville. - -Harold Colville had promised the old couple a most extravagant reward -for the safe-keeping of his beautiful prisoner. - -Not only did the loss of this trouble the old crone's mind, but also the -fact that Lily would betray them all into the hands of the police and -that exposure and punishment would follow on the discovery of the -nefarious works which she and her husband had wrought for years. A -species of abject terror filled her quaking frame at the thought. She -thought of the miserly accumulations of her wicked life secreted beneath -the roof of the old house, and dreaded lest her greedy eyes should never -again be permitted to gloat over that golden hoard. - -In the hight of these woful cogitations her thoughts suddenly recurred -to the prisoner in the gloomy dungeon beneath her. - -Poor Fanny Colville, whose hearing had been strained all day to detect -the faintest sound from above, had been a frightened listener to old -Haidee's fearful explosion of wrath. - -She knew by the violence of the witch's rage that Lily had succeeded in -her stratagem and effected her escape. The knowledge filled her with -joy, even while she feared that rage would instigate Haidee to yet -further cruelties against herself. The desire for life was yet strong in -the breast of the poor starving creature, and she shrank in terror while -she thought it was probable that old Haidee would kill her in her -frantic desire to wreak vengeance upon something. Even while she -shivered over her fear she heard the heavy footsteps lumbering down the -stairs toward the dungeon. - -"What! are you not dead yet, you she-devil?" was the fierce salutation -that greeted her ears. - -Her enemy advanced, and seizing hold of her crouching body as it lay -upon the bed, shook it with the fury of a wild-cat until it seemed as if -the poor bones must rattle. "What do you mean by living in this way? -Must I kill you at last with my own hands?" - -"Spare me," moaned the poor victim between her chattering teeth, "spare -me yet a little longer, I am so young, and life is so sweet!" - -"Sweet, you fool!" cried the old hag, desisting from sheer weariness, -and letting go of the poor skeleton to glare fiercely at her. "What! -Life is sweet, chained in a dungeon, in rags, on a crust of bread and a -sup of water?" - -"Yes, oh, yes!" faltered the poor creature, hoping to gain a little time -so that deliverance from her bonds might come. - -"Live then, you worm!" cried the old witch, throwing life at her poor -victim with a curse. "Live as long as you can since you find it such a -luxury!" - -The shivering heap of rags and bones did not answer. Stamping about the -floor, glaring at the frightened Fanny, her mood changed. She said -retrospectively: - -"After all you are not such a devil as she! You have not the spirit in -your poor, crushed, beaten body! You have never even tried to escape -from me and bring me to punishment! Why should I tread on you when you -will not even turn like the worm? No, live, live! Never fear but you -shall have your crust of bread and sup of water while Haidee remains -here to bring it to you." - -So saying she went out again, and Fanny wept tears of joy at her -departure. But a little while now, she thought gladly, and Lily would be -at home. Then to-morrow at the farthest her own deliverance would -arrive. She thought of the loved ones she had never expected to see -again, of the dear old mother and father in their old home in the -country, and the affectionate girl's tears flowed like rain for very joy -at the blissful hope of reunion. - -Alas! poor Fanny! - -It seemed many hours to Haidee before her husband and Doctor Pratt -returned. It was very near sunset, for Doctor Pratt had been absent -visiting a patient, and Peter had been forced to await his return. - -When at last they came and knocked at the door she had to inform them, -with a curse for every word, of Lily's escape. Then they were compelled -to force the door open, for the brave girl had taken the key with her -and thrown it away in the road. - -As soon as Doctor Pratt heard her story he sprang into the buggy and -drove into the city with furious haste in search of Colville. It was -late before he found him, so that Lily was almost home before he learned -the story. - -"I suppose it is all up with us now," said Colville, after swearing an -oath or two. "And we had better be getting away from town before we are -arrested. I suppose she is at home by now." - -"There is only one chance in ten that she is not," was the reply. "Her -excessive weakness may have caused her to fall by the way. It seems -impossible that one so debilitated by sickness should take so long a -walk without resting." - -"You think there is a chance of her recapture, then?" inquired Colville -eagerly. - -"There may be," was the cautious reply. "You see, if she is yet on the -road we can watch for her near her home; and as it is getting dark it -would be very easy to seize her and put her into a waiting carriage. -After that there would be no difficulty. Chloroform would stifle her -screams while we drove back to Leveret's with her." - -"But the carriage driver, doctor. Might he not betray us?" - -"I will drive my own carriage," answered Pratt. "We will stop near the -corner of Mr. Lawrence's house. You will then get out and watch for her. -If she should appear you will hastily throw a cloak over her head and -carry her to the carriage." - -"Well planned, doctor! Let us be going at once. Every moment is precious -in this extremity." - -"We must first purchase a bottle of chloroform, a sponge, and a long, -water-proof cloak in which to envelope her form," said the doctor, -recollecting precautions which Colville in his impetuosity was about -forgetting. - -These purchases were hastily made, and the two worthies stepped into the -doctor's light carriage and drove rapidly away on their mission of evil. - -They were not a minute too soon. As the carriage stopped at the corner a -slight form hurried past, plainly visible in the light of the -street-lamp. - -"It is she!" said Pratt in a hasty whisper. He recognized her graceful -form in spite of the disguising veil and sack. - -Colville was stung to madness by the sight. - -"I will have her," he declared with a terrible oath, "if I have to tear -her from the arms of her lover!" - -He sprang out and followed her. She had gone up the steps and rung the -bell. Just as he came opposite the steps he saw old Willis open the -door, and witnessed his headlong flight from the supposed spirit of his -young mistress. As she glided into the house he ran lightly up the steps -and followed her. She heard the footsteps of her pursuer and faintly -moaned: - -"Papa! papa!" - -But in that moment, ere assistance could reach her, the gaslights were -turned out by a steady hand; she was plucked backward by the skirt of -her dress, and fell into Colville's arms, so muffled by the heavy cloak -he threw over her that she could not breathe. Hardly clogged by the -light burden in his arms he ran through the hall and down the steps -before Lancelot Darling reached the door. It was but the work of a -moment to reach the carriage and give his captive into the doctor's -ready arms. He then sprang in himself and drove rapidly away with their -beautiful captive. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - - -Lily awakened from the temporary stupor induced by chloroform and found -herself a prisoner again in the old familiar room. She was lying on the -bed, and Doctor Pratt, grim, and satanic-looking as usual, sat by the -side. - -Harold Colville was also an occupant of the room, and Haidee Leveret, -from the foot of the bed, gave her a fiendish scowl in answer to the -glance she cast upon her. - -"How do you feel after your journey this evening?" inquired the -physician, with a sarcastic smile. - -A glance of scorn from Lily's eyes fell upon him. She did not vouchsafe -him any reply. - -"I think you must begin to realize by this time that it is quite -impossible for you to escape from us," continued Doctor Pratt. "You have -now made two attempts which have resulted in nothing except to make us -more vigilant than before in keeping you safely secured. Hereafter you -will be doubly guarded by Haidee and Peter. He will accompany her and -stand outside the room door whenever she has any business within. You -are aware that the window is too heavily and strongly barred for you to -tamper with it. You now see that there is no possible chance for you to -make a third attempt to elude us." - -There was no reply. Lily still regarded him with a flashing gaze full of -scorn and contempt; but the villain went on, in no-wise disconcerted by -her anger: - -"It seems to me, Miss Lawrence, that your best and wisest course would -be to thankfully accept Mr. Colville's proposals of marriage. Surely -that cannot be such a terrible thing to do. There are many ladies who -would be proud of the honor which he seeks to force upon you. Your -former home is forever lost to you; you are as one dead to your family. -They have seen you laid away in the tomb. If you went to them now they -would not believe that you belonged to them; they would scout your story -as impossible and yourself as an impostor. There remains, therefore, but -one possible chance of restoration to your friends and to liberty, and -that is to appear before them in the character of Mrs. Harold Colville." - -"Mr. Colville has already had an answer to his proposals," answered -Lily, firmly. "I will die before I accept liberty on these terms!" - -"Do not allow any scruples in regard to Mr. Darling to influence your -decision," interrupted Colville, speaking for the first time, "for I can -assure you, on the honor of a gentleman, Miss Lawrence, that he has -transferred his fickle affections to the wily widow who tried to murder -you in order that she might steal into his heart and win his hand and -fortune." - -"It is false; Lancelot has not forgotten me so soon," cried Lily, -warmly. - -But though she defended her lover's loyalty so bravely, there flashed -over her mind a remembrance of the scene she had momentarily witnessed -last night--Mrs. Vance at the grand piano, playing and singing softly, -her lover--her handsome, kingly Lancelot--bending over her as he turned -the pages of her music. - -She had thought nothing of it then; but in the light of Harold -Colville's bold assertion it seemed to her terribly significant. - -"I do not wonder that my assertion taxes your credulity," returned -Colville, with a maddening smile. "It seemed almost beyond belief when -it first came to my knowledge. Not yet three months from your supposed -death, I can scarcely understand how the man who lacked but a few hours -of being your husband could console himself with the smiles of another -so soon. But he is young and impressible, and I grant you she is rarely -beautiful, and gifted with consummate art." - -"I can add my testimony to Mr. Colville's assertion," said Doctor Pratt. -"Your lover has, indeed, been beguiled into forgetfulness of his grief -by the fascination of the charming widow. They are now acknowledged -lovers!" - -"I do not believe it," answered Lily, proudly. "Do you think I would -take your word, Harold Colville, or yours, Doctor Pratt, for the truth? -You have proved yourselves villains, and I do not place the least -confidence in your assertions. You tell me these things believing I will -the more readily yield to your wishes. But you are mistaken--sadly -mistaken! I tell you now that if Lancelot Darling should marry Mrs. -Vance to-morrow it would not make any difference in my rejection of a -villain's suit!" - -Both the worthies glared at her with fierce wrath. - -"So be it," said Colville, angrily. "But remember, you will remain a -prisoner until you accede to my wishes, no matter how long you hold out. -Haidee, you need not provide so sumptuously for so contumacious a -captive. Let bread and water be her portion until her rebellious spirit -is broken. I will see her again in a month's time. Come, doctor; come, -Haidee; let us leave her to the pleasures of solitary contemplation." - -All three retired; the door, which had been provided with another key, -was securely locked, and she was left again in her loneliness and bitter -sorrow. - -Weak and weary with her long journey and unbroken fast she lay still, -her limbs aching with fatigue and her heart almost broken with sorrow. - -Her momentary glimpse of her dear ones had filled her heart with a wild -flood of new tenderness for them. She had come back to them from the -dead, and she felt that they would have been filled with the deepest joy -in receiving her again. - -She had been so cruelly torn from them in the very moment when they -first caught sight of her! She wondered what they would think. - -"Perhaps they will share old Willis' delusion that it was a spirit," -thought she, with a flood of tears. - -She had almost forgotten Fanny in the bitter anguish of being retaken -thus in the very moment of impending re-union with her family. - -But presently she heard the clank of the poor captive's chain, as she -turned restlessly on her hard bed, and caught the sound of her groans. - -"Poor Fanny," she thought, "how will she bear this sad disappointment -when she hoped so much from my escape!" - -Weak and trembling she rose from the bed, and taking the lamp in her -hand staggeringly descended the stairs in quest of her poor companion in -captivity and sorrow. - -Fanny lay extended on the cot, moaning piteously. She cried out in -surprise and terror, fearing that Haidee had returned to threaten and -abuse her. But she soon saw that it was the sweet face of the captive -girl that beamed upon her. - -"My God, Miss Lawrence, is it you?" she said. "I thought, I hoped that -you had escaped!" - -Lily threw herself down upon the hard stone floor and wept piteously. -The trial was hard upon herself, as affecting her own individual -welfare. - -Now the burden of this poor creature's sorrow added to the weight of her -own made it almost insupportable. It was some time before she could -summon sufficient calmness to relate her mournful story to the suffering -creature. - -"It is all over," she said in conclusion. "There is no hope of escape -from our prison, and death is before us." - -Fanny lay still, moaning now and then in pain. She made no attempt to -rise, and at last Lily noticed the fact. - -"What is the matter with you, my poor soul?" said she. "Are you worse? -Are you unable to rise?" - -"I cannot raise my head," answered the poor girl patiently, "my poor -bones have been shaken and beaten terribly by old Haidee. I am very -stiff and sore." - -As well as she could she related the story of old Haidee's rage at her -captive's escape, her descent into the dungeon and her wild onslaught on -her starving captive. Lily wept at the recital of Fanny's sufferings. - -"She was wreaking her rage at my escape, upon you, poor Fanny," said -she. "Oh! God, why dost thou allow the wicked thus to triumph over the -weak and the innocent?" - -"Are you much hurt? Do you think you can survive it?" she asked -presently in anxious tones. - -"I don't know. I am very sore at present. There seems very little life -left in me. Perhaps it would be better if I should die," said the poor -creature despondently. The little spark of hope awakened in her breast -by Lily's escape was dead now, and despair had claimed her for its own. -Lily knelt by the cot and felt her hands. They were cold and clammy, and -chilly dews stood upon the wasted brow. Lily started. Could this be -death that was stealing over the poor captive? She feared it was, but -she was afraid to linger longer lest old Haidee should find her out. She -rose reluctantly. - -"I wish I could stay with you, Fanny," said she. "It seems hard to leave -you suffering thus alone. But if old Haidee should find me, she might -kill you for fear I should betray her. So it seems that I must go. -Good-night." - -Lily took the poor, wasted hand and pressing it gently, went away, -fearing that the few sands of life remaining to Harold Colville's -injured wife were fast running out. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - - -About a month subsequent to the events which have been related in the -last chapter, Mrs. Vance and Ada Lawrence sat alone in the drawing-room -of their splendid home. Ada had been reading, but the volume seemed to -have little interest, for it had fallen from her hands to the floor, and -she was reclining on a luxurious divan, looking bored and sad, while now -and then a low sigh rippled across her coral lips. - -She was very lovely, being a pure blonde with red and white complexion -and hair of golden tint. Her face looked flower-like in its delicacy, -gleaming out from the somber folds of her mourning dress. - -Mrs. Vance, sitting opposite, absorbed in a voluminous billow of crimson -crochet work, looked over at her, and started as if she had only just -begun to realize the girl's exceeding fairness. - -"How pretty she is," she thought apprehensively, "and how startling her -likeness to her dead sister! Good Heavens! what if Lance should see the -resemblance as plainly as I do, and fall in love with her for Lily's -sake." - -The thought which now presented itself for the first time was startling -in its probability. She began to think that it was time for Ada to be -going back to school. It was dangerous to keep that fair flower-face in -Lancelot Darling's vicinity. - -"Ada," said she, abruptly, "how old are you?" - -"Sixteen," answered the girl sleepily, without lifting her drooping, -golden-brown lashes. - -"Almost old enough to come out in society," said the lady. "You will -have to hurry and finish your education--you mean to graduate, of -course. When are you going back to school?" - -"I do not expect to go back at all," was the startling reply. - -"Not go back," said Mrs. Vance, affecting extreme astonishment. - -"Papa is so lonely now that Lily is gone," said Ada, choking back a sob, -"that I have not the heart to leave him. I will stay with him and -comfort him." - -"But, my dear--you so young, so unformed in your manners--surely you -will not sacrifice yourself thus! Let me advise you to go back to -college another year at least," urged Mrs. Vance. - -A little annoyed at her persistence, Ada sat up and looked across at -her. - -"Mrs. Vance," said she, coldly, "do you happen to know that if I took -your advice and returned to my boarding-school this house could no -longer be a home for you?" - -"Why not?" asked the lady, a little fluttered. - -"Do you not see?" said Ada, pointedly. "You are not related to papa at -all. You are a young and handsome woman. If you and he were living here -alone together, with no one but the servants, people would couple your -names unpleasantly. So you comprehend that it is better for me to stay -and play propriety." - -"Ada, I do not believe you care whether I have a shelter over my head or -not," said the widow, stung into anger by the pointed speech of the -girl. - -"I should be sorry to see any one houseless," answered Ada, calmly; "but -to own the truth, Mrs. Vance, I must say that I am sorry that the same -roof has to shelter us both. I do not like you, and I am honest enough -to tell you so!" - -"Because I am poor and you are rich," said Mrs. Vance, affecting to -weep. - -"It is not that," said the young girl. "It is not that you are no -relation to papa, except by marriage, and that you forced yourself here -and claimed a support when you might have earned one for yourself, as -many another widow has done. No, it is not for these things, Mrs. Vance, -for I might still like you in spite of them, though I might pity your -lack of true independence. But I dislike you because I believe you are a -false, deceitful, unprincipled woman, scheming for some secret end of -your own." - -"What have I ever done to you, Ada, that you should denounce me thus?" -sobbed the widow. - -"Nothing--you would not dare to, for my papa would turn you out of the -house if you did," replied the girl, spiritedly. "But do you think, Mrs. -Vance, I cannot see your present drift? Do you think I do not see how -shamelessly you are courting Lance Darling, and trying to win him from -poor Lily who has been dead these four months scarcely?" - -"Perhaps you want him for yourself," Mrs. Vance was beginning to say -sarcastically, when they were interrupted by a slight rap on the door. - -"Enter," called out Ada. - -It was a servant with a message for the widow. - -"There's an old woman out in the hall, Mrs. Vance, who says she has -brought the samples of lace you desired." - -Ada, who was watching her curiously, wondered why the angry woman grew -so ghastly white under her rouge at the reception of so commonplace a -visitor. - -"Say that I am coming," said the widow to the domestic. - -In a moment she arose with a muttered apology and followed him into the -hall. Old Haidee stood there patiently waiting with her basket of laces -on her arm. - -"Bring the laces up to my apartment," said the lady, with as indifferent -an air as she could assume. - -When they were once safe within the locked room, Mrs. Vance turned -furiously on the old lace-vender. - -"Did I not tell you not to come here again?" she said. "I have nothing -else to give you." - -"Oh, Mrs. Vance, don't say that," whined the old crone, piteously; "I -did not mean to come back, I did not indeed, but I am so poor and the -gold you gave me is all gone." - -"Liar! there was enough to last you a year," said Mrs. Vance, angrily. - -"Oh, no, ma'am--not with my old man down with the rheumatism, and all my -starving children around me. The money all went for medicine, food and -clothes. It melted away like the new-fallen snow," whined Haidee. "So I -said to myself, I will go back, I will tell the kind lady how poor I am -and she will give me more money." - -"I told you I had no more to give," almost shrieked Mrs. Vance in her -desperation. "The money I gave you was presented to me by Mr. Lawrence, -and he expected it would last me a long while. I am a poor woman, living -here on the rich man's bounty, and I have nothing more for -you--absolutely nothing!" - -"Oh! but the pretty lady is mistaken," said Haidee, doggedly. "She has -money, or if not she has jewels." - -"Would you rob me of my few jewels, you base old wretch?" - -"Necessity knows no law," retorted the old creature, grinning hideously. -"I must have help for my sick husband and starving children. If you will -not help me I must go to Mr. Lawrence or to Mr. Darling." - -These sly words had their intended effect of frightening Mrs. Vance into -compliance. - -She went to her jewel box and began hurriedly to toss over its -glittering contents. - -"Here," she said, turning round with a handsome brooch in her hand, -"will this satisfy your cupidity?" - -But old Haidee's eyes roved greedily over the sparkling gems in the -casket. She shook her head. - -"I could not sell it for a quarter of its value," said she. "It would -not relieve my necessities. Add some other trifle to it, lady--that -bracelet for instance." - -The bracelet was a very handsome one in the form of a serpent with -glistening emerald eyes. With a groan Mrs. Vance put it into the greedy, -working fingers. - -"You will strip me of every valuable I possess," she said, "and then -when I have nothing else to give you will betray me to my enemies, for -the sake of gaining a reward from them." - -"Lady, you do me cruel injustice," was the hypocrite's meek reply. "I -will never betray you while you so generously divide your all with me." - -"But if you keep coming with such demands as this I shall soon have -nothing to divide with you," said Mrs. Vance. - -"Aye, but the rich man will soon supply you with more gold," said the -harpy, cunningly, as she turned to take leave. - -"It will be a good while before I get any more money from Mr. Lawrence, -so you need not be in a hurry to return for it," said the widow, letting -her unwelcome visitor out of the door, and shaking her fist after her -departing form. - -As soon as her heavy footsteps ceased lumbering on the stairs, she -hurriedly changed her house-dress for a walking costume of plain -material and simple make. She then put on a small, black hat, tied over -her face a thick, dark veil, and descended the steps, letting herself -quietly out at the front door. - -Once in the street, she paused and glanced hurriedly up and down. No one -was in sight but the crooked form of the old lace-vender going slowly -along a few blocks ahead of her. - -Mrs. Vance set out to follow the old woman, walking briskly a few -squares until she came within half a block of her. She then slackened -her pace and went on more slowly, keeping herself invisible, but never -losing sight of her prey. - -"I will track the beast to its lair," she said to herself, "and then we -will have our reckoning out." - -Mrs. Vance hurried on at a steady pace, keeping her enemy fairly in -sight, but aiming to keep too far in the background to be recognized -herself. She had a long walk ahead of her, but she did not mind it, for -her excitement was so great that she was insensible to bodily fatigue. -She was filled with a raging anger against Ada Lawrence, whose pure, -true instincts had so clearly fathomed her meanness and littleness of -spirit. Added to this was her hatred of old Haidee Leveret, mixed with -an abject fear of the old woman's power against her in the possession of -her guilty secret. As she turned corner after corner, and traversed -street after street, her mind was busy revolving vague schemes by which -to rid herself of the greedy and dangerous old creature who began to -hang upon her shoulders heavily as a veritable Sinbad. - -At length she began to see that she was coming out upon the outskirts of -the city. Old Haidee, a little ahead of her, kept on at a swinging pace, -hastening her footsteps as she found herself nearing home. Mrs. Vance -kept on steadily too, feeling determined to find out the old woman's -home if she had any. - -At last they reached the gloomy old stone house, with its high, -forbidding stone wall. Even Mrs. Vance, courageous as she felt herself -to be, was conscious of a pang resembling fear as she contemplated the -place. But when Haidee was entering the gate she felt a firm touch on -her shoulder, and turned to meet the smiling gaze of the beautiful -widow. - -"You see I have overtaken you," was her smooth salutation. - -"You have followed me!" exclaimed Haidee, with a savage scowl of rage -and surprise commingled. - -"Yes," said Mrs. Vance coolly. - -"Woman, woman! are you not afraid?" cried the old witch, pulling her -visitor in and letting the heavy gate fall shut between them and the -outer world. "Have you no dread of my vengeance? Remember, a word from -me can consign you at any moment to the prison cell. Yet you dare to -incur my wrath!" - -"I did not follow you to provoke you to anger," said Mrs. Vance, -deprecatingly. "Two motives prompted me to discover your residence. -First, I desired to see your sick husband and starving children in the -hope that I might do something to benefit them. And secondly, if you -intend to make periodical calls on me for hush-money it is better that I -should come here and bring it than for you to call on me. Your frequent -visits on the slight pretext of your laces will not continue to deceive -anyone, and may draw down suspicion upon me. Already Miss Lawrence -suspects me of something. She has plainly told me so. So I repeat what I -have already said--that it is much safer for me to come here than for -you to go there." - -"Come in, then, do," said Haidee, with a grim politeness that showed she -was not much imposed on by the lady's profuse explanations. "Come in, -and I will introduce you to my family. If you are really anxious to -benefit us you shall have the opportunity." - -She walked on down the grass-grown patch as she spoke and knocked at the -house door. There was the sound of a key grating in the lock; then the -door swung open and disclosed old Peter Leveret standing on the -threshold. - -Mrs. Vance, who kept close behind Haidee, started back with a cry of -fear as his huge, misshapen body and bristling red hair met her gaze. - -"That is my old man," said the lace vender, coolly. "I see you do not -like his looks. Well, he is not handsome, certainly; but he is very -useful in _other_ ways." - -Her malicious emphasis on the last words sent a shudder of fear through -the veins of the visitor, but she did not betray her alarm. She followed -the couple quietly into their rude and poorly furnished sitting-room and -sat down in the chair old Haidee placed for her. Old Peter retired from -their company at an almost imperceptible sign from his wife, and left -the two together. - -"Well, you have seen my husband," said the hostess, coolly. "You -perceive he is a very miserable object--one calculated to strike fear -into the heart of a fine lady with such delicate nerves as your own. My -children, I am sorry to say, are not at home to-day. They would have -remained if they had anticipated the honor of your visit; but they are -all out begging, as I have been." - -Old Haidee had thrown off the tone of whining meekness which she often -adopted with Mrs. Vance and showed herself now cool, impudent and -crafty. Mrs. Vance noted this change with alarm. She began to think she -had perhaps erred in risking her head in the lion's den. She now said -in a tone of meekness calculated to allay the spirit of defiance she had -raised in the old witch: - -"One word, Haidee, as I think you told me your name was--does that old -man, your husband, share the secret you hold against me?" - -"I told you once," was the answer, "that the secret belongs to me -alone." - -"Yes, but as a man and his wife are one," said Mrs. Vance, cajolingly, -"perhaps you would not count him as anyone but yourself--but you see it -would make much difference to me. So I ask you again, does he know that -secret?" - -"And I decline to answer that question," answered the old witch -craftily. - -Truth to tell, old Peter was not aware of the secret which his wife -assumed to hold against Mrs. Vance, for Haidee, in her miserly avarice, -had wished to share its golden fruits alone; but the cunning old -creature saw in the anxiety of the lady a menace of danger to herself, -and thought it as well to encourage Mrs. Vance's doubts in that -direction. - -"I decline to answer that question," she repeated, with a fearful scowl. - -"I may as well go then," said the visitor, rising. She was too much -frightened at the loneliness of the house and the murderous looks of its -inhabitants to remain longer. "But, Haidee, I wish you to understand -plainly that you are not to enter the house of Mr. Lawrence again. If -you must have more hush-money from me, you can send me a line through -the post-office, and I will come here myself and bring you what I can -raise. Will you promise to do this?" - -"I will promise to do as you say if you will keep your word," was the -sullen answer, "but if you fail to come with the money within -twenty-four hours after I write you, rest assured I shall come after it -at the grand house." - -"I will not fail you," was the firm answer, "and now unfasten the door -and let me go." - -"How do you know that I will let you go?" asked Haidee, tauntingly. -"This is a fine old house in which to hold you prisoner--it has old -stone dungeons, iron-barred windows." - -Mrs. Vance shuddered, but she answered in as fearless a tone as -possible: - -"You have no interest in making a prisoner of me, for in that case you -would get no profit out of your secret. You will not kill the goose that -lays the golden eggs." - -"No, no," chuckled Haidee, "but perhaps you are laying some plan against -me--you wish to have me arrested." - -"It is not likely. My safety depends on yours--no, no, you need fear -nothing from me. Come, come, it grows late. I am very thirsty. Give me a -drink of water and let me go." - -The water was procured, and the visitor drank and departed. - -She walked hastily over the lonely road, passed the scattered houses, -and then hailing an empty hack that was passing, entered it and was -driven rapidly homeward, her thoughts, if possible, being more gloomy -than before, for now the dread of old Peter Leveret was added to her -fears of his wife. - -She had started out to follow old Haidee with black murder in her heart. -She had not believed in the story of the sick husband and children, but -had expected to find the old crone alone. - -Heaven knows what would have happened if she had; but instead she found -the strong, hideous old man, whose leering looks had struck terror to -her heart, and she now believed that he also was cognizant of the fatal -secret which was fraught with such danger to her. - -Her thoughts and feelings were anything but enviable ones as she walked -up the steps of the brown-stone palace she called her home. - -As she passed through the hall she saw the drawing-room door ajar, and -heard voices. She tip-toed to the door and peeped cautiously in. - -Lancelot Darling was there, his handsome head bowed over the couch where -Ada half reclined, listening to a poem which Lancelot was reading aloud. -They looked cozy, comfortable, and supremely contented to the jealous -eyes that glared steadily upon them. - -She made no sign, however, but went on to her room, with a tempest in -her heart which, however, did not prevent her from subsequently -descending to the drawing-room, where she set herself to work by every -beguiling art of which she was mistress, to wile away the unconscious -young man from the side of the beautiful Ada. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - - -Haidee Leveret had scarcely returned from locking the door after her -despairing visitor when she was confronted by her husband. - -Old Peter's eyes snapped viciously, his hideous old face was flushed -crimson, and his shock of bristly red hair stood erect with indignation. - -"Now, then, madam," said he, with a snort of rage, "I have caught you at -your sly tricks, have I?" - -"What is the matter with you, old man?" inquired his spouse, affecting -serene unconsciousness. - -"Oh, you may well ask!" snapped her liege lord. "You haven't been and -gone and discovered a mine of wealth and worked it yourself in secret, -denying your poor honest old husband a share in the profits--oh, no, you -have not!" - -"Shut up your nonsense," said Haidee, witheringly. - -"You haven't got a secret against a great lady," pursued old Peter, -disregarding her adjuration. "A great lady who follows you home to -lavish gold upon you, and who wants to know if poor old Peter shares the -secret with you, that she may bestow some of her wealth upon him. You -have not got your pockets full of gold at this moment--oh, no, no, no!" - -"You have been eavesdropping, you devil," cried his wife in a rage. - -"Well, what if I have?" snapped he. "When a woman has secrets from her -husband--a kind, faithful old man like you have got, Haidee--it is his -right to find out all he can by hook or by crook. I have a mind to -search your pockets this minute, and see what hoards of wealth you have -hidden there now." - -"Have done with your foolishness, old man," said Haidee, with an uneasy -consciousness of the costly golden brooch and bracelet, lying _perdu_ in -her pocket that minute. - -"Will you turn your pocket inside out then, and let me see if it is -empty?" asked her husband threateningly. - -"No, I won't," was the sullen response. - -Inflamed with rage and cupidity the old man advanced fiercely upon her, -intending to carry out his threat. - -But the virago was ready for him. As he was about to pinion her arms -down to prevent her resistance, she suddenly thrust her hands into his -hair, and clutched its bushy red masses tightly in her long and -claw-like fingers. - -This done, with a quick and dexterous movement she flourished her arms -and brought her husband down groveling on his knees before her. - -"So you will pick my pocket, will you, you old villain!" she cried -triumphantly. - -But she cried victory a moment too soon. As she spoke the words old -Peter made a furious lunge forward with his immense head and succeeded -in throwing her backward upon the floor, where she lay kicking furiously -and waving her hands, in which were tangled great bunches of fiery hair. - -The old man immediately followed up his signal success by planting his -knees on her chest, and rifling her pocket of its costly contents, while -the vanquished wife sent forth wailing cries of rage and grief at the -spoliation of her property. - -"Oh! yes," cried the old man, holding aloft these spoils of war with one -hand, while he vigorously pummelled his wife with the other. "Oh! yes, -you have already stripped the woman of her money, and have now commenced -on her jewels! Where have you hidden the pile of money? Tell me this -minute, before I kill you!" - -Receiving no answer but a loud curse he began to rain blows thick and -fast on the head and shoulders of his powerless victim, and there is no -telling how this conjugal war might have ended had not a loud and -continued knocking on the door startled the furious belligerents. - -"Get up," shrieked the vanquished, rejoicing at this diversion in her -favor. "Get up and open the door! Someone has been knocking these ten -minutes past." - -Old Peter obeyed this mandate reluctantly, shambling off and carefully -pocketing the jewels as he went, while Haidee rose and straightened her -disordered dress, and picked up her cap, which had been torn off in the -furious _melee_. - -"Now, then," said Doctor Pratt, entering, attended by Harold Colville, -"what is the matter here? I never heard such a furious racket in my -life! Have you two been fighting?" - -"Only having a friendly knock-about by way of exercise, sir," answered -old Peter, with a hideous grin at his conquered opponent, who had -received a black eye and a swollen face for her portion of the friendly -contest, while he himself had not escaped scatheless, as he bore several -bloody scratches on his face, and sundry bites on his large red hands -that testified to the efficacy of her teeth and finger nails. - -"What was the cause of your quarrel?" inquired Mr. Colville, curiously. - -"It was of no moment," answered Haidee, with a warning glance at her old -man; but Peter's fighting blood was up and he did not heed her caution. -He proceeded to explain by way of revenge on his angry spouse. - -"It was all along of a fine lady, doctor, that Haidee is holding a -secret against, and getting lots of money from on account of it, which -she refuses to share, either the money or the secret, with her poor old -husband." - -"Who is the lady, and what secret have you got against her?" inquired -Doctor Pratt, looking sternly at her. - -"It is no concern of yours, doctor," was the sullen reply. - -"Her name was Mrs. Vance," said Peter, taking a malicious joy in -circumventing old Haidee. - -"Good Heavens," said Doctor Pratt, remembering how incautiously he had -talked to Colville about the widow in Haidee's presence. "Why, you -she-devil, is it possible you have been trading upon the suspicions you -heard me breathe about the woman?" - -The old witch would not answer, but Peter, taking on himself the role of -spokesman, replied for her: - -"I can't tell you where she got suspicions or her information, sir, but -she has certainly made a good bit by her knowledge, for she has gathered -in all the lady's money, and now begins to strip her of her jewels. Fine -ladies don't part with things like these until all their money has gone -the same gait," said he, holding up the brooch and the jeweled serpent -whose emerald eyes glared like living ones. - -"It's a lie--I've only had money of her once," said old Haidee fiercely. -"She is a poor woman, and has nothing to pay with." - -"How did you gain your information, Peter, if, as you say, your wife -would not share her secret with you?" inquired Doctor Pratt, trembling -with rage against Haidee. - -"The lady followed her home to-day to make arrangements for coming here -the next time to pay another installment of hush-money. Haidee had been -going there on some pretext of peddling lace, I think, but the lady was -afraid to have her come to her house again, and promised to meet her -here." - -"My God!" said the physician, growing white with fear and rage. "Mrs. -Vance here--in this house only to-day. Haidee, you shall repent this!" - -"I have not betrayed any of your secrets, doctor--I was only making a -little money for myself, and no harm done," said the old witch, -beginning to grow apologetic. - -"No matter, you must never go there again, nor suffer her to come here. -If you do I swear I will murder you! Do you understand me?" - -"Yes, sir," was the sulky answer. - -"And you promise to do as I bid you?" - -"I promise." - -"Very well, then. See that you keep your word. And you, Peter, let me -know if she dares to disobey my injunction. And let the matter rest also -yourself. If either of you approach Mrs. Vance again, I swear you shall -pay a heavy penalty for your temerity!" - -"Your prisoner, Haidee--is she safe?" inquired Harold Colville, growing -impatient of the delay. - -"She is, sir," was the answer. - -"The key then--we wish to visit her," said Colville; whereupon he and -Doctor Pratt both arose and made their way to Lily's room. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - - -Lily Lawrence sat alone in the same room in which she had first been -incarcerated when in her cataleptic state she had been brought to this -house of captivity. Peter Leveret had made the window secure again, and -she had been removed here the day after her recapture in her father's -hall by Colville. - -Consequently she had had no means of ascertaining whether or not the -miserable wife of Colville still survived. - -She thought it more than likely that the poor creature was dead and -beyond all suffering which the vindictive spirit of old Haidee might -still inflict upon her while a spark of life remained in her body. - -A profound sympathy and regret for poor Fanny's wretched fate, mixed up -with Lily's deep solicitude for herself, added to the melancholy air -which began to overshadow her like a cloud. - -It is a month since we have seen her and she has changed greatly since -that time. - -Her jailers have strictly carried out Colville's injunction to allow her -nothing but bread and water, and the result is plainly seen in an added -frailty of face and form. - -As she sits in the old arm-chair with her small head thrown wearily -back, she looks almost too transparently pale and pure for an inhabitant -of earth. - -The blue veins show plainly as they wander beneath the white skin, the -blue eyes look larger and darker by contrast with the purple shadows -beneath them, the once rounded cheeks are thin and hollow. - -Even the lips, once so rosy and smiling with their arch dimpled corners, -have taken on an expression of pain and endurance pitiful to see in one -so young and fair. - -The small white hands, growing thin and weak, are listlessly folded -across her lap, while she looks wearily at the smouldering ashes of a -fire that had been kindled on the hearth that morning, for the September -mornings are chilly and the girl's enfeebled frame feels cold keenly. - -Thus the two confederates found her when, after a premonitory rap, they -unlocked the door and entered. She looked up and her white face blanched -still whiter at their presence, but beyond that she took no notice save -in a fixed and slightly scornful curl of the lip. - -"I trust that I find you well, Miss Lawrence," said her suitor, with an -air of devotion. - -"Is it possible I should feel well after subsisting for a month on bread -and water?" asked the girl, in a languid voice of unutterable contempt. - -"Lily, forgive me, but you force me to adopt these stringent measures. -It is my love that drives me thus to extremes in hope of forcing your -consent at last. Oh! why will you not relent and make yourself -comfortable, and me the happiest of men?" cried Colville, imploringly, -as he tried to take her hand in his own. But she drew it away with a -gesture of contempt and repugnance to his touch and he desisted. Dr. -Pratt withdrew to the window and appeared to ignore the conversation. - -"Lily," continued Colville, seeing that she made no motion of replying, -"you have now had a month for contemplation and sober reflection. Surely -you have profited by the thoughts that must have assailed you in that -time. Do you now consent to become my wife?" - -"Mr. Colville, I have not changed my mind at all," replied Lily, coldly -and firmly. - -"But come, now, my dear girl," urged Colville, who had been persuaded by -Dr. Pratt to try a little kind persuasion instead of such violent -threatenings; "come, now, my dear girl, why should you persist in your -first ill-considered rejection of my suit? Look at the matter calmly and -dispassionately, and weigh all the advantages in my favor. I am not a -bad-looking man, nor an old man. I have a splendid income and I love you -to distraction. I would spend all my life in making you happy. This is -your one chance of happiness. On the other hand there is nothing but -captivity and starvation. Were it not better to become my wife?" - -"No!" answered Lily, firmly. - -"You are very candid, at least, if not very flattering," said Colville, -bitterly. - -Lily regarded him sadly and calmly. She could pity him when he showed -some sign of feeling. She only hated and feared him when he descended to -abuse and threatening. - -"Mr. Colville," said she, in her soft, flute-like voice, "I am very -sorry for you if you love me as you say you do. I pity you from my -heart, but if I yielded to your wish and became your wife I could bring -you no happiness. I do not love you, and I should hate you then for the -means you used to win me. Oh! believe me, your persistence is unwise and -foolish. Let me go away from here, I beg you, to my home and my friends. -I will not betray your complicity in my abduction. I will suffer you and -your friend there to invent whatever plausible tale you please, and I -will try to palm it off on my friends for the truth. See, I bear you no -malice for the cruelty and injustice I have suffered at your hands. I -am willing to forgive you everything if you will but restore my -freedom!" - -"You waste your breath in such appeals, Lily--I will never let you go!" -said Colville, inflexibly. - -"Oh! I beseech you do not kill me with such refusals," cried Lily, -wildly. She slipped from her chair and knelt before him, clasping her -fragile white hands in an agony of appeal, and lifting her wan, white -face imploringly. "See, I kneel to you. My spirit is broken, my pride is -humbled in the dust; I am starving, dying here. I beg you for the poor -boon of my liberty and life!" - -He stood still with folded arms regarding her as she knelt, while a cold -and cruel smile curled the corners of his thin lips. Her pitiful appeal -made no impression on him; he was not moved by the sight of her fragile -face and hands, wasted into pallor and wanness through his cruelty. His -answer fell on her quivering nerves as cruelly as the lash cuts into -human flesh. - -"Kneel, if it relieves your feelings, but do not suppose that your -humility can weaken my resolution, which is as fixed as adamant. And -hear me now, proud girl, and remember that I mean what I say. I shall -yet give you time to change your mind. I am merciful to you because I -love you. But if time does not weaken your perversity, so surely as I -live I will make you repent your obstinacy. The time will come when you -will kneel to me more prayerfully than you now do, and implore me to -marry you and save your honor!" - -"Never!" she cried, springing to her feet and waving her white hands -aloft like some beautiful, inspired prophetess. "Never! Before that day -comes I will die by my own hand! And, Harold Colville, while you exult -in your wickedness, remember that there is a God above who punishes the -guilty for their evil deeds. Nemesis shall yet overtake you--it is -written!" - -"Come, come, Miss Lawrence, you overrate your strength by this senseless -ranting," said Doctor Pratt, coming forward and reseating her with -gentle force. "Remember, you are very weak. You have never fully -recovered from the effects of your wound and your subsequent fast during -the cataleptic state that succeeded it. Illness and deprivation have -sapped your strength and dimmed your beauty until there will soon be -nothing left of the fairness that now holds Mr. Colville's heart. -Believe me, your wisest course is to yield now, marry Mr. Colville, and -set about the restoration of your health by travel, recreation and -generous living. A few more months of this reckless obstinacy will break -down your constitution irrevocably." - -"I thank you for that assurance," she answered, exultingly. "Perhaps -death will come to me of his own accord, and save me from the sin of -taking my own life and sending my soul, trembling and uncalled, before -its dread Creator!" - -"You do not mean what you say, Miss Lawrence. You are too young and -lovely to welcome death. Life holds many attractions for you even as the -wife of the despised Mr. Colville." - -"I do not think so," she answered, briefly. - -"Well, well, your mind will change perhaps; and in that laudable desire -we will take leave of you for awhile," said the doctor, turning off with -a sardonic bow. - -"And do me the favor of never returning," said Lily, angrily. "You can -never change my decision, and if I am doomed to wear out the remnant of -my days here, let me at least be spared the sight of your hated faces -again!" - -"You ask too much," said Colville, airily. "Captives are not permitted -to make their own conditions, or select their visitors. Adieu, obdurate -fair one." - -His gaze lingered on her a moment, noting her beauty and grace which -still shone pre-eminent, though her beautiful coloring was all faded and -gone, and she looked like a picture looked at by moonlight alone with -all the bright tints of daylight invisible. Loving her for her beauty, -and hating her for her scorn, he went away, but carried the picture in -his heart, at once a joy and a torment, for his conscience could not but -reproach him for the change that was so sadly visible in her fragile, -drooping form. - -Lily remained sitting motionless in her chair, lost in painful revery, -until twilight filled the room with shadows. The room grew chilly, and -she shivered now and then in her thin dress, but she never stirred until -old Haidee entered with a light and supper, the latter consisting of a -scanty portion of dry bread and a pitcher of water. Lily cast a glance -of loathing upon the food and turned away. Her weak appetite could not -relish the dry bread, and it often was taken away untasted. - -"Haidee, I wish you would light a fire," said she, shivering in the -chilly atmosphere. "The night is cool, and I am very thinly clad." - -"There will be no fire to-night," said Haidee, curtly. "If you are cold -go to bed and cover up under the bed-clothes." - -"At least bring me a shawl to wrap about my shoulders," pleaded the -girl. - -"Not a rag," retorted the old woman, whose sharp temper was even more -acid than usual to-night on account of her rencontre that evening. - -"Does Mr. Colville wish me to suffer from cold as well as hunger?" -inquired Lily, bitterly. - -"I wish it whether he does or not!" answered Haidee, viciously. - -"What noise was that I heard this evening?" inquired Lily, looking -curiously at the old woman. "I was very much frightened by a succession -of screams and oaths as if people were fighting--ah, and now that I look -at you, Haidee, I see that there is something the matter with your -face." - -"Old Peter whipped me, if you must know the truth," snapped the witch. - -"Whipped you!" said Lily, with an incredulous look; "oh, no, he would -not whip his wife, would he?" - -"Yes, he would, and did," retorted Haidee, with a grim sort of smile, as -if she took a certain sort of pride in Peter's ferocity. "Oh, we think -nothing of a rough-and-tumble fight now and then. Sometimes I get the -better of him, sometimes he overpowers me, but it's often an even thing. -Old Peter is a ferocious one, I can tell you. If you had knocked him -down as you did me the time you escaped, he would have killed you when -they brought you back." - -Lily shuddered at this intimation of Peter's cruelty. - -"Haidee, I did not mean to hurt you that day," said she, earnestly. "I -would not hurt the meanest thing that lives if I could help it. I only -pushed you to throw you off your balance, so that I might get away." - -"You had better eat your supper," said Haidee, not caring to recall that -day, for she still harbored a furious resentment against the girl on the -score of it, and often felt tempted to wreak revenge upon her. "You had -better eat your supper, for old Peter will be angry with you if you keep -him waiting outside the door so long." - -"Take the bread away. I cannot eat any to-night," answered Lily, with a -hopeless sigh. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - - -The autumn sunlight fell goldenly on the handsome face and form of -Lancelot Darling as he stood on the broad marble steps of the grand -hotel where he boarded, his glance roving carelessly up and down the -crowded street. - -Our hero was that _rara avis_ whose species is almost extinct at the -present day--a young man of wealth and fashion, yet totally unspoiled by -the flattery and adulation of the world. - -Carefully raised by judicious parents, whom he had unhappily lost by -death in the dawn of manhood, he had been shielded from many temptations -that would have assailed one less carefully guarded than this only and -beloved child of fond and doting parental care. - -Enjoying the possession of an almost princely fortune, which precluded -the need of work, one would have thought him liable to be whirled into -the maelstrom of vice and dissipation, and engulfed in its fatal -whirlpool forever. - -But such was not the case. He was only twenty-three when he met and -loved the beautiful Lily Lawrence, and her love had been to him a -talisman and safeguard against evil. - -Even now, amid the total wreck of all his hopes, and the despair that -filled his own being, he was no less the pure-hearted man and perfect -gentleman than when the happiness of Lily's love had crowned his life -with bliss. - -As he stood there on the marble steps he did not note the many admiring -glances that fell on him from passers-by--the appreciative looks of -women whose gaze lingered on the tall, elegant figure and handsome face, -nor the approving nod of men who, while they made no endeavor to reach -his lofty standard, could yet admire him as a gentleman "_sans peur et -sans reproche_." - -While he stood thus abstracted a boy approached, and placing in his hand -a delicate envelope, scented with heliotrope, turned away. - -Lancelot turned the envelope in his hand for a moment in some surprise, -for the writing was unfamiliar. In a moment he tore it open, however, -and read these few lines on the perfumed sheet: - - "MY DEAR FRIEND:--I enclose a list of some new songs which I wish - to try. Will you do me the favor to select them for me, and bring - them up this afternoon? - - "Yours faithfully, - - "ETHEL VANCE." - -This was a bold move on the part of the fascinating widow. She knew -perfectly well that she could have sent the boy to a music store and -secured the songs at less trouble than by entrusting the commission to -Lancelot Darling. - -The young man was aware of the fact also; but in the integrity of his -own heart he suspected no art in her, and made an excuse for her in his -mind. - -"How tender-hearted she is," he thought. "She knows how wretched and -forlorn I am, and charitably devises schemes for drawing me away from my -gloomy retrospections, and cheering me with her gentle society." - -Thus thinking Lancelot turned away and proceeded to execute the widow's -commission. And punctually he appeared at Mr. Lawrence's drawing-room -that afternoon. - -The artful woman was alone, and rose to greet him with a beaming smile -of welcome. - -She had laid aside her usual dress of half mourning, and appeared in a -becoming costume of costly black velvet and cream-colored brocade, -profusely trimmed with rich lace. Diamonds twinkled in her ears and on -her breast, and a bunch of vivid scarlet roses was fastened in the jetty -braids of her beautiful hair. - -"It is _so_ kind of you to come," she said, pressing his hand in her -soft, pink palm as he bowed before her. "Ada has gone riding with her -father, and I am very lonely." - -"It is not much kindness on my part," said he, bluntly: "for I am aware -that I am not very cheerful company for anyone these days. I only came -because you asked me." - -"And not at all that you wished to see me," said she, with a very -becoming pout of her rich, red lip. - -"Oh, pardon my rudeness," said Lance, contritely. "You know I did not -mean that. Of course I like to see you. You are very kind to me always. -I meant that I would not presume to inflict my sad countenance and heavy -heart upon you unless you insisted I should do so." - -"You are very sad, certainly," answered she, with a pensive air. -"Indeed, I sometimes wonder, Lance, that the natural light-heartedness -of youth does not begin to assert itself within you. It is almost five -months since your bereavement, and we do not grieve forever for the -dead." - -"Do we not?" he asked, with a heavy sigh. "Ah, Mrs. Vance, my grief does -not lessen with time. My love was deeper than a common love, and my -regret will be eternal!" - -"That is all romantic nonsense," she answered, impatiently. "It is not -the nature of any human creature to cherish the memory of one dead -forever. 'Men's hearts crave tangible, close tenderness; love's presence -warm and near.' You will be happy again, Lance, and you will love -again." - -"You judge me wrongly, Mrs. Vance, and under-rate the constancy of a -heart like mine. You used a quotation just now, Permit me to reply with -another one." - -In a voice like saddest music he repeated those exquisite lines from -Leigh Hunt: - - "The world buds every year, - But the heart, just once, and when - The blossom falls off sere, - No new blossom comes again. - Ah! the rose goes with the wind - But the thorns remain behind!" - -"Your poetry reminds me of the new songs," said she, dropping the -argument. "It was very kind of you to bring them. Will you come to the -piano and turn the leaves while I try them?" - -"Certainly," he answered, rising and attending her. - -It was the hardest thing she could have asked of him, but Lance was very -unselfish. He put down the throb of pain that rose at the remembrance of -the new songs he and Lily had been wont to practice at the same piano, -and turned the leaves with a steady hand while her fingers flew over the -keys. But one thing she had asked more than once. It was that he should -sing with her. This he always quietly declined to do. - -"That is rude of you," she would say, in a voice of chagrin. "Your tenor -is so perfectly splendid, why should you refuse?" - -"I shall never sing again," he would answer, quietly but firmly, and no -persuasion on her part could induce him to change his mind. - -It was agony for him to stand there and turn the leaves, looking down -upon that dark head instead of the golden one he had been wont to gaze -upon so fondly. When the face was lifted with a smile to his, and -instead of Lily's soft, blue eyes he met the gaze of the black ones, his -heart thrilled with pain. Perhaps she guessed it, but she kept him there -all the same, thinking that time would blunt the keenness of his -remembrance and teach him to adore the brunette as fondly as he had -loved the blonde. - -She played at him, she sung at him, lifting her passionate glance to his -whenever some appropriate sentiment in the song seemed to warrant such -expressiveness. Lance never dreamed of the reason for her pantomime. He -had seen the same thing practiced by ladies in society. He deemed it a -harmless kind of flirting, but never thought of responding to it. - -She kept him there perhaps an hour patiently waiting on her pleasure, -and passing his opinion only as it was called for on the various pieces -she was practicing. At last, to his great relief, she grew weary of her -amusement, and left the piano. - -"Come and read to me, Lance," said she, with a pretty tone of -proprietorship in him; "I am tired of the music, I do not like the -songs. There is not a passable one in the whole selection." - -She threw herself down half-reclining on a rich divan and settled -herself to listen. Lance selected a volume of Tennyson, and seating -himself near her, began to read quite at random the celebrated poem of -Lady Clara Vere De Vere. - - "Lady Clara Vere De Vere, - Of me you shall not win renown; - You thought to break a country heart - For pastime ere you went to town. - At me you smiled, but unbeguiled - I saw the snare, and I retired; - The daughter of a hundred Earls, - You are not one to be desired." - -"Oh! no more of that," she cried, as he paused after the first verse. "I -have never fancied that poem--try something else." - -Patiently he turned the leaves and came upon the exquisite little poem -of "Edward Gray"--a dainty bit of versification admired by all women. - -"This will please her fancy," he thought, and began again: - - "Sweet Emma Moreland of yonder town - Met me walking on yonder way, - 'And have you lost your heart?' she said; - 'And are you married yet, Edward Gray?' - Sweet Emma Moreland spoke to me; - Bitterly weeping I turned away: - 'Sweet Emma Moreland, love no more - Can touch the heart of Edward Gray.'" - -"You need not finish that one," said she, impatiently. "Pray excuse me, -Lance, but I do not think you make very pretty selections, or perhaps I -am not in the humor for listening. Put the book aside--let us talk -instead." - -"As you will, fair lady," said he, gallantly. "I shall listen to you -with pleasure; but I must warn you that my conversational powers are not -great." - -"Perhaps the will is wanting," said she, trying hard to repress all -signs of vexation. It was terribly hard to lead him on, this -frank-spoken young ideal of hers. - -"Oh, no," said he, smiling slightly. "It is a real inability for which I -ought to be excusable." - -"And so you are excusable," said she, with a tender glance. "There are -but few things I would not excuse in you, Lance." - -"You are very good to say so," he answered, quite gravely. "I am very -faulty, I know, and it needs the eyes of a true friend indeed to -overlook my manifold imperfections." - -"A true friend," she sighed, softly. "Ah! would that I might find such -an one." - -Lance was about to make some commonplace reply to this aspiration when -he suddenly observed that her face had dropped into her hands, and she -was crying softly, her graceful form heaving with deep emotion. - -"Mrs. Vance," said he in alarm, "what is the cause of your distress? -Have I said or done anything to wound you? If I have, pray forgive me. -It was unintentional, I assure you." - -There was no reply. She continued to sob violently for a few minutes -while Lancelot sat silent and perplexed at her unusual emotion. At -length the storm of grief ceased in low sighs, and she lifted her head -and carefully wiped off a few genuine tears that hung pendent on her -silky lashes and threatened to fall upon her cheek and wash off the -delicate rose-tint so carefully put on. Lance at once renewed his -apologies and regrets. - -"It is I who should beg your pardon, Lance, for this childish and -undignified outburst of mine," said she, with quivering lips, "But -indeed I could not help it. Our chance words struck a chord so tender -that it vibrated painfully. Oh! Lance, I am very unhappy!" - -"I should not have thought it," said he, quite surprised at her -admission. - -"No; because I mask my aching heart in deceitful smiles," was the -mournful answer. - -"But you have no present cause for unhappiness," said Lancelot, quite -perplexed as to the means of comforting her. "Your home is pleasant, -your friends are kind and loving." - -"Ah! you think so," said she, with a bitter smile, "but you do not know -what I have to endure. You could scarcely believe how bitterly Ada -Lawrence taunts me with my poverty and dependence. Were it not for Mr. -Lawrence, whom I will admit is kind in his way, I believe she would -drive me forth homeless and shelterless." - -"Surely you misjudge Ada," said he, warmly, "I am sure she has a tender -heart." - -"Ah! her sweet face is no index of her mind," answered Mrs. Vance, with -a gloomy shake of her head. "God knows what insolence I daily endure -from that ill-natured girl! Ah! Lance, this life of dependence is a -bitter one. I would leave here to-morrow and seek to earn my own bread -with my own weak hands were it not for one dear tie which holds me with -a power stronger than my woman's will." - -"And that tie?" asked the unconscious young man, in a voice of gentle -interest. - -"Is my passionate, uncontrollable, hopeless love for one whom I will not -name," she answered, in a broken voice, and drooping her eyes from his -earnest gaze. - -"You mean Mr. Lawrence?" Lance queried, in surprise. - -"Can you think so?" inquired the lady, in a low and meaning tone, -lifting her eyes with one swift glance to his face, then quickly letting -them droop again beneath their sweeping lashes. - -"It seems incredible," pursued Lancelot, quite oblivious of the meaning -she had so delicately conveyed. "Mr. Lawrence, though a very fine -looking man, is at least double your age, and is not at all the kind of -a man I should have supposed as likely to win your love, Mrs. Vance." - -"Heavens, what obtuseness!" thought the almost distracted woman. "He -_will_ not understand. I shall have to tell him plainly, and then see -what will become of his sublime unconsciousness!" - -"Oh! Lance," she cried, shading her burning cheek with her hand, "why -will you misunderstand my meaning? I did not mean to tell you the -truth, but your assumption of my love for that old dotard forces me to -vindicate the choice of my heart! Oh! Lance, do you not know, can you -not see what I am ashamed to put in these plain words, that it is _you_ -whom I love and no other?" - -If a bombshell had exploded at Lancelot Darling's feet he could not have -been more surprised and actually alarmed than he was at this avowal of -love from the woman whom he had honestly admired and reverenced as one -among the gentlest and loveliest of her sex. He sprang up and stood -looking down at her while a blush of honest shame for her burnt on his -cheek. - -"Oh, no," he stammered, finding breath after a long, embarrassed pause. -"You cannot mean what you say!" - -She arose at his words, and drawing near him laid a fluttering hand on -his coat-sleeve. Her dark eyes still drooped before his, and her shamed -yet imploring posture was the embodiment of grace. - -"Do not be angry," she pleaded. "I do mean it; how could I help it when -you are the only living creature that is kind to me? Oh, forgive me, -Lance, for my wild words, and let me love you a little." - -"Mrs. Vance, it is a shame for a woman to love unsought," said he, in a -low, rebuking tone. - -"Oh, do not say so!" she answered, wildly. "You men are too hard upon us -women. You tie us down and restrict us in everything, and if we let our -poor, clinging hearts go out to you ever so little before you give us -leave, then you cry out shame upon us. Oh, Lance, is it so strange that -I should love you? You have been kind to me, you are dangerously -handsome and winning, and a woman's heart must cling to something. I -have not a true friend on earth, Lance; I have no one to love and no one -to love me. I am lonely and wretched beyond expression. Let me love you -and say that you will love me in return." - -Her forlornness moved his generous heart to pity and sorrow for her. He -stood still as if rooted to the spot, listening to the wild torrent of -words she poured forth so eagerly. - -"Why should you be angry because a woman's heart lies at your feet, -Lance, to trample on or to cherish as you please? Am I not young, -beautiful, accomplished? If you chose me for your own before the world -what could any one say against me, save that I could bring you no wealth -but myself?" - -Still no word from the appalled listener. - -She raised her eyes beseechingly to him and drew a step nearer. - -"Lance, do speak to me--do tell me that I am not wasting the wealth of -my woman's heart in vain!" - -He gently removed her clinging hands and seated her in a low arm-chair, -standing beside her and looking down with visible embarrassment, yet -with a steady purpose. - -"Mrs. Vance," he said, gently, "words would fail me if I tried to -express the unutterable regret I feel for the revelation you have made. -You must know how hopeless your affection is, remembering all that I -have said on that subject this afternoon. There is no woman living, no -matter what her attractions may be, who could take the place of Lily -Lawrence in my heart." - -"But she did not love you--she died by her own hand rather than wed -you." - -"Perhaps so--we cannot tell. Be that as it may, I shall keep her image -in my heart forever, and no other woman shall come between us," -earnestly answered Lily's loyal lover. - -"Then there is no hope for me," she moaned, faintly. - -"None, Mrs. Vance--absolutely none. Pardon me that I have been forced to -wound you thus, and forget this madness if you can. No one shall ever -know of it from me," said he, gently, as he turned to go. - -"Are you going?" she asked, rising. - -"Yes," he asked, pausing reluctantly. - -"One word, Lance. I have been mad and blind in allowing my feelings to -find vent as I have done. I beg your pardon, and ask you as a priceless -boon to forgive and forget my madness. Will you try and do it?" - -"Gladly," he answered, with a sigh of relief. - -"And one thing more. You will not suffer this act of mine to alter your -pleasant relations with the household here. You will come and go as -usual that they may not suspect anything has occurred. I promise you -that I will not obtrude my company upon you," said she, humbly. - -"It were better that I should remain away," he said, hesitatingly. - -"But you will come sometimes," she said, and he did not answer nay, but -only said: "Good-bye." - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - - -Mr. Shelton, the famous detective, was slowly but surely gaining ground -in his mysterious and interesting case. - -For a long time it had puzzled him and baffled his investigations, but -having at last obtained a single clew, he began to push on, slowly, to -be sure, but certainly, to eventual success. - -He had discovered, after patient and almost incredible labors, that -Doctor Pratt was the man who had bribed the sexton and obtained the key -of the Lawrence vault the night of Lily's interment there. He had also -learned that Harold Colville wore the missing half of the broken locket -found in Mr. Lawrence's hall the night on which the specter of the -banker's daughter had appeared to the assembled family. As yet he had -not thought of linking these separate facts together, but the day was -not far away when he would do so. - -He adopted quite a bold method of obtaining the desired knowledge -regarding Mr. Colville. - -He called upon that gentleman attired in a very plain business suit, and -still further disguised by a rather long wig of reddish hair, set off by -beard and eyebrows of the same ruddy hue. He sent up a card to the -gentleman of pleasure, simply engraved: "J. Styles." - -After some delay he was ushered into Mr. Colville's parlor. That -gentleman, attired in the extreme of fashion, merely nodded at his -visitor's entrance. He did not think it necessary to rise for such a -plain-looking personage. - -"I have not the honor of knowing you, sir," said he, stiffly. - -"J. Styles, under-clerk to the bankers, Lawrence and Co.," explained the -visitor, briskly. - -"Indeed!" said Mr. Colville, affecting nonchalance, but he started -violently and the keen eyes of "J. Styles" saw that he turned a trifle -paler. - -"You have met with a loss, I see," said the under clerk, abruptly -bending forward and taking hold of the broken locket that dangled among -the charms of the gentleman's watch-chain. - -"A personal affair that does not concern strangers," answered Mr. -Colville, haughtily, as he drew back. - -"I beg your pardon--it is the very business on which I called," replied -the visitor, imperturbably. As he spoke he slipped his fingers into his -breast pocket, produced the missing half of the locket, and deftly -fitted it to the broken part that dangled from the chain. "I have the -honor to return this to you, sir," said he, slipping the jewel into Mr. -Colville's hand. - -The gentleman's fingers closed over it mechanically. - -"Why, what--the devil--where did you find it?" asked he, thrown off his -guard by the unconcerned and business air of the under-clerk. - -"I did not find it at all," answered "J. Styles," calmly. "I was -commissioned to return it to you by Mr. Lawrence. It was found in the -hallway of his residence on the evening of the twenty-first instant." - -Mr. Colville started as if a bullet had struck him. He grew deathly -white even to the lips, and stared at the visitor a moment in silence. -At length he recovered himself with a powerful effort, and asked, -curtly: - -"Well, why did Lawrence think of sending it to me? I did not lose it -there. Lawrence is a friend of mine, certainly, but I have not called on -him for several months." - -"He recognized it as your property, and supposed that you might have -called on the ladies that day in his absence," returned the visitor, -fabricating this lie with bare-faced effrontery. - -"Yes, that seemed plausible," answered Colville, with evident relief. - -"I suppose now that you have no idea where you actually lost it?" -inquired the clerk, respectfully. - -"Not the slightest--indeed, it was but yesterday that I discovered the -loss. That must have been several days afterwards if, as you said, it -was found on the twenty-first," replied Colville, more affably than he -had yet spoken. "You will return my thanks to Mr. Lawrence for its -prompt return." - -"It appears strange that it should be found in the hallway of a house -which you have not entered for months--does it not, sir?" remarked the -clerk with a musing air. - -"Exceedingly strange," returned Colville, uneasily. "But perhaps it had -been found on the street by some person who might have lost it in Mr. -Lawrence's hall that day. That is the only explanation of the mystery I -can think of, for I assure you I have not been to the house for months. -Not since long before the--the tragic death of his daughter," said he, -growing pale as the words left his lips. - -"By the way, a most startling event occurred at the home of Mr. Lawrence -the same night on which your locket was found," said the clerk, who -seemed in no haste to leave. "Your mention of Miss Lily recalls it to my -mind." - -"Indeed, and what was that?" inquired Colville, with an affectation of -carelessness. - -"Why, the spirit of the deceased young lady actually appeared to the -family, who were all assembled in the drawing-room in company with the -gentleman to whom she was to have been married," replied the visitor in -a voice of awe. - -"Can it be possible?" inquired Mr. Colville in a tone of surprise and -interest. "In what manner did the apparition appear?" - -"She appeared in the doorway, sir, with her arms extended towards her -lover. She was heard to utter her father's name twice, then the whole -illusion faded out in the thick darkness." - -"Dear me, how very interesting," said Colville, shifting uneasily on his -chair as though it were set round with thorns. "I have heard of such -things, but never witnessed any manifestations myself. Miss Lawrence was -a charming girl. A pity she should have destroyed herself." - -"Yes, sir--a most lamentable affair--well, I must be going," said "J. -Styles," rising. - -"You will let me offer you a reward for your trouble in returning my -property?" inquired Mr. Colville. - -"Oh! no, I thank you, sir--but perhaps the housemaid who found it would -be glad of a trifle, sir!" - -Mr. Colville placed a bill in his hand, and the pair separated -courteously, the fine gentleman returning to his seat in a tremor of -anxiety and trepidation, while the detective took himself to the office -of Mr. Lawrence, and after revealing his identity (for his disguise -completely deceived that gentleman) he proceeded to detail the interview -with Mr. Colville and its result as we have already described it. - -"I took the liberty of borrowing the name of one of your under-clerks," -said he. "I suppose there is no harm done." - -"None at all, I should say," returned the banker, with a smile. - -"And here is the reward the gentleman gave me for the housemaid who -found the locket," continued the detective, producing the money. - -"Ah! he was generous," commented the banker, tucking the five-dollar -bill into his vest pocket. "Well, and what do you make of all this, -Shelton?" - -"Much, if I could guess at the meaning of it," returned the detective, -frankly. "At present I am all at sea, but from this day forward until I -get at the truth, Colville will be a shadowed man. I shall be on his -track like a bloodhound. His agitation and alarm at learning where his -locket had been found meant much, and his lying assertion that he had -not been at your house that night meant more. I assure you that Harold -Colville was in your house that night and with no good purpose. I will -yet give you proofs of my assertion." - -"You have done well so far," said Mr. Lawrence, approvingly; "I believe -you will succeed in ferreting out that mystery, and I will try and bide -the time patiently. And now about the man who had the key of my vault -the night of my daughter's interment. Have you tracked him yet?" - -"I have," answered Mr. Shelton, triumphantly. - -"You have?" cried the banker, eagerly. "His name?" - -"You remember the physician who was called in to examine your daughter's -body the morning she was found dead--the same man who testified at the -inquest? The man is one Doctor Pratt, a physician of fair repute in this -city and of some skill in his profession." - -"A physician, Shelton? My God! Then poor Lily's body was stolen for -purposes of dissection!" - -"I do not think so. They would not have run so great a risk to gain so -little. No, Mr. Lawrence, I still firmly believe that it was done for -the sake of a large ransom." - -"Then why do the thieves not return the body, since I have long ago -offered a ransom for it and no questions asked?" said the banker, -impatiently. - -"Perhaps you have not offered as much as they expected," answered -Shelton. - -"Would you advise me to increase the amount? I would willingly double -and treble it if necessary," said Mr. Lawrence, earnestly. - -"Do not do so at present, sir. I hope that we shall succeed in finding -the body and punishing the knaves for their unholy sacrilege. I am loth -to reward their treachery and suffer them to go scot-free," answered -Shelton, earnestly. - -"Well, you know best, Shelton. I will wait yet a little longer, -then--but, oh, Heavens, this suspense is very dreadful. I feel myself -growing old before my time with the pressure of my troubles," said Mr. -Lawrence, passing his hand wearily through his fast whitening hair. - -"Have patience yet a little longer. Indeed, Mr. Lawrence, I feel deeply -for your distress, and will do all I can to alleviate it," said the -detective, in a tone of respectful sympathy. - -"Thank you, Shelton. I believe that you will," said the banker, -gratefully. "And now about this rascally physician. You were very clever -in finding him out. How did you manage it?" - -"It would weary you if I went into details, Mr. Lawrence. I arrived at -my knowledge after much time and labor. But I will briefly explain that -I furnished the old sexton who helped on this trouble a deputy in his -business, and disguising the old fellow thoroughly, I took him about -with me night and day until he recognized his man and pointed him out to -me." - -"It seems incredible that a man with a good profession and of fair -repute should be found engaging in such a nefarious scheme," said Mr. -Lawrence, in amazement. - -Mr. Shelton smiled knowingly. - -"My dear sir," he said, "there is nothing incredible, nor even uncommon -about it. My experience in the detective line has made me familiar with -a hundred such cases. Men steeped in every iniquity are found concealed -under the guise of respectable professions or genteel business. Wolves -in lamb's clothing, you know." - -"It is shocking to think of," said the banker. "Well, can anything be -done with this Pratt? Should not he be arrested at once on the charge of -bribery?" - -"And thereby lose the chance of tracking him to the hiding-place where -he has the body concealed?" said Mr. Shelton. "Oh! no, Mr. Lawrence, we -will not molest him yet. I have my eye upon him. Like Mr. Colville, he -is a shadowed man; I have a colleague in this business, and we each have -our marked man to watch. Dr. Pratt's profession takes him abroad so much -and into so many houses that it will be difficult to track him, but -depend upon it we shall run him to earth at last." - -"I truly hope so; your recent discoveries have put new heart into me, -Shelton; may God prosper you in your undertaking," said the banker, -supplementing this aspiration with a very large roll of bank-bills which -he slipped into the detective's hand. - -"Thank you, sir," smiled Shelton. "That material way you have of -supplementing a prayer is not a bad thought. I may count upon your -silence about what I have disclosed--may I?" - -Mr. Lawrence placed his fingers on his lips with a nod and smile. - -"All right, I'll rely upon you," said the disguised detective, and with -a brief "good-day, sir," he went buoyantly away on the secret mission -that meant detection and ruin to Messrs. Pratt and Colville. - -The banker returned to his counting-room with renewed hope and vigor. -The impenetrable darkness that had hovered over Lily's disappearance so -long seemed to be lifting at last and a gleam of light shone through the -little rift in the clouds. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - - -Mr. Shelton spoke truly when he said to Mr. Lawrence that he would -shadow Harold Colville like a bloodhound. - -By day and by night, on foot or on horseback, in various disguises, he -kept himself on the track of the fine gentleman. - -For several weeks he kept up this close espionage, but at the end of -that time he seemed no nearer his object than when it was first begun. - -Mr. Colville's comings and goings seemed to be quite the same with those -of other gentlemen of his means and position. - -He frequented theaters and gaming-houses; he was a welcome and much -sought-for partner in ball-rooms, and was smiled upon by scheming -mothers with marriageable daughters. - -Thus far Mr. Shelton had seen nothing on which to seize as a possible -clew to Mr. Colville's mysterious presence in Mr. Lawrence's house the -night of Lily's appearance. - -Mr. Shelton had made one discovery, however, though he did not begin to -attach much importance to it. It was that Doctor Pratt and Harold -Colville were acquainted with each other, and, moreover, that they -sometimes "hunted in couples." - -That is to say, the worthy physician occasionally stopped his carriage -on meeting Colville, whereupon the latter would spring in and accompany -the doctor on his round of visits, seeming deeply interested in the -conversation they pursued together. - -Mr. Shelton was puzzled to decide whether there was any collusion -between the gay man of fashion and the busy physician, or whether it was -only one of those odd friendships that are sometimes observed to exist -between persons of totally different temperaments and pursuits. -Sometimes he was inclined to believe it was only the latter. - -But he noticed a fact at last that struck him as rather peculiar. -Following the pair closely on his stout, black horse, he had seen that -Colville always remained in the carriage while the physician went into -the houses to pay his visits to the sick. - -On this occasion, which struck him so forcibly, they drove quite out -upon the outskirts of the city, and stopped before a house standing -almost a half mile distant from any other. - -This house, the detective observed, had a gloomy and forbidding aspect, -being closely shuttered and surrounded by a very high stone wall. - -Here Dr. Pratt descended and fastened his horse. Mr. Colville also -sprang out, and they entered with a familiar air, the heavy gate closing -and shutting them in. - -"Now, that is rather strange," thought the detective as he walked his -horse slowly past the deserted-looking place. - -"What business has Colville in there? I can imagine that Pratt may have -a patient inside those gloomy walls; but what the deuce can Colville -have to do with it? I am almost positive that I heard shrieks issuing -thence when they went in at the gate. I wonder can it be a private -asylum for the insane?" - -He spurred his horse ahead and rode on for some distance, then paused, -and remained as erect and still as a statue while he watched and waited -for the pair of confederates to come forth. But at least an hour elapsed -before they emerged, and pursued the devious tenor of their guilty way. - -"Now, upon my word," thought the wary spy, "Doctor Pratt must have a -very interesting case inside of those gloomy, prison-like walls. I have -a mind to stop somewhere in the neighborhood and inquire about the -inhabitants thereof." - -He accordingly suffered Doctor Pratt's carriage to drive on out of -sight, and stopping before a cottage on the road with the ostensible -purpose of obtaining a drink of water, he inquired of the woman who gave -it to him as to the names of the people who inhabited the old house with -the stone wall. - -"And indade, it's mesilf that cannot tell ye, sor," said she, with a -very broad Hibernian accent, "for shure, Mickey and mesilf have but -lately moved intil the cot, and knows naught about the nayburs!" - -Mr. Shelton rode on and made the same inquiry at the next house, but -elicited no encouraging answer. People did not seem to know anything -about the deserted-looking old house in such close proximity to them. - -After several similar experiences he rode on quite disgusted with the -general stupidity of the neighborhood. - -Almost two miles from the old house that had so powerfully attracted his -interest, he came upon a little house standing close to the roadside. - -A kind-looking woman sat in the doorway, though the day was chilly, and -as she kept knitting away on the homely gray stocking, sang cheerily at -her work. - -"Now that is a pleasant-looking old soul," he thought. "Perhaps her -intellect is above the average of her neighbors. Perhaps she is better -informed than they are. At any rate, I will speak to her." - -He dismounted from his horse this time, fastened him at the gate-post, -and walked up the narrow path to the door. - -The good woman arose in quite a flutter. - -"Do not let me disturb you," said he, courteously. "I only wish to -trouble you for a drink of water. I have ridden far and feel very -thirsty." - -"Certainly, sir," said the woman, in a voice as pleasant as her face. -"Come in and have a seat, sir, and you shall have a draught fresh from -the spring." - -She hurried away on hospitable thoughts intent, and soon returned with a -glass of pure cold water. The guest sat still in his homely chair and -sipped at the water very slowly considering how thirsty he had professed -himself to be. - -The fact was, he had drank several glasses of water already while -prosecuting his inquiries, and began to feel himself almost unequal to -this latter one. - -"You do well to sip your water slowly, sir," said the woman, observing -him, "for the doctors do say that it is very imprudent to drink rapidly -when tired and overheated." - -"Bless the good, unsuspecting soul," thought the detective. Aloud he -said very politely: "Yes, madam, I am aware of that fact, and I believe -some very severe illnesses have resulted from injudicious gulping down -of cold water by thoughtless persons. I always make a point of sipping -mine very slowly." - -"And very right of you, too, sir," said the kind soul, approvingly. - -"Ah, by the way," said he, "I am a stranger in this neighborhood, and I -passed a house about two miles back that powerfully attracted my -curiosity. It was an old, deserted-looking building, inclosed by a high -stone wall. Its prison-like aspect repelled me. Do you know anything -about it?" - -"They do say it was a convent once, sir," answered the good woman, -readily. "I know the place you speak of, and as you say, sir, it has a -very repelling aspect." - -"Is it inhabited now?" inquired the wayfarer. - -The hearer shuddered. - -"That it is, sir," said she; "and by a wicked lot, I assure you." - -"Is it possible?" - -"It is quite true, sir. The place has been inhabited for many years by -an old couple of the name of Leveret. They have no family at all, and -live there alone, having no friends or neighbors, and it is said that -they keep a powerful bloodhound upon the place. Strange tales are told -of these people, but nothing is known certainly. Both of them are -hideously ugly, and many people declare that the old woman is a witch." - -"Is either of them sick, do you know?" inquired the detective. - -"That I cannot tell you, sir. They are all very reserved, and hold no -intercourse with people around them. I have heard that they are misers, -and have large quantities of gold buried in their garden, and guarded by -the great bloodhound. They might both sicken and die, and not a living -soul be the wiser. May I inquire why you asked that question, sir?" -asked she. - -"Certainly. I saw a doctor's carriage standing in front of the gate, and -concluded that someone must be sick, within." - -"Perhaps there may be, sir, but I would not have thought they would have -called in a doctor. These old witches, like Haidee Leveret, as they say -her name is, usually cure sickness with their own herbs and simples." - -"Perhaps they failed on this occasion. Well, I must be going," said the -detective. "Many thanks for your information. Permit me to offer you a -trifle for your kind entertainment," said he, politely tendering a piece -of silver. - -"Not a penny, sir. The water costs nothing, and as for changing a bit -word with you, why, that's a pleasure to a lonesome old lady like me, -with few neighbors and friends. Why, it was only last month that a young -thing in trouble, passing this way, offered me her fine diamond ring to -pay for a bit kindness I showed her. But I refused it, sir. I want -nothing for showing a little kindness to the wayfaring," said the good -woman, pausing to take breath. - -Shelton's attention had been caught unaccountably by the mention of the -diamond ring. - -"You stimulate my curiosity," said he, deliberately sitting down again. -"The young person must have felt your kindness very sensibly to have -offered such a costly reward as a diamond ring." - -"Aye, she was in sore trouble, sir, that I believe. But now I bethink -me," said the good creature, stopping short, "she charged me if any one -came here inquiring for her to say she had not been here, and here I am -blabbing away at this thoughtless rate." - -"But you see I am not inquiring for her," said the visitor briskly. "I -am a perfect stranger in these parts, and I am not looking for anyone, -so there is no harm done in relating this interesting story to me." - -"Why, that is very true, sir," said she, and thereupon followed a minute -and detailed account of the visit of Lily Lawrence, and the disguise -she had furnished her. Mr. Shelton listened to the story with very close -attention. - -"How long ago has it been since this happened?" he inquired when she had -finished her relation. - -"Several weeks, sir. Stay, let me see--I was so excited by it that I put -down the date in my little memorandum book," she said, as she began to -fumble in her pocket. Presently she produced the book in question, and -turning a leaf announced triumphantly, "it was fully two months ago, -sir. It was August--the 21st of August." - -"The very day that Lily Lawrence appeared to her friends," thought the -detective, with a start. "Can there be any connection between the two?" - -"She was young and beautiful, you say?" asked he. - -"Aye, she was, sir. Not more than seventeen or eighteen, and beautiful -as a white lily, sir. She put me in mind of that flower, she was so -delicate and pale, sir--not a tint of color in her poor lips and cheeks. -Her hair was pale golden too, sir, falling down upon her shoulders, and -her eyes of a beautiful deep blue." - -"I suppose no one came by to inquire for her?" said Shelton. - -"No one, sir; I did not see anyone passing that day except a doctor's -carriage that whirled past in a desperate hurry soon after she left -here." - -"Let us hope she made her escape from whatever evils menaced her," said -he, fervently. "Well, I must be going in earnest now. My kind friend, -will you tell me your name? I may call on you again." - -"My name is Mrs. Mason, sir," she answered. - -"Do you live here alone?" asked he, as he jotted it hastily down in his -note-book. - -"Quite alone, sir. My poor husband and my only child have been dead -these ten years--I am quite alone in the world," answered Mrs. Mason -with a sigh. - -"Good day, Mrs. Mason, and many thanks for your kindness to a wayfaring -man," said the detective as he went down the path, leaped into the -saddle and rode away. - -Mrs. Mason's revelation had thrown his mind into a chaos of doubt, -perplexity and suspicion. New light began to break in on him, startling -him with a wondrous possibility he had not suspected. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - - -Mrs. Vance had done herself more harm than good by the bold avowal of -her love for Lancelot Darling. The innate delicacy and almost womanly -refinement of his character revolted at the idea of her imprudent and -ill-considered step. He could not understand why she should have lowered -herself by declaring her love after all he had said regarding the -constancy of his affection for his loved and lost Lily. He pitied, and -yet the feeling of pity was more closely allied than he knew to a -feeling that bordered on contempt. - -The fair widow herself was not by any means cast down by Lancelot's -firm and resolute repulse. She thought, from her knowledge of masculine -character in general, that Lancelot's vanity would soon overcome his -first shocked repugnance to her unfeminine avowal, and cause him to -exult in the knowledge that he was so madly beloved by so beautiful and -accomplished a woman. - -From that there would be but a slight step to giving his love in return. -She had not driven him away from her, for he had not said he would not -come again. She would see him often, and work on his feelings by every -art of which she was mistress. Surely she could not fail to win him. He -was young, impressible, and youth is not prone to constancy to the dead. -True he had an idle, romantic fancy that "love is love forevermore," but -time and her artifice would cure him of that. - -"I will be very shy and humble when he first comes back again," she -thought. "No young maiden in her teens shall outdo me in coyness and -reserve. I will make him think that my wild outburst that day was -entirely unpremeditated and that I am thoroughly ashamed and repentant. -He will begin to excuse me to himself, then he will pity my hopeless -love, and then--ah, then, 'pity is akin to love!'" - -She was sitting in the drawing-room, rocking leisurely back and forth -while she trifled over a delicate bit of fancy-work. A fire burned -cheerily on the marble hearth, for the late October days were growing -chilly, and diffused an air of warmth and comfort in the large, -luxuriously appointed apartment. Mrs. Vance herself was quite in keeping -with the elegance of the room. Her house dress of delicate pink -cashmere, with trimmings of cream-white lace, made a beautiful spot of -color in the darker, more subdued coloring of the furnishings around -her. - -Ada came in from the conservatory with her arms full of flowers, and -sitting down opposite the lady, began to arrange them into tasteful -bouquets. - -"You need two roses to complete the harmony of your dress," said she -carelessly, selecting that number and tossing them over to her. Mrs. -Vance took the roses and fastened them in her breast and hair. "Now your -toilet is perfect," said the young girl in a tone of admiration that was -quite sincere, for though she believed Mrs. Vance to be a false and -scheming woman, she could not but admit the perfection of her beauty and -grace. - -There had been no more angry passages between Mrs. Vance and Ada, though -the pure-hearted and impulsive girl had in no-wise changed her opinion -of the lady. But on mature reflection she began to think that since Mrs. -Vance was her father's guest she had acted wrongly in thus declaring war -with her. Therefore she treated her as before her sudden outburst -against her, with outward politeness and respect. - -The young girl appeared very lovely that morning. Her deep mourning -dress, with its heavy crape folds, could not obscure her beauty, and set -off, like the somber setting of a jewel, her transcendant fairness. All -traces of her severe illness in the summer had disappeared. Her cheeks -were glowing with a faint, sea shell tint, deepening to glowing crimson -on her full and pouting lips. Her large, blue eyes had the serene, -innocent look of a child's tender orbs. Her golden hair, simply drawn -back and braided, allowed a soft, curly fringe to escape and flutter -caressingly over her low, white brow. Mrs. Vance hated her for the -beauty that recalled the image of the rival her jealous hand had -ruthlessly slain. - -While they sat thus engaged there was a ring at the door-bell, and -presently the beloved object of Mrs. Vance's secret thoughts was shown -in. He looked very handsome and distinguished as he replied to Ada's -unembarrassed and sisterly greeting, "Good morning, Lance," but his face -flushed slightly as he bowed distantly to her companion. Mrs. Vance -replied to his greeting with a bow that was quite as formal, and sinking -languidly back into her seat, fixed all her attention upon her work. Not -a single glance of her down-drooped eyes was allowed to wander toward -him. She preserved entire silence while the other two entered into a -simple and desultory chat with the easy familiarity of old friends. At -length, as though her embarrassment were becoming unendurable, she rose -with an incoherent apology, and heaving a deep sigh quitted the room -abruptly and did not appear again. Ada looked after her departing form -in amazement. - -"What is the matter with Mrs. Vance?" asked she. "You seem to have -frozen her into a statue." - -"I am sure I cannot tell," he answered with an assumption of -carelessness. - -"But you barely spoke to each other. I am sure I thought you two were -the best of friends--really intimate in fact. Yet you seemed on the most -indifferent terms just now," said she, incredulously. - -Lance smiled carelessly, and reached out for one of the roses in her -lap. - -"My dear little sister," said he, "who can answer for the vagaries of -woman? Mrs. Vance has always been exceedingly friendly with me, but she -seems to have taken an opposite whim just now. But it would not be fair -to question her motives, would it? Men have to bear the caprices of -women without complaint--do they not? I believe one of the best of the -female poets claims _caprice_ as a _right divine_ of the fair sex." - -"Oh, yes. Mrs. Osgood says: - - "''Tis helpless woman's right divine, - Her only right--caprice,'" - -returned Ada, repeating the quotation with a very pretty emphasis. - -"Then let us not question Mrs. Vance's right to exercise her divine -prerogative. I dare not rebel--I must only submit. And, by the way, -begging your pardon for changing the subject, will you ride with me this -evening? I came expressly to ask you. I have my new phaeton and -cream-white ponies--the ones I purchased for Lily's use," said he, with -a smothered sigh. - -She went to the window to look at them. - -How beautiful, how proud, how thoroughbred were the restive creatures -champing at their silver bits, impatient of the little groom's -restraint--how exquisite the costly little phaeton with its luxurious -cushions of azure satin, and the azure satin carriage-robe thickly -embroidered with white lilies. The equipage was dainty enough for Queen -Mab herself. Ada sighed as she thought of the beautiful form that had -chosen the rest of the coffin rather than these downy cushions to -recline upon. - -"It is beautiful," she said, "rarely beautiful. Yes, I will ride with -you in the park, Lance. Wait a minute until I get on my wrappings, for I -believe it is a little chilly to-day." - -She tripped away lightly. Lance looked after her with an affectionate -glance. - -"A dear, sweet girl," he thought to himself; "surely Mrs. Vance -misunderstands her, for I am sure she is true and sweet and kind. How -like she grows to Lily." - -She came back presently, cloaked and heavily veiled. - -"Are you ready?" he asked. - -"Not quite," she answered. "I had forgotten to put my bouquets into the -vases." - -She tripped around and disposed of her flowers in the various vases that -adorned the room, then came back to him. - -"Now, I am ready," said she. - -They went out, took their places in the dainty phaeton, the little groom -in blue and silver sprang into his place, and they were whirled swiftly -away. - -From an upper window Mrs. Vance was watching for the young man's -departure. She started as she saw him drive off with Ada beside him, and -a lurid fire of rage and jealousy blazed in her heart. - -"The fair-faced little devil!" she muttered, clenching her hands tightly -together. "Oh! that I dared to murder her as I did that other one who -came between me and him!" - -She paced up and down, wild with contending passions. - -"I was wrong to leave them together," she thought, in bitter anger with -herself. "He was glad, perhaps, that I came away and left them to an -uninterrupted _tete-a-tete_. I over-reached myself that time; but, ah! -Ada Lawrence, woe be unto you if you win him from me!" - -The postman's impatient rattling at the door-bell interrupted her angry -mood. In a moment a maid rapped at the door, delivered a letter to her -and went away. - -Mrs. Vance had no correspondents usually. She guessed, with a sharp -quiver of anger and fear, whence it came, and held it at arm's length a -moment as if it had been a noxious reptile. - -"The greedy old harpy," she muttered indignantly, tearing it open at -last. "Must she bleed me again so soon?" - -She tore the coarse, yellow envelope into a hundred little bits, then -angrily scanned the note in her hand. It was very brief, but amounted to -an imperative summons from Haidee Leveret to come to the old house -to-morrow and bring all the money she could raise. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - - -Old Peter Leveret and Haidee, his wife, after much bickering and mutual -recriminations, attended by more or less pummelling and hair pulling, -had at last made an amicable adjustment of their difficulty regarding -Mrs. Vance's secret. - -Old Haidee, termagant and spit-fire though she was, found herself no -match for the eternal reproaches and brutal usage of her thoroughly -enraged husband, and eventually confessed herself the weaker vessel by -yielding to the pressure of a stronger conjugal power and revealing the -secret of her influence over Mrs. Vance, at the same time dividing her -ill-gotten spoils with the incensed old ruffian. - -It is needless to say that old Peter's greedy soul was not content with -these ill-gotten gains. He felt that the beautiful widow had not paid, -so far, a tithe of what was due to himself and Haidee as the fortunate -possessors of so fatal a secret. - -"I tell you, Haidee," said he, "the woman has got to come down heavily -with the money, or I shall sell her secret to somebody who will pay a -better price for it--perhaps to Mr. Lawrence or that young Darling." - -"Yes, and get yourself into a fatal difficulty," retorted the wife -contemptuously. "Let me tell you, Peter Leveret, you have more brute -strength than I have, but all the sense we own between us is in the head -that rests on my shoulders. Suppose you try to sell this secret to -Lawrence or Darling, where is your evidence against Mrs. Vance? Did you -see her commit the murder? Did I see her commit it? Did Doctor Pratt see -her either? No; to all of these questions you have nothing to urge in -support of your assertion except the bare suspicion of Doctor Pratt. And -if you brought forward his name and got him into difficulty, why, he -knows enough evil of us both to send us to the gallows to-morrow. Ah! -that word frightens you, does it? Well, Doctor Pratt would do it -willingly if we got him into trouble. So I say to you be content with -what we can wring out of the woman's fears, and let all else alone. She -will prove a mine of wealth to us as long as we can make her believe -that there was an actual eye-witness to her crime." - -"Well, perhaps you are right, old woman," said Peter, dimly -comprehending the indubitable force of her statements. "You were always -more cautious than I was, Haidee. Now, don't understand me to imply that -you have more sense than I have, for I don't admit it at all. I am more -hasty than you, that is all. But I say, as I said before, Mrs. Vance has -got to plank the money down more freely." - -"But I have told you she has nothing of her own, stupid!" retorted -Haidee, impatiently. "She is dependent on Mr. Lawrence for every penny -she gets. We must be satisfied with our small gains now, and wait until -she gets the rich husband she is angling for. Then we shall reap our -golden harvest." - -"Aye, aye; but, Haidee, write to the lady and tell her to come here -to-morrow and bring all the gold she can lay her hands upon," said Peter -with dogged persistency. - -"So soon?" said Haidee, hesitatingly. Her greed was as great as her -husband's; but she had a fair modicum of caution and common sense. "It -is but a little while since she gave me the jewels, old man." - -"No matter. Write to her again, I say, or it will be the worse for you," -scowled Peter, wrinkling up his heavy brows ferociously. - -Accordingly, the note to Mrs. Vance was written and dispatched, and the -pair of plotters awaited her coming impatiently. But they little -anticipated what fatal results to themselves would follow that -imperative summons. - -That letter awoke in Mrs. Vance a burning desire to be rid of the old -couple, whose constant demands for money she would soon be entirely -unable to meet. - -She had a hundred dollars in gold that Mr. Lawrence had kindly presented -to her that morning, with a jesting reference to a "new fall suit." - -Her wardrobe needed no replenishing, and she could spare this sum to the -rapacity of the old people; but she felt that no sooner would this be -yielded to their greed than they would demand more. - -And where was the next hush-money to come from? It was not probable that -the banker would give her any more money before Christmas, and she could -not ask him for more than what his own generosity bestowed on her. - -She had no claim upon his beneficence whatever. These two old harpies -would be down upon her a dozen times before she would have another penny -to give them. - -And as soon as they learned her inability to bribe them further, they -would carry their fatal secret to Lancelot Darling or Mr. Lawrence. - -Mrs. Vance looked these difficulties in the face fairly, and could see -but one way out of them. The hideous old witch, and her still more -hideous old mate, must _die_. - -_Must die!_ No thrill of compunction or pity touched her heart as she -made this fatal avowal to herself. On the contrary, she experienced a -feeling of relief at the thought, mingled with a longing to consummate -the deed quickly that she might taste the sweetness of revenge. - -They must die. But how? - -Her fertile brain could suggest no feasible plan for the execution of -the dreadful deed she was determined upon. All through that night she -tossed on a sleepless pillow, revolving various schemes in her excited -mind. Morning found her haggard and pale, and all her paints and -cosmetics could not conceal her wretchedly ill appearance. She would not -present that agitated mien at the breakfast table, and had her morning -repast sent up to her room on the plea of a severe headache. - -At noon she dressed herself in a plain, dark walking dress, wrapped a -double veil about her head and face, and set forth upon her errand. She -walked some distance, carefully selecting the most secluded streets, and -shunning observation. At length she went into a small apothecary shop -and purchased from an inexperienced boy-clerk some strychnine which she -said she wanted for the purpose of destroying rats. She paid for it, -tucked the small parcel inside the palm of her dark kid glove, and -walked on steadily to her destination. - -Old Peter and his wife had just sat down to their frugal dinner when her -quick rap sounded on the hall door. They looked at each other -apprehensively. - -"It is she, no doubt," said he in a moment. "So the jade is come at -last." - -He had been swearing all the morning at her tardiness. - -Haidee got up and went to the door, unlocked it, admitted the visitor, -and turned the key again. - -"You see I keep my engagements punctually," said Mrs. Vance, pleasantly, -as she tripped in, "although I barely expected to be called on so soon." - -The hostess only grunted in reply to this as she ushered the visitor -into the low-ceiled, bare-looking room, where old Peter sat blowing his -cup of hot tea. - -He looked up and gave the new-comer a gruff nod. - -Mrs. Vance stood still a moment taking in all her surroundings with a -comprehensive glance, then she took the chair Haidee offered her, and -placing it in a position to suit herself she sat down. - -She had seated herself sidewise from the table, but in close proximity -to that corner of it on which sat the old brown tea-pot from whose -cracked nozzle issued the fragrant steam of the hot tea. By raising her -hand she could have poured out a cup of the refreshing beverage for -herself, but she smilingly declined the grim offer of the table's -hospitalities that was made by the hostess. - -"I thank you, I do not wish for a morsel of food, but I shall be glad of -a glass of a fresh, cold water. I have walked the whole distance and am -very tired and thirsty." - -Haidee arose, and taking a small white pitcher from the cupboard in the -corner, went out to the well. - -At the same moment old Peter arose, and taking his plate in hand, -hobbled to the stove for a portion of the mutton-chop that had been left -in the frying-pan for warmth. - -In that moment Mrs. Vance saw her opportunity. Her hand fluttered over -the lid of the tea-pot and raised it noiselessly, while a quantity of -white powder was poured from her other hand into the smoking-hot -beverage. It was but the work of a moment. When the host hobbled back to -his place she was leaning back in her chair, her hands folded over her -lap, and a look of bland unconsciousness on her handsome face. Her -nerves seemed steeled against emotion. - -Old Haidee entered and pouring a glass of water, offered it in silence. -She took it and drained it thirstily with profuse thanks. - -"Have you brought us any money?" asked old Peter, sharply, looking up -from his voracious feeding. - -"What if I have not?" she retorted, jestingly. - -"Then it will be the worse for you, my fine lady," he answered, -threateningly. - -Old Haidee had resumed her place at the head of the table. - -"Pray go on with your dinner," said the visitor, in a patronising tone. - -The old woman poured a fresh cup of tea for her husband, diluted it -plenteously with milk and coarse brown sugar, then replenished her own -cup. At the moment when the old man was greedily gulping his portion -down, Mrs. Vance put her hand into her pocket and drew out a netted -purse of shining gold coin. - -"Here is a hundred dollars I was fortunate enough to get for you," said -she, handing it reluctantly over to the woman; "and you must understand -that I cannot possibly get another penny for you before Christmas; so -try and economize it the best you can." - -Haidee gulped her tea down hurriedly as she clutched the purse, and the -old man hurried around to his wife's side. - -"Divide fair is my motto," said he. "Give me the purse, Haidee, and I -will count it for you." - -"No, you don't, old man," she answered, resolutely holding on to it -while her husband's fingers worked eagerly. "I will count it myself! Not -a coin will I ever see again if I trust this purse in your itching -fingers!" - -She poured out the shining mass upon the table and began to count it -over carefully, but the sight of it was too much for the grasping soul -of the old miser looking on. He thrust out his open claw-like fingers -and hastily gathered the whole pile into his greedy clutch, except for -one or two coins which escaped and rolled down upon the floor. - -In an instant his wife sprang up and bounded upon him like a wild-cat. - -There ensued a furious battle that defied description. Mrs. Vance -retreated hurriedly to the door, and stood at a safe distance watching -the couple as they fought over the gold that was clutched in Peter's -fingers, placing him somewhat at a disadvantage, for Haidee, with both -hands at liberty, pulled, and tore, and bit with the ferocity of a wild -animal. - -At length old Peter's tight grasp relaxed, the treasured gold fell from -his grasp and rolled here and there upon the floor. - -Haidee felt him writhing in her clasp and loosened the hold she had upon -his throat, and suffered him to fall upon the floor. - -He lay there, rolling and tossing, and uttering hideous groans, while -dreadful contortions passed over his features. - -"You have killed your husband, woman! Look at his throat, purple from -the clasp of your hands!" cried Mrs. Vance from the doorway, laughing -aloud at the shocked, incredulous stare of the woman as she gazed at her -writhing husband. - -At that moment the suffering man gave a furious plunge, rose to a -sitting posture, gave a hideous rattle from his throat, and fell -backward with a dull thud on the bare floor. He was dead! - -Old Haidee stooped over the still form like one dazed. - -"Is he really dead?" she said in wonder, feeling that it could not be -true. "Have I actually killed my old man?" - -"Yes, you have killed him," answered Mrs. Vance, with a fiendish laugh. -"Ha, ha, old woman, what is your fatal secret worth now? You, too, are a -murderess!" - -Old Haidee stood still for a moment, utterly stunned and bewildered by -the suddenness of the blow that had fallen upon her. But as she gazed at -the triumphant face of her enemy, her dazed senses seemed to clear and a -perception of the truth rushed upon her. - -"You lie!" she shrieked, in a voice of horrible rage and despair. -"Devil, you have poisoned him, and me, too; I see it all now! You sent -me out for the water while you drugged the tea! But I will have my -revenge before I die!" - -With a dreadful oath she sprang forward. The affrighted woman retreated -before her, but old Haidee was too quick for her. In a moment her -strong, claw-like fingers were fastened about the fair neck of the -beautiful woman. In another moment her sinful soul would have been sent -forth to its dread account with Heaven; but before that critical instant -arrived, the old witch fell backward on the hard floor, writhing in the -agonies that had destroyed her husband. - -The widow stepped a few paces back out of reach of her victim, and stood -regarding her with a smile of wicked triumph, while the witch, amid her -dying groans, hurled the most awful maledictions upon her destroyer. - -"Ha, ha!" laughed Mrs. Vance, enjoying her revenge to the utmost limit; -"did you think you could play with fire and not be burned? Did you think -I would destroy a beautiful and valued life like that of Lily Lawrence, -yet suffer two worn-out old hulks to stand between me and my cherished -purpose? Ha, ha! you realize your folly, now!" - -Her words fell on deaf ears. Old Haidee had expired in horrible agonies, -while the jeers and taunts of her destroyer yet echoed in her hearing. -She lay inside the door-way where she had fallen, a hideous spectacle of -death. - -Mrs. Vance lifted her foot and spurned the still body with all the -intensity of the hate that burned in her heart. - -"They are both dead," she said, aloud. "My evil genius has helped me. I -am safe now." - -She stepped across old Haidee's body with a slight thrill of repulsion, -and entering the room, picked up her purse and began to collect the -scattered gold coins. - -"I may as well have my money again," she thought to herself. "I need not -be in a hurry to get away. No one ever comes here, I am sure." - -She placed the last coin in the purse and paused to look around her. Old -Peter's ghastly dead face met her view. The wicked eyes, wide open and -staring, seemed to threaten her as in life. A shiver of deadly fear -thrilled along her veins, seeming to freeze them. - -"Great God!" she exclaimed. "What if my sins should find me out!" - -She lifted her slender, white hands and regarded them fixedly. - -"There is blood upon my hands," she said with an irrepressible shudder. -"They look fair and white, but they have sent three human souls into the -presence of their Creator. Pshaw! why do I pause to reflect here? Let me -cover up the traces of my crime and go." - -She took up the shovel, and opening the door of the stove, pulled out a -quantity of blazing fire-brands and scattered them recklessly upon the -bare floor, tossing one so close to the body of old Peter that his shock -of red hair was ignited and burned with a disagreeable stench. - -Mrs. Vance turned away with such a laugh as a fiend might have loved to -hear, and hurried from the house, leaving the door, which she hastily -unlocked, partly ajar. - -"It does not matter," she thought to herself. "No one will discover -them. The old shell of a house will ignite from the brands directly and -burn down to the ground." - -Drawing her veil tightly over her face she hurried away over the lonely -road. About half a mile from the old house she met a man riding on -horseback towards the route she was leaving. He scrutinized the solitary -woman keenly, but could make nothing of her thickly shrouded features, -and rode onward. - -"Some wayfarer," she thought carelessly, and hurried on, eager to leave -the hated vicinity of her double crime. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - - -Mr. Shelton's first impulse, after his interesting interview with Mrs. -Mason, had been to rush into town, secure a squad of police, and make an -immediate raid upon the house of which he had heard such suspicious -tales. - -Had he obeyed this hasty prompting of his mind, all would have gone -well, and this story of mine might have been concluded in a very few -more chapters. - -But the famous detective in his eventful career had usually found it -advantageous to think twice before he acted. - -He did so in this case, and his second thought resulted briefly in this: -He did not consider that he had as yet sufficient to warrant him in -taking the step he at first proposed to himself. - -He had no actual grounds for suspicion except the fact that Doctor Pratt -and Harold Colville had entered the house, and remained there a -seemingly rather long time for a professional call from a busy physician -whose time was limited. - -Mrs. Mason's information was all gained from the oftentimes worthless -gossip of a country neighborhood, and could scarcely be depended on as -reliable evidence. The mysterious case of the young girl who had been -befriended by the worthy woman might have no connection with the old -house and its inhabitants as he had hastily concluded at first. - -Considering all the circumstances, the cautious detective determined to -wait before taking any decided step, and in the meantime to learn more -of the mysterious house if possible. - -His pursuit of Pratt and Colville in the next few days took him in -entirely different directions, but resulted in nothing satisfactory. - -In the meantime Mrs. Mason's gossip about the old house and its wicked -inhabitants haunted him persistently. He could not rid himself of the -thought. It abode with him by day, and in his sleep assumed the guise of -night-mare. The old house actually preyed upon him. After a few days of -this troubled thinking he came to a firm determination. - -"I will go out there and make some plausible excuse for entering, if I -can possibly do so," he said, to himself, "and once inside, I will try -to find out whether there is ready ground for suspicion and inquiry." - -His mind was relieved when he had resolved upon his course. Accordingly, -he mounted his black horse and set out that very evening on his quest. -He felt disappointed when he passed the tiny cottage of Mrs. Mason and -saw the door closed. He missed the pleasant face from the doorway, but -the evening was quite cool, and the good soul was, no doubt, knitting -inside by her lonely hearthstone. - -Within half a mile of his destination he encountered a lady walking -rapidly in the dusty road. She was graceful in figure, fashionable in -dress, but her thickly-veiled face gave no hint of her identity. The -detective looked after her with no little curiosity. - -"That is not the sort of woman one expects to see walking alone in this -vicinity," he thought. "She has the proud air and step of a fashionable -New York lady. And she does not wish to be recognized, else why that -thick veil?" - -He turned in the saddle and looked after her again. The tall figure of -the graceful lady was rapidly receding from sight around the bend in the -road. - -"Some intrigue is on foot," he laughed to himself, as he rode on. "These -fashionable ladies sometimes find time hanging heavy on their hands, -and--well, 'Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.'" - -Thus soliloquizing, he found himself in front of the old house which had -lately occupied so many of his leisure moments of thought. - -He dismounted, fastened his horse, and laid his hand on the heavy gate, -peering cautiously inside before entering, being mindful of Mrs. Mason's -report of the bloodhound. - -"The hound is probably chained up," he thought, after a careful -reconnoissance. "Of course they would not allow such a dangerous beast -to run at large in the daytime. Now, I must bethink me of my excuse, for -I am about to storm the castle of the formidable ogres." - -He advanced up the path to the door which, greatly to his surprise, -stood slightly ajar. - -"I should have thought these reputed misers would keep a locked door to -their house," he said to himself, with unconscious disappointment. "I -dare say they will prove to be quite ordinary people after all." - -He proceeded to rap lightly on the door, then waited a little for a -response from within. - -No one came to answer his knock. He repeated it once or twice loudly -with a like result. - -"Are they all dead or asleep, or gone away?" said he, jestingly to -himself, as he pushed the door boldly open and looked into the hall. - -He saw nothing in the hall but a thin, blue volume of smoke that was -pouring out of an open doorway on the right. With a bound he sprang -inside and looked into the room. - -A horrible sight met his startled eyes as soon as they became accustomed -to the cloud of smoke that slowly rose over every thing. - -Inside the doorway, at his feet, lay the dead body of an old woman, her -aged features distorted and drawn as if by her dying agonies. Near the -stove lay another horrible corpse, that of an old and deformed man. - -The flooring in front of the stove had become ignited from the brands -scattered over it, and was slowly burning through. The clothing of the -man had caught fire and every shred was burned off of him, while his -charred and frying flesh sent forth a sickening smell. The table with -its unfinished repast stood in the center of the room. Several dishes -had been knocked off in the furious fight of the old couple, and lay -shattered in fragments on the floor. Chairs were overturned and gave -silent evidence of the struggle that had gone on so lately in the now -silent and deserted room. The detective stood as if rooted to the spot -in a trance of horror. - -He roused himself at last as he saw what headway the flames were making, -like one starting from a dreadful dream. - -"Heavens!" he cried out, "this is terrible. Murder and arson have both -been committed here!" - -He looked about him. Two buckets of water stood on a rude plank shelf. -He took them down and poured the water over the burning body of the man, -then dashed out into the yard where he remembered he had seen a well as -he came in. - -He filled the two buckets, carried them in, and poured the contents over -the fire. Again and again he repeated this operation till the smoldering -fire was quite extinguished, and he stood, weary and perspiring, looking -at the dismal scene. - -"Well, what next?" he asked himself. "I suppose I ought to go into town -and bring the coroner; but first I believe I will explore this horrible -den. What if the body I have sought so long should lie hidden in this -dreadful lazar house." - -He went out into the hall and looked down its narrow length. Three -doorways opened into as many rooms. The handles yielded to his touch, -and the door of each swung open readily, but the rooms were empty, dark -and cobwebbed. - -Dust lay thick upon the floor, showing that they had long been -untenanted. With a sigh of disappointment he closed them again, and -stood contemplating the stairway. - -"Better luck in the upper regions, perhaps," he thought. "I wonder if I -dare venture up there? Surely I can encounter nothing more fearful than -I have seen below." - -Slowly, and with some apprehension, he mounted the stairs, not knowing -what to expect, and thinking it possible that he might encounter some -further dreadful spectacle. - -At the top of the stairs he found himself in a narrow passage-way on -which three doors opened. He advanced to the first door and tried it. - -It yielded easily to his touch, and swung open. He entered and looked -about him. - -There was nothing suspicious here. It was evidently the sleeping -apartment of the two dead people below who would never need it more. - -A bed and two chairs constituted the sole furnishing. Some cheap -articles of feminine apparel hung upon pegs against the wall, together -with one or two rusty old coats and a pair of pants that doubtless -belonged to the man he had seen below. - -"There is nothing hidden here," thought Mr. Shelton, leaving it and -entering the next room. - -This room was similar to the first one. A bed and several chairs were -all it contained. A single article of feminine apparel hung against the -wall. - -It was a dress of summer blue, and made in a more fashionable style than -the one which he had seen in the adjoining room. - -Like a flash he remembered that Mrs. Mason had told him, when describing -the appearance of the girl she had befriended, that she wore a "morning -dress of a light-blue color, and fashionably made." - -"Great Heavens!" he thought, "is it possible that the poor creature -escaped from this very house? If so, then she was recaptured and brought -back, for here hangs the dress that Mrs. Mason described. My God! what -has become of the wearer! Has some fearful fate befallen her?" - -Echo only answered him as he sat down trembling with excitement. - -He was here in the room where sweet Lily Lawrence had dragged out weary -months of captivity, sickness and sorrow; where her pure cheeks had -burned at insult and wrong, where she had suffered the pangs of hunger -and cold until her weakened frame had almost succumbed to the grim -destroyer, death. - -But it was silent and deserted now. The dead ashes strewed the hearth, -the empty robe hung against the wall, and the cold October wind sighing -past the iron-barred window did not whisper of the tender heart that had -ached so drearily within. - -"This has been a prison for some poor soul," Mr. Shelton said aloud as -he noticed the iron bars that guarded the window. - -He went out shuddering as if with cold, and advanced to the next room. - -The door was locked, but the key had been left upon the outside. - -He turned it hastily and stepped over the threshold, half-expecting to -find some poor creature incarcerated within. - -But silence and gloom greeted him here also. - -The room was bare and dreary as the ones he had quitted. A bed and a -chair comprised its furniture, and heavy bars of iron secured the -solitary window. - -"What a horrible prison house," he exclaimed. "And what dreadful deeds -of darkness have perhaps been committed within these old walls." - -He went to the window and peered out through the heavy bars at the -tangled garden. It was faded and dying now, and the russet leaves of -autumn strewed the deserted paths. - -"My God, what was that?" he exclaimed with a violent start. - -A strange sound had grated upon his ears--the distinct clank of a heavy -chain and the smothered moan of a human voice. - -Involuntarily he looked downward and saw a trap-door in the middle of -the room. - -"Now some new discovery of human misery," thought the detective as he -advanced and pushed the sliding door backward. - -A dark and narrow stairway was disclosed. He descended it quickly and -entered the empty room beyond. - -A feeling of disappointment struck him as he entered the deserted, -cobwebbed dungeon, but guided by the sound of faint, low moans he -advanced across the floor and opened the opposite door to the one by -which he had entered. - -Here he paused and swept his hand across his brow, as though to dispel a -mist that had risen before his shrinking vision. - -There before his eyes, extended on her low cot bed, with the horrible -strap and chain about her waist fastened to the iron staple in the -floor, with her hungry black eyes glaring on him from her skeleton face, -lay poor Fanny Colville in all her abject wretchedness. - -"My God!" exclaimed Mr. Shelton, "horrors upon horrors accumulate!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - - -"Who are you?" asked the poor, wasted creature, looking up into the -strange face of the new-comer. - -"I am a friend, poor creature--one who will deliver you from your -dungeon, and give you liberty," said the detective, advancing into the -room. - -Joy beamed on the pale, shrunken features of the prisoner. For a moment -she could not speak, then she murmured brokenly: - -"Thank God for those words! I am starving and dying here. I have not -tasted food for two days!" - -Mr. Shelton in his frequent excursions had contracted a habit of -carrying a flask of wine and paper of crackers in his pocket for his own -occasional refreshment. - -He took a silver cup from his pocket, and pouring a small portion of -wine into it held it silently to the lips of the poor, famishing woman. - -She drank it thirstily. He then began to dip crackers into the wine and -fed her slowly and carefully. - -"You feel better now?" he inquired, after she had consumed a generous -portion of the food. - -"Oh! so much better," said she, fervently, laying her head back on its -hard pillow while the hungry, famished look died out of her eyes and a -softer light beamed in them. "I thank you very much, sir. I was on the -verge of expiring when you came to my relief!" - -"Perhaps you feel well enough to tell me your name now," said he, -smiling kindly. - -"My name is Fanny Colville," she answered, feebly. - -The detective started. - -"Are you any relation of Harold Colville, of New York?" he inquired. - -"I am his wife," said poor Fanny, simply. - -"His wife!" repeated the detective, a gleam of light breaking in on his -mind regarding Mr. Colville's visit to this place. "Then why does he -keep you chained up here like a dog?" he inquired indignantly. - -"He does not know of it," said Mrs. Colville. - -"He does not know of it," repeated Mr. Shelton in surprise; "you amaze -me, madam. Surely he visited you a few days ago. I saw him leaving the -house." - -"I do not doubt that he was here. It is more than probable he was, but -he did not come to see me. He believes me dead. He hired the old woman -here to kill me and my child. He was weary of me and sighed for a fairer -face," explained the deeply wronged wife. - -"Yet the old woman, more merciful than your husband, spared your life," -said he. - -"She killed my child and let me live because she loved to have something -about her that she might torture at will," said the poor woman bitterly. -"She has had me chained in here for two years, fed upon bread and water, -and an insufficient allowance of that. Oh! God, how I hate that woman, -and how I long to avenge my wrongs!" - -"She is beyond the reach of both your hatred and your vengeance, Mrs. -Colville. She is dead," said Mr. Shelton, solemnly. - -"Dead? Old Haidee Leveret dead? It cannot be true," said Haidee's poor -victim, with incredulous joy shining in her eyes. - -"I assure you, madam, it is perfectly true. When I came here a few -minutes ago I found both her and her husband lying dead upon the floor -down-stairs, and the room in flames. But for my opportune arrival in -time to extinguish the fire, the house must have soon burned down, and -you would inevitably have perished with it." - -Fanny trembled like a leaf in a storm. - -"It was a narrow escape," she murmured. "And so they both are dead. Did -they kill each other?" - -"I should say not," replied Mr. Shelton. "They both looked as though -they had been poisoned. They certainly died suddenly, for their -half-consumed dinner was upon the table. This fact, taken in conjunction -with the fire, leads me to think they were poisoned by some enemy who -then set fire to the house to cover up all traces of the crime." - -"They have met with a fearful punishment for their evil deeds," said -Fanny, solemnly. - -"And now I wish to ask you a question," said her deliverer, "Do you know -of any reason for Mr. Colville's visits here now, since he does not come -to see you?" - -"The villain," she uttered, indignantly. "Oh, yes, sir. I know full -well. He has a young girl imprisoned here whom he is trying to force -into a marriage with him." - -Mr. Shelton saw that she was growing weak and faint, and poured a little -wine between her lips. - -"That makes me feel stronger," she said, reviving. - -"Mrs. Colville," he said, "you must be mistaken. I have searched the -house carefully through, and there is not another living soul here -beside yourself." - -"Oh, then she has either escaped again or they have removed her to -another place," was the confident reply. - -"Are you quite sure the lady was ever imprisoned in this house, Mrs. -Colville?" - -"Oh, I am perfectly sure of that, sir. She occupied the room above me -for some time. My groans troubled her so that she sought for me and -found me here in my misery." - -"And she told you that she was your husband's prisoner?" - -"Yes, sir," answered poor Fanny, sighing. "I had her whole sad story -from her own sweet lips." - -"Was she a New York lady?" inquired the detective, evincing a deep -interest. - -"Yes, sir, and the daughter of a wealthy man." - -"If you feel equal to the task I wish you would tell me all you know -about the lady. I am deeply interested in her fate," said he very -gently, though he was burning with impatience to learn more of -Colville's mysterious prisoner. - -"I think I am strong enough. Your coming has put new life and hope into -me," answered the grateful creature. - -"Go on, then," said he. "Did the wicked Colville abduct her from her -home?" - -"Worse than that, sir. She was a young lady who was murdered by a -jealous woman. A Doctor Pratt, the friend and abettor of Colville in all -his sins, was called in to view the body of the murdered girl. He -pronounced her dead. In reality he discovered that she was in a curious -condition known to the medical profession as catalepsy. He suffered them -to bury her, then stole her body from the vault and sold it to Colville, -who was in love with her. They brought her here, used every means to -bring her to life, and at length succeeded. She revived after four days -and found herself the prisoner of my husband, dead to all the world -beside, and doomed never to see her friends again unless she consented -to become his wife." - -She paused, overcome by exhaustion. - -Mr. Shelton sat white and rigid on the foot of the cot regarding her -fixedly. He seemed frozen into a statue. At length he gasped rather than -spoke: - -"Her name?" - -Fanny Colville's wasted hand went up to her brow in painful perplexity. - -"I do not seem to recollect it. Strange that I should forget. I am sure -she told me," she murmured. - -"Try and think of it, Mrs. Colville. Much depends upon it," urged -Shelton, anxiously. - -She was silent a few moments, lost in troubled thought. At length she -said, timidly: - -"I am afraid I cannot recall it, sir. My poor brain is dazed by my -troubles, perhaps. But I am sure of one thing. She had the name of a -flower, sir--a beautiful flower. I remember that, because it seemed to -suit her so well." - -Shelton's eyes brightened. - -"Was her name--Lily?" he asked, impressively. - -Instantly a gleam of remembrance irradiated the listener's face. - -"Lily, Lily!" she said; "yes, that was indeed her name, sir. How could I -forget it when I remembered everything else so well? I recall it -distinctly now. It _was_ Lily--Lily Lawrence." - -Shelton sprang up with a cry that rang through the dungeon. - -He was like one dazzled by the flash of light that broke in upon his -mind. - -Here was the solution of the dreadful mystery that had baffled him for -weary months, the confirmation of the vague suspicion that had haunted -him for days. - -It was a living, breathing, beautiful woman he sought instead of a cold -and lifeless body! No wonder the banker's reward failed of its object! - -"She tried to escape from here, did she not?" he inquired abruptly. - -Fanny replied by relating the circumstances of Lily's two attempts at -escape, and how Colville had carried her off the second time from under -her father's own roof. - -"The villains! the fiends!" muttered Shelton, crushing an oath between -his clenched teeth. - -"After they brought her back again she was put into the room above me, -but only for a night. She came in to see me after midnight, and promised -to come again soon. But she never came, and I concluded that she had -been removed to another place. I am confident she has not escaped from -them, for had she done so she would have sent someone to liberate me at -once." - -"Colville and Pratt spent an hour here five days ago," said he, "so it -seems probable that she was still here up to that date." - -"No doubt of it. I suppose old Haidee put her into another room for fear -that she might discover me down here, and also because the trap-door in -that room is the only entrance which she had to bring my weekly dole of -bread and water through," said Fanny. - -It was getting on toward sunset, and just then they heard the loud -baying of the bloodhound. Shelton started. - -"It is the horrible hound that is chained up in a kennel in the garden," -exclaimed Fanny. "He has missed his dinner and is hungry, I suppose." - -"I will put a bullet in his brain before I go away from here," said -Shelton, curtly. - -"Now, Mrs. Colville," he continued, "I must leave you a little while. I -will go and report these dead bodies to the coroner, and I must secure -some easy vehicle to transport your poor aching body away from here to a -comfortable place. Do you think you can wait patiently? I shall be -absent but a few hours at farthest." - -"Oh, yes, I can wait. But you will be sure to come back again?" she -said, anxiously. - -He smiled at her pathetic tone. - -"Yes, I will certainly return," he answered, confidently. "And I will -take you to the house of a good woman who will feed you and nurse you -back to health again. I have one favor to ask you," said he, pausing. - -"You have only to name it," said she, "if it lies in my power to grant -it." - -"It is this. When I bring the officers here and they question you, will -you withhold the story you have told me--even your name? It will be very -easy to do so. Your emaciated condition and feebleness will easily -excuse you from giving any evidence at present." - -"I will do as you wish me, sir," she answered, in some surprise. - -"I do not mean you any harm, dear madam," he explained. "Far from it. My -reason is this. If this story gets into the papers (as it certainly must -if you relate it to the coroner), it will put those two villains on -their guard, and though we could arrest them on your evidence, they -might never reveal the place where they have hidden their unhappy -victim. But if they are still suffered to go at large, free and -unsuspecting, I can track them to their lair and rescue her. So I only -ask you to postpone your evidence until such time as I have delivered -Lily Lawrence and put these wretches inside of a prison." - -"Your reasoning is very clear," answered Fanny. "I will do just as you -have told me, sir." - -"Thanks; I will leave you my wine and biscuits for refreshment," said -he, smiling, and putting them by her side. "Keep up your spirits, Mrs. -Colville. I will soon return and remove you to a safe and comfortable -home." - -He hurried away, fastening the door carefully after him, and went out in -the garden in search of the howling, hungry brute. He found him tearing -madly at his chain in his rage to get away and seek for food. It made -abortive attempts to reach Mr. Shelton when he came in sight, but the -detective coolly drew a pistol from his pocket, and fired a bullet into -the brain of the dangerous creature, who instantly fell dead. He then -walked away, mounted his horse and galloped rapidly towards the city. - -At Mrs. Mason's gate he stopped and dismounted. The kind woman opened -the door and beamed on him smilingly as she invited him to enter. He did -so and soon made known the object of his visit. - -"My curiosity about the old house we spoke about when I first saw you," -said he, "induced me to visit it this afternoon. I did so, and to my -horror I found the old people lying dead in the house. While exploring -it I discovered a poor, imprisoned woman in a weak and starving -condition. She needs to be removed to a safe and quiet place where she -may be carefully tended, for she has enemies who would not scruple to -kill her if they discovered her whereabouts. Mrs. Mason, you are a kind -and motherly woman, and your home is quiet and secluded. Will you -receive that poor soul here and take care of her? I will pay you -generously for the trouble." - -Mrs. Mason promised to do all he asked, her kind eyes brimming with -sympathetic tears, and he resumed his journey to the city, reported the -case to the coroner, and secured a comfortable carriage for the use of -Fanny Colville. - -After the inquest the grateful creature was removed to the tiny cottage -of Mrs. Mason. - -The next day the generous detective took care to furnish wines and -jellies and every needful luxury for building up an exhausted frame, and -himself conveyed them to the new home of the invalid. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - - -My readers are wondering, perhaps, as to the fate of our beautiful and -unfortunate heroine. - -Let us go back a little in our story and take up the thread of her -adventures. - -It was the night previous to the day on which the two Leverets came to -their death at the hands of Mrs. Vance. Up to that night Lily Lawrence -had remained under the guardianship of the wicked old pair. - -It was nearly nine o'clock when Lily sat before the fire in her room, -her small hands resting on the arms of the chair, her eyes fixed sadly -on the glowing coals in the grate. Old Haidee had brought her supper in -and departed. She was alone for the night. - -The young girl was simply habited in a neat, dark woolen dress. Cuffs -and collar she had none, for Haidee, in providing her a winter dress, -had had no thought or care for those delicate feminine accessories of -the toilet. The thick, dark fabric fastened about her white throat and -wrists rendered her extreme pallor and delicacy doubly striking. The -earthly tabernacle seemed growing white and transparent enough for the -bruised and wounded young soul to glimmer through. - -She was thinking of Lancelot Darling--her betrothed husband--and now and -then hot tears welled from her eyes and rolled down upon her pale -cheeks. She wondered if he still remained faithful to her memory, or if, -indeed, the wily widow had won him from her, as Doctor Pratt and Harold -Colville had so confidently asserted. - -"It is false," she said to herself, through her fast falling tears. -"Lance loved me too truly to forget me so soon. What if I did see him -bending over that wicked woman, turning the leaves of her music as he -was wont to do for me? She had beguiled him to her side by the -fascinating arts which a true woman would disdain. It was to win him -that she tried to murder me. But though I never see my lover again I -will not believe he could love her after having loved me, even though -she might try to poison my memory with her false tale of suicide. No, -no; I will believe in the loyalty of my lover until my latest breath." - -She was sitting near the side of the fireplace, and on the other side -of the wall old Peter and Haidee, who had retired to their room for the -night, were sitting over their fire and talking earnestly together. She -could hear the sound of their voices quite distinctly, for on her side -of the room there was a large cracked place in the wall from which the -plaster had fallen out, leaving a thin aperture through which voices -were distinctly audible. Lily had never felt any desire before to hear -the conversation of the old couple, but at this moment a sudden -curiosity seized upon her as she heard the sound of her own name -distinctly repeated. - -Rising noiselessly from her chair she knelt upon the floor, and, placing -her ear against the broken place in the wall, listened intently. - -Their words and even the tone of their voices were plainly audible to -her trained and acute hearing. - -Words were being spoken by that wicked old pair that seemed to chill the -blood in her veins to an icy current as she knelt there listening to the -awful doom she had no power to avert. - -"Yes," said the woman's voice, sharply, "I hate the girl so that I could -strangle her with my own hands! Ever since the day she knocked me down -and escaped from me, I have hated her with the hate of hell!" - -"Aye, aye," said old Peter; "then why delay the deed we have long been -determined upon. I am in favor of getting it done and over with." - -"If I were not afraid of the vengeance of Pratt and Colville," said she, -hesitating. "It's a terrible risk to run." - -"Ten thousand dollars is worth running a considerable risk for," -answered the old miser. "Now, here is the way we are placed, Haidee: -Harold Colville will give us a few paltry hundreds for keeping the girl -here, but her father will pay ten thousand dollars to the person who -delivers her dead body, and no questions asked. How can you hesitate -which to choose?" - -"My God!" thought the wretched girl, with a wildly beating heart, "they -are planning to murder me." - -"I would not hesitate a moment--you know that, Peter--only that I see -the difficulties in the way more plainly than you do," said the cautious -Haidee. - -"Difficulties--now that is the way with women, the silly geese," snorted -Peter in angry contempt. "They always make mountains of mole-hills! What -difficulties can you see, I wonder." - -"How could we account to Pratt and Colville for her disappearance?" -answered she. - -"Easily enough; I have told you that twenty times before, old -dunder-head! Say that she has escaped from us again." - -"They would not believe it when they know that we both guard the -door--they would not believe such a tale in the face of our united -strength," returned she, rather shortly. - -"Say that I was ill--say that I was drunk--or that I fell down in a fit -before the door, and while you were assisting me she rushed past and -escaped. Say anything you please to account for it--only tell them that -she has given us the slip. They cannot help but believe it, knowing -that she has made two desperate attempts before." - -"That is true," she admitted; "still, when they find the body has been -returned to the banker, and the ransom paid, what will they think then?" - -"They will think that some designing person has palmed off a spurious -body on them at first, and before they learn better we can be off and -away to another city, Haidee. It all seems so plain and easy to me I -wonder why you hang back so." - -"My God! this is horrible," breathed poor Lily to herself, but a -dreadful fascination held her immovable to her post. - -"And then, the body itself," pursued Haidee. "It would have the look of -one lately dead. How could we account to her friends for that? Remember, -she is supposed to be dead these five months." - -"Haidee, you are an old fool! You are getting into your dotage--what -silly questions you ask, to be sure," panted the old man, in a furious -rage with his hesitating wife. - -"Oh, yes, I hear all that. But you have not answered my question yet," -returned she, pertinaciously. - -"I have answered it twenty times before--every time that we talked the -matter over. We can say that we had it embalmed so that her friends -might make sure of her identity when we claimed the ransom." - -The old witch sat silently pondering a few minutes. - -"Perhaps that would do," she said, rousing herself at last. "It may be -that I am over cautious; I confess that I wish the girl dead." - -"You consent then?" said Peter eagerly. - -"Yes, I consent," she answered, with a ring of fierce joy in her -unwomanly tones. - -"Now that's my sensible wife," said Peter, transported with joy. "I -thought you would come to your senses after a while. Well, since you -_are_ willing I say the sooner the better." - -"Yes, the sooner the better," his wife repeated after him. - -"Let it be to-night then," suggested Peter, who did not want to give -Haidee's cautious fears any time to change her resolution. He believed -in the old adage: "Strike while the iron is hot." - -"Yes," answered Haidee readily, "let it be to-night." - -The listener's heart gave a great fluttering bound and then sank like -lead in her bosom. - -Through all that she had suffered the desire of life, and the hope of -ultimate release had remained strong in her breast. How could it be -otherwise with one so young and lovely, and for whom life held so much? -Now all her hopes were blighted in the dreadful knowledge just come upon -her. Death in the horrible form of murder was about to blot out her -young and tender life forever from the earth. She clasped her hands -together, and repressing a strong desire to shriek aloud, lest that cry -of anguish should precipitate her fate, listened on. - -"Who will do the deed?" asked Peter, who was a coward in spite of his -braggadocio. - -"I will!" said Haidee, fiercely. "I will get my revenge upon her thus. -Presently, when she is asleep and dreaming perhaps of her home and her -lover, I will steal in upon her and clasp my hands around her white -little neck and strangle her to death." - -"It is settled, then," said old Peter, with a fiendish chuckle of -delight. "Get our pipes, now, Haidee, and let us sit up and wait till -the time comes." - -Lily Lawrence dropped down upon the floor and lay there like one already -smitten with death. - -"Oh, God!" she thought, "if I only had not listened I might indeed have -been asleep, and death might have stolen on me unconsciously. How -dreadful to lie here and wait for death each moment." - -She lay there shuddering and trying to pray as the fatal minutes crept -on, each one bearing away on its swift sands the brief span of precious -life yet left her. - -At each movement in the next room she shivered and started, thinking -that old Haidee was about to come forth to execute her murderous task. - -How long she lay there weeping and praying she never knew, but at length -she heard the clock in the lower hall strike ten. - -The next instant stealthy steps came gliding through the hall to her -door. - -Already she seemed to feel the horrible clutch of old Haidee's hands -about her warm, white throat, pressing out the life. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - - -"Oh, God spare me!" breathed Lily, clasping her hands in agony as she -heard the key grate in the lock, and the hand of the murderess turning -the knob of the door. - -At that instant, before the door opened, while but a moment intervened -between Lily and a horrible death, a loud and hurried knocking was -distinctly heard down-stairs. It was so startling, coming upon the -previous utter stillness, that old Haidee darted back to her own room in -a fright, and directly she and her husband were heard making a shuffling -descent of the stairs. Lily arose upon her feet in a tumult of hope. - -"Who can it be?" she murmured. "Can it be possible that rescue is at -hand?" - -The revulsion from despair and terror to instant hope was too great to -be borne. - -Her slight form wavered an instant, then unconsciousness stole upon her -and she fell prostrate on the floor. - -In the meantime the old couple down-stairs, after removing bolts and -bars, admitted, to their astonishment and dismay, the two conspirators, -Pratt and Colville. - -"You were not expecting me, eh?" said Doctor Pratt, with a laugh at -Haidee's astonished look as she blinked at him beneath the flaring -candle she held aloft. "Well, that cursed hound of yours was not -expecting me either. He had nearly taken a piece out of my throat before -he recognized my voice and became pacific. I had thought he must have -known me at once. Look you, I shall put a bullet in his head some day, -the blood-thirsty brute!" - -"If you do, you will destroy the best safeguard you have against the -escape of your prisoner," said Haidee, shortly. - -"Ah! well, let him live a little longer then, but you must teach him not -to forget his old friends," was the careless reply. - -"You come late, doctor. We did not expect you, and were about retiring," -said old Peter. - -"Yes, we thought it better to come by stealth," said Pratt, shortly. -"The fact is, Colville has taken it in his head that we are watched by -some fellow, and it suits us to be wary just now. We wish to see Miss -Lawrence at once. Is she safe and well?" - -"As safe and well as usual. Starvation does not seem to agree with her -very well," answered Haidee, leading the way up-stairs with her flaring -candle. - -"It will break her proud spirit all the sooner," said Colville, -brutally, as he followed them. - -Haidee stepped into the hall, opened Lily's door and entered, nearly -falling over the prostrate form of the girl. She started back in dismay. - -"Why, what--the devil!" cried Pratt, entering behind her. "What has -happened to the girl? Is she dead?" - -He knelt down, felt the pulse, and laid his ear over the heart as -Colville and Peter entered after him. - -"She is in a faint," he said, looking up into Colville's frightened -face. "Our arrival was most opportune. Haidee, bring wine or whatever -stimulants you have in the house. Her vitality is exhausted. The late -regimen has been too severe for her weak constitution, perhaps." - -He straightened the still form out upon the floor and applied a vial of -pungent smelling salts to her nostrils. In a moment life came fluttering -back, and Lily's languid gaze opened upon the faces of her enemies. The -white lids closed again and a heart-wrung sigh drifted over her lips. - -Doctor Pratt lifted the light form in his arms and laid her upon the bed -as Haidee entered, carrying a glass of wine. He took it from her hand -and held it to the lips of his patient. - -"Drink this, Miss Lawrence," he said, "you are weak and faint; it will -revive you." - -She drank it thirstily, and felt a momentary thrill of returning -strength. Rising on her elbow she looked at them all languidly. - -"You time your visit late, gentlemen," she said, with a slight -inflection of scorn on the concluding word. - -"We are obliged to consult our own convenience rather than yours, Lily. -Pardon our informal and ill-timed visit," said Mr. Colville, coming -forward to her side. - -She flashed a look of scorn upon him, but deigned no reply. He turned to -the two old people who stood waiting. - -"You may go," he said. "We will apprise you when we are about to leave." - -"No, let them remain," said Lily, imperiously. "I have something to say -to you, Mr. Colville, and I desire that these, _your friends_, may hear -it." - -Old Peter and Haidee looked at each other in some trepidation at her -words and manner, but stood still, curious and a little frightened. - -"My _friends_," muttered Colville, indignantly; "Miss Lawrence, I do not -choose my friends from among such rabble, I assure you!" - -"Do you not?" said she, contemptuously. "Yet if you had a precious -treasure, Mr. Colville, and desired to guard it very carefully, you -would entrust it to your best friends rather than your enemies--would -you not?" - -"Assuredly," he answered, wondering what she meant by her strange words -and manner. - -"You would? and yet you have professed to regard me as the thing most -precious upon earth to you while you have given the lie to the assertion -by leaving me here in the keeping of these wretches whom you disdain to -own as your friends. Is it not so?" - -He quailed before the scorn in her ringing voice, and the proud gesture -of her lifted finger. - -"You were safe with them," he muttered. "My dearest friends could not -have guarded you more faithfully than they have done." - -"It is false," she said, scornfully. "My life has been in constant -jeopardy at their hands ever since I first entered this house." - -"Miss Lawrence, you are raving," said Doctor Pratt. "These people have -been paid to keep you here: it is to their interest to do so. And why -should you fancy yourself in danger from them?" - -"It is no fancy," she answered, coldly, while her scathing glance fell -upon the cowering pair of interrupted murderers like lightning a moment, -then returned to the faces of those she addressed. "I assure you, Doctor -Pratt, and you, Mr. Colville, that your sudden coming interrupted her--I -was on the point of being _murdered_ by that woman there!" - -"She lies!" cried Haidee and Peter, simultaneously. - -"Silence, wretches!" thundered Dr. Pratt, furiously, reading guilt in -their very faces. "Let the lady tell her story, then deny it if you -can." - -"It is the wine that has got into her head," whined Peter, abjectly. - -"Silence, fellow! Now, go on with your story, Miss Lawrence," said the -physician, impatiently. - -Thus encouraged, Lily related every word of the frightful conversation -that was indelibly stamped on her memory. There was no discrediting her -assertions. The truth was unmistakable. - -"She was just opening the door," concluded Lily, "when your loud -knocking frightened her away. My relief from the pressure of -over-wrought feeling was so great that I fainted when I attempted to -stand up again!" - -Dr. Pratt was foaming at the mouth with such furious rage that he could -not speak. Colville, pale, trembling, with chattering teeth and staring -eyes, found his voice first. - -"Wretches! Devils!" he shouted, in a voice hoarse with passion, as he -pointed to the door. "Go hide yourselves from my sight before I rend you -limb from limb!" - -The craven wretches slunk away and locked themselves into their room in -wild fear lest the two infuriated men should put their threat into -execution. Colville came forward and stood by the bedside of the young -girl who had fallen back panting from weariness after her denunciation -of the would-be murderers. - -"Lily," he said abjectly, "I am so unnerved by the thought of the -horrible fate you have just escaped that I can scarcely speak: but, -believe me, my dearest girl, I thought you perfectly safe in this place, -I never dreamed of such perfidy in these hired servants of my will." - -"This is no time for apologies," interrupted the doctor abruptly. "Make -them hereafter when you have more leisure and better command of your -feelings. At present the most important thing is to remove Miss Lawrence -from this house immediately, and place her in a safer retreat." - -He drew Colville aside one moment. - -"I know of a place a few miles from here," he whispered, "to which I -have the _entree_. The place is a private mad-house, and is kept by a -doctor who is a very particular friend of mine. I know of no better -retreat at present for our fair little friend. He will receive her with -pleasure, and you can represent her as insane if it pleases you." - -"Let us take her there then," answered Colville. - -Doctor Pratt took down a dark cloak with a hood attached which hung -against the wall. - -"Miss Lawrence," he said, quite courteously, "my carriage is at the gate -and I find it necessary to remove you at once from the perils that -environ you here. Put on this cloak and let us go. I will find means -afterward to punish these wretches for their perfidy." - -Lily obeyed in silence, and was led down between them to the waiting -carriage. - -The Leverets did not appear again, nor did the hound offer to molest -them. - -Placing their prisoner in the carriage the two confederates drove -rapidly away over the country road. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - - -The inquest that was held over the dead bodies of Peter and Haidee -Leveret developed no information that could lead to the conviction of -their destroyer. - -An expert examined the bodies and declared that the cause of their death -was strychnine poison. - -Large quantities of this baneful drug was found in the tea pot and in -the partly emptied cups of the victims. - -Mr. Shelton testified to the accidental finding of the bodies, and to -his extinguishing the flames which had been lighted for their funeral -pyre--also to the finding of the chained prisoner in the gloomy dungeon. -His evidence threw no light on the subject. - -Fanny Colville testified to the names and general bad character of the -deceased, but knew nothing which was calculated to enlighten the jury as -to the mystery of their death. - -She had not seen Peter for two years. Haidee had been in the habit of -bringing her some bread and water once a week, but had neglected to -return the last time, and nine days had elapsed since Fanny had seen -her, two of which days she was entirely without food. - -She supposed that the old witch was putting into execution her -often-reiterated threat of starving her to death. - -This was all they learned of Fanny. She had given her evidence with many -pauses and turns of faintness. At length she became so ill and exhausted -that it seemed cruel to weaken her with farther questioning, and it was -decided to defer it until she became stronger and better. - -The jury, in accordance with the facts elicited, rendered a verdict that -the pair had come to their death by strychnine poisoning at the hands of -some person unknown. - -Search was made for the hidden treasure the misers were supposed to have -concealed about the house, but nothing of value was found, and the -bodies of the iniquitous pair were committed to burial at the expense of -the city. They had lived their evil life, and the world being rid of -them was better off. - -Mrs. Colville was removed to the home of Mrs. Mason, and the kind soul -was shocked at the spectacle of human misery thus presented to her view. - -She gave the poor creature a warm bath, clothed her skeleton limbs in -soft and comfortable apparel, and shingled her long, inextricably -tangled hair close to her head. - -This done she proceeded to put her to bed and feed her with warm and -nourishing food. - -The poor, starved woman could scarcely realize her good fortune. - -She lay looking about her at the pleasant little room with its neat -carpet and curtains, its comfortable bed and cheery fire, and feared it -was all a dream from which she would awaken to the horrors of her -lonely, fireless dungeon. - -But the gentle voice of her hostess soothed away her fears and lulled -her into profound and restful sleep. - -For several days the most of her time was spent in eating and sleeping. - -The warm room and nourishing food seemed to induce slumber, and she -began to improve very slowly, but still so perceptibly that when the -detective came to see her after the lapse of a week he was delighted at -the change. - -"Mrs. Mason, you must be a capital nurse," said he, smiling. "Your -patient looks very well, and begins to improve at a rate I hardly dared -hope for; I should scarcely have known her." - -"And, but for your timely help I should have been dead ere this," said -the invalid, giving him a grateful look from her large, hollow, dark -eyes. "I owe you my life. I do not know how to thank you." - -"Do not try," answered the detective, feeling shy under the gratitude -that was about to be showered upon him. "The revelation you made me when -I found you fully repays the debt." - -"Ah! that dear girl," sighed Fanny. "Have you learned anything further -about her, Mr. Shelton?" - -He shook his head sadly. - -"I am sorry to say I have not. The wretches have eluded me in some way, -and managed to remove her without my knowledge. But I do not despair of -catching up with them yet, and restoring the unfortunate young creature -to her friends." - -"God grant you may," she murmured, fervently. - -"There is one thing I wish to ask you," said he, suddenly. "When you -were telling me your story that day in the dungeon, you made an -assertion that threw a new light on the subject of Miss Lawrence's -supposed death." - -"Ah! what was that?" she inquired. - -"You know, or, perhaps, you do not know," said he, "that the jury's -verdict was suicide. Yet you made the assertion that she was murdered by -a jealous woman." - -"Miss Lawrence was my informant, sir," answered Mrs. Colville. "Perhaps -she knew all the circumstances better than the jury." - -"No doubt she did," he answered, smiling at her demure tone. "And the -woman?" - -"Was a beautiful widow who lives under the Lawrence roof, and is -dependent on the banker for the very means of existence. I cannot recall -her name, for I have a peculiar faculty for forgetting names, but -perhaps you have heard it." - -"I have," he answered, gravely. "And indeed it amazes me. It passes -belief that she should have struck a blow so terrible at the heart of -Mr. Lawrence, to whom she owes nothing but gratitude." - -"She was maddened by jealousy, sir. She loved the young man whom Lily -Lawrence was on the point of marrying. I heard this from the young -girl's own lips. She told me she had long before suspected her love, and -pitied her sincerely, without a thought of the cruel vengeance she was -about to take." - -"Cruel! It was fiendish," said Mr. Shelton. - -"Yes, sir, it was fiendish. She crept into the room while Miss Lawrence -was trying on her wedding-dress, caught up a dagger from the table, and -exclaimed, as she plunged it into her victim's heart: 'Girl, you shall -die because Lancelot Darling loves you!'" - -"Horrible!" exclaimed the detective. - -"Miss Lawrence became immediately unconscious," continued Mrs. Colville, -"and does not know how the woman left the room after locking her door on -the inside, but thinks it probable she slid down the long vine that runs -up to her chamber window." - -"It is very probable she did," said Mr. Shelton. "Heavens! what a tissue -of crime and villany has been woven about the innocent life of that -beautiful girl! But I will see her righted, I swear it by all that I -hold most sacred. And then let Mrs. Vance and Pratt and Colville look to -themselves. I hold the evidences of their crime in my hands now. They -only bide my time to see the inside of a prison cell!" - -Mrs. Mason, sitting with her knitting, had been an interested listener -to the above conversation. The detective turned to her now, saying -kindly: - -"We have been discussing secrets very freely in your presence, my kind -hostess, but I suppose you know how to keep silence regarding them." - -"Wild horses should not drag a word from me, sir, without permission," -replied she, earnestly. - -"I fully believe it," answered Mr. Shelton. "Therefore I shall -commission Mrs. Colville to take you fully into our confidence after I -leave here. You will thereby hear a very romantic story regarding the -young lady whom you so nobly befriended some time ago." - -"Bless her sweet face! I never shall forget her," said Mrs. Mason, on -whom indeed that little incident had made a deep and lasting impression. - -"I hope you may yet have the pleasure of meeting her under more -favorable auspices," said the detective, strong in the faith that he -should yet rescue Lily from her cruel and unrelenting captors. - -"Mr. Shelton," said the invalid, abruptly, "I have been thinking of -sending for my poor old mother from the country. I must tell you that I -ran away from home to marry that villain, Colville. I have never seen my -poor old mother since, but I sent her my marriage certificate to keep -for me, and to assure her that I was an honorable wife. I have never -seen or heard from her since. I would like to see her very much." - -"Well?" he said, as she paused, looking wistfully at him. - -"Would you advise me to send for her?" asked Fanny. - -Mr. Shelton took down a little mirror hanging over the small toilet -table and held it before her face. - -"Is it possible your mother would recognize you?" he inquired, gently. - -Poor Fanny did not know how sadly she was changed before. She looked at -herself and shuddered. - -"Oh! no, sir!" said she, mournfully; "I was a black-eyed, rosy-cheeked -young girl when I left home. I am a gray-headed skeleton now." - -"Then take my advice and wait a little while. In the meantime, let Mrs. -Mason feed you and nurse you until you get some flesh on your limbs, and -some color in your ghostly face. Then as soon as you get strong enough -to travel, I myself will take you home to your mother." - -"Oh! thank you, thank you; that will be best," she murmured, gratefully. - -"No thanks," he answered, and bidding them adieu, he went hurriedly -away. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - - -Lily Lawrence leaned back in the physician's carriage and wept silently -as she was whirled onward to her new prison. - -Her companions were very taciturn. Doctor Pratt was driving and gave -the most of his attention to his task. Beyond one or two questions as to -her comfort he did not address either Lily or Colville. The latter sat -entirely silent opposite the young girl through the whole time. - -At length, after several miles of rapid driving the carriage came to a -pause, and the young girl was lifted out in front of a large, frowning -brick edifice which loomed up gloomily in the darkness of the chilly -night. She was led up a flight of stone steps and Doctor Pratt rang the -bell. - -The summons was quickly answered by a small dark man, who showed -surprise at the visit, but welcomed Doctor Pratt with the cordiality of -an old friend. - -"Doctor Heath, this is Mr. Colville, a friend of mine," said Doctor -Pratt as they stepped into the hall. "We have brought you a patient in -the person of this young lady." - -"Indeed!" said the host, bowing gracefully to these two new -acquaintances, and ushering them into a small reception-room on the -right. "Pray take seats, my friends, and draw near the fire. The night -is raw and chilly." - -Mr. Colville placed a comfortable chair near the fire for Lily, and she -sat down and held out her numbed hands to the cheerful blaze that burned -on the hearth. - -Doctor Heath took a seat near her regarding her with looks of surprise -and admiration. Her colorless beauty shone out like a lily indeed from -the dark hood over her head. - -"She looks very ill," said he in an undertone to his colleague, and -unseen by Lily, he tapped his forehead significantly. - -Doctor Pratt gave a shy affirmative nod. - -"She has been very ill," he answered, "and has had a tiresome drive -to-night in addition. Perhaps it would be better to let her have some -refreshments and retire at once. I wish to have a private conversation -with you." - -Doctor Heath retired to give the necessary order. Lily's blue eyes -turned upon her captors with a look of dread in their soft depths. - -"Doctor Pratt," said she, "what new trials am I about to experience -here?" - -"None at all, I hope," said he, smoothly. "Your health is visibly -declining, Miss Lawrence, and I have concluded to place you under the -constant care of my friend, Doctor Heath. I think you will find this a -more comfortable place than old Haidee Leveret's and you will have -kinder treatment; I shall leave orders for a rather more generous diet -than has been lately allowed you, for I fear your constitution may be -ruined by your recent course of starvation. Yet I must say your own -obstinacy brought it upon you. One kind word from your lips to Mr. -Colville would have placed every luxury at your command." - -"And I would die rather than speak that word!" said Lily, with a -scornful curl of her beautiful lip. - -"You will change your mind, doubtless, before you have remained long in -this place," said Mr. Colville, in a tone so significant that she stared -and looked at him keenly, as if trying to fathom its hidden meaning, -but she could not read the expression on his face, and dropped her eyes -with a weary sigh. - -Doctor Heath came in, followed by a neat young woman with a large and -apparently very strong frame. She came in and stood behind Lily's chair. - -"This young woman will attend you to your room," said Doctor Heath, with -a polite bow. "I dare say you are tired and would like to seek repose." - -Mr. Colville approached Lily and bent down to say, softly: - -"I may not see you again for several weeks, Lily; but if you should -change your mind and wish to recall me sooner, you need only signify it -to Doctor Heath, and he will communicate with me at once." - -"I am not likely to change my mind," she answered, coldly, turning from -him and following the strong-limbed young woman out of the room. - -Her guide led her up a stairway and along a wide hall, with a number of -closed doors on each side. At length she paused and threw open the door, -saying, politely: - -"This will be your room for the present, miss." - -Thus addressed, Lily stepped reluctantly across the threshold and looked -around her. - -She found herself in a small and neatly-furnished room. The floor was -covered with a bright, warm carpet, a nicely-cushioned chair was drawn -before a comfortable fire, and a tray containing refreshments was placed -on a little stand in front of it. - -The attendant entered behind her and closed the door. - -"Allow me to assist you," said she, removing Lily's cloak, and seating -her in the easy-chair before the fire. - -Lily's lip quivered slightly at the gentle kindness of the woman's tone. -Poor girl! harshness and coldness and threatening had become the only -familiar sounds to her ears. This woman, though she looked young -herself, assumed a motherly tone like one talking to a sick child. - -"You would like a cup of tea, I reckon," said she, pouring out the -fragrant beverage, and putting in cream and sugar, "and a bit of this -toast and cold chicken? You look very cold and tired, my dear." - -"Thank you," answered Lily, taking the tea and drinking it thirstily. - -After her long fast upon bread and water the food tasted simply -delicious to her. She did not know how much its quality was sweetened by -the kind looks of her attendant, who sat by and watched her with a -good-natured smile on her round and rosy face. - -"Perhaps you would like me to help you to bed before I take away the -tray," said she, as Lily finished her tea and leaned back wearily in her -chair. - -"Thanks; presently I will avail myself of your kindness, but now I wish -to ask you some questions," said Lily, quietly. - -"Yes, miss," said the woman, kindly, but she looked at Lily with a great -deal of surprise at her tone. - -"What is your name?" inquired the young prisoner. - -"Mary Brown, if you please, miss," answered the woman in her kind, -soothing tone. - -"You live here, I suppose, Mary?" pursued the young girl. - -"Yes, miss." - -"Then, Mary, I wish you would tell me what kind of a house this is. I -have been fancying that it must be a hospital, as there seems to be a -resident physician. Am I right?" - -"Oh! yes, miss, certainly, this is a hospital. We have a number of sick -people here," said the woman, like one humoring an inquisitive child. -"But don't you wish to retire now, miss? It's about midnight I should -think." - -"In a minute, Mary. Tell me first, is it a public hospital?" - -"Oh! no, miss. It's perfectly private, and very select indeed. We -receive none but first-class people here--we don't indeed." - -She was turning down the covers of the bed as she spoke, and now she -said, persuasively: - -"Come, now, let me help you to bed, miss, I want to tuck you up warm and -comfortable before I leave you." - -Lily submitted patiently, but as she laid her tired head on the pillow, -she asked, suddenly: - -"Is Dr. Heath a good man, Mary?" - -"La, now, miss, you must judge of that yourself. You will see him often -enough before you get well," said Mary Brown. - -Lily was about to open her lips to refute the charge of her illness, -when she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a wild and piercing -shriek which seemed to come from the room that was next her own. In her -alarm she sprang up and caught Mary Brown's arms in both hers, -shuddering with surprise and terror. - -"Oh! what is it?" she cried, as the wild shriek was repeated again and -again, mingled with frenzied shouts and peal after peal of frightful, -demoniacal laughter. - -"It's only one of the sick ones, miss," said Mary Brown, uneasily. -"Don't fret yourself, my dear. Lie down again. He will soon be quiet, -and then you can go to sleep." - -A horrible suspicion flashed into Lily's mind. - -"Mary Brown, you have been deceiving me with your kind face and friendly -talk. This is not a hospital for the sick. It is a private mad-house--is -it not?" - -"Well, it is for people who are sick in their heads," admitted Mary. - -"You mean for people who are insane," said she, holding tightly to the -woman's arm. - -Mary Brown nodded acquiescence. - -Lily was silent a moment, lost in painful thought. At length she said, -sadly: - -"I hope you do not think that I am insane, Mary Brown?" - -"Oh! dear, no, miss," said Mary, in her placid tone. "Of course not." - -"But you _do_ believe it. I can see that plainly," cried Lily, in an -anguished tone. "You have been humoring and petting me, taking me for -some insane creature. But I assure you I am not. I am perfectly sane, -though I have suffered cruelty and injustice enough to have driven me -mad long ago. I have been brought here by two wicked men to be made a -prisoner because I will not marry a man whom I hate." - -"You poor, injured dear," said the good nurse, affecting to believe the -young girl's story, though in her heart she set it down simply as one of -the vagaries of madness. - -"You do not believe me," cried Lily, passionately. "Oh! God, is this -crowning insult to be added to my sufferings? Must they represent me as -mad, and thus drive me into insanity indeed?" - -The attendant began to think that her beautiful and gentle patient was -becoming violent. She gently but forcibly released her arms from Lily's -clasp, and laid the moaning girl back on her pillow. - -"My dear," she said, "you must not excite yourself. You look too ill to -stand agitation. I must go now and help Doctor Heath to manage that poor -shrieking maniac in the next room. Try and go to sleep, my pretty dear." - -She drew the warm covers up carefully over the patient, brushed back the -disordered golden hair with a coarse but kindly hand, extinguished the -light, and, taking up the tray of dishes, went out, carefully locking -the door after her. - -In the hall she encountered Doctor Heath about entering the room of the -shrieking patient. He paused at sight of her. - -"How is your new patient?" he inquired, abruptly. - -"A little excited at present, sir. She appeared very quiet and sensible -at first, but after the violent patient began his shrieks she became -violent and wild, sir!" - -"Did she tell you her name?" he inquired. - -Mary Brown replied in the negative. - -"Her case is rather peculiar," said Doctor Heath. "She is the victim of -a strange hallucination. A wealthy young lady of New York committed -suicide last summer under very romantic circumstances. This young person -imagines herself to be the identical young lady who killed herself, and -asserts that she was resurrected by a physician and his friend, who -detain her in durance vile because the latter wishes to marry her. She -will tell you her story, of course. Do not contradict her, but gently -humor her. She will not give you much trouble, I think, as it is a mere -case of melancholy madness. The young lady she personates was named Miss -Lawrence. Be particular and call her by that name, Mary." - -"I will, sir," said Mary, passing on. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - - -Mrs. Vance read in the daily papers an account on the inquest that had -been held over the dead bodies of her two victims. - -She was surprised and troubled at first because her scheme for burning -the house down and destroying the bodies had failed, but as she saw that -no clew to the perpetrator of the poisoning had been discovered, her -courage rose in proportion. - -"I am free now," she thought, with a guilty thrill of triumph. "The two -old harpies who preyed upon me are dead, and their secret with them. No -one will ever discover my agency in their death. Suspicion would never -dream of fastening upon me. Who would believe that these white hands -could be stained with crime?" - -She held them up, admiring their delicate whiteness and the costly rings -that glittered upon them, then went to the mirror and looked at her -handsome reflection. - -"I am beautiful," she said to herself with a proud smile. "There is no -reason why I should not win Lancelot Darling. A woman can marry whom she -will when she is gifted with beauty and grace like mine. And I will yet -be Lancelot Darling's wife. I solemnly swear that I will!" - -In the exuberance of her triumph and her pride in herself, she ordered -the carriage and went out to spend the money she had rescued from Peter -and Haidee in some new feminine adornment wherewith to deck her beauty -for the eyes of the obdurate young millionaire. - -Time flew past and brought the cold and freezing days of November. The -latter part of it was exceedingly cold, and snow covered the ground with -a thick, white crust. - -Lancelot Darling came into the drawing-room one day where Ada and the -beautiful widow sat by the glowing fire, Mrs. Vance busy as usual with -some trifle of fancy work, and Ada yawning over the latest novel. They -welcomed him without surprise or formality, for he had fallen into a -habit of dropping in familiarly and with the freedom of a brother. Mrs. -Vance, after the first few weeks of affected shyness and prudence, had -resumed her old frank relations with Lance, though but feebly seconded -by that young man, who had not recovered from the shock of her unwomanly -avowal of love for himself. - -"Well, Ada, how does the novel please you?" he inquired, looking at the -book that she had laid aside. - -"Either the author is very dull, or I am out of spirits," she returned, -smiling, "for I have failed to become interested in the woes of the -heroine, this morning. Have you read it, Lance?" - -"Oh, yes, a week ago," he answered, carelessly. "I found it readable and -interesting. I dare say you are in fault to-day, not the author. You are -out of tune." - -"Perhaps so," said Ada, "but what am I to do about it? Can you suggest a -remedy?" - -"The sleighing is very fine just now," he returned. "It thrills one very -pleasurably. Have you tried it?" - -"Oh, yes, Mrs. Vance and myself have been out twice with papa this -week." - -"By daylight?" he queried. - -"Yes, by daylight," she answered. - -"The latest sensation, however, is sleigh-riding by moonlight," rejoined -Lance. "There is a full moon, you know, and the nights are superb. -Parties go out to Dabney's hotel--it is far out on the suburbs--and have -hot coffee and oysters by way of refreshment, you know--then they return -to the city, getting home near midnight usually. Altogether it is very -exhilarating." - -"You speak from experience, I presume?" said Ada. - -"Yes. I tried it myself last night, being induced thereto by the glowing -representations of two young friends of mine. I found the drive quite as -bracing and delightful as they described it. I should be tempted to try -it again to-night if I could persuade you, Ada, and Mrs. Vance to -accompany me." - -"Why, that would be delightful," said Ada, clapping her hands, with the -pleasure of a child over a new toy. "I think that is just what I am -needing--a new sensation." - -"You consent, then?" said he, smiling at her pretty enthusiasm. - -"Oh, yes, if Mrs. Vance will go, too. Will you do so?" inquired she, -turning to the lady, who had as yet taken no part in the conversation. - -"Do you wish to go very much?" inquired she, looking up from her work -with a very pleasant smile. - -"I think I should enjoy it very much." - -"I don't know that I care for it very much," said the widow, with a -light sigh; "but I will go to please you, Ada." - -"It is settled then," said Lance. "We will go, and I think I can promise -you both a very enjoyable evening." - -It could not fail to be otherwise, Mrs. Vance thought to herself, with a -thrill of pleasure at the knowledge that she would be seated beside him -for hours, hearing his musical voice and looking into his handsome face. - -"If it were not for that hateful Ada going, too," she said to herself, -"what a chance I could have to make an impression on his heart!" - -But regret it as she would she could not prevent Ada from going, for she -saw plainly enough that the excursion was planned for the young girl's -pleasure, not her own. She was merely secondary in the affair. A thrill -of jealous pain cut through her heart like a knife, and the furtive -glance of hatred she cast upon Ada boded no good to the lovely and -high-spirited young girl. - -Night came, and Lance appeared with his elegant little sleigh. The -ladies, comfortably arrayed in sealskin cloaks and hats, were helped -into the sleigh, the warm buffalo robes were tucked around them, and -taking the reins in hand, Lance started out at a dashing pace over the -smooth and shining crust of snow. - -The moon shone gloriously, making the ground look as if paved with -sparkling gems, the silver bells rang out a merry chime, and the hearts -of all three seemed to fill with pleasure at the joyous sound, and the -breath of winter seemed like a caress as it sighed past their warm and -glowing cheeks. - -Numbers of merry pleasure-seekers were out enjoying the fine sleighing -and the beautiful night. Gay words and happy laughter rang out from -youthful voices, and many a heart beat high with hope and love. - -Mrs. Vance and Ada enjoyed their moonlight ride very much, and found -their appetite sharpened for the delicious supper which was ready for -them when they arrived at their destination. - -They met several of their friends at Dabney's hotel on the same -pleasant mission as themselves, and enjoyed an hour of social converse -before starting on their homeward way. They were the last to leave. - -"It has been very pleasant," said Ada, impulsively, as Lance tucked the -buffalo robes around them preparatory to starting. - -"I am glad you have enjoyed it," answered the young man, touching up his -spirited horses and starting off in gallant style. - -They had gone about half a mile when, in turning a corner, the -mettlesome young horses became suddenly frightened at something, and -reared upward, nearly upsetting the sleigh and its occupants. With a -grasp of steel, Lance tried to bring them down upon their feet, but -succeeded only to see them start away at a maddened and furious pace, -entirely beyond his control, while shriek after shriek of terror burst -from the two ladies as they clung to Lance. - -Impeded by the clinging arms of the two, and distressed beyond measure -by their frightened screams, it was impossible for Lance to do anything -to help them. Though he held on to the reins so tightly that his hands -were wounded and bleeding, his utmost strength was insufficient to -arrest the speed of the horses. They ran faster and faster, as though -incited to greater speed by the screams of the women. At length, with a -frantic effort, they cleared themselves of the sleigh and bounded away, -leaving the dainty vehicle overturned and broken, and its occupants -reposing in a snow-drift. - -Lance was the first to lift himself up and look about. He felt as if -every bone in his body were broken, so swift had been the impetus that -hurled him out; but repressing his own pain he hastened to his two -companions. - -"Ada, Mrs. Vance, are either of you hurt?" he inquired, anxiously. - -Mrs. Vance was already on her feet, shaking the loose snow from her hair -and dress. - -"I believe I am quite uninjured beyond the shock of the fall," said she. -"Are you, Lance?" - -"Oh! I am all right," said he; "but, Ada, my dear girl, are you hurt?" - -Ada answered his query with a moan of pain, but made no effort to rise. -He bent over her and lifted the slight form in his strong arms. - -"Can you stand?" he inquired, anxiously. - -"Oh, no--no!" she moaned. "My ankle seems to be twisted or sprained, and -my head struck something hard like a rock in falling. It aches -dreadfully." - -She burst into tears, sobbing aloud in her pain. Lance looked about him -in despair. - -There he was in the road, several miles from the city, with two helpless -females to take care of, and his broken sleigh lying useless, the horses -quite out of sight. Worse than all, Ada lying helpless in his arms, -unable to stand or walk, and moaning like a child in her acute -suffering. - -"This is terrible," he said. "What can we do, Mrs. Vance?" - -"Nothing," said she, coldly, maddened by the sight of Ada's head -resting against his shoulder, "except to remain here and freeze to death -waiting for some other vehicle to happen along and take us home." - -"Something may happen along at any minute," he answered, encouragingly. -"There are numbers of people out to-night as well as ourselves." - -"It is quite probable that we are the last on the road," said she -doubtfully. "Indeed, I believe that we are. If Ada were unhurt I should -suggest that we walk home, or back to the hotel at least. Ada, my dear, -rouse yourself and do not weep so childishly. Do you not see what a -plight you are putting us in? I am quite sure you can walk a little if -you will only try to make an effort." - -Thus adjured, Ada lifted herself and tried to put her foot on the ground -and stand up. - -"It is useless," said she, falling back with a sharp cry. "My ankle is -too badly hurt. I cannot stand upon it." - -Ere she ceased to speak, the welcome tinkle of sleigh-bells in the -distance saluted their ears. - -"Thank Heaven!" ejaculated Lance, "we have but a moment to wait. Relief -is at hand." - -"How fortunate!" chimed in Mrs. Vance, recovering her good humor at the -prospect of help in their extremity. - -Directly a splendid little sleigh drove up to them, stopped, and the -single occupant, a handsome young man, jumped out. - -"What is the trouble here?" he inquired, in a genial, friendly voice. -"Why, upon my word," with a start of surprise, "it's you, Lance, is it -not?" - -"Yes, it is I, Phil, and I was never so glad to see you before in my -life," answered Lance, in a tone of relief. "Mrs. Vance, Miss Lawrence, -this is my best friend, Philip St. John." - -"You have met with an accident?" said Mr. St. John, after briefly -acknowledging this off-hand presentation to the ladies. - -"Yes, my horses ran off and overturned the sleigh, pitching us into the -road. Mrs. Vance and myself luckily escaped unhurt, but Miss Lawrence -has sustained an injury that incapacitates her for walking." - -"Perhaps I can help you," said the new-comer, cordially. "My sleigh is -very small, but it will be roomy enough to accommodate one of these -ladies, I am sure. Now, if Miss Lawrence will trust herself to my care, -I will take her home immediately. And, Lance, if you and Mrs. Vance can -stand a walk of a mile back to Dabney's hotel, you will find that they -keep a good trap there and you can get it to return in." - -"What do you say to my friend's plan, Ada?" asked Lance, looking down at -her as she leaned upon his arm. "Will you allow Mr. St. John to take you -home? I assure you he will take the kindest care of you." - -"I accept his offer with thanks," said Ada, gratefully, "but it seems -selfish to leave Mrs. Vance and you to trudge back to the hotel on -foot." - -"My dear child, pray do not distress yourself on that score," said Mrs. -Vance, in her kindest tone. "I feel so thankful for this timely -assistance in your behalf that I shall not mind the long walk at all." - -"It is the best thing they can do, Miss Lawrence," said Mr. St. John, -respectfully. "They would freeze if they remained here waiting till I -sent a conveyance out from the city, but if they walk back to the hotel -they can get Dabney's sleigh and follow us directly." - -Ada was accordingly lifted into the very small sleigh of Mr. St. John; -the robes from Lance's useless sleigh were brought and tucked around -her, and in a minute she was off like the wind for home, feeling in -spite of her pain a very shy consciousness of her proximity to the -handsome young stranger. - -Lancelot and his fair companion in distress set off rather soberly on -their return to Dabney's hotel. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - - -It was rather an embarrassing position to be placed in both for Lancelot -and the handsome widow. After some little desultory conversation they -both relapsed into silence and walked soberly on their way. - -Mrs. Vance at length broke the silence in a low and very faltering -voice. - -"Lance," she murmured, "I must avail myself of this, the only -opportunity I have had, to crave your pardon and forgetfulness for a -confession which I too sadly remember with blushes of shame for my -madness and folly. Forgive me for recurring to that moment of frenzy and -shame. I only do so to entreat your pardon and crave your -forgetfulness." - -He felt the small hand trembling within his arm where it rested, like a -fluttering bird; looking down in the brilliant moonlight he saw tears -shining like drops of dew on her down-drooped lashes. - -He did not answer, and she continued, in a voice full of sadness and -shame: - -"Words cannot paint my grief and shame for that deeply deplored -confession. Not shame that I love you, Lance, but shame that in an hour -of impulsive and passionate abandonment, I showed you the secret of my -heart and gained in return your bitterest scorn." - -"No, no, you mistake me, dear madam," said he, struggling for words to -reassure her. "It was not scorn--it was grief that moved me to speak as -I did. I felt your words dimly as an outrage on the modesty of -womanhood--oh, forgive me, I do not know how to express myself," cried -he, feeling himself floundering into deeper depths with every effort he -made to extricate himself. - -"You express yourself only too clearly," she cried with inexpressible -bitterness; "I see that my fault will never be forgiven or forgotten." - -"Oh! indeed it will," cried Lance eagerly, trying to condone his -offensive words. "What I meant to say was this; I felt very badly over -your words at first, but since I have seen how much you regret your -rashness I have ceased to consider it anything but a momentary -indiscretion which I trust soon to wholly forget, when you will again be -reinstated in my whole confidence and respect." - -"Oh! thank you, thank you," she cried, chafing at the coldness of his -words, but trying to content herself since she could extract no kinder -speech from him. "Believe me, Lance, I will try to merit your -confidence, and no indiscretion of mine shall wound you again." - -"And we will drop that subject forever, will we not?" said he, leading -her up the hotel steps and into the warm, lighted parlor. - -"Forever!" she answered with a quivering sigh. - -He drew forward a chair before the glowing coal fire and led her to it. - -"You must feel tired and cold after your long walk," he said; "I will -have something warm sent in while I inquire about the sleigh." - -He went away and directly a neat serving-maid entered, bearing a tray of -warm refreshments. - -Mrs. Vance drank some coffee, but had no appetite for the viands, warm -and delicious as they appeared, so the maid, with a courtesy took the -tray and retired. - -She waited some time before Lance returned. He came in looking pale and -troubled. - -"It is too bad," he said in a tone of vexation, "but Dabney's sleigh -which I counted on confidently as being available was hired out in the -earlier part of the evening to a couple of young fellows off on a lark -into the country. They will not return until to-morrow evening." - -"Then what are we to do?" she asked. - -The young fellow smothered some sort of a vexed ejaculation between his -mustached lips. - -"We are to be patient," he answered, grimly. "Dabney knows a man a mile -away from here who keeps a sleigh. He has sent off on the mere chance of -its being at home to secure it for us." - -He went out and left her sitting before the fire gazing into the glowing -coals thoughtfully. - -After he had gone she took out her watch and looked at it. - -"Twelve o'clock," she repeated to herself, putting the watch quietly -back. - -Lance returned after an hour of patient waiting, accompanied by Mr. -Dabney himself. - -"We have been very unfortunate, indeed, in being unable to secure you a -conveyance of any sort to-night, madam," he said, courteously. "It is -now after one o'clock and all efforts have failed. Would it please you -to retire and wait until morning? We will then provide comfortable means -for your return." - -She looked at Lance timidly. - -"It is the only thing to be done," he answered, moodily. "I would walk -to the city myself if it were the slightest use; but I am an indifferent -walker, and could not possibly get back here till long after daylight; -so the only course I see open is to wait for a sleigh which is promised -me in the morning." - -"If that is the case," she answered, sadly, "I should be glad to retire. -I am very tired, and feel the shock of my accident painfully." - -The gentlemen retired, and a maid came in and showed Mrs. Vance to a -sleeping apartment. She locked the door, and threw herself wearily -across the bed. She was laboring under some strong excitement. No sleep -refreshed her burning eyelids that night. At daylight the little maid -knocked at the door with a tempting breakfast arranged on a tray. - -"The sleigh has arrived, and is waiting until you have your breakfast," -said she, politely. - -Mrs. Vance bathed her face and hands, re-arranged her disordered hair, -and after doing full justice to the tray of viands, descended to Lance, -who impatiently waited her coming. - -He helped her into the sleigh, took up the reins and set off homeward. - -"I hope you slept well?" he remarked, to break the awkward silence. - -She turned her dark eyes up to meet his questioning glance. He saw with -surprise they were hollow, languid and sleepless, while a glance of -ineffable anguish shone upon him. - -"Could I sleep well, do you think?" she inquired, in a voice full of -passionate reproach. "Could I sleep at all, knowing the dreadful fate -which awaits me?" - -"I fail to understand you," said he, in a voice of perplexity. - -"You cannot be so blind, Lance. You are only playing with me," she -murmured, sadly. - -"Pray explain yourself," he answered. "I give you my word of honor that -your speech and manner simply mystify me. What dreadful fate awaits you, -Mrs. Vance?" - -She turned upon him a moment with flashing eyes, then looked down again -as she answered in low, intense tones: - -"Do you not understand, Lance, what my pride shrinks from telling you in -plain terms?--the bitter truth that my stay with you last night at the -Dabney Hotel has irretrievably compromised my fair fame in the eyes of -the carping and censorious world?" - -She paused, and Lancelot Darling sat still and motionless like one -stricken with paralysis. - -"Oh! that is impossible," he said at last. "No one knows of our -accident." - -"All New York will know it to-morrow," she said, bitterly. "Ill news -flies apace. To-morrow the finger of scorn will be lifted against me on -every hand. Perhaps even Mr. Lawrence will turn me out of doors." - -The reproach and passion had died out of her voice. It was full of -pathetic pity for her own sorrow. - -"Surely it cannot be as bad as you fear," said Lance, startled and -troubled. - -"Alas! it is too sadly true!" she said, mournfully. - -"What can I do to remedy your trouble?" he inquired, his native -chivalry rising to the surface in defense of the woman he had -unwittingly injured. - -"What _can_ a man do in such cases?" she asked, in a low and meaning -tone. - -"Marry, I suppose?" he said, after a long hesitation. - -"Yes," she answered, quietly. - -Silence fell for the space of a few moments. Lance drove on -mechanically, drawing his breath hard like a hunted animal. - -He roused himself at last and spoke in a cold, constrained, unnatural -tone. - -"Then I will marry you, Mrs. Vance," he said. "I cannot promise to love -you, nay, I can hardly give you the respect I would think the natural -due of some other woman. But since I have injured your honor I will give -you the shelter of my name." - -"Thanks, a thousand thanks," she murmured. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - - -Mr. Shelton did not think it expedient to communicate to Mr. Lawrence -the startling fact that the beloved daughter whom he mourned as dead was -yet numbered among the living. - -He had not the heart to give him this joyful assurance and then offset -it by the statement that she was immured somewhere in the walls of a -prison in the power of two wicked and unscrupulous men. - -He determined, if possible, to trace out her whereabouts and rescue her -before revealing the whole truth to the sorrowing father. - -He therefore compromised the matter by telling a portion only of the -truth to the banker. - -Namely, that he had traced the body of the young girl to a certain house -in the suburbs, but that it had been removed thence when he went to look -for it, and that he was following up a new clew which he confidently -hoped would soon lead to its recovery. - -He also added the fact that Doctor Pratt and Harold Colville were the -guilty parties in the matter. - -Mr. Lawrence was anxious at first to have these two men arrested and -forced to acknowledge their guilt and return the missing body, but he -yielded to Mr. Shelton's contrary persuasions on being assured that such -a proceeding might result in the disastrous failure of his plan. - -"For though we might imprison them, Mr. Lawrence," said he, "the rigor -of the law could not force them to divulge their dreadful secret unless -they chose to do so. It is only too probable that they would maintain -the most obstinate silence on the subject. Therefore let them go free a -little longer, and let us oppose cunning to cunning, and fraud to fraud -until we attain our end." - -The banker acquiesced, and the detective hurried away, for he was -resolved that the wily schemers should not elude him again as they had -certainly done on the occasion of the removal of Lily Lawrence from the -Leverets' house. - -Once more he and his faithful colleague took up their task of espionage, -but it was unavailing for weeks. Harold Colville had conceived a dim -suspicion that he was watched, and was therefore doubly vigilant and -wary. For more than a month he did not visit Lily, but contented himself -by receiving cautious bulletins of her welfare from Doctor Heath, -weekly. The messages went through the mails and were directed to a -fictitious address. - -In these careful weeks a new scheme was revolving in Colville's brain, -always fertile in evil. He was growing heartily tired and impatient at -Lily's obstinacy, and was frightened lest some unforeseen accident -should snatch his lovely prize from him. He began to realize that Lily -would never yield her consent to become his wife, yet he swore to -himself that he would never give her up. He determined, therefore, on a -forced marriage. - -"What do you think of it?" said he to his familiar, Pratt, after -detailing his fears and anxieties to that worthy, and stating his final -resolution. "Would that do?" - -"Excellently well," said Pratt, who began to feel as anxious as Colville -about the obstinacy of their prisoner. "It is the best thing we can do. -Our position is becoming environed with difficulties. If we had not -removed her from Leveret's just in the nick of time, that detective, -Shelton, who found the bodies of Haidee and Peter, must inevitably have -discovered her, and ere this hour we must both have seen the inside of a -prison. Yes, it would be infinitely wiser to force a marriage with the -perverse little jade and carry her off to Europe if need be. Seeing -herself thus irrevocably bound to you, she would understand that her -only hope of happiness lay in reconciliation and she would act -accordingly." - -"Marry it shall be then," said Colville, with a brightening face. "But -when, and by whom? Could we find a priest who would read the ceremony -over us under the peculiar circumstances of the case?" - -"Never fear for that," said Pratt, laughing. "I can find you a priest in -New York who would do the deed without any twinges of conscience for a -pocket full of money. Leave that to me, and when I have found him I will -report progress and you shall name the happy day." - -"It will be a speedy bridal if I am allowed to usurp the lady's usual -prerogative and name the day," returned Colville, in a fine humor with -himself at the near prospect of his union with the beautiful Lily. - -"It will be better to allow her the chance of doing so," replied Pratt, -sarcastically. "Ladies are great sticklers for these small points of -etiquette, you know. After we have settled the preliminaries we will -slip out there some dark night in disguise and acquaint her with the -good fortune in store for her, and give her a chance to yield -gracefully. Should she still refuse we will make no more ado about it, -but take the priest out there next day and marry the beauty -willy-nilly." - -"It is settled, then," said Colville, "and I shall write myself -'Benedick, the happy man.' But, apropos of that, Pratt, whom do you -imagine the chained prisoner found at Leveret's could be? I had no idea -the devils were carrying on such a double game." - -"Nor I," said Pratt. "I have indulged in a great many surmises -respecting that mysterious prisoner, but cannot arrive at anything -satisfactory." - -"Have you fancied it might be _Fanny_?" inquired Colville, fearfully, -while drops of perspiration broke out upon his brow. - -"Yes, I have fancied it might be she," answered Pratt, coolly. "Perhaps -old Peter and Haidee played us false, and did not kill her as you -desired. We were not strict enough with them. We should have demanded a -sight of the body for our assurance." - -"Where is the woman they found?" asked Colville. - -"I have tried to learn her whereabouts diligently," said Doctor Pratt, -"but only ended by asking myself the same question you asked now. It is -rather strange, too; I should have thought there would be no difficulty, -but there seems to be a mystery connected with her removal." - -"If I could find her, and it prove to be Fanny, I would kill her," -muttered Colville, with a fearful oath. - -"Perhaps she is dead already," replied the physician. "The papers -described her as being too far gone to give her name or any evidence -regarding herself. Probably she has succumbed to her great weakness and -died." - -"I hope so," replied the other, "for I have felt horribly afraid that -she might prove to be Fanny." - -"The killing of those two wretches was a most mysterious affair," -remarked Pratt, musingly. - -"Have you any suspicion as to the perpetrator?" asked Harold Colville. - -"Not the slightest. It is a most mysterious affair to me. The wildest -conjecture fails to fathom it." - -"Whoever the mysterious poisoner may be he has my sincere thanks and -best wishes," said Harold Colville, sardonically. "I owed the wretches a -grudge for their attempt on Lily's life!" - -"Yes, their death is eminently satisfactory to me," remarked Pratt. "I -was casting about in my mind for some safe way to punish their perfidy -without getting into trouble myself, when this opportune accident to -their health stepped in between me and my meditated revenge. A pious -person might almost call it an intervention of Providence. - -"I dare say we should have called it an intervention of the devil if we -had not been fortunate enough to carry my lady off safely the night -before it happened," laughed Colville. - -"After all, their plot to kill her was rather fortunate, since we came -in just in time to frustrate it," answered Pratt, "for if they had not -conspired against her life we should not have thought of removing her -that night and she must have fallen into the detective's hands on the -ensuing day." - -"The devil takes care of his own. I am certain his satanic majesty -helped us in that affair," was the laughing reply. - -The two villains continued to indulge in these pleasing retrospections -of the past for some minutes, then separated, the physician going off -on his medical duties, and the man about town to some of his familiar -haunts of dissipation. - -As they emerged from the hotel, each man, unconsciously to himself, was -followed by another man who stole forth from the corridors of the -building. - -One of those men--the same who now followed Pratt--had been outside of -Colville's door, with his ear glued to the keyhole during the progress -of their interesting conversation. It was Mr. Shelton, the detective. - -How little the two conspirators dreamed of what ears had listened to -their nefarious schemes of forcing their victim into a loathsome -marriage by the aid of some priest who disgraced the holy robe he wore -by such sacrilege. - -Fate was weaving her web silently but rapidly around the two wicked -plotters, and ere long they would receive their reward. - -Mr. Shelton had learned several facts unknown to him before while -listening to that private conversation. He resumed his weary task of -espionage, infused with new hope and courage, feeling within himself the -consciousness that he must and would succeed. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - - -Lancelot Darling's unfortunate sleigh-riding accident had achieved for -Mrs. Vance a victory that all her previous arts and maneuvers had failed -to conquer. - -Lancelot's noble and chivalrous spirit could not brook the thought that -any woman's fair name should suffer through his fault or accident. - -He therefore fell an easy victim to her artful wiles, and prepared to -sacrifice himself on the altar of her imperious will, while deploring -with all the passion of his manly nature the cause that demanded it. - -"I thought myself the most miserable of all men on earth before this -happened," said he to Mr. Lawrence, after confiding to him his unhappy -position. "Life has held nothing but despair for me since Lily died. But -now that I must take to my heart, in place of my worshiped darling, this -mature woman, with her bold beauty and coquettish arts, I feel myself, -if possible, driven nearer than before to the verge of madness." - -"I believe you are sacrificing yourself unnecessarily, my boy," said the -banker, warmly, for he saw through the widow's arts directly, and -lamented the chivalrous nature that made Lance become her prey easily. -"I believe Mrs. Vance, in order to secure a rich husband, has -represented matters in a much stronger light than truth would sanction. -Your unfortunate accident is unknown save to a few, and by a timely -whisper to those who are cognizant of it, it need never transpire to the -world. And even if it should there is no harm in it." - -"It would be impossible to convince Mrs. Vance of that," said Lance, -with a heavy sigh. - -"Because she does not desire to be convinced of it," said the banker, -grimly. "In her eagerness to secure you she will make the most of her -small capital that she may delude you into becoming her husband." - -Lance felt that Mr. Lawrence spoke the truth; but he was too modest and -honorable to tell his friend of the previous attempt of the wily widow -to secure him by her bold declaration of love. He felt that he had -gotten into her toils, and that she would never allow him to extricate -himself; so he answered, sadly enough: - -"Be that as it may I have given her my word to make her my wife, and I -cannot now withdraw from it." - -"You would if you were of my mind, though," said his friend; "you are at -least ten years younger than she is, Lance, and the match is totally -unsuitable. Take my advice and withdraw from it. Make over to her a sum -of money. Perhaps that would heal her wounded honor." - -"I do not think she would release me on any terms were I brave enough to -propose it," said Lance; "and to tell you the truth," he added, with a -blush, "I actually believe that the woman really loves me." - -Mr. Lawrence laughed at the blush and the assertion. - -"Perhaps she does," he admitted. "I suppose that would not be difficult -for her to do. Women run mad over handsome faces, you know. But, -seriously, Lance, jesting aside, I would be off with the whole thing. If -you loved her it would be different. She is handsome enough to grace -your home and queen it royally there. But to burden yourself with an -unloved wife will be like hanging a mill-stone about your neck." - -"I wish I could take your advice, sir," said Lance; "but I think it -would be useless to try to get loose from Mrs. Vance. She is quite -determined to write her name Mrs. Darling." - -"How soon does she propose to immolate her victim on the altar of -sacrifice?" inquired the banker, grimly. - -"At a very early day," answered the young man. "The twenty-fourth of -December is her choice." - -"Shameful!" ejaculated the banker. "She is determined to push her power -to the utmost. And you permitted it?" - -"Naming the day is the lady's prerogative, you know, sir," said Lance, -bitterly. "I confess I did hint for a rather longer extension of my -bachelor freedom; but she asserted that the peculiar circumstances -attending our engagement would not admit of farther delay." - -"She was afraid you might possibly escape her toils if you were afforded -a longer time in which to reflect on your position," asserted Mr. -Lawrence. "Well, Lance, if you are determined to sacrifice yourself for -a scruple of overstrained chivalry I need not urge you further. It would -be useless. I am tempted to drive the deceitful jade forth from the -shelter of my roof within the hour." - -"Oh, pray do not," said Lance, earnestly. "It would only precipitate the -evil day of our union. She would claim my protection immediately then." - -"It is very probable she would. For your sake, then, Lance, I will let -her remain, and even allow her marriage to take place in my house; but -I can never like or respect her again, even as your wife." - -"I will leave you to make the truth known to Ada," continued Lancelot, -bitterly; "do not allow her to believe that I am faithless to Lily's -precious memory, Mr. Lawrence." - -"I will tell her the whole truth," answered Mr. Lawrence, deeply moved. - -Lance went away, and Mr. Lawrence hastened to communicate the -astonishing news to Ada, who was confined to her sofa with her sprained -ankle. - -"Papa, I am not so surprised as you expect me to be," said the young -girl, frankly. "I have long seen that Mrs. Vance was using every art in -her power to win poor Lance. Indeed, I incurred her everlasting -displeasure some time ago by boldly charging her with it. She did not -deny it, but retaliated by saying that I wanted him myself. She seized -upon the occurrence of last night as a pretext for winning what she has -long been angling for--the hand of our poor, unhappy Lance." - -"He will live to repent his boyish notion of chivalry, I am sure," he -added; changing the subject abruptly, "I called on young Philip St. John -to-day, and thanked him for his friendliness to you last night, and -invited him to dinner. I had to show him some attention, you know," he -said, observing the flush that colored Ada's cheek so suddenly. "You do -not object, I hope?" - -"Oh, no, no," she murmured; "he was exceedingly kind." - -"He is a very superior young man," said the banker, cordially. "Well -born, wealthy, and a lawyer by profession. He is a particular friend of -Lance, which in itself is a recommendation to any young man," continued -Mr. Lawrence, in whose eyes Lancelot Darling appeared the _beau ideal_ -of human perfection. - -If Mrs. Vance had expected to be congratulated by the banker and his -daughter upon her approaching marriage she was doomed to disappointment. -Neither one of them alluded to it at all, though she knew that Lance had -told them, and that they resented her conduct bitterly by the cold and -altered manner, almost amounting to contempt, with which they treated -her. - -She was obliged to broach the matter to Mr. Lawrence herself, coupled -with a modest request for the funds wherewith to purchase as elaborate a -_trousseau_ as could be gotten in the short time intervening between -then and Christmas. - -Mr. Lawrence, in the grimmest and coldest manner imaginable, presented -her with a check for a thousand dollars, and with profuse thanks she -hurried out to expend it in finery. - -She was very happy now in the coming fulfillment of her cherished -desire, and no coldness, not even the lowering shadow on Lance's face -when he came and went, had power to alter her imperious will. - -To win him she had steeped her hands in human blood and risked the -dangers of the scaffold. It was not likely she would relent now, when -the sin and sorrow lay behind her in the past, and the happy -consummation of all her efforts loomed brightly before her. - -She went on blithely with her task of preparation for the grand event, -seeing dressmakers and milliners daily, and leaving herself no time for -retrospection in her whirl of engagements. And time, that "waits for no -man," hurried on and brought the day of fate. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. - - -Slowly and wearily passed the days to the poor captive girl immured in -the midst of Doctor Heath's insane patients. - -She was kept closely confined to her room, seeing no one at all except -the kind-hearted attendant, Mary Brown, and occasionally Doctor Heath. -Both these persons, in spite of her agonized assertions and -explanations, persisted in regarding her as a lunatic. - -Immured in a madhouse, startled and frightened daily by the insane -shrieks of the mad people about her, and regarded as insane herself, -Lily's heart sank within her, and she began to fear that her mind would -indeed give way under her trials, and she would become in reality the -melancholy maniac they pretended to believe her. - -But she had at least one comfort in the midst of her troubles. She had -been spared for nearly two months the odious visits of Harold Colville -and his confederate, Doctor Pratt. - -She could not conjecture why she had been thus highly favored, but -congratulated herself all the same upon the fact. - -If she had known the real truth of the matter, that they believed -themselves watched and were afraid to venture near her, she would have -felt her heart leap with new hope at the knowledge; but her long -imprisonment and many trials had worn out hope in her breast. She -believed that death was the only friend that would intervene to save her -from Harold Colville. - -She sat sadly musing before her fire one night, when the loud ringing of -the bell below startled her from her dreaming, and the thought that she -was about to receive a visit from her captors darted into her mind. - -Ten minutes elapsed and she began to feel relieved and believe herself -mistaken, when footsteps were heard upon the stairs, and presently the -two wretches entered her room. - -They had remained below long enough to remove their disguises, without -which they had been afraid to visit her. - -They would not have felt so secure if they had known that the lynx-eyed -detective, Mr. Shelton, was pacing up and down the road in front of the -house, laughing in his sleeve at the ineffectual trouble they had taken -in disguising themselves. - -Mr. Shelton had seen this house before, knew that it was a madhouse, was -acquainted with the name of the proprietor, and knew also that he was -suspected at the police headquarters of being engaged in a fraudulent -business, and that a descent upon the house for the purpose of verifying -suspicion was meditated. - -"Ah! Miss Lawrence, good-evening," said Doctor Pratt, airily. "I trust -you find yourself in better health and spirits than when we last met." - -Lily turned her head away without replying, while Colville, bending over -her, whispered gallantly: - -"Ah, my obdurate fair one, have you relented yet?" - -"No," answered Lily, briefly and coldly, withdrawing the hand he had -tried to take in his own. - -"I hoped your mind had changed in the long interval since we last met," -said he, taking a seat near her. - -Doctor Pratt had already taken a chair by the grated window. - -"You were mistaken," she answered, coldly, as before. - -"I think you will admit that I have waited long and patiently on your -pleasure, Lily," said he, in a tone of expostulation. - -Lily lifted her large blue eyes for a moment and looked at him with a -glance in which contempt and weariness were blended. - -"Mr. Colville," she said, quietly, "pray spare yourself the useless -discussion of that subject. You had my answer long ago. I assure you my -decision is unalterable." - -"But, Lily, reflect a moment. Would not a union with me be preferable to -a lifetime of isolation and weariness here?" - -"No," she answered, steadily. "Even the wretched existence I drag out -here among the insane inhabitants of this place is far more welcome to -me than the hated thought of a union with you!" - -"I am sorry you think so," he answered, in tones of bitter sarcasm, "as, -unfortunately, I do not propose to give you any choice in the matter." - -"What do you mean?" she inquired, with a thrill of indefinable fear -creeping coldly around her heart. - -He saw the look of terror that came into her eyes, and, villain though -he was, he hesitated before speaking out what was in his mind. He -glanced at Dr. Pratt and took courage from the gleam of that villain's -eyes. - -"I mean," he answered, in a low voice of concentrated rage and -bitterness, "that your obstinacy has at length worn out my patience, and -I have determined to take my own way in the matter regardless of your -will." - -"What are you going to do?" she asked, in a quivering voice, while her -young face blanched to a deathly hue. - -"I am going to make you my wife without your consent," he answered, -grimly. - -"You cannot!" she answered, with dilating eyes and a trembling voice. -"It would be no marriage if I refused to consent." - -"So much the worse for you, then," he answered, laughing harshly, "for -the marriage ceremony shall certainly be read over us, and that will be -entirely sufficient for me. I shall surely consider you my wife, then, -and take you to my heart without further scruples." - -"No holy man of God would perform such an unhallowed ceremony," said she -incredulously. - -"Do not delude yourself thus, my sweet girl," he laughed mockingly. "A -_bona fide_ priest is already engaged for the important occasion. Will -you be pleased to appoint the happy day?" - -"Never!" she flashed out bitterly. - -"You force me then to usurp your feminine privilege," he answered -coolly. "And in that case your womanly vanity can of course pardon the -impatient ardor of a lover who has waited humbly and patiently as I have -done. To-morrow, then, shall witness our bridal!" - -"To-morrow!" she cried, springing up and clasping her small hands -together in helpless agony. "To-morrow! Oh! no, you do not mean it! You -will not be so cruel?" - -"You will see!" he answered. "I have made every preparation for the -event, even to our bridal tour. To-morrow a steamer leaves her wharf for -Europe. I have secured our passage, and this morning sent aboard of her -a trunk well filled with feminine apparel for your use during the -voyage. Of course you will select your bridal _trousseau_ after we -arrive at Paris. I shall not deny my beautiful bride any luxury. It only -remains for me to inform you that I will bring a priest out here -to-morrow, and our marriage shall be duly celebrated before we take -passage for the Old World." - -Lily remained standing, gazing at the scheming villain with dilated blue -eyes, and lips and cheeks blanched to the pallid whiteness of death. - -Harold Colville laughed mockingly. - -"You may stare, fair one," he said. "To-morrow shall see you my wife. No -power can save you." - -"No power!" she repeated, gazing at him with flashing eyes. "No power! -Oh! blasphemer, do you forget that there is a God above who cares for -the innocent and punishes the guilty? Beware, lest His vengeance fall -upon you in the hour of your fancied triumph!" - -She looked like some beautiful, inspired prophetess as she faced him -with a lifted hand that seemed to menace him with evil. - -Her golden hair had become loosened from its fastenings and streamed -over her shoulders, gleaming around her lovely pallid features like a -halo of light. - -For a moment Harold Colville quailed before her with something like fear -of that dread tribunal with whose vengeance she threatened him. - -His heart sank strangely within him, while hers, for the moment, -thrilled with a presentiment of coming deliverance. - -Surely if "coming events cast their shadows before," both the guilty -Harold Colville and the wronged Lily Lawrence were gifted with a -momentary prescience of that which was hastening to them in the near -future. - -Doctor Pratt saw the subtle shadow settling over Colville's pale -features, and arose hastily. - -"Come, come, Miss Lawrence," he said harshly. "These tragedy airs would -be very fine on the stage, but they are out of place here. Spare -yourself so much unnecessary exertion; you will most certainly become -Mr. Colville's wife to-morrow. Instead of this useless defiance let me -advise you to cultivate a spirit of meekness and submission. It is -useless to threaten us with the punishment of God. We do not believe in -Him!" - -She was walking restlessly up and down the floor, and made him no -answer, save one scathing flash from her brilliant eyes. He turned away -with a laugh of derision. - -"Come, Colville, let us go," he said. "Other matters demand our -attention now. We must arrange matters with Dr. Heath before we go." - -Colville paused at the door and looked at the young girl restlessly -pacing the floor. - -"To-morrow, then, my fair and obdurate love," said he. "To-morrow! Until -then, adieu!" - -No word or motion betrayed that she heard him. - -He closed and locked the door, going away with the exultant thought that -this was his last parting from his beautiful captive. - -She heard the sound of the receding footsteps, and fell on her knees, -lifting up her convulsed face in a passionate appeal to God that He -would deliver her from the snares of these wicked men. - -They went down-stairs and were closeted some time with Doctor Heath. - -When they went away a large roll of bills was passed from the purse of -Harold Colville to the pocket of the complacent little insane-doctor. -Then resuming their disguises they took leave. - -"To-morrow, then," said Colville, as they descended the steps, speaking -thoughtlessly aloud. "To-morrow we shall return, and with the worthy -priest's assistance, I shall bear away my unwilling bride." - -"Hush! do not speak so loud," said Doctor Pratt, cautiously. "The very -stones have ears." - -They sprang into their carriage and drove rapidly away. - -Then a dark form that had been crouching beneath the steps came out and -straightened its cramped limbs. - -"To-morrow," he repeated, with a low, exultant laugh. "To-morrow! Ah! -what a happy day to-morrow will be to some sorrowing hearts that I know -of. Take courage, sweet Lily Lawrence! To-morrow shall see you restored -to the arms of your father and your lover! Let me see--to-morrow is the -twenty-fourth of December. What a triumphant Christmas eve it will be -for me!" - -He walked on some distance to where he had secured his horse, and -mounting him in haste, rode away full of plans for his next day's happy -mission to sorrowing hearts. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - - -It was the twenty-fourth of December and Mr. Lawrence sat alone in his -elegant office at the bank, musing sadly before the glowing fire in the -grate. - -The banker looked worn and sad, and now and then a heavy sigh parted his -well-cut lips, and a dimness crept over his fine blue eyes. - -He was thinking of his beautiful elder daughter whose tragic death had -well-nigh broken his fatherly heart. - -He brushed his handkerchief across his eyes and sighed heavily. - -There was a knock at the door and a clerk entered with Mr. Shelton's -card. - -"Ah!" said Mr. Lawrence. "Show the gentleman in, Mr. Styles." - -Mr. Shelton entered with suppressed excitement beaming from every -feature. His greeting ceremonies were brief and hurried. - -"Mr. Lawrence," he said directly, "I have a carriage in waiting outside. -Will you do me the honor to ride several miles with me this morning?" - -"You have made some important discovery?" exclaimed Mr. Lawrence, rising -excitedly. - -"Yes," answered the detective, "but I cannot explain until we are on our -way. We have not a minute to spare!" - -They hurried out and took their places in the carriage. - -"Driver, you have your directions," said the detective to the man on the -box. "Do not forget. Drive fast and overtake the other carriage if -possible--if not, try and get within sight of it at least." - -"Is there another carriage?" inquired the banker, bewildered. - -"Yes," said Mr. Shelton. "I have sent a carriage ahead of us containing -four policemen, and they are secretly following another carriage. The -first carriage contains Doctor Pratt, Harold Colville, and a priest. -They are on the way to the place where the body of your daughter is -concealed, and we are on our way to secure and arrest them." - -"You are perfectly certain, I hope," said Mr. Lawrence, trembling with -excitement. - -"Yes, success is assured," said Mr. Shelton, with a ring of triumph in -his clear tone. - -"Thank God!" exclaimed the banker fervently. "At last my poor Lily's -desecrated corpse may rest in a fitting sanctuary." - -He leaned over and wrung the detective's hand gratefully. - -"God bless you, my friend, for the patience and perseverance that have -brought this result at last," he said. - -The detective was deeply moved by the emotion of the elder man. - -"Mr. Lawrence," said he, bending forward and speaking in low, impressive -tones, "prepare yourself for a wonderful revelation! Are you strong -enough to bear tidings of great joy?" - -"What do you mean, Mr. Shelton?" inquired the banker with a start. -"Alas! what joyful tidings can come to me, broken-hearted as I am at the -loss of my daughter?" - -The detective leaned forward and laid his hand on the banker's arm. - -"Mr. Lawrence," he said, in a voice that vibrated with feeling, "it is -not the corpse of your daughter that I am about to restore to the -desecrated vault, but the _living_, beautiful Lily that will be given -back to your heart and your home!" - -Mr. Lawrence fell back against the cushion of the carriage like one -stricken with death, so great was the shock of the detective's -revelation. Mr. Shelton took a small flask from his pocket, and forced -some wine between his white and gasping lips. - -"I feared these joyful tidings would unnerve you," said he, gently. -"Calm yourself, my dear sir. Your daughter, whom you have mourned as -dead, yet lives. It was her own living self that you saw in your hall -that night, not her spirit!" - -"Oh! God be thanked! Lily lives!" repeated the banker in a low voice of -ecstasy. - -Shelton put his head out of the carriage window a moment. - -"We have caught up with the officers' hack," said he. "Now we are all -right. Driver, just keep on at your present pace. We do not need to go -faster." - -"Every moment seems an hour," exclaimed the banker, in a fever of -anxiety and impatience. "Oh, to think that my darling lives! And yet, -oh, God! what would be her feelings on learning that her betrothed will -wed another to-night!" - -"Do not distress yourself about that marriage, Mr. Lawrence," answered -the detective. "I assure you it shall never be consummated." - -"Ah! you think she will generously yield him to Lily when she finds that -she is still living?" said the banker; "but you do not know Mrs. Vance. -Nothing would induce her to release her victim from the toils she has -wound about him." - -"Perhaps I know more of Mrs. Vance than you suppose," said Mr. Shelton. -"For instance, Mr. Lawrence, you believe that your daughter committed -suicide--do you not?" - -"It was the jury's verdict," said the banker. - -"Mr. Lawrence, your daughter was as happy and as much in love with life -as you believed her to be. She never attempted to commit suicide," said -the detective, firmly. - -"She did not? Then who--what--?" began the banker, in a maze of -bewilderment. - -"The dagger that pierced her innocent breast was driven home by the -murderous hand of Mrs. Vance!" was the reply. - -Fear, horror and amazement were blended on the pale, excited features of -the listener. His gray head fell back against the cushions of the -carriage, and he struggled helplessly for speech in which to express his -feelings. Mr. Shelton again had recourse to his convenient flask of -wine. - -"I fear I am exciting you too much with my astonishing revelations," -said the detective, kindly. "I do not wonder at your emotion, for my own -agitation at learning these facts was great. How much more poignant must -your feelings be than mine were, under the circumstances that affect you -so closely." - -"The viper! The serpent that stung the hand that warmed and fed her!" -exclaimed the banker, bitterly. - -"You may well say so," said Mr. Shelton. "She has indeed proved herself -a monster of ingratitude! But to-day she will find herself foiled and -ruined. She has but a few hours remaining to her now of her fancied -security and happiness." - -"God be thanked!" said the banker; "and, oh! Mr. Shelton, are we almost -there? The time seems so long. Forgive a father's impatience, but you -cannot imagine what suspense I suffer, what longings overwhelm me at the -thought that I shall soon clasp my darling Lily to my heart again!" - -"We shall soon be there now. Patience, my friend," said the detective. -"Believe me, I sympathize in your impatience to behold your daughter -again." - -"You are a noble fellow, Mr. Shelton," said the banker. "You will not -find me ungrateful." - -The carriage slackened its pace, and Mr. Shelton put his head out of the -window. - -"We are there," he exclaimed in a voice that trembled with excitement -and triumph, while his manly, handsome features beamed with joy. - -The carriage stopped and Mr. Shelton descended, followed by the banker, -who trembled so that he could scarcely stand upon the ground. - -The four officers had already descended from their vehicle and stood -respectfully awaiting Mr. Shelton's approach. The empty carriage of -Pratt and Colville stood in waiting before the door. - -At a word from Mr. Shelton they all ascended the steps, and the -detective rang a furious peal upon the bell. - -The summons was unanswered. Mr. Shelton rang again and again with a like -result. - -"What will you do now?" asked Mr. Lawrence, in a perfect fever of dread -and impatience. - -"Burst in the door!" said the detective, in a ringing voice. - -At the word the four officers fell to furiously with their clubs upon -the door. A few moments of their impetuous battering sufficed to burst -it in, and they all bounded tumultuously into the hall. - -A neat-looking maid-servant stood at the bottom of the stairway, looking -frightened and indignant. It was none other than Mary Brown. - -"Woman," said Mr. Shelton, imperiously, "lead the way to Miss Lawrence's -room immediately!" - -"It's against orders, sir," said Mary, sullenly. - -"No matter, do as I bid you!" thundered the impatient detective. - -"Miss Lawrence has company, sir, and the orders are not to admit any -one." - -"Push her aside, men; we will hunt for Miss Lawrence ourselves," said -the detective sternly. - -Strong hands forced Mary aside from her position on the stairway. -Several domestics, attracted by the noise, had hastened up from the -regions of the basement and stood staring stupidly, but did not offer -any resistance to the officers' power. The men began to mount the stairs -rapidly, and Mary Brown rushed frantically after them. - -"Oh! for the Lord's sake, gentlemen," she panted, "don't burst in the -doors up-stairs, and let the poor crazy people out upon us. They will -murder us all." - -"Will you do as we told you, then?" asked the detective, sharply. - -"Oh! yes, yes," whimpered Mary, running along in front of them. "This -way, gentlemen." - -She stopped, at length, and indicated the door. It was locked, but the -officers' clubs demolished it directly, and not a moment too soon were -they for what was progressing within that room. - -The villanous priest who was desecrating his holy office by this -sacrilege, stood in the center of the floor with his prayer-book open at -the marriage service, from which he was slowly reading. Colville stood -in front of him, and the united efforts of the worthy doctors, Pratt and -Heath, were employed in holding up the form of Lily Lawrence beside him. - -With a scream of horror Mr. Lawrence rushed forward, and snatching his -daughter from their villanous hold, he folded her tightly to his heart. -She looked up an instant with a wild and piercing shriek, and seeing the -beloved face of her father, dropped unconscious in his loving arms. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - - -"Harold Colville, Doctor Pratt and Doctor Heath, you are under arrest," -cried the detective, in a ringing voice that fell on the ears of the -villanous trio like the trump of doom. "Officers, secure your men." - -There was a brief struggle, accompanied by loud cries and oaths, then -the superior power of the policemen triumphed, and each man had his -prisoner handcuffed and reduced to grim silence. The fourth officer had -collared the fat little priest, who was struggling in his grasp. - -In the meantime Mr. Lawrence had been vainly striving to restore the -consciousness of his fainting daughter. He had laid her upon the bed, -and was wildly chafing her cold hands, while he called her by every term -of love his fond affection could devise. - -"Here, woman," said Mr. Shelton to Mary Brown, who lingered in the hall -looking in at the scene, "come and lend a hand in reviving the young -lady. She has fainted." - -Mary hurried in with alacrity, and Lily was soon restored to partial -consciousness, to the great delight of her father. She lay quite still, -with half-open eyes, contemplating the banker's face with an expression -of languid ecstasy, though she trembled excessively. - -"I must get my prisoners away at once," said Mr. Shelton. "Do you think -you are strong enough to return to the city with us now, Miss Lawrence?" - -She looked up in languid inquiry at the strange yet kindly voice -addressing her so respectfully, and made an effort to rise, but fell -backward wearily. Doctor Pratt turned about sullenly. - -"In my character of a physician," said he, shortly, "I would advise you -not to remove the young lady for several hours. She needs complete rest -for a little while to recover from the shock she has sustained. You can -take my advice or not, as it pleases you." - -Mr. Shelton looked at the banker. He in turn looked inquiringly at the -pale face of his daughter. - -She answered in feeble tones: - -"Perhaps he is right. I feel completely exhausted now. Allow me an -interval of rest, and then, oh! how gladly I will leave this place with -you, dear papa." - -"I will take these men into the city, then," said the detective, "and -return for you, Mr. Lawrence, as we intend to search the house -thoroughly. It is strongly suspected that some persons as sane as you or -I are confined here through the wickedness of their relatives and the -connivance of this man, Dr. Heath. I will leave two officers on guard -here while I am away." - -He went out, followed by the officers with their prisoners. Mary Brown -followed after, and the banker was left alone with the daughter who had -been so strangely restored to him after he had mourned her as dead for -many months. He bent down and clasped her in his arms, and his joyful -tears rained upon her sweet, white face. - -A smile of heavenly sweetness beamed on her pale face. She lay still a -little while, nestling against her father's breast, trying to picture to -herself the ineffable sweetness of the re-union that awaited her. She -pictured to herself the happiness that would shine in the dark eyes of -her lover when she came back to him as one from the dead. Her heart -began to beat tumultuously, and a tinge of color crept into her wasted -cheeks. She closed her eyes to shut out the hateful sight of her prison -walls, and fancied herself at home with the loved ones instead. - -In the meantime Mr. Lawrence was gazing sadly on her pale and wasted -features, marking the mournful ravages privation and sorrow had worked -in that once blooming face. - -"My Lily," he said, in a tone of anguish, taking up one delicate hand -and looking at the blue veins wandering so clearly over its surface, -"you have grown to be a lily indeed. How white and wan you look." - -She trembled and clung closer to his breast. - -"Ah! papa," she murmured, "they tried to starve me into compliance with -their wishes. But though my strength failed and my beauty faded, I would -not give up, though I thought I should have died with the weakness and -the horror of it all." - -"The devils!" exclaimed Mr. Lawrence, smothering a stronger malediction -between his lips. - -"Papa," she said, in her weak tones, "you know all, do you not? How Mrs. -Vance hated me for Lancelot's sake? How she tried to murder me?" - -"Yes, my dear," he answered, gently. "Thank God, her wicked attempt did -not succeed. A terrible retribution awaits her." - -"Papa, I can forgive her now since I am restored to you all again," said -Lily, sweetly. "Cannot we let her go away and not punish her for her -cruelty? I hated her at first, but that is all over with now since she -has failed in her endeavor. You know it was all because she loved my -Lancelot." - -"My love," said the banker, "your sweet forgiveness is angelic; but the -secret of Mrs. Vance's crime is in other hands than mine. However much -we might wish to shield her from the consequences of her sin we could -not do so. The law will have to take its course." - -He did not tell her of the marriage that was to take place between her -lover and Mrs. Vance that night. In her weak state he feared to shock -her by the disclosure. He hoped that they would reach home before the -appointed time, and forestall the dreaded event, and he resolved that -the knowledge of it should never come to Lily's hearing. - -Mr. Shelton returned in a few hours and instituted a search. As he had -suspected, several sane persons were found confined in the house, and -these were set at liberty, swearing deadly vengeance against Dr. Heath -and sundry wicked relatives. The evening was far advanced, and the -detective began to see the necessity of his hastening Miss Lawrence away -if they were to reach Fifth avenue in time to stop the contemplated -marriage of Lancelot to Mrs. Vance. He accordingly stated the fact to -Mr. Lawrence. - -Lily was feeling stronger and better, and declared her desire to start -immediately. The carriage was made as comfortable as possible with -pillows and cushions, and the young girl was lifted tenderly into it. - -They then set forth rapidly on their journey, but the early winter -twilight had given place to night before they reached the banker's -house. - -Lily's heart beat rapidly as they reached home. She remembered the last -time she had glided up those steps, worn and weary, but, oh! so happy in -the prospect of reunion with her loved ones, and the cruel hand that had -snatched her away in the moment that she beheld the faces she had so -longed to behold. She clung convulsively to her father's arm as they -stepped upon the pavement. - -"Courage, dear," he whispered, feeling how she trembled, and how -nervously she glanced about her. "You are safe, love. No one can harm -you now." - -"Oh! papa," she whispered, after her first startled glance around her. -"What does all this mean? Is Ada giving a party?" - -Mr. Lawrence glanced up in dismay. He knew what to expect, but he had -fondly hoped to reach home before matters went so far. - -The mansion was brilliantly lighted from top to bottom. A silken awning -extended from the house out to the street to shelter the heads of the -guests from the few flying flakes of snow that whirled homelessly -through the bitter cold air. They stepped from the carriage upon an -elegant Turkey carpet that led to the marble steps. - -Every arrangement betokened a grand reception, and as they walked -through the wide hall, lined with staring servants, the notes of the -wedding march pealed forth from the grand organ in the music-room. - -"Oh, God, if we should be too late!" whispered Mr. Lawrence to the -detective. - -"It seems that we are just in time," whispered Mr. Shelton reassuringly. - -"Must we take Lily in with us?" asked the banker dubiously. - -"Yes," was the firm reply, and at the words all three stepped across the -threshold of the open drawing-room door. - -What a startling sight met the eyes of the fair young girl so strangely -restored to her home and loved ones! - -The room was crowded with guests, elegantly arrayed, the men in their -fine black reception suits, the women in their satins and laces and -sparkling jewels. Hot-house flowers were in profusion everywhere. A -beautiful horse-shoe, formed with white flowers, depended from the -ceiling, and beneath it Lily saw a group that seemed to freeze the blood -in her veins to solid ice. - -Brilliantly beautiful, flushed with love and triumph, Mrs. Vance stood -there in elaborate bridal robes, leaning on the arm of a splendidly -handsome young man. His face was slightly turned away, but Lily knew it -was none other than her own betrothed, Lancelot Darling, who was -listening so calmly there to the opening words of the beautiful marriage -service read by the lips of the white-haired and venerable clergyman. At -one glance she took in the whole appalling scene, and then a shriek of -agony, loud, piercing, horror-stricken, broke from the lips of the -stricken girl, thrilling every heart with terror. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - - -So wild and startling was that anguished scream that even the bride and -groom sprang apart and looked toward the door in terror. - -Lance saw his lost darling standing there, clinging to the arm of her -father, the dark hood thrown back from her head, and her golden hair -streaming over her shoulders and about her lovely face, now convulsed -with pain and grief. - -With a wild prescience of the truth, he rushed forward and with a -ringing cry of joy caught his darling to his heart. - -At the same moment the clear, full voice of the detective pealed through -the large apartment thronged with wedding guests, with the suddenness of -a trumpet call. - -"Mrs. Vance, I arrest you for the attempted murder of Lily Lawrence, and -that of Haidee and Peter Leveret!" - -The detective had instantly recognized her form as that of the woman he -had seen walking in the road near the Leveret house the day of the -murder, and the conviction rushed upon him with the suddenness of a -flash of lightning. - -None who were present ever forgot the look of the guilty woman as those -clarion tones fell upon her ears. - -Her brain was reeling with horror, her heart beat to suffocation's verge -as she beheld Lancelot clasping her rival to his heart. - -When the detective's ringing voice with its dreadful accusation reached -her hearing, she turned her face on him a moment, and its expression of -awful horror and black despair was fearful to behold. - -The next instant she threw up her arms with a wail of agony, and fell -down in a writhing heap upon the floor. - -The aged minister, who stood nearer to her than the rest of the guests, -hastened to lift her up, though he was trembling so perceptibly he could -hardly stand. - -As he raised the dark head on his arm and turned her face upward to the -light, a stream of blood gushed from her lips and poured its crimson -rain upon the stainless whiteness of her bridal robe and veil. - -"She has burst a blood vessel," said a physician in the crowd, now -coming forward. "She will die." - -The words reached her ears as they knelt around her trying to stanch the -life tide flowing thick and fast from her lips. Her dark eyes opened and -stared up into their faces with a mute despair awful to behold. - -She must die! That was the only triumph that was left her out of the -full cup of happiness pressed to her lips overflowingly but a moment -ago! She might cheat the scaffold of its prey--that was all! Life with -all its pleasures and luxuries lay before her just a moment before--now, -darkness and the grave! Like one in a dream she seemed to recall words -carelessly heard in the past that lay behind her forever beyond recall: - -"_The wages of sin is death!_" - -They gathered around her, the awe-stricken guests, with their pale, pale -faces and gala attire, and looked at her dying before them with the -awful stain of murder on her soul--that beautiful woman with the bridal -wreath crowning her coronal of dark hair, and her satin robe deluged -with her life-blood--such a beautiful, beautiful sinner! - -Her haunting eyes roved over their faces restlessly, seeking, seeking -for one face that was not there. _He_ stood apart with Mr. Lawrence and -Ada, showering caresses on the pale, almost fainting girl lying on a -sofa, with her dear ones clustered round her. Mrs. Vance could not see -them, but her quick intuition told her the truth, and the groan that -burst from her lips brought with it a fresh torrent of life-blood. - -"She wishes to see someone, I think," said the physician, interpreting -her yearning look. - -She gave him a glance of assent, and, with a violent effort, pronounced -almost unintelligibly the name of "Lance." - -Mr. Shelton, who had stood beside her, carried the message to Lancelot, -but in his passionate anger against her the young man refused to go, and -the detective went back without him. - -"He refuses to see you," he said, with a pitying glance at her ghastly -face. - -The streaming blood had ceased to flow for the moment, and as the -physician wiped the stains from her gasping lips, she whispered, -brokenly: - -"Bring Lily!" - -The gaping throng parted to admit Mr. Shelton, with Lily Lawrence -clinging to his arm. She knelt down, trembling, and took into her own -white, innocent hand the crimson-stained one that had thrust the dagger -into the gentle bosom. - -Her blue eyes beamed with the soft compassion of an angel's as she -looked down upon the fallen woman. - -"I am here, Mrs. Vance," she said, in her sweet, flute-like voice. "I -am not angry now. I forgive you everything--freely!" - -But Mrs. Vance pushed away the hand that held hers as if its soft clasp -hurt her. - -"I do not want forgiveness," she gasped, in broken, yet defiant tones. -"I want--Lance. Bring--him--to me." - -Silently the young girl turned away, followed by the wondering and -admiring glances of all. - -She came back at last, bringing with her the reluctant one for whom the -dying woman waited longingly. He bent down over her, trying to hide his -horror and aversion under a mask of calmness. - -The dark eyes, fast growing dim, lighted up with passion as she looked -upon his face. - -"I wanted--to tell you," she gasped, faintly, "that--that all -my--sin--was for--love of you, Lance!" - -He bowed in silence. He had no words with which to answer her passionate -avowal. - -"She is going very fast," said the physician, in a whisper. - -Mr. Shelton bent over her. - -"Do you confess your crimes?" he inquired, in a low voice. - -Her eyes left Lancelot Darling's face one moment, while she gazed into -that of the detective. - -"You are--my--accuser?" she faltered. - -"I am," he answered, briefly. "Do you confess?" - -She did not answer. Her gaze had gone back to Lancelot Darling's face, -searching its cold, immovable outlines longingly. The white-haired man -of God bent over her gently. - -"Do you confess your sins?" he inquired. - -No answer. Her dying gaze was fixed on the one beloved face to the -exclusion of all other earthly objects. The minister touched her arm -gently. - -"I pray you," he said, "do not suffer yourself to die with your -unconfessed sins lying heavy on your soul." - -She heard the words, and spoke faintly to her idol: - -"What is it they want--of me--Lance?" - -"To confess your crimes," he said, coldly. "Oh! Mrs. Vance, are you -indeed guilty of all with which you are accused?" - -"All, all!" she murmured, hollowly. "I tried--to kill Lily--first, you -see--then when I felt safe--from detection--old Haidee learned my -secret--and threatened to tell _you_--_you_, my darling! So I poisoned -her and the old man both--to save myself. But, Lance--it was all for -love of you!" - -There was neither regret nor repentance in her tone--nothing but -passionate love and despair. He did not answer, and she broke forth -wailingly: - -"Oh! Lance, do but say that--you--are sorry--that I must die! Say -that--you might have learned to love me--poor me--if you had not -learned--my fatal secret!" - -Lance turned his head away that he might not see the agonized pleading -of her eyes, and seeing that he could not answer her, the minister again -spoke gently: - -"Mrs. Vance, the time for human love is over with you now! Look rather -to the Divine love that is able to pardon your sins though they be as -scarlet. Do you repent?" - -"Repent!" she echoed, with a wild and chilling laugh. "Repent! No, -never! Were it all to do over again, and the prize the same, I would -wade through seas of blood to reach my darling's heart! All for _love_, -and--my soul--well--lost!" - -With the wild, defiant words, a fresh stream of blood poured forth from -her lips. - -There was a gasp, a spasmodic tremor of all the features, a convulsive -quiver of the limbs, and the soul of the guilty woman went wandering -forth into the vast arcana of eternity! - -"The wages of sin is death." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX. - - -On the day that Mr. Lawrence paid the reward of ten thousand dollars to -the detective, Lancelot Darling was present. - -He immediately wrote a check for fifteen thousand dollars and tendered -it to Mr. Shelton, saying gracefully: - -"Allow me also to testify some slight sense of my gratitude, although -money alone can never pay the great debt we owe you!" - -"Our hearty appreciation and faithful friendship shall unfailingly pay -the interest, at least," added the banker cordially. - -Mr. Shelton's fine features beamed with pride and joy. He felt a -pardonable elation at the wonders his skill and patience had -accomplished. - -He felt within himself the proud consciousness that his indefatigable -perseverance had nobly earned his success. - -Within a few weeks he had the pleasure of seeing Doctor Pratt and Harold -Colville sentenced to the penitentiary for a long term of years, and -Doctor Heath also was duly punished for his wickedness. - -The testimony of Lily Lawrence and Fanny Colville filled the thronged -court-room with horror on the day of the trial. - -Everyone felt that lynching would not be too bad for such villains; but -the sentence of the court was duly carried out, and the wretches were -incarcerated in the penitentiary. - -Doctor Pratt served out his sentence faithfully. When it was ended he -left the shores of America for a foreign land, not, as some may suppose, -to repent of his sins, but solely to hide his dishonored head from the -contempt of all who knew him, and begin again under new auspices a -second career of vice and crime. - -Harold Colville's patience could not uphold him, as it did his -colleague, the doctor. Solitude and confinement fairly maddened him. - -Within a few months after the trial he hung himself in his cell, and -sent his wicked soul forth into the darkness of eternity. - -Fanny Colville was thus left a widow, and on producing requisite -evidence that she had been the dead man's wife, inherited his handsome -property. - -She took possession of his wealth, feeling herself honestly entitled to -it, purchased a handsome house in the city, and brought her old mother -from the country to live with her, while the friendly Mrs. Mason was -duly installed as her housekeeper. - -In the meantime Fanny had paid several visits to Lily Lawrence, and the -two young creatures had exchanged numberless congratulations with each -other on the happy termination of their mutual trials. - -"I never should have recognized you, my dear," Lily said frankly at -their first meeting, "if Mr. Shelton had not informed me who was coming. -When I _first_ saw you I could not believe that you were not an old -woman. Now you have grown young and pretty." - -Fanny laughed and blushed at the compliment, and it only made her more -attractive. In truth, she deserved Lily's praise. - -Her clear, dark complexion began to glow with health and strength. Her -softly rounded cheeks had a soft tint glowing on them like the heart of -a sea-shell. - -She had beautiful eyes, large, dark and expressive, and her black hair, -which Mrs. Mason had shingled close to her head, now clustered in short, -silky rings about her brow, adding a charming piquancy to her pretty -face. - -Her dress, too, was always as perfectly elegant as wealth and taste -could make it, so that many more beside Lily Lawrence considered the -dark-eyed widow young and pretty. - -Mr. Shelton was among the number of those who agreed with Lily. - -The forlorn young creature whom he had rescued and cared for had begun -to twine herself about his heart. - -He was a bachelor, and forty years old, but his heart was not proof -against Cupid's darts. - -Now since Fanny Colville had come into his path of duty, pity and -kindness had grown into love, strong, fervent, and abiding. - -He strolled into her drawing-room one day a few months after her -husband's death, and found her sitting cosily before the fire with a bit -of fancy-work lying on her lap. - -"I hope I do not disturb you," he said, noting her dreamy look. "You -seemed to be thinking on some very absorbing subject when I entered." - -"I was thinking of you, Mr. Shelton," returned the young widow, with a -smile and a slight blush. - -"Of me!" exclaimed the detective, observing the blush with a thrill of -pleasure. "I hope your thoughts were agreeable ones." - -"They could not be otherwise when I think of my kind friend and -preserver," answered Fanny, giving him a gentle glance from her frank, -dark eyes. "Oh, Mr. Shelton, when I think of myself as I was when you -discovered me in that loathsome dungeon, starving and freezing in my -wretched rags, and delivered me from my bonds--when I remember that and -contrast it with my present happy lot, I feel that I can never repay the -great debt of gratitude I owe you." - -"I fear," he said, at length, "that you overestimate the value of the -service I did you, Mrs. Colville. It is true, I suppose that I saved -your life, but what then? Life to many is not as great a boon that they -would thank one for saving it." - -"Ah, but they are misanthropic," returned Fanny, brightly. "Life to me, -Mr. Shelton, is a great boon. I love to live! I love to feel the warm -blood rushing through my veins with the ardor of youth and hope. I love -to feel my pulses bounding with life's fitful fever. Oh, Mr. Shelton, -can I do nothing to show my gratitude for all you have done for me?" - -The detective drew nearer and took her soft, warm hand impulsively in -his own. - -"Yes, dear Fanny," he said, his deep, manly voice trembling with -emotion. "Give me the life I saved for my reward. Give me your own sweet -self for the day-star of my future. Be my wife!" - -Blushing and startled, Fanny looked up into his face, but her eyes -drooped swiftly before the great tenderness in his. - -The next moment she laid both hands in his and whispered, between April -smiles and tears: - -"Take me if I can make you happy. I ask no brighter fate." - - - - -CHAPTER XL. - - -It was the close of New Year's Day, and Lily and Ada Lawrence stood -together in the grand drawing-room, their arms fondly interlaced, the -glow of firelight and gaslight shining down like a blessing on their -golden heads. - -Ada was perfectly lovely in an elegant costume of white cashmere and -blue brocaded silk. The only ornaments of her fair girlish beauty were -knots of fragrant blue and white violets. - -"My darling sister," said the younger girl affectionately, "you look -very weary. Sit down here in this comfortable arm-chair and rest." - -She drew forward the chair as she spoke, but before Lily could seat -herself two more visitors were announced. They were Lancelot Darling and -Philip St. John. - -Lancelot's friend was duly presented to Lily, and after a little -friendly chatter Lance stole away with his darling to the quiet library. - -"My dearest, I am very selfish," he said to her fondly. "I want you all -to myself, that I may look at you, listen to you, and feel that my -happiness is real, and not a dream from which I may awaken to the pangs -of bereavement!" - -They sat down together on a low divan before the glowing fire. Lancelot -drew the golden head down upon his breast and pressed passionate, -lingering kisses on the sweet red lips of his long-lost darling. - -"My darling," he whispered, presently, "our wedding-day has been long -deferred, When shall I have the happiness of claiming you before all the -world?" - -"Papa and Ada could not bear to give me up yet," said Lily, smiling at -his eagerness. - -"I do not want to be selfish, love," he said; "I know you wish to stay -with them a little longer, and I know how hard it would be to them to -give you up now. But you must pity my loneliness and come to me soon." - -"I want to get my roses back first," she answered, demurely. "I am so -weak and weary from all that I have suffered that I should be a pale and -faded bride if I came to you now. You must wait, dear Lance, until I -grow strong and well again before I don the bridal veil." - -"How long must I wait, then?" he inquired. - -"Till the roses come again," she answered; "you know how I love the -summer, with its beautiful sunshine and fragrant flowers. I should like -for the happiest event of my life to be associated with the sweetest -month in the year. Let it be in June." - -Lance was beginning a passionate protest when the door opened and Mr. -Lawrence entered. - -The banker looked very bright and happy as his eyes fell on the handsome -pair before him. - -"Here, papa," said Lily, making room for him beside her; "I am very glad -you have come, for I think Lance was just about to find fault with me." - -"On what pretext?" inquired her father, kissing her sweet, upturned -lips. - -"For cruelty," said Lance, promptly. "She actually intends to defer our -marriage until June." - -"Soon enough," said the banker, laughing at the young man's impatience. -"You must leave us our darling yet awhile, Lance. Come and see her every -day if you choose, my boy, but do not persuade her to leave us yet. It -will be hard to give her up, even to you." - -When the beautiful "month of roses" came round again, Mr. Lawrence had -to lose both his lovely daughters. - -Philip St. John had wooed and won the beautiful, girlish Ada, and Lily's -bridal day was to be hers also. - -Once again Lily stood in her old familiar chamber, with the robes of -satin and lace trailing over the velvet carpet, and the snowy mist of -the bridal veil hiding the blushes that came and went on her lovely -face. - -"There is no one to envy your happiness now, Lily," said Ada, as she -clasped the pearl necklace around her sister's snowy neck. "That -dreadful woman is dead!" - -"It is so cruel a thing to remember, dear; let us try to forget the sin, -and forgive the sinner!" - -"Amen!" said Ada, solemnly. - -Mr. Lawrence came in, and kissed and blessed them with a sadness on his -face that he could not wholly hide. The only alleviation to the sorrow -of that hour was the knowledge that he was giving the happiness of his -beloved children into the keeping of "good men and true." - -"Papa, you must not forget what I told you once before," whispered Lily, -through April tears and smiles. "You will not lose your daughters; you -will only gain two sons." - -Lily was to go to a beautiful home on Fifth avenue, close to that of her -father. Lancelot had been busy for months preparing his splendid mansion -for the home-coming of his bride, and now it only awaited the sunshine -of her presence to become an earthly Eden. - -Ada and her husband were to live with the banker. His great house would -be so lonely, the old man pleaded, with both his darlings gone. So they -yielded to his wish and promised to make his house their home as long as -he lived. - -The grand portals of Trinity Church opened wide to admit the two lovely -brides. - -New York had never seen a grander marriage, nor brides so lovely, nor -bridegrooms more gallant and handsome. Trinity was thronged with their -friends, and the pavements outside were crowded with interested -spectators. No marriage had excited so much interest for years as that -of the lovely girl whose romantic story was known far and wide. - -"She is beautiful as a dream," they whispered, when the first bride -passed over the flower-strewn pavement to the church steps. "And the -sister is equally lovely," they cried, rapturously, when the trembling -Ada followed after her. - -"God bless them both!" whispered a good woman who had a prominent seat -in the church. - -It was Mrs. Mason, the kind soul whom Lily had not forgotten when her -wedding cards were issued to her friends. - -So amid good wishes and blessings the fair brides passed up the stately -aisle on the arms of their father, followed by a score of lovely -bridesmaids in snowy flower-bedecked robes. At the altar they were met -by Lancelot and Philip, and then, above the pealing notes of the wedding -march, the minister's voice arose in the beautiful words of the marriage -service. - -Silence brooded over the throng softly as the wings of a dove, while the -holy, reverent words filled the church. In the stillness the sweet -responses of the brides even were distinctly audible. The rings were -slipped upon their fingers, the solemn words of the benediction were -spoken, and then, with the sweet strains of music echoing above their -heads, the fragrance of flowers beneath their feet, and the tender -blessings of friends around them, the two beautiful brides, with their -chosen mates, went forth with smiles to the future that lay beaming in -the sunshine of love and happiness. - - -[THE END.] - -[Illustration] - - - - - QUEENIE'S TERRIBLE SECRET - - OR, - - _A Young Girl's Strange Fate_. - - By MRS. ALEX. McVEIGH MILLER. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - -"There is positively not a dollar left to buy a dress for Queenie and -yet she _will_ insist upon going to the ball. Could you let me have your -old green silk to make over for her, Sydney?" - -The small figure perched on the top of a large Saratoga trunk sprang -down upon the floor, and stamped her foot so vehemently that the blue -satin bow flew off from her tiny slipper. - -"_Wear_ Sydney's old green silk to the ball!" cried Queenie, -indignantly. "Indeed I _won't_, mamma, I will stay at home first!" - -"The best place for you," said her sister, Sydney, calmly. "I see no use -in taking a child like you to Mrs. Kirk's grand ball." - -"A child, indeed," flashed the younger sister, with a pout of her -rosebud lips. "I am as tall as you, Syd, and I was seventeen yesterday. -It's real mean to call me a child and leave me at home every time I get -invited out. I know why it is, though. It's because mamma spends every -dollar papa gives her decking out you and Georgie, and there's never a -decent thing left for me to wear." - -"It is because you are too pretty, my dear," laughed her father, who had -entered the dressing-room unnoticed. "The girls keep you back because -they are afraid you will cut them out with their fine beaux." - -Sydney and Georgina flushed angrily and muttered that it wasn't so, and -that papa ought to be ashamed of himself--it was all his fault that -Queenie was setting herself up for a woman so fast when he couldn't -afford to dress the two that were already grown decently enough for the -position they had to fill in society. - -The poor, worried mother, having been so quickly snubbed on the subject -of the old green silk, looked on and said nothing. - -"I give you every cent I can spare from my business, girls," said Mr. -Lyle, in a vexed tone, "and this time I strained a point and pinched -myself in order that little Queenie might have a new dress and go to the -ball, too." - -"But they have spent every cent upon themselves!" cried pretty little -Queenie with the tears of vexation standing in her pansy-blue eyes. "The -dressing-room is littered all over with their finery yet they want me to -wear that horrid green silk of Syd's! A pretty fright I should look!" - -"Never mind, dear, you can stay at home with your old papa. Your time -will come after awhile when the girls are married and out of the way," -said her father kindly, as he drew his arm about her. "Maybe it is true -that I have spoiled you, dear, and that you are too young to go to such -a grand ball." - -"No, I am not, papa. I am quite old enough, and I know how to dance, and -I love to dance, and I _will_ go to the ball," exclaimed the pretty, -willful little creature, with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes. - -"But, Queenie, what on earth will you wear?" asked the poor, tired -mother, who was quite worn out with the worry of keeping herself and her -two elder girls well-dressed. "I have no money to give you a new dress." - -Queenie stood meditating, with her head perched on one side like a -little bird, her slender, arched brows puckered into a thoughtful frown. - -"I'll tell you," said she at length, "I shall sell my painted fan--the -white satin one that Uncle Rob sent me from Paris. It is worth fifteen -dollars at least, and I can certainly get five for it. Five dollars will -buy lots of white tarleton, and I can make the dress myself. There are -plenty of flowers in the garden, so you see I can make a toilet for the -ball," she added, half laughing. - -"Sell Uncle Rob's gift!" cried mamma and the girls in concert. - -"Necessity knows no law!" answered Queenie, dancing out of the room to -avoid their remonstrances. - -"Mr. Lyle, you really should not allow her to sell her uncle's beautiful -gift!" exclaimed Mrs. Lyle, in a vexed tone. - -"I certainly shall not try to prevent her," answered her husband, rather -shortly. "If you had acted fairly by her and divided the money I gave -you for the three girls she need not have been driven to such straits as -to sell her pretty fan. Why, I gave you a hundred dollars, and she only -wants five for her dress. You might have spared her that small -pittance!" - -"I did not think she would be contented with such a shabby dress," -muttered Mrs. Lyle. - -"Queenie only wants to enjoy herself," said the fond father. "She will -be as beautiful and as happy in her five-dollar tarleton as Georgie and -Sydney in their elegant silks." - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - -Full of her suddenly conceived purpose, Queenie Lyle went to her room, -attired herself in a neat walking-suit, and tied a blue tissue veil over -her luxuriant golden ringlets. - -Then carefully wrapping a paper about the box that held her painted fan, -she set forth upon her errand, feeling sorry that she must part with the -elegant trifle, yet determined to sacrifice it rather than forego the -ball, which to her young, imaginative fancy appeared like a promised -peep into fairy-land. - -In the large city where she lived there were plenty of stores that dealt -in fancy articles. - -She entered one of these stores, and presented her fan for the -merchant's inspection. - -"How much will you give me for it?" asked she, childishly, coming -straight to the point. - -"Did you paint it yourself?" asked the man; unfurling the beautiful fan, -and gazing admiringly at the delicate leaves and flowers painted upon it -by a skillful hand. - -Queenie laughed at the question, and the gay, musical chime attracted -the attention of a gentleman a little further down the counter--a tall, -dark, handsome man, who drew nearer as if fascinated, and glanced -furtively at the young girl, revealing a lovely face as fresh and fair -as a flower, the eyes as dark as pansies, the cheeks as pink as roses. - -She was smiling that moment, and the stranger saw two dazzling rows of -milk-white teeth between her parted crimson lips, and the loveliest -dimples in the world in her rounded cheeks and chin. - -"No, indeed," she said, in answer to the merchant. "My uncle sent it to -me from Paris. It is quite French, I assure you. I would not part with -it if I did not need the money very much." - -"We are overcrowded with such articles, miss," said the man, carelessly, -not wishing to show his anxiety to possess the elegant fan, "but to -oblige you, and because you need the money, I will give you five dollars -for it." - -"Very well, I will take it," said little Queenie, and as she spoke she -looked up carelessly and suddenly encountered the fixed gaze of a pair -of burning, dark eyes. - -Blushing crimson, she knew not why, Queenie dropped the sweeping lashes -over her eyes, and taking her money from the merchant, hurriedly left -the store. - -"A pretty trifle--what will you take for it?" said the handsome -stranger, stepping forward as Queenie went out. - -"Twenty dollars," answered the merchant, coolly. "It is a real Parisian -fan and worth more than that, but as I bought it so cheap I will let you -have it at a small profit." - -"Do you know the young lady from whom you bought it?" inquired the -gentleman, as he laid down a twenty-dollar bill on the counter. - -"No, I do not; but she was a little beauty," laughed the merchant, as he -wrapped up the fan and handed it to his customer. - -The handsome stranger bowed and hastily withdrew with his purchase. In -the street he paused, and looked up and down. - -Seeing Queenie's graceful little figure half a square ahead of him, he -slowly walked on after her. - -Little Queenie went into a dry goods store, and invested the price of -her fan in a nice quality of white tarleton. She told the obliging clerk -where to send the package, and dropping her veil over her sweet face, -hurried homeward. - -"Queenie, oh, Queenie, come in," called Georgina, as she was passing the -open door of the dressing-room. "Only think--something so perfectly -splendid has happened. Guess what it is." - -"You have been buying some more finery, I suppose," answered the young -girl, seeing a large box in the center of the floor. - -"Uncle Rob has sent us another box from Paris," announced Sydney, -triumphantly. - -"Dresses and jewelry both," added Mrs. Lyle, joyfully. - -"You can go to the ball as fine as a queen now," laughed Georgina, -diving down into the box and bringing out a parcel which she placed in -Queenie's hands. - -"It is for you," she said. - -Queenie unrolled the tissue paper from the bundle and shook out the -folds of a magnificent cream-colored brocade silk. - -"Oh, how exquisite!" she exclaimed. "What has he sent you, girls?" - -Sydney, who was a brilliant brunette, exhibited a rose-colored brocade -as handsome as Queenie's dress. Georgina, a plump blonde, rejoiced in -the possession of a costly azure satin. - -"Uncle Rob is a dear darling," exclaimed little Queenie, delightedly. - -"And only look here," said Mrs. Lyle, who held three jewel-cases in her -lap, "he has sent you each a lovely set of jewels--diamonds for Sydney, -opals for Georgina, pearls for you." - -Little Queenie looked and admired until she was almost wild with -delight. She clasped the pearls on her neck and arms, and held the rich -brocade up before her, admiring the sheeny richness of the creamy folds. - -"If you had only waited a little while you need not have sold your -painted fan," said Georgie. "You can have this lovely dress to wear to -Mrs. Kirk's ball." - -"No, I cannot," answered Queenie, with a sigh. "Madame Dufarge would -charge thirty dollars to make such a dress as this, and where could I -get thirty dollars? No, I'll wear my five-dollar tarleton and the pearls -to the ball, but I will put this lovely brocade away, and keep it for my -wedding-dress." - -"Only hear the child," exclaimed Sydney, who was twenty-five and -unmarried yet. "She talks of marrying as confidently as if husbands grew -on trees." - -"They do for pretty girls like me," answered Queenie, with a saucy nod -at her sister. "But, mamma, did Uncle Robbie write? Is he getting well? -Is he coming home soon?" - -"Ah, the best of the news is yet to come," exclaimed Georgina, who was -in brilliant spirits. "We are to go out to Uncle Robbie, you and I, and -Syd, and mamma, and have a continental tour with him. Isn't that -glorious news?" - -Little Queenie's bright eyes danced with joy. - -"Mamma, is it true?" she panted, breathlessly. - -"Yes, dear, it is quite true," said Mrs. Lyle, looking quite happy. "He -has sent us a check, and we are to go over in the _Europa_, which sails -three months from now. We are to employ ourselves in the interim -polishing up our French." - -"Hurrah for Uncle Rob!" exclaimed the delighted little Queenie, -boyishly waving her hat around her head, "he is a perfect fairy prince. -The dream of my life has been to go to Europe." - -"I think _you_ will need to polish more than your French, Queenie," -exclaimed Sydney, peevishly. "Your manners are as rude as a -school-boy's!" - -"And yours are as prim as an old maid's!" retorted Queenie, maliciously, -for Sydney's perpetual fault-finding was a thorn in the flesh to the -petted little creature. - -Sydney flushed crimson at the retort. Her years were verging so near to -the line of old-maidenhood that she was particularly sensitive on the -subject. She now said angrily: - -"Mamma, can you sit silently there and permit Queenie to address me so -disrespectfully?" - -Mrs. Lyle looked at her youngest daughter imploringly. - -"Queenie, how often have I scolded you for aggravating Sydney? Apologize -to her immediately." - -Queenie looked at Sydney's tearful eyes and flushed cheeks, and her -tender little heart melted at once. She crossed over and put her round, -white arms about Sydney's stately neck. - -"Sister, do forgive me," she said, sweetly. "I did not mean a word of -it. Your manners are simply perfection, and I only wish that mine were -half as polished!" - -"You should cultivate yourself," answered Sydney, coldly, as she put the -clinging arms away from her neck, "I am ashamed of your hoydenish -manners." - -"I _will_ try to cultivate myself, Sydney, indeed I will," answered -Queenie, innocently. "I am so young yet, you know; I have time to learn -a great many things!" - -Sydney bit her lip and made no reply. There was nothing she envied so -much as Queenie's tender youth, and to have it thrust upon her notice -like that, however innocently, was unendurable. The silence that fell -was becoming awkward, when a servant entered the room with a small -parcel which she laid in Queenie's hand. - -"A small boy left it at the door for you," she said, as she withdrew. - -Queenie stared at the parcel in bewilderment. It had a familiar look. - -"Open it, my dear," said Mrs. Lyle, curiously. - -Queenie tore off the paper and a box was revealed. She took off the lid -with a trembling hand. Within the box lay the painted fan she had sold -an hour ago to the dealer on ---- Street. - -"What is this?" said Georgina, stooping down. - -She picked up a card that had fallen from the box. Upon it was written -in a clear, bold, manly hand: - -"From an unknown admirer of Miss Queenie Lyle." - -"Someone has sent your painted fan back to you," exclaimed Mrs. Lyle. -"How kind! But who could it have been?" - -"Queenie has caught a beau!" said Georgina, laughing. - -Involuntarily Queenie's thoughts reverted to the dark-eyed stranger who -had looked at her in the store, but she said nothing. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - -"Who is the young _debutante_, Miss Lyle?" - -Sydney Lyle, coming down the long ball-room on the arm of the most -distinguished man in the room, looked up with ill-concealed annoyance at -his words. - -She followed his glance, and saw little Queenie standing in the center -of a group of admirers, fluttering her satin fan with the grace of an -embryo coquette. The girl looked lovely as a dream in her thin, white -dress, with its multitudinous puffings and frillings. - -It was looped here and there with natural rosebuds, and she wore her set -of pearls clasped round her white throat and wrists, while her golden -hair rippled to her waist in a shower of natural ringlets. Anything more -sweetly fair and happy could scarcely be imagined than Queenie, as she -stood there, warm and flushed from the dance, and enjoying, with all the -keenness of youth and novelty, the honied flatteries of the little court -around her. An irrepressible pang of jealousy gave a touch of sharpness -to Sydney's voice, as she answered: - -"That is my sister Queenie, Captain Ernscliffe--a willful child who -ought to be in the school-room this moment, but who has persuaded mamma -to let her come here instead." - -"Ah! your sister," said Captain Ernscliffe. "I might have known it by -her beauty. She has lived near the _rose_," and he pointed the -compliment by a meaning glance that made Sydney blush. "You will -introduce me, Miss Lyle?" - -"Certainly." Sydney answered, and pausing beside Queenie, she said, -carelessly: - -"Captain Ernscliffe, this is my sister, Queenie. If she should shock you -by her _outre_ manners, please remember that she is but a child and -quite unaccustomed to appear in society." - -Captain Ernscliffe bowed low over the white-gloved hand of the -enchanting little beauty, and Queenie looked up at him and said, with a -flash of wrath against Sydney: - -"You need not believe Sydney, when she tells you I am nothing but a -child, Captain Ernscliffe. I am _seventeen_ years old, and I know how to -behave myself just as well as any young lady of my age, in spite of -Sydney's warning." - -The gentleman saw that the young heart was sorely wounded, despite her -quick assumption of dignity, and hastened to say, consolingly: - -"I can well believe you, Miss Queenie, for I see there is but one -unanimous opinion among the gentlemen. You are the belle of the ball." - -Sydney passed on with the words rankling in her heart, though she knew -that they were true. Among all the beautiful women present, in their -cosily dresses and splendid jewels, little Queenie, with her sunny smile -and her cheap, white tarleton dress, was the most admired and sought -after. - -The women who envied her fresh, young loveliness sneered at the simple -dress, but the men--bless their ignorant hearts--did not know whether -the snowy mist that floated about her cost a hundred dollars or five. -They only saw that her face was the fairest, her eyes the brightest, her -voice the sweetest of any in the room. Mrs. Lyle saw the sensation she -created, and straightway began to lay matrimonial plans for her. - -"Sydney and Georgina are both handsome and stylish, yet they are very -slow in marrying off well," she said to herself, with a sigh. "Perhaps I -shall have better luck with my willful Queenie. There is that rich -Ernscliffe with her now. He is a splendid catch, but then, Sydney has -had her heart set on him this long while. She would be very angry if -Queenie were to rival her." - -In the meantime little Queenie was clapping her tiny hands and saying, -in a voice full of girlish pleasure: - -"The belle of the ball, Captain Ernscliffe? Oh, how nice that is! I love -for people to like me, yet Syd and George said that no one would look at -me in this cheap dress, that I bought for five dollars and made with my -own hands." - -"It is the prettiest dress in the rooms. I had no idea but that it cost -at least a hundred dollars," said Captain Ernscliffe, regarding the -fairy-like puffs attentively. "And your bouquet, as the ladies say, is -too sweet for anything. Was it a tribute from some admirer?" - -She blushed and smiled, and lifted the fragrant triumph of the floral -art to her sweet face. - -"You have guessed right," she said. "It was handed in at our door this -evening, with the compliments of an unknown admirer." - -"The fellow had fine taste anyway," laughed the captain, "both in the -selection of the flowers and their recipient." - -"Thank you," answered Queenie, demurely, looking up with a smile, and -dropping her lashes very quickly a minute after, for something in the -glance of his dark eyes sent a blush to her cheek and made her silly -little heart thrill strangely. - -Captain Ernscliffe only smiled like one used to such effects. He was a -bachelor, and thirty years old, and women called him a flirt. Be that as -it may, he was as handsome as a prince, and knew how to make women's -lashes flutter down upon cheeks that blushed crimson under his glance. - -"What an innocent little darling she is," he thought, to himself. "How -different from her sisters, and from the girls one meets usually in -society! One might well resign all the liberties of bachelorhood to win -and wear so sweet a flower." "Doubtless you have woven a pretty web of -romance about the unknown giver of your flowers, Miss Lyle," he said, -jestingly. - -She had pressed the flowers to her lips unconsciously, and at his words -she started and smiled, and looked up to reply with the brightest face -he had ever looked upon. But suddenly, before a single word left her -lips, her aspect changed strangely and marvelously. Her cheeks and lips -grew white as death, her eyes grew wild with horror, and she swept her -hand across her brow as if to dispel some horrid vision. Her form -trembled like a leaf in a storm, and with a wild, inarticulate cry she -wavered and fell in a lifeless heap at Captain Ernscliffe's feet. - -It was all so sudden that Captain Ernscliffe lifted her up and carried -her through the low window out on the balcony before anyone had noticed -her fall. He laid her down on a rustic lounge, turned her white face up -to the air, and went and called her mother very quietly. - -"Oh! Captain Ernscliffe, is she dead?" exclaimed Mrs. Lyle, wringing her -hands in terror. - -"Oh! no, she has only fainted, I think. The rooms were too warm, -perhaps. See, she is already reviving in the cooler air out here." - -The girl's breath came fluttering back in a long, quivering sigh. She -caught Captain Ernscliffe's arm and half-lifted herself without seeming -to notice her mother. - -"Oh! Captain Ernscliffe, did you see _it_?" she gasped, rather than -spoke. - -"Did I see _what_?" he inquired, rather blankly. - -"The _horrid_ vision that came between me and the flowers and made me -faint," she answered, sitting up and looking at him in surprise. - -"My dear young lady, there was nothing to see, only the dancers. You -were tired and excited, and the heat overcame you. You are unaccustomed -to the crush and excitement of balls, you know." - -"And _you_ saw nothing but the _dancers_?" she said to him, shivering as -she spoke, like one in a chill, and passing her hand before her eyes. - -"Nothing, I assure you," he answered, gravely. - -"What did you see, Queenie?" inquired Mrs. Lyle, coming forward. - -"Oh! mamma, is that you?" Little Queenie reached out her white arms, -twined them about her mother's neck, and sank on her bosom trembling and -shivering, and moaning faintly: "Oh! mamma! mamma!" - -"My dear, my dear, compose yourself. You are nervous and hysterical," -remonstrated Mrs. Lyle. "See, you are distressing Captain Ernscliffe -very much." - -Little Queenie hushed her sobs and looked up at the gentleman, who did -indeed look anxious and distressed. - -"What was it you saw, Miss Lyle?" he inquired, gently. - -"Perhaps you will not credit it," she said, lifting her white, -awe-stricken face in the moonlight that flooded the balcony, "but, -Captain Ernscliffe, just as I looked up from my flowers to speak to you, -the whole scene of the ball faded out into _blackness_, and then I saw a -vision come before me in its place." - -She paused, shuddered visibly, then resumed: - -"I saw a thick, dark wood before me with the rain-drops falling down -through the leaves of the trees. I saw a tall man with his back to me, -and close by that man was a _grave_--a shallow grave, so shallow that it -could not hide the girl that lay within it, for the wind and the rain -had beaten away the earth and the dead leaves with which the man had -covered her. I saw her awfully white, dead face upturned to the light, -and there were cruel black marks around her throat as if someone had -choked her--and a purple wound on her brow." - -"My darling, it was only your excited imagination," said Mrs. Lyle, -soothingly. - -"Oh, no, I saw it quite plainly," answered little Queenie, with a sharp -wail of anguish; "and, oh, mamma, mamma, _the face of that dead girl was -just exactly like mine_!" - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - -"I always knew you were a little simpleton, Queenie, but I never thought -you could be so foolish and ungrateful as this! No girl in her senses -would refuse the chance of spending Captain Ernscliffe's money!" - -Three months had elapsed since the grand ball at Mrs. Kirk's, and -Queenie Lyle was arraigned before the bar of maternal justice. Little -Queenie had spent those three months in a perfect whirl of excitement, -pleasure and conquest. And now Captain Ernscliffe, the irresistible, the -invincible, had surrendered at discretion, and actually proposed to -marry her! And little Queenie Lyle had had the audacity to refuse the -honor. - -"To think," went on Mrs. Lyle, reproachfully, "how we have humored and -indulged you the last three months, and all for this! You have been to -all the balls and parties worth going to--you have had nice dresses and -laces--and we all thought you would marry off well, and rid your papa of -one of his expensive daughters--yet last month you refused that rich old -Myddleton! I did not care as much for that, for I saw that Ernscliffe -was madly in love, and thought you would be sure to accept him. Yet now -you have actually refused him, too, you wicked, ungrateful girl!" - -"Mamma, mamma," pleaded Queenie, with a quivering lip, "do not be angry -with me. I could not marry Captain Ernscliffe, because I do not love -him." - -"Then if you do not love _him_ you can never love anyone," exclaimed -Mrs. Lyle. "He is handsome, accomplished, wealthy; and there's not a -girl I know but would jump at _your_ chance, Sydney not excepted." - -"Sydney _loves_ him, mamma--let her marry him." - -"She cannot get him--more's the pity. I wish he had fancied her instead -of you," said Mrs. Lyle, sharply. - -"I wish so too mamma. I am very sorry for Sydney, and for Captain -Ernscliffe, too," said Queenie, with a long, quivering sigh. - -"You had better be sorry for yourself, foolish girl; you have thrown -away the best chance for marrying that you ever will have!" exclaimed -Mrs. Lyle, angrily, for she was deeply chagrined at Queenie's willful -disregard of her best interests. - -To her surprise Queenie threw herself down at her feet and began to sob -wildly. - -"Mamma, I am sorry for myself," she moaned, faintly, "so sorry that I -wish I were dead!" - -"For shame, Queenie, to go into such a passion because I scolded you! -Get up and stop making a baby of yourself," said her mother severely. - -Little Queenie dried her eyes at that sharp reproof and went on with her -packing, which Mrs. Lyle's entrance had interrupted, for they were to -sail for Europe that week, and the house was "topsy-turvey" with their -preparations. - -Her mother sat moodily watching her as she folded silks and laces, and -packed them away securely in the great Saratoga trunk. - -"What have you in that box, Queenie?" she inquired, seeing the girl put -a box in the trunk with a half-conscious glance. "You look as if you -were smuggling something." - -Queenie blushed violently, and Mrs. Lyle saw that she trembled as she -answered falteringly: - -"Nothing of any importance, I assure you, mamma." - -"Let me see," said Mrs. Lyle, resolutely, and she took the box from the -trunk and lifted the lid. "Why, what have we here? Flowers--withered -flowers! Queenie, why upon earth are you keeping these dead, -ill-smelling things? Throw them out of the window." - -"Oh, no, mamma," cried Queenie, blushing very much and trying to take -the box from her mother's hand. - -But Mrs. Lyle held on to the box and took out three bouquets of withered -flowers, and three cards that lay in the bottom of the box. She read -aloud: - -"From an unknown admirer of Miss Queenie Lyle." - -"Oh dear, dear," said Mrs. Lyle, impatiently; "now I begin to -understand. These flowers, which were sent by some impudent fellow, have -made a fool of you, Queenie. You have been building a romance over him, -and that is why you have no eyes for better men. Tell me the truth now, -Queenie; do you know who sent you these flowers?" - -"How should I know, mamma?" asked the girl, evasively, and turning her -crimson face away from her mother's keen scrutiny. "You see he writes -himself unknown." - -"Well, known or unknown, here is an end to _that_ foolishness," said -Mrs. Lyle, crossing the room and tossing the luckless flowers out of the -window. "I did not know you were so silly and romantic, Queenie, as to -carry a bunch of dead flowers to Europe." - -Queenie stamped her little foot on the floor, and her eyes flashed fire. - -"Mamma, you had no right to throw my flowers away!" she passionately -exclaimed. "Papa would never have intermeddled with my affairs like -that!" - -Mrs. Lyle dropped into a chair and buried her face in her hands. - -"To think that I should have a child that would treat me so -disrespectfully," she sighed. - -"What has mamma been doing to my little pet?" asked Mr. Lyle, entering -quietly and unexpectedly, as he always did. - -There was an awkward silence for a moment; then Queenie said, with her -sweet face turned away: - -"Mamma has been scolding me because I would not marry Captain -Ernscliffe." - -"Your papa would do well to scold you also," flashed Mrs. Lyle. "After -all your father's goodness to you, and your pretense of loving him so -well, to think that you would throw away your chance of helping him in -his old age. I have no patience with such folly!" - -"Papa, _you_ are not angry with me, are you?" asked his daughter, -turning her soft, beseeching eyes, now swimming in tears, upon his kind -yet troubled face. "I could not marry Captain Ernscliffe, papa, because -I do not love him." - -"Love," sneered Mrs. Lyle, scornfully. "Love is the last thing to be -considered nowadays!" - -Papa drew the tearful pleader down by his side on the lounge, and -smoothed away the disheveled golden ringlets from the flushed little -face. - -"No, dear, I am not angry with you," he said. "It is true that my -business affairs are tottering on the verge of failure, and if you had -accepted the captain he might have helped me to tide over the crisis, -but I would not have you sacrifice yourself, my pet, for I would be loth -to part from you even if you went willingly and happily to another home. -But let us hope for the best. Now that your Uncle Rob is about to take -my expensive family off my hands for a year, I may be able to save some -money and get straight again." - - * * * * * - -Three days later Mrs. Lyle and her three fair and charming daughters -stood on the deck of the _Europa_ bound for their long and anxiously -anticipated continental tour. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - -"How I miss them all," Mr. Lyle said to himself often and often in the -long year while his family were absent, and he went home every night to -his solitary supper and lonely newspaper. "I would give anything to see -my little Queenie, or even to get a letter from her. Strange that she -does not write to me. And mamma, too, in her brief letters never says a -word about Queenie, though she must know that I want to hear something -about my little one. She always says that the girls are well and -enjoying themselves, but she never goes into particulars." - -It was quite true. The Lyles were traveling from place to place, and -Mrs. Lyle, never fond of writing, always dropped the briefest of notes -to her husband, and invariably informed him that he need not reply, for -they were constantly on the wing and could not tell him where to direct -his letter so that it would reach them. She spoke of the girls casually, -never naming them in particular save once in her first letter when she -said that "Robert was much disappointed, and even vexed at Queenie's -defection." - -Mr. Lyle puzzled a great deal over those words at first, and at last -concluded that Mrs. Lyle referred to Queenie's rejection of Captain -Ernscliffe. - -Robert Lyle was a younger brother of Mr. Lyle, and had inherited a -large fortune from a deceased uncle. He was an invalid, and spent most -of his time abroad from whence many fine presents found their way to his -elder brother's family in America. - -Mr. Lyle felt rather vexed that Robert should have blamed little Queenie -for her course in regard to Captain Ernscliffe. - -"The child is too young to be forced into a loveless marriage," he said -to himself. "I hope she will marry money some day, for I know how sad -the lack of it is, but I hope it may be a love-match, too." - -The longing for his little girl was very strong upon him one night as he -sat in his quiet library trying to interest himself in the daily -paper--so strong that he laid the paper down, and rested his head a -little wearily on his hands. - -"It is six months since they went away," he said. "How long it seems, -and how much I want to see my little Queenie. It is strange, but ever -since she was born I have loved her better than the other children." - -Something like a quivering sigh sounded faintly through the room. He -looked up quickly, but he was quite alone. - -"I am growing fanciful in my old age and solitude," he thought, and -dropped his head again upon his hands. - -Again that soft, low sigh went trembling through the room. - -This time some strange instinct drew his eyes to the window, and he -sprang to his feet with a smothered cry. A sweet, white face, framed in -golden hair, was pressed against the window-pane looking at him, with -dark eyes full of love and sorrow--the beautiful face of his absent -daughter, Queenie. - -"She has come home--my darling!" he cried joyfully, and rushed to the -window and threw up the sash. - -But in that moment the lovely young face had disappeared. - -"Queenie, my love--where are you?" he called. "Do not tease your poor -old papa!" - -But silence and darkness answered him only. He went out into the garden -and wandered about in the shrubbery, calling, softly. - -"Queenie, Queenie!" - -But echo only answered him. - -He went back sadly into the house and thought over the perplexing -mystery. - -"She is dead," he said, at last; "I have seen her spirit. She has come -to me from far-off foreign lands to bid me an eternal farewell. Oh, -Queenie, Queenie, my lost darling!" - -And from that night Mr. Lyle began to grow old and broken. He could -neither eat, nor sleep, nor rest until he heard from his wife again. - -In a month one of her short, careless epistles came to hand. She said, -as usual, that the girls were well and enjoying themselves very much, -and added that Georgina had caught a beau, and was apt to make a -splendid match. - -"She is living, then, my little pet!" exclaimed the doting old father, -in delighted surprise, "and yet I surely saw her spirit face looking in -upon me that night. It was a warning--or a token of sorrow." - -And the burden of heaviness still clung about his heart, and the shadow -brooded in his kindly blue eyes until Mrs. Lyle wrote at last that they -were coming home on the _Europa_ the next month. - - * * * * * - -It was a dark and stormy night when the Lyles came home again. Mr. Lyle -had not known when the _Europa_ would be in, so they took him by -surprise when they drove up to the door that night. It was verging on to -midnight and the domestics were all asleep, but Mr. Lyle was still up, -poring over an account book. - -"This is a joyful surprise!" he exclaimed, as he led the way to the -drawing-room and turned up the gas that he might look at their sweet -faces clearly. - -Mrs. Lyle fell on his neck and embraced him, and Sydney, then Georgina, -glided forward and touched his cheek with their lips. He looked behind -them for the little one whom he had thought would be first to embrace -him. - -"Queenie--where is Queenie?" he asked. - -Mrs. Lyle, slowly drawing off her gray kid gloves, looked at him in some -surprise. - -"Bless the darling--is she not asleep?" she said. "It was so late and -stormy that we expected you would all be in bed and asleep." - -The rain beat dismally outside, the wind howled like a demon in despair. -Something of the chill and coldness outside seemed to strike to the -man's heart as he said quickly: - -"The servants are all asleep--but Queenie--she is with you, of course?" - -"Why do you say _of course_, papa?" said Sydney. "Did Queenie come down -to the steamer to meet us in this dreadful storm?" - -Mr. Lyle looked bewildered. - -"Sydney," he exclaimed hoarsely, "did not Queenie come home with you -from Europe?" - -"Why, Papa, Queenie did not go with us, you know," said Georgina, coming -forward, and laying her hand on his arm. "She came back to stay with -you. Is she not at home?" - -Mr. Lyle dropped back into a chair, and wrung his hands like one -distracted. - -"My God!" he exclaimed. "You torture me with your inexplicable words. I -tell you I have never laid eyes on Queenie, living, since I bade her -good-bye on the deck of the _Europa_ a year ago." - -"My God!" screamed Mrs. Lyle, falling down upon the floor, while Sydney -and Georgina looked like statues of horror, "what has become of my -little Queenie?" - -"Papa," said Sydney, in a trembling voice, "there is some dreadful -mystery here. Queenie did not go to Europe with us. After you bade us -good-bye that day on the steamer, she cried and wept, and almost went -into hysterics, begging mamma to let her go back and stay with you, -instead of going to Europe. She was so unmanageable that mamma consented -at last, and she and her trunks were put on shore, and we went aboard -without her. Did she not come home to you?" - -"No, never," groaned the wretched father, like one demented. "I have -never seen her since that day. Oh, Queenie, my lost darling, where are -you?" - -For a moment there came no answer to the question. They stood around -spellbound with horror, while a peal of awful thunder reverberated -outside and seemed to shake the house from its foundations. The next -moment the door was burst violently open, and the dripping figure of a -woman rushed into the room. - -"_Queenie!_" burst from the quivering lips of the unhappy father. - -Yes, it was Queenie, but oh, how terribly changed! Her streaming golden -hair, matted with mold and dead leaves, hung wet and cold over her -shoulders. Her dress of dark silk was stained with great patches and -wisps of dead autumn leaves. The tight bodice, open at the top, exposed -her throat, which--oh, Heaven!--was marked round and round with the -purple and red print of finger-marks as though she had been strangled. - -Her face was white as death, showing the plainer for its whiteness a -mark upon her brow above her eyes--the horrible purple print of a man's -boot heel on the tender flesh, from which a thin stream of blood -trickled down on her ghastly face. A fearful--fearful apparition, -strangely unlike little Queenie of other days. Yet it was Queenie, for -she staggered blindly forward, and panting out: "Papa, papa, forgive!" -fell in a lifeless heap at his feet. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - -At little Queenie's sudden and terrible appearance Mrs. Lyle and the two -elder sisters screamed aloud in fright and horror, and even the agonized -father recoiled a moment from the dreadful-looking creature that lay at -his feet to all appearances dead. - -Directly, however, with a strong revulsion of feeling from dismay and -terror to pity and tenderness, he bent down and lifted the white face of -his daughter on his arm. - -Her head fell back helplessly, and the wet and matted locks of gold -trailed over the velvet carpet, drenching it with rain-drops. The long, -dark lashes lay close upon the marble-white cheeks and no breath -fluttered over the pale, parted lips to show that life still dwelt in -the frame of the hapless girl. - -A cry of agony broke from the lips of the poor father whose fondest -affections had been concentrated on the daughter now lying lifeless in -his arms. - -"Oh, God! oh, God! what fearful mystery is here? Queenie is _dead_; and -oh! those _horrible_ marks upon her throat and brow! Someone has -_murdered_ my little darling!" - -Again the frightened shrieks of the women rose above the dreadful tumult -of the storm outside. They huddled together by the marble hearth, -shuddering as though afraid to approach that dreadful-looking object -that had come upon them with the face of the little Queenie they had -alternately scolded and petted in the past. Mr. Lyle looked at them -with a keen reproach and pain in his heavy eyes. - -"Queenie is _dead_," he said to them, in a hollow, broken voice. "Why do -you stand aloof from her?" - -His lips were white, and he trembled so that he could scarcely hold the -still form that lay so helpless in his arms. But even as he spoke, her -lips parted in a faint and scarce audible sigh, the eyelids fluttered -slightly and grew still again. - -"No, no, she _lives_!" he cried, rapturously. "Quick, quick! let us take -her to her room and apply restoratives." - -He lifted her in his arms and the women mechanically followed him as he -bore her to her room and laid her down upon her little white bed. Then -he turned around with the dazed look gone from his white face and a -gleam of resolution there instead. - -"There is some dreadful mystery here," he said, in deep, low tones. "The -servants must not know of this. Let them think that she came back with -you from Europe. Sydney and Georgie, you may retire to your rooms. Your -mamma and I will do all that is necessary." - -Frightened and weeping the girls went away to their rooms and the -fearfully stricken parents went to work to restore life in the exhausted -frame of poor little Queenie. - -They bathed and dressed the wound upon her brow, laved the fearfully -discolored throat with arnica, wrung and dried the dripping golden -tresses, and lastly Mrs. Lyle removed her soiled, wet garments and robed -her in a pretty nightdress. All the while the hapless girl lay still and -motionless, without a sign of life save an occasional quiver of the -eyelids, and a faint, scarce perceptible throbbing in her wrist. - -"My dear, you are tired and overcome," Mr. Lyle said to his wife when -they had done all that was possible. "Go to your room and rest. I will -stay here and watch by our little girl." - -Mrs. Lyle leaned her head on his shoulder and burst into hysterical -weeping. - -"Oh! what does it mean?" she moaned, wringing her hands. "_Where_, oh! -_where_, has Queenie been this past year?" - -"My dear, we shall know when she revives, if she ever does. Go now and -rest," he answered, pushing her gently from the room. - -He went back to his lonely vigil and watched the weary night through by -that silent form upon the bed. Now and then he rose and poured a few -drops of wine between the pale, unconscious lips and sat down again with -his finger upon the fluttering, thread-like pulse. At length, between -the dark and the dawn, Queenie opened her eyes upon his face, sighed, -and murmured: - -"Papa!" - -He bent over her anxiously. - -"You are better, darling?" he said. - -"I am better," she answered faintly. - -There was silence a little while after that. She lay quite still with -her large, hollow eyes fixed wistfully on her father's pale and troubled -face as he bent over her, holding her white and wasted hand in both his -own. Everything was very still about the house. The storm outside had -spent itself, and only now and then the fitful muttering of the -"homeless wind" reminded one of the war of the elements that had raged -so fiercely a few hours ago. - -Mr. Lyle's voice, hoarse, trembling, agonized, broke strangely upon the -utter stillness: - -"_Queenie, where have you been all this long, dreadful year?_" - -Queenie turned her face and buried it in the pillow, and a low sob of -utter agony answered him only. - -Again he repeated the question, this time more firmly and resolutely. - -"Oh! papa, _must_ I tell you?" she moaned, without lifting her face from -its friendly refuge. - -"Yes, Queenie, I must have a full explanation of your mysterious -absence, for I fear it covers wrong or guilt. Secrecy is seldom without -sin," he answered, in a firm but heart-wrung voice. - -His daughter wrung her white hands, moaning and weeping. - -"Oh! papa, I _cannot, cannot_ tell you," she exclaimed. - -Mr. Lyle took the white hands that were wildly beating the air, and held -them firmly in both his own. - -"Be calm, Queenie," he said, "and listen to me. There can be no question -of _cannot_ between you and me! You have deceived us all and spent a -year away from us. You return to us wretched and alone, with the marks -of cruel violence upon your person. What are we to think of you, -Queenie, if you refuse to explain the mystery? How can we receive you -back with a secret, perhaps a shameful one, in your life? I must have -your vindication from your own lips, my poor child. Answer me, Queenie, -where have you spent this missing year of your life?" - -She wrenched her hands away and looked about her wildly. - -"Let me go--I cannot stay here! Oh! why did I ever come?" she wailed. "I -was mad, mad!" - -He laid her forcibly back upon the bed. She was too weak to resist him, -and lay panting and moaning in wild despair. - -"Queenie, you torture me," he said, hoarsely; "I must have the truth -from you. Tell me, dear, has anyone wronged you? If it is so, I will -have the villain's heart's blood!" - -She shivered and trembled where she lay held down by his strong hands. - -"Too late," she moaned, in a voice half-triumphant, half-despairing. "I -have taken vengeance into my own hands--I have," she broke off shivering -and sobbing, with a look of awful horror in the white face with the -terrible, purple print of a boot-heel on the marble brow. - -"Tell me all, dear," he said, his voice sharp with anxiety and -foreboding. - -She looked up, trembling and shivering, and wailed out: - -"Papa, be merciful--spare me, spare me!" - -He made no answer. His head was bowed on his hands, his face hidden. -Queenie looked at him and saw with a sudden sharp pang how strangely his -clustering locks had whitened in the past year. She raised herself up -and threw her arms around him, laying her cheek against his shoulder. - -"Papa," she whispered, mournfully, "look up--I will tell you all--but -only to _you, you alone_, dearest and best of fathers--can I reveal the -_terrible_ secret that has ruined my life!" - -With her cheek against his shoulder and her hand locked in his, Queenie -Lyle poured forth in burning words the story of that missing year--the -saddest story to which her father had ever listened--yet he made no -comment, uttered no word, until she had finished and thrown herself down -at his feet with the wailing cry: - -"Papa, can you _ever_ forgive me?" - -He did not try to lift her up as she lay there. He only said in a deep, -intense voice, with a lightning flash in his deep eyes: - -"Queenie, you have forgotten to tell me one thing--_his name_." - -She shuddered from head to foot. - -"Papa, it is the only thing I must keep from you--that hated name! What -matters it? Is he not beyond the reach of your vengeance?" - -"True, true," he answered with a strong shudder. "Oh, Queenie, my poor -child, would to God I had died before this terrible thing came upon me!" - -She crept nearer him and rested her bowed head on his knee, all her -glorious, golden tresses sweeping to the floor. - -His heart ached as he saw that bright head lying there bowed low with -shame and disgrace. - -"Papa," she whispered, in a voice like saddest music, "papa, do you -_condemn_ me?" - -He was silent a moment, struggling with the keenest agony he had ever -known. Then he answered very gently: - -"My poor Queenie, I forgive you." Then added in the words of the great -Teacher of men: "Let him that is without sin cast the first stone." - -And the first beams of the newly risen day shone into the room and -crowned his gray head like a halo of light. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - -"Yes, Queenie was quite sick for more than a month after we returned -from abroad. She is not strong yet, but she has promised to come down -into the drawing-room for a little while this evening." - -It was Mrs. Lyle who spoke, in the calmest, most composed tone in the -world. She was leaning back in her chair, richly dressed in silk and -lace and fluttering her fan as she talked to Captain Ernscliffe who -leaned over the back of her chair, tall, handsome and stately, the most -distinguished-looking man in the room. - -Mrs. Lyle was giving a small reception after her return, and had bidden -the _creme de la creme_ of society only, to welcome her home. - -There were beautiful women in plenty present, and none but had a -flattering smile for Captain Ernscliffe, but though he smiled and -chatted with all, he still kept looking over even the fairest heads -toward the door for one absent face while his heart thrilled with -anxiety and expectation. - -She came at last, and though he had been watching for her so long he -scarcely knew her when she entered. He had expected to see a little, -fairy-like creature, with a sunny smile and falling ringlets, and cheeks -like pinkest rose leaves. Instead, there entered a tall, pale, graceful -girl, clad in a dress of white lace ornamented with knots of purple, -golden-hearted pansies. The crimson lips were set in a proud curve -instead of a smile, and the dark fringe of her lashes swept so low that -they almost shadowed her cheeks. Her golden hair was confined in a thick -braid and wound about her head like a coronet, making her seem as -stately as a young princess. - -She was changed, greatly changed, from a year ago, and yet none who -looked at the fair, calm face, with pride sitting regnant on the broad, -white brow, would have dreamed that the pathos and pain of a terrible -tragedy had been wrought into her life and had seared her heart and soul -as with fire. - -Friends and acquaintances crowded around her and it was many minutes -before she found her way to her mother's chair where Captain Ernscliffe -still stood with his heart beating so fast that he thought she must have -heard it. It seemed to him as if everyone in the room must read in his -face the secret of his love for Queenie Lyle who had rejected him a year -ago with all the thoughtless lightness of girlhood. But no, his face was -perfectly calm to all appearance, and as the girl gave one timid, upward -glance at him she thought he had forgotten or outlived the pain of his -rejection. - -"I scarcely dared hope that you would return home as you went," he said -after the first formal greeting. "I feared some French count or English -lord would claim you as his own." - -She blushed, and her eyes fell until the dark lashes rested on her -burning cheeks. - -"I was not so fortunate as to claim the admiration of any of the -nobility," she answered carelessly. "Georgie outshone us all. She is to -be married to an English lord in a month from now." - -"I am very glad it is not you who are to be married to him," he answered -laughing, but with an undertone of sincerity. - -Other friends claimed her for awhile, but by-and-bye his restless glance -found her out sitting by a window alone for the moment, and looking -tired and a little sad. - -"You are not strong enough to stand the heat of the rooms," he said -kindly. "Come out in the garden and walk in the moonlight with me." - -She took his arm and they went out in the garden. It was summer, and the -flowers were blooming in profuse sweetness. The air was heavy with the -odor of the roses and honeysuckle. They sat down upon a rustic seat with -the full flood of brilliant moonlight falling on Queenie's uncovered -head and lovely white face. - -"You have grown more beautiful than ever, Queenie," said her companion -admiringly. - -She did not answer, but he fancied that he heard a faint, quickly -smothered sigh. - -Impulsively he took into his own the small hand lying cold and listless -in her lap. - -"It has been a year since I saw you, Queenie," he exclaimed, "but I find -the old love rising in my heart as passionately as if we had only parted -yesterday. Dearest, have you ever repented of your cruelty to me?" - -She looked up at him, and her eyes were full of a fathomless sadness and -vague regret. - -"Ah! yes," she said, and her voice was almost a wail of pain. "I have -repented, Captain Ernscliffe, I have been sorry often and often for my -blind mistake!" - -He held out his arms, drawing he scarcely knew what hope from her -agitated words. - -"Queenie, come to me," he cried. "Let atonement follow repentance." - -But she drew back, trembling and frightened. - -"I--oh, I did not mean that," she said, "I cannot--_it is too late!_" - -"Queenie, do not be cruel to me again," he pleaded, carried away by the -rush of his wild passion. "If you knew how I have wearied for you since -you went away, how blank my life has been, you could not be so cruel! -You would give yourself to me out of sheer pity and tenderness." - -"But I do not love you," she said. - -"I will teach you to love me, Queenie. I love you so well that I could -not help winning your love in return if you only gave me the privilege -to try. Say yes, my beautiful darling, and make me the happiest of men!" - -She sat still with her head bowed and her hands locked together in her -lap like one thinking intently. At length she said, without lifting her -head to look at him: - -"I do not believe I can make you happy, Captain Ernscliffe, but I will -be your wife if you want me." - - * * * * * - -When the reception was over and the guests all gone, Queenie sought her -father and found him alone in the library. - -"Papa," she said, abruptly, laying her hand on his arm. "Captain -Ernscliffe has proposed to me again!" - -"You refused him, of course, Queenie," he answered, looking at her with -the grave sadness that always rested on his features now. - -Her eyes fell, and a crimson flush crept slowly over her features, but -she answered steadily: - -"_Au contraire_, papa, I have accepted him." - -"Queenie!" - -"Papa!" - -"Why have you acted thus? You do not love him?" - -"No, papa, but it will be a fine match for me!" she answered, with a -hard little laugh, and a slight ring of sarcasm in her voice. - -He looked at her almost angrily. - -"Queenie, I have never intended--never contemplated the possibility of a -marriage for you--since--since you came back home. I took you back and -forgave you, kept your secret, and forced your mother and sisters to -receive you and overlook that dreadful blank year whose secret I would -not reveal to them. But I cannot--you must not expect it--allow you to -deceive an honest man." - -"Oh, papa! papa!" she fell on her knees and looked up at him -imploringly, "for sweet pity's sake, have mercy on me! Keep my secret -and let me marry Captain Ernscliffe! I need another home--mamma and the -girls are so cold and hard to me--I will be a good wife to him--I will -indeed! He shall never know." - -"Ah, Queenie, if your sin should find you out!" he said. - -"It will not, it _cannot_," she said, with a shudder; "it is buried _too -deep_. And I have prayed--oh, how I have prayed, papa--and God has -forgiven me!" - -"God has forgiven you, but _men_ would not," he said. - -"_You_ forgave me, papa." - -"Because you had been sinned against, and because I love you so dearly, -and pitied you also. But, Queenie, Captain Ernscliffe would recoil from -you in horror if he knew what I know." - -"Papa, he shall _never_ know," she cried, clasping his knees with her -round, white arms, and lifting her wild, streaming eyes to his face. "I -will try to make him happy; and he wants me so very much. You will only -make him unhappy if you come between us." - -A gleam of relenting came into his eyes. He had loved her so dearly even -since her innocent babyhood, and now, despite her fault, despite the -hidden tragedy in her young life, the father's heart bled for her, and -sweet pity stood sentinel over her past. - -"Queenie, do you think you are doing right?" he said, appealing to her -honor. - -Alas! her terrible wrongs and deep despair had steeled her heart against -all appeals. - -"Right or wrong," she said, almost defiantly, "I shall marry him, unless -you tell him my secret, papa. And if you do, what good will you -accomplish! You will only break his heart." - -"Go, then, unhappy, willful child," he answered, sternly, "go; but if -shame and sorrow come of your folly, remember the fault is on your own -head." - -"I accept the responsibility," she answered, with a hard, steely ring in -her voice. - -He turned away with a groan and went abruptly out of the room. - -"She is changed almost beyond belief," he said to himself. "That -dreadful tragedy has warped her whole nature and made her reckless and -heartless. Unless some softening influence is brought to bear upon her -she will be lost forever!" - - * * * * * - -Queenie was about to leave the library, when a rustling noise made her -look around, and the next moment Sydney Lyle stepped from behind the -heavy curtains at the window, where she had been an unsuspected listener -to the conversation. - -Sydney looked brilliantly beautiful in a ruby-colored satin, trimmed -with Spanish lace. A cluster of rich, scarlet roses were fastened in the -dark braids of her hair, and diamonds blazed on her neck and arms, but -they were scarcely brighter than the fire in her dark eyes as she seized -Queenie by the white shoulder and shook her roughly. - -"Queenie Lyle, you little wretch!" she exclaimed, in a low voice of -concentrated rage and passion, "how dare you promise to marry Captain -Ernscliffe?" - -Queenie shook herself loose from the cruel grasp that had left ugly red -marks on her smooth, white shoulder, and answered defiantly: - -"What business is that of yours, Sydney?" - -"You shall not marry him!" Sydney continued, passionately. "You are not -fit to marry any man; but I care not whom you wed so that it be not -Captain Ernscliffe." - -"I shall marry no other," answered Queenie, stung into defiance by -Sydney's overbearing look and manner. "I shall marry Captain Ernscliffe -as surely as I live, Sydney, and you cannot prevent it." - -"Can I not?" hissed Sydney, furiously. "What if I tell him to ask you -for the secret of that _missing year_ of your life?" - -Queenie looked back at her calmly and quietly. - -"You will not dare to do it," she said. "If you did I would tell him -that you wanted him for yourself." - -"He would not believe you," flashed Sydney. - -"You dare not risk it, Sydney," said Queenie, defiantly. "As for me, I -have promised to marry Captain Ernscliffe at the same hour that Georgina -marries Lord Valentine, and I shall surely keep my word." - -She swept from the room without pausing to listen to the reply of her -infuriated sister. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - -Whether Sydney Lyle was frightened or not by her sister's threat she -made no effort to interfere with the marriage, whose appointed day was -swiftly approaching. Captain Ernscliffe was a daily visitor at Mr. -Lyle's, but Sydney kept her room, or was constantly absorbed in -fashionable gayeties, so that she saw but little of Queenie and her -lover. - -But though Sydney had apparently given up the contest, she still -preserved a tacit feud with Queenie, refusing to speak to or notice her -in any way, and haughtily repelling the questions and remonstrances of -the family on the subject. - -Lord Valentine, the lover of the fair Georgina, at length arrived, and -the cards of invitation were issued for the double wedding, which Mrs. -Lyle had determined should be quite a brilliant affair. - -Mrs. Lyle was jubilant over the prospect of marrying off two of her -girls so advantageously; and Mr. Lyle, in the midst of his trouble and -anxiety over Queenie, was still conscious of a certain sense of relief, -for there had been a coldness and estrangement between Queenie and the -other members of the family ever since her return, and the atmosphere of -home had seemed charged with electricity that threatened at any moment -to burst into storm. So that none, except, perhaps, Sydney, were sorry -when the eventful night arrived, and the two brides were dressing in -their respective rooms, Georgina attended by her mother and Sydney, and -the single maid employed by the family waiting on Queenie. - -The unhappy girl was keenly conscious of the tacit slight, but she did -not seem to notice it by word or sign, and after her toilet was -completed she sent the maid away, saying that she wished to be alone a -little while. - -"Everything is perfect," she said, surveying herself critically in the -mirror. "I am a shade too pale, but then they allow that to brides, I -believe. Ah, me!" - -She walked up and down the room, her small hands locked before her, her -beautiful face as white as death, a look of deep unrest in her large, -violet eyes. - -There was a slight tap at the door. She knew it at once for her father's -familiar knock. - -"Enter, papa," she said. - -He turned the door-handle softly and came in. - -"I have come to see if the bride looks pretty," he said, veiling his -emotion under an affectation of lightness. - -"You are the only one who cares to know," she answered, with a ring of -bitterness in her sweet voice. - -He stood silent, surveying her with sad yet admiring eyes. - -She wore the rich brocaded silk that her uncle had sent her a year ago -from Paris, and which she had laughingly declared then should be her -wedding-dress. Its rich shining folds trailed far behind her, and the -soft folds of the bridal veil fell over it like a mist. Her wreath and -the knots of flowers that looped up her dress were of natural orange -blossoms, the gift of her lover. Their fragrance pervaded the room -deliciously. She wore a magnificent set of diamonds, the bridal gift of -Captain Ernscliffe. - -Young, beautiful, elegantly attired, she made a picture on which the -eyes might feast and never grow weary, and none would have guessed how -heavy was the heart beating under the satin corsage, or that the fearful -elements of a tragedy had been woven into that life that seemed yet in -its earliest spring. - -Her father looked at her a moment, then silently opened his arms, and -she as silently glided into them, heedless that the bridal veil was -disarranged as she laid her fair head down upon his breast. - -"Papa," she murmured, with quivering lips, "_you_ love me, you are kind -to me in spite of--of--all." - -"God bless you, my little daughter," he said, solemnly, and touched his -lips lightly to her brow. - -It was the first time he had kissed her since she had come back. He had -forgiven her, and been kind to her, but the loving caresses that had -been showered on the little Queenie who went away had never been given -to the Queenie who returned. This silent, gentle kiss seemed to have all -the solemnity of a farewell. - -"Papa, I feel strangely," she said, putting her hands to her brow; "my -head whirls, my--oh! oh! God, oh, God, what is that?" - -With a wild and ringing shriek of horror she tore herself from his arms, -and stood pointing at the window with one jeweled finger, her blue eyes -dark and dilated, her face transfigured with terror. - -That frightened shriek penetrated to Georgina's room across the hall. -The bride and her mother and sister all made a rush for Queenie's room, -apprehending some dire calamity. - -They found her standing in the centre of the floor, her face -transfigured with terror, her shaking finger pointed at the window, -while she wailed aloud in accents of remorse and despair: - -"_The dead! The dead!_" - -"Queenie, Queenie, you rave!" her father exclaimed, catching her arm as -she held it forward, still pointing at the window. - -She turned around and clung to him, sobbing wildly: - -"A ghost was there, papa--a horrible ghost!" - -"No, no, dear, there was nothing--I saw nothing. Queenie. There is no -one at the window," he answered soothingly. - -She gave a fearful, shuddering look at the window. - -"It is gone, now, papa; but I tell you I saw a ghost at the window--one -from the dead came and looked at me--_his_ ghost, papa," she moaned, -hiding her face on his shoulder. - -"Whose ghost was it, Queenie?" asked Georgina, curiously, as she stepped -forward in her elegant bridal robe. "Whom did you see?" - -"Do not tease her, Georgie--stand back and give her air--see, she is -about to faint!" exclaimed her father, a little shortly. - -The bride stepped back with a murmur of discontent. She thought it -exceedingly rude in her father to snub the prospective Lady Valentine. - -"Oh! for mercy's sake, Queenie," exclaimed Mrs. Lyle, rushing forward -with a bottle of _eau de cologne_, "don't give way to hysterical fancies -now when it is almost time for the ceremony to begin! You saw nothing at -the window but the moonlight; come, come, compose yourself! Your toilet -will be totally disarranged!" - -She fell to work bathing the limp, nerveless hands and cold brow of the -girl, while Sydney and Georgina stood coldly aloof--the bride because -she was afraid of ruffling her delicate plumage, and Sydney because she -would not have lifted a finger to save Queenie if she had lain dying -before her. - -In the midst of the tumult the maid rushed in. - -"Oh! Mrs. Lyle," she exclaimed, "the company is arriving. Mrs. Preston's -carriage is at the door, and Mrs. Alden's and Mrs. Howe's." - -"Oh! dear," exclaimed Mrs. Lyle, "was there ever such a _contre temps_? -Not a soul in the drawing-room to receive them! Sydney, you must go -down, I cannot leave Queenie in this state." - -Sydney curled her lip in a disdainful smile and went. - -The marriage was to take place at home, and the drawing-room was -profusely decorated with flowers. A beautiful arch of white flowers was -arranged where the bridal couples were to stand, and wreaths and -bouquets were variously disposed about the room. - -Sydney in the white heat of anger that filled her heart felt sick and -faint as the overpowering fragrance pervaded her senses. - -Yet she had to stand up and receive the guests and smile and talk as if -it were the happiest evening she had ever known. - -She had refused to become one of the bridesmaids, so when the bridal -party with their long string of lovely attendants entered the room and -stood before the bishop, she drew back into an obscure corner that no -one might see the jealous pain and hatred in her heart disfiguring her -handsome face. - -Georgina was married first, taking precedence of Queenie by virtue of -her own four years seniority, and her betrothed's superior rank. Then -the newly-wedded couple stepped quietly back, and Captain Ernscliffe and -his radiantly-beautiful bride took their place; the solemn words were -spoken, the ring slipped over her slim finger, and they turned to -receive the congratulations of their friends. - -One of the servants came bowing and smiling into the group carrying a -magnificent bouquet of white flowers. - -"For Mrs. Ernscliffe," he said, presenting it, "with the compliments of -a friend." - -She took it into her white hand with a faint smile. - -"It is rarely beautiful," she said, and lifted it to her face and -inhaled the strong, sweet odor of the costly flowers. - -Something more pungent than the innocent breath of the flowers entered -into her brain as she inhaled the fragrant incense. She threw up her -hands, and without a word or cry, the smiling bride fell lifeless at her -husband's feet. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - -No one suspected the agency of the beautiful and odorous bouquet in the -sudden and tragical death of the fair young bride. It lay upon the floor -where it had fallen when she fell, and in the grief and excitement of -the moment no one thought of picking it up. Who would have thought that -death could lurk in the fragrant breath of so beautiful an offering? So -the lovely destroyer lay unheeded where it had fallen, and in the -morning it was removed by the servants, who saw in it only a withered -bouquet that littered the rich carpet. - -But its mission was accomplished, and when Lawrence Ernscliffe lifting -the drooping head of his new-made bride, he saw only the marble mask of -death on that peerless face that a moment ago was wreathed in smiles. -But he could not believe it, and when the physician who was hastily -summoned gave the verdict so often wrongly given in cases of sudden -death, that heart-disease had caused the calamity, the groan of agony -that broke from the strong man's lips was heart-rending. - -"She cannot be _dead_!" he cried, falling on his knees and clasping the -beautiful form to his wildly-beating heart. "Oh! God, give her back to -me, my darling, my own!" - -"Queenie, my little pet, my precious child, speak to me," cried the -gray-headed old father, bending over her in agony. - -"My daughter, oh, my daughter!" shrieked the mother, and Georgina wailed -aloud, both of them forgetting their coldness and estrangement, and -remembering only the little Queenie they had loved and petted and teased -so long ago, and who now was dead. - -Alas! they might have stood aloof as silent and as cold as Sydney stood, -for all the answer they won from those pale lips that the bridegroom -kissed so passionately, as though those agonized caresses could have -beguiled her back to life and love again. - -One by one the bridal guests stole away and left them alone with their -dead, the silent domestics crept about closing windows and doors, and -dimming the brilliant lights; the banquet stood untasted under the -glitter of flowers and lights and silver, the music was hushed, the -garlands drooped low, and the house of feasting was turned into the -house of mourning. The fairest daughter of the house of Lyle lay dead. - -Mr. Lyle fell down in a fit after the dreadful certainty of his loss -became manifest to him. He was removed to his chamber, attended by -skillful physicians, but their potent art was of no avail. Entire -consciousness never returned to him again. He lay through the long hours -of the night tossing restlessly on his pillow, and babbling of the dead -girl who lay in the chamber above, deaf to his agonized appeals as to -those of her lover-husband. They thought he was delirious, he talked so -strangely. - -"I knew she would die," he said. "Her spirit face came and looked at me -through the window one night--it was when she was away"--a shudder shook -him from head to foot--"I knew it was a token of her death! Ah! but I -forget--did she not tell me it was herself that came, full of love, and -pity, and sorrow, and looked at her poor papa, sitting lonely for lack -of his little girl? Queenie, Queenie, where are you? Come back, dear! -Papa forgives you! He will take you home again out of the cold and wet, -and the dark, stormy night." - -He started up and held out his arms to clasp her to his heart, but -instead he encountered the form of the bereaved bridegroom who sat by -the side of his bed. They had persuaded, nay, almost forced him away -from the side of the dead bride to the relief of the suffering living. -He sat there half dazed with grief and horror, hearing dreamily the -strange ravings of his father-in-law--ravings that he scarcely heeded -then, but which burned themselves into his memory, and were recalled in -after years with inexpressible pain. - -"Ah, Ernscliffe, it is you," said the poor father, when the yearning -arms that sought for Queenie touched him instead. "Are you waiting for -her, too! You must not blame her very much. She was very young and -temptation found her an innocent victim. You remember the woman in the -Bible who was forgiven much--because she loved much? Ernscliffe, you -will not be hard upon little Queenie--you will forgive her--for she -also loved much!" - -The physician tapped his forehead significantly with his forefinger. - -"Do not heed him--he raves," he said. - -"Queenie, Queenie," called the poor sufferer, "come back, dear, I -forgive you, but you must ask God to forgive you, too. Get your Bible, -pet--read what Christ said." - -Sydney, standing near the foot of the bed, looked strangely at her -mother. The dying man, as his restless glance roved about, saw that -look, and beckoned her with a warning finger. - -"Come nearer, Sydney--you were cold and hard to her when she came -home--you, and mamma, and Georgie. Women are always hard to each other. -How could you be so cruel to the little one?" - -He paused a moment, as if for reply, but Sydney turned her pale, -changeless face aside, and Mrs. Lyle was sobbing too wildly for words. -He went on babbling to himself on the one theme that held his thoughts: - -"She was such a sweet child--was she not, mamma? So lovely, and so -loving! I can see her now with her golden curls flying on the breeze and -her light feet dancing over the turf! Little Goldilocks, we used to call -her sometimes. Goldilocks, Goldilocks, come, and kiss me. Papa forgives -you!" - -Georgina, who had stood apart weeping against Lord Valentine's shoulder, -came forward and fell on her knees by the bed, thrilled to the heart by -the tender recollections his words awoke. - -"Oh, papa, papa," she sobbed, "poor, little Queenie!" - -He reached out and laid one trembling hand on the fair head still -crowned with the orange wreath. His words, though they seemed to the -physicians but the purposeless ravings of a disordered fancy, burnt -themselves upon her memory as if written in fire. - -"Georgie, forgive her--she was more sinned against than sinning--and she -went mad and avenged the wrongs--remember that when she comes back." - -"Queenie is _dead_, papa," sobbed Lady Valentine. - -"Dead--who said that Queenie is dead?" he asked, looking vacantly about -him. - -The physician came forward and forced a composing draught upon him. - -"Do the vagaries of illness often assume such forms as this?" inquired -Sydney's clear voice from the foot of the bed, where she stood -supporting the form of her hysterical mother. - -"As what, miss?" inquired the physician, politely. - -"These strange and dreadful fancies about--about my sister," she -answered, flushing slightly. "His words, if _rational_, would imply so -much." - -"But taken as the ravings of a disordered fancy they imply nothing," -answered he, quickly. "He is not conscious of what he says. The shock of -your sister's sudden death has simply assumed some other form to his -delirious brain. Who can fathom the mysterious workings of a mind -diseased?" - -Sydney glanced furtively across at Captain Ernscliffe. He was listening, -and his heavy, grief-filled gaze met her strange, inscrutable one. - -"Do not distress yourself, Sydney," he said, very gently, "it is only -the raving of a mind distraught. Of course we know that our lost -darling"--his voice broke and quivered over the words and he paused a -moment and repeated them--"of course we know that our lost darling was -as pure as the snow. She never could have sinned." - -"Who says that she sinned?" exclaimed Mr. Lyle, rousing slightly from -the stupor stealing over him. "Who says that she sinned? Let him among -you that is without sin, cast the first stone!" - -He fell back exhausted on his pillow, and never spoke again. With the -first faint glimmer of the dawn the flickering spark of his life went -out--went out so gently that they could scarcely tell what moment the -soul was released from its earthly tabernacle. - -His heart had been a tender one, more tender than is often found in man, -and his youngest daughter had been his idol all her life long. Her -protracted absence and her terrible return had strained the chords of -his heart almost to breaking--her sudden death had snapped them asunder. -Two days later they buried the two who had been so fondly united in -life, side by side, in a green and quiet graveyard, away from the noise -and tumult of the great, crowded city, and Lawrence Ernscliffe, as he -stood by the grave, calm to all outward appearance, though pale as -sculptured marble, when he turned away left all the heart he ever had to -give buried in the low mound that held his lost little Queenie. - -And night fell, chilly, moonless and starless. The "homeless winds" -sighed over the two graves new-made in the green churchyard, and the -summer rain wept over them in the darkness, as though - - "The heart of Heaven were breaking - In tears o'er the fallen earth." - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - -But, hark! who are those that disturb the peace that broods like the -wing of an angel over the city of the dead? - -Under cover of the darkness and the rain, two dark, cloaked forms steal -along the graveled walk and pause beside the spot where the dark, -fresh-smelling earth is heaped in swelling mounds over the hapless -father and daughter. - -The light of a bull's-eye lantern, flashing transiently over the form -and face of one, shows a tall, straight form, and features as handsome -as those of a Greek god. He speaks: - -"To your work, Perkins! They were so cursed long putting her into the -ground that I feared my plot would fail! Hasten now. There is not a -minute to lose. As it is, we may be too late!" - -The man called Perkins produced a spade from under his cloak, and set to -work, cautiously but rapidly throwing the earth off of one of the new -graves. - -"Are you sure you are right now, Perkins? I believe I should kill you if -you made a mistake!" said the handsome man with the lantern, grinding a -terrible oath between his white teeth. - -"You'll not have the chance to wreak your dev'lish temper on me," said -Perkins, in a familiar tone, as if addressing one with whom he was -thoroughly acquainted. "I'm sure of what I'm doing. I saw them put her -into this very hole this evening." - -"Hurry up, then. What do you stop to talk for? Make your strokes as -light as possible. You might be heard!" said the lantern-bearer, -irascibly. - -Perkins redoubled his exertions, but it seemed an age to his impatient -employer before the dull, horrible thud of the spade announced that the -coffin was reached. - -"You'll have to help me git the coffin out," said Perkins. "It will be -no easy job in this darkness and the pouring rain." - -It was no easy job, as he had said, but their united efforts, with the -usual appliances for such work, at length enabled them to raise it out -of the grave and set it on the ground beside them. Even as they did so, -a dreadful sound mingled with the sob of the wind and the putter of the -rain. It was a low and smothered moan from within the coffin! - -"Great God, Perkins, wrench the lid off!" exclaimed the other, -excitedly. "She revives!" - -Again and again the low moan echoed within the coffin, having a horrible -sound from within that prison-house of death, and fevering the blood of -the waiting man who swore audibly at Perkins, whose swiftest efforts -seemed like the progress of a snail to his impatient mood. - -"Now, sir," said Perkins, at last, as panting, and perspiring, he threw -off the lid of the elegant casket, "now, sir, there's your game!" - -The man flashed the lantern light forward. It shone on a beautiful white -face, fixed in unconsciousness, now, the dews of horror standing thick -and wet on the brow, the lips bleeding where the pearly teeth had bitten -them in anguish, the small, dimpled white hands clenched in the lace -upon her breast that was frayed and torn with her frantic struggles at -finding herself in that awful prison. But blessed unconsciousness had -supervened, and she looked death-like indeed to the eyes that beheld -her. - -"Looks like she might be gone, sure enough, this time sir," said -Perkins, uneasily. - -"If she _is_, I'll kill _you_, d--n you!" cried the man. "I'll not be -balked of my revenge like that. I'll glut it on somebody!" - -Even while speaking he bent down and laid his hand upon her heart. - -"No, she lives; I feel her heart beat faintly," he said. "Quick, -Perkins, the cloak! It rains on her." - -"The rain will revive her," said Perkins, as he unfolded a long, dark -waterproof cloak and handed it to his companion. - -The man lifted Queenie's slight form, and wrapped the long cloak over -the bridal robe in which she had been buried. - -"Now, then," he said, putting a thick roll of bank-notes into the man's -hand, "cover up the grave, and remove every trace of this night's work. -And--_remember_, one word of _this_ to a living soul, and I'll send your -black soul to the devil!" - -"Mum's the word, sir!" answered the man, beginning to lower the empty -coffin back into the grave. - -His employer turned without another word and passed swiftly away through -the rain and the darkness to the carriage that waited for him near the -gates, bearing the unconscious girl in his arms. - -He entered the carriage, deposited the still unconscious Queenie on a -seat in a recumbent attitude, and holding her head in his arms, was -whirled rapidly away through the murky night. For an hour or more he -rode thus, and the carriage stopped at length before a cottage embowered -in trees on the banks of a broad, dark river. He lifted his burden, -stepped through the gate, and the carriage whirled away. - -Hurrying up the steps, he paused on the low, ornate piazza that ran -around the house, and rang the bell. - -The door was opened by a neat-looking woman of middle age, who held a -lamp above her head. - -"Ah! it is you," was all she said. - -"Yes, it is I; and I have brought back your mistress, Mrs. Bowers, as I -said I would, though you _did_ have the impudence to insinuate that I -had made way with her," he answered, in a tone of rough pleasantry. - -"You are none too good to have done it," she answered, with a certain -cool and familiar impertinence. - -"Confound your impudence--lead the way to her room," he said, -carelessly. "She is ill and needs attention." - -Mrs. Bowers went up the stairway and opened the door into a large, airy -room, exquisitely furnished and draped with hangings of white lace over -rose-colored silk. Costly pictures and statuettes adorned the walls, and -all the appointments were of elegant design, and evidently selected -regardless of expense. - -Mrs. Bowers held back the sweeping lace canopy of the low French bed, -and the man laid his fair burden down upon it, after removing the dark -cloak. - -"What ails her?" asked the woman, starting as a low moan broke from the -lips of the only half-conscious girl. - -"I told you she was ill," he said, curtly. "She has been in a swoon. Get -restoratives." - -Mrs. Bowers obeyed him, and was soon bathing the pale face and limp, -nerveless hands, with refreshing perfume. - -Directly Queenie started up, passed her hand across her brow and looked -about her. An expression of loathing swept across her face. - -"Are you glad to find yourself in your old quarters, my dear?" asked the -man, sardonically, from the window to which he had retreated. - -She started as if someone had struck her a terrible blow, and looked -across the room. Fear, horror, despair, were all blended in the look she -cast upon his handsome, satanically smiling face. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - -Mrs. Bowers, seeing that her mistress had revived, lighted a brilliant -jet of gas and went out. Queenie did not even notice her departure so -intently was her gaze fixed on the man at the window, who stood there -calm, _nonchalant_, even smiling, standing the scathing fire of her -beautiful eyes like a soldier. - -"So," she said, at last, and there was surprise and regret both -commingled in her tone, "so you are not _dead_!" - -"No thanks to you, little tigress," he answered, with a fierce, yellow -light flaring into his black eyes. "You did your best to further that -end." - -"I might have forseen how vain was the endeavor," she retorted, in -passionate anger, and quoted an old saying: "They cannot be drowned who -are born to be _hung_." - -He laughed in mockery at the bitter insinuation, but years after, when -the light of Heaven shone on him through the grated bars of a prison -cell, and he heard outside the horrible sound of the hammers driving the -nails into his scaffold, he remembered the words with wonder, and -thought she must have been gifted with "second-sight," as the Scotch -called the gift of prophecy. - -"Now I know it was you that sent me the flowers," she said. "Why did you -do it? They were poisoned!" - -"No, only drugged! It was a subtle drug I bought in the east long ago--a -drug warranted to produce a long and sudden sleep perfectly resembling -death." - -"Again I ask you, why did you do it?" she said, and her voice was full -of wonder. - -"I wanted to get you into my power once more. That was the safest plan -to effect it. I let them bury you, and then I resurrected you." - -"What did you want of me? You wearied of me before. Why not have let me -go in peace?" - -She tried to speak calmly, but her voice trembled with some inward -resentment, and there was a passion of hatred in her dusky eyes that -might have killed him where he stood. A rage as deadly as hers leaped up -in his eyes in answer. - -"Because I _hate_ you!" he said, wickedly. - -"We always hate those whom we have wronged," she replied, and her whole -form trembled with her passionate indignation. - -"I hate you because of that cowardly blow in the dark," he said angrily. -"But for that I might have let you go free, though I pitied Captain -Ernscliffe for being deceived by you." - -"Villain!" she exclaimed, "I have not deceived him!" - -"You have not?" he sneered. "Did you not withhold from him the story of -that year which he supposed you to have spent in Europe? Did you not -allow him to think you an innocent woman?" - -She sprang to her feet and stood facing him, her dark-blue eyes -dilating, her cheeks flushing, her small hands clenched tightly in her -breathless anger. An artist's pencil might have handed his name down to -immortal fame could he have put on canvas that striking scene--the -beautiful room, and the man in his splendid, insolent, satanic beauty, -standing before that lovely incarnation of pride and passion, with her -glorious veil of golden hair falling loosely about her superb form, and -the shining folds of her costly bridal robe sweeping far behind her on -the rich velvet carpet. - -"I _am_ an innocent woman," she said, proudly, and the light shone on -her lifted face and the earnest fire in her eyes. "I _am_ an innocent -woman! I have done no wrong, though I am a betrayed, unhappy, and -insulted victim! I have been sinned against, but I have not sinned!" - -He laughed, cruelly, mockingly, insultingly. - -"Why do you laugh?" she said. "_You_ know that it is true. You deceived -me and betrayed me, but was I to blame? I carried the marriage -certificate in my breast as a precious thing! I thought it was true as -Heaven, I thought I was pure as the snow! And I _am_! How could _your_ -sin touch me?" - -Again he laughed mockingly. - -"Your mind is strangely warped," he said. "But if you were innocent in -the one thing, how about the blow in the dark? Was there no sin in -that?" - -"I deny that there was sin!" she said, with passionate defiance in her -look and tone. "It was simple justice--'a blow for a blow.' You drove me -mad with the horror and cruelty of all I learned! It seemed to me that I -was given back from the grave to rid the world of a monster!" - -"You failed," he said, derisively. - -"Yes, to my sorrow," she answered. "But, ah! Leon Vinton, surely a day -of reckoning will come to you. The justice of God will not always sleep. -I was not permitted to take your punishment out of His hands who has -said 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay.' It will come, it will come!" - -"You prate of God's vengeance," he said, sneeringly, "but it suits you -to forget that the preachers call him also a God of mercy, and love, and -forgiveness!" - -"Forgiveness!" she echoed, wildly. "Neither God nor man could forgive -you, Leon Vinton! You have committed an unpardonable sin. You have -broken my heart, you have tried to kill my soul, you murdered me! Can I -ever forgive _this_?" - -She swept back the golden waves of hair that shaded her white brow and -showed him the livid scar of a deep wound beneath them. - -"It is your hellish work!" she said. "You ground your cruel boot-heel -into the brow your false lips had kissed a thousand times; you strangled -my life out with the hands that had caressed me uncounted times! Oh, my -God, can I ever forgive or forget my wrongs?" - -"I will kill you the next time more surely, curse you!" he hissed, in -ungovernable rage, and striding forward, he caught her white arm rudely, -almost crushing it in his iron grasp. "Cease, girl, not another word!" - -She wrenched herself out of his grasp and answered, defiantly: - -"Let me go, then, if you cannot bear my reproaches. Let me return to my -husband." - -A sneer curled his thin lips as she spoke with an unconscious accent of -tenderness on the words "my husband." - -"Your husband, as you call him, shall never know that you are not -mouldering yonder in Rose Hill Cemetery. You shall never look upon his -face again, Queenie Lyle." - -"Mrs. Ernscliffe, if you please," she said, drawing her graceful form -erect with a defiant dignity. - -"Mrs. Ernscliffe, then, if it pleases you better," he answered, -mockingly. "Though why you care for the name I do not know. You do not -love the man." - -"I _do_ love him," she answered, firmly, her fair head slightly drooped, -and a burning blush crimsoning her cheeks. - -"Since when?" he queried, sneeringly. "You did not love him when he -asked you to marry him. I heard you tell him so." - -"You heard me!" she exclaimed, in surprise. - -"Yes, I was a witness to that moonlight wooing. I have seldom lost sight -of you since you returned to your father's house, and resumed the _role_ -of innocent maidenhood." - -"A spy!" she said, scornfully. - -"Yes, if you put it so," he answered, coolly. "We need not be particular -about terms." - -She looked at him as if he were something wonderful. The effrontery of -his wickedness almost paralyzed her. She clasped her hands and lifted -her blue eyes. - -"Oh, just Heaven," she said, "why does thy vengeance tarry in smiting -this monster?" - -"Permit me to commend your dramatic ability," he said, with a -mock-courtly bow. "Your tones and gestures would make your fortune on -the tragic stage." - -She sank into a chair and dropped her face into her hands. She was very -weary and physically exhausted, having eaten nothing since the day of -her supposed death, but she felt no hunger now, though she was faint and -thirsty. - -"Your tirade appears to be over," he remarked, with his evil sneer. - -She looked up. - -"Tell me one thing," she said, trying to speak calmly. "What do you want -of me? Why did you care to get me back, when we both hate each other?" - -The glare of that hatred of which she spoke flamed luridly up in his -dark eyes. - -"That is the very reason that I brought you back," he answered; "because -I hated you, and because I intended to make your life one long, -insufferable weariness to you until you die." - -Again she looked at him with wonder. Her gentler nature could not fathom -the cruel vindictiveness of his. - -"Oh, Leon," she gasped, "you would not be so cruel? Think of all that I -have suffered at your hands already. Let me go, I beg you! I am so -young, I may make something of my life yet, if I can only go back to the -good, true man I have already learned to love and honor." - -The words seemed to madden him. - -"Never!" he shouted, hoarsely, with a terrible oath. "Never! I hate -Lawrence Ernscliffe--I have an old grudge against him. I will have my -revenge on you both. You shall stay here, locked in these four walls, a -hated prisoner, as long as you live. Mrs. Bowers shall be your jailer, -and here you shall dwell, eating your heart out in abject wretchedness -and misery unutterable. Do you like the picture? _Au revoir, Mrs. -Ernscliffe!_" - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - -Queenie heard the key grate in the lock and sprang up, uttering wild -shrieks of passion and despair, almost beside herself with the horror of -her new situation. - -But no response came to her frenzied screams and cries. Perhaps those -gilded walls had echoed such wails of agony before, and the hearts of -those who heard them had grown callous with long familiarity. - -She ran up and down the room like one mad, alternately skrieking and -beating upon the locked door, until she fell upon the floor, conquered -by sheer exhaustion. - -She lay there awhile, then sprang up restlessly again. - -"I will endure it no longer," she said, passionately; "I will throw -myself down from the window and kill myself!" - -Full of that wild, suicidal resolve, she ran to the window and pushed up -the sash. - -The night was far spent, and that awful darkness that comes just before -dawn obscured everything, its blackness intensified by the drizzling -rain that still poured steadily down. - -Queenie fell upon her knees with the rain beating in upon her white face -and long, flowing hair, and clasped her little hands together as her -father had taught her to do when she was but a toddling baby-girl. - -"Oh, God!" she prayed, lifting her lovely, despairing face to the dark -sky as if to catch a glimpse of the all-merciful Father to whom she -appealed. "Oh, God, pity and forgive me for sending my soul uncalled for -before its divine Maker. And, Heavenly Father, whatever of wrong I have -committed, do Thou pity and pardon it. That sin with which I stand -charged Thou knowest I would have died a thousand deaths rather than -willfully commit it, and----" - -She paused, overcome by agonized recollections, and rising, peered out -into the darkness below. - -"In the morning when he comes out into the garden," she said, "he will -find my poor, crushed, bleeding body lying beneath this window. Surely, -then, when his murderous hate has driven me to self-destruction, his -revenge will be complete!" - -She placed her hand on the sill of the window, and leaned forward for -the fatal spring that was to end her earthly sorrows. - -How slight a thing can distract our attention even in the most absorbing -moments of our lives. - -Queenie's hands fell upon a cold, wet mass of leaves, and a gust of -intoxicating perfume blew into her face. She immediately drew back. - -She had suddenly remembered that some thickly twisted vines of ivy and -sweet-scented honeysuckle were trained up to her window in the second -story. - -A thought, as sudden as an inspiration, darted into her mind. - -Instead of dashing her brains out on the hard ground below, why not -escape down this ladder of vines to love and happiness again? - -"I will do it," she said to herself. "I will go back to my husband. I -will tell him I was stolen from my grave, and that I revived in the -fresh air, and life came back to me in its full tide. Oh! how glad he -will be to see me--my poor Lawrence. He loved me so dearly!" - -In the swift revulsion of feeling from despair and desperation to love -and hope again she gave way to a burst of hysterical tears. - -"I must not stay here to weep," she said, at length, brushing the -crystal drops away from her cheeks. "I must be far on my way to my -husband before he discovers my escape." - -She took up the thick, hooded waterproof cloak that lay on a chair, and -wrapped it around her. - -"This will never do," she said, seeing the long train of her splendid -dress sweeping from beneath the hem of the cloak. "I must not be seen -going into the city in this plight." - -She took off the cloak and tucked up the long train and pinned it -securely around her, resumed the waterproof, and climbed up into the -window. - -"Farewell, Leon Vinton," she said. "Pray God I may never look on your -evil face again!" - -She took a firm hold of the thick body of the vine with both hands, and -with a slight shudder swung herself forward into the darkness. - -The vine swayed and creaked with her weight, and for one dreadful moment -she thought she should be precipitated to the ground to the death which -a moment before she had courted, but which now, in the new dawn of hope, -she shunned. The shower of rain-drops, shaken down from the leaves into -her face, almost took her breath away. The wild wind tossed her from -side to side like a feather as she clung to her frail support. - -"I shall surely be killed," she said to herself in terror. - -But no--the delicate reed to which she had trusted her existence did not -fail her. She waited breathlessly a moment, then feeling that it still -held secure, she cautiously slipped one hand and then the other down to -a lower hold on the body of the vine. In that way, with many frightened -heart-beats, with sore and bleeding hands, and at infinite pains, she at -length accomplished the descent, and stood upon the ground enfolded like -a mantle by the thick darkness and pouring rain. - -At the gate she paused again, and looked up at one window in a wing of -the house where a night-light glimmered faintly. - -"Farewell, Leon Vinton," she said, again. "May the vengeance of God be -swift to overtake and punish you for your awful sins!" - -She opened the gate softly and stepped out into the wet and slushy -road, wetting her thin, white satin slippers and silk stockings through -and through at the first step. She did not care for it, she scarcely -felt it, her heart was beating so quick and fast with joy. - -"I am free!" was the exultant cry of her heart. "I am free--I am going -back to my husband. I shall tell him how fondly I have learned to love -him since I promised to be his wife. I will cling so closely to his side -that Leon's vindictive rage can never touch me!" - -She pushed on steadily through the mud and water, her long garments -speedily becoming soaked with the watery elements and greatly impeding -her ease and rapidity of motion, while her heart began to beat wildly -with terror at the darkness, the desolation and loneliness of the -country road. - -"I am very tired," she moaned, after traveling what seemed to her a long -distance. "It is five miles to the city. I must have come two miles at -least. I wonder if I can hold out to get there. My feet are so heavy -with the mud and the water that I can scarcely lift them. I must sit -down here and rest myself one minute--only _one little minute_!" - -She dropped down like a log on the grass by the side of the road, and -the first pale beams of the watery dawn just breaking in the east, -showed her deathly-white face just fading into unconsciousness. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - -When Queenie threw herself down upon the wet grass in a weariness so -utter that she could no longer hold her aching limbs upright, she had -thought that a minute of rest would put new strength into her exhausted -frame, and enable her to pursue her journey. - -But exhausted nature could bear no more. Her unbroken fast of nearly -three days, and her wet and draggled condition combined to weaken and -depress her. Her limbs trembled under her, and when she fell down for -one minute's rest, a deep unconsciousness stole upon her, wrapping her -senses in lethargy. Her last conscious thought was one of agonized -terror, lest ere she revived her enemy should discover her escape, and -set out to trace her. - -While she lay there mute and still, the dawn began to grow brighter in -the east, the rain slackened, and a few pale beams of sunshine striking -upon the scene, showed that she had fallen almost at the gate of a -little farm-house from whose chimneys the blue smoke curled cheerfully -up, showing that the inhabitants were already up and about their daily -labors. - -Presently a middle-aged man, in the rough, coarse garb of a farmer came -out of the house and strode down to the gate, whistling a merry tune, -and snapping and cracking the great leathern whip he carried in his -hand. - -As he stepped outside the gate his cheerful whistle suddenly ended in an -exclamation of terror. - -His glance had fallen on the still form lying just outside the gate, -with its lovely, white face and closed eyes upturned to the light. - -He stood still a moment, looking down at her in awe and consternation. - -"What a pretty young un," he said, aloud, "And she's dead, I -mistrust--stone dead!" - -The next moment he leaned over the gate and called loudly: - -"Wife, wife, come out!" - -The door opened and a middle-aged, pleasant-looking woman appeared. She -was flushed as if she had been over the fire, and held some small -cooking utensil in her hand. - -"Well, Jerry," she said, "what do you want now?" - -"Come out and see," he answered. - -"Well, but I can't leave the cakes," said she, intent on her housewifely -cares; "they will burn." - -"Tell Jennie to mind the gridiron," he said, "and do you come out to -me." - -She went in and reappeared after a minute, coming down the path with her -homely check apron thrown over her head. - -"What now, Jerry?" she said, half-pettishly, half good-naturedly. "What -is lost this morning? A pity I have to mind the farm-tools as well as -the frying-pans!" - -Jerry, whom this home thrust betrayed to be a good-natured, shiftless -fellow, dependent on his better-half's more orderly ways, looked up to -laugh, then checked himself, awed by the presence of that still form at -his feet. - -"There's naught misplaced this time, my dear," he said; "you shouldn't -be forever twitting a poor, careless fellow with his faults." - -"What is't amiss, then?" she said, as she came up to the gate. - -"Look _there_!" he answered, pointing down. "A poor tramp dead in the -road!" - -The good woman looked, started, and her healthy, red cheeks turned -white. - -"Oh, my Heavenly Father!" she ejaculated. "Who is't, Jerry?" - -"How should I know, woman?" asked her husband. "I've but just stepped -outside the gate and found her." - -"And is she really, truly _dead_, Jerry?" - -"She looks like it," he said. "But stoop down and feel of her heart, -Jane. See if it beats." - -The woman came out of the gate, and bending down, put her hand -half-timorously inside of Queenie's cloak and felt her heart. - -"Yes--no--yes, it does beat just the leastest bit," she said. "Poor -creature! Take her up and carry her into the kitchen, Jerry. Perhaps we -may revive her." - -"That's like your good heart, Jane," said the farmer, as he lifted up -the limp form and conveyed it into the kitchen. - -A rosy, exceedingly pretty, dark-eyed girl who was busily frying -corn-cakes over the fire came forward with an exclamation of surprise as -he laid his burden down upon the lounge that stood in one corner. - -"Never mind the cakes, Jennie," said her mother. "Come and lend a hand -to save a poor creetur as your father found perishin' in the road." - -"What can I do, mother?" asked the girl. - -"Take them muddy things off her feet, and rub the poor creetur's limbs -dry," said the good woman, busying herself in removing the wet cloak, "I -declare to gracious!" she said, after a moment. "How blind men are. -Jerry called her a tramp. Look at them rings on her fingers! Look at -that dress, fine enough for the finest bride! Is that the way tramps -dress, Mr. Thorn?" - -"She's of the finest quality, mother," said the girl called Jennie. "Her -slippers are white satin, her stockings pure silk, and worked all over -with flowers." - -"Never mind the shoes and the stockings, Jennie," said her father, "but -rub the little un's feet. See how cold and blue they are." - -Thus adjured, Jennie brought a warm flannel cloth, and began to rub the -icy little feet of the wayfarer, while her mother brought strong camphor -and bathed the pale face; now and then applying a bottle of ammonia to -her nostrils. - -Under this vigorous treatment, and the revivifying heat of the room, the -patient's heart began to beat quicker, and a faint, thread-like pulse to -flutter in her blue-veined wrist. - -"Poor soul!" exclaimed Mrs. Thorn. "I _do_ wonder how she came to be out -in such a storm? All in her party dress, too! She'd be as pretty as a -pink, with her eyes open, and a bit more color in her cheeks." - -The farmer now approached with a cup of warm coffee and a teaspoon. - -"Belike she needs summat to warm her up," he said. "Take the spoon, -Jane, and force a wee bit of coffee between her lips." - -Mrs. Thorn did as requested, but with no visible result for the better. -The patient still lay with closed eyes and lips, showing no sign of -life, save in the tremulous beat of her heart and the faint, faint pulse -of her wrist. - -Mrs. Thorn still worked patiently over her, but at the end of an hour -looked disheartened. - -"I mistrust that this is a case for the doctor," she said; "we have done -what we could, but all to no use." - -"I could bring a doctor, but who's to pay him?" said the farmer. "We -have no money, Jane, and Jennie's out of work." - -"The lady could pay him, herself," suggested Jennie. "There's them rings -on her fingers worth a mint of money." - -"Yea, that's so," said the mother. "Go and get the doctor, Jennie. The -lady will die, I'm afraid, if she lays in this state much longer." - -"I'll go and bring Dr. Pillsbury, then," said the farmer, going out, -followed by repeated injunctions from his wife to hurry. - -"There's not a minute to lose," she said. "Even now it may be too late -to raise the poor creetur to life again, so low as she has sunk." - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - - -Farmer Thorn stepped out of the gate, and was about to proceed on his -way, when his attention was arrested by the rather unusual sight of a -gentleman tearing madly along the road on a fine black horse. - -The farmer was so impressed with the parting injunction of his wife as -to the necessity of a physician's immediate presence, that a wild fancy -that this hurrying horseman might belong to the medical fraternity -darted directly into his mind. - -He accordingly lifted his hand as a signal for the impetuous rider to -pause. - -The gentleman checked his impatient steed, and inquired with a smothered -oath. - -"What the deuce is your business with me? I'm in a devil of a hurry!" - -"I mistrusted you might be a doctor?" said the farmer, inquiringly. - -"The devil! Who's sick?" was the exceedingly civil rejoinder. - -"A strange lady that we found in the road this morning. She's like to -die," said Mr. Thorn. - -In the twinkling of an eye the rider was off his horse, with the bridle -thrown over his arm. - -"Yes, I'm a doctor," he said, briskly. "Here, tie up my horse, and let -me see the patient at once." - -Mr. Thorn was so impressed by the confident air of the man that he -readily obeyed the somewhat arrogant command, and Mrs. Thorn and Jennie -were somewhat surprised at his quick return, accompanied by an utter -stranger. - -"I met a doctor right at the gate, wife," he explained; "so I did not go -for Dr. Pillsbury." - -"Here's your patient, sir," said Mrs. Thorn, turning back the gay -patchwork counterpane, in which she had carefully enveloped the -unconscious Queenie. - -What was her surprise to see him fall upon his knees and clasp his -hands, while his dark, handsome features became luminous with mingled -joy and sorrow. - -"Oh, my dear sister, my sweet, unhappy girl!" he exclaimed, "is it thus -I find you. Oh! madam, is she indeed dead?" he inquired, turning sadly -to Mrs. Thorn. - -"Her heart beats just a little, sir," said Mrs. Thorn, looking at him in -surprise. - -"Do you know the lady, sir?" asked Jennie Thorn, a little timidly. - -The man turned around, and looked at the farmer's exceedingly pretty -daughter with a furtive look of admiration. Instead of answering her he -spoke to the farmer. - -"Your daughter, I suppose, sir?" - -"Yes, sir, my daughter Jennie," said the farmer, with a glance of pride -at his pretty daughter. "She's been out at service this three years, -sir, but at present she's out of a place." - -"Ah!" he said, politely; then turning back to the motionless form before -him, he said: "Yes, Miss Jennie, I know this lady. She is my own -sister. Unfortunately she is insane--driven mad by an unhappy love -affair. She persists in dressing herself in white and calling herself a -bride. This morning, just before daybreak, she escaped from us, and I -have been seeking her everywhere. It was a fortunate chance that led me -here. - -"Do you think that she will revive, sir?" inquired Mrs. Thorn, who was -watching the patient anxiously. - -He turned and laid his hand over the girl's heart, knitting his brows -with an air of medical wisdom. - -"Oh, yes," he said, confidently. "There is life here yet. She is weak -and exhausted, having eaten but little for several days. Have you tried -forcing a little wine between her lips?" - -"No; we had none," apologized the farmer; "we are but poor folks." - -Pretty Jennie Thorn blushed and looked away at her father's frank -admission. She felt ashamed of their poverty before the haughty glance -of the handsome stranger. - -The man took a little cut-glass flask with a golden stopper from his -pocket. It was full of wine, and he lifted Queenie's head on his arm, -poured a few drops between her pale lips and suffered them to trickle -down her throat. He repeated the operation several times, then laid her -head gently back on the pillow. - -"You will soon see her rally now," he said, looking at Jennie with a -smile. "And now I must be making arrangements to take my poor little -sister home again." - -A startled cry came from the lips of the invalid. - -The man's last words had penetrated her reviving senses. - -She raised herself on her arm and looked about her at the unfamiliar -room and the strange faces around her. - -"Leon Vinton, _you_ here?" she exclaimed in a piteous tone. "Oh, Heaven, -where am I?" - -"We are all friends, miss," said Mrs. Thorn, soothingly. "You fell -exhausted by the roadside, and we took you in and cared for you until -your brother came along and found you here." - -Queenie's eyes flashed scornfully into Leon Vinton's face. - -"Does _he_ say that he is my brother?" she demanded, pointing her finger -at him and looking at Mrs. Thorn. - -"Yes, miss," answered the woman. - -"He lies!" exclaimed Queenie, passionately, gaining strength with her -anger. "I am nothing to him, nothing! He is trying to deceive you that -he may get me into his power!" - -Leon Vinton sighed mournfully, and shook his head as he looked around at -the girl's auditors. - -"Ah, my friends, I told you she was mad," he said, sadly. "You see she -denies her own brother!" - -"You are _not_ my brother, villain!" exclaimed Queenie, angrily; and -looking round at the others, she said: "My good friends, do not believe -this man--I am no relative of his, and he is trying to deceive you, and -get me into his power to torture my life out! Oh, sir, I appeal to you, -and to you, madam, also, to protect me from this villain. Drive him -forth this moment from this honest house whose pure air he pollutes with -his foul presence!" - -The farmer and his wife began to cast dark looks at Leon Vinton, so -impressed were they with the earnestness of the girl's words and looks. -They began to think it was the truth she spoke instead of the ravings of -madness. The arch villain soon saw that they were inclined to doubt his -word, and threw fresh earnestness and eloquence into his dramatic -manner. - -"Oh, my darling, unfortunate little sister," he cried, dropping on one -knee beside her, and trying to take her hands in his, "how it grieves me -that your distraught mind should take me for the accursed villain who -has destroyed your happiness forever--me, your devoted brother, whose -whole life is devoted to your service!" - -"Villain! wretch!" exclaimed Queenie, "out of my sight before I try to -kill you! Oh, will no one drive the monster away?" she wildly cried. - -"She grows violent," said Vinton, looking sadly around him. "I must -remove her from here before her frenzy leads her to harm some of you. -Have you any kind of a comfortable trap that I could take her home in?" -he inquired, looking at the farmer. - -"I will not go with you!" exclaimed the unhappy girl. "I am going home -to my husband. You shall not prevent me! Oh, sir," she cried, turning -her streaming eyes on Mr. Thorn's face, "you will not suffer this man to -take me away from here! I assure you, I am no kin of his, and that he is -seeking my destruction. Grant me the shelter of your roof, and your -manly protection against this villain's arts, till I can send word to my -father and my husband to come for me." - -Mr. Thorn looked at the agonized face of the beautiful girl, and he -could not believe that she was insane. There seemed too much "method in -her madness." He cast a suspicious look on Vinton, and answered firmly: - -"Be calm, lady. He shall not take you away without proof of what he says -about you. I will protect you!" - -"Oh, father! how can you presume to doubt the gentleman's word?" -exclaimed Jennie Thorn impulsively, for the man's handsome face and -consummate acting had quite won her young, impressionable heart over to -his side. - -Leon Vinton cast a grateful look upon her, throwing so much -impressiveness into his look that she dropped her eyes and blushed -deeply. In that moment the villain saw the impression he had made upon -her innocent heart, and the simple, trusting girl was from that instant -marked as his victim. - -"Sir," he said, turning to the farmer, and speaking in an imperious -tone, "do not you know that I can take legal means to punish you for -thus depriving me of the custody of my insane sister?" - -"I do not believe she is insane," said the farmer, doggedly. "Neither do -I believe that she is your sister. And you can't take her away from here -without proving your right." - -"Well said, husband!" exclaimed Mrs. Thorn, approvingly, for her -motherly heart was full of sympathy for the distressed girl, who had so -touchingly implored her protection. - -Queenie cast a look of heartfelt gratitude upon these homely friends, -who had espoused her cause in so outspoken a way; but simple Jennie -Thorn exclaimed quickly: - -"Oh, mother! oh, father! I'm sure the gent speaks the truth. The lady -_must_ be crazy; for how else could she be wandering in the night and -the storm, in her white dress and thin satin slippers?" - -"Hold your peace, girl. This is a matter for wiser heads than yours!" -answered her father, rather shortly; and Jennie subsided into silence, -not, however, without receiving the reward in another beaming look of -gratitude from the dark eyes of the man whom she was defending. - -Mr. Vinton tried another tack. Finding the farmer's sense of justice -impregnable to threats, he put his hand in his pocket, and withdrew it -filled with gold pieces. He held them toward the man with a significant -look. - -"Put your gold back, sir," said the farmer, sturdily. "We are poor folks -enough, but gold can't buy our honor!" and though he was but a poor -tiller of the soil, his mien was princely as he thus defended his honor. - -Leon Vinton's brow grew black as night. He muttered some inaudible -curses between his teeth. Only his sense of policy restrained him from -knocking Mr. Thorn down. - -"What am I to do?" he said, with an air of great perplexity. "Here is my -poor sister lying here needing the care of her friends, and the comforts -and luxuries of her home. Yet you will not permit me to exercise my -right to remove her." - -"Prove your right, sir," said the farmer, firmly; "that's all I want you -to do." - -"And if I prove my right to remove her you will suffer me to do so?" -asked Leon, after a moment's earnest thought. - -"Why, of course, sir. I'd have no right to detain her after that." - -"He cannot prove his right!" exclaimed Queenie, who had lain silent for -some minutes. - -"Have you an errand boy?" asked Vinton, disregarding the interruption. - -Mr. Thorn went to the door, and called "Jotham," and the boy-of-all-work -shambled in. - -"Do you know a cottage on the banks of the river, two miles from here, -Jotham?" - -"Ya'as, sur," said the boy, broadly. - -Leon Vinton wrote these words on a slip of paper: - -"_Take the carriage and come here immediately._" - -He directed the note to Mrs. Bowers, and gave it to the boy, with -instructions to deliver it at the cottage by the river. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - - -The time passed slowly enough to the impatient Vinton while the -boy-of-all-work was gone on his mission to Mrs. Bowers. He paced up and -down impatiently, now and then casting surly looks of hatred and revenge -upon the honest farmer who had dared to defy him and protect his -trembling victim. - -Mrs. Thorn, seeing that Queenie was better and did not need her -attention, busied herself in setting the neglected breakfast upon the -table. She put on the smoking coffee, the hot corn-cakes, the fried -bacon and eggs, the fresh butter and milk, and invited her visitors to -partake of the homely fare. - -Leon Vinton declined the invitation by a surly nod, but Queenie, who had -been watching her movements eagerly, readily signified her consent. - -"I am very hungry," she declared, "for owing to the wickedness of yonder -man, I have not tasted food for several days." - -"Oh, my poor, demented little sister," exclaimed the hypocritical -Vinton, "would to God your reason might be restored!" - -Queenie only cast a look of scorn upon him as she took her place at the -breakfast-table. Her heart was infused with fresh courage owing to the -noble conduct of the farmer and his wife in repelling the persecutions -of Leon Vinton. - -She determined to get the farmer to go into town for her father, and she -resolved that these kind people should be most liberally rewarded for -the resolute course by which they had secured her happiness. So inspired -was she by this brilliant hope, and so strengthened by the warm coffee, -that a faint flush came into her cheek, and her blue eyes sparkled with -excitement and animation. - -"Your breakfast has set you up quite a bit, ma'am," exclaimed Mrs. -Thorn, admiringly. "You don't hardly look like the same woman we took up -for dead in the road." - -"Your kindness has put new life in me, madam," answered Queenie, -gratefully. "It is the hope of escape from this man that fills me with -joy and lights up my face with gladness." - -"Poor dear!" exclaimed the woman, turning a look of scorn on Vinton as -he still moodily paced the floor. - -"Ah, madam," exclaimed he, catching that look, "in a little while, when -my sister arrives and corroborates my story, you will see how much you -have wronged me in giving credence to the senseless ravings of this poor -lunatic." - -Even as he spoke there was a stir and a bustle at the door. The farmer -hastened to open it, and Mrs. Bowers, elegantly dressed and visibly -excited, rushed in. Leon Vinton sprang to meet her. - -"Oh, my dear sister!" he exclaimed, "I have found our poor little one!" - -Mrs. Bowers took the cue at once. - -"Oh, brother!" she cried, theatrically, "you fill me with joy! What -tortures, what agonies I have endured in the fear that she was dead!" - -She rolled her eyes around the room, and seeing Queenie sitting near the -fire, ran up and vigorously embraced her. - -"Oh, my poor, unhappy darling," she cried, "how could you grieve your -poor old sister so?" - -Queenie pushed her off frantically like the mad creature they accused -her of being. - -"You are not my sister," she cried, angrily. "Go away Mrs. Bowers. You -cannot impose on these good people with your shameless lies! They would -not believe Leon Vinton and they will not believe you. They are friends -to me, and they will help me back to my husband." - -Mrs. Bowers threw up her hands and looked at her coadjutor in villainy -sadly. - -"You see she is still as mad as a March hare," he answered, "and would -you believe it, Alice, dear, our little sister has so imposed on these -good people with her cunning insanity, that they actually believe her -stories, and look upon me, her devoted brother, as a perjured villain -seeking her destruction. They will not even permit me to remove my poor, -demented sister home without proof of my assertion." - -Mrs. Bowers looked around at the farmer and his wife with an air of -indulgent pity. - -"Oh, my good people, is it possible that you have been so weak as to let -this cunning maniac deceive you? But no wonder--for insanity has baffled -wiser heads than yours or mine. It is quite natural she should deceive -you, as I do not suppose you ever saw a crazy person before. But now let -me assure you that my brother has told you the simple truth. This is our -own sister, and she has been a year insane. She escaped from us this -morning before daylight, and he has been seeking her everywhere. I have -come in the carriage, and I suppose you will not now raise any further -objection to our removing her to her home." - -"I will not go with you!" exclaimed Queenie, filled with terror lest the -woman's specious acting should deceive the simple country people. "Every -word you have uttered is a base falsehood! I am nothing to either of -you--nothing! Go away and leave me in peace!" - -In her wild excitement she sprang up and shook her hands violently at -Mrs. Bowers. Her loose, disheveled hair, her flashing eyes, her waving -hands made her look like a wild creature. Mrs. Bowers pointed at her -triumphantly. - -"You see for yourselves that she is mad," she said. "She is going off -into one of her violent and dangerous fits, and she is just as apt as -not to catch up a knife from the table there and kill one of you. Oh, -for God's sake, brother, take her and put her in the carriage!" - -Leon Vinton advanced to do her bidding, but Queenie fought him off like -a young lioness at bay. - -"Oh, good people!" she cried, "help me, for Heaven's sake! Do not suffer -this villain to take me!" - -"I have given you full proof now that this is my sister," exclaimed Leon -Vinton to the farmer. "I warn you if you interfere with me further it -will be at your peril!" - -The farmer and his wife had been completely deceived by the spirited and -natural acting of Mrs. Bowers. They began to believe that they had -indeed been deceived into believing the artful ravings of a violent -maniac. - -Therefore, when Queenie called on them for help they only stood aloof, -regarding her frightened, excited aspect with newly-awakened fear. - -"Ha! so you are now convinced of the truth," exclaimed Leon Vinton, -triumphantly, seeing that they made no effort to molest him. - -"Yes, sir, we are," said the farmer, in a conciliatory tone; "and I wish -to make my apology to you for the trouble I've put you to. The young -girl's acting was very nat'ral, but I see now that you told the truth -about her." - -"I told you so, father!" exclaimed Jennie, triumphantly. - -"Tut, tut, Jen--hold your tongue, you impudent girl!" exclaimed Mrs. -Thorn, sharply. - -Queenie had dropped into a chair at the farmer's renunciation of her -claims, and, hiding her face in her hands, burst into a passionate fit -of weeping. Mrs. Bowers stood by her making a pretended effort at -consoling her, but her pretended brother paid no heed to the wretched -girl. He looked at Jennie's bright, pretty face, and then turned to her -father. - -"I think you said your daughter was out of a place, at present," he -said, blandly. "Do you wish to secure another one for her?" - -"Yes, we do," was the ready answer. "We have to put her out to service, -for we cannot afford to keep her at home. She must earn her clothes and -a bit more to help us along at home." - -"I think my sister needs just such a girl about the house, to help her -with the housekeeping," said Leon Vinton; and, turning to Mrs. Bowers, -he said: "Do you think Miss Jennie would suit you?" - -The woman stared at him in surprise for a moment, but he gave her a -significant glance, and she answered with apparent frankness: - -"Yes, I think I should like to have her very much." - -"Very well, then," and, turning to the farmer he inquired if his sister -could have Jennie, naming a liberal, but not too large compensation, for -fear of exciting suspicion. He did not ask the girl, herself, for he had -already read her consent in her beaming eyes. She was perfectly -fascinated by the handsome stranger, and was ready to go anywhere that -she might daily see him and hear his voice. - -Before the farmer could speak, Queenie sprang to his side, and laid her -delicate white hand, all sparkling with jewels, on his coarse sleeve, -lifting her blue eyes pleadingly to his face. - -"Oh! sir," she said, "you think me mad, but for Heaven's sake be warned -by me! Do not suffer your pretty, simple girl to stray into the snare -this man and woman are setting for her. If you give your consent you -will rue it in dust and ashes, when you see her innocence betrayed and -her virtue lost." - -Leon Vinton glared at her fiercely as the farmer hesitated. - -"Come, decide, at once," he said. "The carriage is waiting, and she can -accompany us if you are willing. Of course you need pay no attention to -the ravings of that poor maniac." - -Mr. Thorn looked at his daughter. Her face was bright with smiles, for -the artful villain, with his tender glances, had made her believe that -he was deeply enamored of her charms. - -"Do you want to go, Jennie?" he asked, doubtfully. - -"Oh, yes, father, if you'll let me," she said. - -"She may go for a month, then, and if she don't like the place she may -come home again," said the farmer. - -Queenie said no more. She saw that her enemies had triumphed over her -this time, and her heart was almost broken. She made an ineffectual -struggle to escape through the door, but was captured and borne -struggling to the carriage, followed by her pretended sister and the -pretty Jennie, who was falling so unconsciously into the pit spread for -her unwary feet. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - - -Jennie Thorn was delighted with the beautiful furnishing and elegant -ease of the cottage by the river. - -Mrs. Bowers proved to be one of the most indulgent of mistresses, and -the girl's position speedily became a sinecure as far as work was -concerned. - -At first she was given a few light tasks to avert suspicions, and lead -her to think that everything was right. Then Mrs. Bowers began to -flatter her, and one day she said: - -"You are too pretty and refined, Jennie, to stay in the kitchen with -that vulgar cook. You shall stay in the parlor and be my companion." - -Nothing could have pleased the vain little creature better, for she -thought that her master would respect her more in her new situation, and -also that she would have more frequent opportunities of seeing him than -had fallen to her lot in her menial position. She accordingly consented -with ill-concealed delight. - -Leon Vinton had played his cards very cleverly to win the farmer's -pretty daughter. - -She saw him very seldom at first, as he spent the greater part of his -time in town, only visiting the cottage two or three times in the space -of a week. - -On the occasion of these visits Jennie saw but little of him, but some -glance of his eye or tender smile made her heart beat fast and kept him -in her thoughts when he was away. - -But when the little maid was promoted to the parlor, Leon Vinton began -to appear at home more frequently. - -He lounged about the parlor with his cigar and newspaper, and chatted a -great deal with his pretended sister and her pretty little companion. - -Very often Mrs. Bowers would leave the room, and remain away for hours, -leaving the handsome man and susceptible girl alone together. - -On one of these occasions he threw away his cigar, and took a seat by -Jennie. She looked up from a trifle of sewing in her hand, and then, -with a deep blush, let her glance fall to the rich velvet carpet. - -Mr. Vinton looked at her admiringly. Mrs. Bowers had presented her with -a fine dark-blue cashmere dress, and with soft, white laces at throat -and wrists, and a few bright-colored ribbons, the little country girl -looked quite the lady. Leon Vinton confessed to himself that she was -wonderfully pretty in her new surroundings. They suited her beauty much -better than the homely, humble farm-house had done. - -"Jennie," he said abruptly, "do you know that the probationary month -which your father allowed you with us is at an end to-day?" - -She started, and looked at him, the pretty pink color fading from her -cheeks, a look of alarm in her dark eyes. - -"Yes, I know," she faltered, "and you--you're not pleased with me, and -you're going to send me home to father, I suppose." - -He smiled at the piteous quiver in the girl's voice. - -"I'll send you if you want to go," he said, laughing. - -"I don't want to go. I like to stay here with--with your sister," she -answered, quickly. - -"Well, I don't blame you," he said. "This kind of life is better suited -to you than that. You're too pretty and dainty, by George, to be working -around in people's kitchens!" - -She did not answer, save by a blush and a smile of gratified vanity. - -"Little Jennie," he said after a moment, "how would you like to live -here always, and never have any work to do--nothing to do but adorn your -beauty with silks and laces, and jewels, and ride and walk and amuse -yourself!" - -She clasped her toil-worn little hands, and looked at him with beaming -eyes, and a happy smile on her red lips. - -"Oh, I should like it above anything!" she breathed, gladly. - -He took her hand in his, then dropped it with a slight frown. It was -hardened and enlarged by honest toil, and not pretty like her face. He -was used to velvet hands, white as the lily, for he seldom descended to -women in her station of life. She did not see the slight curl of his -lip, for he turned his head away, and when he looked back he was -smiling, and there was a beam of tenderness in his eyes. - -"Jennie, dearest," he said, "you can have all that, and what is better, -you can have one fond, devoted heart to adore you if you will only speak -the word." - -She looked up blushing and smiling. - -"You mean," she said, and then paused. - -"I mean," he answered, "that I will lavish every luxury and pleasure -upon you if you will only accept my love." - -The simple, untutored country girl did not for a moment comprehend his -meaning. She turned to him with clasped hands and a face full of joyful -emotion. - -"Oh, sir," she said, fervently, "you know that I shall only be too happy -and thankful to be your wife!" - -"The devil!" exclaimed the villain to himself. "The little simpleton -thinks I meant marriage." - -It suddenly dawned on him that there could be no question of love with -this honest little country girl without marriage. - -He determined to humor her fancy. - -"So you will be my wife, my sweet one?" he inquired. - -"Yes," she replied, "I will marry you if father is willing." - -Mr. Vinton suddenly assumed an expression of deep concern. - -"Ah! my little darling," he said, as he bent down and kissed her ruby -lips, "that is just where the trouble comes in. If I marry you now, as -my ardent love prompts me to do, I cannot ask your father to give you to -me, for our marriage must be a secret, unknown to any but ourselves." - -"Why so?" she inquired, looking disappointed. - -"I cannot tell you the reason now, Jennie," he replied, evasively. -"There are several things which would prevent our marriage if I declared -our intention beforehand; but there is one reason I can give you. My -sister, though she is fond of you in her way would never consent to it. -She is very proud, and she wishes me to marry a rich woman of her -choosing. If I openly defy her she has the power to keep me out of my -fortune and make me a poor man." - -Jennie was too simple and innocent to be undeceived by that transparent -lie. - -"Darling, after this explanation you will surely consent to a private -marriage--will you not? Remember how well I love you," pleaded the -wretch. - -"How could we manage a secret marriage?" asked Jennie, blushing with -delight at his fond words. - -"Easily enough. You can tell my sister that you wish to go home and -spend a week with your parents. Then I can take you to the city right -away and marry you. We can spend a week traveling about and enjoying our -honeymoon, after which I can send you back here, and Mrs. Bowers will -think that you have been at the farm the whole time. By-and-bye, when my -affairs get straight, we will declare our marriage to everybody. By -George, how surprised they will be then! Now, my dear little wife that -is to be, will you consent to my plan?" - -Jennie hesitated a moment, then murmured a timid and joyful "yes." - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - - -The summer sunshine waned, the summer roses faded, and the "melancholy -days--the saddest of the year," hurried swiftly on. The chilling winds -howled drearily about the river cottage, but long ere the last autumn -leaf was whirled from the tall trees standing round about like giant -sentinels, the fickle fancy that Leon Vinton had felt for the farmer's -dark-eyed daughter had perished like the frailest flower of the summer. - -"The illusion was soon over," he said to himself. "It was the briefest -fancy I ever had. But that was her own fault. She was too easily won. -The game was not worth the candle." - -Simple little Jennie had been living in a "Fool's Paradise" ever since -the mock-marriage which the deceiver had duly caused to be celebrated. -Ostensibly she remained as the companion of Mrs. Bowers, and that kind -lady appeared to be perfectly blind and deaf to all the strange things -that went on around her. - -If Jennie had not been the most innocent of women she could not have -failed to know that Mrs. Bowers was perfectly cognizant of her secret, -and was only laughing in her sleeve all the while that she appeared so -stupid and good-natured to the new victim of her employer. - -"I am heartily tired of the little fool," he said to her one day in -confidence, when the autumn days had given place to the freezing ones of -winter; "I wish I could get rid of her." - -"Your fancy was soon over this time," remarked Mrs. Bowers. - -"Her own fault," grumbled the wretch. "In the first place she was too -lightly won. In love more than half the pleasure lies in the pursuit, -and 'lightly won is lightly lost.' She is changed now, also. How rosy -and bright she was at first--how pale, how altered, how plain she is -now!" - -"She is _ill_," said Mrs. Bowers, in a significant tone. - -"The deuce!" exclaimed Leon Vinton, angrily. "Why, then, I surely _must_ -get rid of her. But how to do it--that's the question!" - -"Tell her the truth--that she is not married at all--and send her home -to her parents," said the woman, heartlessly. - -He did not reply for a moment, but paused to light a cigar and place it -between his lips. Then he threw himself back on the lounge where he sat, -and remarked indifferently: - -"Yes; I suppose I shall have to do that. There will be a scene, I -suppose." - -Mrs. Bowers merely laughed in reply, as if he had uttered the most -harmless jest. She was thoroughly wicked and heartless, and cared not a -jot for the miseries of the whole world. - -"Well, the sooner the better," went on Vinton, heartlessly. "I believe -I'll go and have it out with her now." - -He arose as heartlessly and indifferently as if he were going about a -mission of happiness instead of being about to strike the cold steel of -despair into the young heart that trusted him so fondly. - -Jennie was sitting by a window in the parlor looking out at the great, -blinding flakes of snow that whirled through the air and covered the -ground with a pure white carpet. - -She looked pale, but very pretty in a black dress with scarlet -trimmings, and a scarlet shawl was draped about her shoulders, partly -concealing her form. - -As Mr. Vinton entered the room her dark eyes turned from the window and -rested on him with a very fond and loving smile. - -"You've come at last," she said, in a tone of joy and relief. "Where -have you been all this long week?" - -"In town," he answered, laconically, as he dropped into a chair near -her. - -A look of disappointment came into her eyes. She rose and went to his -side, winding her arms about his neck, and pressing her lips on his -brow. - -"I've missed you so much," she said, lovingly. "I sha'n't let you leave -me so long again." - -"I shall not ask your leave!" he answered, sharply, and muttering an -oath between his teeth as he rudely pushed her off. - -The movement was so sudden that she nearly fell. It was only by catching -the back of a convenient chair that she steadied herself. She turned a -white, frightened face toward him. - -"What's the matter?" she said. "Are you angry with me, Leon?" - -"I'm sick of your baby fondness," he answered brutally. "Have done with -it." - -Jennie fell back into her chair as if shot, and looked at him with -reproachful eyes. - -"You're angry with me," she said, plaintively; "and I had something to -tell you--something very particular." - -"Tell it, then," he answered, with a frown as black as night on his -handsome face. - -The trembling young creature before him remained silent for a few -minutes, so utterly confounded was she by the unaccountable change in -her husband. His manner had always been the perfection of gentlemanly -refinement before. This sudden change to coarse brutality amazed and -frightened her. When she spoke her voice was low and broken, and her -eyes rested on the carpet. - -"I waited to tell you, Leon," she said, with a scarlet blush, -"that--that we will have to make some change soon. You'll be obliged to -tell Mrs. Bowers that we are married, or take me to some other place. If -you don't she'll find out our secret pretty soon. We are compelled to -make a change!" - -"I have been thinking so myself," he answered, coolly. - -"You have," she said, with an accent of gladness. "Then what do you -think we had better do?" - -"I think you had better go home to your mother," he answered, brutally. - -She looked up at him in surprise and doubt. - -"You mean to own our marriage, then, do you?" she asked, and there was a -faint suggestion of hope in her tone. - -"No, by George! I don't," he answered quickly. - -"You don't," she exclaimed. "Then how can I go home? They would--they -would think I had disgraced myself. Father would turn me out of doors!" - -"I'm very sorry for you, then," he answered, coolly. "I see no other -resource for you." - -"Leon, I don't know what you mean!" exclaimed Jennie, in surprise and -pain at his careless words and utterly indifferent manner; "you are not -one bit like yourself. What makes you talk so strange to your own wife?" - -She looked up at the handsome man with the tears of wounded feeling -starting into her eyes, but all unconscious of the terrible blow that -was to fall upon her defenseless head. - -"You are not my wife!" he replied, with a dark and threatening frown. - -"_Not your wife!_" she cried, turning as white as death. "Oh, Leon, you -surely are going mad! What do you mean?" - -"I mean what I say," he answered, curtly. "It's time you knew the truth, -Jennie. You are not my wife--never have been! The marriage ceremony was -read over us, to be sure, but it was only a mock-marriage to quiet your -scruples. The pretended preacher was a friend of mine--the wickedest -blade in town--with a soul as black as the devil!" - -She sat still and looked at him, her eyes wild and frightened, her face -as white as the snow which whirled past the window. At last she spoke, -but her voice was low and thick, and did not seem like her own. - -"You're joking with me, Leon--you _can't_ mean it?" - -"I _do_ mean it--it's the truth," he replied, coolly; "come, now, -Jennie, don't take it hard. We've had a pleasant time--have we not? And -now you can go home to your mother. I am tired of you, I confess it; and -I'm going away myself--to Europe, I think. So of course you can't stay -here. My sister would turn you out of doors as soon as she found you -out. Go home to the farm, and there's a hundred dollars to help you -through your trouble." - -He tossed a roll of bank-notes into her lap with a complacent air as if -his munificent generosity condoned everything. - -The girl had been sitting quite still, looking at him with a terrible -pain frozen on her pretty young face, but at his concluding words she -sprang up and tossed the roll of notes into the fire as if it had been a -serpent. Her dark eyes blazed with passion and her voice shook with rage -as she wildly confronted her base betrayer. - -"Oh, you devil!" she cried, "I would not touch one cent of that money to -save your soul from the torments of hell! My curses be upon your head! -May the Lord _never_ forgive you for this cruel sin! May you die by the -hangman's rope!" - -The handsome villain laughed mockingly, and turning on his heel walked -out of the room. - -As he passed through the hallway he heard the sound of a heavy fall. -Glancing over his shoulder he saw that his victim had fallen senseless -upon the floor. - -He walked on and entered the room of Mrs. Bowers, his housekeeper, and -not his sister, as he had pretended. - -"I have told her," he said, "and she has fainted--as they mostly do. I -am going away now, and I shall be absent a week. You must try and get -her away from here before I come back!" - -"Oh! you wicked man," said Mrs. Bowers, laughing, and shaking a finger -at him. "Where shall I send her?" - -"To the devil for aught I care!" said the gentleman, smarting with the -recollection of Jennie's curse and the burning of his hundred dollars. -"I care not where she goes so that I am rid of her. But take good care -of the other one. Do not suffer her to escape." - -He tossed a roll of bills into her lap and walked away humming a tune. -In a few minutes after she heard him riding off down the road to the -city. She locked her money carefully away in a drawer, then went up to -the parlor where poor Jennie lay insensible upon the floor, and sitting -down in an easy-chair, carelessly regarded the poor girl whom she had -pitilessly helped to ruin. - -It was a long time before the unhappy girl revived from her deep swoon, -but the housekeeper made no effort to restore her to life though the -thought crossed her mind more than once as she sat there that she might -die without assistance. - -"And no matter if she does," said the heartless woman to herself. "It -would be all the better for her and for all parties concerned." - -But it was not to be as Mrs. Bowers thought and almost wished. Life came -back to the poor girl with a long, fluttering sigh, and the first thing -she saw when she looked up was the angry face of the woman glaring down -upon her. - -"So you're alive, are you?" she said fiercely. "Why didn't you die and -hide your shame and disgrace in the grave?" - -"Ma'am?" faltered poor Jane, blankly. - -"I say why didn't you die and hide your shame and disgrace in the -grave?" repeated the housekeeper, angrily. "Ah! I've found you out, -Jennie Thorn! I took you in my house for an honest girl, but you've -ruined yourself and disgraced your poor old parents; I'll not keep such -trash in my respectable home. Out of my house you go before night!" - -The poor girl rose and looked out of the window. The cold winter -twilight was already falling and the great, white flakes of snow still -filled the air. - -"Oh! Mrs. Bowers," she said, piteously, "it is night already, and where -could I go?" - -"You should have thought of that sooner," said the pitiless woman. "It's -too late now. Go get your cloak and hat and put them on." - -Almost stunned by her sorrow Jennie mechanically obeyed her imperious -command. - -"Now, leave here!" said the housekeeper. - -"Oh! Mrs. Bowers," cried the wretched girl, "let me stay at least until -morning! Indeed I am not what you think me! I was deceived by a -mock-marriage, and I thought myself an honest wife until Mr. Vinton told -me just now how cruelly he had betrayed me. Oh! for God's sake have pity -on me, and don't turn me out to-night in the cold and the darkness!" - -For all answer Mrs. Bowers caught her by the arm and rudely dragged her -along the hall to the front door. - -"You can't deceive me with your trumped up lies, you shameless thing!" -she said. "Go now, and never let me see your face here again." - -She opened the door and pushing the poor, weeping, betrayed and deserted -girl out into the blinding storm, slammed and locked the door. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - - -Over the broad, dark river, and the snow-covered earth the cold winter -moonlight lay in great, silvery bars of light. - -The terrible snowstorm of two days before was over. The sky was clear -and starry, and no trace remained of the storm save the deep, white -carpeting of the beautiful snow. - -Midnight was tolling from the great bell in the city, but Queenie -Ernscliffe sat at her window staring out at the night with wide, -sleepless eyes. - -On a couch at the opposite side of the room lay Mrs. Bowers snoring -audibly. She had slept in Queenie's room ever since the night she had -effected her escape and her constant vigilance had entirely frustrated -any other attempt of the kind. - -While Jennie Thorn had been dwelling in her Fool's Paradise, our heroine -had been suffering all the horrors of imprisonment and despair. - -She had heard very little of the farmer's pretty daughter since the day -she came to live there, but she knew she had remained with them, for she -had seen her a few times walking in the garden beneath her window, -prettily, even richly dressed, and she knew too well what that meant. -She felt very sorry for the poor girl who had been so deaf to her words -of friendly warning. - -Queenie was sadly altered for the worse since these long months of -imprisonment and wretchedness. Her garments hung loosely about her -attenuated form, her cheeks were thin and hollow, and her once bright -eyes were dim with weeping, and looked too wild and large for her small, -pathetic, white face. Her days and nights were passed in sleepless -wretchedness, much to the annoyance of the housekeeper, who declared -that she could not rest well while her refractory charge kept the light -burning as she did the long nights through, for she could not bear to -have darkness add its additional gloom to the horror of her thoughts. - -While she sat and stared wearily out at the midnight scene, the -housekeeper snored herself awake and began to complain. - -"Mercy's sake, girl, go to bed, and put the light out. I declare I -cannot sleep a wink with the gas shining in my eyes!" - -"You have been _snoring_ uninterruptedly for several hours!" answered -Queenie, coldly. "How do you suppose I can sleep when you keep up such a -noise with your breathing?" - -"Well, I never!" exclaimed Mrs. Bowers. "This is the first time I was -ever accused of snoring!" - -Queenie did not speak for a moment. Presently she turned her head around -and said, abruptly: - -"Mrs. Bowers!" - -Mrs. Bowers, who was falling asleep again, gave a grunt in token that -she heard. - -"What has become of that pretty girl you brought home from Farmer -Thorn's?" - -"She went away two days ago," was the sleepy reply. - -"With Leon Vinton, I presume," said Queenie, scornfully. - -"No, she went alone." - -"Betrayed and abandoned, no doubt," said Queenie, bitterly. - -"Something like that, certainly," answered the housekeeper, carelessly, -and with that she turned over and went to sleep again, leaving Queenie -to her own reflections. - -They were not pleasant ones, certainly. The room was chilly, and she -took up a shawl, wrapped it about her shoulders, and went back to her -lonely vigil, pressing her forehead against the pane while she looked -out into the cold winter night. - -"Oh, to be out there in the night, and the cold, and the darkness," she -murmured. "Oh, to feel the breath of freedom on my brow once more, and -hope within my heart! - -"How lonely, how dreary everything seems," she went on. "How dark and -dreary the river looks except where the bars of moonlight touch it with -brightness; how ghostly and skeleton-like the trees appear, tossing -their naked arms in the breeze; how weird and melancholy the silent, -deserted earth looks at midnight!" - -Suddenly she started and uttered a low cry. - -She fancied that she had seen a dark form darting cautiously about the -garden beneath the windows. - -She looked out again, and for a moment she thought herself mistaken, but -directly the dark form of a man appeared from behind a tree, and -skirting a strip of moonlight with cautious footsteps, disappeared in -the shadows. - -"What can that man be after?" she thought. "It is not Leon Vinton. Whom, -then, can it be? Perhaps a burglar." - -She continued to watch for him, and presently she saw him take up his -station under a tree near the gate as if watching or waiting for -someone. - -"It must be a burglar," she said to herself. "He is waiting for his -accomplice to come that they may rob the house. Shall I wake Mrs. Bowers -and tell her?" - -She mused a moment, still watching the dark, mysterious form lurking -under the shadow of the trees near the gate. - -"No, I will not tell her," she concluded. "What does it matter to me? I -care not what they do. Perhaps they may enter this room, and by some -means I may effect my escape." - -Her heart began to beat at the thought, and the light of hope came into -her beautiful eyes, brightening her whole face. - -She continued to watch the mysterious figure, expecting every minute to -see his accomplice appear on the scene; but the hours passed slowly by -and the man still remained at his post alone. - -At the first peep of dawn he went away, leaving Queenie perplexed and -doubtful. - -"Who can it be?" she asked herself. "It seems quite evident that he is -not here for the purpose of robbery. What, then, is he after? Can it be -some friend of mine?" - -The thought overpowered her with joy. - -"Oh, why did I not raise the window and give him some signal?" she -thought. - -Then she remembered that the windows had been tightly fastened down by -Leon Vinton's orders, so that she could not raise them. - -"I have suffered my hopes to lead my reason astray," she thought then, -with sudden despair. "Of course it is not anyone to help me. No one -knows that I am living except Leon Vinton and the wicked woman sleeping -yonder. Papa, Lawrence--all of them, think my body lies at this moment -moldering in the grave. Oh, Lawrence--oh, papa! what would I not give to -see you again!" - -She little dreamed that the father she loved so fondly had died of a -broken heart over her loss. - -She thought of him every day and longed to see him almost as she longed -to see the husband from whose side she had been torn at the very altar -by the vindictive malice of Leon Vinton. - -The next day from her position at the window she saw the same dark -figure of a man pass up and down before the cottage at intervals at -least a dozen times. A broad, slouch hat was pulled over his brows, -effectually concealing his features from Queenie's sight. - -"The mystery deepens," she thought, "the man, whoever he is, evidently -is watching this house. But with what object, I wonder?" - -At night he appeared again, and passed the long, cold hours pacing up -and down the garden until dawn. - -Every day for four days the man kept up this restless espionage. It -seemed to Queenie that he neither ate nor slept, so constantly did he -appear at his post. She became greatly interested in the mysterious -watcher. - -"Mrs. Bowers," she said one night, "where is Leon Vinton?" - -"In town, I suppose," said the housekeeper. - -"When is he coming back?" - -"To-morrow, I suppose. He has been gone a week and he said that he would -return in that time. Do you want to see him?" - -"No, indeed--I hope I shall never see him again!" said Queenie, shortly, -turning back to the window. - -The next day while she was watching the mysterious man as he paced up -and down the snowy road opposite the house, she saw Leon Vinton ride up -to the gate, dismount and tie up his horse. - -Involuntarily she looked over at the mysterious stranger. He was rapidly -crossing the road toward Leon Vinton. - -A gust of wind blew off his broad, slouch hat, and a startled cry broke -from Queenie's lips. - -She had instantly recognized the man! - -It was Farmer Thorn! - -She instantly comprehended the object of his daily and nightly -espionage. - -He was watching for Leon Vinton that he might avenge the wrongs of his -daughter. - -Clasping her hands in breathless agitation, Queenie waited for the -_denouement_. - -Leon Vinton opened the gate and passed inside. Farmer Thorn, having -replaced his hat, walked in behind him. - -The next moment Leon Vinton felt a grasp of steel upon his arm. - -He was whirled violently around face to face with the enraged man whom -he had wronged, and felt the muzzle of a pistol pressed against his -breast. - -"Accursed villain!" shouted the farmer, in a voice of thunder, "thus do -I avenge a daughter's wrongs!" - -Queenie heard the terrible words, followed by a loud report, saw a -wreath of blue smoke curling upward, and Leon Vinton fell like a log on -the snowy path. With a terrible shudder she saw his life-blood spurting -out, dyeing the pure snow with a terrible scarlet stain. - -Farmer Thorn looked down at his victim, spurned him with his foot, and -replacing the pistol in his breast, walked rapidly away. At the same -moment the front door opened hurriedly, and Mrs. Bowers ran out, -followed by a servant. Both of them ran screaming down the path to the -side of their master. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - - -Weakened and shocked by the terrible scene she had witnessed, Queenie -hid her face in her hands and fell back on her sofa. She lay there -trembling and agitated, and musing on the sudden end of the wicked Leon -Vinton. - -Presently the door was pushed open and Mrs. Bowers entered in such high -excitement that she forgot to lock the door behind her. - -"Oh!" she cried out, "did you hear the pistol shot? Leon Vinton is -dead!" - -A sudden impulse decided Queenie to conceal her knowledge of the fact. - -She sprang up in apparent wild excitement. - -"Is it possible?" she cried. "I heard a pistol-shot a moment ago. Who -killed him?" - -"I cannot tell you," said Mrs. Bowers. "I heard a shot, and ran to the -window just in time to see a man going out of the gate. He had a wide -hat on, and I couldn't make out his features." - -"You shall never learn his name from me," thought Queenie to herself, -for her whole sympathies were with the wronged father of the poor, -betrayed Jennie. - -"But there laid poor Mr. Vinton, stone dead, in the path," continued -Mrs. Bowers, excitedly. "Look out of the window there, and you can see -it all for yourself." - -Queenie glanced out of the window and drew back with a shudder. - -"Oh! it is horrible," she said. "What are you going to do?" - -"I'm going to send for the coroner," said Mrs. Bowers. "That's the -proper thing to do. I must go right away and do it. Dear, dear, who was -that murderous man, I'd like to know? I'd have followed after him, and, -mayhap, caught him, only I was so flustrated I didn't know what to do -first. The mean, murderous villain!" - -She bustled out so full of excitement that she forgot to lock her -prisoner's door. - -Queenie started up full of joyful emotion. - -"Now is my chance!" she exclaimed, "Leon Vinton is dead, and Mrs. Bowers -has no right to detain me. I will leave this dreadful place at once." - -She opened the wardrobe and took out a long waterproof cloak and hood, -putting them on with trembling hands. - -Then she exchanged her thin shoes for thick walking boots, and doubled a -dark-brown barege veil over her face. - -Thus equipped she opened the door and ran down the steps to the hall -with her heart beating almost to suffocation. - -In the doorway she paused. Mrs. Bowers was standing in the path by the -side of the dead man, and Queenie was afraid she would attempt to detain -her. - -"I must make a run for it," she thought, and suiting the action to the -word, she flitted down the steps and ran at break-neck speed down the -path, past her living and dead persecutors, and sprang through the gate -and out into the road. - -Mrs. Bowers heard the patter of her feet and the rustle of her garments -as she rushed past her, and looking up she recognized the girl, and -recollected instantly that she had forgotten to lock the door after her. - -"Come back, you jade!" she screamed, "come back this instant!" - -But the fugitive hurried on without looking back, and Mrs. Bowers in a -rage set out in a headlong pace after her. - -But the good lady was not as young as she had once been, and she found -herself rather heavy on her feet. But panting and blowing she raced on -in the useless pursuit, until suddenly both her feet slipped from under -her, and she measured her length on the icy ground. - -Muttering some words rather spirited in their meaning, and not often -heard on feminine lips, the wicked woman rose from the cold earth, and -shaking her fist after the fast retreating figure of her whilom -prisoner, began to retrace her steps to the house, rubbing sundry -bruises on her person as she went. - -"The keen-witted little wretch!" she thought, "how quick she was to take -advantage of my momentary forgetfulness. But after all, Vinton is dead, -and what do I want to keep her for? I shall have to leave here, anyway. -Mayhap, it's better as it is." - -Thus consoling herself, she returned to her watch over the dead man who -lay in a crimson pool of his life-blood across the snowy path, his eyes -glaring glassily, his handsome face set in the expression of fear and -horror that had settled on it when Mr. Thorn's terrible denunciation had -been thundered in his ears. - -Meanwhile Queenie ran on in her headlong flight until her limbs began to -tremble beneath her. Throwing a glance over her shoulder, she saw that -she had outrun her pursuer so far that she was no longer visible. She -slackened her pace then, and began to walk at a slower and more -reasonable gait. - -"I may take my time now," she thought. "Mrs. Bowers is too old and slow -to overtake me. Besides she can have no interest in keeping me a -prisoner since Leon Vinton is dead. She will have enough to do to take -care of herself." - -She pushed back her veil, showing a face so bright with hope and -happiness, that it was hardly recognizable for the pale and dejected -countenance that had looked from the window of the river cottage an hour -ago. Joy had fairly transfigured it. - -She walked along unconscious of the keen, cold, wintery air in the rush -of happy thoughts that crowded over her. - -She would go home to her father first. She would tell him everything--he -should break the news of her return to her husband. - -"I cannot tell Lawrence the _whole_ truth," she said, shuddering. "I -would rather die than that he should know the terrible secret! He is so -proud and he told me once he would not marry a woman with the faintest -shadow of disgrace upon her name. I have deceived him, and I must never -let him know now, for I love him, and it would kill me to have him put -me away! I will tell him something plausible, though I will not tell a -direct lie if I can help." - -Poor little Queenie!--once so innocent and transparent that her very -thoughts could be read in her eyes--her terrible misfortunes had taught -her strange subterfuges and deceit. - -"I wonder if there will be any trouble about proving my identity," she -thought; "I have heard of such things, and it _will_ appear very strange -to them at first. Papa will take me for a ghost, as he did the night I -went and looked at him through the window when he thought I was -traveling in Europe. Poor Uncle Rob! I wonder if he was sorry much when -he heard I was dead." - -She passed the farm-house where the Thorns lived, but the doors and -windows were both closed, and the only sign of life was a faint blue -smoke curling up from the chimney. - -"I should like to stop and see what has become of that poor, willful -girl," she said to herself, "but I am so impatient I cannot spare the -time." - -She walked on faster as she neared the great city. Her impatience -redoubled by the thought that every step brought her nearer to her loved -ones. - -"I wonder if they will be glad to see me," she thought wistfully; "I -know papa _will_! Poor old darling, I could never doubt _him_! I do not -know about Georgie and mamma. _They_, perhaps, were relieved that I and -my terrible secret were buried together--they may be sorry to see me -resurrected. But of one thing I am certain. Sydney was glad when she -thought I was dead. She will hate me more than ever when I go back. But -I shall not trouble any of them, I shall have my husband--he is all I -want. He shall take me away from here to some other place where I can -forget all the terrible past in my new happiness." - -All the while she was thinking she was walking quickly on, buoyed up by -the joyous anticipations. At last, foot-sore and weary, she entered the -great city and walked on until she stood in front of her father's -handsome residence. - -Trembling with passionate joy, and with her heart beating so that she -could hear it in her ears, she went up the steps and rang the bell. - -The door was opened to her by a strange man in livery instead of the -female servant who had formerly answered the bell. - -Her first sensation of surprise and disappointment was succeeded by an -amusing thought. - -"Mamma and Sydney are grander than ever. They have set up a -man-servant." - -"Is Mr. Lyle at home?" she timidly inquired. - -The man stared at her a moment in blank surprise; then getting his wits -together, replied respectfully: - -"The Lyles don't live here now, miss." - -"Where have they removed? Can you tell me?" she inquired, thinking that -perhaps her mother's and sister's extravagance had caused her father's -failure at last, and that they had taken a cheaper house. - -"Mrs. Lyle and Miss Lyle, and Lady Valentine are all in Europe, ma'am," -he answered, wondering what made the bright, pretty face turn so pale as -he gave her the information. - -"And Mr. Lyle--you can tell me where I can find _him_?" she inquired, -eagerly. - -The polite servant looked as if he thought the girl was out of her mind. -After a blank stare into her lovely, eager face, he said, surprisedly: - -"Mr. Lyle--why, ma'am--_he's dead_, you know!" - -If the man had struck her the cruelest blow in the face she could not -have recoiled more suddenly. She stepped backward so quickly, and with -such a wild, low cry of pain that she would have fallen down the steps -if the man had not thrown out his arm and caught her. - -"Oh, ma'am, don't take it hard," he said, in a voice of respectful -sympathy. "Was he any relation of yours?" - -She turned her beautiful face toward him with the whiteness of death -upon it. - -"When did he die?" she asked, unheeding his question. - -"The same night that his daughter died--you've heard of that, ma'am, -have you?" asked the man, who seemed rather of a gossiping turn. - -"Yes, I've heard of that," she said, in a hollow voice totally unlike -her own. - -"Well, Mr. Lyle, he died that same night of a broken heart, folk said. -She was his youngest daughter, and his favorite. They were both buried -the same day." - -"Dead, dead!" she murmured. - -"What did you say, ma'am?" asked the man, not hearing the low words. - -"Nothing," she answered. "I thank you for your information," and -staggered down the steps into the street again. - -"Dead, dead!" she kept moaning to herself as she staggered along the -street in white, tearless despair. "Papa is dead! and died of a broken -heart for me. Oh, I was not worth such devotion!" - -Her mind was so full of this terrible blow that had fallen upon her that -she could think of nothing else, until suddenly she saw that the brief -winter twilight was settling fast over everything. Then a terror of the -night and cold took hold of her. She thought of her husband. - -"They are all gone--papa and the rest," she murmured; "I have no one but -Lawrence now. I will go to him." - -The thought seemed to invest him with added tenderness and dearness. She -hastened her footsteps, and before long she stood in front of the -splendid mansion where Captain Ernscliffe lived, and which he had -refurnished in splendid style for his fair young bride. The windows were -closed as if the house was deserted, but she went up the steps and rang -the bell. A woman servant answered the summons. - -"Is Captain Ernscliffe at home?" asked Queenie, in a faint and trembling -voice. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - - -The woman whom Queenie had addressed, and who had the appearance of -being the housekeeper, stood still and looked at the young girl a moment -without replying. - -"Is Captain Ernscliffe at home?" repeated Queenie, in a tone of wistful -eagerness. - -"What do you want of Captain Ernscliffe?" asked the woman, rudely, as -she stared suspiciously into the troubled, white face of the beautiful -questioner. - -Queenie drew her slight figure haughtily erect. - -"My business is with Captain Ernscliffe," she said, in a cool, firm tone -that rebuked the woman's impertinent curiosity. "Can I see him?" - -"Oh, yes, certainly," said the housekeeper, with a palpable sneer. She -was offended because Queenie had failed to gratify her curiosity. - -"Show me in at once, then," said Queenie, making a motion to step across -the threshold. - -But the woman held the door in her hand and placed herself in front of -it. - -"You'll have to travel many a mile from this to see him," she said, -maliciously. - -"What do you mean?" exclaimed Queenie, turning pale. "Is he not at home? -I will wait here until he comes then." - -"You'll wait many a month then," was the grim reply of the offended -woman. - -"I do not understand you," Queenie answered, passing her small hand -across her brow with a dim presentiment of coming evil. "Will you please -tell me where I can find Captain Ernscliffe?" - -"You'll find him across the Atlantic Ocean, somewhere in Europe, ma'am!" - -She fired the words off like a final shot and looked at Queenie, -prepared to enjoy her chagrin and amazement, but she was almost -frightened by the expression of terrible despair that came over the -beautiful, young face. - -"In Europe," she said in a voice so low and heart-broken the woman could -scarcely hear it. "Are you _quite_ sure?" - -"Quite sure, ma'am. He went away to travel a week after his wife's -death, and may not return for years." - -She made a motion to shut the door, intimating that the conference was -ended, but Queenie leaned up against it so that she was compelled to -desist. - -"Can you give me his address that I may write to him?" she said. - -"Well, I never!" ejaculated the housekeeper, staring at her in -amazement. - -Queenie only repeated her words more plainly. - -"I know no more of his whereabouts than the dead!" was the answer. "He -expected to be traveling all the time." - -A smothered moan of pain came from the white lips of the listener. - -"Have you done with me?" asked the woman, impatiently. - -Queenie looked out into the street. It was almost dark, and a sleety -mist was beginning to fall. The lamp-lighters were going their rounds -lighting up the gas-lamps at the corners of the streets, and belated -pedestrians were hurrying homeward. - -With a shiver she turned back to the portly, comfortable figure of the -woman rustling on the door-sill in her black silk dress, quite -unconscious that she was holding the door against her mistress, and the -mistress of that elegant brown stone mansion on whose threshold she -stood. - -"You are Captain Ernscliffe's housekeeper?" said Queenie. - -"Yes, and I am left in charge of the house during his absence," answered -the woman, bridling with a sense of her importance. - -"I am a friend of Captain Ernscliffe," said Queenie, timidly. "Will you -let me stay here to-night? I am homeless and penniless!" - -The housekeeper favored her with a stare of scornful incredulity. - -"Captain Ernscliffe's friends are all rich people," she said, with a -toss of the head. "He don't have any acquaintance with _tramps_!" - -"I assure you that I am not a tramp," answered the young girl, quickly. -"I have been very unfortunate in arriving in this city and finding my -friends all dead or away. If your master were here he would certainly -give me shelter this wintery night." - -"It's more than I'll do, then," said the housekeeper sharply; "come, -young woman, don't tell no more lies! Captain Ernscliffe don't know you, -but I _do_! You're a burglar's accomplice, and you want to get into the -house that you may open it to your friends in the night and rob the -house." - -"Indeed you are mistaken," said Queenie earnestly. "Oh! _do_ let me -stay! If you don't I shall perish of cold in the streets to-night and my -death will be on your hands. You may lock me into a room if you are -afraid of me--only give me shelter." - -It had been on her mind to declare herself the wife of Captain -Ernscliffe, and force the woman to admit her into the house that was -virtually her own. But a moment's reflection showed the utter futility -of such a course. No one except those who loved her would give credence -to such a wild, improbable tale; no one would believe that the grave had -given back its dead unless she could offer more substantial proof than -she had at command. This woman before her would have laughed such an -assertion to scorn. - -"Come, move on," she said roughly, at the same time seizing the girl by -the shoulder and pushing her from her position against the door. "I -can't shelter the likes of you, and I won't stand here in the cold -wasting breath on you a minute longer." - -Queenie turned as the woman pushed her toward the steps and looked her -in the eyes. - -"You may be sorry for this some day," she said. - -"Ha, ha," laughed the heartless housekeeper, "sorry indeed! Sorry that I -didn't take a tramp into the house to rob my master." - -"Will you let me stay?" said Queenie, once more looking over her -shoulder as she was wearily descending the marble steps. - -If the woman's heart had not been made of stone it must have melted at -the anguish in that sweet, white face, but she only reiterated her -refusal more angrily. - -"I am friendless and penniless," pleaded Queenie, still hoping to melt -that icy heart. "Think what may happen to me in the streets at night!" - -"Go! go!" exclaimed the hard-hearted creature, fiercely. - -"I will go," said Queenie, drawing her cloak about her, and preparing to -breast the wintery storm. "I will go, but remember, madam, that you may -one day repent this! It is quite, quite possible that I may one day turn -you from these doors as you have turned me to-night." - -For all answer the woman slammed the door in her face, and fiercely -locked it. - -Queenie was left alone standing on the wet pavement in the wintery -night, locked out of her husband's house like a thief, a waif and a -stray by night, while over her loomed the great brown-stone palace that -a few months ago had been splendidly refitted and furnished in velvets, -tapestries, gildings and bronzes, for her pleasure. It was hers--her -husband's--therefore her own. Yet she turned away from its inhospitable -doors, homeless, friendless, penniless--worse than all, _hopeless_! - - "Where the lamps quiver - So far in the river, - With many a light - From window and casement, - From garret to basement, - She stood with amazement - Houseless by night." - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - - -It is some time since we have seen Mrs. Lyle and her elder daughter. - -We must seek them now in one of "the stately homes of England." - -They are the guests of Lady Valentine at her elegant residence in the -most fashionable quarter of London. - -Nearly four years have elapsed since we first met the Lyles and heard -the spirited discussion over little Queenie's first ball and Sydney's -old green silk dress. - -Sydney and Georgina would not need to scrimp little Queenie's share of -finery to bedeck themselves now were she living. - -Georgina's husband is wealthy and indulgent, and "Uncle Robert," the -beneficent friend of their earlier days, has charged himself with -Sydney's support ever since her father died until recently, when she has -married a wealthy man. - -Mrs. Lyle lives with Georgina, and still enjoys the whirl of fashionable -life as much as ever--indeed more than ever, for now there is no vexing -question relative to the girls' finery disturbing her placid mind. - -It is a chilly morning in mid-winter, and the three ladies are sitting -in a pleasant morning-room, Georgina, grown plump and indolent, idly -reclining in an easy-chair, with her dimpled white hands lazily folded -over her silken lap, Mrs. Lyle perusing a morning paper, and Sydney -gazing restlessly out of the window--watching, perhaps, for her -husband--the honeymoon is not a month old yet, and she is naturally -impatient at his absence. - -Into this quiet scene enters Lord Valentine and tosses some cards into -his wife's lap. - -"Tickets for La Reine Blanche to-night," he says. - -All three ladies utter a cry of delight. - -"At last," exclaims Mrs. Lyle, in a spasm of anticipation. - -"Yes, at last," laughs my Lord Valentine. "The great American actress -will play at the theater to-night, and we shall have a chance to see if -she is really as great an _artiste_ as Madame Rumor reports." - -"Here is a paragraph regarding her now," says Mrs. Lyle, and taking up -the paper, she reads aloud: - -"The beautiful and gifted young American actress, Madame Reine De Lisle, -will make her _debut_ before a London audience to-night in the great -emotional play of 'Romeo and Juliet.' The fame of this wonderful -_artiste_ has preceded her to England, and all lovers of the drama are -on the _qui vive_ for the first appearance of La Reine Blanche, as her -admirers call her." - -"La Reine Blanche," said Lord Valentine's little sister, looking up from -her volume of history as she sat in a corner by the fire. "La Reine -Blanche--that means 'the white queen.' They used to call Mary Queen of -Scots La Reine Blanche, because she was so fair and lovely, and because -she wore a white dress when she was in mourning. I have just been -reading about her in my history. I wonder if this great actress is -beautiful also?" - -"She is said to be the most beautiful blonde in the world, Alice," said -Lord Valentine, smiling down at the little school-girl. - -A slight cloud has shadowed the brightness of Lady Valentine's face -while little Lady Alice is speaking. She leans toward her mother, and -says in a slightly lowered voice, but one which is distinctly audible to -Sydney: - -"Alice's French recalls my own, mamma. Have you ever thought what the -name of this great tragedy _queen_, if rendered into English, would be?" - -"_Reine De Lisle_," repeated Mrs. Lyle, musingly. - -Then she gives a great start. - -"It would be--ah, it would be Queen Lyle!" - -"Exactly," says Georgina. "Quite an odd coincidence. Is it not?" - -She leans back in her seat with a thoughtful look on her pretty pink and -white face. - -Old times and old interests crowd into her mind with the memory of her -younger sister. Time has thrown a veil over Queenie's faults and -follies, and Georgina recalls her now with a softening remembrance, and -half regrets the scorn she cast upon her when she returned to them so -strangely. - -"But ah! that missing year," she asks herself, as she has done many -times before. "Where was it spent?" - -Sydney had risen at the first mention of Queenie's name and swept out of -the room. Neither time nor change had softened her hatred and resentment -against poor little Queenie. - -She had hated her beautiful sister while living, and she hated her, even -in her grave, so bitterly that she could not endure the mention of her -name even now when years had come and gone. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - - -"Let us go home, mother, I am tired already. The play is sickening; I -always thought so." - -It is Sydney who speaks, and her voice is full of restless discontent. - -She is in a box at the theater, looking brilliantly beautiful in black -velvet and diamonds. - -The place is packed from pit to dome; but in the dazzling rows of fair -faces, there is not one handsomer than hers, even now when it is marred -by that look of impatience, almost anger, that rests upon it like a -threatening cloud upon a summer sky. - -Mrs. Lyle, a passionate lover of the drama, turns a look of dismay upon -her handsome daughter. - -"Oh, not yet," she said quickly. "I would not miss seeing the play -through for anything!" - -"You have seen it often enough before," objects Sydney. "But if you are -determined to stay I will go alone, if Lord Valentine will put me into -the carriage." - -"Don't go yet," says Lord Valentine, turning his eyes a moment from the -stage to glance at his sister-in-law a trifle impatiently. "At least -wait until Ernscliffe comes." - -"He does not appear to be coming at all. I will not wait for him," -Sydney answers, and the look of discontent deepens into downright -vexation. - -At that moment the box door opens and a gentleman comes up behind her -chair. - -Georgina turns quickly. - -"Ah, Captain Ernscliffe, you are just in time," she says. "Here is -Sydney trying to persuade us to go home before the play is half over. -Perhaps you can induce her to wait." - -Sydney looks up to him and a tender smile curves her crimson lips. - -"You are late," she murmurs. - -"I was detained," he answers, carelessly. "How are you enjoying the -performance of the great actress?" - -Her lip curls scornfully. - -"Not at all. I am tired of the whole sickening thing. Will you take me -home?" - -"Is the balcony scene over yet?" he asks. - -"Oh, no," Lady Valentine answers; "only the first act." - -"Do you really want to go, Sydney?" he asks. - -"I really want to go," she answers, rising and drawing her opera cloak -about her white shoulders. - -He gives her his arm in silence, and leads her away, puts her into the -carriage, and they are whirled rapidly homeward; but when he sees her -safely inside Lord Valentine's handsome house he turns to go back. - -"You will not leave me?" Sydney says, pleadingly, and laying her white, -jeweled hand on his black coat sleeve. - -"I wish to see the play out," he answers, with a touch of impatience in -his voice. - -"I assure you it is not worth seeing. The acting is merely mediocre. -Madame De Lisle has been greatly over-rated," she urges, with a tone of -anxiety in her voice, as she looks down, almost afraid that he will -detect the falsehood she is telling in her eager face. - -"You make me more curious than ever," he answers, lightly. "I must -certainly see her and judge for myself. Perhaps the wonderful beauty -over which men rave so much has blinded the judgment of the critics. _Au -revoir!_" - -He frees himself from her clasp gently but firmly, and runs down the -steps. - -Sydney stands as he has left her, the rich cloak falling from her -shoulders, her hands clasped before her, a tearless misery looking forth -from her dark eyes. - -"I have lied to him and gained nothing by it," she murmurs, in a -passionate undertone. "He will go back there, he will see that terrible -resemblance that shocked us all, and he will be reminded of the one whom -I wish him to forget. Oh, it is a dreadful coincidence! The same name, -the same face, the same voice! If we had lost her in any way save by -death, I could have sworn that it was Queenie herself that I saw -to-night dancing on the stage at _Lady Capulet's_ ball." - -Captain Ernscliffe hastened back to the theater, anxious to be in time -for the second act, which is a favorite with all admirers of "Romeo and -Juliet." - -Lord Valentine glances around as he enters the box and drops into a -chair. - -"Ah, Ernscliffe," he says; "just in time. The balcony scene is on." - -Ernscliffe leans forward, scanning the stage eagerly, and quite -unconscious that his three companions in the box are regarding him with -curious eyes, anxious to note what impression the great actress would -produce upon him. - -He sees the sighing _Romeo_ walking about and soliloquizing in the -garden of the hostile _Capulet_, the gentle _Juliet_ in the balcony -above him. His dark eyes rest on her for a moment; then he gives a -violent start. - -"Heaven!" he mutters under his breath, and grows pale beneath his olive -skin. - -"He can see the likeness, too," Lady Valentine whispered to her mother. - -Rapt, spellbound, like one in a bewildering dream, Captain Ernscliffe -bends forward, the deep pallor of painful emotion on his dusk, handsome -face, his dark eyes fixed on the hapless young _Juliet_ in a wild, -astonished, incredulous gaze as she leans upon the balcony, murmuring -words of love to handsome young _Romeo_ in the garden beneath. It was no -wonder, for _Juliet_, in her fair, young beauty, her misty, white robe, -looped with rosebuds, her floating curls of gold, is the exact and -perfect counterpart of Queenie Lyle when he first met her at Mrs. Kirk's -grand ball. Not a tone of her voice, not a curve of her lip, not the -fall of a ringlet differs from the lovely girl who had won his heart -that never-to-be-forgotten night--the peerless bride that death had torn -from his arms in the very moment that he claimed her as his own! - -Like one in a dream he listened and looked. He heard _Romeo_ exclaim in -deep and passionate accents: - - "'Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear, - That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops--'" - -And _Juliet_ interrupted in those silver-sweet tones so strangely -familiar to his ear: - - "'Oh! swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon, - That monthly changes in her circled orb, - Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.'" - -With those words: - - "Oh! swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon," - -_Juliet_ raised her eyes that had been downcast and fixed on her lover, -and looked upward as if to gaze upon the fair orb of which she spoke. - -In that moment her dark-blue eyes, shining like stars of the night, -encountered the fixed and passionate gaze of the handsome man in the box -above her. She started--it was not his dreaming fancy--it was too -palpable to all--recovered herself with an effort, and went on in a -voice that trembled in spite of her brave endeavor: - - "'That monthly changes in her circled orb, - Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.'" - -"Great God! It is Queenie herself! Do the dead come back from the grave? -I must see her, speak to her!" exclaimed Captain Ernscliffe, in a -passionate undertone, as he sprang up and turned toward the box door. - -Lord Valentine, who had watched him attentively, caught him by the arm. - -"Ernscliffe, are you mad? We all see the resemblance. It is accidental, -of course. What would you do?" - -Ernscliffe shook off his grasp roughly. - -"Yes, I am mad!" he exclaimed, "for I believe that the dead is alive, -and that yonder _Juliet_ is my lost bride, Queenie Lyle!" - -He opened the box door with a shaking hand and rushed wildly out. - -La Reine Blanche went on with her part and acted more brilliantly than -ever. She surpassed herself. She seemed under the influence of some -strong excitement that lent new power and force to her superb rendition -of _Juliet_. The vast and brilliant audience was fairly carried away. - -At the close of the second act flowers fairly rained upon her. She was -called back before the curtain and the thunders of applause shook the -building. - -Then the manager came to her with a little bit of pasteboard in his -hand. - -"Madame De Lisle," he said, "there is a gentleman outside who is so -opportune in his desire to see you that I was forced to bring you his -card, although I know you always refuse to make men acquaintances." - -She took the card and read the name: - -"Lawrence Ernscliffe." - -"Will you see him?" asked the manager, seeing that she stood silent as -if hesitating. - -"No, no," she answered. "Tell him he must excuse me--I have to dress for -my part in the third act." - -The manager turned away and the beautiful actress pressed her lips -passionately upon the insensible little bit of pasteboard she held in -her white and jeweled hand. - -"At last, at last!" she murmured, "yet I must not meet him to-night. I -could not go on with my part--it would unfit me for anything. I must -postpone my long-sought happiness yet a little longer. To-morrow--ah, -_to-morrow_!" - -She walked up and down, pressing her hands on her wildly beating heart -as if to still its convulsive throbs. - -"They say that happiness never kills," she said. "If it were otherwise I -should feel afraid--my heart aches with joy--it seems as if it would -burst, it is so full of happy emotion!" - -She went back on the stage and a timid glance showed her Lawrence -Ernscliffe back in the box looking terribly restless and disappointed. -She was afraid to meet his eyes again, but she knew that he watched her -through every scene, devouring every movement with passionate, yearning -eyes. - -At the close of the act she saw a lovely bouquet thrown from his hand, -and picking it up she discovered a tiny note among the flowers. - -When the curtain fell she read the hastily penciled lines: - - "MADAME DE LISLE:--For God's sake let me see you, if only for a - moment. I _must_ speak to you; I shall go mad if you don't take - pity on my anxiety and grant an interview to - - "LAWRENCE ERNSCLIFFE." - -Tears came into the eyes of the beautiful actress as she read those -lines; but when after another act the same card was handed her, she -again refused to see the writer on pretence of dressing for her next -appearance. - -"To-morrow," she murmured to herself, "I will see him. To-night I -cannot, I am utterly exhausted, I _must_ have rest." - -When the play was over she came out on the arm of the manager, her maid -on the other side of her. As she stepped into her carriage she saw a -dark, handsome face regarding her earnestly and a little reproachfully. -The closing door sent it from sight, and she was whirled away to her -hotel. She did not know that Captain Ernscliffe had sprung into a cab -and followed her. - -Neither did Captain Ernscliffe know that a mysterious-looking lady, -heavily cloaked and veiled, had gotten into another cab and followed -him. - -It was Sydney, driven to desperation by her jealous misery. - -She had returned to the theater _sub rosa_, and been a witness to -Captain Ernscliffe's agitated recognition of the actress, and his -subsequent persistent attempt to secure an interview with her. Heedless -of everything, and rendered reckless by her indefinable dread of some -impending evil, she determined to follow him and prevent, if possible, -an interview between him and the brilliant actress who so strikingly -resembled his lost and lamented bride. - -It was midnight when the three vehicles drew up before the grand -entrance of the hotel where La Reine Blanche had her elegant suite of -apartments. She was crossing the pavement on the arm of her elderly -duenna when a light touch arrested her footsteps. She turned and looked -into the face of Captain Ernscliffe. It was white, wild, eager. - -"One word, if you please, Madame De Lisle," he exclaimed, in an eager, -agitated voice. - -She paused a moment and clung tremblingly to the arm of her attendant. - -"That is impossible to-night, sir," she answered in a low, constrained -voice. "Call on me to-morrow at noon. I will hear you then." - -Without another word she turned and fled up the steps. He stood looking -at her blankly a moment, then re-entered his cab and was driven away. He -did not notice the heavily-draped figure of a woman that had stood -almost at his elbow, and that now ran lightly up the hotel steps, into -the wide, lighted hall. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - - -La Reine Blanche went directly to her dressing-room, where her maid -divested her of her heavy wrappings and out-door costume, and -substituted a dressing-gown of white Turkish silk confined at the waist -by gold cord and tassels. Then she took down the burnished golden hair, -and prepared to brush and plait it for the night. - -As she took up the pearl-handled brush there came a timid, hesitating rap -at the outer door. Madame De Lisle started and trembled. - -"Admit no one to-night, Elsie," she said, nervously, as the maid turned -toward the door. - -Elsie came back in a minute with a penciled slip of paper. Her mistress -took it, and read these words: - -"Will Madame De Lisle accord the favor of a brief interview to a lady -who calls on important business?" - -"A lady--at this time of the night!" said La Reine Blanche, lifting her -arched brows very slightly. - -"Yes, madam, a real lady--at least she spoke and moved like one," -replied Elsie, respectfully. - -"Tell her I can see no one to-night. I am too weary; she must call -another time," said the actress, in an agitated voice. - -Elsie turned away with the message, but before she reached the door she -was confronted by the lady, who had heard the refusal and entered in -spite of it. - -She advanced into the room, and stood before the actress, who had risen -from her seat and leaned against a chair, her golden hair falling about -her like a misty veil. - -"Madame De Lisle," said the intruder, in a slightly tremulous voice, "I -entreat you to pardon this untimely intrusion. Will you send your maid -away, that I may plead my justifiable excuse?" - -La Reine Blanche motioned to the maid to withdraw into an inner room at -the pleasure of her visitor. Then she looked wistfully at the lady, who -had thrown off her concealing hood and cloak, and stood revealed in all -her majestic beauty, clothed splendidly in black velvet and sparkling -diamonds. - -"You are surprised to see me here?" said Sydney, interrogatively. - -The actress bowed silently. She seemed like one stricken dumb and -incapable of speech. - -"You were annoyed this evening by the persistent attempts of a gentleman -to obtain speech with you," went on Sydney. - -Again Madame De Lisle bowed silently. She seemed like one dazed, and -stood regarding her visitor without remembering that courtesy required -her to offer her a seat. - -"It is of that I wish to speak, madam. I heard you tell him he might -call on you to-morrow at noon. I beg you, Madame De Lisle, to recall -that permission, and to utterly decline the acquaintance of Lawrence -Ernscliffe now and forever." - -The failing senses of La Reine Blanche seemed to return to her with a -gasp. She straightened her drooping figure and looked haughtily at the -speaker. - -"May I inquire why you proffer such a singular request?" she asked, -coldly. - -"Is it necessary that I should explain my motive for the request? If I -do so, it will be at the expense of some humiliation to myself," said -the visitor, and a faint flush colored her handsome, high-bred face. - -For a moment they stood regarding each other fixedly--the handsome -brunette in her velvet and diamonds, the lily-white blonde in her -sweeping robe and veil of golden hair, looking like a "white queen" -indeed. - -Then the actress said, in a voice full of veiled passion and almost -defiance: - -"It would take a strong motive indeed to cause me to decline the -acquaintance of Lawrence Ernscliffe. Let me know your reason that I may -judge if it be potent enough to secure your wish." - -With a swift rush forward Sydney fell on her knees before the beautiful -woman. - -"Madame De Lisle," she said, pleadingly, "I humble myself before you to -beg for my happiness! I love Lawrence Ernscliffe; I hoped I was winning -his love in return until he saw you on the stage to-night. Your beauty, -your splendid acting, above all, your striking resemblance to one he has -loved and lost, took his heart by storm. He is carried away by this mad -and wicked infatuation. Nothing but a studied coldness from you can -check this mad passion. Will you, now that I have told you all, do as I -have begged you?" - -Something pathetic in the woman's humility touched a pitying chord in -the heart of La Reine Blanche. She took her gently by the hand and -placed her in a chair. - -"You say that I resemble one whom he has loved and lost," she said. "Who -was she?" - -"She was his bride," answered Sydney, "his bride and my sister. She died -at the altar. But I had the better claim upon him. He admired me and I -believe he would have loved and married me if he had not inopportunely -met her. But, as I have told you, she died. Now, after years, I had -almost won his love again when you came here with _her_ face and won him -from me! It is almost as if the dead had come back." - -La Reine Blanche looked at her with a strange smile. - -"I have heard it said," she remarked, "that if the dead could come back -after a few years they would find their places filled, their names -forgotten, and themselves unwelcome." - -Sydney gave her a keen glance, half-frightened, half-defiant. - -"Madam, that is true," she said. "If my sister could come back to us we -could not help being sorry. She was a trouble and disgrace to us while -living, and we cannot help feeling relieved that the grass is growing -over all her faults and follies." - -"You did not love your sister?" said the actress, with her blue eyes -blazing like stars. - -Sydney looked at her with a flash of hatred in her dusky orbs. - -"Madam," she said, "could you love the thing that stood between you and -your happiness?" - -They looked at each other a moment in silence, and the flashing eyes of -the beautiful actress seemed to burn into Sydney's heart. A sudden -horrible fear darted into her mind. - -"_Has_ the dead come back?" she asked herself. "Oh! no, it _cannot_ be!" - -"You will not answer me," she said, wildly. "Oh, Madame De Lisle, be -generous! You have lovers by the score; they tell me you have refused to -marry a duke. One heart more or less cannot matter to you. You must not -take my Lawrence from me! He is my all!" - -"Your _all_!" exclaimed La Reine Blanche, with a curling lip. "Lady, you -prate of your love for Lawrence Ernscliffe, you tell me that he is your -_all_! You tell me what he is to _you_--will you tell me what you are to -_him_?" - -There was a tone of triumph in her sweet, incisive voice as she -confronted her visitor. - -"Madam," said Sydney, proudly and haughtily, "_he is my husband--I am -his wife!_" - -"His wife! Oh! my God!" - -It was the cry of a breaking heart that cleft the midnight air. The -actress staggered backward, tried to catch at a chair to save herself -from falling, and then dropped heavily to the floor and laid there -without a sign of life. - -Elsie came rushing in from the next room, frightened at the sound. - -"Oh, my poor mistress--you have killed her!" she cried. - -"It is nothing but a swoon--she will soon revive," was the contemptuous -answer. - -But in her heart Sydney prayed, "Oh, that it might be death!" - -But the impious prayer was not answered thus. Elsie's energetic efforts -soon restored her mistress to consciousness, and lying languidly on a -silken divan, she turned her beautiful eyes back to Sydney's face. - -"You may retire again," Sydney said to the maid. "We have much still to -say to each other." - -The maid was about to refuse, but an imperative command from her -mistress caused her to retire at once. Then the two beautiful women -looked at each other with ominous glances. - -"So you _are_ Queenie herself? I thought as much," exclaimed Sydney, in -a hissing tone of hate. - -"Yes, I am Queenie," answered the actress, coolly. "I have come back -from the grave, Sydney; but it seems that I have neither name nor place -in the hearts that once were mine!" - -"No, and _never_ shall have!" exclaimed Sydney, passionately, to -herself, but aloud she said, in a voice that she strove to render calm -and controlled: - -"Will you tell me why you are here?" - -"I am here to claim my husband!" answered Queenie, promptly and firmly. - -If a look could have killed, Queenie Ernscliffe would have been stricken -dead at her sister's feet. - -"You will have to prove a few things before you accomplish your -purpose," she retorted. - -"I can prove all that is necessary," was the calm reply. - -"Can you justify yourself in the matter of that shameful hidden year in -your life of which I shall surely inform Captain Ernscliffe?" asked -Sydney, malevolently. - -"Sydney, forbear," exclaimed the actress, lifting her hand as if to ward -off some cruel blow. "I have borne all that I can bear to-night! You -must leave me now. Come and lunch with me to-morrow, and you shall hear -the story of that missing year--you shall judge whether I can justify -myself in the eyes of my husband." - -"Will you promise not to see him until after that?" asked Sydney, -anxiously, as she turned to go. - -"Yes, I will promise," answered Queenie. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - - -Sydney could not wait until the hour for luncheon next day. She was -terribly afraid that Captain Ernscliffe might by some means secure a -meeting with La Reine Blanche, and that the fatal truth might be -revealed, to the utter destruction of the frail superstructure of her -own happiness. - -He had not been back to the house since he had left her to return to the -theater the night before, and the most dreadful fancies continually -darted through her mind. - -It was impossible for her to wait until the hour her sister had -specified. As early as ten o'clock she entered the hotel and was shown -into the parlor of the great actress. - -Queenie was at home. She had just returned from an early rehearsal at -the theater, and lay resting on a low divan of cushioned blue satin. - -She wore a trained dress of black velvet and satin, with creamy-hued -laces at the wrists, and a fichu of the rarest old lace fastened at her -throat by a brooch of dead gold. A single cluster of white hyacinth was -fastened in with the lace, and filled the room with its subtle, -delicious fragrance. - -Her abundant, golden hair was braided into a coronet and confined with a -comb of pearl. In spite of an almost marble pallor, and a look of -terrible suffering, she appeared as lovely as Sydney had ever seen her. - -At the entrance of her rival she lifted her head, and with a faint sigh -motioned her to a seat near her. - -"You come early," she said. - -"I could not wait," Sydney answered. "I was too impatient. You have not -spoken with--with----" - -"_Our_ husband!" said the actress, filling up the embarrassed pause with -a faint and mirthless laugh. "No, Sydney, I have not spoken with him. I -saw him on the pavement this morning when I left the theater, but I drew -down my veil and looked another way." - -The look of dread in Sydney's dark eyes softened into relief. - -"Oh, Queenie," she exclaimed, "if you only _would_ go away from here -without speaking to him! Think of the consequences that would follow -such a revelation--the nine days' wonder over you, the shame, the -despair, the utter desolation for me! Oh, Queenie, if you would but go -away with your secret untold, and leave my husband." - -Queenie's red lips curled scornfully. - -"Ah! Sydney," she said, "you were always selfish. You think only of -yourself. You would sacrifice my happiness to your own." - -"_Your_ happiness, Queenie? Ah! what happiness could it give you to be -re-united to Lawrence Ernscliffe? You never professed to love him!" - -A crimson blush rose into Queenie's cheek. She put up her small hand to -hide it; but when it fell to her side again the warm color had not -faded. It seemed but to burn the brighter as she said in a low and -earnest voice: - -"No, Sydney, I never professed to love him. I do not think I loved him -when I promised to marry him. And yet, in the few weeks that intervened -before he led me to the altar, I learned to love him with as deep and -fond a love as the most exacting heart could have asked for. Time, -silence and suffering have but deepened and intensified that passion, -until it has become like the very pulse of my heart. He is the one dear -thing to me, yet you ask me to give him to you." - -"You have your art--your profession. Surely you love that," said Sydney, -anxiously. - -"It has been but the means to an end," replied Queenie. "It has never -filled but half my heart. The other half has never been at rest. It has -always been seeking its lost mate. How could I give him up now that I -have found him?" - -"You mean to take him from me, then?" said Sydney, with a dangerous -gleam of hatred firing into her black eyes. - -La Reine Blanche did not answer. The blush had faded from her cheeks, -and left them deathly pale. - -Sydney could read nothing of her thoughts in the blue eyes, half veiled -by the sweeping lashes. She moved restlessly in her chair. - -"You promised to tell me your story," she said, coldly and sharply. "I -am here to listen." - -The faded color rushed back in crimson waves to Queenie's face. She -looked up into the proud, scornful features of her sister. - -"I am going to keep my word," she said, "and yet, Sydney, will you -believe me when I tell you that I would rather tell my story to any -other person on earth than you? Yes, I think I could sooner tell -Lawrence Ernscliffe himself. I do not believe that anyone else would -judge me as harshly and unpityingly as you will do--not even a -stranger." - -She was silent a moment, and lay still, shading her face with one small, -white hand that sparkled with diamonds; then, as Sydney made no answer, -she said, with a visible effort: - -"Where shall I begin, Sydney?" - -"At the beginning," answered Sydney, curtly. - -"I must go back four years, then," said Queenie. "Sydney, do you -remember the day that I sold my painted fan that Uncle Robert gave me to -buy a tarleton dress to wear to Mrs. Kirk's grand ball?" - -"Yes, I remember." - -"_That_ was the beginning, Sydney. I saw a gentleman in the store where -I sold my fan--the handsomest man I ever saw in my life--tall, dark, -elegant. He looked me straight in the face as I left the store, and my -foolish heart fluttered into my mouth. You know I was very young and -romantic at that time--both things of which I cannot accuse myself now," -added Queenie, thinking sagely that her present twenty-one years made -her quite elderly. - -"Yes," said Sydney, curtly. - -"The man bought my fan as soon as I left the store; then he followed me. -I did not know these things then, but I learned them afterward. Perhaps -you remember that 'an unknown admirer' sent the fan back to me?" - -"Yes," said Sydney, curtly. - -"You remember also, Sydney, that every day an elegant bouquet, formed of -the choicest hot-house flowers, came to me from the same unknown -source?" - -Sydney nodded an affirmative answer. - -"I was very young and foolish in those days," said Queenie, with a sigh. -"I do not suppose that any girl ever lived more silly and romantic than -I was. I brooded day and night over the mysterious donor of the fan and -flowers. All my secret thoughts were of him. I felt quite sure in my own -mind that the handsome man who had looked at me so admiringly in the -fancy store was my unknown admirer. I expected daily to meet him -somewhere in the haunts of the gay society in which I had become -somewhat of a belle. You remember, Sydney?" - -Sydney did not answer, and she went on, slowly: - -"I did not meet him in society; but after a time we met in a public -park. I was walking there alone. I slipped and fell, spraining my ankle -severely. A gentleman rushed to my assistance. It was the handsome -stranger of whom I had dreamed so much that I had become perfectly -infatuated with him. He placed me in a carriage and took me home. You -were all out that day, and I never told of that event in my life through -some undefined fear of censure. That was where my fault began--in that -first act of secrecy." - -She paused a moment, and a heart-wrung sigh drifted over her pale and -quivering lips. - -Sydney sat perfectly still, regarding her with stern, unpitying eyes, as -though they were strangers instead of sisters whom the same mother had -nursed on her breast. - -"We met again and again," said Queenie, slowly. "Always by accident, it -seemed at first, Sydney, and I am quite sure it _was_ accident on my -part; but I know now that it was by design on the part of Mr. Vinton. He -wooed me in the most romantic fashion. Flowers and poetry were the -vehicles through which he conveyed his sentiments, until at last grown -bolder, he openly avowed his love for me." - -"You must have been very forward to have encouraged him to a declaration -so soon," said Sydney, with a sneer. - -"Sydney, I declare to you I was not. Oh! if you knew Leon Vinton as I do -now, you would know that I was not--you would know that the more timid -and shrinking the dove the more fierce and unrelenting would be his -pursuit," exclaimed Queenie, with a scarlet blush at her sister's cruel -charge. - -"I knew, of course," she continued, after a moment's thoughtful pause, -"home was the proper place for my lover to woo me. I said as much to -him. His ready excuse appeared perfectly sufficient in my silly eyes. He -told me that he was a foreigner of high birth and rank, exiled from his -native land through a political offense and that he had heard that my -father was bitterly opposed to all foreigners. He, therefore, felt it to -be quite hopeless to seek for the _entree_ to my father's house. Little -simpleton that I was, I swallowed the whole stupendous lie because it -was baited with the one single grain of truth--namely, the well-known -fact that my father was bitterly prejudiced against all persons of -foreign birth. I believed all he told me, and, worse than all, I -believed that I was deeply and devotedly in love with him. That was the -blind mistake of my life, Sydney. _Now_ I know that I was not in love -with the _man_. It was the romance and poetry of his manner of wooing -me, the mystery that surrounded him with an atmosphere of ideality that -fascinated and infatuated me. I was very young and romantic, as he well -knew when he set his artful trap for me. He knew too well how to bait -it. It was only the wooing that I loved when I thought it was the -wooer." - -Her voice broke a moment, and she buried her face in her hands. - -Sydney offered no comment, but sat as still and silent as a statue, -regarding her intently. - -"Yet, why do I linger over those fatal hours?" resumed Queenie, with a -heavy sigh. "They can have but little interest for you. I will briefly -relate what came after. You remember, Sydney, how I left you all the day -we started to Europe on the pretense of returning to remain with papa?" - -"Yes," Sydney answered, in a tone of scorn. - -"It was a preconcerted plan," said the actress, dropping her eyes in -shame and remorse. "In less than an hour after I left you, Sydney, I met -Leon Vinton and was married to him." - -"Married to him!" exclaimed Sydney, incredulously. - -The blue eyes and the black ones met for a moment--one pair cold and -incredulous, the others full of raging scorn. - -"Sydney, you are cruel!" exclaimed Queenie, indignantly. "How else -should I have gone away with him? I was as pure and innocent as a little -child. There was not a thought of evil in my heart. I would have died -the most horrible death that could be conceived of before I would have -willfully sinned." - -"Why, then, did you not confess the truth when you came home?" asked -Sydney. "If you were married, where was your husband? Why did you suffer -us to think worse things of you?" - -"Wait until I have finished my story, Sydney, then you will understand -why," answered Queenie, mournfully. "We were married, as I told you," -she continued. "We went to live in a beautiful cottage on the banks of -the river, about five miles from the city where we lived. My husband -appeared to be a man of wealth and taste. My home was splendidly -furnished. I had servants to wait upon me, the best of everything to eat -and wear. He appeared to be perfectly devoted to me. I had but two -things to complain of. One was the utter seclusion in which we lived. He -went into no society, and we saw no company--not a single person ever -visited us. I rode out in a carriage with Mr. Vinton sometimes. Once we -went to the theater near my old home, and an irresistible desire seized -upon me to look upon the face of my father once more. Mr. Vinton had -always sternly forbidden me to venture near my home, but I eluded him -somehow in the crush coming out of the theater, and ran homeward with -flying footsteps. I looked into the window, Sydney. It was late, but I -saw papa. He was sitting, sad and alone, thinking, perhaps, of his -absent dear ones. He looked so old and broken it almost broke my heart." - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - - -Queenie paused a moment, and Sydney saw that warm, passionate tears were -streaming down her cheeks. The sight awoke no pity in the heart of the -elder sister. It seemed to her that her hatred was simply measureless -for the beautiful young sister who, living or dead, held Lawrence -Ernscliffe's heart. - -"Papa looked up and saw me," continued Queenie, brushing away the -crystal drops with her perfumed handkerchief. "He took me for a ghost, I -think. I ran away and met Mr. Vinton coming after me. He was very angry -with me, and I promised him I would not venture near the place again. -Poor papa! As I went away I heard him wandering in the garden, calling -my name. I longed to turn back and throw my arms about his neck. I often -begged Mr. Vinton to allow me to make known our marriage to papa and -trust to his kind heart to forgive us, but he always refused angrily. He -had a terrible temper--a sleeping devil coiled within his heart." - -"You said that you had but two things to complain of," suggested Sydney. -"You have named but one." - -"The other was Mr. Vinton's frequent absence from me. He spent more than -half his time in the city, and I passed more than half my time alone, -save for the company of his housekeeper, a wicked woman, whom I -cordially detested. When I complained of his long absence, he -represented that business detained him from my side, but when I ventured -to inquire into the nature of his business, he almost rudely informed me -that it was no part of my province to inquire into his affairs. I asked -him no more questions, and I do not know to this day what engaged his -time and attention, nor what was the source of his apparent wealth. - -"We had been married almost a year," she continued, after a slight -pause, "when I began to notice that Mr. Vinton grew cold and careless to -me, and his mysterious absences became longer and more frequent. In my -loneliness and isolation I began to pine more and more for papa, whose -sad and troubled face, as I saw it last, when I looked into the window -that night, haunted me persistently. To my surprise, Mr. Vinton ceased -to chide me for indulging in my grief, and pretended to be willing to -reveal our marriage to papa and beg his forgiveness. In my joy at this -assurance, I threw my arms around his neck, and kissed him as fondly as -I had ever done in the first days of our union. That evening he ordered -out the phaeton to take me home to papa. You know how fond I was of -papa, Sydney--you can imagine my happiness." - -Sydney only bowed coldly in reply. - -"'I am going to take you home by a new route,' Mr. Vinton said to me, -turning the phaeton into a lonely, unfrequented road. In my joy at going -back to papa, I consented without a thought of the oddity of the words. -I only said to him: 'Do not make it a longer route, dear Leon. I am so -impatient to see papa again.'" - -She was growing more excited now. She rose from her reclining position, -and sitting upright, looked at Sydney with scarlet cheeks and burning, -violet eyes. She was dazzlingly beautiful in this new phase. - -Her fair, expressive face, and graceful, white throat rose from the rich -and somber setting of black velvet like some rare flower. Her voice -sounded like a wail of the saddest music. - -"It was the cruelest lie a man ever told a woman, Sydney!" she went on, -clasping and unclasping her white hands together in passionate -excitement. "We never went near home. He never intended it. It began to -rain soon, and we had no cover to the phaeton. We were passing through a -thick wood, and he forced me to get out and stand under the trees under -pretense of seeking shelter. Then, oh, Sydney, Sydney, with the chilly -rain beating down upon us, and our feet half buried in the thick drifts -of autumn leaves, he told me--oh, Sydney, can you guess what horrible -thing that villain told me?" - -The tears were falling down her cheeks like rain as she looked at her -sister, but she, conjecturing the truth at once, answered, promptly and -coldly: - -"He told you that he had deceived you--that you were not his wife!" - -"Yes, Sydney, that was what he told me," answered Queenie, with burning -cheeks. "He said that the minister who united us was no more a minister -than he was, and had only done it for a lark! He said he was tired of me -and did not intend to charge himself with my support any longer, and -that I might return to my father." - -She stopped a moment and brushed away the tears that were coursing down -her cheeks. - -"Oh! how can I go on?" she exclaimed. - -"I am impatient," remarked Sydney. - -"I was fairly maddened by that cruel revelation," continued Queenie. -"Oh, Sydney, may the dear Lord spare you from such suffering as was mine -in that terrible hour! I went mad! All the softness of womanhood died -out of me in the face of that cruel wrong! The instinct of the tigress -sprang into my heart. I thirsted for Leon Vinton's blood. I cursed him. -I rushed upon him and fastened my little, white fingers in his throat -and tried to kill the wretch who had betrayed me." - -"A murderess!" exclaimed Sydney, recoiling. - -"My hands were all too weak and frail to wreak justice upon the -villain," Queenie went on, heedless of her sister's ejaculation. "He -pushed me off, he swore at me, he strangled me with his strong, white -fingers, threw me down upon the earth and spurned me with his foot--aye, -trampled upon me! You saw the purple print of his boot-heel on my brow, -Sydney. It is here yet," she said, pushing back the fluffy waves of -golden hair from her brow and showing the livid scar. - -"After that I remember nothing more for several hours," she went on, -seeing that Sydney made no answer, "and he must have thought that he -had killed me, for when I came to myself I was lying in a grave, a very -shallow grave. I was covered with fresh earth and dead leaves, which the -hard and steady rain had partly beaten aside, leaving my face exposed. -My murderer had not buried me deep enough. I sprang up out of the -shallow hole in which he had laid me, my heart beating wildly with -hatred and the thirst for revenge. All the hours of unconsciousness, all -the rain and cold that had chilled my body had not cooled the fire of -hate, the murderous instinct that possessed me. It seemed to me that -nothing could wipe out my wrongs except Leon Vinton's blood." - -"And this is the innocent little child that used to be my father's pet!" -exclaimed the listener, with a shudder. - -"Yes," said Queenie, mournfully. "It seems strange, does it not? I, who -only four years ago was the petted child of my father's heart--now I am -dead to all that once knew and loved me. I have gone wrong. I have -wandered into strange paths. I have buried peace and joy. I have broken -my father's heart--all for the sin of one man--_man_ did I say? Nay, -rather a devil in the guise of an angel of light!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - - -If Sydney's heart had been less hard than marble she must have pitied -the beautiful, unfortunate young sister so sadly rehearsing the story of -her terrible wrongs. - -But she uttered no word of sympathy or pity, she did not take the golden -head upon her breast and weep over it as a loving sister would have -done. She only said, in her cold, hard, jealous voice: - -"Go on, Queenie. You went home to papa then?" - -"No, I did not. I went back to the beautiful cottage where I had lived -in a fool's Paradise one fatal year. Before I reached there I saw _him_ -standing alone on the banks of the river. I told you I thirsted for his -blood. Nothing could have cooled the fire of my terrible hate but his -life-blood poured out in a free libation. His back was turned to me, he -neither saw nor heard me. I crept up behind him, I--oh, Sydney, do not -look at me so! Remember it was not little Queenie, but a woman gone mad -over her terrible wrongs. I could not help it. I put my hand on his -shoulder and pushed him down into the river!" - -"You are even worse than I thought you, Queenie," exclaimed her sister; -"yet you--a Magdalen, a murderess--you dared to come back to us and to -marry Captain Ernscliffe!" - -"I disclaim either of the hard names you have called me, Sydney," her -sister answered, defiantly. "I have been deeply sinned against, but I -have not sinned. I had no intention of evil when I eloped with Leon -Vinton. I thought I was his wife when I lived with him. When I pushed -him into the river it was a simple act of justice. If I had gone home to -papa and told him my wrongs, and he had killed Leon Vinton, society -would have applauded the act and any jury would have acquitted him. It -was right for me to punish him. I gloried in the deed." - -Sydney made a gesture of abhorrence. - -"The only pity," continued the actress, passionately, "is that I did not -succeed in my revenge. He rose upon the water once after I pushed him -in, and saw me on the bank. Then he shook his fist at me and shouted, -with his mouth full of water: 'If I live I will have revenge for this!' -Then he went under again, and I ran away and went home to papa." - -"Then he was not drowned, after all?" said Sydney. - -"No, he was saved from a watery grave, and forthwith began to dog my -footsteps again, though so cautiously that I never dreamed but that he -was dead. The night I was married I saw him looking in the window at me, -but I took him for a ghost or an illusion of fancy, never for a moment -as a living creature. But in the moment that I was made a bride he sent -me a bouquet. I inhaled the perfume and fell senseless. It was drugged -with a powerful sleeping potion. I was not dead, only asleep and -unconscious, when they buried me. Leon Vinton resurrected me that night, -and confined me as a hated prisoner at the cottage to which he had taken -me a happy, thoughtless young bride. That was his diabolical revenge. He -knew where I was all the time, but he waited until the full cup of -happiness was pressed to my lips, then dashed it away, and spilled the -precious wine forever." - -She looked at her elder sister with a tearless agony in her pansy-blue -eyes, but Sydney only said, impatiently: - -"I am anxious to hear how you happened to become such a noted actress." - -"A few months after my supposed death, Leon Vinton was killed by the -outraged father of a young girl whom he had basely betrayed. In the -consequent excitement my prison door was left open, and I escaped and -went back to the city, toiling on through the stormy, winter weather as -though it was summer time, in my joy at the thought of going back to my -home again." - -She wrung her jeweled hands and groaned aloud. - -"Oh, Heaven! how little I dreamed of the changes that awaited me in the -home from which I had been carried a seeming corpse but a few months -before. Papa was dead, the rest of you were gone to Europe; there were -strangers in the house. Staggering blindly along, almost overwhelmed by -the shock of my father's loss, I went to my husband's home. Alas! he, -too, was traveling abroad. My last prop was swept from under me. I was -homeless, friendless, penniless and forsaken in the great, heartless -city, alone in the streets at night, beaten and tossed about by the wind -and storm." - -"Oh, if she had but died then!" breathed Sydney, inaudibly. - -"Sydney, try to put yourself in my place for a moment. You who have lain -in luxury's silken lap all your life--who have never known a sorrow. -Think of your wronged little sister alone and friendless in the dark and -dangerous streets of the city, buffeted by the wintery storms. Surely, -then, you will feel some pity for all that I have endured." - -Sydney would not even look at the sorrowful face; her ears were deaf to -the tremulous, appealing voice. - -"Go on with your story," she said, coldly. "These digressions are -wearisome. What happened to you then?" - -But Queenie had thrown herself back on the divan, with her white hands -over her face, and for a moment a profound silence reigned throughout -the room. The little French pendule on the mantel was ticking the hours -toward noon, but neither of the two women, in their all-absorbing -interest in the present, seemed to remember that the actress had made an -appointment with Captain Ernscliffe at that hour. Presently Queenie -spoke in a faint and mournful voice. - -"Sydney, I cannot go on now; I am too faint and exhausted. These painful -recollections have wearied and depressed me. Wait a little. I must -rest." - -"You have come so near to the end of the story, surely you can finish it -now," objected Sydney, unfeelingly. - -The actress did not speak for a moment; the small hands dropped away -from her face, and she lay still, with her long-fringed lashes resting -on her white cheek, a look of pain and exhaustion on her delicate lips. - -Sydney rose and walked impatiently up and down the floor. - -"Sydney," said her sister presently, "there is some wine and glasses on -the cabinet there. Will you give me a few drops? Perhaps it may rally my -fainting strength." - -Sydney went to the cabinet and found a flask of port wine and delicate -little crystal glasses. - -She poured a little into a glass and looked over at her sister. - -Her eyes were still closed, and she looked death-like and pallid as she -lay there in her velvet dress and rich surroundings. - -A terrible look came into Sydney's face. She put her hand into her bosom -and drew out a little vial, unstoppered it, and poured a few drops into -the wine. - -Then she crossed the room to Queenie's side. Her eyes were burning with -some inward fire. - -"Here, Queenie," she said, "drink your wine." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - - -"Drink your wine, Queenie," repeated Sydney, in a slightly impatient -voice. - -The beautiful actress struggled up to a sitting posture and looked into -her sister's face. - -"Good Heaven, Sydney, what ails you?" she said. "You look positively -ghastly. This interview has been too much for you. I entreat you to -drink the wine yourself." - -But Sydney shook her head, although she was trembling like a leaf and -her face was ashen white. She could scarcely keep from spilling the -wine, the glass wavered so unsteadily in her hand. - -"I insist upon it," said Queenie. "You need a restorative as much as I -do. Drink that yourself and give me another glass." - -A frightened look came into Sydney's eyes. Was it possible that Queenie -had been watching her from under the hands that covered her face? - -"I--I assure you I do not need it in the least," she faltered; "you -looked so ghastly yourself, lying there, that I was frightened, but my -nervousness is quite over now. Pray drink it yourself. I am anxious to -see you revive enough to continue your story." - -Queenie took the wine-glass in her hand and raised it to her lips. - -Sydney watched her with parted lips and burning eyes. Her heart gave a -bound of joy as her unfortunate sister touched the fatal draught with -her beautiful lips. - -They were so absorbed that they had not heard a rapping at the door. -Both were quite unconscious that the person seeking admittance had grown -impatient and recklessly turned the handle. - -But little as they dreamed of such a thing, it was true. Sydney's -dreadful crime had had an unthought-of spectator. A man had stood just -inside the room and watched her with wild, astonished, horrified eyes. - -As Queenie was about to drink the wine he rushed forward and violently -struck the glass from her hand. It fell to the floor, shattered into a -hundred fragments, the ruby wine splashing over the rich carpet. - -The actress sprang to her feet and confronted the daring intruder. - -"Lawrence Ernscliffe!" she gasped. - -"Lawrence Ernscliffe!" echoed Sydney, in a voice of horror. - -"Yes, Lawrence Ernscliffe," he answered, looking at Queenie. - -He seemed to have no eyes for anyone but her, although his second wife -stood just at his elbow. - -"Why are you here?" demanded the actress, haughtily. - -The tall, handsome man looked at her in astonishment. - -"Madam, you permitted me to call," he said, "and this is the hour you -specified. I knocked, but no one came; then I opened the door and -entered." - -The pride and anger on the lovely face before him softened strangely. - -"That is true, I had quite forgotten it," she said. "But then your -rudeness in striking the glass from my hand--how do you account for -that? What did you mean by it?" - -Her beautiful eyes were looking straight into his--the dusky, pansy-blue -eyes of the lost bride whom he had worshiped so madly. - -His reason seemed to reel before that wonderful resemblance, his heart -was on fire with the passion she roused within him; yet through it all -he had a vague feeling that he must shield Sydney, that he must not -betray her to the beautiful woman whom she had wronged. - -His dark eyes fell before her steady gaze, his cheek reddened, his -tongue felt thick when he tried to speak. - -Sydney's heart was beating almost to suffocation, while he stood thus -hesitating. She knew when he struck the glass from Queenie's hand that -he had witnessed her dastardly crime. - -She wondered if his mad passion for the beautiful actress would lead him -to betray _her_--his wife! - -In her terror and desperation she grasped his arm and looked up -pleadingly into his face. - -Captain Ernscliffe looked down at her--oh! the withering scorn, the just -horror of that look. - -She shrank back abashed before it, but he slowly shook his head. - -She was safe--he could not forget that she bore his name, however -unworthily. - -"I ask you again, sir," said the actress, in a voice that demanded -reply, "why did you strike the glass from my hand?" - -"Madam, I--I--pardon me, I was excited, I knew not what I did!" he -stammered, not daring to meet her searching gaze. - -Suddenly Queenie uttered a cry of grief and terror. A little pet dog had -left his cushion in the corner and lapped up the spilled wine from the -floor with its tiny, pointed tongue. - -Now, after a few, unsteady motions, and two or three whining moans of -pain, it uttered one sharp, despairing yelp, rolled over upon the carpet -and expired. - -After Queenie's one terrified cry a dead silence reigned throughout the -room. - -Sydney dropped into a chair, trembling so that she could not stand, and -put her hands before her face. Her sin had found her out. - -Queenie would certainly revenge herself now by revealing her identity. -What mercy could she expect from the sister she had hated and tried to -murder? - -"I understand your reluctance to explain yourself now, sir," said the -voice of the actress, falling on her ears like the knell of doom. "You -would shield your wife!" - -He did not answer. His head was bowed on his breast, his handsome, -high-bred face was pale with emotion. She went on coldly after a -moment's pause: - -"I thank you, Captain Ernscliffe, for the ready hand that struck the -poisoned wine from my lips, although my life is so valueless to me that -it was scarcely worth the saving. But now will you withdraw and leave me -to deal with this lady?" - -Sydney glanced up through the fingers that hid her shamed face. What did -Queenie mean to do? Was it possible that she would not reveal her -identity to her husband? - -"Madam," he remonstrated, "you were willing to accord me an interview. -Surely you will not send me away like this. I cannot go until I have -told you why I am here!" - -The resolution in his voice alarmed her. She stepped back a pace and -stood looking at him with parted lips and burning eyes, her face as -white as marble against the background of her rich but somber velvet -robe, her loosened, golden hair falling around her like a veil of light. - -"We--I--that is--you can have nothing to say to me that I wish to hear!" -she panted. "Pray go--let us part as we met--strangers!" - -He looked at her with a strange light in his dark eyes, a warm flush -creeping into his face. - -Sydney watched him with wild, fascinated eyes. What would he say to this -speech of the actress? - -"We have not met as strangers--we cannot part thus!" he answered firmly. -"Surely my eyes and my heart cannot both deceive me! La Reine Blanche, -you are my lost wife, Queenie!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - - -You might have heard a pin drop in the room, so utter was the silence -that followed Captain Ernscliffe's bold declaration. - -Sydney remained crouching in her chair, watching the two chief actors in -this drama in real life, with wild, fascinated eyes, feeling that her -whole future hung trembling in the balance on the answer that must fall -from her sister's lips. - -Queenie seemed stricken dumb by the words of Captain Ernscliffe. She -stared at him speechlessly, her white teeth buried in her crimson lips, -her hands clenched tightly together. - -"Queenie, you cannot deny it," he went on passionately, seeing that she -could not, or would not speak. "Although I thought you dead, although -the last time I beheld your sweet face it was under the shadow of the -coffin-lid, yet I could swear that the lost bride whom I deemed an angel -in Heaven, still walks the earth under the name of Reine De Lisle!" - -Still she did not answer, still she stood there pale and statue-like, -all the life that was left in her seeming concentrated in the burning -gaze she fixed upon his face. - -He ventured to come a little nearer, he touched the white, jeweled hands -that were locked so tightly together. He altogether forgot Sydney -crouching silently in the great arm-chair. He took up a long, curling -tress of the golden hair and pressed it to his lips. - -"My darling!" he cried, "speak to me! Tell me by what strange mystery -you were resurrected and restored to my heart! Why have you remained so -long away from me?" - -The touch of his hands and lips seemed to galvanize her into life. She -pushed him away and sprang to Sydney's side. - -"Madam," she cried indignantly, "what ails your husband? Is he mad? Why -does he claim me as his wife?" - -Sydney's heart gave one wild, passionate throb of joy. Queenie had -declared herself. She would renounce her husband! Taking the cue -instantly, she sprang up and fixed a pleading gaze on the beautiful -white face of the actress. - -"Oh! Madame De Lisle, forgive him," she cried. "You are the living image -of his first wife, whom he adored, and who died at the altar. Your -perfect resemblance to her has driven him mad!" - -He looked from one to the other--the dark, radiant brunette, the -lily-white blonde, each so perfect in her type--and his heart sank -heavily. - -Had they conspired to deceive him, or was this wonderful resemblance to -his lost bride but a mere coincidence--a will-o'-the-wisp, an _ignis -fatuus_, to lead his heart and his reason astray? - -"Cease, Sydney!" he said sternly. "She cannot deny it, she will not -utter such a stupendous falsehood. My heart is too true a monitor to -lead me astray! It never throbbed as it does now in the presence of any -woman on earth but Queenie Lyle!" - -How noble and handsome he looked as he stood there, pleading for his -love with all his tender, passionate heart shining in his dark eyes. - -The actress gave one look at him, then turned away and walked to the -further end of the room. - -She could not bear the mute, agonizing appeal in his beautiful, -troubled, dark eyes. Sydney sprang to his side and clasped her hands -about his arm. - -"Oh! Lawrence," she cried. "You break my heart! I tremble for your -reason. Oh! pray, pray, come away from here! Madame De Lisle is very -angry with you for your persistence in your strange mistake. You intrude -upon her hours for study and practice. Will you not come away with me?" - -He looked down at her suspiciously, without stirring from the spot. - -"Sydney, if indeed I am mistaken," he said, "why are _you_ here? If this -lady is not your sister, what have you to do with her? Why," he lowered -his voice slightly, "why did you seek to remove her from your path?" - -Sydney dropped her eyes and turned crimson. - -"Oh, Lawrence," she said, "she is not my sister, but she is my rival. I -know all that passed last night, I know that she has won your heart from -me." - -"It was never yours, Sydney," he answered firmly. "I married you because -you loved me, and were unhappy without me; but you never held my heart. -I have never loved but one woman on earth. I told you that before I made -you my wife." - -The listener's heart gave one great bound of joy. He loved her still--he -had never loved but her. Why should she sacrifice herself and him for -the doubtful good of Sydney's happiness? - -A great wave of pity for herself and for her true, loyal husband swept -over her heart. - -She made a quick step toward him as if to throw herself upon his breast, -then shrank back into herself, deterred by the agonised appeal in the -eyes of Sydney, who seemed to divine her purpose. - -"Oh! Lawrence," entreated Sydney, "pray go away from here. Madame De -Lisle grows impatient." - -The actress swept across the room, turned the handle of the door, and -held it open. - -"Mrs. Ernscliffe is right," she said in a cold, hard tone, "I am both -weary and impatient. I can bear no more. This trespass on my time and -patience is inexcusable. Will it please you to go now, sir?" - -Lawrence Ernscliffe advanced and stood before her in the doorway. She -could not bear the passionate pain and reproach in the beautiful eyes he -fastened on her face. Her gaze wavered and fell before his. - -"Queenie," he said, slowly and sadly, "you have not deceived me! You -cannot deny that you are my own! Your soul is too white and pure to -suffer such a falsehood to stain your lips! Yet you will not let me -claim you, you are sacrificing your happiness and mine for a mere -chimera! I understand it all. Sydney has asked for the sacrifice and you -have made it. It is for _her sake_!" - -He bent down, lifted a spray of white hyacinth that had fallen from the -lace on her breast to the floor, pressed it to his lips, and silently -withdrew. - -Queenie closed the door upon his retreating form and turned back to her -sister. - -"He was right," she said slowly, "I have sacrificed my happiness and his -for your sake, Sydney." - -Sydney lifted her heavy eyes and looked at her without speaking. Queenie -went on slowly: "This is my revenge, Sydney: you have scorned and -insulted me, you have branded me with a cruel name, you have tried to -poison me--me, the little sister you loved and petted when we were -children at our mother's knee! Yet, for the sake of those old days, and -the love we had for each other then, I forgive you--nay, more, I make -the sacrifice you were cruel enough to ask of me. I resign the one being -whom I have sought for years--the one thing dear to me upon earth. I -give you the pulse of my heart, the life of my life, the soul of my -soul!" - -Cold and white as marble in her sublime self-abnegation, she pointed to -the door. - -"Go," she said, "I can bear no more!" - -Sydney obeyed her without a word. - -Then the beautiful queen of tragedy, the lovely woman who counted her -admirers by the hundreds, knelt down upon the floor, and lifted her -white, despairing face to Heaven. - -"Oh! God," she moaned, "If indeed I am a sinner, as she said, surely -this great and bitter sacrifice for another's sake must win for me the -pity and pardon of Heaven!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - - -The three weeks of La Reine Blanche's London engagement were drawing to -a close. - -She had achieved a brilliant success. Her beauty and her genius were the -themes of every tongue. - -Her admirers were legion. She had a score of wealthy and titled lovers. -It was even said that a noble and well-known duke had proposed to marry -her, and met with a cold and haughty refusal. - -The managers of the theater where she was playing tried to secure her -for another month. It would be worth a fortune to them, they said, and -they allowed her to make her own terms. - -To their consternation she utterly declined a longer engagement and -announced her intention to retire from the stage. - -The managers were astounded. What! retire from the stage in the zenith -of her fame, with all her gifts of youth, beauty and genius. It was too -dreadful. Yet in spite of their remonstrances she persevered. She -canceled at a tremendous cost an engagement she had made with a Parisian -manager. A whisper was circulated and began to gain credence that the -beautiful _tragedienne_ was about to enter a convent and take the veil -for life. - -She did not deny it when people questioned her, but she would not tell -the reason why she was about to take such a strange step. - -She only smiled sadly when they remonstrated with her, but she would -never tell why she was about to immure herself, with all her gifts of -beauty, youth and genius, in a living tomb. - -But there was one thing that was palpable to all who saw her off the -stage and divested of the trickery of paint and cosmetics. La Reine -Blanche was fading like the frailest summer flower. The lily bloomed on -her cheek instead of the rose. - -Under her large, blue eyes lay purple shadows, darker and deeper than -those cast by the drooping lashes. A look of patient suffering crept -about the corners of her lips and hid in her eyes. Her smiles were -sadder and more pathetic than sighs, her form grew slighter and more -ethereal in its perfect grace, her step lost its lightness and -elasticity. Some said that the beautiful actress was dying of a broken -heart, others said that she was falling into a consumption. - -She heard these things and made no outward sign, but inwardly she said -to herself: - -"They are both right and wrong. I am dying because I have nothing left -to live for. I have toiled and hoped for years. I have studied and -practiced to get money to carry me over the wide world in search of the -one true heart that was mine only, and now that I have found it I have -had to give it away. I cannot endure it; I am not strong enough. There -is nothing left me but to die!" - -She thought of some sorrowful lines she had somewhere read and -mournfully repeated them: - - "Much must be borne which is hard to bear, - Much given away which it were sweet to keep. - God helps us all! who need indeed His care; - And yet I know the Shepherd loves His sheep." - -Those flying rumors and reports only served to make Madame De Lisle more -popular. She was the rage. She played to densely packed houses every -night. - -Flowers rained upon her. The costliest gifts of jewels and rare -_bric-a-brac_ were sent to her from such unknown sources that she could -neither refuse nor send them back as she would otherwise have done. -There was always a great throng of people waiting to see her step into -the carriage every night. - -But in all that throng La Reine Blanche never saw but one face. There -was one man who always held the same position beside her carriage door. -He never spoke to her, he never touched her, but stood there patiently -every night, thrilled to the depths of his soul if the hem of her -perfumed robe but brushed him in passing. - -Some weird fascination utterly beyond her power of resistance always -impelled her to meet his glance, and the fire in his beautiful, dark -eyes; the passionate love, the terrible pain, the bitter reproach were -killing her slowly but surely. - -And Lawrence Ernscliffe was going mad. He had no life, no thought, no -hope outside the beautiful woman whom he had claimed for his wife, and -who had so coldly denied him. - -He haunted her like her own shadow. Go where she would she saw him, look -where she would she met only the eyes of the man she loved and to whom -she belonged by the dearest tie on earth. - -He forgot Sydney utterly, or if he ever remembered her it was only with -scorn. Her terrible sin had placed her beyond the pale of his tenderness -forever. No reasoning, no sophistry could have convinced him that the -beautiful actress was not his own wife whom he had lost in the very -moment that made her his bride. - -He could not have explained himself. He did not understand at all the -mysterious chance which had brought it about, yet he knew in his own -heart that the woman whom he had seen in her coffin once had been -restored to life again, and that the only bar to their happiness now was -Sydney, whom he had married through a simple impulse of pity. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - - -It was the last night of Madame De Lisle's engagement. She would make -her final appearance before the world in the beautiful tragedy of "King -Lear." To-morrow she would retire to the conventional cloister forever. - -The theater was so densely packed that there was scarcely standing-room -on this her farewell night. - -Lord Valentine and his wife and mother-in-law were in his box from which -they had scarcely missed a night of the three weeks. - -Besides Mrs. Lyle's passionate love of the drama there was a subtle -fascination in Madame De Lisle's strange resemblance to her youngest -daughter that impelled her thither every night to gaze upon her with -eyes that never wearied in looking on her loveliness. She could not have -told why it was, but she was vaguely conscious of a troubled tenderness -about her heart whenever she looked at the fair young creature and heard -the talk of her going into a convent. - -"She makes me think of poor Queenie," she whispered to Georgina that -night. "I cannot help feeling sorry for her, she is so like what she -was." - -"The resemblance is startling, indeed," Lady Valentine whispered back, -"but don't let Sydney hear you, mamma. She does not like to hear about -it." - -Sydney made no sign, but she knew very well what they were talking of. - -She came to the theater every night, though she hated to be there. -Jealousy drove her to look on her rival's face every night that she -might also watch her husband. - -Poor Sydney! She sat there pale and haggard, and wretched in her white -satin and diamonds, looking with jealous, suspicious eyes at the -beautiful and gentle "Cordelia," hating her for the fairness that -Lawrence Ernscliffe loved. - -Queenie's sacrifice, made at so costly a price to herself, had utterly -failed to purchase her sister's happiness. - -Captain Ernscliffe had a seat in another part of the house where Sydney -could watch his every movement. Her heart swelled with bitter pain and -passionate anger as she looked at him. He did not even seem to know that -she was there. His dark, melancholy eyes never once moved from the -graceful form of the unhappy "Cordelia" as she acted her part on the -stage. When the curtain fell he dropped his eyes and never looked up -again until his beautiful idol reappeared. - -La Reine Blanche had never acted better. She gave her whole attention to -her part. She did not seem to see that one pair of eyes had watched her -with such wild entreaty and passionate love in their beautiful depths. - -There was one box at which she never looked but once, and it was when, -in obedience to her husband's command, "Bid farewell to your sisters," -she slowly repeated: - - "'Ye jewels of our father, with washed eyes - Cordelia leaves you: I know you what you are; - And, like a sister, am most loth to call - Your faults as they are named. Love well our father: - To your professed bosoms I commit him; - But yet, alas! stood I within his grace, - I would prefer him to a better place. - So farewell to you both.'" - -Everyone in the house saw her brilliant eyes fixed on Lord Valentine's -box as she repeated those words, but perhaps no one but the actress -herself saw that Sydney's eyes drooped in shame and confusion, while a -scarlet blush stained her cheek. - -Ah, she, and no other, comprehended the bitter meaning of Queenie's -words as she fixed her blue eyes mournfully on the sister who had -wronged her so deeply. - -"This is her last night," Sydney murmured to herself, "but is it true -that she will go into a convent? I must see her, I must know the truth -for certain. I will go round to her dressing-room and ask her." - -When the act was over she complained of sickness and asked Lord -Valentine to take her down to the carriage. - -Lord Valentine complied and left her sitting in the carriage, the -coachman mounting to his box. - -But in a moment, before the two prancing horses had started, Sydney -slipped out of the carriage so noiselessly that the man drove on never -dreaming but that she was shut up within. - -Then she ran round breathlessly to the private entrance of the theater. -She told the man who kept the door that she had an engagement with -Madame De Lisle and desired him to show her to that lady's -dressing-room. - -Two minutes later she found herself alone in the small apartment where -the actress changed her costumes for the different acts and scenes. - -Queenie had not yet come in. The manager had detained her a few minutes -and Sydney had time to draw breath and look about her while she waited -for her sister. - -There was not much to see. The room was dingy and sparely furnished, as -the dressing-room of a theater is apt to be. - -Costumes were laid over the backs of chairs, and the maid who should -have been guarding them was "off duty," gossiping, no doubt, with some -humble _attache_ of the place. There was little to interest one, and -Sydney grew impatient. - -Suddenly she saw a letter lying carelessly on the toilet table. She took -it up and looked at it. - -It was addressed to Madame De Lisle, and had never been unsealed. - -"It has been left here during the first act, and Queenie has never seen -it," she said to herself. "It looks like my husband's writing. I will -see what he has to say to her." - -Recklessly, desperately, she tore it open, and drew out the sheet of -note paper. - - "MY DARLING," it said simply, "meet me at the western door after - the first act is over. I _must_ see you a moment." - -No name was signed to the mysterious note, but Sydney felt sure that it -was her husband's writing. - -"Queenie has deceived me," she said to herself, angrily. "She is in -collusion with Lawrence. I might have known she would play me false!" - -She looked about her hurriedly. A long, black silk circular, lined with -fur, hung over a chair. She put it on over her white dress, caught up a -thick veil, winding it about her head and face, and hurried out to the -retired western door. - -Outside in the darkness stood a tall, muffled form. - -"Queenie, is it you?" he said in unfamiliar tones. - -In a moment she realized her mistake. It was not her husband, but in the -hope of unearthing some fatal mystery, she said softly: - -"Yes, it is Queenie." - -These words sealed her doom. The man sprang forward and caught her by -the arm. - -Something bright and slender gleamed an instant in his upraised hand and -then was sheathed in her heart. - -As her terrible scream of agony divided the shuddering air, he turned -and fled from the scene of his crime. - -But poor Sydney, the victim of her own misguided passion lay there -dying, with the deadly steel of the assassin sheathed in her jealous -breast. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - - -That wild and piercing cry penetrated to many ears. The manager and the -actress heard it where they stood conversing together, and though -Queenie did not know that it was Sydney's voice, still she grew pale as -death, and an indefinable fear crept coldly around her heart. The -manager put her into a chair, for he saw that she could not stand. - -"Stay here until I return," he said, "I will go and see what has -happened." - -He hurried round to the western door from which the sound had seemed to -proceed. - -A little knot of theater _attaches_ had preceded him. They were gathered -round the prostrate form, and one had unwound the shrouding veil from -her pale face and exposed it to the air and light. Her dark eyes were -staring upward with a look of pain and horror in their starry depths, -her face was ashen white, her lips quivered with faint, anguished moans, -and her white, jeweled hands worked convulsively at the hilt of the -dagger whose deadly blade was buried in her breast. - -She looked up at the manager as he bent over her. A gleam of recognition -came into her eyes. - -"I am dying," she said, in a faint, gasping voice. "Let someone go into -the theater and bring Captain Ernscliffe! Don't let anyone else know I -am here! Queenie--I mean--Madame De Lisle--must not know! Let the play -go on." - -At that moment they brought a physician, summoned in haste from his seat -in the theater. He knelt down and tried to draw the dagger from her -breast, but desisted in a moment and shook his head ominously. - -"Tell me the truth," she moaned. "How many minutes have I to live?" - -The physician looked down at her with a grave pity in his kindly eyes. - -"Only as long as the dagger remains in the wound," he answered, gently. -"When that is removed you will bleed to death in a minute." - -She clasped both hands around the murderous steel as if to drive it -deeper into her heart. - -"Let it remain there, then," she gasped, "I have something to say -before--I go hence!" - -"Great Heaven! who has done this?" exclaimed a shocked voice. - -They all looked around. It was Captain Ernscliffe who spoke. He knelt -down by his wife and looked at the murderous dagger whose hilt she -grasped, with eyes full of horror. The pain in her face softened. She -put out one hand to him, and he clasped it in his own. - -"Lawrence--I have been--cruelly murdered!" she moaned. "Let someone take -my dying deposition." - -The manager hurriedly produced pencil and paper. - -"I went into Madame De Lisle's dressing-room," she began. "She had not -come in, and I waited a little while, wishing to speak to her. Have you -put that down?" - -The manager replied in the affirmative. - -"I saw a sealed letter lying on the table," she went on slowly and -painfully; "I was jealous of Madame De Lisle, to whom it was addressed. -I thought my husband had written it. I opened it--I--read it." - -The physician stopped her a minute to pour a few drops of something -between her panting lips. Then she went on: - -"It was only a line imploring her to meet him for a moment at the -western door. No name was signed, but I was foolish enough to believe it -was--my husband." - -Her dark eyes lifted to his a moment with a mute appeal for forgiveness -in their dusky depths. He pressed her hand and murmured: - -"My poor Sydney!" - -She lay still a moment while great drops of dew beaded her white brow, -forced out by her terrible suffering. - -"Can we do nothing to help her?" Captain Ernscliffe inquired anxiously, -as he pillowed the dark head gently on his arm. - -The physician shook his head gravely. - -"No--nothing," Sydney answered him herself. "Only stay by me--till the -last. Let me finish my story." - -Captain Ernscliffe wiped the cold dews of death from her brow and she -continued: - -"I took Madame De Lisle's cloak and put it over my dress, I tied her -veil about my head and face, and--and--went to the western door--myself! -Oh! God, this dagger, how it hurts my side!" - -A few moans of terrible agony, then she went on, gaspingly: - -"There was a tall, dark man outside the door--he said: 'Is it you, -Queenie?' Then I saw my mistake--it was not my husband! But -I--thought--I might learn--some fatal secret of hers--so I answered -yes." - -She shuddered from head to foot and a groan of mortal agony broke from -her white lips. - -"That falsehood sealed my doom! He sprang forward without a word, buried -this dagger in my breast, and fled. It was Madame De Lisle's enemy. I -know now. I received in my heart the stroke that was meant for hers." - -She paused, then repressing a groan of pain, said feebly: - -"Have you written it all down?" - -"Yes, madam," the manager answered. - -"Very well. I want you all to go away now--I want to be alone--with my -husband. Don't let anyone else know I am here. The play must not be -stopped. Let him be all mine a little longer!" - -They turned away in wonder at her strange words, and left her lying -there supported on her husband's arm--the beautiful woman with the -diamonds in her dark hair, and the dagger's hilt above her heart, her -white hand grasping it convulsively while she panted forth to him her -strange story in the briefest words she could find, for her strength was -ebbing fast, and her pain was becoming almost unendurable. - -The manager went back to the actress and told her some plausible tale to -allay her fears, and, as Sydney had wished, "the play went on." The -foolish, fond old "Lear" ranted and raved his little hour, the cruel -sisters of "Cordelia"--even poor "Cordelia" herself--all died their -mimic deaths upon the stage--little dreaming that a tragedy in real life -had been enacted so close and so near, and that poor, erring Sydney lay -dead beneath the same roof where the vast throng of people wept and -applauded at the superb rendition of Shakespeare's grand creation, "King -Lear." - -Yet so it was, for when Sydney had faltered out her mournful story, she -looked up at Captain Ernscliffe and said with a quivering sigh: - -"I have done now, Lawrence, and the pain is so great I cannot bear it -any longer! Will you draw the dagger from my wound and let me die?" - -But he shrank back aghast at her words. - -"Oh, Sydney, don't ask me! Will you not see them all first, and say -good-bye--your mother, your sisters?' - -"No, no, I want--none--but you," she moaned, "and, oh, my God, how -terrible the pain is! Yet, Lawrence--I will stay yet a little longer--I -will try to bear it still, if you will kneel down there and pray for me! -I am such a sinner, I am almost _afraid to die_!" - -"Do you repent, Sydney?" he asked, gently. - -"Do I?" she wailed; "oh, my God, _yes_! I am sorry for it all, now! Tell -her I tried to make atonement at the last. She will forgive me. Little -Queenie was always very tender-hearted. Pray for me now--ask God to -forgive me, too." - -He bowed his head and prayed fervently for the welfare of the soul about -to be launched upon the shoreless waters of eternity. - -When the low "amen" vibrated on the night air, she looked up and said -moaningly: - -"Have you forgiven me, too, Lawrence?" - -He bent and kissed the poor, pale, quivering lips. - -"All is forgiven, Sydney," he answered, gently. - -"Then call the physician," she moaned. "Let him draw this cruel steel -from--my breast! I cannot--bear it--any longer!" - -But the physician recoiled as Captain Ernscliffe had done when she told -him what she wished him to do. - -"I should feel like a murderer," he gasped. "You could not live a minute -after the blade was drawn out of your breast." - -She turned away from him and put out her hand to the man she loved so -madly. - -"Farewell, Lawrence," she said. "Think of me sometimes as of one -who--loved you--'not wisely, but too well!'" - -Then, before they even guessed what she was about to do, she clasped -both hands about the dagger's hilt, and with a terrible effort wrenched -it from her breast and threw it far from her. Her heart's blood spurted -out in a great, warm, crimson tide over the bodice of her white satin -dress, she quivered from head to foot, and died with her dim eyes fixed -in a long, last look of love on Lawrence Ernscliffe's handsome face. - - * * * * * - -When the play was over, and the beautiful actress was leaving the -theater for the last time, someone touched her arm and detained her. She -looked up into the pale face of Captain Ernscliffe. - -"Nay, Queenie," he said gently, "you need not shrink from me now. Sydney -has confessed all." - -She looked up at him in wonder as he drew her hand lovingly within his -arm. - -"She has given you up to me, and you know _all_?" she repeated, like one -dazed. - -"Yes, Queenie, I know all, and I am yours alone now, for--prepare -yourself for a great shock, my darling--your sister, Sydney, is dead!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - - -"Dead!" exclaimed Queenie, with a start of horror; "oh, no, that cannot -be! It is but a little while since I saw her living and beautiful under -this roof!" - -"Her body is here still, Queenie, but her soul has fled to the God who -gave it," he answered solemnly. - -She trembled like a leaf in a storm at that grave assurance. - -"Queenie, let me take you back to your dressing-room," he said. "Stay -there a little while until I come for you." - -Utterly unnerved by the shock of his revelation, she suffered him to -lead her back. He left her at the door of her room and went out to seek -Lord Valentine. - -He had just put his wife and mother-in-law into the carriage, and stood -talking with the driver on the pavement. - -"Yes sir," the man was saying, "you know you brought her out and put her -into the carriage yourself, and I jumped up on the box and drove right -off. But when I got to Valentine House, my lord, the carriage was empty. -Yet I could swear to you, my lord, that the carriage was never stopped -an instant between here and home." - -"Come with me, my lord," said Captain Ernscliffe, in a whisper, as he -touched his arm, "I will explain the mystery." - -"Very well. Let the carriage wait until I return," he said to the man as -he walked away with his brother-in-law. - -Captain Ernscliffe led him back into the theater where Sydney lay still -and cold in death, watched by the manager and several of the theater -employes. They had lifted the body and laid it on a pile of silken -cushions, to remain until it had been viewed by the coroner, who had -been immediately notified of the terrible event. - -At a whispered request the manager gave the paper containing the dying -deposition of Sydney into Ernscliffe's hands, and he in turn passed it -over to Lord Valentine. - -"Great Heaven! this is terrible," he exclaimed, looking down at the -rigid form of his sister-in-law. "What is to be done? Who will break the -news to her mother and sister?" - -They walked apart, and Captain Ernscliffe briefly told him the -truth--that Madame Reine De Lisle was his lost wife, Queenie, and that -Sydney's knowledge of that fact had maddened her with suspicion and -jealousy, and driven her into the fatal error that had cost her her -life. - -"It is too wonderful to be true," said Lord Valentine. "I cannot believe -that the woman I saw lying dead in her coffin has been so strangely -resurrected. Surely, Ernscliffe, this beautiful actress has but traded -on her wonderful resemblance to your lost bride, and deceived you and -Sydney both. Have nothing to do with this beautiful siren." - -Captain Ernscliffe looked at him half angrily. - -"My Lord Valentine," he answered haughtily, "you charge her with that of -which she is not guilty. She has not deceived us. She did not seek us; -we sought her, and as long as Sydney lived she evaded the truth and -would not acknowledge her identity to me, because my second wife had -begged her to sacrifice herself for her sake. But come with me. Since -you doubt her identity let us see if she will recognize you. If you -appear as a stranger to her we may then afford to doubt her." - -They went to Queenie's dressing-room and knocked on the door. She opened -it and bade them enter in a faltering voice, with her cheeks bathed in -tears, her blue eyes downcast and troubled. - -"Queenie, look up," said Captain Ernscliffe. "Do you recognize this -gentleman?" - -The actress lifted her lovely eyes, dimmed with bitter weeping and -looked at him. A gleam of recognition shone in her face. - -"Yes," she answered, in her sweet, low voice. "It is Lord Valentine, who -was married to my sister Georgina the night you married me." - -Captain Ernscliffe flashed a triumphant look upon his brother-in-law. - -"You see she knows all about us," he said. "Now you cannot but admit her -identity. You must believe that she is my wife!" - -Lord Valentine grew white and red by turns as he gazed upon the -beautiful, queenly woman. - -"I admit madam's wonderful beauty, her grace and her talent," he said, -slowly, "and I will not deny her astonishing resemblance to your lost -bride; but, Ernscliffe, I will not believe this trumped-up story of poor -Queenie's resurrection. You are the victim of a monstrous fraud!" - -Captain Ernscliffe's eyes blazed with anger. - -"You deny that this is my wife?" he exclaimed, passionately. - -Lord Valentine was silent a moment. After that brief pause for thought -he answered, firmly: - -"Yes, I utterly deny it. I will not believe in so stupendous a fraud as -this one which is being perpetrated upon you. Madame De Lisle is a -beautiful woman, and a great actress; but she is not the wife you buried -years ago in Rose Hill Cemetery." - -Queenie lifted her head and looked at him proudly, but she did not speak -one word in her own defense. She did not need to do so. She had an -eloquent defender by her side. - -"Since you think thus," said Captain Ernscliffe, repressing his anger -and excitement by a powerful effort of his will, "pray go to your wife -and break the news of Sydney's tragic death to her and her mother. You -may tell them also all that I have told you, and we will see if they -will decide as you have done." - -Lord Valentine bowed coldly and went away. - -Captain Ernscliffe turned to the beautiful woman, who had fallen into a -seat and buried her face in her jeweled hands. - -"Queenie," he murmured. - -She looked up at his inquiringly. - -"Can you bear to hear the circumstances of your poor sister's death?" he -asked, gently. - -She bowed without speaking. - -For answer he put into her hand Sydney's dying deposition, which Lord -Valentine had returned to him. - -She read it silently through. It dropped from her nerveless clasp, and -she looked at him with a bitter pain in her white face. - -"Oh, God, my poor, unhappy sister!" she moaned. "I have been the cause -of her death." - -"Say rather her own reckless passion was her doom," he answered, -solemnly. "Do not accuse yourself, Queenie. _She_ did not blame you. She -was very sorrowful and repentant at the last. She wanted your -forgiveness." - -"Oh, my poor Sydney! She went mad for love," said Queenie, weeping. - -"As I had almost done," he answered. "For, Queenie, I have been nearly -beside myself these last few weeks. I knew you in spite of all your -denials, and the bitterness of it all nearly broke my heart. But now I -shall have my own again. Sydney wished it, dearest," he added, seeing a -look of hesitancy on her face. - -She did not answer, and her blue eyes drooped away from his fond glance. - -He moved nearer and took her unresisting hand in his. - -"Darling, forgive me for pressing it now in your grief and trouble, but -tell me, shall it be as Sydney wished? Will you come back to my heart?" - -"Perhaps you will not want me when I have told you all I have to tell," -she answered, her sweet face crimson with painful blushes. - -"There is nothing left for you to tell, my darling. Sydney has told me -all," he answered, quickly. - -"And you do not blame me? You are not angry with me?" she said, lifting -her fair, troubled face with a look of wonder, mingled with relief. - -"No, my sweet one. How could I blame you? It was like your sweet, -impulsive self," he answered. "But tell me now, Queenie if you will----" - -But at that moment the shrill scream of a woman broke the silence of the -night, and Queenie sprang to her feet with a sob of grief and terror. - -"It is your mother, dearest. She is there with Sydney. Can you bear to -go to her, Queenie? Perhaps it may comfort her to have one daughter -restored to her in the hour that she has lost another." - -"Yes, yes, I will go," she moaned, turning toward the door. He drew her -hand into his and led her around to the fatal western door. - -Mrs. Lyle was there, down on her knees by her dead daughter, weeping -and mourning, and Georgina stood apart, sobbing in her husband's arms. - -Queenie rushed forward and threw herself down by the side of the -kneeling woman. - -"Mamma, mamma," she sobbed, "let me comfort you a little. Sydney is -dead, but Queenie has come back to you to try to fill her place." - -Mrs. Lyle shook off the white arm that had been thrown around her neck -and sprang to her feet. - -"How dare you touch me?" she cried, "you whose siren wiles have wrought -my daughter's death? Go away from me, vile imposter that you are! My -daughter Queenie is dead." - -"No, no, mamma, she lives; she was saved from death! Oh, let me tell you -all! I am your daughter Queenie!" cried the actress, in a voice of -passionate pleading, lifting her streaming eyes to her mother's face. - -"Begone! You are no child of mine!" was the angry reply, as Mrs. Lyle -drew away from her, disdainful of her very touch. "Oh, go! go! You have -stolen Sydney's husband; you have caused her death; you cannot deceive -me also. Will not someone take her away?" - -Queenie stood still, with clasped hands and streaming eyes, listening to -her mother's cruel words. Then she crossed over to Lady Valentine, who -stood within the clasp of her husband's arms weeping bitterly. - -"Georgie," she said, in a tremulous voice, "won't _you_ speak to me? -Don't _you_ know me? Sydney recognized me and owned me for her sister, -even though I stood in her way. Surely you will not disown me!" - -Georgie lifted her head and looked at the beautiful pleader a moment in -silence. - -She was not a bad woman, this Lady Valentine, and for a moment an -impulse of pity stirred her heart and prompted her to believe this -strange story at which her husband had sneered, and which her mother -affected to disbelieve. - -If she had been left to herself the better impulse in her heart would -have triumphed, perhaps. Even as it was a momentary tender remembrance -came into her heart as she recalled the night of her father's and -sister's death! She recalled his words: - -"Georgie, forgive her; she was more sinned against than sinning. She -went mad and avenged the wrong. Remember that when she comes back." - -"How did he know she would come back?" thought Lady Valentine to -herself, in wonder. "We all thought she was dead then. But perhaps dying -eyes can see more clearly than others. Poor papa, must I go against his -dying charge to me?" - -Then she remembered what her husband had said to her a little while ago: - -"Georgie, do not forget that you have married into a proud old family. -Think of the disgrace to us all if you should own this impostor for your -sister! True, she is beautiful and gifted, but what then? She is an -_actress_! The men and women of our race do not descend to such. They -amuse us on the stage--these clever people. We pay for our amusement, -and that ends all. We have nothing in common. Do not allow this clever, -deceitful woman to impose on you as she did on your brother-in-law." - -Lady Valentine knew quite well what those words meant. - -She was not to recognize the actress as her sister, no matter what she -thought. - -So she strangled the thrill of pity at her heart, and answered in a -cold, hard voice, quite unlike her own: - -"Go away, Madame De Lisle. You are no sister of mine!" - -Queenie turned from her with a heart-wrung sigh and went back to her -mother. - -"Mamma, let me kiss you once," she said, "only once, dear mamma, before -I go away! I have loved you so, I have hungered for you so these long -years while I have been away from you! Let me even kiss your hand, -mamma, and I will try to be content. Oh! surely you will show me a -little kindness if only for papa's sake, who loved me so dearly!" - -But the mother's heart was turned to stone. She thrust away the clinging -hands, she spurned the tender, beseeching lips. - -"Go away," she harshly reiterated, "you are no child of mine. My -daughter Queenie is dead and buried!" - -The discarded daughter knelt down by Sydney's beautiful, lifeless clay -and took the cold hand in hers, then kissed the white, breathless lips. - -"Good-bye, Sydney," she whispered against the icy cheek. "You were -kinder to me than they. You sought to kill my body, but they have broken -my heart!" - -She rose, after one long look of grief and pain, and went back to -Captain Ernscliffe. - -"I have only you left, Lawrence," she said, mournfully. - -"I will be father, mother, sister, husband--everything to you, my -darling," he answered, fondly, as he drew her hand in his arm. - -"Put me in the carriage now," she said. "I am very weary. I must go -home." - -"You will have to be present at the inquest to-morrow. Did you know -that?" he said. - -"Yes, I will be there. Good-night, Lawrence," she said, putting her hand -out from the carriage window. - -He clasped and kissed it, then after watching the carriage out of sight, -went back to where the mourners kept their weary vigil by the side of -the beautiful woman who had loved him so fondly and fatally. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - - -All London rang with the romantic facts that were elicited at the -inquest over the body of poor, murdered Sydney, but though the -examination was conducted with the utmost strictness, and every -available witness was interrogated, no light was thrown upon the matter -that could lead to a conviction of the murderer. - -Everyone who heard the tragic story of how Sydney came to her death, -thought that Madame Reine De Lisle's evidence would certainly furnish -some satisfactory clew to the enemy who had sought her life. To their -surprise and consternation, she declared herself utterly ignorant in the -matter. - -The note which Sydney had read was found on the dressing-room floor but -Queenie did not recognize the writing and could not guess the writer. - -"If I had found the note myself I should have thought precisely as she -did, that it was written by Captain Ernscliffe," she admitted, frankly. -"But I should not have gone to meet him, for I had promised my sister to -avoid him, and deny my identity to him. I have not an enemy upon earth -that I am aware of, neither a jealous lover who might seek my life. I -had an enemy once, who was cruel and vindictive enough for any deed of -darkness, but he is dead long ago." - -They cross-examined her, they tried to trip her in every way, but she -never varied in her evidence, and never faltered in her reiterated -declarations, so at last they let her go, feeling convinced that nothing -but the truth had passed her lips. - -So the mystery only deepened, and taken together with the romance and -pathos that clung about the story of the resurrected wife and her -brilliant career while seeking her husband, it created a perfect _furor_ -of excitement. - -The interested parties had tried to keep it a secret, but the facts had -leaked out in spite of them. - -Everybody had heard that the great actress was Captain Ernscliffe's -first wife, who had died and been resurrected from the grave and -restored to life, kept a prisoner for months, then escaped, and been -cared for in her friendlessness and desolation by an old actor and -actress, who had found her dying in the wintery night when she had -escaped from her cruel jailers. - -They had taught her their profession, and she had gone upon the stage to -earn money to seek her husband. - -All this the world knew, and it knew also that the proud Lady Valentine -and her mother refused to recognize the actress, and branded her as a -lying impostor. - -All these facts only added to the interest and admiration that had -followed La Reine Blanche wherever she moved. - -And poor Sydney was laid away in her grave, while her cowardly murderer -roved at large, "unwhipped of justice." - -One single clew to the criminal had been found. Captain Ernscliffe had -employed the most noted detective of the day to ferret out the mystery. - -This man had been thoroughly over the ground of the murder, and had -found one trifling clew. - -Yet he confidently told his employer that it was an important link in -the chain and might possibly convict the murderer. - -It seemed a very trifling thing to Captain Ernscliffe, who had not -learned by grave experience what simple things might lead to great -results. - -It was only a woman's handkerchief of plain white linen that he had -found outside the western door, wet and soiled where it had lain on the -damp earth all night. - -Only a woman's handkerchief, but it was marked in one corner with a -name--the simple name of "Elsie Gray." - -Queenie started when she heard what the detective had said about the -handkerchief. She sent for him immediately. - -"Do you believe that there was a woman in complicity with the man who -murdered my unfortunate sister?" she inquired. - -"Madam, I cannot tell you," he answered. "She may have been in -complicity with him or she may have been a chance witness. Anyhow I am -bound to find Elsie Gray." - -"I can give you this much information about her," was the startling -reply. "Elsie Gray was my maid, and she has been missing ever since the -hour of the murder." - -"Elsie Gray your maid!" exclaimed the detective. "That throws new light -on the matter. Can you account for her disappearance?" - -"Not at all. She was in the habit of going to the theater every night -with me to help me to change my costumes for the different scenes. She -went with me that night, but when I went to my room after the first act -she was not there. I have never seen her since." - -"Had she any grudge against you?" - -"None that I am aware of. She was a good-natured, middle-aged woman, and -appeared to be attached to me." - -The detective took out pencil and paper. - -"Will you describe her appearance to me, Mrs. Ernscliffe?" he said, -courteously. - -Queenie started and blushed at being addressed by her husband's name. -She had not yet decided whether she would return to him again or not, -but she complied with the detective's request and minutely described her -maid's appearance. - -He carefully noted it down, bowed and withdrew. He reported what he had -learned to Captain Ernscliffe, who bade him go ahead and spare neither -pains nor expense until he had discovered the murderer. - - * * * * * - -In the meantime the wide-spread notoriety of the whole affair was very -distressing to Mrs. Lyle and the Valentines, and to Queenie and Lawrence -Ernscliffe as well. They could not bear to remain in London. - -Lord Valentine took his wife and mother-in-law to Italy for an -indefinite sojourn. - -Lawrence Ernscliffe begged his wife to let him take her back to America -to the beautiful home he had prepared for her reception three years -before. - -"It does not seem right to return to you and be happy after--after that -terrible tragedy," she objected. - -"Queenie, it was not your fault nor mine. Surely you will not doom me to -wretchedness for such a scruple as that. You made every sacrifice she -asked of you while living, and she would not wish you to immolate our -mutual happiness upon her tomb, now that she is dead." - -Her own heart seconded his pleading so fully that she could not say him -nay. - -"I had meant to fulfill my resolve to retire into a convent for life," -she said, "but I cannot keep down my heart's rebellious throbs. I will -go with you, my husband." - -So it chanced that two weeks later the strangely-reunited husband and -wife stood on the deck of a steamer just leaving her moorings for -America, and as Queenie turned away from her last look at old England's -fading shore, she saw a gentleman hastening toward her--a gentleman so -like her poor, dead father, that her heart leaped into her throat. - -"Uncle Rob!" she cried, springing forward with her hands extended. - -"My little niece, Queenie!" he exclaimed, taking the two little hands -warmly into his own. - -"This is my Uncle Robert Lyle," she said, presenting him to her husband. -"You see, Lawrence, _he_ does not disown me!" - -The old gentleman looked down fondly into her sweet face. - -"Oh! how could they disown you?" he exclaimed. "You have changed but -little since I saw you last, and that change has only made you more -lovely. I should have known you anywhere, though it is five years since -I saw you last. I have heard your sad story, my dear, and I do not doubt -its truth for an instant. I would have hastened to you at once, but I -was ill and unable to travel." - -She flashed a look of silent gratitude upon him from her dusky eyes. - -"And by the way," he said, "I owe you a scolding, little Queenie, for -your failure to come abroad with your mother and sisters four years ago. -It was a great disappointment to me when they came without you. I did -not enjoy the year we traveled together half so well as I should if my -little pet had been with us." - -Queenie stood silent, growing white and red by turn. Captain Ernscliffe -stared from one to the other in blank astonishment. - -"Surely, Mr. Lyle, I have misunderstood your meaning," he said, "Queenie -certainly went to Europe that year with her mother and sisters!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - - -For a moment there was a blank silence. Robert Lyle stared silently at -his niece's husband as though he doubted his sanity, and after a pause -Captain Ernscliffe gravely repeated his words: - -"Surely I have misunderstood your meaning sir. Queenie certainly went to -Europe that year with her mother and sisters." - -"If she did I was certainly not aware of the fact," Mr. Lyle answered -dryly, for he felt just a little nettled at the other's persistent -contradiction. - -Captain Ernscliffe looked around at his wife. He started and uttered a -cry of alarm as he did so. - -She had fallen back against the deck-rail, grasping it with both hands -as if unable to stand alone; her cheeks and lips had blanched to an -ashen hue, her eyes were wild and frightened. - -"Queenie," he said, with an unconscious accent of sternness, "do I speak -the truth or not?" - -"Lawrence," she gasped, in a frightened voice, "I thought you knew--did -not Sydney tell you? you said she had told you _all_!" - -"I meant she had told me all that had transpired between you two in the -last six weeks," he answered; "she did not refer to the past only to say -that you had been resurrected from the grave by a disappointed suitor -who hated you and kept you for weary months a prisoner. What more is -there to tell, Queenie?" he inquired, in a voice rendered sharp by -suddenly awakened suspicion that as yet took no tangible form. - -Through the wild chaos of conflicting feelings that rushed over her she -was conscious of a new feeling of tenderness and respect for poor, -erring Sydney. - -"She kept my terrible secret after all," she thought. "I believed she -had told him everything, but in her desire to atone for her cruelty to -me she kept back all that dreadful story, and died in the fond belief -that my happiness was secure. She was nobler than I thought. But, oh! -what an awful position I am placed in. I thought he knew all and had -forgiven me. I meant to tell him everything before I came back to him, -and would have done it but for that dreadful mistake. But now, oh, how -can I?" - -"Uncle Rob is right, Lawrence," she said, speaking with the calmness of -despair. "I did not go to Europe with mamma. I meant to go, but at the -very last my heart failed me and I begged to remain at home with papa. -She gave me my will, though very reluctantly, and I staid behind. -Afterward I went out of town on a visit." - -"And yet," he said, with a heavy frown, "it was supposed--you allowed -everyone to believe that you had been in Europe. Why was that?" - -Great crimson waves of color swept into her cheeks at his half-angry -words. - -"Mamma permitted it," she stammered. "She was so angry and ashamed -because I remained behind, and I was, too, after I saw how silly I had -been. So when people spoke of it we simply never contradicted it. But -you may have noticed that I would never speak of that continental -tour--that I always turned the subject when anyone named it." - -"Yes, I do remember that," he said. "But you should, at least, have told -me, Queenie. It is very strange that you made a secret of such a -trifle." - -"I am very sorry," she answered, sadly; "I intended to tell you about it -before--before I came back to you, but you said when I spoke of it -that--that Sydney had told you _all_. I am very, very sorry." - -Her eyes fell and rested on the blue waves of the ocean. Her head felt -dizzy with the motion of the ship and the waves. It seemed to her as if -she could scarcely stand. She seemed to be whirling round and round. Mr. -Lyle came forward and took her hand. - -"My dear little Queenie," he said. "I am very sorry that my careless -words have exposed your foolish, girlish little secret. But forgive me, -my pet, and do not look so sad. Captain Ernscliffe, you must not be -angry with my little girl. She was very willful and thoughtless in those -days, but she has told you she was sorry and meant to tell you all about -it." - -One gentle, appealing look from her blue eyes did more to melt the heart -of the angry husband than all her uncle's words. - -His moody brow unbent; he came back to her side, and, as no one was -looking, bent down and kissed away the pearly tears that trembled on her -delicate cheek. - -"There, I forgive you," he said; "but you must have no more secrets from -me, little one." - -She shivered slightly, but made no answer, and for this one time the -threatened cloud in the sky of their happiness blew safely over, and all -was peace between them. Yet the heart of the wife lay like lead in her -breast. - -Day and night she thought of the terrible secret she was jealously -guarding from the eyes of her husband. But after a calm and lovely -voyage, in which she had been most tenderly cared for by her uncle and -her husband, she found herself once more in the beautiful city where she -had been wooed and wedded. - -"Uncle Robert, you will go home with us?" she said, as they were getting -into the carriage on the wharf. - -"Not now," he answered. "You know I told you that it was bad news -regarding some of my property here that brought me over to America. I -must go to my lawyer's at once and see what can be done. I will come to -you in a day or two and see how you like housekeeping," he added, with a -laugh. - -"We shall certainly expect you," answered Captain Ernscliffe, heartily, -as the carriage drove away to the beautiful mansion he had prepared for -his bride years ago. - -A cablegram from England to his housekeeper had instructed her to -prepare the house for the reception of himself and wife. - -Now, as they drew up before the grand marble steps, the front door -opened as if by magic, and the cruel woman who had turned Queenie away -homeless and friendless years before, appeared in the hall, richly -clothed in fine black silk, and smirking and smiling upon her master and -his beautiful bride as they came up the steps. - -Queenie had told him of that cruel deed, and he looked sternly and -coldly upon the woman as she came up to them. - -"Mrs. Purdy," he said, haughtily, "this is my wife. Look well at her, -and tell me if you have ever met her before?" - -The housekeeper looked searchingly at the beautiful face, whose blue -eyes flashed lightning scorn upon her. In a moment it all rushed over -her mind. - -That face was too lovely to be lightly forgotten. She grew pale, and -commenced to stammer forth incoherent apologies. - -"Ah! I see that you remember me," said Mrs. Ernscliffe, curling a -scornful lip. - -"Madam, I--pardon me," stammered the crestfallen woman, "you were not -then his wife. I thought you a stranger, a----" - -"Silence!" thundered Captain Ernscliffe. "She was my wife then as she -is now. There is no excuse for your infamous conduct. She might have -died but for the kindness of strangers--she, my unfortunate wife, turned -from her own house without shelter for her friendless head. Go, now, and -never let me see you again. Even as you drove her out I will drive you!" - -"No--no," exclaimed Queenie, for she saw how utterly the proud, -overbearing woman was abashed. "No--no; I was very angry, but I forgive -her now, for I see how she is humbled at remembrance of her fault. Let -her stay, and this incident may teach her in future to be guided by the -golden rule." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. - - -"Queenie, are you ready for your drive?" called her husband from the -foot of the stairway. "The phaeton is at the door." - -A bright, bewitching face peeped down at him from above--a face as sweet -as a rose--with coral lips, and softly-tinted cheeks, and eyes as -brightly-blue as violets. - -Directly she came fluttering down the stairs, and paused, with her -slender, white-gloved hand upon his arm. - -"I am ready," she said. "Come, Lawrence, let us go. It is too lovely a -day to remain indoors." - -"Darling, how lovely you are," he cried. "Let me kiss you once before we -start." - -She smiled, and linked her arm fondly in his as they went down the -marble steps together. - -"Lawrence," she said, half-gravely, half-fondly, "I almost begin to -believe in my happiness now. At first it seemed such a precious thing, -and I held it by so frail a grasp that I feared I might lose you again -and fall back into the terrible gulf of despair. But now months have -elapsed and nothing has happened to part us, so that it seems possible -for me to breathe freely and look forward to a happy future with you." - -"Darling, these trembling fears of yours have always seemed strange and -unnecessary to me. What could happen to part us now?" he said, as he -handed her into the lovely little phaeton, with its prancing gray -ponies, and sprang in beside her. - -"I do not know. Nothing, I hope," she answered, with a quick little -sigh, as she took the reins into her hands and touched up the spirited -ponies. "Where shall we drive, Lawrence--in the park?" - -"Yes, if you like," he answered, leaning back luxuriously. - -It was a beautiful day in May, the air so balmy and delicious that it -was a luxury to breathe it. - -As they flashed along the shady drives in the park many eyes followed -them admiringly, for Mrs. Ernscliffe was conceded by all to be the -fairest woman in the city. - -To-day she wore a wonderful dress of mingled blue and cream-color, and a -hat of azure satin, with a streaming white feather set coquettishly on -her waves of golden hair. - -The colors suited her bright blonde beauty exquisitely. - -Her dark, handsome, dignified husband thrilled with pleasure and pride -as he noted the many admiring glances that followed his beautiful and -dearly-beloved wife. - -"I have had news from England, Queenie," he said, presently. - -"From England?" she said, and her delicate cheeks grew white. "Oh, -Lawrence, have they found out who murdered Sydney yet?" - -"Not yet, dear, but the detective is very hopeful. He is on the -villain's track." - -"Who was he? What is his name?" she asked, eagerly. - -"I do not know. He writes very meagerly, though hopefully. He merely -says that he has found your maid, Elsie Gray, and that she has put him -on the track of the murderer." - -"It is not possible that Elsie Gray was concerned in the murder of my -sister!" she exclaimed. - -"Oh, no, she was a witness to the deed only--at least I gather that much -from his letter. I think she has been pursuing him ever since. The -detective says that we may expect startling developments soon." - -"God grant that the cowardly criminal may soon be discovered and -punished for his awful sin!" she exclaimed, shuddering. - -"Queenie," he said, musingly, "have you ever thought that but for the -sin of this unknown man we should never, perhaps, have been reunited in -peace and happiness? To-day you might have been in the lonely convent -cell, while I, perhaps, should have raved in the chains of a lunatic, -for, Queenie, I was going mad with the horror of losing you again." - -"I have thought of it often," she said, gravely, "and I have thought -again and again that it was almost wrong to accept happiness that was -bought at so fearful a price to my poor Sydney. Her death lies heavy on -my heart." - -"Queenie, we both did what we could to insure her happiness while she -lived. I married her because one very near to her hinted to me that the -poor girl was dying of a broken heart for my sake. I did not love her, -but I sacrificed myself to save her, as you afterward sacrificed us both -at her request. And yet those mutual bitter sacrifices of ours availed -very little to secure the end she sought. I begin to believe that such -terrible self-abnegations are wrong and unjustifiable, and that they -never work out good to any." - -"It may be true," she answered, thoughtfully, and relapsed into silence, -her eyes downcast, her lips set in a half-sorrowful line, while she -unconsciously checked the speed of the horses and allowed them to walk -slowly along the drive. - -Absorbed in thought she did not observe a handsome, fashionably-dressed -man coming along the side-path toward them, airily swinging a natty -little cane. - -"I hope and trust, darling, that you will not allow any weak and morbid -fancies regarding Sydney to sadden and depress you," continued Captain -Ernscliffe. "I know she would not wish it to be so." - -Queenie looked up at him gently with the words of reply just forming on -her lips. - -But they died unspoken, and she uttered a low cry of fear and terror -commingled, while her whole form trembled violently. - -She had caught sight of the man in the road who had just come abreast of -the phaeton. - -At that moment the man, who had been observing her for some moments, -looked at her with a sardonic smile, lifted his hat, bowed deeply, and -murmuring familiarly: - -"Good-evening, Queenie," passed insolently on. - -Captain Ernscliffe grew ashen white. Something like an imprecation was -smothered between his firmly-cut lips. - -"Good Heaven, Queenie!" he exclaimed. "Is it possible that you know that -man?" - -She did not speak, she could not. She only stared at him speechlessly, -her lips parted in terror, her breath coming and going in quick gasps -like one dying. - -"Do you know who and what that man is?" he reiterated, hoarsely. -"Queenie, it is Leon Vinton, the most notorious gambler and _roue_ in -the city! And he dared to speak to _you_! What did he mean by it? You -surely do not know him. Tell me?" - -Still she did not speak. It seemed to her that her tongue clove to the -roof of her mouth. - -She had thought that her enemy was dead--had she not seen him lying cold -and still, with his heart's blood staining the snowy earth? Yet there he -walked, smiling, evil, triumphant. The horror of the sight struck her -dumb. - -"You will not answer me," passionately cried her husband. "Very well. I -will wring the truth from that insolent villain! I will know why he -dared bow and speak to _my_ wife. Drive on home, madam; I will follow -the villain and make him retract the insult!" - -He sprang from the moving phaeton at the imminent risk of his neck, and -followed Leon Vinton with a quick stride down the road. - -Like one in a fearful dream, Queenie gathered the reins in her trembling -hands and drove recklessly homeward through the beautiful sunshine. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - - -The angry husband followed Leon Vinton's leisurely steps, and quickly -overtook him. - -Placing one hand on the villain's shoulder with a grasp like steel, -Captain Ernscliffe whirled him round face to face. - -A malevolent sneer curved the lips of the handsome scoundrel as he -recognized his assailant. He tried to shake himself free from that -painfully tight grasp, but it was useless. He seemed to be held in a -vise. - -"Unhand me, sir," he said, in a voice of angry expostulation. - -"Villain!" exclaimed Captain Ernscliffe, in a low, deep voice of -concentrated passion. "How dared you speak to my wife? Apologize -immediately for the insult." - -Leon Vinton's face assumed a blank stare of astonishment. - -"Does _she_ consider it an insult to be recognized by an old friend?" he -inquired, in a voice of mocking courtesy. - -Captain Ernscliffe's brow grew as dark as night. He shook the sneering -scoundrel by the shoulder as though he would have shaken the life out of -him. - -"How dare you claim her as an old friend?" he thundered. "You whose -acquaintance is a disgrace to any woman. You, the most notorious and -unprincipled villain in the city. Retract those words before I kill -you." - -"Come, come," answered Vinton, coolly and maliciously, "I am but -speaking the truth. As for killing, let me remind you that two can play -at that game. I have a pistol in my pocket, and I believe I am a better -shot than you are. But your wife, as you call her, is not worthy the -shedding of an honest man's blood! I will keep my weapon in its place, -and all I ask you is to confront me with the lady whose honor you are so -zealously defending. I think she will not dare to deny that once she -claimed me as her _dearest_ friend!" - -Captain Ernscliffe drew back his hand to strike him in the face, but -something in his enemy's words and looks seemed to stagger him. He -hoarsely exclaimed: - -"I will not pollute the pure air she breathes with your foul presence. -As for you, _liar_, beware how you assert things that you cannot prove." - -"Hard words break no bones," laughed Leon Vinton, seeming to take -downright pleasure in tormenting the other. "I'm determined not to be -angry with you, for I do not think the lady we are discussing is worth -the trouble. I can prove all that I assert, and more besides." - -"How? How?" exclaimed Ernscliffe, in sheer amaze at his unparalleled -effrontery. - -"I _could_ prove it by the lady herself, but since you refuse to admit -me to her presence, come with me to my home, a few miles from the city, -and my housekeeper shall show you the elegant rooms Mrs. Ernscliffe -occupied when she was my dear friend and guest for a year." - -The cool, insolent assertion fell on Captain Ernscliffe's ears like a -thunderbolt. He staggered back and stared at the calm, smiling villain -in wonder mingled with indefinable dread. - -"My God!" he muttered, half to himself, "you would not make such an -assertion unless you could prove it." - -"I can prove every assertion I have made," was the confident reply. -"Queenie Lyle ran away with me the day her mother and sisters went to -Europe. She lived with me nearly a year. I can prove this, remember." - -"You married her!" gasped his adversary, his eyes starting, his face as -white as death. - -Leon Vinton looked at that pale, anguish-stricken face, and laughed -aloud, the mocking laugh of a fiend. - -"Married her?" he asked, sneeringly. "Oh, no, I am not one of the -marrying kind. She knew that, but she loved me, and was content to live -with me on my own terms." - -There was a blank silence. Captain Ernscliffe dimly felt that the agony -he was enduring was commensurate with the pains of hell. - -Leon Vinton enjoyed his misery to the utmost. - -"We lived together a year," he went on, after a moment. "At first we -were very loving and very happy, but well--you know how such cases -always terminate--we wearied of each other. She was a spit-fire and a -termagant. She pushed me into the river and tried to drown me. She -thought she had succeeded, and ran away home. Her family kept her fatal -secret, and married her off to you." - -"This is horrible if true!" ejaculated the listener. - -"Come," said Leon Vinton, "go home with me. My carriage is outside the -gate. I merely chose to saunter in the park. You shall see her letters -to me, you shall hear what my housekeeper knows about the matter." - -"I will go with you," said Captain Ernscliffe, rousing himself as from a -painful dream. "But if I find that you have lied to me, Vinton, I will -kill you!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - - -"My poor Queenie, my poor child, you erred greatly in the deception you -practiced in the beginning. It was wrong to desert your home and family -as you did, but I cannot upbraid you now. Your punishment has been -bitter enough. May God help you, my little one!" said Robert Lyle, -smoothing the golden head that lay upon his knee with a gentle, fatherly -caress. - -Queenie had come back from that ride which had begun so happily and -found her Uncle Robert waiting for her in the drawing-room. He had -declined her invitation to make his home with her, and taken quarters at -a hotel, but there were very few days when he failed to visit her. -To-day when she came staggering in, looking so fearfully white and -death-stricken, he saw at once that some fearful thing had happened to -her, and started up in alarm. - -"Queenie, my dear, what is it? Are you ill?" he exclaimed, going to her, -and taking her cold, nerveless hand in his. - -She looked up at him, and Robert Lyle never forgot the tearless despair, -the utter agony of her white face and wild, blue eyes. They haunted his -dreams for many nights after. Yet she tried to smile, and the smile was -sadder than tears. - -"I--I--yes, I believe I am ill," she said, dropping down into a great -arm-chair. "I will sit here and rest, Uncle Rob! I shall be better -presently." - -"Let me get you some wine," he said. "It will revive you." - -"No, no, I will not have anything!" she said. "Nothing could help me." - -The tone made his heart ache, it was so hopeless. - -He bent over her and removed her hat and gloves as deftly and tenderly -as a woman could have done. - -His anxious looks, his tender solicitude made her think of her father. - -The tender recollection broke down the barriers of stony calm she was -trying to maintain. Bowing her face on her hands she wept and sobbed -aloud. - -Mr. Lyle was greatly shocked and distressed at her vehement exhibition -of grief. He brought a chair, and sitting down beside her, put his -kindly old arm about her heaving shoulders. - -"Tell your old uncle what grieves you, pet," he said. "Perhaps I can -help to set it right." - -And after a little more passionate weeping she answered, without looking -up: - -"It is one of those troubles that nothing can set right, Uncle Rob, but -I will tell you the truth, for perhaps you may hear it from other lips -than mine soon." - -She stole one hand into his and nestled her bright head against his -shoulder. - -"Promise not to hate me, Uncle Rob," she whispered through her tears. "I -have only you now. Father, mother, sisters, husband--I have lost them -all. In all the wide world I have but you to love me!" - -"My dear, you talk wildly," he said, in wonder. "It is true that your -mother and sister have shown hearts harder than the nether mill-stone to -you, but you have the noblest and most loving husband in the world!" - -"He will not love me any longer when he has heard all that I am going to -tell you, Uncle Rob," she murmured through her choking sobs. - -And then she told him the shameful story of that missing year of her -life as she had told it to Sydney a few months before; but it was not so -hard to tell now, for instead of her sister's scornful looks and cruel -words, she had a listener as tender and pitying as her own father had -been--a listener whose tears fell more than once on the golden head -bowed meekly on his shoulder. - -And when it all had been told and the weary head had slipped down to his -knee, he had no reproaches for the suffering young heart that had -already been so cruelly punished. He could only repeat: - -"My poor little one, my poor little one, may God help you!" - -"And you'll not desert me, Uncle Rob--not even if--if _he_ does?" she -murmured. - -"No, never," he answered, fondly. "I'll stand by you, Queenie, if all -the world forsakes you. You never meant to do wrong, I know that, and I -will not scorn you because a devil in human shape has made desolate the -fair young life that opened with such sweet promise. If Lawrence deserts -you, we will go away together--you and I, pet--and wander around the -world, restless and lonely, and yet not altogether desolate, for we -shall still have each other for comfort and support." - -"But, oh, Uncle Rob, I love him so, I love him so. How can I give him up -now, when I have been so happy with him? It is more than I could bear. -He had as well plunge a knife into my heart and lay me dead before him -as to leave me now," cried the wretched young wife, giving way to a very -abandonment of grief. - -Uncle Rob could only say: - -"My poor Queenie, my poor darling, let us hope for the best!" - -He did not know how to comfort her, for he could not tell what course -Captain Ernscliffe would pursue after hearing Leon Vinton's garbled -version of Queenie's early error. He hoped for the best; but he feared -the worst. - -He could not bear to leave her in her sorrow, so he remained with her -until the luncheon hour, hoping that Captain Ernscliffe might return -while he--her uncle--was present, that he might defend her from his -possible reproaches. But the hours passed slowly by, and dinner was -announced, yet he failed to come. - -They made no pretence at eating--these two sorrowing ones. They remained -in the drawing-room alone, talking but little, and both on the alert for -Captain Ernscliffe's coming. But the lovely, starry night had fallen, -and the lamps were lighted before a strange step ran up the marble -steps, and a letter was handed to Queenie. - -"It is from Lawrence," she said, tearing it open with a sinking heart. - -"MADAM," her husband wrote, "I have heard the whole disgraceful story of -the year you were supposed to have been absent in Europe from the lips -of Leon Vinton and his housekeeper. I need not ask you if he told the -truth. Your looks when you met him to-day were sufficient corroboration -of his story. No wonder you looked so ghastly at the reappearance of the -man you thought you had murdered. Oh, God! to think of it. You whom I -have loved so madly, whom I thought so true and pure--you, a sinner, -with a soul as black and unrepentant as a fiend in Hades! - -"To-morrow I shall institute proceedings for a divorce. I can no longer -lend the shelter of my name to one who has so basely deceived and -betrayed me!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - - -The letter dropped from Queenie's shaking hand, and she fell heavily -into a seat, her slender form trembling with great, tearless emotion. - -"Oh, God!" she moaned, "it is indeed a bitter cup that is pressed to my -lips! A disowned daughter and sister, and a divorced wife!" - -"What does he say, Queenie?" inquired her uncle, pausing in his weary -march up and down the room. - -She silently pointed to the letter that lay upon the carpet, where it -had fallen from her hands. - -He picked it up and read it, then turned his kindly blue eyes upon her -with an expression of pity and distress. - -"The scoundrel Vinton must indeed have traduced and maligned you to have -elicited such a scathing letter from your devoted husband. Let me go and -bring Lawrence to you, Queenie, that you may vindicate yourself." - -But she shook her head sorrowfully yet firmly. - -"No Uncle Rob; he asks for no defense from me; he tacitly accepts all -that Vinton has told him as the truth. He will hear nothing from you or -me. There is nothing left me but to hide myself somewhere in the great -cruel world and die," she said, with inexpressible bitterness. - -"Queenie, let me entreat you not to throw away your happiness thus. Let -me explain everything to Lawrence as you have told it to me. He could -not be hard upon you then. He would see how cruelly you had been -wronged, and how much you had suffered for it. If he loves you as much -as he has seemed to do he could not but forgive you." - -She took the letter from his hand and glanced over its brief contents -again. - -"No, no, his love must have been dead indeed before he could write to me -so cruelly as this. Let him think what he will, Uncle Rob. The best is -bad enough; so why should I try to vindicate myself? He shall have his -freedom since he wants it so much." - -"But, my dear, surely you will not permit the divorce without contesting -it? Think what a terrible thing it would be to remain silent in such a -case. A divorced woman is always a disgraced woman in the eyes of the -world, no matter how unjustly the verdict was given against her. It must -not be permitted. We must engage a lawyer to defend your case. I do not -believe that your husband could obtain a divorce from any court in the -land if the truth of the matter were rightly known." - -"Do you think that I would belong to him and bear his name against his -will?" she exclaimed, with all the passion and fire of tone and gesture -that had won her fame and fortune on the tragic stage. "No, never, -_never_! I will not raise my hand to stay the divorce. I will be silent, -whatever they lay to my charge. His quick unkindness, his readiness to -believe evil against me, has been the bitterest of all to bear, but I -will not speak one word to let him know it. My heart shall break in -silence!" - -He gave up the point, seeing that it was utterly useless to urge it upon -her. - -"Since you are determined to sacrifice yourself thus on the altar of -Vinton's fiendish revenge," he said, "tell me what I can do for you, my -poor child. You will not wish to remain at Ernscliffe's house, of -course?" - -"Of course not," she answered. - -Then after a moment's thought, she said, abruptly: - -"Why, Uncle Rob, I shall have to go upon the stage again. I had -forgotten until this moment that I am poor, that I have nothing at all -to live upon. When I gave up my theatrical career and returned to my -husband, I deeded away, with his consent, all my earnings on the stage -to build a free church for the poor of London." - -"You shall never go upon the stage again with my consent," he answered. -"I have enough for us both to live in luxury all our lives. It is true I -have lost a few thousands recently by the failure of a bank, but that is -a mere nothing. I am a very wealthy man yet. You shall be my dear and -honored daughter so long as I live, Queenie, and my heiress when I die." - -She thanked him with a silent, eloquent glance. - -"And now," he continued, "it will not do for you to remain in -Ernscliffe's house any longer than to-morrow. Let your maid pack your -trunks for you to-night, and to-morrow I will take you away to some -health resort--the mountains or the seashore--anywhere you like, so that -I get you out of this city." - -"And I shall never see my husband again," she said, clasping her hands -with a gesture of despair. "Oh, how fleeting and evanescent was my dream -of happiness! How can I live without him now, when I have been so happy -with him?" - -Uncle Robert took her tenderly in his arms, and kissed her white -forehead. - -"It is hard, dear," he said, "but we learn after awhile to do without -the things that have been dearest to us on earth. I lost the darling of -my heart many years ago. It was very hard to bear at first, but after -awhile I learned patience and resignation." - -"You have loved and lost?" she said, looking at him in great surprise. - -"Yes, pet. Did you think I was a crusty, forlorn old bachelor from -choice? No, no; I was betrothed to a sweet and lovely girl in my early -youth, but she went away to live with the angels, and I have been true -to her memory ever since." - -"Poor uncle! I did not know you had so sad a secret in your life," she -said, with the dew of sympathy shining in her beautiful blue eyes. - -"Every heart knoweth its own bitterness," answered the kind, old man, -sadly. - -The next day he took her away to the seashore, hoping that the change of -air and scene might divert her mind from its sorrows. - -It was a vain hope. Her terrible trouble was too deeply graven on her -mind. She became ill the day they took possession of their cottage, and -for several weeks lay tossing with fever, closely attended by a skillful -physician and two careful old nurses, while Mr. Lyle veered to and fro, -his gentle heart nearly broken by this unexpected stroke of fate. - -But at length, when they had almost begun to despair of her recovery, -her illness took a sudden turn for the better. - -She began to convalesce slowly but surely, and one day she turned the -nurses out of the room and sent for her Uncle Robert. - -"I want to ask you something," she said, putting her feverish, wasted -little hand into his strong, tender clasp. - -"I am listening, dear," he answered, kindly. - -"Has--has that divorce been granted yet?" she inquired, flushing -slightly. - -"Oh, no, my dear. Your husband has applied for it, but they have been -waiting since your illness to know what steps you will take in the -matter--whether or not you would engage a lawyer and contest the -divorce. I would not give them any satisfaction while you were sick, for -I thought you might change your mind." - -"I _have_ changed my mind, Uncle Rob," she said. "I mean to contest the -divorce. There is a reason now" (she blushed and drooped her eyes from -his perplexed gaze) "why I should try to save my fair fame as much as I -can. Not that I wish to live with Lawrence again, whether there is a -divorce or not, but I wish to defend my own honor and leave behind me as -pure a name as I can. You will secure an able lawyer for me, will you -not, Uncle Robbie?" - -"Yes, darling, you shall have the best counsel that money can procure," -he answered, deeply moved at her earnest words. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX. - - -Captain Ernscliffe sat alone in the spacious library of his elegant -mansion. - -The windows were raised, and the rich curtains of silk and lace were -drawn back, admitting the bracing October air. - -The playful breeze lifted the dark, clustering locks from his high, -white brow, and wafted to his senses the delicate perfume of roses and -lilies that filled the vases on the marble mantel. - -The evening sunshine lay in great, golden bars on the emerald-velvet -carpet. - -But none of these beautiful things attracted the attention of the master -of this luxurious mansion. - -He sat at his desk with an open book before him, and a half-smoked cigar -between his white, aristocratic fingers; but the fire had died out on -the tip of his prime Havana, and the idle breeze turned the leaves of -his book at its wanton will. - -He sat there, perfectly still and silent, in his great arm-chair, -staring drearily before him, a stern, sad look on his handsome face, the -fire of a jealous, all-consuming passion smouldering gloomily in the -beautiful dark eyes, half veiled by their sweeping lashes. - -He had been trying to read, but the strange unrest that possessed him -was too great to admit of fixing his attention on the author, yet now he -slowly repeated some lines that caught his eye as the light breeze -fluttered the book leaves: - - "Falser than all fancy fathoms, falser than all songs have sung." - -"Ah! she is all that, and more," he exclaimed, bitterly, showing by -those quick words where his thoughts were. - -A slight cough interrupted him. He looked up quickly and saw Robert Lyle -standing within the half-open door. The old man moved forward -deprecatingly. - -"Pardon my abrupt entrance, Captain Ernscliffe," he said; "I knocked -several times without eliciting a reply, so I ventured to enter through -the half-open door." - -Captain Ernscliffe arose and shook his visitor's hand with a cordiality -tempered by an indefinable restraint. - -"Pray make no apologies, sir," he said. "They are quite unnecessary." - -He placed a chair for the visitor, then resumed his own seat, gazing -rather curiously at the pleasant-looking, kindly old gentleman, who -reminded him so much of his wife's father. - -What had brought him there, he wondered, with some slight nervousness at -the thought. - -Mr. Lyle looked a little nervous, too. He wiped the dew from his fine -old forehead, and remarked that it was a warm day. - -"I suppose so," assented the host in a tone that seemed to say he had -not thought about it before. - -"I have come on a thankless mission, Lawrence," Mr. Lyle said, with -some slight embarrassment. "At least on an unsolicited one. I wish to -speak to you of--of Queenie." - -Captain Ernscliffe flushed crimson to the roots of his hair, and then -grew deathly pale. - -"I must refer you to my counsel, then," he answered, after a pause. "I -have nothing to say about her myself." - -"Lawrence!" - -The gently rebuking tone in which the one word was uttered made the -hearer start. He looked up quickly. - -"Well, sir?" - -"Do you know that you are treating my niece very unfairly in this -matter. It is cruel to condemn her with her defense unheard." - -"She condemned herself, Mr. Lyle, without a word from anyone else. Her -guilt and shame were written all too legibly on her face the moment she -looked upon Leon Vinton." - -"Let us grant that she had reason to be ashamed of his acquaintance, -Lawrence. Still may there not be some extenuation for her fault?" - -"None, none! The more I think of it the blacker her dreadful sins -appear. Oh, my God, to think of her with her face as lovely as an -angel's, and her heart all black with sin! To think how I trusted and -loved her, and how basely she repaid my confidence! How cruelly she -deceived and betrayed me!" exclaimed the outraged husband, rising from -his seat and pacing the floor excitedly. - -"I cannot effect any compromise, then?" said Mr. Lyle, irresolutely. -"You are bent on a divorce, I suppose. A separation would not content -you?" - -"Did _she_ send you to ask this?" angrily exclaimed Captain Ernscliffe, -pausing in his restless tramp to glare furiously at the would-be -peacemaker. - -"No, Lawrence, I told you I came on an unsolicited mission. Queenie -knows nothing of my coming, and would not thank me for having asked that -useless question. She asks no favors from you, but she means to defend -her honor, and fight the divorce which would brand her with shame." - -"My counsel and hers will settle that affair. In the meantime, why this -useless dallying for long months on the pretence of illness? Why does -she shirk appearing at court in answer to the summons? If not guilty, -why does she not hasten to protest her innocence?" - -"Queenie is ill, Captain Ernscliffe--has been ill for months. But we -hope now that she may soon be able to appear at court and confront her -accusers." - -"Why does she not instruct her lawyer to manage the case without her if -she is unable to be present herself? This suspense is unendurable. If -this delay is continued much longer, I shall endeavor to push the matter -without her. I am tired of this dilly-dallying!" - -They looked at each other a moment in silence. Then the elder man said, -with a repressed sigh: - -"That is one thing I came to ask you, Lawrence. Grant us this much -grace, my poor, unfortunate Queenie, and her fond, old uncle. Do not -push the matter for a little while. Wait until she can come into court -and tell her own story before her fiendish accusers." - -"But, Mr. Lyle, I am growing too impatient to wait longer. I chafe at -the bonds that bind me to that beautiful deceiver." - -"They will not bind you much longer," Mr. Lyle answered, sadly. "Either -death or the law will soon sever your hated fetters." - -Captain Ernscliffe started and looked at the speaker wildly. - -"Death," he said, with an uncontrollable shudder. "Why do you talk of -death? What is this mysterious illness that has held her in its chains -so long? She used to be strong and well. She never talked of weakness." - -"I cannot tell what ails her, Lawrence," said Mr. Lyle, rising as if the -conference were ended, "but I have the word of her physician to tell you -that within a month she will either be able to appear in court, and do -what is necessary to defend her rights, or she will be in her grave. In -either case you will be free." - -The words fell coldly on Lawrence Ernscliffe's hearing, chilling the hot -and passionate tide of resentment that hurried through his heart. - -He thought with an uncontrollable pang of all that bright, fair beauty -he had loved so long and so fondly lying cold in the grave--those lips -that had kissed him so tenderly sealed in death, the white lids shut -forever over the heaven of love in those soft blue eyes. - -"Will that content you, Lawrence?" asked the old man, wistfully, pausing -with his hat in his hand. "A month is not so very long." - -"That depends on the mood one is in," was the unsatisfactory reply. - -"But you will wait?" Mr. Lyle said, almost pleadingly. - -There was a minute's pause, and then the answer came, coldly: - -"I will wait." - -"Thanks--and farewell," said Mr. Lyle, passing silently out of the room. - -The outraged husband was alone once more, the red glow of the sunset -shining into the room and touching with its tender warmth his pallid, -marble-like features. - -He could not rest. Mr. Lyle's words re-echoed in his ears, turning his -warm blood to an icy current that flowed sluggishly through his benumbed -veins. - -"In a month she may be in her grave--oh! the horror of that thought," he -said, aloud. - -Yes, it was horror. He thought he hated her--she had deceived him so -bitterly--he thought he was anxious to sever the tie that bound them -together; he thought he never wished to look upon her beautiful, false -face again. - -And yet, and yet those words of Mr. Lyle's staggered him. He reeled -beneath the suddenness of the blow. He asked himself again as he had -asked Mr. Lyle: - -"What is this mysterious illness that holds her in its chains?" - -He did not know, he did not dream of the truth. If he had known it, he -must surely have forgiven her and taken her back. He could not have -hated her longer, even though she had sinned and deceived him. For he -had loved her very dearly, and she was his wife. - -But he said to himself: - -"Why should I care if she dies? She deceived me shamefully. She can -never be anything to me again. In either case, as that old man said, I -shall be free. What will it matter to me, then, if she be dead or alive; -I shall never see her again!" - -And then when he began to understand that she might die before her -testimony was given before the court in her own defense, he became -conscious of a vague feeling of disappointment. He knew now that he had -been very anxious all along to hear what his wife would say when she -stood face to face with her accuser. Perhaps, after all, she could -vindicate herself. If not, why was she so anxious to make the attempt? - -"Have I wronged her?" he asked himself, suddenly. "Should I have -condemned her without hearing her version of that villain's story? Ah! -he would not have dared deceive me!" - - - - -CHAPTER XL. - - -Suddenly a serving-man entered with a card in his hand. - -"A gentleman to see you, sir," he said. - -Captain Ernscliffe took the bit of pasteboard in his hand and looked at -it. - -He started with surprise as he did so. - -"C. M. Kidder," was the name he read. - -It was the famous London detective whom he had employed to hunt down -Sydney's dastardly murderer. - -"What is he doing here in America--in this city?" thought Captain -Ernscliffe, in surprise. - -"Show the gentleman into this room," he said to the man. - -Mr. Kidder came briskly in a moment after. - -He was a shrewd-looking little man, well-dressed and gentlemanly. - -"You are surprised to see me here," he said, after they had exchanged -the usual greetings. - -"Yes," admitted the host. "Do you bring news?" - -The little man's black eyes sparkled. - -"The best of news," he answered, blithely. "I have run the game down." - -"That is indeed the best of news," said his employer, his face lighting -up. "But I don't quite understand why you are here, in the United -States." - -"You don't?" said Mr. Kidder, with a good-natured laugh. "Well, I am -here because my man is here. I have followed him across the seas." - -"Is it possible?" exclaimed the listener, with a start. - -"Yes, it is true. I have had a weary hunt for him, but I have unearthed -him at last, thanks to Elsie Gray." - -"Elsie Gray! Ah, yes, I remember, she was my wife's maid who -disappeared so strangely the night of the murder. You say she helped -you. Where is she now?" - -"She crossed the ocean with me. She is here in this city, and will be -the chief witness in the prosecution. She witnessed the murder, and -recognized the criminal at that moment as a former lover of your present -wife. She pursued him, and was on his track when I found her." - -"It has been almost a year since that dreadful night," said Captain -Ernscliffe. "He must have been very clever to evade justice so long." - -"He was a cunning, accomplished villain," said Mr. Kidder. "I followed -him for weary months, but he managed to elude me every time when I began -to think I had run him to earth. I lost him altogether for awhile, and -then I discovered that he had left the country and sailed for the United -States. I at once secured my witness, Elsie Gray, and followed him." - -"But he may elude you here as he did in Europe," said Captain -Ernscliffe, looking disappointed. - -"It is not at all likely," said Mr. Kidder, laughing, "for I have -already had him arrested and lodged in prison. No, do not thank me," he -added, as his employer poured out a torrent of praises and thanks. -"Rather thank Elsie Gray. But for her indefatigable exertions, and the -valuable information she gave me, I might never have succeeded in my -undertaking." - -"She shall have my thanks, and something more substantial beside. The -reward shall be doubled, and she shall share it equally." - -"She has already promised to go shares with me," said the detective, so -significantly and demurely that Captain Ernscliffe could not fail to -understand his meaning. - -"So she will marry you?" he said, smiling, and then, gazing curiously at -the happy, little man, who was not more than thirty years old, he added: -"Pardon me, but you are quite young, and Mrs. Ernscliffe's maid was -quite middle-aged, was she not?" - -"Oh, no, she was quite young and pretty," said the detective, laughing -his happy, good-humored laugh. - -"But surely----" began the listener. - -"Mrs. Ernscliffe's maid was in disguise, both as to name and -appearance," said Mr. Kidder, interrupting him. "Perhaps a bit of her -history might interest you, sir, seeing that she has served you a good -turn." - -"I should like to hear it," said Captain Ernscliffe. "But wait a moment, -Kidder, until I ring for lights. It is growing dark." - -When the gas was lighted, and the curtains dropped over the windows, he -turned back to his visitor and said: - -"Go on, Kidder, let me hear Elsie Gray's history." - -"Well, sir, Elsie Gray's true name is Jennie Thorn, and she is not more -than twenty years old. - -"She was a poor farmer's daughter when this man whom she has tracked to -his doom deceived and ruined her under a pretense of marriage. - -"The poor girl went home to her parents, but her honest father drove -her away with curses when he discovered her condition and learned her -sad story. - -"Her mother secretly befriended her, and found her a place to stay in -hiding until her child was born. - -"Fortunately for the poor girl it was born dead, and then she set out -upon a mission which she had sworn to accomplish--her revenge upon the -man who had betrayed her. - -"In the meanwhile her enraged father had shot the deceiver, and thinking -him dead had fled the country. - -"But the wicked deceiver was proof against his enemy's bullet. He was -born to be hung, you see, sir, and he was proof against anything else. - -"So he got well, and was clear out of the country before poor Jennie was -on her feet again. She was sorely disappointed, but she bided her time." - -Captain Ernscliffe began to look as if he took an interest in the -history of the farmer's pretty daughter. - -"She sought for him everywhere as far as her money would carry her," -went on the detective, "but she never saw or heard of her enemy. - -"At length her mother came to the city with her, and together they -continued their unrelenting quest, for they both had sworn to take a -terrible revenge upon the destroyer of innocence." - -He paused a moment, and Captain Ernscliffe, half forgetful of his own -troubles in this sorrowful story, exclaimed: - -"Go on, Kidder. I am very much interested in Jennie Thorn's sad story." - -"One night they went to the theater," continued the detective, "and -there they saw upon the stage the beautiful lady that is now your wife." - -"Ah!" exclaimed Captain Ernscliffe, with a start. - -"Yes, sir; you begin to get an inkling of things now," said Kidder. -"Well, to go on, Jennie Thorn recognized the lady. She had seen her -before, and knew that the man who had wronged her was an enemy of Madame -De Lisle. She knew that they hated each other, and that he had sworn to -take a terrible revenge upon her. Well, sir, in that minute Jennie Thorn -began to see what would be her own best chance to find her betrayer -again." - -Captain Ernscliffe was growing too excited to keep his seat. He rose and -paced up and down the room, his arms folded over his broad breast, his -burning gaze fixed on the detective's shrewd, intelligent face. - -"She knew that the man would follow Madame De Lisle like her evil -genius, and she determined to keep near the beautiful actress. The next -day she disguised herself as an elderly woman, changed her name, and -went into your wife's service as her maid." - -Captain Ernscliffe gazed at him silently. He began to comprehend now. - -"There's little more to tell, sir. Jennie left her mother in the United -States and followed Madame De Lisle across the ocean. - -"At first the actress had an old couple of actors with her--the same -that adopted her and taught her their profession--but they both died. - -"The old man sickened first and died, and his wife soon followed him to -the grave. - -"Then the actress grew attached to Jennie, and would not have parted -with her for anything. - -"Her middle-aged appearance was a protection to the young lady who was -so beautiful and so lonely, and she never suspected that her elderly -maid was other than what she seemed. - -"Jennie was contented to remain with her; but though she followed her -like a shadow she never saw her base betrayer until the night of the -murder. - -"That night a small boy came to the dressing-room with that fatal -letter. - -"It was so unusual an occurrence that Jennie stealthily followed him out -and saw where he had gone. - -"Hidden behind the curtains of a window, she watched the man outside the -western door. - -"Almost at the moment that she recognized him she saw him spring to the -door. - -"She parted the curtains and saw the steel flashing in his hand, to be -buried the next moment in the heart of the woman coming up to him." - -He paused a moment at Captain Ernscliffe's hollow groan; then continued: - -"Jennie told me that the wild scream of anguish that rose the next -moment nearly broke her heart. - -"She thought it was her dear, kind mistress whom he had killed, and she -was filled with the fury of the tigress. - -"She sprang over the fallen body, and followed the murderer, who was -hurrying away. - -"She caught him by the arm, and fastened her teeth in his arm. - -"He shook her off and ran away. She sprang after him. - -"She followed him to a house, but he escaped from it, or eluded her -somehow, and she took quarters in the vicinity, and was watching the -place when I found her. - -"With the information she gave me I succeeded in tracing him further, -and finally we tracked him down. - -"He is at this moment in prison, and if he gets his dues he will swing -from the gallows right speedily. A blacker-hearted villain never walked -upon the earth." - -There was silence for a time, and then the detective added: - -"When I landed herein this city, with Jennie in my charge, we found that -her mother was dead. - -"The poor girl has not a friend on earth, and she has promised to marry -me to-day, and after the trial is over she will return to England with -me. - -"She is a good, sweet, true girl, and I don't bear any grudge against -her because she has suffered from the arts of a villain through her too -confiding innocence." - -"You have my congratulations, my fine fellow," said Captain Ernscliffe, -heartily. "But do you know that you have forgotten to tell me the name -of the man who murdered my poor Sydney?" - -"Why, really, have I neglected to mention his name? You must excuse me, -Captain Ernscliffe, for it is one of the traits of my profession to be -chary of mentioning names. The man belongs right here in this city, and -is a notorious gambler and rogue. He is as handsome as a prince, as -wicked as the devil, and his name is Leon Vinton." - - - - -CHAPTER XLI. - - -"If there be any whom you have not yet forgiven; if there be any wrong -you yet may right, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, my son, for -verily, you must forgive as you would be forgiven. Upon no less terms -than these can you win the pardon and absolution of Heaven." - -It was the voice of the solemn, black-robed priest, and he stood in the -gloomy cell of a convicted murderer, who, before the sunset of another -day was to expiate his terrible sin by a felon's death. - -Even now from the gloomy prison-yard outside could be heard the awful -sound of the hammers driving the nails into his scaffold. - -Upon the low, cot bed reclined the handsome demon whom we have known in -our story as Leon Vinton. - -Wasted and worn in his coarse prison garb and clanking fetters, there -was still much of that princely beauty left that had lured youth and -innocence to their deadly ruin. - -But the reckless, Satanic smile was gone from his pallid, marble-like -features now, and a glance of anguished terror and dread shone forth -from his hollow, black eyes. - -Like many another wretched sinner in his dying hour, Leon Vinton was -afraid of the vengeance of that God whom he had despised and defied all -his wicked life. - -All day the priests had been with him, praying, chanting, exhorting, and -now the chilly, gloomy December day was fading to its close, and the -long, dreary night hurried on--his last night upon the beautiful earth, -through which he had walked as a destroying demon, scattering the -fire-brand of ruin and remorse along his evil pathway. - - "And now he feels, and yet shall know, - In realms where guilt shall end no gloom, - The perils of inflicted woe, - The anguish of the liar's doom! - He hears a voice none else may hear, - It bids his burning spirit pause; - It bids thee, murderer! appear - Where angels plead the victim's cause!" - -Almost a year had passed since the tragic death of unhappy Sydney Lyle. -Now outraged justice was about to avenge her death. - -Conviction had followed swiftly upon the murderer's arrest and -imprisonment. - -When he had left poor Jennie Thorn, his betrayed and ruined victim, -fainting upon the floor, with his demoniacal words ringing in her ears, -he had little dreamed how and when he should meet her again. - -Perhaps he thought she would pass silently from his life as other -wronged ones had done, and never be seen or heard of again. - -Not the slightest premonition of evil had come to tell him that the -hatred he had stirred to life in her once loving heart would pursue him -to the scaffold. - -Yet so it was, and Jennie Thorn had stood up in the witness-box and -given, under oath, the testimony that had cost him his life--had given -it gladly, triumphantly, without one thrill of pity or regard for the -man she had once loved and trusted. - -Well, it was all over now--the trial was a thing of the past--to-morrow -the sentence of the law would be carried out and his neck would be -broken upon the scaffold. - -Many a time when he thought of it now with a sick and shuddering horror, -he recalled the angry words that Queenie Lyle had spoken to him years -ago: - -"_They cannot be drowned who are born to be hung._" - -His reckless, wicked career was over. He had cheated men of their -substance at the gaming-table, he had robbed women of what was dearer, -their peace and honor, without a thought of the retribution that would -fall on him from the God he had offended. - -But now when the priest came to him and told him solemnly and sadly what -terrors awaited him if he died unrepentant, remorse and terror struck -their terrible fangs into his guilty heart. - -"I have done many wrongs that nothing can ever set right, father," he -said humbly to the meek priest. "But there is one black falsehood -hanging heavy on my heart, one sin I may in some little way atone for. -Will you send Lawrence Ernscliffe to see me to-night? I will tell him -how cruelly I wronged the lovely woman he married and how pure and -innocent she was then and ever. And Jennie Thorn, father. Will you ask -her to come and see me? I will beg her to forgive me." - -"I will send Captain Ernscliffe to you, my son, if he will come, but -Jennie Thorn--that is impossible!" - -"Is she so bitter and unrelenting, then!" said the prisoner, sadly. - -"Let us hope not," said the gentle priest. "But she is gone away, my -son. - -"Immediately after your trial and conviction she left the United States -and returned to England as the wife of the detective who effected your -arrest." - -The prisoner sighed and bent his head. - -The priest bowed over him a moment, murmured a benediction and passed -out through the heavy iron door that shut Leon Vinton in forever from -the busy, beautiful world. - - - - -CHAPTER XLII. - - -A few hours later the heavy iron door was unlocked, then clanged -together again, shutting Lawrence Ernscliffe in alone with the condemned -prisoner. - -They looked at each other in blank silence for a minute, then the -visitor said coldly: - -"You sent for me?" - -"Yes, I sent for you," said the prisoner, eagerly. "I have wronged you -and would make reparation before--before to-morrow." - -The fire of rage and hatred that flared up in the listener's eyes was -dreadful to behold. - -"You lied to me--how dared you do it?" he exclaimed, hoarsely. "Did I -not say I would have your life if I found you out?" - -"The few hours of life that remain to me are not worth your vengeance," -was the quiet reply. "Sit down, Captain Ernscliffe, I would speak to you -of your wife." - -He pointed to a chair, but the visitor shook his head. - -"No, I prefer standing. I can scarcely breathe the same air with you, -Leon Vinton! Speak quickly." - -"Do not look on me as your enemy now, Captain Ernscliffe," said the -prisoner, deprecatingly. "I stand apart from my fellow-men as a -condemned criminal about to be executed. - -"Think of me as a wretched sinner trying to make peace with those whom I -have wronged that I may plead for pardon before my offended God." - -Captain Ernscliffe bowed silently, and the angry flash in his dark eyes -faded out at the melancholy tone and air of the frightened and wretched -criminal. - -"I lied to you when I told you that I did not marry Queenie Lyle," said -Leon Vinton, looking down and speaking in a low, hoarse voice. - -"The day she ran away with me I married her, and the certificate was -placed in her hands. - -"She thought she was my wife, but the pretended minister who performed -the ceremony was only a boon companion of mine who had served me before -in such an accommodating manner. - -"It was the merest farce, but Queenie thought she was my legal wife. - -"She would not have gone with me else. She was as pure and innocent as -an angel." - -He paused a moment, but he did not look up. He could not bear to meet -the tiger glare in the eyes of the man before him. Clearing his throat -nervously, he continued: - -"I lived with her a year, and then we mutually wearied of each other. - -"Her keen intuition soon showed her that she had been deceived in me, -and that I was far different from the ideal which she had placed on a -lofty pedestal and worshiped for awhile as a god among men. - -"She scorned me then, and I hated her because she had found me out. In -my rage I told her the truth, and then I tried to kill her." - -"My God!" Captain Ernscliffe muttered, clenching his hands as though he -would have torn the villain limb from limb. - -"I thought I had killed her," pursued Vinton. "I strangled her with both -my hands. - -"I threw her down and trampled upon her beautiful face that had been her -ruin. - -"I hurriedly dug her a shallow grave, covered her over with the wet -earth and leaves, and hastened back to the cottage by the river where we -had lived together." - -"Fiend!" thundered Captain Ernscliffe, springing furiously upon him. - -The prisoner, chained as he was, could offer no resistance to his -infuriated assailant. He did not even utter a cry. - -But all in a moment Captain Ernscliffe remembered himself, and drew back -before he had struck the fatal blow he had meditated. He would not harm -a defenseless man. - -"I will not kill you," he said, hoarsely, "but finish your story -quickly. I can scarcely bear your presence." - -"It was the first murder I had ever attempted," said the prisoner, after -a long-drawn breath. "Naturally enough, I felt nervous over it. - -"I walked up and down the river-bank for hours in the rain, trying to -excuse myself to myself. - -"Then all of a sudden she came up behind me, and pushed me in, and ran -away. - -"It was then that she went home to her parents. They took her back, kept -her terrible secret, and married her to you. - -"If I had let her alone then, all might have gone well," pursued the -prisoner, "but I hated her for her maddened blow that dark, rainy night. - -"I swore revenge. It was I who sent her the bouquet of flowers that -caused her seeming death at the altar that night. - -"I resurrected her, and made her a prisoner. She escaped the day that -Farmer Thorn shot me. - -"She thought I was dead, but as soon as I recovered from my wound I -started out upon her trail again, still pursuing my hellish scheme of -vengeance. - -"But she escaped me for years, and I never met her again, until the -night that I murdered her sister. - -"I had just reached London that night, and went into the theater, full -of idle curiosity to see La Reine Blanche, the beautiful idol of the -hour. - -"The moment she came upon the stage I recognized in the great actress -the lovely girl I had treated so inhumanly. - -"In an instant I conceived my diabolical plan of revenge. I hurried out -of the theater, sent that note to her dressing-room, and waited at the -western door. - -"The woman who came had the voice, the form, the step of Queenie, and I -plunged my dagger in her heart. I killed Sydney, but the blow was meant -for Queenie." - -He stopped, and there was silence in the gloomy prison-cell, while the -criminal waited for Ernscliffe to speak. - -"You are telling me the truth?" he demanded, hoarsely. - -"As God is my judge, and on the word of a dying man. Let Queenie tell -you her story and she will corroborate my words. I have pursued her -pitilessly, remorselessly. I have wronged her beyond all reparation, yet -she is as pure, and true, and innocent to-day as she was that fatal hour -when I first met her, a happy, thoughtless girl, selling her painted fan -to buy her simple ball-dress. My terrible sin against her is enough of -itself to drag my soul down to the lowest depths of perdition!" added -the prisoner, with a hollow groan. - -"You have indeed sinned fearfully, and God will punish you," said -Captain Ernscliffe, turning to go. - -"A moment longer," pleaded the unhappy wretch. "Say that you forgive me -before you go." - -"Never in this world or in the next!" cried Captain Ernscliffe, -furiously. - -The grated door unclosing, let in the priest who was to spend the night -with the condemned man. - -He caught their parting words. - -"My son, my son," he said, laying his withered hand on Ernscliffe's arm, -"forgive the poor soul; he is almost beyond your resentment. Think where -his soul will be to-morrow night. Give him your hand in token of -pardon." - -"No, no," said the listener, shuddering; "I will not touch his hand, -but--but"--with a great effort--"I will forgive him." - -"Tell _her_ to forgive me, too," said Leon Vinton, looking at him with -his wild, frightened face. "Tell her I am sorry--tell her that I repent. -She is an angel. She will forgive me." - -The door closed upon the retreating form, and the gentle priest knelt -down and began to pray for the guilty soul so soon to be launched into a -dread eternity. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIII. - - -Captain Ernscliffe found that it was almost midnight when he reached -home after his visit to the condemned murderer. - -He was too excited for sleep, and going to the library he turned up the -dimly-lighted gas and prepared to spend the remaining hours of the night -among his books. - -A pleasant warmth pervaded the luxurious apartment, and the fragrance of -some white hyacinths, blooming in vases on the marble mantel, filled the -air with sweetness. - -They were Queenie's favorite flowers. He remembered the one she had worn -on her breast the day he had come upon her in her strange interview with -Sydney. - -Breaking off a beautiful spray he pressed it to his lips, then pinned it -on his coat. - -"I wonder where she is now?" he said to himself, with a heavy sigh, as -he drew up a chair to the table and laid his head down upon his folded -arms. - -Something rustled under his touch as he did so, and he looked up -quickly. - -There was a sealed letter lying upon the table, addressed to himself in -an unfamiliar writing. It had been laid there by a servant while he was -absent. - -Mechanically he tore it open and glanced at the bottom of the page for -his unknown correspondent's name. - -"Robert Lyle," he read, aloud, with a suddenly quickened heart-beat. - -Yes, it was from Robert Lyle--a brief note, coldly and curtly written. - - "CAPTAIN ERNSCLIFFE," it simply ran, "I arrived in this city to-day - with your wife. She is now quite well and prepared to defend her - case at any time the lawyers agree upon--to-morrow, if necessary." - -That was all. It was brief, cold, and to the point. Yet the reader's -heart thrilled with sudden joy. - -"She is here in this city; she is well," he said to himself. "Oh, how -can I wait until to-morrow?" - -But he waited, nevertheless, though burning with anxiety and impatience, -and at the earliest permissible hour he was shown into Robert Lyle's -private parlor at the hotel where he was stopping. - -Mr. Lyle was sitting cozily over his morning paper and cigar, his -slippered feet on the fender, his gorgeous dressing-gown wrapped -comfortably around him. - -He rose in some surprise as his unexpected visitor was ushered in. - -"You did not expect me," said Captain Ernscliffe, as they shook hands. -"I received your letter at midnight, sir, and came this morning as early -as propriety would allow. I want to see my wife, Mr. Lyle," he added, in -a trembling voice. "Will you take her my card and see if she will admit -me to her presence?" - -Mr. Lyle looked at him curiously a moment. He saw that he was struggling -with some unexplained agitation, and that he had not come with any -hostile intent. - -He pointed toward a side door that stood slightly ajar. - -"She is in there," he said; "there is no need of formalities. Go in and -see her." - -With a faltering step Captain Ernscliffe advanced and passed through the -partly open door. - -He found himself in a beautiful little dressing-room, with hangings of -pale-blue silk, exquisitely furnished and pervaded with the delicate -perfume of white hyacinth. - -Before the bright fire burning in the polished grate a lady was sitting -in a low rocker of cushioned blue satin. - -He advanced toward her, then started back. He thought he had made a -mistake. - -For the beautiful woman sitting there in her elegant morning-robe of -quilted blue satin was looking down and smiling at something that lay on -her arm, nestled close and warm against her breast. - -It was the pink face of a very tiny baby, wrapped in costly robes of -embroidered flannel, and lace and cambric. - -Captain Ernscliffe was going out quite precipitately when a low, -startled voice cried out: - -"Lawrence!" - -He turned back and looked more closely. - -Yes, it _was_ Queenie--but then--_that_ baby--where on earth--and at -that stage of his cogitations something flashed across his mind. - -This, then, was the cause of that long, mysterious illness. What a fool -he had been not to suspect it before. - -He rushed to her side, and kneeling down upon the carpet, put his arms -around the beautiful mother and child. - -"My darling," he murmured, in a voice so broken by emotion that he could -scarcely speak at all. "My precious Queenie, my own sweet wife, shall we -mutually forgive and forget all that is past?" - -One stifled sob of joy, and then the woman dropped her face upon his -shoulder in silence. - -One moment of rapturous stillness while she rested in the close clasp of -his strong arm and then he whispered, with his lips against her warm -cheek: - -"Darling, you will forget my cruelty and come back to me--you and the -little one?" - -Then she lifted her head and looked at him with a happy, little laugh -and a very bright blush. - -"Lawrence, kiss our little boy," she said, putting the little bundle in -his arms. "Is he not a pretty babe? I call him Robbie, for my uncle, who -has been so good and kind in all my trouble." - -"While I have been so cruel and unkind," he said, remorsefully. - -"But that is all past now," she said, hopefully. "Oh, Lawrence, I -thought you would never return to me again! What caused you to forgive -me?" - -"That villain--whom I cannot curse now because he was hung this -morning--confessed all to me last night. My darling! you were cruelly -wronged, and I was mad and blind to believe all the lies he told me at -first." - -"The best he could tell you was bad enough," she said, remorsefully. "It -was wicked, it was terrible of me to have encouraged that clandestine -acquaintance and secret love, deserting my home and loved ones for a -stranger of whom I knew nothing, except that he was handsome, and that -his romantic wooing took my foolish heart by storm. - -"Oh, the bitter consequences that have followed that act of girlish -folly! - -"My own deep disgrace, my father's death from a broken heart, poor -Sydney's dreadful murder, mamma and Georgina's everlasting alienation -from me?" - -She clasped her hands, and tears stood bright as dew-drops in her soft, -blue eyes. - -"Yes, darling," he said, as he laid his little son back in her arms, -"your youthful folly has, indeed, worked out a terrible retribution. If -your tragic story could be written it might teach many parents to guard -their daughters more carefully, and many a thoughtless girl might grow -wiser and profit by your dreadful experience. The fitting text for such -a mournful story might be, 'Girls never keep a secret from your -parents!'" - -"Am I _de trop_?" asked Uncle Robert, putting his gray head and smiling -face into the room at that moment. - -"Never, Uncle Robert. You are one of us now, and always," said Captain -Ernscliffe, bringing him in and giving him a cordial pressure of the -hand. - -Queenie looked up with the bright tears still shining in her eyes. - -He kissed her fondly, then bent over the little babe to hide the dew of -tenderness that dimmed his kindly blue orbs. - -"I shall have to give up my little pet now," he said, a little sadly. - -"No, you shall not, Uncle Robbie. You are to come home with us, and live -with us always. You shall not live alone any longer," said Queenie, -tenderly and gratefully. - - * * * * * - -Three years later, when Robbie was the loveliest and most mischievous -little, dark-eyed lad that ever delighted a parent's heart, they all -went abroad again. - -Captain Ernscliffe, who was the fondest and most devoted husband in the -world, had taken an absurd fancy that Queenie's roses were fading and -that a European tour would improve her health. - -So one bright, sunny morning in the month of roses, they found -themselves registered as boarders at a famous health resort in Germany. - -But after Captain Ernscliffe had smoked his cigar on the balcony, he -came into his wife's airy room with a frown on his dark, handsome face. - -"I shall have to take you away to-morrow, my dear," he said. "I have -found out that your mother and sister are staying here. Of course it -would be embarrassing to all parties if we remained." - -"Yes, we must go away," she said, but she sighed as she spoke. - -It had been a bitter cross to her that her mother and sister would not -recognize her. - -She loved them still, for the ties of kinship were very strong in her -heart. - -Now her own motherhood had made her even more gentle and loving than -before. - -She would have loved dearly to be friends with those proud ones who had -discarded her, and to have shown her beautiful little son to his -grandmother. - -"Yes, we will go away to-morrow," she repeated, brushing away a -quick-starting tear. "We must not trouble their peace." - -But that evening, when her husband and her uncle had gone out for a -walk, and she was alone with Robbie, she heard a timid and hesitating -rap at her door. - -"Enter," she said, looking up in some surprise. - -The door opened, and Lady Valentine came abruptly into the room. - -She was paler and graver than of old, and her stately form was draped in -the gloomy sables of a widow. - -"Georgina!" exclaimed Mrs. Ernscliffe, starting up. - -Lady Valentine rushed forward, and threw her arms about the trembling, -hesitating figure. - -"Little Queenie, my sweet, wronged sister!" she cried, "will you forgive -my cruelty to you, and love your Georgie again?" - -"I have never ceased to love you, Georgie," was the answer. - -Lady Valentine pressed a dozen kisses on the sweet lips and wavy, golden -hair. - -Queenie put her gently into a chair, and then she saw a little, -dark-eyed lad looking at her with a great deal of wonder. - -"What a lovely boy!" she said, "and it is yours, Queenie, I know, for he -looks so like your husband." - -"Yes," answered Queenie, proudly; then she led her little son up to her -sister. - -"Robbie, you must kiss your aunt," she said. - -Lady Valentine stayed a long while with Queenie, and many mutual, -touching confidences were exchanged by the long-parted sisters. At last -she rose to go. - -"May I have Robbie a little while?" she asked. - -"You may go with your aunt, my dear," said Queenie, kissing the child. - -Lady Valentine took his hand and led him away to a room where a -gray-haired lady was sitting alone in the fast-falling twilight with a -grave, rather sad expression on her handsome old face. Georgie lifted up -Robbie and placed him on the lady's knee. - -"Grandmother," she said, half-laughing, half-crying, "kiss your -grandson." - -"It is Queenie's child!" cried Mrs. Lyle, pressing him to her heart, and -kissing him, then crying over him in her womanly joy and excitement. - -"We must take him to his mother now," said Georgie. "Come, mamma," and -Mrs. Lyle followed her without a word. - -So when Captain Ernscliffe and Mr. Lyle returned from their walk they -found them all together, Queenie's fair face perfectly radiant and every -one very happy in this touching reunion. - -They were never parted afterwards. When Mr. Lyle and the Ernscliffes -returned to the United States Mrs. Lyle and Lady Valentine went with -them. Mrs. Lyle had conceived such an affection for her little grandson -that she could not bear to be separated from him. Georgina had no ties -to bind her to England, so she followed them also. Many years of calm -happiness came to Mrs. Ernscliffe afterward, but she never forgot the -terrible secret that had almost desolated her life. - -She had one daughter, a sweet and lovely girl, who bore the name of one -long dead, and sometimes when she kissed and caressed her, Captain -Ernscliffe would hear her say, sweetly and gravely: - -"Sydney, my darling daughter, you must never have any secrets from your -papa and mamma!" - - -[THE END.] - - - - -The Bertha Clay Library - -_THE ONLY COMPLETE LIST OF BERTHA M. CLAY STORIES ::: MANY OF THESE -TITLES ARE COPYRIGHTED AND CANNOT BE FOUND IN ANY OTHER EDITION._ - -PUBLISHED EVERY MONTH - - - To be Published During May - - 263--A Modest Passion By Bertha M. Clay - - To be Published During April - - 262--Suffered in Silence By Bertha M. Clay - - To be Published During March - - 261--True to His First Love By Bertha M. Clay - - To be Published During February - - 260--Love's Twilight By Bertha M. Clay - - To be Published During January - - 259--When Woman Wills By Bertha M. Clay - - * * * * * - - 258--Withered Flowers By Bertha M. Clay - 257--The Love He Spurned By Bertha M. Clay - 256--Tender and True By Bertha M. Clay - 255--Her Heart's Victory By Bertha Clay - 254--Love's Debt By Bertha Clay - 253--For Old Love's Sake By Bertha M. Clay - 252--Love's Conquest By Bertha M. Clay - 251--A Blighted Blossom By Bertha M. Clay - 250--The Wooing of a Maid By Bertha M. Clay - 249--Mistress of Her Fate By Bertha M. Clay - 248--The Flower of Love By Bertha M. Clay - 247--A Cruel Revenge By Bertha M. Clay - 246--Two Men and a Maid By Bertha M. Clay - 245--Baffled by Fate By Bertha M. Clay - 244--Two True Hearts By Bertha M. Clay - 243--Her Noble Lover By Bertha M. Clay - 242--For Lack of Gold By Bertha M. Clay - 241--In Defiance of Fate By Bertha M. Clay - 240--A Wild Rose By Bertha M. Clay - 239--An Exacting Love By Bertha M. Clay - 238--Her Heart's Hero By Bertha M. Clay - 237--The Unbroken Vow By Bertha M. Clay - 236--Love's Coronet By Bertha M. Clay - 235--A Woman's Part By Mrs. Alex. Frazer - 234--Kitty's Father By Frank Barrett - 233--On the Altar of Fate By Mrs. Edward Kennard - 232--The Dawn of Love By Bertha M. Clay - 231--Lorimer and Wife By Margaret Lee - 230--A Dangerous Suitor By Gertrude Franklin Atherton - 229--Margaret Byng By F. C. Philips - 228--A Vixen's Love By Bertha M. Clay - 227--The Courting of Mary Smith By F. W. Robinson - 226--Divided Lives By Octave Feuillet - 225--Sybil Ross' Marriage By F. C. Philips - 223--Unfairly Won By Nannie Power O'Donoghue - 222--The Girl in the Brown Habit By Mrs. Edward Kennard - 221--Little Mrs. Murray By F. C. Philips - 220--The Secret of a Heart By Bertha M. Clay - 219--Marrying and Giving in Marriage By Mrs. Molesworth - 218--A Broken Life By Mary Cruger - 217--A Question of Time By Gertrude Franklin Atherton - 216--What Dreams May Come By Frank Lin - 215--An Artful Plotter By Bertha M. Clay - 214--My Sister's Husband By Patience Stapleton - 213--A Terrible Crime By Emma Garrison Jones - 212--The Man She Cared For By F. W. Robinson - 211--In Love's Bondage By Mrs. Edward Kennard - 210--Hester's Husband By Bertha M. Clay - 209--Out of Eden By Dora Russell - 208--Keep My Secret By G. M. Robins - 207--A Country Maid By Mrs. Campbell Praed - 206--As Fate Would Have It By Evelyn Gray - 205--Her Bitter Sorrow By Bertha M. Clay - 204--The Lover's Creed By Mrs. Cashel Hoey - 203--Her Father's Sin By Annie A. Gibbs - 202--The Siren's Triumph By Genevieve Ulma - 201--Love's Temptation By Mrs. Edward Kennard - - -By BERTHA M. CLAY - - 200--Fair as a Lily. - 199--Strong in Her Love. - 198--A Heart Forlorn. - 197--A Soul Ensnared. - 196--Her Beautiful Foe. - 195--For Her Heart's Sake. - 194--Sweeter Than Life. - 193--An Ocean of Love. - 192--A Coquette's Victim. - 191--Her Honored Name. - 190--The Old Love or the New? - 189--Paying the Penalty. - 188--What It Cost Her. - 187--A Poisoned Heart. - 186--True Love's Reward. - 185--Between Love and Ambition. - 184--A Queen Triumphant. - 183--A Heart's Worship. - 182--A Loveless Engagement. - 181--The Chains of Jealousy. - 180--A Misguided Love. - 179--A Supreme Sacrifice. - 178--When Hate and Love Conflict. - 177--The Price of Love. - 176--A Wife's Devotion. - 175--The Girl of His Heart. - 174--A Pilgrim of Love. - 173--The Queen of His Soul. - 172--A Purchased Love. - 171--An Untold Passion. - 170--A Deceptive Lover. - 169--A Captive Heart. - 168--A Fateful Passion. - 167--From Hate to Love. - 166--Her Boundless Faith. - 165--On With the New Love. - 164--Lost for Love. - 163--Glady's Wedding Day. - 162--An Evil Heart. - 161--His Great Temptation. - 160--The Love of Lady Aurelia. - 159--The Lost Lady of Haddon. - 158--The Sunshine of His Life. - 157--Love's Redemption. - 156--A Maid's Misery. - 155--Every Inch a Queen. - 154--A Stolen Heart. - 153--A Tragedy of Love and Hate. - 152--A Bitter Courtship. - 151--Lady Ona's Sin. - 150--The Tragedy of Lime Hall. - 149--A Wife's Peril. - 148--Lady Ethel's Whim. - 147--The Broken Trust. - 146--Lady Marchmont's Widowhood. - 145--A Sinful Secret. - 144--The Hand Without a Wedding Ring. - 143--How Will It End? - 142--One Woman's Sin. - 141--The Burden of a Secret. - 140--A Woman's Witchery. - 139--Love in a Mask. - 138--The Price of a Bride. - 137--A Heart of Gold. - 136--A Loving Maid. - 135--For Love of Her. - 134--The Sins of the Father. - 133--A Dream of Love. - 132--A Woman's Trust. - 131--A Bride from the Sea, and Other Stories. - 130--The Rival Heiresses. - 129--Lady Gwendoline's Dream. - 128--Society's Verdict. - 127--A Great Mistake. - 126--The Gambler's Wife. - 125--For a Dream's Sake. - 124--The Hidden Sin. - 123--Lady Muriel's Secret. - 122--Dumaresq's Temptation. - 121--The White Witch. - 120--The Story of an Error. - 119--Blossom and Fruit. - 118--The Paths of Love. - 117--A Struggle for the Right. - 116--The Queen of the County. - 115--A Queen Amongst Women and An Unnatural Bondage. - 114--A Woman's Vengeance. - 113--Lord Elesmere's Wife. - 112--His Wedded Wife. - 111--Irene's Vow. - 110--Thrown on the World. - 109--A Bitter Reckoning. - 107--From Out the Gloom. - 106--Wedded Hands. - 105--A Hidden Terror. - 103--Two Kisses, and The Fatal Lilies. - 102--Dream Faces. - 101--A Broken Wedding Ring. - 100--In Shallow Waters. - 99--For Life and Love, and More Bitter Than Death. - 98--James Gordon's Wife. - 97--Repented at Leisure. - 96--The Actor's Ward. - 95--A Woman's Temptation. - 94--Margery Daw. - 92--At Any Cost, and A Modern Cinderella. - 91--Under a Shadow. - 90--In Cupid's Net, and So Near and Yet So Far. - 89--A Coquette's Conquest. - 88--If Love Be Love. - 87--Beyond Pardon. - 86--Guelda. - 85--A Woman's Error. - 84--Lady Latimer's Escape, and Other Stories. - 83--A Fatal Dower. - 82--A Dead Heart, and Love for a Day. - 81--Between Two Loves. - 80--The Earl's Atonement. - 79--An Ideal Love. - 78--Another Man's Wife. - 77--A Fair Mystery. - 76--A Guiding Star. - 75--A Bitter Bondage. - 74--Thorns and Orange Blossoms. - 73--Her Martyrdom. - 72--Between Two Hearts. - 71--Marjorie Dean. - 70--A Heart's Bitterness. - 69--Fair But Faithless. - 68--'Twixt Love and Hate. - 67--In Love's Crucible. - 66--Glady's Greye. - 65--His Perfect Trust. - 64--Wedded and Parted, and Fair but False. - 63--Another Woman's Husband. - 61--The Earl's Error, and Letty Leigh. - 60--A Heart's Idol. - 59--One False Step. - 58--Griselda. - 57--Violet Lisle. - 56--The Squire's Darling, and Walter's Wooing. - 55--Golden Gates. - 54--The Gipsy's Daughter. - 53--A Fiery Ordeal. - 52--Claribel's Love Story; or, Love's Hidden Depths. - 51--For a Woman's Honor. - 50--A True Magdalen; or, One False Step. - 49--Addie's Husband, and Arnold's Promise. - 48--Her Second Love. - 47--The Duke's Secret. - 46--Beauty's Marriage, and Between Two Sins. - 45--Lover and Husband. - 44--The Belle of Lynn; or, The Miller's Daughter. - 43--Madolin's Lover. - 42--Hilary's Folly; or, Her Marriage Vow. - 41--A Mad Love. - 40--A Nameless Sin. - 39--Marjorie's Fate. - 38--Love's Warfare. - 37--Weaker Than a Woman. - 36--On Her Wedding Morn, and Her Only Sin. - 35--A Woman's War. - 34--The Romance of a Young Girl; or, The Heiress of Hilldrop. - 33--Set in Diamonds. - 32--Lord Lynne's Choice. - 31--Redeemed by Love; or, Love's Conflict; or, Love Works Wonders. - 30--The Romance of a Black Veil. - 29--A Woman's Love Story. - 28--A Rose in Thorns. - 27--The Shadow of a Sin. - 26--A Struggle for a Ring. - 25--A Thorn in Her Heart. - 24--Prince Charlie's Daughter. - 23--The World Between Them. - 22--The Sin of a Lifetime. - 21--Wife in Name Only. - 19--Two Fair Women; or, Which Loved Him Best? - 17--Lady Castlemaine's Divorce; or, Put Asunder. - 16--His Wife's Judgment. - 15--Lady Darner's Secret. - 14--A Haunted Life. - 13--Evelyn's Folly. - 12--At War With Herself. - 11--For Another's Sin; or, A Struggle for Love. - 10--One Against Many. - 9--Her Mother's Sin; or, A Bright Wedding Day. - 8--Hilda's Lover; or, The False Vow; or, Lady Hutton's Ward. - 7--A Dark Marriage Morn. - 6--Diana's Discipline; or, Sunshine and Roses. - 5--The Mystery of Colde Fell; or, "Not Proven." - 4--Lord Lisle's Daughter. - 3--A Golden Heart. - 2--Dora Thorne. - 1--A Bitter Atonement. - - - - - EAGLE SERIES A weekly publication devoted to good literature NO. 426 - July 25, 1905 - - -"Get Acquainted With Smith's" - -The Big Three - -[Illustration: MRS. GEORGIE SHELDON] - -[Illustration: MRS. MARY J. HOLMES] - -[Illustration: CHARLES GARVICE] - -You are now looking at the three most popular authors in America. Ten -million copies of their novels have been sold and they are now -exclusively engaged to supply =Smith's Magazine= with all their new -work. - -Get a copy of the current number and look it over. It's the best -published at - =TEN CENTS= - -SMITH PUBLISHING HOUSE, _NEW YORK_ - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - - -Some missing punctuation has been added without being noted below when -the original text has extra spacing suggesting that the error could have -been caused by light inking of the plates rather than incorrect -typography. - -Some inconsistent hyphenation has been retained (e.g. "woodwork" vs. -"wood-work"). - -A table of contents has been added. - -Some archaic spellings ("hightened", "vender") have been retained. - -Carets are used to denote superscript text (e.g. M^cVEIGH). Underscores -(_) denote italics. Equals signs (=) denote bold. - - -_Front Matter_ - -Added period after "Alex" in listing for "253--A Fashionable Marriage." - -Removed unnecessary period after "By" in listing for "207--Little -Golden's Daughter." - -Removed unnecessary period after "(Barclay North)" in listing 176. - -Removed unnecessary period in "(A Wilful Young Woman)" in listing 70. - - -_Bride of the Tomb_ - -Page 2, changed "weath" to "wreath." - -Page 4, removed "an" from "an another." - -Page 5, added missing period after "testily." - -Page 9, changed "ye you" to "yet you" and changed question mark to -period after "fair Necropolis of the dead." - -Page 19, changed ? to ! after "it was all for you." Changed "Lillie" to -"Lily." - -Page 27, changed "shubbery" to "shrubbery." - -Page 28, added missing comma after "revive." - -Page 36, changed "eat" to "ate." - -Page 38, changed "pedling" to "peddling." - -Page 39, changed "spring" to "sprang." - -Page 41, changed "they not the heart" to "they had not the heart" ("had" -is missing from Street & Smith edition but was present in original -Family Story Paper appearance--thanks to Deidre Johnson for confirming -this). - -Page 49, capitalized 's' in "She tore off the bed-covers." - -Page 53, changed "thererefore" to "therefore" and "terrible" to -"terribly." - -Page 55, changed "Good-nigh" to "Good-night" and "Lilly" to "Lily." - -Page 60, removed unnecessary comma after "well" in "I may as well go -then." - -Page 61, changed "leige" to "liege." - -Page 62, moved misplaced end quote in sentence beginning "No, I won't." -and changed "Horace" to "Harold" in sentence beginning "Now, then." The -"Horace" error is found in both the original Family Story Paper -appearance of the novel and the later Street & Smith reprint; however, -it is clearly a mistake as the character is referred to as Harold in -every other instance. - -Page 71, changed double quote to single quote before "And have you lost -your heart?" - -Page 72, changed "oblivous" to "oblivious." - -Page 77, changed "necessrry" to "necessary." - -Page 79, removed stray quote after "the old house with the stone wall." - -Page 80, added missing period at end of page. - -Page 81, changed "queston" to "question." - -Page 84, moved close quote in quoted poem to correct position. - -Page 85, changed single quote to double quote after "win him from me!" - -Page 87, changed "mein" to "mien." - -Page 92, changed "reconnoisance" to "reconnoissance." - -Page 93, added missing period to end of second paragraph. - -Page 95, changed single quote to double quote after "I have not tasted -food for two days!" - -Page 96, changed "Colvilie" to "Colville." - -Page 98, changed "Lilly" to "Lily." - -Page 102, changed "braggadocia" to "braggadocio." - -Page 106, changed "deamed" to "dreamed." - -Page 107, changed "The" to "They" in "They had lived their evil life." - -Page 109, added missing close quote after "home to your mother." - -Page 112, changed "frienzied" to "frenzied." - -Page 114, added missing quote after "Perhaps so." - -Page 119, changed "drectly" to "directly." - -Page 120, changed "disorered" to "disordered." Changed "she" to "he" -after "Pray explain yourself." - -Page 121, changed "Whan" to "What." - -Page 124, changed "Collville's" to "Colville's" and "familar" to -"familiar." - -Page 133, changed "detect-tive" to "detective." - -Page 138, added missing period after "her yearning look." - -Page 143, changed "happest" to "happiest." - - -_Queenie's Terrible Secret_ - -Page 3, changed "which to" to "to which" and rearranged final sentence -in paragraph beginning "No, indeed." It was scrambled in the original -edition. - -Page 7, changed "meantim" to "meantime" and "Erscliffe" to "Ernscliffe." -Added missing quotes to separate "so sweet a flower" from "Doubtless -you." - -Page 10, added missing open quote before "now I begin." - -Page 12, added missing period after "perplexing mystery." - -Page 13, added missing open quote before "Why, Papa." Changed "Sidney" -to "Sydney" and "Georgiana" to "Georgina." - -Page 15, changed "Sidney" to "Sydney." - -Page 16, changed period to question mark after "wronged you." - -Page 18, changed "confied" to "confined." - -Page 19, changed "Au contrairie" to "Au contraire." - -Page 23, added missing quote before "my head whirls" and changed -"cologue" to "cologne." - -Page 26, added missing close quote after "about my sister." Changed -"stilled crowned" to "still crowned." - -Page 27, changed "distaught" to "distraught." - -Page 30, changed "CHAPTER IX" to "CHAPTER XI" and "endeaver" to -"endeavor." - -Page 33, changed "?" to "!" after "Au revoir, Mrs. Ernscliffe." Changed -"?" to "." after "screams and cries." - -Page 34, changed "sudder" to "shudder." - -Page 35, changed "?" to "!" after "touch me." - -Page 37, changed "?" to "!" after "declare to gracious." - -Page 40, changed "?" to "." after "blushed deeply." - -Page 41, changed "Hold you peace" to "Hold your piece." - -Page 42, added missing quote after "demented little sister." - -Page 46, added missing quote after "I don't blame you." - -Page 48, the "h" in "sharply" is accidentally inverted in the original -book. Added a missing period at the end of the page. - -Page 49, changed "?" to "!" after "I don't know what you mean." - -Page 50, changed "?" to "!" after "for this cruel sin." Added missing -period after "hundred dollars." - -Page 52, changed "quite" to "quiet." - -Page 53, Removed duplicate "she" from "she she said to herself" and -added missing close quote after "will not tell her." - -Page 55, changed "!" to "?" in "Who killed him?" and changed "te" to -"to" in "in time to see." - -Page 56, removed extraneous ", or" from sentence that originally read -"walk, or at a slower and more reasonable gait." - -Page 57, changed "idenity" to "identity." - -Page 63, added missing open quote before "Ah, Captain Ernscliffe." - -Page 64, changed "." to "?" in "Will you take me home?" - -Page 67, changed "ligh" to "light." Changed "were" to "where" in "hotel -where La Reine Blanche." Changed "pearl-handed" to "pearl-handled." - -Page 71, joined erroneously split paragraph (starting "I could not -wait") and changed single to double quote after "husband!" - -Page 77, changed "did I say!" to "did I say?" - -Page 80, changed "dusk" to "dusky." - -Page 82, added missing quote before "what ails your husband?" - -Page 84, changed "you lips" to "your lips" and "were she was playing" to -"where she was playing." - -Page 92, removed duplicate "the" from "told him the the truth." - -Page 93, removed unnecessary quote before "Queenie lifted her head." - -Page 96, changed "availabe" to "available." - -Page 99, changed "CHAPTER XXXVI" to "CHAPTER XXXIV." - -Page 107, added missing "to" to "not so hard to tell." Changed "?" to -"!" after "hope for the best." - -Page 108, removed comma from "great cruel, world." - -Page 115, added missing close quote after "share it equally." - -Page 119, changed "condemed" to "condemned." - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bride of the Tomb and Queenie's -Terrible Secret, by Mrs. Alexander McVeigh Miller - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRIDE OF THE TOMB *** - -***** This file should be named 42100-8.txt or 42100-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/1/0/42100/ - -Produced by Demian Katz and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images courtesy -of the Digital Library@Villanova University -(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/)) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -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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McVeigh Miller. @@ -111,48 +111,7 @@ img {border: 0;} </style> </head> <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bride of the Tomb and Queenie's -Terrible Secret, by Mrs. Alexander McVeigh Miller - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Bride of the Tomb and Queenie's Terrible Secret - -Author: Mrs. Alexander McVeigh Miller - -Release Date: February 18, 2013 [EBook #42100] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRIDE OF THE TOMB *** - - - - -Produced by Demian Katz and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images courtesy -of the Digital Library@Villanova University -(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/)) - - - - - - -</pre> - - - +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42100 ***</div> <h1>CONTENTS</h1> @@ -266,7 +225,7 @@ of the Digital Library@Villanova University <span class="small">BY</span><br /> <span class="larger">MRS. ALEX. M<sup>c</sup>VEIGH MILLER</span><br /> <br /> -<span class="large">STREET & SMITH × PUBLISHERS × NEW YORK</span><br /> +<span class="large">STREET & SMITH × PUBLISHERS × NEW YORK</span><br /> </p> @@ -558,7 +517,7 @@ the <span class="smcap">Eagle Series</span>.</p> <tr><td colspan="2" class="tdl" style="padding-left: 5em;">(Sweet As a Rose)</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl">241—Her Love and Trust</td><td class="tdr">By Adeline Sergeant.</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><b>240—Saved by the Sword</b></td><td class="tdr"><b>By St. George Rathborne</b></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdl">239—Don Cæsar De Bazan</td><td class="tdr">By Victor Hugo.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl">239—Don Cæsar De Bazan</td><td class="tdr">By Victor Hugo.</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl">238—That Other Woman</td><td class="tdr">By Annie Thomas.</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl">237—Woman or Witch?</td><td class="tdr">By Dora Delmar.</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><b>236—Her Humble Lover</b></td><td class="tdr"><b>By Charles Garvice</b></td></tr> @@ -20307,384 +20266,6 @@ after "hope for the best."</p> <p>Page 119, changed "condemed" to "condemned."</p> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bride of the Tomb and Queenie's -Terrible Secret, by Mrs. Alexander McVeigh Miller - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRIDE OF THE TOMB *** - -***** This file should be named 42100-h.htm or 42100-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/1/0/42100/ - -Produced by Demian Katz and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images courtesy -of the Digital Library@Villanova University -(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/)) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -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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