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diff --git a/43911-8.txt b/43911-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6d9eb16..0000000 --- a/43911-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5867 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's A Dreadful Temptation, by Mrs. Alex. 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/license - - -Title: A Dreadful Temptation - or, A Young Wife's Ambition - -Author: Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - -Release Date: October 8, 2013 [EBook #43911] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DREADFUL TEMPTATION *** - - - - -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 - - - 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 - - - - - A DREADFUL TEMPTATION - - - BY - MRS. ALEX. McVEIGH MILLER - AUTHOR OF "QUEENIE'S TERRIBLE SECRET," "JAQUELINA," ETC. - - - NEW YORK - INTERNATIONAL BOOK COMPANY - 3, 4, 5 AND 6-MISSION PLACE - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1883, - BY - NORMAN L. MUNRO - - [_All rights reserved._] - - - - -A DREADFUL TEMPTATION; - -OR, - -_A Young Wife's Ambition_. - -By MRS. ALEX. McVEIGH MILLER. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - "Hear the mellow wedding-bells-- - Golden bells! - What a world of happiness - Their melody foretells!" - - -"Hark! there's the wedding-march." - -"Here they come!" - -"Looks as white as a corpse, doesn't she?" - -"Oh, no; as beautiful as a dream, to my notion. Pallor is becoming in -brides, you know." - -"He's a silly old dotard, though, not to know that she's taking him for -his money." - -"Of course he knows it. I dare say the old gray-beard is glad he had -money enough to buy so much youth and loveliness." - -"What a splendid veil and dress! They say her rich aunt furnished the -_trousseau_." - -"Her jewels are magnificent." - -"The bridegroom's gift, of course. Well, he is able to cover her with -diamonds." - -These were but few of the remarks that were whispered in the fashionable -throng gathered at Trinity to witness a marriage in high life--a -marriage that was all the more interesting from the fact that the -contracting parties were so totally dissimilar to each other that the -whole affair in the eyes of the outsiders resolved itself into a simple -matter of bargain and sale--so much youth and beauty for an old man's -gold. - -The bridegroom was John St. John, a millionaire of high birth and -standing in the city where he lived, but so old and infirm that people -said of him that "he had one foot in the grave and the other on the -brink of it," and the bride was the young daughter of some obscure -country people. - -An aunt in the city had given her some advantages, and kept her in town -two seasons, hoping to bring about a good match for her, since she had -no dowry of her own, save youth, talent and peerless beauty. - - "And what is your fortune, my pretty maid?" - "My face is my fortune, sir," she said. - -And Xenie Carroll was fulfilling her aunt's ambitious hopes and desires -to their uttermost limit as she walked up the broad aisle of Trinity -that night, clothed in her bridal white, and leaning on the arm of the -decrepit old millionaire, John St. John. - -His form was bent with age, his hair and beard were white, his eyes were -dim and bleared; and she was in the bloom of youth and beauty. It was -the union of winter and summer. - -They passed slowly up the aisle to the grand music of the wedding-march, -and after them came fair maidens, robed in white and adorned with -flowers and jewels. - -These stood round about the pair at the altar who were taking upon their -lips the sacred vow of marriage. - -It was over. - -The holy man of God lifted reverent hands and invoked God's blessing -upon this sordid bargain that desecrated the holy rite of marriage, the -ring was slipped over the bride's white finger, and Xenie Carroll turned -away from the altar Mrs. John St. John, mistress of the handsomest house -in the city and the most princely private fortune. - -There was a flash of triumph in her dark eyes as she received the -congratulations of her friends, yet her cheeks and lips were cold and -white as marble. - -But the light and color came back to her beautiful face when, in the -same carriage that had taken her from her aunt's roof a poor, dependent -girl, she was whirled back to the millionaire's splendid home to take -her place as its queen. - -The aged bridegroom scarcely felt equal to an extended bridal tour, so -he had wisely eschewed a trip, and determined to inaugurate the reign of -the new social star by a brilliant reception at his splendid residence. - -All the beauties of art and nature were called in to further his design. - -The elegant drawing-rooms were almost transformed into bowers of -tropical bloom. - -Beautiful birds fluttered their tropical plumage and caroled their sweet -songs in the gilded cages that swung in the flowery arches and niches. - -Music filled the air with entrancing strains, wooing light feet to the -giddy dance. - -In the spacious supper-room the tables shone with silver and gold and -crystal, and every delicacy that could tempt the appetite from home or -foreign shores was daintily served for the wedding-guests, with wines of -the purest vintage and greatest age. - -There was no lack of wealth, there was no lack of beauty in the -brilliant assemblage that graced the millionaire's proud house that -night; and she, his bride, was now the wealthiest, as she had ever been -the loveliest, of them all, yet she stole away at length from her aged -bridegroom's flatteries, and sought the solitude of the conservatory. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - -The beautiful fragrance-breathing bower was deserted. The soft light of -the wax-lights, half-hidden in flowers, streamed down upon her as she -trod the leafy walks alone in her beautiful white satin robe, frosted -with delicate lace, and her shining jewels that encircled a throat as -white and round and queenly as if she had been a princess royal. - -Yet none were here to praise the soft light of her dark eyes, the -dazzling beauty of her smiles, the tender, tinted oval of her face. - -Why was she here alone to "waste her sweetness on the desert air?" - -Ah! in a moment she spoke in a stifled voice, her white hands twisted in -the band of jewels that encircled her throat as if the beautiful -flashing things burned her by their mere contact. - -"I had to come here for a free breath away from that old man whose very -presence stifles and smothers me. And yet--and yet, I am his wife! Oh, -Heaven, what a terrible price I must pay for my revenge!" - -She paused, and a strange look came into her eyes. It was a look of -terrible dread and despair, inexplicably blended with passionate -triumph. - -"And yet," she began again, after a moment's silence, looking around at -the evidences of wealth and taste so lavishly scattered about her, "what -a glorious revenge it is! It was for this he scorned and deserted me! -Yet I have stripped him of his heritage. I have stolen from him the -empire he held so long. I have revenged myself tenfold for what I -suffered at his hands. Ah! weak fool that I am, why regret the price of -such a splendid triumph?" - -Her face grew hard and cold, a cruel smile curled her scarlet lips, her -eyes flashed with scorn. - -Pride and passion spoke in every curve of her mobile, spirited face. - -The lace hangings at the entrance parted noiselessly, and a man stepped -lightly across the threshold. - -Not a sound announced his presence, yet she looked up instantly, as if -by some subtle inner sense she divined that he was there. - -"Ah!" she breathed, in a hissing tone of hate and scorn. - -A mocking smile curled the man's lip as he bowed before her. - -"Ah! _ma tante_," he said, in a cool tone of scorn, "permit me to offer -my congratulations." - -Some emotion too great for utterance seemed to overpower her, so that -she struggled vainly for speech a moment, while he stood silent, with -folded arms, looking down at her from his haughty height with a look of -veiled hatred in his dark-blue eyes. - -They were deadly foes, this man and woman, yet nature had formed them as -if for the perfect complement of each other. - -He was tall, strong and fair, with the proud beauty and commanding air -we fancy in the Grecian gods of old. - -She was _petite_, dark, brilliant as a rose, and passionate as the -tropical blood of the south could make her. - -Breaking down the bars of her great emotion at last, she laughed -aloud--a cool, insolent, incredulous laugh that made the hot blood bound -faster through his veins, and a flush creep over his face. - -"You call me aunt," she said; "ha! ha!" - -"Yes, madam, you bear that relationship to me since your marriage with -my uncle," he answered, with a formal bow. - -"You expect to find me a most loving relative, no doubt?" she said, with -exasperating coolness. - -"I hope to do so, at least," he said, with calm frankness, "I cannot -afford to quarrel with my uncle. I shall hope to keep on good terms with -his wife." - -"Ah! you don't wish to quarrel with your bread and butter," she said in -a tone of cool contempt. "Well, _mon ami_, what do you suppose I married -your uncle for?" - -"The world says that you married him for his money," said the handsome -young man, coolly. - -"Yes, that is what the world says," she answered, with flashing eyes, -and cresting her graceful head as haughtily as a young stag. "But you, -Howard Templeton, you know better than that." - -"Pardon me, how should I know better?" he rejoined, watching her keenly, -as if it gave him a certain pleasure to irritate her. "The money seems -to me the only reasonable excuse you had for taking him. My uncle, -kindly be it spoken, for he has been my kindest friend, is neither young -nor handsome. I credited you with better taste than to love such a -homely old man!" - -"You are right," she said, writhing under the keen sting of his words; -"I did not marry him for love! Neither did I marry him for his money. I -have never craved wealth for its own sake, though I have always known -that a costly setting would befit beauty such as mine. I sold myself to -that old man in yonder for revenge!" - -"Revenge?" he repeated, inquiringly. - -"Yes, upon _you_!" she repeated, with bitter frankness; "you sacrificed -me that you might inherit your uncle's wealth. Love, hope, gladness, -were stricken from my life at one fell blow. There was nothing left me -but revenge upon my base deceiver. So I sold myself for the heritage you -prized so highly that you might be left penniless." - -"Yet once you loved me!" he muttered, half to himself. - -"Yes, once I loved you," she answered, looking at him in proud scorn. -"When my aunt brought me to the city two years ago a simple, -unsophisticated country girl, you saw me and set yourself to win me by -every art of which you were master. She encouraged you in your designs, -for she knew that you were the reputed heir of your uncle, John St. -John, and she thought it would be a fine match for the pretty little -country girl. In the spring I went home with your ring upon my finger, -the proudest girl in the world, and told mamma that you had promised to -marry me. Then you came down to my country home and found out that the -rich Mrs. Egerton's pretty niece was as poor as a church mouse. So you -went back and told John St. John that you wanted to marry a girl who was -beautiful but poor, and he--the old dotard, who had forgotten his youth, -and transmuted his heart into gold--he bade you give me up on pain of -disinheritance." - -"And I obeyed him," said Howard Templeton, as she paused for breath. - -"Yes, you obeyed him," she repeated; "you broke your plighted faith and -word, you ruined my life, you broke my heart, you sold your truth and -your honor to that cruel old man for his sordid gold, and now, to-night, -you stand stripped of everything--and all because you turned a woman's -love to hate." - -She paused breathlessly and stood looking at him with blazing eyes and -crimson cheeks, and lips parted in a smile of bitter triumph. - -She had never looked more beautiful, yet it was a dangerous beauty, -scathing to the man who looked upon her and knew that his sin had -roused the terrible passions of revenge and hatred in her young heart. - -"But Xenie, think a moment," he said. "I had been brought up by Uncle -John as his heir. I did not know how to work. I never earned a cent in -my whole life! When he swore he would disinherit me if I married you, -what could I do? I had to give you up. You must have starved if I had -married you against his will!" - -"I would have starved with you, I loved you so!" she exclaimed -passionately. - -"Would you, really?" he asked, with a slight air of wonder; "well, they -say that women love like that. For myself, I have never reached a stage -as idiotic, though I own that I loved you to the verge of distraction, -Xenie." - -"Well, and what will you do now?" she asked, sneeringly. "You will have -to starve at last without the pleasure of my company, for my husband -shall never leave you one dollar of his money; I will poison his mind -against you, I will make him hate you even as I hate you! I have sworn -to have the bitterest revenge for my wrongs, and I will surely keep my -vow!" - -"I defy you," he answered, looking down at her from his superb height, -his proud Saxon beauty ablaze with wrath and scorn. "I defy you to rob -me of my uncle's heart or even of his fortune. He shall know what a -traitress he has taken to his heart. I will dispute your empire with you -and you shall find me a foeman worthy of your steel. You will find that -it is a terrible thing to make a man who has loved you hate and defy -you!" - - "'The sweetest thing upon this earth is love. - And next to love, the sweetest thing is hate.'" - -She quoted with a wild, defiant laugh. "Well, Howard Templeton, I take -up the gage of defiance that you have thrown down. We will wage the -deadliest feud the world ever knew between man and woman! From this -moment it shall be war to the knife!" - -"So be it," he answered with a scowl of hatred as he turned upon his -heel and passed through the lace hangings to mingle with the gay and -thoughtless throng outside, while curious glances followed him on every -side, for all knew that the foolish old bridegroom had promised to make -Howard Templeton his heir. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - -The beautiful bride remained motionless where Howard Templeton had left -her until the rich lace curtains parted noiselessly again and her -lawful lord and master looked in upon her. - -He did not speak for a moment, so beautiful she looked standing still -and pale as a statue beneath a tall rose-tree that showered its scented -petals down upon her night-black hair with its crown of orange blossoms. - -No subtle instinct warned her of his presence as it had when that other -came. - -She stood silent and pale, the dark lashes shading her rounded cheek, -her white hands loosely clasped before her until he spoke: - -"Xenie, my darling!" - -She started and shivered as she looked up. - -Mr. St. John came slowly to her side and drew her hand through his arm. - -"My dear, I have been seeking you everywhere. Supper is announced," he -said. - -"I only came here just a little while ago for a quiet minute to myself," -she said, apologetically. - -"Ah! then, you like quiet and repose sometimes," he said; "I am glad of -that, for I am not fond of gayety myself, at least not too much of it. I -suppose I am getting too far into the sere and yellow leaf to enjoy it, -eh, my dear?" - -"I hope not; sir," she said, making an effort to throw off her -preoccupation and enter into the conversation with interest. - -After the splendid banquet had been served, he led her to a quiet seat -and begged her not to dance again that evening. - -"I am too old to dance myself," he said, "but I am so selfish I want to -keep you by my side that I may feast my eyes upon your peerless beauty. -Can you be contented with my society, love?" he inquired, giving her a -curious look. - -"I will do whatever pleases you best, sir," she said, with an inward -shudder of disgust. - -"Very well; we will sit here hand in hand like a veritable Darby and -Joan, and enjoy each other's company," he said, giving her an -affectionate smile. - -The bride looked at her lord in surprise. She had not known him long, -for their marriage had followed upon a brief acquaintance and hurried -courtship. - -Xenie had never thought him very brilliant, and, indeed, she had heard -people say maliciously that the old man was getting weak-minded, but -after all, the proposition to hold her hand before all that brilliant -array of wedding-guests nearly staggered her. - -She made some plausible excuse for keeping her hands in her own -possession, and sat quietly by his side, watching the black coats of -the men and the bright robes of the women as they fluttered through the -joyous mazes of the dance. - -"Do you see the lovely girl dancing with my nephew, Howard Templeton?" -he said, to her after a short silence. - -She looked up and saw Edith Wayland, one of her bridesmaids, whirling -through the waltz in the arms of her deadly foe. - -"Yes," she said, with a kind of stifled gasp. - -"She's in love with my nephew," said the old man, with a low chuckle of -pleasure. - -"Indeed? Did she tell you so?" asked Mrs. St. John, half scornfully. - -"Never mind how I found out. It's true, anyhow. And she is a great -heiress, my dear, almost as rich as I am. I mean to make a match between -her and my nephew." - -"Do you?" she asked, but her voice was very low and faint, and the room -swam around her so that the dancers seemed mingled in inextricable -mazes. - -"Yes, I do; but what is the matter with you, my darling?" he said, -looking anxiously at her. "You have grown so pale!" - -"It is nothing--a headache from the heat of the rooms," she murmured, -confusedly, "but go on. You were saying----" - -"That I am going to marry my nephew to Miss Wayland--yes. She is very -rich, and he, well, the poor fellow, you know, Xenie, always expected to -be my heir. And now, since my marriage, of course his prospects are -entirely altered. He cannot expect much from me now. But I'm going to -set him up with a few thousands, and marry him to the heiress. That's -almost as well as leaving him my money--isn't it?" he laughed. "I've -spoken to Howard about it, and he is pleased with the idea. There will -be no difficulty with her, I am sure. Howard was always a lucky dog -among the girls." - -He laughed, and rubbed his withered palms softly together, and Xenie sat -perfectly silent, her brain in a whirl, her pulse beating at fever heat. - -Was this old man, whom she hated because his despotic will had blasted -her brief dream of happiness, to despoil her of her revenge for which -she had dared and risked so much? - -And Howard Templeton--was her oath of vengeance of no avail, that -fortune should make him her spoiled darling still? - -The waltz music ceased with a great, passionate crash of melody, and the -gentlemen led their partners to their seats. - -Mr. St. John resigned his seat to Edith Wayland, and moved away on the -arm of his nephew. - -"What a handsome man Mr. Templeton is," said the lovely girl shyly to -Mrs. St. John. - -The bride looked after his retreating figure with a curl of her scarlet -lip. - -"Yes, he is as handsome as a Greek god," she said, "but then, he is -utterly heartless--a mere fortune-hunter." - -"Oh! Mrs. St. John, surely not," said Miss Wayland, in an anxious tone. -"Why should you think so?" - -"Perhaps it would suit you as well not to hear," said Mrs. St. John, -with an arch insinuation in her look and tone. - -"By no means. Pray tell me your reasons for what you said, Mrs. St. -John," said the sweet, blue-eyed girl, blushing very much, and nervously -fluttering her white satin fan. - -"Well, since you are not particularly interested in him, I will tell -you," was the careless reply. "I was engaged to Mr. Templeton myself, -two winters ago--when I first came out, you know, dear! I suppose he -thought I was wealthy, for Aunt Egerton dressed me elegantly, and lent -me her diamonds. The summer after our engagement he came to the country -to see me, and then he found out my poverty--for I will tell you -candidly, Edith, my people are as poor as church mice--and, would you -believe it? he went back and wrote me a letter, and told me he could not -afford to marry for love--he must have an heiress or none. So our little -affair was all over with then, you know." - -She paused and looked away, for she knew that she had stabbed the girl's -heart deeply, and she did not wish to witness the pain she had -inflicted. - -In a moment, however, Miss Wayland exclaimed, indignantly: - -"Oh! Mrs. St. John, is it possible that Mr. Templeton could have treated -you so cruelly and heartlessly?" - -"It is quite true, Miss Wayland. If you doubt my word I give you _carte -blanche_ to ask my aunt, Mrs. Egerton, or even Mr. Templeton himself. -You see I have the best reason in the world for accusing him of being a -fortune-hunter." - -The beautiful young girl did not think of doubting Mrs. St. John's -assertion, although it caused her the bitterest pain. - -There was an earnestness in the words and tones of the bride that -carried conviction with them. - -Miss Wayland sat musing quietly a moment, then she said, hesitatingly: - -"May I ask if you are friends with Mr. Templeton now, Mrs. St. John?" - -Xenie lifted her dark eyes and looked at the gentle girl. - -"Should you love a man that won your heart and threw it away like a -broken toy?" she asked, slowly. - -"I do not believe that I could ever forgive him," said Edith, frankly. - -"Nor can I," answered Xenie, in a low voice of repressed passion. "No, I -am not friends with him, Edith, and never shall be; I am not the kind of -woman who could forgive such a cruel slight." - -Neither of them said another word on the subject, but Edith knew quite -well from that moment why Xenie had married Mr. St. John. - -"It was not for the sake of the money, but simply to revenge herself on -Howard Templeton," she said to herself, with a woman's ready wit. - -And when Mr. Templeton, according to his uncle's desire, offered her his -hand and heart, a few days later, expecting to have her for the asking, -he was surprised to receive a cold, almost contemptuous refusal. - -But she dropped a few words before they parted by which he knew plainly -that his deadly foe had been working against him, and that her -revengeful hand had struck a fortune from his grasp for the second time -in the space of a week. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - -Several months of irksome quiet to Mrs. St. John succeeded the -festivities that followed upon her marriage. - -Her elderly bridegroom found that protracted gayeties did not agree with -his age and health, and with the obstinacy common to a selfish old age, -he prohibited his wife from participation in those scenes of pleasure in -which, by reason of her youth and beauty, she was so pre-eminently -fitted to shine. - -He could not stand such excitement himself, he said, and he wanted his -wife at home to cheer and solace his declining years. - -So the beautiful bridal dresses hung in the wardrobe unworn, and the -costly jewels hid their brightness locked away in their caskets. - -Xenie had small need for these things in the lonely life to which she -found herself condemned by her foolish, doting old husband. - -Loving pleasure and excitement with all the ardor of a passionate, -impulsive temperament like hers, it is quite possible that Mrs. St. John -might have rebelled against her liege lord's selfishness, but for one -strong purpose to which she bent every energy, subordinating everything -else to its accomplishment. - -So she bore his selfish exactions with a patient, yielding sweetness, -and ministered to his caprices with the beautiful devotion of a fireside -angel. - -She was using every sweet persuasion in her power to induce Mr. St. John -to execute a will in her favor. - -She had learned that in the event of his death, without a will, his -widow would legally inherit only one-third of his great wealth, while -the remaining two-thirds would descend to his next of kin--the next of -kin in this case being her enemy, Howard Templeton. - -Xenie knew that her revenge would not be secure until her husband had -made his will and cut off his nephew without a dollar. - -She had believed that Mr. St. John's infatuation for her would make her -task easy, but she had not counted upon the uneasy sense in the old -man's mind of a certain injustice done to the nephew he had reared, by -his unexpected marriage. - -"No, no, Xenie," he said, when she openly pleaded with him to make such -a will. "It would be unjust to leave poor Howard without a dollar to -support himself." - -"He is a man," said Xenie, scornfully. "He has his head and hands to -earn his living." - -"Yes; but Howard does not know how to work, my darling, and it is all my -fault. I brought him up as my heir and refused to let him have a -profession or to learn anything useful. You see we are the last of our -race, and I expected to leave him everything when I died. I did not know -I should meet and marry you, my darling," he said, kissing her fondly, -without noticing her uncontrollable shiver of disgust. - -"Yes, but your marriage alters everything," she said, eagerly, lifting -her melting, dark eyes to his face with a siren smile on the curve of -her scarlet lips. "You would not wish to leave your money away from me, -your poor, helpless little wife?" - -"There is enough for you both, my dear," he said, persuasively. "Howard -might have his share--the smaller share, of course--and you would still -be a wealthy woman!" - -"I hate Howard Templeton!" exclaimed Xenie, with sudden, passionate -vehemence. - -The old man looked at her half angrily. - -"You hate my nephew?" he said. "Why do you hate him, Xenie, when next to -you I love him, best of anyone in the world?" - -Xenie's sober senses, that had almost deserted her in her sudden gust of -passion, returned to her with a gasp. - -"I--oh, forgive me," she said, with ready penitence, "I spoke foolishly. -I do not like you to love him so. I am jealous of you, my darling!" - -She leaned toward him and laid her white arm around his shoulder -caressingly. - -But suddenly, and even as she lifted her beautiful face for his caress, -he drew back his hand, and without a word of warning, struck her a heavy -blow across the face. - -She reeled backward and fell upon the floor, the red blood spurting from -her nostrils and from her lips that the terrible blow had driven against -the points of her white teeth and terribly lacerated. - -"You Jezebel," he shouted, hoarsely, rising and standing over her with -his brandished fist. "How dare you hate him--my own nephew, my handsome -Howard!" - -With a moan of fear and pain Xenie sprang up and fled to the furthest -corner of the room. - -"Oh! you coward!" she cried, passionately. "To strike a woman--a -helpless woman!" - -She was trying to staunch the fast flowing blood with her lace -handkerchief, but she stopped and stared at him in dumb terror as he -approached her. - -For the glare of madness shone in his dim eyes as they turned upon -her--his foam-flecked lips were drawn away from his glistening set of -false teeth, and his face presented a terrible appearance. - -"Oh! my God, he is going to kill me!" she moaned to herself, crouching -down in the corner with her arms raised wildly above her shrinking head. - -He towered above her with his clenched fist raised threateningly and his -eyes glaring ferociously upon her. - -Xenie believed that a sudden frenzy of madness had come upon her husband -and that he was going to take her life. - -She was about to shriek aloud in the hope of rescue, when he suddenly -clapped a strong hand over her lips. - -"Hush!" he said, fearfully, "hush, Xenie, don't let anyone know I struck -you! Does it hurt you much?--the blood, I mean--I'm sorry if it does." - -The tone was that of a wheedling, penitent child that is sorry for its -fault. In sheer surprise the frightened creature looked up at him. - -The ferocious look of bloodthirsty madness had marvelously faded from -his face, and left a pale, fearful, childish expression instead. - -He dropped his hand and wiped the blood from it, shivering all over. - -"Oh! the blood, how red it is!" he whined. "Did I hurt you, my love? -I'm sorry--very sorry. Don't tell anyone I struck you." - -"I'll tell the whole world," she flashed forth, speaking with -difficulty, for her lips were bruised and swollen. "I'll tell them that -you are mad, and I'll have you put into an asylum for dangerous -lunatics, you base coward!" - -Mr. St. John's face grew livid at her angry threat. He trembled with -fear. - -"No, no, Xenie, you won't, you mustn't do it," he gasped forth. "I will -never do so again. I'll be your slave if you won't tell!" - -"I will tell it everywhere!" cried his young wife, rushing to the door, -her whole passionate spirit aglow with the keenest resentment. - -But with unlooked-for strength in one of his age, he ran forward, and -stood with his back against the door. - -"You shall not go till you promise to keep silent," he said, firmly; "I -will do anything you ask me, Xenie, if you will only not tell on me!" - -"Anything?" she exclaimed, turning quickly. - -"Yes, anything," he reiterated, with a weak, imploring look, full of -craven fear. - -"Very well," she answered firmly; "make your will to-day, and cut Howard -Templeton off with a shilling, and I'll keep your secret--otherwise the -city shall ring with the story of your cruelty!" - -"Won't you let me leave him ten thousand dollars, dear?" he asked, -pitifully. - -"Not a dollar!" she answered coldly. - -"Five thousand dollars?" - -"Not a dollar!" she reiterated firmly. - -"Very well," he answered, weakly. "I have said you shall name your own -price. Shall I go to my lawyer now, Xenie?" - -"Yes, now," she answered, with a flash of triumph in her eyes. - -He stood still a moment looking at her with a half-insane look of -cunning on the wrinkled features that but a moment ago had been -transformed by maniacal rage. - -"Poor boy!" he said, "you hate him very much, Xenie; I wonder what he -has done to make you his enemy!" - -She did not answer, and the old millionaire went out of the room, after -turning upon her a strange look of blended cunning and triumph which she -could not understand. - -"Pshaw! he meant nothing by it," she said to herself to dispel the -uneasy impression that glance had left. "The old man is getting weak and -silly. One is scarcely safe alone with him." - -She shuddered at the recollection of what she had passed through, and -going to her private room, locked the door and bathed her swollen, -discolored face with a healing lotion. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - -Xenie remained alone in her chamber until darkness gathered like a pall -over every luxurious object about her. Her maid came and tapped at the -door once, but she sent her away, saying that her head ached and she did -not wish to be disturbed. - -It was quite true, for her heavy fall upon the floor had hurt her -severely; so she remained quietly lying on a sofa until black darkness -hid everything from her confused sight. - -Then there came a light tap upon the door again. She thought it was the -maid to light the gas. - -"You may go away, Finette, I do not need you yet," she said, feeling -that the darkness suited her mood the best. - -"It is I, Xenie. Open the door. I wish to speak to you," said her -husband's voice. - -She went to the door, unlocked and threw it wide open. The light from -the hall streamed in upon her pale and haggard face, her dress in -disorder, her dark hair loose and dishevelled. - -"It is dark in there, I cannot see you, my darling," he said; "come -across into my smoking-room in the light. I want to tell you something." - -He took her hand and drew her across the hall into a luxurious apartment -he called his smoking-room. - -It was elegantly furnished with cushioned easy-chairs and lounges, while -the floor was covered with a soft, Persian carpet and beautiful rugs. - -The marble mantel was decorated with costly meerschaums, and chibouques -of various patterns and materials, and a richly gilded box stood in the -center, containing cigars and perfumed smoking tobacco. - -On a marble-topped table in the center of the room stood two bottles of -wine, and two richly-chased drinking glasses. - -"Well?" she inquired, half-fearfully, as he drew her in and carefully -closed the door. - -"I have made my will, dear," he said, looking at her with a curious -smile. - -"And you have cut Howard Templeton off without a shilling?" she said, -anxiously. - -"Yes, darling, I have made you the sole heir to all my wealth," answered -the old man, drawing his arm around her shrinking form. "But perhaps you -will wish the old man dead, now, that you may enjoy his money without -any incumbrance." - -"Oh! no," she exclaimed quickly, for something in his words touched her -heart, and made her forget for a moment that cruel blow from his hand. -"Oh! no, I shall never wish you dead, and I thank you a thousand times -for your generosity." - -"Then you forgive me for my--for that--to-day?" he inquired in a -flighty, half-frightened way, fixing his dim eyes on her beautiful face -with an anxious expression. - -"Yes, I forgive you freely," she said, touched again, as she scarcely -thought she could be, by his looks and tones, and yet longing to get -away, for she was half-frightened by a certain inexplicable wildness -about him. "And now I must go and dress for dinner." - -"Wait, I have not done with you yet," he said, catching her tightly -around the wrist, his restlessness increasing. "I saw my nephew on the -street, and brought him home with me to dinner. Do you care, Xenie?" - -"No, I do not care," she answered, steadily, yet her heart gave a great -passionate throb of bitter anger. - -Still holding her tightly by the hand he pulled open the door and sent -his voice ringing loudly down the hall. - -"Howard, Howard, come here!" - -Xenie heard the distant door of the library unclose, then shut again, -and a man's footsteps ringing along the marble hall. - -She tried to wrench her hand away and flee, but it was useless. He held -her as in a vise. - -"Let me go," she panted, "my hair is down, my dress is disarranged, my -face is disfigured, I do not wish to meet him." - -But he held her tightly, gnashing his teeth in sudden rage at her -efforts to escape. - -At that moment Howard Templeton entered the room. - -He started back as his gaze encountered Mrs. St. John's, then with a -cold bow stood still, turning an inquiring glance upon his uncle's -excited face. - -"I want you to take a glass of wine with me, Howard," said his uncle in -a cordial tone. "Xenie, my love, you will pour the wine for us." - -He led her forward, to the little marble-topped table where stood the -wine and glasses. - -She saw that the corks were both drawn from the bottles, and taking up -one she poured some of its contents into the richly-chased glass beside -it. - -"Now pour from the second bottle into the second glass," commanded her -husband. - -Xenie silently obeyed him, without a thought as to the strangeness of -the request, for her heart was beating almost to suffocation with the -bitter consciousness of her enemy's presence. - -Mr. St. John watched her every motion with a strange, repressed -excitement. - -His eyes glittered, his lips worked as if he were talking to himself. He -nodded to his nephew as she stepped back. - -"Let us drink long life and happiness to Mrs. St. John," he said. - -Howard Templeton took one glass, and his uncle took the remaining one. - -Both bowed to the shrinking woman who stood watching them, drained their -glasses, and set them back with a simultaneous clink upon the marble -table. - -Then a wild, maniacal laugh filled the room--so shrill, so exultant, so -blood-curdling, it froze the blood in the veins of the man and woman who -stood there listening. - -"Ha, ha," cried Mr. St. John, "you thought I did not know your secret, -you two! But I did. I heard your talk on my wedding-night. I knew then -that I had taken the woman you loved. Howard, I knew that she had sought -me, and won me, and married me, to revenge her wrongs at your hands. I -said to myself her beautiful body is mine--I have bought it with my -gold--but her heart is Howard Templeton's!" - -"No, no," cried Xenie, stamping her foot passionately; "I hate him! I -hate him!" - -"Hush!" thundered the old man, turning on her with the wild glare of -madness in his eyes, "hush, woman! I have thought it over for months--at -last I have reached a conclusion. The world is not wide enough for us -two men to live in. So I said to myself--one of us must die!" - -"Must die!" repeated Howard Templeton, with a sudden strong shudder. - -"Yes, _die_!" cried the maniac, with another horrible laugh. "So I put -deadly poison into one of the bottles that chance might decide our -fates. Xenie poured out death for one of us just now. In ten minutes -either you or I will be dead, Howard Templeton!" - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - -For one terrible moment Xenie St. John and Howard Templeton remained -silently gazing at the excited old man, as if petrified with horror, -then: - -"My God, my uncle is a madman!" broke hoarsely from the young man's -ashen lips, in tones of unutterable horror and grief. - -Mrs. St. John rushed to the door, threw it wide open, and shrieked aloud -in frenzied accents for help. - -The servants came rushing in and found their old master crouching in a -corner of the room, gibbering and mouthing like some terrible wild -beast, his bloodshot eyes rolling in their sockets, his lips all flecked -with foam, while Howard Templeton remained silent in the center of the -room, like a statue of horror. - -"A doctor--bring a doctor!" shrieked Xenie, wildly. - -It was not five minutes before a physician, living close by, was brought -in, but even as he crossed the threshold, the insane creature rolled -over upon the floor in the agonies of death. - -One or two desperate struggles, a gasp, a quiver from head to foot and -the old millionaire lay dead before them. - -The physician knelt down and felt his heart and his pulse. - -"He is dead," he said, shaking his head slowly and sadly. "I apprehended -a fit the last time he consulted me, some three weeks ago. His mind and -body were both weakening fast. This mournful end was not unexpected by -me." - -Mrs. St. John made a quick step forward. - -She was about to say, "He did not die in a fit, doctor, he died of -poison," when a hand like steel gripped her wrist. - -She looked up and met the stern, awful gaze of Howard Templeton. - -"Hush!" he whispered, hurriedly and sternly. "Let the world accept the -physician's verdict. Say nothing of what you know. Do not brand his -memory with the terrible obloquy of insanity and self-murder!" - -As he spoke he turned away, and crossed the room, and as he passed the -marble-topped table, it fell over, no one could have told how, and the -bottles and glasses were shivered upon the floor. - -One of the servants removed the _debris_, and mopped up the spilled wine -from the floor, and no one thought anything more of it. - -Yet, by that simple act, Howard Templeton saved his uncle's name and his -own from the shafts of malice and calumny that must have assailed them -if the terrible truth had come to light. - -So the physician's hasty verdict of apoplexy was universally accepted by -the world, and the old millionaire was laid away in his costly tomb a -few days later, regretted by all his friends, and the secret of his -tragic death was locked in the breasts of two who kept that hideous -story sacred, although they were deadly foes. - -Yes, deadly foes, and destined to hate each other more and more, for -when the old millionaire's papers were examined, the beautiful widow -found that she was foiled of her dearly-bought revenge at last. - -For no will was found, although Xenie protested passionately that her -husband had made a will the very last day of his life. - -The most careful and assiduous search failed to reveal the existence of -any legal document like a will, and the lawyers gravely assured Mrs. St. -John that she could claim only a third of her deceased husband's wealth, -the remainder falling to the next of kin, Howard Templeton. - -"You see, madam," said the old lawyer, whom she was anxiously -questioning, "if Mr. St. John had left a child, you could claim the -whole estate as its lawful guardian, even without the existence of a -will. But there being no nearer kin than Mr. Templeton, it legally falls -to him, after you receive your widow's portion." - -The young widow brooded over those words night and day. - -She hated Howard Templeton more than ever. - -She would have given the whole world, had it been hers, to wrest that -fortune from her enemy's grasp, and leave him poor and friendless to -fight his way through the hard world. - -"Oh! if I only could find that will," she thought wildly. "Is it true -that Mr. St. John made it, or was he deceiving me? He was utterly -insane. Could one expect truth from a madman?" - -Gradually, as weary weeks flew by, she began to believe that Mr. St. -John had deceived her. - -She felt quite sure in her own mind, after a little while, that he had -never made the will. - -He had fully meant for Howard Templeton to inherit his wealth. - -Yet bitterly as she regretted its loss she could not bring herself to -hate the memory of the old man she had married, and who had loved her -for a little while with so fond and foolish a passion. - -The memory of his dreadful death was too strong upon her. - -She woke at night from dreadful dreams that recalled that last awful day -of her husband's life, and lay shuddering and weeping, and praying to -forget that fearful face, and blood-curdling, maniacal laugh that still -rung in her shocked hearing. - -"You are growing thin and pale, Xenie," Mrs. Egerton said, when she came -to condole with her, more for the loss of the fortune than the loss of -her husband. "People are talking of your ill looks, and they say you -take Mr. St. John's death so hard, you must have cared for him more than -anyone believed. I let them talk, for, of course, it is very much to -your credit to have them think so, but as I know better myself, I cannot -help wondering at your paleness and trouble." - -"It was all so sudden and terrible," murmured the young widow, as she -lay back in her easy-chair, looking very fragile and beautiful in her -deep mourning dress. - -"Yes it was very bad his going off in a fit that way," said her aunt. -"Still, it was to be expected, Xenie. He was very old, and really -growing childish, I thought. His going off without a will was the worst -part of it. Of course it hurt you terribly for Templeton to have the -money!" - -The sudden flash in Mrs. St. John's dark eyes told plainer than words -how much it had hurt her. - -"However, Xenie, I would give over worrying about it," continued her -aunt, soothingly. - -"But my revenge, Aunt Egerton. Think how much I sacrificed for it. I -married that foolish old man, and endured his caprices so long without a -murmur, allowed myself to be shut up in solitude like a bird in a cage, -and never murmured at his tiresome exactions. And all for what? Because -I expected to get his whole fortune, and be revenged on the coward who -broke my heart for the sake of it. And to be despoiled of my revenge -like this is too hard for endurance," she exclaimed, walking up and down -the room, and wringing her white hands in a perfect passion of despair -and regret. - -"Oh! let the wretch go," said Mrs. Egerton, complacently rustling in her -silks and laces. "You have secured a large portion of the estate, -anyhow. And you are so young and beautiful still, Xenie, you may even -marry a greater fortune than that, when your year of mourning is -expired." - -Xenie stopped still in her excited walk, and looked at her aunt. - -"I shall never marry again--never," she said earnestly. "I have as much -money as I want, only--only I want to take that from Howard Templeton -because I want to humble him and wring his heart. And there is but one -way to do it, and that is to reduce him to poverty. Money is the only -god he worships!" she added bitterly. - -"He treated you villainously and deserves to be punished," said Mrs. -Egerton, "but still I would try to forget it, Xenie. You will lose your -youth and prettiness brooding over this idea of revenge." - -"I will never forget it," cried Mrs. St. John, wrathfully. "I will wait -and watch, and if ever I see a chance to punish Howard Templeton, I -shall strike swiftly and surely." - -Her aunt arose, gathering her silken wrappings about her tall, elegant -form. - -"Well, I must go now," she said. "I see it is of no use talking to you. -Come and see me when you feel better, Xenie." - -"I am going to the country next week," said her niece, abruptly. - -"Indeed? Has not your mother been up to see you in your trouble?" -inquired Mrs. Egerton, pausing in her graceful exit. - -"No. I wrote to her, but she has neither come nor written. I fear -something has happened. She is usually very punctual. Anyway, I shall go -down next week and stay with them a week or two." - -"I hope the change may improve your spirits, love," said her aunt, -kissing her and going out with an airy "_Au revoir_." - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - -"Mamma, how pale and troubled you look. What ails you?" - -Mrs. St. John was crossing the threshold of the little cottage home that -looked, oh, so poor and cheap after the stately brown-stone palace she -had left that morning, and after one quick glance into her mother's -careworn face she saw that new lines of grief and trouble had come upon -it since last they had met. - -"Come up into my room, Xenie. I have much to say to you," said her -mother, leading the way up the narrow stairway into her bedroom, a neat -and scrupulously clean little room, but plainly and almost poorly -furnished. - -Mrs. Carroll was a widow with only a few barren acres of land, which she -hired a man to till. Her husband was long since dead, and the burden of -rearing her two children had been a heavy one to the lonely widow, who -came of a good family and naturally desired to do well by her two -daughters, both of them being gifted with uncommon beauty. - -But poverty had hampered and crushed her desires, and made her an old -woman while yet she was in the prime of life. - -Xenie removed her traveling wraps and sat down before the little toilet -glass to arrange her disordered hair. - -"My dear, how pale and sad you look in your widow's weeds," said Mrs. -Carroll, regarding her attentively. "I was very sorry to hear of your -husband's death. It is very sad to be left a widow so young--barely -twenty." - -"Yes," answered Xenie, abstractedly; then she turned around and said -abruptly: "Mamma, where is my sister?" - -Mrs. Carroll looked at her daughter a moment without replying. - -"I have brought her some beautiful presents," continued Mrs. St. John, -"and you, too, dear mamma--things that you will like--both beautiful and -useful." - -Mrs. Carroll looked at her daughter a moment in utter silence, and her -lips quivered strangely. - -Then she caught up a corner of her homely check apron, and hiding her -convulsed face in its folds, she burst into bitter weeping. - -Xenie sprang up and threw her arms around the neck of the agitated -woman. - -"Oh, mamma," she cried, anxiously, "speak to me. Tell me what ails you? -Where is Lora?" - -As if that name had power to open the flood gates of emotion wider, Mrs. -Carroll wept more bitterly than ever. - -"Mamma, you frighten me," cried Xenie, terrified. "Oh, tell me where is -Lora? Is she dead?" - -"No, no--oh, better that she were!" sobbed her mother, wildly. - -Mrs. St. John grew as pale as death. She shook her mother almost rudely -by the arm. - -"What has Lora done?" she cried. "Where is she? I will go and seek her." - -She was rushing wildly to the door, but Mrs. Carroll sprang forward, and -catching the skirt of her dress, pulled her back. - -"Not now!" she gasped; "wait a little. That wretched girl has ruined her -good name and disgraced us all." - -Mrs. St. John dropped into a chair like one bereft of life, and her -great, black eyes, dilated with terror, stared up into her mother's -face. - -"Yes, it is too true," said her mother, sitting down and rocking herself -back and forth, while low and heart-broken moans escaped her white lips. - -"But, mamma, poor, good, little Lora! it cannot be! She was truth and -innocence itself," panted the young widow, in a voice of anguish. - -"She deceived us all--she was a sly little piece. You will see for -yourself, Xenie. She lies ill in her chamber, and--and in a few months -there will be a"--she lowered her voice and gave a fearful glance around -her--"_a child_!" - -"Oh! mamma, then she was married? Of course Lora was married! Doesn't -she say so?" exclaimed Xenie, confidently. - -"Oh, yes, she swears to a marriage--a secret one--but look you, -Xenie--not a ring, not a witness, not a scrap of paper to prove it! And -the man dead--lost at sea!" said Mrs. Carroll, despairingly. - -"Oh! mamma, then it was----" - -"Jack Mainwaring--yes. He was courting her this long time, you know. He -asked for her, and I wouldn't give my consent. I thought he wasn't good -enough for her--a sailor, and only second mate, you know. And Aunt -Egerton had promised to give her a season in town this winter, and she -might have made a better match than a sailor." - -Mrs. Carroll broke down again and wept bitterly. - -"Try to control yourself, mamma," said the young widow, stroking the -bowed head tenderly. "And so Jack married her in spite of you?" - -"Yes," sobbed her mother, "he married her secretly, she says. It was -about the same time, or nearly, that you were married. He found out that -Lora was going to town to be one of the bridesmaids, and was jealous, I -suppose, thinking she might see someone she could like better. So he -persuaded her into it, and they were to keep it secret until he came -back from this voyage." - -"And he is lost at sea, you say?" asked Xenie, thoughtfully. - -"Yes; he went away in a few weeks after the marriage, to be gone six -months; but the news came last week of the loss of his ship by fire, and -his name was on the list of the dead. You see, Xenie, what a terrible -position Lora was placed in. She fainted when she heard the news, and -then I found out everything." - -"Does anyone else know, mamma?" inquired Xenie, anxiously. - -"Not yet. She has been ill, but I have cared for her myself, and did not -call in the doctor. But we cannot keep it a secret always. Of course -malicious people will not believe in the marriage, and Lora's fair fame -will be ruined forever! Oh! if she had only never been born!" cried the -proud and unhappy mother. - -Mrs. St. John sat silent, her lily-white hands clasped in her lap, her -dark eyes staring into vacancy with a strangely intent expression. She -roused herself at last and looked at her mother. - -"Mamma, we must devise ways and means of keeping this a secret! It would -ruin the family to have it known," she said, decidedly. - -"Yes, I know that," said Mrs. Carroll, gloomily. "I would do anything in -the world to save Lora's fair fame if I only knew what to do!" - -"I have a plan," said Xenie, rising quietly. "I will tell it you -by-and-by, mamma. Everything shall come right if you will be guided by -me. Now take me to my sister, if you please." - -Mrs. Carroll rose silently and opened the door. Xenie followed her down -a narrow passage to a door at the further end, and they entered a pretty -and neat little room. - -A low wood fire burned on the cleanly swept hearth, and on the white -bed, with her dark hair trailing loosely over the pillows, lay a -beautiful, white-faced girl, enough like Xenie to be her twin. - -She started up with a cry of mingled joy and pain as the new-comer came -toward her. - -"My poor darling!" Mrs. St. John murmured, in a tone of infinite love -and compassion, as she twined her arms around the trembling form. - -Lora clung to her sister, sobbing and weeping convulsively. At length -she whispered against her shoulder: - -"Mamma has told you all, Xenie?" - -"Yes, dear," was the gentle answer. - -"And you--you believe that I was married?" questioned the invalid. - -"Yes, darling," whispered her sister, tenderly. "How could I believe -evil of you, my innocent, little Lora?" - -"Thank God!" cried the invalid, gratefully. "Oh! Xenie, mamma has been -so angry it nearly broke my heart." - -"She will forgive you, darling," murmured Mrs. St. John, fondly, as she -stroked the dark head nestling on her breast. - -"And, oh, Xenie, poor Jack--my Jack--he is dead!" sobbed Lora, bursting -into a fit of wild, hysterical weeping. - -"There, darling, hush--you must not excite yourself," said Mrs. St. -John, laying her sister back upon the pillows, and trying to soothe her -frenzied excitement. - -"And no one will believe that I was Jack's wife--I am disgraced forever! -Mamma says so. The finger of scorn will be pointed at me everywhere. But -what do I care, since my heart is broken? I only want to die!" moaned -the unhappy young creature, as she tossed to and fro upon the bed. - -"Be quiet, Lora; listen to me," said Mrs. St. John, taking the restless, -white hands in her own, and sitting down upon the bed. "I wish to talk -to you as soon as you become reasonable." - -Thus adjured, Lora hushed her sobs by a great effort, and lay perfectly -still but for the uncontrollable heaving of her troubled breast, her -large, hollow, dark eyes fixed earnestly on Xenie's pale and lovely -face. - -Mrs. Carroll crouched down in a chair by the side of the bed, the image -of hopeless woe. - -"Lora, dear," said her sister, in low, earnest tones, "of course you -know that, if this dreadful thing becomes known, the disgrace will be -reflected upon us all." - -Mrs. Carroll groaned, and Lora murmured a pitiful yes. - -"I have thought of a plan to save you," continued Mrs. St. John. "A -clever plan that would shield your fair fame forever. But it will -require some co-operation on your part, and it may be that you and mamma -may refuse for you to undertake it." - -"You may count on my consent beforehand!" groaned Mrs. Carroll, -desperately. - -"I will do whatever mamma says," murmured Lora, weakly. - -Mrs. St. John looked away from them a moment in silent thought; then she -said, slowly: - -"Of course, you know, mamma, that my husband died without a will, and -that Howard Templeton inherited the greater part of his wealth?" - -"Yes; you wrote me. I was very sorry that you were disappointed, dear," -said her mother, gently, yet wondering what this had to do with Lora's -forlorn case. - -"Mamma," said Xenie, slowly, "if my husband had left me as Lora's left -her, I could have kept that fortune out of Howard Templeton's hands." - -"My dear, I hardly understand you," said her mother, blankly. - -"Mamma, I mean that if I could hope for an heir to my husband, the child -would inherit all that wealth, and Howard Templeton be left penniless." - -"Oh, yes, I understand you now," was the quick reply, "but you have no -prospect, no hope of such a thing--have you, dear?" - -There was a moment's silence, and Mrs. St. John's fair face grew -scarlet, then deadly white again. She looked away from her mother, and -said, slowly: - -"Yes, mamma, I have such a hope. Listen to me, you and Lora, and I will -help you in your trouble, and you shall help me to complete my revenge." - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - -Some three or four weeks after Mrs. St. John's visit to the country, -Howard Templeton was sitting in his club one day, smoking and reading, -after a most luxurious lunch. - -The young fellow looked very comfortable as he leaned back in his -cushioned chair, the blue smoke curling in airy rings over his curly, -blonde head, a look of lazy contentment in his handsome blue eyes. - -He was somewhat of a Sybarite in his tastes, this handsome young -fellow, over whose head twenty-five happy years had rolled serenely, -without a shadow to mar their brightness save that unfortunate love -affair two years before. - -Howard was, emphatically, one of the "gilded youth" of his day. He -"toiled not, neither did he spin." He had been cradled in luxury's -silken lap all his life long. - -Sorrow had passed him tenderly by as one exempt from the common ills of -life. - -He was so accustomed to his good luck that he seldom gave a thought to -it. It simply seemed to him that he would go on that way forever. - -Yet, to-day, for a wonder, he had been a little thoughtfully reviewing -the events of the past six months. - -"It was very kind in Uncle John to leave things so comfortable for me," -he said to himself. "I thought his wife would influence him against me -so much that he wouldn't have left me a penny. If he hadn't, what the -deuce should I have done?" - -He paused a moment, in comical amusement, to survey the situation; but -the idea was too stupendous. - -He could not even fancy himself the victim of adversity, much less tell -what he would have done in that case. He laughed at it after a moment. - -"I cannot even imagine it," he thought. "Poor little Xenie, how hard it -went with her to be foiled in her revenge, as she called it. How she -must have loved me to have turned against me so when I gave her up! Who -would have believed that we two should ever hate each other with such a -deadly hate?" - -Something like a smothered sigh went upward with the blue cigar smoke, -and just then a footstep crossed the threshold, and a man's voice said, -lightly: - -"Halloo, Doctor Templeton; enjoying yourself, as usual." - -"Halloo, Doctor Shirley," returned Templeton, with a lazy nod at the -new-comer. "Have a smoke?" - -"I don't care if I do," said the doctor, throwing himself down in an -easy-chair opposite the speaker, and lighting a weed. "How deuced -comfortable you look, my boy!" - -"Feel that way," lisped Templeton, in a lazy tone. - -"Ah! I don't think you would feel so devil-may-care if you knew all that -I know, old boy," laughed the doctor, significantly. - -The old doctor was very well known at the club as a gossip, so Templeton -only laughed carelessly as he said: - -"What's the matter, doctor? Any of my sweethearts sick or dead?" - -"Not that I know of," said Doctor Shirley. "However, Templeton, if any -of your sweethearts has money, take my advice, young fellow, and make -up to her without delay." - -Howard Templeton laughed at the doctor's sage advice. - -"Thanks," he said, "but I do very well as I am, doctor. I don't care to -become a subject for petticoat government, yet." - -"Yet things looked that way two years ago," said Doctor Shirley, -maliciously, for Templeton's ardent devotion to Mrs. Egerton's lovely -_debutante_ at that time had been no secret in society. - -Templeton's blonde face flushed a dark red all over, yet he laughed -carelessly. - -"Oh, yes, I had the fever," he said. "However, its severity then -precludes the danger of ever having a second attack. How little I -dreamed that she would be my aunt." - -"Or your _bete noire_," said the doctor. - -"Hardly that," said Templeton, composedly, as he knocked the ashes from -the end of his cigar. "True, she has taken a slice of my fortune away, -but then there's yet enough to butter my bread." - -"There may not be much longer," said Doctor Shirley, meaningly. - -"What do you mean?" asked Templeton, looking at him as if he had serious -doubts of his sanity. "Who's going to take it away from me? Has Mrs. St. -John found the will she talked of so much?" - -"No," said Doctor Shirley, "but she has found something that will serve -her as well." - -"Confound it, doctor, I don't understand you at all," said the young -fellow, a little testily. "What are you driving at, anyway?" - -"Templeton, honestly, I hate to tell you," said the physician, sobering -down, "but I've bad news for you. You know that Mrs. St. John has been -ill lately, I suppose?" - -"Yes, I heard it--thought, perhaps, she meant to shuffle off this mortal -coil and leave me the balance of my uncle's property," said the young -man, imperturbably. - -"Nothing further from her thoughts, I assure you," was the laughing -reply. "She has been quite ill, but she is well enough to come down into -the drawing-room to-day. Come, now, Templeton, guess what I have to tell -you?" - -"'Pon honor, doctor, I haven't the faintest idea. Does it refer to my -fair and respected aunt? Is it a new freak of hers?" - -"Yes, decidedly a new freak," said the doctor, laughing heartily, and -enjoying his joke very much. - -"Well, then, out with it," said Howard, growing impatient. "Does she -accuse me of stealing and secreting that fabulous missing will?" - -"Not that I am aware of," and Doctor Shirley rose and threw away his -half-smoked cigar, saying, carelessly: "I must be going. We poor devils -of doctors never have time to smoke a whole cigar. Say, Templeton, Mrs. -St. John has her mother and sister staying with her. Deuced handsome -girl, that Lora Carroll! Very like her sister! And--don't go off in a -fit, now, Templeton--in a very few months there will be a little heir to -your deceased uncle's name and fortune!" - -"I don't believe it!" exclaimed Howard Templeton, springing to his feet, -while his handsome face grew white and red by turns. - -"You don't believe it? That's because you don't want to believe it. But -I give you my word and honor as a professional man and her medical -attendant, that it is a self-evident fact," and laughing at his, little -joke, the gossiping old doctor hurried away from the club-room. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - -"I don't believe it!" Howard Templeton repeated angrily, as he stood -still where Doctor Shirley had left him, those unexpected words ringing -through his brain. - -"What is it you don't believe, Templeton?" inquired one of the "gilded -youth," dawdling in and overhearing the remark. - -"I don't believe anything--that's my creed," answered Templeton, -snatching his hat, and hurrying out. He wanted to be out in the cold, -fresh air. Somehow it seemed to him as if a hand grasped his throat, -choking his life out. - -He walked aimlessly up and down the crowded thoroughfare, seemingly -blind and deaf to all that went on around him. - -Men's eyes remarked the tall, well-proportioned form and handsome, -blonde face with envy. - -Women looked after him admiringly, thinking how splendid it would be to -have such a man for a lover. Howard heeded nothing of it. He was -accustomed to it. He simply took it for his due, and he had other things -to engross his mind now. - -"It can't be true, it can't be true," he said to himself, again and -again in his restless walk. "It is the most undreamed of thing. Who -could believe it?" - -And yet it troubled him despite his incredulity. It troubled him so much -that he went to see a lawyer about it. - -He stated the case, and asked him frankly what were his chances if such -a thing really should happen. - -"No chance at all," was the grim reply. "If you did not resign your -claim, Mrs. St. John would naturally sue you for the money on behalf of -the legal heir." - -"And then?" asked Howard. - -"The case would certainly go against you." - -Howard went out again and took another walk. He tried to fancy -himself--Howard Templeton, the golden youth--face to face with the grim -fiend, poverty. - -He wondered how it would feel to earn his dinner before he ate it, to -wear out his old coats, and have to count the cost of new ones, as he -had vaguely heard that poor men had to do. - -"I can't imagine it," he said to himself. "Time enough to bother my -brain with such conundrums if the thing really comes to pass. And if it -does, what a glorious triumph it will be for 'mine enemy!' I'd like to -see her--by Jove, I believe I'll go there." - -He stopped short, filled with the new idea, then hurried on, recalled to -himself by a stare of surprise from a casual passer-by. - -"Yes; why shouldn't I go there, by George?" he went on. "It was my home -before she came there. The world doesn't know that we are 'at outs,' -although we are sworn foes privately. I'll pretend to call on Lora -Carroll. Lora was a pretty girl enough when I was down there that -summer, young and unformed, though time has remedied that defect, -doubtless. Doctor Shirley thought her handsome. Yes, I will call on -little Lora. A daring thing to do, perhaps, but then I'm in the mood for -daring a great deal." - -The lamps were lighted and the glare of the gas flared down upon him as -he thus made up his mind. - -He went to his hotel, made an elaborate and elegant toilet, as if -anxious to please, then sallied forth toward the brown-stone palace -where his enemy reigned in triumph. - -A soft and subdued light shone through the curtains of rose-colored silk -and creamy lace that shaded the windows of the drawing-room. A fancy -seized upon Howard to peep through them before he went up the marble -steps and sent in his card. - -"For who knows that they may decline to see me," he thought, "and I am -determined to get one look at Xenie. I want to see if she looks very -happy over her triumph." - -He glanced around, saw that no one was passing, and cautiously went up -to the window. - -It was as much as he could do, tall as he was, to peer into the room by -standing on tiptoe. - -He looked into the beautiful and spacious room where he had spent many -happy hours with his deceased uncle in years gone by, and a sigh to the -memory of those old days breathed softly over his lips, and a dimness -came into his bright blue eyes. - -He brushed it away, and looked around for the beautiful woman who had -come between him and the poor old man who had brought him up as his -heir. - -He saw two ladies in the room. - -One of them was quite elderly, and had gray hair crimped beneath a -pretty cap. - -She wore black silk, and sat on a sofa trifling over a bit of fancy -knitting. - -"That is Mrs. Carroll," he said to himself. "She is a pretty old lady, -though she looks so old and careworn. But she is poor, and that explains -it. I dare say I shall grow gray and careworn too when Mrs. St. John -takes my uncle's money from me, and I have to earn my bread before I eat -it." - -He saw another lady standing with her back to him by the piano. - -She was _petite_ and slender, with a crown of braided black hair, and -her robe of rich, wine-colored silk and velvet trailed far behind her on -the costly carpet. - -She stood perfectly still for a few moments, then turned slowly around, -and he saw her face. - -"Why, it is Xenie herself!" he exclaimed. "Doctor Shirley lied to me, -and I was fool enough to believe his silly joke. Heaven! what I have -suffered through my foolish credulity! I've a mind to call Shirley out -and shoot him for his atrocity!" - -He remained silent a little while studying the lady's dark, beautiful, -smiling face, when suddenly he saw the door unclose, and a lady, dressed -in the deepest sables of mourning, entered and walked across the floor -and sat down by Mrs. Carroll's side upon the sofa. - -Howard Templeton started, and a hollow groan broke from his lips. - -"My God!" he breathed to himself, "I was mistaken. It is Lora, of -course, in that bright-hued dress. How like she is to Xenie! I ought to -have remembered that my uncle's wife would be in mourning. Yes, that is -Xenie by her mother's side, and Doctor Shirley told me the fatal truth!" - -He walked away from the window, and made several hurried turns up and -down before the house. - -"Shall I go in?" he asked himself. "I know all I came for, now. Yes, I -will be fool enough to go in anyhow." - -He went up the steps and rang the bell, waiting nervously for the great, -carved door to open. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - -The door swung slowly open, and the gray-haired old servitor whom Howard -could remember from childhood, took his card and disappeared down the -hallway. - -Presently he returned, and informed the young man that the ladies would -receive him; and Howard, half regretting, when too late, the hasty -impulse that had prompted him enter, was ushered into the drawing-room. - -The next moment he found himself returning a stiff, icy bow from his -uncle's widow, a half-embarrassed greeting from Mrs. Carroll, and -shaking hands with the beautiful Lora, who gave him a shy yet perfectly -self-possessed welcome and referred to his visit to the country two -years before in a pretty, _naive_ way, showing that she remembered him -perfectly; although, as she averred, she was little more than a child at -the time. - -They sat down, and he and Miss Carroll had the talk mostly to -themselves, though now and then his glance strayed from her bright, -vivacious countenance to the sad, white face of the young widow sitting -beside her mother on the sofa, the dark lashes shading her colorless -cheeks, a sorrowful droop about her beautiful lips as if her thoughts -dwelt on some mournful theme. - -Howard had heard people say that she looked ill and pale since Mr. St. -John's death, and that after all she must have cared for him a little. - -He knew better than that, of course, yet he could not but acknowledge -that she played the part of a bereaved wife to perfection. - -"It looks like real grief," he said to himself; "but, of course, I know -that it is the loss of the money and not the man that weighs her spirits -down so heavily." - -"You resemble your sister very much, Miss Carroll," he said to Lora, -after a little while. "If I were an Irishman, I should say that you look -more like your sister than you do like yourself." - -The careless, yet odd little speech seemed to have an inexplicable -effect upon Lora Carroll. She started violently, her cheeks lost their -soft, pink color, the bright smile faded from her lips, and she gave the -speaker a keen, half-furtive glance from under her dark-fringed -eyelashes. - -She tried to laugh, but it sounded forced and unnatural. - -Mrs. Carroll, who had been silently listening, broke in carelessly -before Lora could speak: - -"Yes, indeed, Lora and Xenie are exceedingly like each other, Mr. -Templeton. Their aunt, Mrs. Egerton, says that Lora is now the living -image of Xenie, when she first came to the city, two years ago." - -"I quite agree with her," Mr. Templeton answered, in a light tone, and -with a bow to Mrs. Carroll. "The resemblance is very striking." - -As he spoke, he moved his chair forward, carelessly yet deliberately, so -that he might look into Mrs. St. John's beautiful, pale face. - -The young widow did not seem to relish his furtive contemplation. She -flushed slightly, and her white hands clasped and unclasped themselves -nervously, as they lay folded together in her lap. - -She turned her head to one side that she might not encounter the full -gaze of his eyes. He smiled to himself at her embarrassment and, turning -from her, allowed his gaze to rest upon the bright fire burning behind -the polished steel bars of the grate. - -A momentary unpleasant silence fell upon them all. Lora broke it after a -moment's thought by saying, carelessly, as she opened the piano: - -"I remember that you used to sing very well, Mr. Templeton. Won't you -favor us now?" - -"Lora, my dear," Mrs. Carroll said, in a gently-shocked voice, "you -forget that music may not be agreeable to your sister so recently -bereaved." - -"Oh, Xenie, dear, I beg your pardon," began Lora, turning around, but -Mrs. St. John interrupted her by saying, wearily: - -"Never mind, mamma, never mind, Lora. I--I--my head aches--I will retire -if you will excuse me, and then you may have all the music you wish." - -She arose from her seat, gave Mr. Templeton a chill, little bow which he -returned as coldly, then went slowly from the room, trailing her sable -robes behind her like a pall. - -"As cold as ice, by Jove," was Howard's mental comment; "yet she did not -appear particularly elated over her prospective triumph. Strange!" - -He crossed over to the piano where Lora was restlessly turning over some -sheets of music. - -"Won't you sing to me, Miss Carroll?" he asked, in a soft, alluring -voice. - -Lora sat down on the music-stool and laughed as she ran her white -fingers over the pearl keys. - -"Excuse me--I do not sing," she said, carelessly. "But I will play your -accompaniment if you will select a song." - -"You do not sing," he said, as he began to turn over the music. "Ah! -there is one point at least in which you do not resemble your sister. -Mrs. St. John has a very fine voice." - -"Yes. Xenie's voice has been well trained," she answered, carelessly; -"but I do not care to sing, I would rather hear others." - -"How will this please you?" he inquired, selecting a song and laying it -up before her. - -She glanced at it and answered composedly: - -"As well as any. I remember this song. I heard you sing it with Xenie -that summer." - -"Yes, our voices went well together," he answered, as carelessly. "I -wish you would sing it with me now?" - -"I cannot, but I will play it for you. Shall we begin now?" - -He was silent a moment, looking down at her as she sat there with -down-drooped eyes, the gleam of the firelight and gaslight shining on -the black braids of her hair and the rich, warm-hued dress that was so -very becoming to her dark, bright beauty. - -Suddenly he saw something on the white hand that was softly touching the -piano keys. He took the slim fingers in his before she was aware. - -"Let me see your ring," he said. "It looks familiar. Ah, it is the one I -gave you that winter when we----" - -She threw back her head and looked at him with wide, angry, black eyes. - -"What do you mean?" she said imperiously. "Are you crazy, Mr. Templeton? -It is the ring you gave Xenie, certainly, but not me!" - -"Lora, love," said her mother's voice from the sofa, in mild reproval. -"Do not be rude to Mr. Templeton." - -"Mamma, I don't mean to," said Lora, without turning her head; "but -he--he spoke as if I were Xenie." - -"I beg your pardon, Miss Carroll," said the offender, with a teasing -look in his blue eyes, which she did not see; "I did not mean to offend, -but do you know that in talking with you, I constantly find myself under -the impression that I am talking to your sister. It is one effect of the -wonderful resemblance, I presume." - -"Yes, I suppose so," admitted Lora; "but," she continued, in a tone of -pretty, girlish pique, "I wish you would try and recollect the -difference. I am two years younger than my sister, remember, and so it -is not a compliment to be taken for a person older than myself!" - -"Of course not," said Mr. Templeton, soothingly; "but it was the ring, -please remember, that led me into error this time. You see, I gave it -to----" - -"Yes, you gave it to Xenie," broke in Lora, promptly and coolly; "yes, I -know that, but you see she was tired of it, or rather she did not care -for it any more--so she gave it to me." - -His face whitened angrily, but he said, with assumed carelessness: - -"And you--do you care for it, Miss Carroll?" - -She lifted her hand and looked at the flashing ruby with a smile. - -"Yes, I like it. It is very handsome, and must have cost a large sum of -money--more than I ever saw, probably, at one time in my life, I -suppose, for I am poor, as you know." - -"I thought we were going to have some music, Lora," exclaimed Mrs. -Carroll, gasping audibly over her knitting. "You weary Mr. Templeton -with your idle talk." - -"He began it, mamma," said Lora, carelessly. "Well, Mr. Templeton, I'm -going to begin the accompaniment. Get ready." - -She touched the keys with skillful fingers, waking a soft, melancholy -prelude, and Howard sang in his full, rich, tenor voice: - - "'Hapless doom of woman happy in betrothing! - Beauty passes like a breath, and love is lost in loathing; - Low, my lute; speak low, my lute, but say the world is nothing-- - Low, lute, low! - - "'Love will hover round the flowers when they first awaken; - Love will fly the fallen leaf, and not be overtaken; - Low, my lute! oh, low, my lute! we fade and are forsaken-- - Low, dear lute, low!'" - -"The poet has very happily blended truth and poesy in that very pathetic -song," remarked Lora, with a touch of careless scorn in her voice, as -the rich notes ceased. "Well, Mr. Templeton, will you try another song?" - -"No, thank you, Miss Carroll--I must be going. I have already trespassed -upon your time and patience." - -Lora did not gainsay the assertion. - -She rose with an almost audible sigh of relief, and stood waiting for -him to say good-night. - -"May I come and see you again?" he asked, as he bowed over the delicate -hand that wore his ruby ring. - -"I--we--that is, mamma and I--are going away soon. It may -not--perhaps--be convenient for us to receive you again," stammered -Lora, hesitating and blushing like the veriest school-girl. - -"Ah! I am sorry," he said; "well, then, good-night, and good-bye." - -He shook hands with both, holding Lora's hand a trifle longer than -necessary, then courteously turned away. - -When he was gone, the beautiful girl knelt down by her mother and lifted -her flushed and brilliant face with a look of inquiry upon it. - -"Well, mamma?" she questioned, gravely. - -Mrs. Carroll smiled encouragingly. - -"My dear, you acted splendidly," she said, "and so did your sister. I -was afraid at first. I thought you were wrong to admit him. It was a -terrible test, for the eyes of hatred are even keener than those of -love. I trembled for you at first, but you stood the trial nobly. He was -completely hoodwinked. No fear now. If you could blind Howard Templeton -to the truth, there can be no trouble with the rest of the world." - -"And yet once or twice I was terribly frightened," said the girl -musingly. "The looks he gave me, the tones of his voice, sometimes his -very words, made me tremble with fear. It was, as you say, a terrible -test, but I am glad now that I risked it, for I believe that I have -succeeded in blinding him. All goes well with us, mamma. Doctor Shirley -and Howard Templeton have been completely deceived. The rest will be -very easy of accomplishment." - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - -Thanks to the gossiping tongue of old Doctor Shirley, the interesting -news regarding Mrs. St. John speedily became a widespread and accepted -fact in society. - -It was quite a nine days' wonder at first, and in connection with its -discussion a vast deal of speculation was indulged in regarding the -possible future of Mr. Howard Templeton, the fair and gilded youth whose -heritage might soon be wrested from him, leaving him to battle -single-handed with the world. - -Before people had stopped wondering over it, Mrs. Egerton added her -quota to the excitement by the information that her niece, Mrs. St. -John, had gone abroad, taking her mother and sister with her. - -_She_ had wanted Lora with _her_ that season--she had long ago promised -Mrs. Carroll to give Lora a season in the city--but the girl was so wild -over the idea of travel that Xenie had taken her with her for company, -acting on the advice of Doctor Shirley, who declared that change of -scene and cheerful company were actually essential to the preservation -of the young invalid's life. - -The old doctor, when people interrogated him, confirmed Mrs. Egerton's -assertion. - -He said that Mrs. St. John had fallen into a state of depression and -melancholy so deep as to threaten her health and even her life. - -He had advocated an European tour as the most likely means of rousing -her from her grief and restoring her cheerful spirits, and she had -taken him at his word and gone. - -So when Howard Templeton, who had gone down into the country on a little -mysterious mission of his own the day after his visit to Lora Carroll, -returned to the city, he was electrified by the announcement that Mrs. -St. John, with her mother and sister, had sailed for Europe two days -previous. - -Howard was unfeignedly surprised and confounded at the news. - -His face was a study for a physiognomist as he revolved it in his mind. - -He went to his private room, ensconced himself in the easiest chair, -elevated his feet several degrees higher than his head, and with his -fair, clustering locks and bright, blue eyes half obscured in a cloud of -cigar smoke, tried to digest the astonishing fact which he had just -learned. - -It did not take him long to do so. - -The brain beneath the white brow and fair, clustering curls was a very -clear and lucid one. - -He sprang to his feet at last, and said aloud: - -"How clever she is, to be sure! It is the most natural thing in the -world and the easiest way of carrying out her daring scheme. How -perfectly it will smooth over everything." - -He walked up and down the richly carpeted room in his blue Turkish silk -dressing-gown, his dark brows drawn together in a thoughtful frown, the -lights and shades of conflicting feelings faithfully mirrored on his -fair and handsome face. - -"Why not?" he said, aloud, presently, as if discussing some vexed -problem with his inner consciousness. "Why not? I have as good a right -to follow as she had to go. I need have no compunctions about spending -Uncle John's money. The stroke of fate has not fallen yet. The fabled -sword of Damocles hangs suspended over my head, still it may never fall. -And in the meantime, why shouldn't I enjoy an European tour? I will, by -Jove, I'll follow my Lady Lora by the next steamer. And then--ah, -then--checkmate my lady." - -He laughed grimly, and nodded at his full length reflection in the long -pier-glass at the end of the room. - -Then after that moment of exultation a different mood seemed to come -over him. His handsome face became grave and even sad. - -Throwing himself down carelessly upon a luxurious divan, he took up a -volume of poetry lying near and tried to lose himself in its pages. - - "Alas! how easily things go wrong, - A sigh too much or a kiss too long-- - And there follows a mist and a blushing rain, - And life is never the same again." - -He read the words out moodily, then threw the book down impatiently upon -the floor. - -"These foolish poets!" he said, half-angrily. "They seem always to be -aiming at the sore spots in a fellow's heart. How they rake over the -ashes of a dead love and strew them along one's path. Love! how strange -the word sounds now, when I hate _her_ so bitterly!" - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - -"Darling, how beautiful the sea is. Look how the sun sparkles on the -emerald waves, like millions and millions of the brightest diamonds." - -Poor little Lora, sitting in the easy-chair on the wide veranda of the -little ornate cottage, a forlorn little figure in the deepest of sables, -looked up in her sister's face an instant, then burst into a passion of -bitter tears. - -"The sea, the sea," she moaned despairingly. "Oh! why did you bring me -here? I hate the sight and the sound of it! Oh! my poor Jack! my poor -Jack!" - -Mrs. St. John and Mrs. Carroll exchanged compassionate yet troubled -glances, and the latter said gently, yet remonstratingly: - -"My dear, my dear, indeed you must not give up to your feelings on every -occasion like this. In your weak state of health it is positively -dangerous to allow such excitement." - -"I don't care, I don't care," wept Lora wildly, hiding her convulsed -face against Xenie's compassionate breast. "My heart is broken! I have -nothing left to live for, and I wish that I were dead!" - -"Darling, let me lead you in. Perhaps if you will lie down and rest you -will feel better in both body and mind," said Mrs. St. John, in the -gentle, pitying accents used to a sick child. - -Lora arose obediently, and leaning on Xenie's arm, was led into her -little, airy, white-hung chamber. There her sister persuaded her to lie -down upon a lounge while she hovered about her, rendering numberless -gentle little attentions, and talking to her in soft, soothing tones. - -"Xenie, you are so kind to me," said the invalid, looking at her sister, -with a beam of gratitude shining in her large, tearful, dark eyes. - -"It is a selfish kindness after all, though, my darling," said Mrs. St. -John, gently, "for you know I expect a great reward for what I have done -for you. My sisterly duty and my own selfish interest have gone -hand-in-hand in this case." - -A bright, triumphant smile flashed over her beautiful features as she -spoke, and the invalid, looking at her, sighed wearily. - -"Xenie," she said, half-hesitatingly, "do not be angry, dear, but I wish -you would give up this wild passion of revenge that possesses you. I lie -awake nights thinking of it and of my troubles, and I feel more and more -that it will be a dreadful deception. Are you not afraid?" - -"Afraid of what?" inquired her sister, with a little, impatient ring in -the clear, musical tones of her voice. - -"Afraid of--of being found out," said Lora, sinking her voice to the -faintest whisper. - -"There is not the least danger," returned her sister, confidently. "We -have managed everything so cleverly there will never be the faintest -clew even if the ruse were ever suspected, which it will never be, for -who would dream of such a thing? Lora, my dear little sister, I would do -much for you, but don't ask me to give up my revenge upon Howard -Templeton. I hate him so for his despicable cowardice that nothing on -earth would tempt me to forego the sweetness of my glorious vengeance." - -"Yet once you loved him," said Lora, with a grave wonder in her sad, -white face. - -She stared and flushed at Lora's gently reproachful words. - -She remembered suddenly that someone else had said those words to her in -just the same tone of wonder and reproach. - -The night of her short-lived triumph came back into her mind--that -brilliant bridal-night when she and Howard Templeton had declared war -against each other--war to the knife. - -"Yes, once I loved him," she said, with a tone of bitter self-scorn. -"But listen to me, Lora. Suppose Jack had treated you as Howard -Templeton did me?" - -"Jack could not have done it; he loved me too truly," said Lora, lifting -her head in unconscious pride. - -"You are right, Lora, Jack Mainwaring could not have done it. Few men -could have been so base," said Xenie, bitterly. "But, Lora, dear, -suppose he _had_ treated you so cruelly--mind, I only say -suppose--should you not have hated him for it, and wanted to make his -heart ache in return?" - -Lora was silent a moment. The beautiful young face, so like Xenie's in -outline and coloring, so different in its expression of mournful -despair, took on an expression of deep tenderness and gentleness as she -said, at length: - -"No Xenie, I could not have hated Jack even if he had acted like Mr. -Templeton. I am very poor-spirited perhaps; but I believe if Jack had -treated me so I might have hated the sin, but I could not have helped -loving the sinner." - -"Ah, Lora, you do not know how you would have felt in such a case. You -have been mercifully spared the trial. Let us drop the subject," -answered Xenie, a little shortly. - -Lora sighed wearily and turned her head away, throwing her -black-bordered handkerchief over her face. - -Her sister stood still a moment, watching the quiet, recumbent figure, -then went to the window, and, drawing the lace curtains aside, stood -silently looking out at the beautiful sea, with the sunset glories -reflected in the opalescent waves, the soft, spring breeze fluttering -the silken rings of dark hair that shaded her broad, white brow. - -As she stood there in the soft sunset light in her bright young beauty -and rich attire, a smile of proud triumph curved her scarlet lips. - -"Ah, Howard Templeton," she mused, "the hour of my triumph is close at -hand." - -And then, in a gentler tone, while a shade of anxiety clouded her face, -she added: - -"But poor little Lora! Pray God all may go well with her!" - -The roseate hues of sunset faded slowly out, and the purple twilight -began to obscure everything. - -One by one the little stars sparkled out and took their wonted places in -the bright constellations of Heaven. - -Still Xenie remained motionless at the window, and still Lora lay -quietly on her couch, her pale, anguished young face hidden beneath the -mourning handkerchief. - -Her sister turned around once and looked at her, thinking she was -asleep. - -But suddenly in the darkness that began to pervade the room, Xenie -caught a faint and smothered moan of pain. - -Instantly she hurried to Lora's side. - -"My dear, are you in pain?" she said. - -Lora raised herself and looked at Xenie's anxious face. - -"I--oh, yes, dear," she said, in a frightened tone; "I am ill. Pray go -and send mother to me." - -Mrs. St. John pressed a tender kiss on the pain-drawn lips and hurried -out to seek her mother. - -She found her in the little dining-room of the cottage laying the cloth -and making the tea. She looked up with a gentle, motherly smile. - -"My dear, you are hungry for your tea--you and Lora, I expect," she -said. "I let the maid go home to stay with her ailing mother to-night, -and promised to make the tea myself. It will be ready now in a minute. -Is Lora asleep?" - -"Lora is ill, mamma. I will finish the tea, and you must go to her," -said Xenie, with a quiver in her low voice, as she took the cloth from -her mother's hand. - -"Lora sick?" said Mrs. Carroll. "Well, Xenie, I rather expected it. I -will go to her. Never mind about the tea, dear, unless you want some -yourself." - -She bustled out, and Xenie went on mechanically setting the tea-things -on the little round table, scarcely conscious of what she was doing, so -heavy was her heart. - -She loved her sister with as fond a love as ever throbbed in a sister's -breast and Lora's peril roused her sympathies to their highest pitch. - -Finishing her simple task at last, she filled a little china cup with -fragrant tea and carried it to the patient's room. - -Mrs. Carroll had enveloped Lora in her snowy embroidered night-robe, and -she lay upon the bed looking very pale and preternaturally calm to -Xenie's excited fancy. - -She drank a little of the tea, then sent Xenie away with it, telling her -that she felt quite easy then. - -"Go and sit on the veranda as usual, my dear," Mrs. Carroll said, -kindly. "I will sit with Lora myself." - -"You will call me if I am needed?" asked Mrs. St. John, hesitating on -the threshold. - -"Yes, dear." - -So Xenie went away very sad and heavy-hearted, as if the burden of some -intangible sorrow rested painfully upon her oppressed and aching heart. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - -Xenie sat down in the easy-chair on the veranda and looked out at the -mystical sea spread out before her gaze, with the moon and stars -mirrored in its restless bosom. - -Everything was very still. No sound came to her ears save the restless -beat of the waves upon the shore. She leaned forward with her arms -folded on the veranda rail, and her chin in the hollow of one pink palm, -gazing directly forward with dark eyes full of heavy sadness and pain. - -She was tired and depressed. Lora had been ill and restless for many -nights past, and Xenie and Mrs. Carroll had kept alternate vigils by her -sleepless couch. - -The last night had been Xenie's turn, and now the strange, narcotic -influence of her grief for Lora combined with physical weariness to -weigh her eyelids down. - -After an interval of anxious listening for sounds from the sick-room, -her heavy head dropped wearily on her folded arms, and she fell asleep. - -Sleeping, she dreamed. It seemed to her that Howard Templeton, whom once -she loved so madly, whom now she bitterly hated, came to her side, and -looking down upon her in the sweet spring moonlight, laid his hand upon -her and said, gravely, and almost imploringly: - -"Xenie, this is the turning-point in your life. Two paths lay before -you. Choose the right one and all will go well with you. Peace and -happiness will be yours. But choose the evil path and the finger of -scorn will one day be pointed at you so that you will not dare to lift -your eyes for shame." - -In her dream Xenie thought that she threw off her enemy's hand with -scorn and loathing. - -Then it seemed to her that he gathered her up in his arms and was about -to cast her into the deep, terrible sea, when she awoke with a great -start, and found herself struggling in the arms of her mother, who had -lifted her out of the chair, and was saying, impatiently: - -"Xenie, Xenie! child, wake up. You will get your death of cold sleeping -out here in the damp night air, and the wind and moisture from the sea -blowing over you." - -Xenie shook herself free from her mother's grasp, and looked around her -for her deadly foe, so real had seemed her dream. - -But she saw no tall, proud, manly form, no handsome, blonde face gazing -down upon her as she looked. - -There was only the cold, white moonlight lying in silvery bars on the -floor, and her mother still shaking her by the arm. - -"Xenie, Xenie, wake up," she reiterated. "Here I have been shaking and -shaking you, and all in vain. You slept like the dead." - -"Mamma, I was dreaming," said Mrs. St. John, coming back to herself with -a start. "What is the matter? What is the matter? Is my sister worse?" - -Mrs. Carroll took her daughter's hand and drew her inside the hallway, -then shut and locked the door. - -"No, Xenie," she said, abruptly, "Lora is not worse--she is better. Are -you awake? Do you know what I am saying? Lora has a beautiful son." - -"Oh, mamma, it was but a minute ago that I went out on the veranda." - -Mrs. Carroll laughed softly. - -"Oh, no, my dear. It was several hours ago. You have been asleep a long -time. It is nearly midnight." - -"And Lora really has a son, mamma?" - -"Yes, Xenie: the finest little fellow I ever saw." - -"You promised to call me if she became worse and you needed me," said -Mrs. St. John, reproachfully. - -"I did not need you, dear. I did everything for Lora my own self," said -Mrs. Carroll, with a sort of tender pride in her voice. - -"And she is doing well? I may see her--and the baby--my little son!" -exclaimed Xenie, with a sudden ring of triumph in her voice. - -"Yes, she is doing well; a little flighty now and then, and very weak; -she could not bear the least excitement. But you shall go to her in a -minute. She wished it." - -They went into the dimly-lighted, quiet room, and Xenie kissed her -sister and cried over her very softly. Then she took the bundle of warm -flannel out of Lora's arms and uncovered a red and wrinkled little face. - -"Why, mamma, you said it was beautiful," she said, disappointedly; "and -I am bound to confess that, to me, it looks like a very old and wrinkled -little man." - -Mrs. Carroll laughed very softly. - -"I don't believe you ever met with a very young baby before, my dear," -she said. "I assure you he is quite handsome for his age, and he will -improve marvelously in a week's time." - -Xenie stood still, holding the babe very close and tight in her arms, -while a dazzling smile of triumph parted her beautiful scarlet lips. She -hated to lay it down, for while she held it warm and living against her -breast she seemed to taste the full sweetness of the wild revenge she -had planned against her enemy. - -"Oh, mamma, Lora," she cried, "how impatiently I have waited for this -hour! And now I am so glad, so glad! We will go home soon, now--as soon -as our darling is well enough to travel--and then I shall triumph to the -uttermost over Howard Templeton." - -She kissed the little pink face tenderly and exultantly two or three -times, then laid him back half-reluctantly on his mother's impatient -arm. - -"He is my little son," she whispered, gently; "for you are going to give -him to me, aren't you, Lora?" - -A weary sigh drifted over the white lips of the beautiful young mother. - -"I will lend him to you, Xenie, for I have promised," she murmured; -"but, oh, my sister, does it not seem cruel and wrong to take such an -innocent little angel as that for the instrument of revenge?" - -Xenie drew back, silent and offended. - -"Xenie, darling, don't be angry," pleaded Lora's weak and faltering -tones; "I will keep my promise. You shall call him yours, and the world -shall believe it. He shall even call you mother, but you must let me be -near him always--you must let him love me a little, dear, because I am -his own dear mother." - -She paused a moment, then added, in faint accents: - -"And, Xenie, you will call him Jack--for his father's sake, you know." - -"Yes, darling," Xenie answered, tenderly, melted out of her momentary -resentment by the pathos of Lora's looks and words, "it shall all be as -you wish. I only wish to call him mine before the world, you know. I -would not take him wholly from you, my little sister." - -"A thousand thanks," murmured Lora, feebly, then she put up her white -arm and drew Xenie's face down to hers. - -"I have been dreaming, dear," she said. "It seemed to me in my dream as -if my poor Jack were not dead after all. It seemed to me he escaped from -the terrible fire and shipwreck, and came back to me brave and handsome, -and loving, as of old. It seems so real to me even now that I feel as -though I could go out and almost lay my hand upon my poor boy's head. -Ah, Xenie, if it only could be so!" - -Mrs. St. John looked across at her mother, and Mrs. Carroll shook her -head warningly. Then she said aloud, in a soothing tone: - -"These are but sick fancies, dear. You must not think of Jack any more -to-night, but of your pretty babe." - -"Grandmamma is quite proud of her little grandson already," said Xenie, -with tender archness. - -"Mamma, shall you really love the little lad? You were so angry at -first," Lora said, falteringly. - -"That is all over with now, my daughter. I shall love my little grandson -as dearly as I love his mother, soon," replied Mrs. Carroll; "but now, -love, I cannot allow you to talk any longer. Excitement is not good for -you. Run away to bed, Xenie. We do not need you to-night." - -"Let me stay and share your vigil," pleaded Xenie. - -"No, it is my turn to-night. Last night you sat up, you know. I will -steal a little rest upon the lounge when Lora gets composed to sleep -again." - -Xenie went away to her room and threw herself across the bed, dressed as -she was, believing that she was too excited to go to sleep again. - -But a gradual drowsiness stole over her tumultuous thoughts, and she was -soon wrapped in a troubled, dreamful slumber. - -Daylight was glimmering faintly into the room, when Mrs. Carroll rushed -in, pale and terrified, and shook her daughter wildly. - -"Oh, Xenie, wake, wake, for God's sake!" she cried, in the wildest -accents of despair and terror. "Such a terrible, terrible thing has -happened to Lora!" - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - - -Xenie sprang to her feet, broad awake at those fearful words. - -"Oh, mamma!" she gasped, in terror-stricken accents, "what is it? My -sister--is she worse? Is she----" - -She thought of death, but she paused, and could not bring her lips to -frame that terrible word, and stood waiting speechlessly, with parted -lips and frightened, dark eyes, for her mother to speak. - -But Mrs. Carroll, as if that one anguished sentence had exhausted all -her powers, fell forward across the bed, her face growing purple, her -lips apart in a frantic struggle for breath. - -Xenie hurriedly caught up a pitcher of water standing near at hand, and -dashed it into her convulsed face, with the quick result of seeing her -shiver, gasp, and spring up again. - -"Mamma, speak!" she cried, shaking her wildly by the arm; "what has -happened to you? What has happened to Lora?" - -Mrs. Carroll's eyes, full of a dumb, agonizing terror, turned upon -Xenie's wild, white face. - -She tried to speak, but the words died chokingly in her throat, and she -lifted her hand and pointed toward the door. - -Instantly Xenie turned, and rushed from the room. - -As she crossed the narrow hallway a breath of the fresh, chilly morning -air blew across her face. The door that Mrs. Carroll had securely locked -the night before was standing wide open, and the wind from the sea was -blowing coolly in. - -With a terrible foreboding of some impending calamity, Xenie sprang -through the open doorway of Lora's room, and ran to the bed. - -Oh! horrors, the bed was empty! - -The beautiful young mother and the little babe, the day-star of Xenie's -bright hopes, were gone! - -Xenie looked around her wildly, but the pretty little chamber was silent -and tenantless. - -With a cry of fear and dread commingled, she rushed toward the door, and -encountered her mother creeping slowly in, like a pallid ghost, in the -chilly, glimmering dawn of the new day. - -"Oh, mamma, where is Lora?" she cried, in a faint voice, while her limbs -seemed to totter beneath her. - -Mrs. Carroll shook her head, and put her hands to her throat, while her -pallid features seemed to work with convulsive emotion. The terrible -shock she had sustained seemed to have stricken her dumb. - -"Oh, mamma, mamma, cannot you speak? Cannot you tell me?" implored her -daughter. - -But by signs and gestures Mrs. Carroll made her understand that the -terrible constriction in her throat made it impossible for her to utter -a word. - -For a moment Mrs. St. John stood still, like a silent statue of despair, -but with a sudden inspiration she brought writing materials, placed them -on a small table, and said to her mother: - -"Sit down, mamma, and write what you know." - -Mrs. Carroll's anguished face brightened at the suggestion. She sat down -quickly at the little table, and drawing a sheet of paper toward her, -dipped the pen into the ink, and began to write. - -Xenie leaned over her shoulder, and watched eagerly for the words that -were forming beneath her hand. - -But, alas, the nervous shock her mother had sustained made her hand -tremble like an aspen leaf. - -Great, sprawling, blotted, inky characters soon covered the fair sheet -thickly, but among them all there was not one legible word. - -Xenie groaned aloud in her terrible impatience and pain. - -"Oh, mamma, try again!" she wailed. "Write slowly and carefully. Rest -your arm upon the table, and let your hand move slowly--very slowly." - -And with an impotent moan, Mrs. Carroll took another sheet of paper and -tried to subdue her trembling hands to the task for whose fulfillment -her daughter was waiting so anxiously. - -But again the blotted characters were wholly illegible. No effort of the -mother's will could still the nervous, trembling hands, and render -legible the anguished words she laboriously traced upon the paper. - -She sighed hopelessly as her daughter shook her head. - -"Never mind, mamma," she said, "let it go, you are too nervous to form a -single letter legibly. I will ask you some questions instead, and you -will bow when your answer should be affirmation, and shake your head to -indicate the negative." - -Mrs. Carroll gave the required token of assent to this proposition. - -"Very well. Now I will ask you the first question," said Xenie, trying -to subdue her quivering voice into calm accents. "Mamma, did Lora go to -sleep after I left you together?" - -A shake of the head negatived the question. - -"She was restless and flighty, then, perhaps, still dwelling on her -dream about her husband?" - -This question received an affirmative answer. - -"But after awhile she became composed and fell asleep--did she not?" -continued Mrs. St. John. - -Mrs. Carroll bowed, her lips moving continually in a vain and yearning -effort after words. - -"And then you lay down upon the lounge to snatch a few minutes of -repose?" asserted Xenie. - -Again she received an affirmative reply. - -"Mamma, did you sleep long?" was the next question. - -Mrs. Carroll shook her head with great energy. - -"Oh! no, of course you did not!" exclaimed Xenie, quickly, "for it was -midnight when I left you, and if Lora was wakeful and restless it must -have been several hours before either one fell asleep. And it is not -daylight yet, so you must have slept a very little while. Were you -awakened by any noise, mamma?" - -The question was instantly negatived. - -"You were nervous and ill at ease, then, and simply awoke of yourself?" -continued Mrs. St. John, anxiously. - -Mrs. Carroll's earnest, dark eyes said yes almost as plainly as her -bowed head. - -"And when you woke, Lora and the babe were gone, mamma, and the front -door stood wide open--is that the way of it, mamma?" continued Xenie, -anxiously watching her mother's face for the confirmation of her -question. - -Mrs. Carroll gave assent to it while a hoarse wail of anguish issued -from her drawn, white lips. - -Xenie echoed the wail, and for a moment her white face was hidden in her -hands while the most terrible apprehension stabbed her to the heart. - -Then she looked up and said quickly: - -"She must have wandered away in a momentary fit of flightiness--don't -you think so?" - -And again Mrs. Carroll gave a quick motion of assent. - -"Then I must find her, mamma," said Xenie, quickly. "She cannot have -gone very far. She was too weak to get away from us unless---- Oh! my -God! she cannot have gone to the water!" moaned Xenie, clasping her -hands in horror. - -Mrs. Carroll looked as if she were going into a fit at the bare -suggestion. - -Her face turned purple again, her eyes stared wildly, she clutched at -her throat like one choking. - -Xenie forced her back upon the lounge, applied restoratives, then -exclaimed wildly: - -"Mamma, I cannot bear to leave you thus, but I must go and seek for my -sister. Even now she may be perishing in reach of our hands. Ninon, the -maid, will be here in a little while. She will care for you, and I will -bring back my poor little Lora." - -She kissed her mother's face as she spoke, then hurried out, shawlless -and bare-headed, into the chill morning air. - -It was a dark and gloomy dawn, with a drizzle of rain falling steadily -through the murky atmosphere. - -A fine, white mist was drawn over the sea like a winding sheet. The sun -had not tried to rise over the dismal prospect. - -Xenie ran heedlessly down the veranda steps, and bent her steps to the -seashore, looking about her carefully as she went, and calling -frantically all the time: - -"Lora, Lora, Lora! Where are you, my darling? Where are you?" - -But no answer came to her wild appeal. - -The soft, low patter of the steady rain, and the solemn sound of the -waves as they madly surged upon the shore, seemed like a funeral requiem -in her ears. - -She could not bear the awful voice of the sea, for she remembered that -Lora had hated it because her husband was buried in its illimitable -waves. - -But suddenly a faint and startling sound came to her ears. - -She thought it was the moan of the wind rising at first, then it sounded -again almost at her feet--the shrill, sharp wail of an infant. - -Xenie turned around and saw, not twenty paces from her, a little bundle -of soft, white flannel lying upon the wet sand. - -She ran forward with a scream of joy, and picked it up in her arms, and -drew aside one corner of the little embroidered blanket. - -Joy, joy! it was Lora's baby--Lora's baby, lying forlorn and deserted on -the wet sand with the hungry waves rolling ever nearer and nearer toward -it, as though eager to draw it down in their cold and fatal embrace. - -With a low murmur of joy, Xenie kissed the cold little face and folded -it closely in her arms. - -"Lora cannot be very far now," she thought, her heart beating wildly -with joy. "She was so weak the babe has slipped from her arms, and she -did not know it. She will come back directly to find it." - -She ran along the shore, looking through the gray dawn light everywhere -for her sister, and calling aloud in tender accents: - -"Lora, Lora, my darling!" - -But suddenly, as she looked, she saw a strangely familiar form coming -toward her along the sand. - -It was a man clothed in a gray tweed traveling suit, such as tourists -wear abroad. - -He stopped with a cry of surprise as they met, and there on the wild -shores of France, with the rain beating down on her bare head and thin -dress, with Lora's baby tightly clasped in her bare arms, Xenie St. John -found herself face to face with her enemy. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - - -Like one stricken motionless by terror, she stood still and looked up -into the proud face and scornful blue eyes of the man she had thought -far, far away beneath the skies of his native land. - -The ground seemed slipping from beneath her feet, the wild elements -seemed whirling aimlessly over her head; she forgot Lora, she forgot the -child that nestled against her breast; she remembered nothing else but -her enemy's presence and the deadly peril to which her secret was -exposed. - -"Howard Templeton," she panted forth wildly, "why are you here?" - -"Mrs. St. John," he returned, with a bitter smile, "I might rather ask -you that question. What are _you_ doing here in this stormy dawn, with -your bare head and your thin slippers and evening dress? Permit me to -offer you my cloak. Do you forget that it is cold and rainy, that you -court certain death for yourself and the--the----" - -He paused without ending the sentence and looked at the little white -bundle lying helpless in her arms, and a steely gleam of hatred flared -into his eyes. - -"The child," she said, finishing the sentence for him with a passionate -quiver of joy in her voice, "_my_ child--Howard Templeton--the little -one that has come to me to avenge his mother's wrongs. Look at him. This -is your uncle's heir, this tiny little babe! He will strip you of every -dollar you now hold so unjustly, and his mother's revenge will then be -complete." - -She turned back a corner of the blanket, and gave him a glimpse of the -little pink face, and the babe set up a feeble and pitiful little wail. - -It was as though the unconscious little creature repeated its mother's -plaintive remonstrance against making such an innocent little angel the -instrument for consummating a cruel revenge. - -But Xenie was deaf to the voice of conscience, or she might have fancied -that its accusing voice spoke loudly in the wail of the little babe. - -She looked at Howard Templeton with a glow of triumph in her face, her -black eyes shining like stars. - -The wind and the rain tossed her dark, loosened ringlets about her, -making her look like some mad creature with that wicked glow of anger -and revenge in her beautiful, spirited face. - -"Say, is it not a glorious revenge?" she cried. "You scorned me because -I was poor. I was young, I was fair, I was loving and true, but all that -counted for nothing in your eyes. For lack of gold you left me. Did you -think my heart would break in silence? Ah, no, I swore to give you back -pang for pang, and I have taken from you all that your base heart ever -held dear--gold, shining gold. Through me you will be stripped of all. -Is it not a brilliant victory? Ha! ha!" - -His blue eyes flashed down into her vivid, black ones, giving her hate -for hate and scorn for scorn. In a low, concentrated voice, he said: - -"Are you not afraid to taunt me thus? Look there at that seething ocean -beneath its shroud of mist. Do you see that no one is near? Do you know -that there is no one in hearing? Suppose I should take you up with your -revenge in your arms and cast you into yonder sea? The opportunity is -mine, the temptation is great." - -"Yet you will not do it," she answered, giving him a glance of superb -scorn. - -"Why do you say I will not do it?" he asked; "why should I spare you? -You have not spared me! You are trying to wrest my inheritance from me. -We are sworn and deadly foes. I have nothing to lose by your death, -everything to gain. Why should I not take the present opportunity and -sweep you from my path forever?" - -He paused and looked down at her in passionate wrath while he wondered -what she would say to all this; but she was silent. - -"Again I ask you why should I spare you?" he repeated; "are you not -afraid of my vengeance, Xenie St. John?" - -"No, I am not afraid," she repeated, defiantly, yet even as she spoke he -saw that a shudder that was not of the morning's cold shook her graceful -form. A sudden consciousness of the truth that lurked in his words had -rushed over her. - -"Yes, we _are_ deadly foes," she repeated to herself, with a deeper -consciousness of the meaning of those words than she had ever had -before. "Why should he spare me, since I am wholly in his power?" - -His voice broke in suddenly on her swift, tumultuous thoughts, making -her start with its cold abruptness. - -"Ah, I see that you begin to realize your position," he said, icily. -"What is your revenge worth now in this moment of your deadly peril? Is -it dearer to you than your life?" - -"Yes, it is dearer to me than my life," she answered, steadily. "If -nothing but my life would buy revenge for me I would give it freely!" - -He regarded her a moment with a proud, silent scorn. She returned the -gaze with interest, but even in her passionate anger and hatred she -could not help owning to her secret heart that she had never seen him -looking so handsome as he did just then in the rough but well-fitting -tweed suit, with the glow of the morning on his fair face, and that -light of scorn in his dark-blue eyes. - -Suddenly he spoke: - -"Well, go your way, Xenie St. John. You are in my way, but it is not by -this means I will remove you from it. I am not a murderer--your life is -safe from my vengeance. Yet I warn you not to go further in your wild -scheme of vengeance against me. It can only result in disaster to -yourself. I am forewarned of your intentions and your wicked plot. You -can never wrest from me the inheritance that Uncle John intended for -me!" - -"We shall see!" she answered, with bold defiance, undaunted by his -threatening words. - -Then, as the little babe in her arms began to moan pitifully again, she -remembered the dreadful trouble that had sent her out into the rain, and -turning from him with a sudden wail of grief, she began to run along the -shore, looking wildly around for some trace of the lost one. - -She heard Howard's footsteps behind her, and redoubled her speed, but in -a minute his hand fell on her shoulder, arresting her flight. He spoke -hastily: - -"I heard you calling for Lora before I met you--speak, tell me if she -also is wandering out here like a madwoman, and why?" - -She turned on him fiercely. - -"What does it matter to you, Howard Templeton?" - -"If she is lost I can help you to find her," he retorted. "What can you -do? A frail woman wandering in the rain with a helpless babe in your -arms!" - -Bitterly as she hated him, an overpowering sense of the truth of his -words rushed over her. - -She hated that he should help her and yet she could not let her own -angry scruples stand in the way of finding Lora. - -She looked up at him and the hot tears brimmed over in her black eyes -and splashed upon her white cheeks. - -"Lora is missing," she answered, in a broken voice. "She has been ill, -and last night she wandered in her mind. This morning while mamma and I -slept she must have stolen away in her delirium. Mamma was prostrated by -the shock, and I came out alone to find her." - -"You should have left the child at home. It will perish in the rain and -cold," he said, looking at her keenly. - -She shivered and grew white as death, but pressed the babe closer to her -breast that the warmth of her own heart might protect its tender life. - -"Why did you bring the child?" he persisted, still watching her keenly. - -"I will not tell you," she answered, defiantly, but with a little shiver -of dread. What if he had seen her when she found it on the sands? - -"Very well; you shall not stay out longer with it, at least. Granted -that we are deadly foes--still I have a man's heart in my breast. I -would not willingly see a woman perish. Go home, Xenie, and care for -your mother. I will undertake the search for Lora. If I find her you -shall know it immediately. I promise you." - -He took the heavy cloak from his own shoulders and fastened it around -her shivering form. - -She did not seem to notice the action, but stood still mechanically, her -dark, tearful eyes fixed on the mist-crowned sea. He followed her gaze, -and said in a quick tone of horror: - -"You do not believe she is in there? It would be too horrible!" - -"Oh, my God!" Mrs. St. John groaned, with a quiver of awful dread in her -voice. - -He shivered through all his strong, lithe young frame. The thought of -such a death was terrible to him. - -"You said she was ill and delirious?" he said, abruptly. - -"Yes," she wailed. - -"Poor Lora--poor little Lora!" he exclaimed, with a sudden tone of pity. -"Alas! is it not too probable that she has met her death in those fatal -waves?" - -"Oh, she could not, she could not," Xenie moaned, wildly. "She hated the -sea. Her lover was drowned in it. She could not bear the sight or the -sound of it." - -He did not answer for a moment. He was looking away from her with a -great, solemn dread and pity in his beautiful, blue eyes. Suddenly he -said, abruptly: - -"Go home, Mrs. St. John, and stay there until you hear news. I will go -and arouse the village. I will have help in the search, and if she is -found we will bring her home. If she is not, God help you, for I fear -she has drowned herself in the sea." - -With a long, moaning cry of anguish, Xenie turned from him and sped -along the wet sand back to her mother. Howard Templeton watched the -flying figure on its way with a grave trouble in his handsome face, and -when she was out of sight, he turned in an opposite direction and -walked briskly along the sand, looking carefully in every direction. - -"They talk of judgment," he muttered. "Has God sent this dreadful thing -upon Xenie St. John for her sinful plans? If it is so, surely it will -bring her to repentance. In the face of such a terrible affliction, she -must surely be afraid to persist in attempting such a stupendous fraud." - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - - -Half dead with weariness and sorrow, Mrs. St. John staggered into her -mother's presence with the wailing infant in her arms. - -She sank down upon the floor by the side of the couch and laid the child -on her mother's breast, moaning out: - -"I found him down there, lying on the wet sand all alone, mamma--all -alone! Oh! Lora, Lora!" - -A heart-rending moan broke from Mrs. Carroll's lips. Her face was gray -and death-like in the chill morning light. - -She closed her arms around the babe and strained it fondly to her -breast. - -"Mamma, are you better? Can you speak yet? I have much to tell you," -said Xenie, anxiously. - -Mrs. Carroll made a violent effort at articulation, then shook her head, -despairingly. - -"I will send for the doctor as soon as the maid returns. She cannot be -long now--it is almost broad daylight," said Xenie, with a heavy sigh. -"And in the meantime I will feed the babe. It is cold and hungry. Mamma, -shall I give it a little milk and water, warmed and sweetened?" - -Mrs. Carroll assented, and Xenie went out into the little kitchen, -lighted a fire and prepared the infant's simple nourishment. - -Returning to Lora's room, she sat down in a low rocker, took the child -in her arms, and carefully fed it from a teaspoon, first removing the -cold blanket from around it, and wrapping it in warm, dry flannels. - -Its fretful wails soon ceased under her tender care, and it fell into a -gentle slumber on her breast. - -"Now, mamma," she said, as she rocked the little sleeper gently to and -fro, "I will tell you what happened to me while I was searching for my -sister." - -In as few words as possible, she narrated her meeting with Howard -Templeton. - -Mrs. Carroll greeted the information with a groan. She was both -astonished and frightened at his appearance in France, when they had -supposed him safe in America. - -She struggled for speech so violently that the dreadful hysteric -constriction in her throat gave way before her mental anguish, and -incoherent words burst from her lips. - -"Oh, Xenie, he will know all now, and Lora's good name and your own -scheme of revenge will be equally and forever blasted! All is lost!" - -"No, no, mamma, that shall never be! He shall not find us out. I swear -it!" exclaimed her daughter passionately. "Let him peep and pry as he -will, he shall not learn anything that he could prove. We have managed -too cleverly for that." - -And then the next moment she cried out: - -"But, oh, mamma, you are better--you can speak again!" - -"Yes, thank Heaven!" breathed Mrs. Carroll, though she articulated with -difficulty, and her voice was hoarse and indistinct. "But, Xenie, what -could have brought Howard Templeton here? Can he suspect anything? Did -he know that we were here?" - -Xenie was silent for a moment, then she said, thoughtfully: - -"It may be that he vaguely suspects something wrong. Indeed, from some -words he used to me, I believe he did. But what then? It is perfectly -impossible that he could prove any charge he might make, so it matters -little what he suspects. Oh, mamma, you should have seen how black, how -stormy he looked when I showed him the child, and told him it was mine. -I should have felt so happy then had it not been for my fear and dread -over Lora." - -"My poor girl--my poor Lora!" wailed the stricken mother. "Oh, Xenie, I -am afraid she has cast herself into the sea." - -"Oh, no, do not believe it. She did not, she could not! You know how she -hated the sea. She has but wandered away, following her wild fancy of -finding her husband. She was too weak to go far. They will soon find her -and bring her back," said Xenie, trying to whisper comfort to the -bereaved heart of the mother, though her own lay heavy as lead in her -breast. - -She rose after a moment and went to the window. - -"It is strange that Ninon does not return to get the breakfast," she -said, looking out. "Can her mother be worse, do you think, mamma?" - -"She may be, but I hardly think it likely. She was better of the fever -the last time Ninon went to see her. It is likely that the foggy, rainy -morning has deceived her as to the lateness of the hour. She will be -along presently, no doubt," said Mrs. Carroll, carelessly; for her -trouble rendered her quite indifferent to her bodily comfort. - -Xenie sat down again, and rocked the babe silently for a little while. - -"Oh, mamma, how impatient I grow!" she said, at length. "It seems to me -I cannot wait longer. I must put the child down and go out again. I -cannot bear this dreadful suspense." - -"No, no; I will go myself," said Mrs. Carroll, struggling up feebly from -the lounge. "You are cold and wet now, my darling. You will get your -death out there in the rain. I must not lose both my darlings at once." - -But Xenie pushed her back again with gentle force. - -"No, mamma, you shall not go--you are already ill," she said. "Let the -child lie in your arms, and I will go to the door and see if anyone is -coming." - -Filled with alternate dread and hope, she went to the door and looked -out. - -No, there was naught to be seen but the rain and the mist--nothing to be -heard but the hollow moan of the ocean, or the shrill, piping voice of -the sea birds skimming across the waves. - -"It is strange that the maid does not come," she said again, oppressed -with the loneliness and brooding terror around her. - -She sat down again, and waited impatiently for what seemed a -considerable time; then she sprang up restlessly. - -"Mamma, I will just walk out a very little way," she said. "I must see -if anyone is coming yet." - -"You must not go far, then, Xenie." Mrs. Carroll remonstrated. - -Xenie dashed out into the rain again, and ran recklessly along the path, -looking far ahead of her as if to pierce the mystery that lay beyond -her. - -Presently she saw a young French girl plodding along toward her. - -It was Ninon, the belated maid. Over her arm she carried a dripping-wet -shawl. - -It was a pretty shawl, of warm woolen, finely woven, and striped with -broad bars of white and red. - -Xenie knew it instantly, and a cry of terror broke from her lips. It -belonged to Lora. - -She had seen it lying around her sister's shoulders when she kissed her -good-night; yet here it hung on Ninon's arms, wet and dripping, the -thick, rich fringes all matted with seaweed. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - - -Xenie's heart beat so fast at the sight of what Ninon was carrying that -she could not move another step. - -She had to stand still with her hands clasped over her throbbing side -and wait till the girl came up to her. Then: - -"Oh, Heaven, Ninon, where did you get that?" she gasped, looking at the -shawl with eyes full of horror, yet afraid to touch it, for it seemed -like some dead thing. - -"Oh, ma'amselle," faltered the girl stopping short and looking at -Xenie's anguished face. "Oh, ma'amselle," she faltered again, and her -pretty, piquant face grew white and her black eyes sought the ground, -for Ninon, although poor and lowly, had a very tender heart, and she -could not bear to see the anguish in the eyes of her young mistress. - -"I asked you where did you get that shawl?" Xenie repeated. "It was my -sister's shawl. She wore it last night, and now, to-day, she is missing. -Did you know that, Ninon?" - -"Yes," the girl answered, in her pretty, broken English. She had heard -it. A gentleman, a tourist, had brought the news to the village, and the -men were all out looking for her. - -Would her mistress come to the house? She had something to tell her, but -not out there in the cold and wet. She looked fit to drop, indeed she -did, declared the voluble, young French girl. - -So she half-led, half-dragged Mrs. St. John back to the cottage and into -the room where the stricken mother was waiting for tidings of her lost -one. - -The maid had a sorrowful story to tell. - -The waves had cast a dead body up on the beach an hour ago--the corpse -of a woman, thinly dressed in white, with long, beautiful black hair -flowing loosely and tangled with seaweed. - -They could not tell who she was, for--and here Ninon shuddered -visibly--the rough waves had battered and swollen her features utterly -beyond recognition. - -But they thought that she was young, for her limbs were white and round, -and beautifully moulded, and this shawl which Ninon carried had been -tightly fastened about her shoulders. - -The maid had recognized it and brought it with her to show the bereaved -mother and sister, and to ask if they wished to go and view the body and -try to identify it. - -All this the maid told sorrowfully and hesitatingly, while the two women -sat like statues and listened to her, every vestige of hope dying out of -their hearts at the pitiful story, and at length Xenie cast herself down -upon the wet shawl and wept and wailed over it as though it had been -the dead body of poor Lora herself lying there all wet and dripping with -the ocean spray before her anguished sight. - -Then Ninon begged her to listen to what she had to say further. - -"The gentleman is going to send a vehicle for you that you may go and -see the body, if you wish--I can hear the roll of the wheels now! Shall -I help you to get ready?" - -Xenie looked at her mother with a dumb inquiry on her beautiful, pallid -features. - -"Yes, go, dear, if you can bear it. Perhaps, after all, it may not be -our darling," said Mrs. Carroll, with a heavy sigh, even while she tried -to cheat her heart by the doubt which she felt to be a vain one. - -So, with Ninon's aid, Xenie changed her wet and drabbled garments for a -plain, black silk dress, and a black hat and thick veil. - -Then, leaving the maid to take care of her mother, Mrs. St. John entered -the vehicle and was driven to the place where a group of excited -villagers kept watch over a ghastly something upon the sand--the -mutilated semblance of a human being that the cruel sea had beaten and -buffeted beyond recognition. - -It was a terrible ordeal for that young, beautiful, and loving sister to -pass alone. - -As she stepped from the vehicle with a wildly-beating heart before the -curious scrutiny of the strangers around her, she involuntarily cast a -glance around her in the vague, scarce-defined belief that Howard -Templeton would be upon the scene. But, no, there was no sign of his -presence. - -Strangers advanced to lead her forward; strangers questioned her; -strangers drew back the sheet that had been reverently folded over the -dead, and showed her that ghastly form that all believed must have been -her sister. - -She knelt down, trying to keep back her sobs, and looked at the form -lying there in the awful majesty of death, with the cold, drizzling rain -beating down on its swollen, discolored features. - -How could that awful thing be Lora--her own, beautiful, tender Lora? - -And yet, and yet, that beautiful, long, black hair--that fine, -embroidered night-robe, hanging in tattered remnants now where the sea -had rent it--did they not belong to her sister? Sickening with an awful -dread, she touched one of the cold, white hands. - -It was a ghastly object now, swollen and livid, yet you could see that -once it had been a beautiful hand, delicate, dimpled, tapering. - -And on the slender, third finger, deeply imbedded in the swollen flesh, -were two rings--plain, broad, gold bands. Xenie's eyes fell upon them, -and with a wild, despairing cry, "Oh, Lora, my sister!" she fell upon -the wet sand, in a deep and death-like swoon. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - - -After leaving Xenie on the seashore, Howard Templeton walked away -hurriedly to the little fishing village, a mile distant, and gave the -alarm of Lora's disappearance. - -By a promise of large rewards, he speedily induced a party of men to set -out in separate directions to scour the adjacent country for the -wanderer. - -But scarcely had they set out on their mission when someone brought to -Howard the news of the corpse that old ocean had cast upon the sands. - -Dreading, yet fully expecting to behold the dead body of Lora Carroll, -Howard Templeton turned back and accompanied the man to the scene. - -They found a group of excited men and women gathered, on the shore, -drawn thither by that nameless fascination which the dreadful and -mysterious always possesses for every class of minds whether high or -low. - -Conspicuous in the group was Ninon, the pretty young maid-servant, and, -as Howard came upon the scene, she was volubly explaining to the -bystanders that the shawl which was tightly pinned about the shoulders -of the dead woman belonged to the missing girl for whom the men had gone -out to search. - -Was she quite sure of it, they asked her. Yes, she was quite sure. - -She had seen it night after night lying across the bed in the young -lady's sleeping-apartment. - -When she was ill and restless, as often happened, she would put it -around her shoulders and walk up and down the room for hours, weeping -and wringing her hands like one in sore distress. - -"Yes," Ninon said, she could swear to the shawl. She would take it home -with her and show it to her mistress, and they would see that she was -right. - -No one interfered to prevent her. - -With an irrepressible shudder at touching the dead, the girl drew out -the pins and took the wet shawl. - -Then, as she started on her homeward way, Howard Templeton, who had -stood still like one in a dream of horror, started forward and told her -that he himself would send a vehicle for the ladies, that they might -come if they wished to identify the body. - -For himself, he had no idea whether or not that the poor, bruised and -battered corpse could be Lora Carroll. - -He could see nothing that reminded him of her except the beautiful, -black hair lying about her head in heavy, clinging masses, sodden with -water and tangled with seaweed. - -He longed, yet dreaded, for Mrs. Carroll and her daughter to arrive and -confirm or dissipate his fears and end the dreadful suspense. - -And yet, with the rumble of the departing wheels of the conveyance he -had sent for them, a sudden cowardice stole over the young man's heart. - -He could not bear the thought of the anguish of which he might soon be -the witness. - -Obeying a sudden, inexplicable impulse, he turned from the little -company of watchers by the dead and walked off from them, taking the -course along the shore that led away from the little village. - -Oftentimes those simple little impulses that seem to us mere accidental -happenings, would appear in reality to be the actual fulfillment of some -divine design. - -Howard little dreamed, as he turned away with a kind of sick horror, -that was no shame to his manhood, from the sight of so much misery, that -"a spirit in his feet" was guiding him straight to the living Lora, even -while his heart foreboded that it was she who lay cold and lifeless on -the ocean shore. - -Yet so it was. True it is, as the great bard expresses it, that "there's -a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them as we will." - -Howard hurried along aimlessly, his thoughts so busy on one painful -theme that he took no note of where he was going, or how fast he went. - -He was a rapid walker usually, and when he at length brought himself to -a sudden abrupt stop he realized with a start that he had come several -miles at least. - -The rain had ceased, the sun had come out in all its majestic glory, and -beneath its fervid kisses the mist that hid the ocean was melting into -thin air. - -It bade fair to be a beautiful day, after all. - -The pearly rain-drops sparkled like diamonds on the leaves and flowers, -the sky was blue and beautiful, with here and there a little white cloud -sailing softly past. - -The day had began like many a life, in clouds and tears, but it promised -to close in as fair and sweet a serenity as many an early-shadowed life -has done. - -Howard involuntarily thought of the poet's beautiful lines: - - "Be still, sad heart, and cease repining, - Behind the clouds is the sun still shining! - Days of sunshine are given to all, - Though into each life some rain must fall." - -He paused and looked around him. He found that he had come into the -outskirts of another rude, little fishing village. - -A little ahead of him he could see the fishers bustling about on the -shore. - -"I have come four miles, at least," he said to himself. "What a great, -hulking, cowardly fellow I am to run that far from a woman's tears. Far -better have stayed and tried to dry them. Um! She wouldn't have let me," -he added, with a rueful second thought. - -Then, after a moment's idle gazing out at sea, aimlessly noting the -flash of a sea-gull's wing as it wheeled in the blue air above him, he -said, resolutely: - -"I'll go back, anyhow. Perhaps I can do something to help them. They are -but women--my countrywomen, too, and I'll not desert them in their -trouble, even though _she_ does hate me." - -He turned around suddenly to return, and the fate that was watching him -to prevent such a thing, placed a simple stone in the way. He stepped -upon it heedlessly, his ankle turned, and, with a sharp cry of pain, -Howard fell to the ground. - -He made an effort to rise, but the acute pains that suddenly darted -through his ankle caused him to fall back upon the wet sand in a hurry. - -"Umph! my ankle is evidently master of the situation," he thought, with -an expression of comical distress. - -Raising himself on his elbow, he shouted aloud to the men in the -distance, and presently two of them came running to his assistance. - -"I have sprained my ankle," he explained to them in their native tongue. -"Please assist me to rise, and I will try to walk." - -But when they took him by the arms and raised him up, they found that it -was impossible for him to walk. - -"This is a deuced bore at the present time, certainly," complained the -sufferer. "Can you get me any kind of a trap to drive me back to the -village yonder?" - -The peasants looked at him stupidly, and informed him carelessly that -there was nothing of the kind available. Only one man in the vicinity -owned a horse, and it had sickened and died a week before. - -Howard felt a great and exceeding temptation to swear a very small oath -at this crisis, but being too much of a gentleman to yield to this -wicked whisper of the evil one, groaned very loudly instead. - -"Then what the deuce am I to do?" he inquired, as much of himself as of -the two fishermen. "How am I to get away from this spot of wet sand? -Where am I to go?" - -The peasants scrutinized him as stupidly as before, and to all of these -questions answered flatly that they did not know, indeed. - -Howard thought within himself that the proverbial politeness of the -French was greatly tempered by stupidity in this case. - -"Well, then," he inquired next, "is there any kind of a hotel around -here?" - -"Yes, there was such a place," they informed him, readily; and Howard at -once begged them to summon aid and construct a litter for him, promising -to reward them liberally if they would carry him to the hotel. - -Gold--that magic "open sesame" to every heart--procured him ready and -willing attention. - -It was but a short while before he found himself in tolerably -comfortable quarters at the rude hotel of the fishing village, and -obsequiously waited upon by the single Esculapius the place afforded. - -Howard's sprain was pronounced very severe indeed. It was so painful -that he could not walk upon it at all, and was ordered to strict -confinement to his couch for three days. - -"A fine prospect, by Jove!" Howard commented, discontentedly. "What am I -to do shut up here three days in solitary confinement? and what will -those poor women do over yonder with not a single masculine soul to turn -to in their helplessness? Not that they wish my help, of course, but I -had meant to offer it to them all the same if there was anything I could -have done," he added, grimly, to his own self. - -The three days dragged away very drearily. On the fourth day Howard -availed himself of the aid of a crutch and got into the little public -room of the hotel. - -Among the few idlers that were gathered about in little friendly groups, -he saw a rather intelligent-looking fisherman going from one to another -with a small slip of paper in his hand. - -As they read it some shook their heads, and some dived into their -pockets and brought forth a few pence, which they dropped into the -fisherman's extended palm. - -Howard was quite curious by the time his turn came. He took the paper in -his hand and found it to be an humble petition for charity, which duly -set forth: - -"WHEREAS, an unknown woman lies ill of a fever at a house of one -Fanchette Videlet, a poor widow, almost without the necessaries of life, -it is here begged by the said widow that all Christian souls will -contribute a mite to the end of securing medical attendance and comforts -for the poor unknown wayfarer." - -This petition, which was written in excellent French, and duly signed -Fanchette Videlet, had a strange effect upon Howard Templeton. His face -grew pale as death; his eyes stared at the poor fisherman in perplexed -thought, while he absently plunged his hand into his pocket and drew it -out full of gold pieces. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - - -"Here, my man, take this," he said, putting the coins into the man's -hand. - -"Why, this is too much, sir," said the honest fisherman, holding his -hand out and looking at the gold in surprise. "You will rob yourself, -sir." - -"No, no; keep it. It is but a trifle," said Howard, pushing his hand -back. "But, pray, will you answer a few questions for me?" - -"As many as you like, sir--and thank you for your generosity," answered -the fisherman, politely. - -"I am very much interested in the sad story written here," said Howard, -glancing at the paper which he still held in his hand. - -"Yes, sir, it is very sad," assented the fisherman. - -"How came this unknown sick woman at the Widow Videlet's house?" -inquired Howard. - -"The poor soul came there a few days ago, sir. She was ill and quite out -of her head--could give no account of herself." - -"Can you tell me what day she came there?" - -"This makes the fourth day since she came, sir. I remember it was the -same day you were brought to the hotel." - -The young man started. It was the same day that Lora Carroll had -disappeared. - -Could it be Lora? Had it been some other waif the great sea had cast up -from its deep? - -"Did you see this woman? Could you describe her to me?" asked Howard, -eagerly. - -"I saw her the day she came wandering into Dame Videlet's cottage," was -the answer. - -"You can tell me how she looked then," said Howard, restraining his -impatience by a great effort. - -"Yes, sir. She was a mere girl in appearance--very young and very -beautiful, with black eyes and long, black hair. She was thinly clad in -a fine night-dress," answered the fisherman. - -"Did you say she was out of her mind?" asked Howard. - -"Yes, sir; she raved continually." - -"What form did her delirium take?" - -"Oh, sir," cried the fisherman, in a tone of pity and sympathy for the -wretched unknown, "it seemed like she had lost her baby. She was going -around from one to the other in the place asking, asking everyone, for -her baby. She said she was so tired and she had lost it out of her arms -in the rain and the darkness, and could not find it again." - -Howard's heart gave a great, tumultuous bound of surprise, then almost -stopped beating with the suddenness of the shock. - -It all rushed over him with the suddenness of a revelation. - -It had seemed so strange to him that Mrs. St. John should have taken the -tender little babe with her in the rain and wind when she went to search -for Lora. - -The truth flashed over him like lightning now. - -Xenie had found the babe upon the sand where Lora had dropped it in her -fevered flight. - -No wonder she had been so angry and defiant when he had questioned her -about it. - -He felt sure now, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the unknown sick -woman in the poor widow's cottage could be none other than Lora herself. - -"Poor, unhappy creature," he thought, with a thrill of commiseration. -"It must be that God himself has sent me here to succor and befriend -her." - -He rose hurriedly and took up his crutch. - -"How far is Dame Videlet's cottage from here?" he inquired. - -"But a few rods, sir--a little further on toward the beach," said the -fisherman, regarding him in some surprise. - -"I will go down there and see that unfortunate woman, if you will guide -me," said Howard. "I believe that she is a friend of mine. You may -return their pence to those poor fishermen, who can ill spare it, -perhaps. I will charge myself with her expenses even if she should not -prove to be the person I think she is." - -The fisherman looked at him admiringly and hastened to do his bidding. - -Then they walked along to the widow's cottage very slowly, for Howard -found himself exceedingly awkward in the use of his crutch. - -But after all it seemed but a very few minutes before they stood in the -one poor little room of Dame Videlet's dilapidated cot bowing to the -kind old soul who had taken the poor wayfarer in beneath the shelter of -her lowly roof, shared her simple crust with her, and tended her with -kindly, Christian hands. - -"How is your patient to-day, my kind woman?" inquired the young man. - -"Ah, sir, ah, sir, you may even see for yourself," she answered sadly, -as she turned toward the bed. - -Howard went forward with a quickened heart-beat, and stood by her side -looking down at the sufferer. - -Yes there she lay--poor little Lora--with wide, unrecognizing, black -eyes, with cheeks crimson with fever and parted lips through which the -breath came pantingly. A heavy sigh broke unconsciously from Howard's -lips. - -"Good sir, do you know her?" asked the woman, regarding him anxiously. - -"Yes, I know her," he answered; "she is a friend of mine and has -wandered away from her home in the delirium of fever. You shall be -richly rewarded for your noble care of her." - -"I ask no reward but the blessing of Heaven, sir," said the good old -woman, piously; "I have done the best I could for her ever since she -staggered into the door and asked me for her lost baby." - -As if the word struck some sensitive chord in her consciousness, Lora -turned her wild, bright eyes upon Howard's face, and murmured in a -pathetic whisper: - -"Have you found my baby--Jack's baby and mine?" - -Alas for Xenie's secret, guarded with such patient care and sleepless -vigilance. - -Howard looked down upon her with a mist of tears before his sight--she -looked so fair, and young, and sorrowful, lying there calling for her -lost little child. - -"I have lost my baby, I have lost my baby!" she wailed aloud, throwing -her arms wildly over her head and tangling her fingers in the long, dark -tresses floating over the pillow in their beautiful luxuriance. "It is -lost, lost, lost, my darling little one! It will perish in the rain and -the cold!" - -Involuntarily Howard reached out and took one of the restless white -hands in his, and held it in a firm and tender clasp. - -"Lora, Lora," he said, in a gentle, persuasive voice, "listen to me. The -baby is _found_. Xenie found it on the shore where you lost it out of -your arms. It is safe--it is well, with Xenie." - -Lora turned her hollow glance upon his face, and though no gleam of -recognition shone in her eyes, his impressive words penetrated her soul. -She threw out her arms yearningly. - -"It is found, it is found! Oh, thank God!" she murmured, happily. "Bring -him to me, for the love of Heaven! Lay him here upon my breast, my -precious little son!" - -"Oh, sir, then it is true she had a child; and it is living. I thought -perhaps it was dead," said the poor widow. - -"She has a child, indeed, and she lost it in her delirious flight; but -her sister found it soon afterward. It is at this moment not more than -four miles from here," answered the young man, without reflecting that -many things might have happened during his long imprisonment of four -days in the lonely little fishing village. - -"Then, if you will take my advice, sir, as she is a friend of yours, you -will try to get that child here as soon as possible. I will do the best -I can for her, and the doctor has promised to do all in his power; but I -believe that the child is the only thing that will save her life," said -Dame Videlet, gravely shaking her head in its homely white cap. - -"It shall be brought," said Howard, earnestly, and without a doubt but -that he could keep the promise thus made. - -Dame Videlet thanked God aloud, then added that the sooner it were -brought the better it would be for the mother. - -All the while poor Lora lay tossing in restless pain, and begging -piteously for her little child to be laid upon her breast. - -Howard bent over her as tenderly and gently as a brother. - -"Lora, my poor child, try to be patient," he said. "I will bring the -child to you; only be patient a little while." - -But it was all in vain to preach patience to that racked heart and -weary, fevered brain. - -He stole away, followed by despairing cries for the little child--cries -that echoed in his heart and brain many days afterward, when his warm -heart was half-broken because he could not keep the promise he had made -in such perfect confidence and hope. - -"How shall I get back to the village four miles away from here?" he -asked of the man who had accompanied him and was still waiting for him. - -"I can take you in my fishing-boat and row you there, and welcome, sir," -was the hearty response. "It's a wee bit leaky, but as good as any other -craft about, and there's no conveyance to be had by land." - -"What a great simpleton I have been, by George, never to have thought of -a boat before," said Howard, looking vexed at himself. "Here I have been -four days, and wanting to get back to the village badly, and never -thought of all the little boats and the great, wide ocean." - -"Mayhap it's all for the best, sir," said the fisherman. "If you had -gone back sooner, you might never have found the sick lady, your friend. -You should see the hand of the Lord in it, my young sir." - -"It looks like it," admitted Howard, "though, truth to tell, _mon ami_, -I do not usually look for such intervention in my affairs. His Satanic -Majesty is at present controlling my mundane affairs." - -"The Lord rules, sir," answered the man, launching his little boat, and -trying to make a comfortable and dry seat for his crippled young -passenger. - -The little boat shot out into the blue and sparkling waves, and danced -along like a thing of life in the beautiful spring sunshine. - -"We must go a mile below the village to the home of my friend's mother," -Howard explained, as they went along. - -Then he fell to wondering how Xenie would receive him when he came to -her with the glad tidings of Lora's discovery. - -"How strange that I should carry _her glad_ tidings," he thought. "I am -afraid I do not keep to the letter of my vow of hatred as firmly as she -does. Would _she_ bring me good news as willingly?" - -His heart answered no. - -The keel grated on the shore, and springing out, they went up to the -pretty cottage were Mrs. Carroll had lived in strict retirement for -several months with her two daughters. - -But there a terrible disappointment awaited Howard. - -The cottage was untenanted. - -They knocked several times, eliciting no response, and finally opening -the doors, they found that the occupants had moved out. - -All was still and silent, and Howard's heart sank heavily as he thought -of poor Lora lying in the widow's cot and moaning for the child he had -promised to bring her. - -"They are gone away," said Howard in a more hopeless voice than he knew -himself. "We must return to the village. We may hear news from them -there." - -And in his heart he was fervently praying that he would, for how could -he return to Lora without the child? - -They went to the little village where the dead body had been washed upon -the sands, and he asked everyone he met if they knew where the occupants -of the little cottage had gone. - -No one could tell him anything of their whereabouts. They had identified -the drowned woman as their relative, had buried her, and then quietly -left the place, taking Ninon, the little maid, with them. - -He could not obtain the least clew by which he might follow them and -bring them back to the sick girl whom they mourned as dead. - -Howard did not know what to do now, for he remembered that Dame Videlet -had said that the child was the only thing that could save Lora's life. - -He went into the churchyard and looked at the new-made grave with the -cross of white marble, and the simple inscription "Lora, _ætat_ 18." - -"Perhaps the inscription might come true after all in a few--a very few -days," he thought, sadly. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - - -Howard did not know what to do: it seemed such a terrible thing to go -back to Lora with bad tidings. Perhaps the shock would kill her. - -Oh, if Mrs. St. John had but waited a little longer! Why need she have -hurried away so precipitately? - -Well, there was no help for it. - -He must go back and tell her how inopportunely things had turned out, -and how sorry he was that he could not keep his promise. - -He would get Dame Videlet to break it to her very gently. - -She would not bungle over it like a great, awkward fellow like himself. - -The good old woman was waiting for him outside the door. - -Her face was radiant, but it changed and grew very anxious as he came up -to her, and she saw that his arms were empty. - -"Where is the child?" she whispered. - -Briefly and sadly he told the story of his disappointment, and the widow -wiped the tears of sorrow from her eyes as he concluded. - -"How is she now?" he inquired, anxiously. - -"She has been better, much better, since you told her the child was -found. Her reason has returned to her, and she has wept tears of joy. -She is impatiently waiting for you now, for I told her just now that you -were returning. Alas, alas!" groaned Dame Videlet, her tender heart -quite melted by the thought of Lora's disappointment. - -Howard groaned in unison with her. - -"Will it go hard with her?" he asked, sorrowfully. - -The dame shook her head mournfully. - -"Alas, alas!" she groaned again. - -"You will break the news to her--will you not?" asked Howard. "It would -be better for you to do it; I am a great, awkward fellow, and could not -tell her tenderly and gently like a woman. Tell her we will try to find -her mother and sister as soon as possible. Do not let her despair." - -"I will tell her," said the good woman, turning toward the door, "but I -am afraid the disappointment will nearly kill her. She is very ill. She -cannot bear much. Do you remain outside while I go in." - -Howard sat down on a rough bench outside the door and waited, his heart -heavy with grief for the poor, unfortunate girl within. - -"Far better that I had not seen her at all, than have given her such -hope only to be followed by disappointment," he thought sadly to -himself. - -Suddenly a wild, piercing, delirious shriek issued from the widow's cot, -causing him to spring up in alarm, and rush into the room. - -He met the bereaved mother in the center of the floor, trying to make -her escape from the feeble arms of Dame Videlet who was drawing her back -to the bed. - -She looked like a mad creature struggling with the weak, old woman, her -dark hair flying loose in wild confusion, her arms flung upward over her -head, while shriek after shriek burst from her foam-flecked lips. - -"Take her," cried the old woman, excitedly. "Hold her tightly in your -arms a minute." - -Howard obeyed her quickly, and in his strong, yet gentle clasp, the mad -girl was held securely while Dame Videlet poured something from a bottle -upon a sponge and held it to the girl's dilated nostrils. - -Directly her wild cries grew fainter, her eyelids fell, her head dropped -heavily upon Howard's breast. - -"Lay her down upon the bed, now, sir," said the dame, "and fetch the -doctor as quickly as you can. This delirium will soon return upon her. -The effect of the drug will not last very long." - - * * * * * - -"She cannot live the night out," said the doctor, sadly. - -Three weary days and nights had Lora been tossing restlessly in the -delirium of fever. Everything that money or skill could do had been done -for her, but all to no avail. - -Now, as they stood around the bed and listened to her wild, delirious -ravings, the kind old doctor shook his head and sighed at the sight of -so much youth and beauty going down to the grave. - -"She cannot live the night out," he said again, in a voice of deep -feeling. - -"Can nothing more be done?" asked Howard Templeton, his blue eyes -resting sadly on the wreck of the beautiful Lora. - -"I have done all that the medical art can do," declared the physician, -"but all to no avail. She has sustained a terrible shock. Her dreadful -tramp through the wind and rain the day she came here was enough to have -killed her. But her constitution was a superb one, and I believed that I -might have saved her after all, if the child could have been restored to -her." - -"Why did we not think of procuring a substitute for the child?" -exclaimed Howard, suddenly. "If we could have put another child in its -place might not the innocent deception have saved her life?" - -"Such a plan might have been tried," said the doctor, thoughtfully. "But -it must have been a terrible risk to tell her the truth even after her -recovery. She is very nervous, and her organization is high-strung." - -Even as he spoke, the grayness and pallor of death settled over Lora's -beautiful, wasted features. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - - -"My love, you are simply perfect. You look like a bride." - -Mrs. Carroll spoke enthusiastically, and her daughter flushed brightly -with gratified pride and pleasure. - -She was standing before the long cheval-glass in her dressing-room. She -was about to attend a ball at Mrs. Egerton's, and her maid had just put -the finishing touches to her toilet. - -It was no wonder that Mrs. Carroll's admiration had broken out into -enthusiastic words. Xenie's loveliness was dazzling, her toilet -perfection. - -She wore a dress of the rarest and costliest cream-white lace over a -robe of cream-colored satin. The frosty network of the over-dress was -looped here and there with diamond stars. - -A necklace of diamonds was clasped around her white throat, a diamond -star twinkled in the dark waves of her luxuriant hair, and the same rich -jewels shone on her breast and at her tiny, shell-like ears. - -Her dark and brilliant beauty shone forth regally from the costly -setting. - -Her eyes outrivaled the diamonds, her satin skin was as creamily fair as -her satin robe, her scarlet lips were like rosebuds touched with dew. - -No wonder that Mrs. Carroll caught her breath in a kind of ecstacy at -the resplendent vision. - -More than a year had passed since that dark and rainy morn on the -shores of France, when Xenie had wandered up and down on the "sea-beat -shore" seeking her lost sister--a year that had brought its inevitable -changes, and dulled the first sharp edge of grief--so that to-night she -was to throw off her mourning robes and reappear in society for the -first time at a ball given by her aunt, Mrs. Egerton. - -Yet, after that first moment of exultant triumph at her mother's praise, -a faint, intangible shadow settled over Mrs. St. John's brilliant face. - -The scarlet lips took a graver curve upon their honeyed sweetness, the -dark, curling lashes drooped low, until they shaded the peachy cheek. - -The white-gloved hand that held the rare bouquet drooped wearily at her -side. - -"Mamma," she said, abruptly, "I wish I had not promised to go." - -"What has come over you, Xenie? I thought you had looked forward to this -night with real pleasure." - -"I did--I do, mamma, and yet for the moment my heart grew sad. I was -thinking of poor little Lora." - -A hot tear splashed down upon her cheek, and Mrs. Carroll sighed -heavily, while her grave, sad face grew sadder and graver still. She put -her hand upon her heart. - -"Oh, that we might have her back!" she breathed, in a voice that was -almost a moan of pain. - -"The carriage is waiting, madam," said Finette, appearing at the door. - -"Well, I am ready," said Mrs. St. John, listlessly. "My cloak, Finette." - -The maid came forward and threw the elegant wrap about her shoulders, -and leaving a light kiss on her mother's lips, Mrs. St. John swept out -of the dressing-room and down to the carriage that waited to take her to -the brilliant _fete_ that Mrs. Egerton had planned in her especial -honor. - -Mrs. Carroll bent her steps to the nursery. - -Ninon, the little French nurse, sat beside the hearth sewing on a bit of -fancy work, and the soft glow of firelight and gaslight shining upon her -made her look like a quaint, pretty picture in her neat costume and dark -prettiness. - -The nursery was a dainty, airy, white-hung chamber. It had been a -smoking-room in Mr. St. John's time. His widow had converted it into a -nursery. - -In a beautiful rosewood, lace-draped crib lay the spurious heir to the -millionaire's wealth--a beautiful, rosy healthy boy, sleeping softly and -sweetly in innocent unconsciousness of the terrible fraud that had been -perpetrated in his name. - -For Mrs. St. John's daring scheme had succeeded. Lora's child had been -foisted upon the law and the world as the millionaire's legal heir, and -Howard Templeton's heritage had passed into the hands of the child's -guardian, Mrs. St. John, his pretended mother. - -But, alas! in the hour of her triumph, when the golden fruit of her wild -revenge was within her grasp, its sweetness had palled upon her, its -taste had been bitter to her lips. It was but Dead Sea fruit, after all. - -For the struggle with Howard Templeton for the possession of the -millionaire's fortune which Xenie had anticipated with such passionate -zest had been no struggle after all. - -In a few weeks after the burial of the poor drowned woman whom she had -identified as her sister, Xenie and her mother had returned to the -United States, taking with them Lora's child, and as nurse, Ninon, the -little maid-servant. - -A costly bribe had sealed the lips of the little French maid, and the -truth of the little boy's parentage was a dead secret with her. - -Immediately after her arrival at home, Xenie had placed her case in the -hand of a noted lawyer. - -He undertook it in perfect faith. He did not dream that he had been -employed as the necessary aid to carry out a wicked scheme of revenge -and perpetrate a gigantic fraud. - -He took immediate steps to regain the possession of the deceased -millionaire's property in the interest of his posthumous child. - -The case immediately attracted public attention and interest, both from -the high position of the parties to the suit and the great wealth -involved. - -But for several months nothing could be heard from the defendant, who -was still absent in Europe, although the lawyer who managed his property -in his native city wrote him frantic and repeated appeals to return and -defend his case. - -At length, when patience had ceased to be a virtue with the plaintiff, -and the opposition was about to push the suit for judgments without him, -a brief letter was received from Howard Templeton, instructing the -lawyers to postpone everything until after his arrival. - -He would sail on a certain day and upon a certain steamer, and be with -them four weeks from date. - -Mrs. St. John was quite content to wait after she heard of that letter. - -She felt so sure that she would win that she was willing to wait until -her enemy came. She wanted to triumph over him face to face. - -So the weeks dragged by, and Howard's steamer was due in port. - -It did not come. Soon it was a week over-due. - -Then came one of those dreadful reports of marine disasters that now and -then thrill the great heart of humanity with horror. - -There had been a terrible storm at sea, and the ship had gone to pieces -upon a hidden rock. Only seven persons had been saved. - -Howard Templeton's name appeared in the list of passengers who had -perished. - -So there could be no further delay now. The case went before the courts -and was very speedily decided. - -Mrs. St. John gained the case and had her revenge. - -But it was no revenge, after all, since Howard Templeton was not alive -to pay the bitter cost of her vengeance. - -So the golden fruit, bought at the price of her soul's peace, turned to -bitter ashes on her loathing lips. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - - -"Mrs. St. John, allow me to present to you Lord Dudley." - -Xenie turned with a languid smile and bowed to the tall, elegant -gentleman who bent admiringly before her. - -Only ten minutes before Mrs. Egerton had whispered to her eagerly: - -"My dear, Lord Dudley, the great English peer, is present. There's a -catch for you." - -"I am not looking for a catch," Xenie said, almost bruskly. - -"No," said her aunt, who was an indefatigable matchmaker; "but then you -are too young and beautiful to remain always single. You are sure to -marry some day again, and why not Lord Dudley?" - -"He has not asked me, aunt," said Xenie, half-smiling, half-provoked. "I -am not even acquainted with him." - -"No, but you will be," said Mrs. Egerton. "I heard him asking just now -about you. He said you were the most beautiful woman he had ever seen--a -compliment worth having from such a man as Lord Dudley, so elegant and -distinguished, with such an air of culture and travel. Besides, he is so -wealthy, owning several castles in England, I'm told, and a fabulous -bank account." - -"A distinguished _parti_, certainly," said Xenie, indifferently, and -then, as her aunt moved away, she completely forgot Lord Dudley's -existence. - -She stood leaning carelessly against a tall flower-stand, looking at -the dancers, a little later, when Mrs. Egerton approached, leaning on -the arm of a handsome gentleman, and then she found herself bowing and -smiling in acknowledgement of an introduction to Lord Dudley. - -"I have been watching you a long time, Mrs. St. John," he said, taking -his place by her side. "Your face puzzled me." - -"Indeed?" she said, raising her dark eyes to him with a kind of languid -wonder. - -"Yes, it is true," he said. Then suddenly, as the intoxicating strains -of a waltz began to pulsate on the perfumed air, he exclaimed, in a -different tone: "Will you give me this waltz, Mrs. St. John?" - -She assented indifferently, and a moment later she was whirling down the -long room, the envy of every woman at the ball, for every feminine -present had set her cap at the distinguished traveler. - -His tall, proud form in the black evening dress showed to the most -perfect advantage, as clasping her _petite_ and graceful form closely in -his arm, they whirled round and round to the enchanting strains, -looking, in the perfect accord and gracefulness with which they moved, -like the spirit of harmony embodied. - -"That will be a match," predicted some of the wiseacres around, and -those that did not say that much thought it to themselves. - -Among the latter class was a gentleman who had entered a moment before -and now stood talking courteously to the hostess. - -It was she who had directed his attention to the handsome pair. - -"Look at Xenie," she said with a spice of malicious triumph in her tone. -"That is Lord Dudley with whom she is waltzing. She has quite captivated -him. Doubtless it will be a match." - -His eyes followed the flying form a moment steadily, then he answered -calmly: - -"They are a handsome pair, certainly, Mrs. Egerton. I am acquainted with -Lord Dudley." - -"You met him abroad, I suppose?" - -"No, we came over from England in the same----" - -But at that moment someone came hastily up and claimed his attention. - -Then a little excited group formed around him, and even the waltzers -began to see that an unusual interest was agitating the wall-flowers. - -Xenie looked carelessly at first, then more closely as she saw that her -aunt stood in the center of the group. - -"Aunt Egerton has suddenly become the center of attraction," she said, -laughingly, to her companion. - -Then she started and the room seemed to swim around her, the lights, the -flowers, the black suits of the men, the gay, butterfly robes of the -women seemed to be blending in an inextricable maze. - -Her heart seemed beating in her ears, so loudly it sounded. - -She had caught a flitting glimpse of a man's form standing just beyond -her aunt. It was he around whom the excited little throng buzzed and -eddied. - -He was tall, straight, graceful as a young palm tree, handsome as -Apollo, in his elegant evening dress. - -His head, crowned with fair, curling locks, was held aloft with -half-haughty grace; his Grecian profile, clearly-cut as a cameo head, -was turned toward Xenie, and she saw the smile that curved the fair, -mustached lips, the flash in the proud, blue eyes. - -For a moment she lost the step, and hung droopingly on her partner's -arm. - -"You are tired," he said, stopping and looking down into her -deathly-white face. "Pardon me, I kept you on the floor too long; but -your step was so perfect, the music so entrancing, I forgot myself." - -He was leading her to a seat as he spoke. She came back to herself with -a quick start. - -"No, do not blame yourself," she answered. "The fact is I am not -accustomed to waltzing of late. This is the first time for almost two -years, and it is so easy to--to grow dizzy--to lose one's head." - -"Yes, indeed, it is," he answered. "Shall I get you a glass of water?" - -"If you please," she murmured, faintly. - -He went away, and she tried to rally from her sudden shock. - -By the time he returned she was calm, nonchalantly fanning herself with -a languid, indolent grace. No one but herself knew how hard and fast her -heart was beating yet. - -"Thank you," she murmured; then, as she lifted her head, she saw her -aunt coming to her, leaning on the arm of a gentleman. - -Lord Dudley stared and exclaimed: - -"Heaven! it is Howard Templeton! The sea has given up its dead!" - -"Do you know him?" asked Xenie. - -"Yes, we crossed together. That is--until the terrible storm that -wrecked us--I was one of the seven that were saved. It was supposed that -Templeton was lost." - -"Xenie," said Mrs. Egerton, vivaciously, and yet with a note of warning -in her tones that was distinguishable only to her ears for whom it was -intended, "here is an old friend whom we all thought dead. Bid him -welcome." - -Xenie arose, languid, careless, pale as a ghost, yet wearing a gracious -smile for the eyes of the little social world that watched her keenly. - -He took the half-extended hand in his a moment, and bowed low over it, -touching it an instant to his mustached lips. - -"I kiss the hand that smites me," he murmured in her ear, sarcastically; -then turned aside to greet Lord Dudley. - -Fervent congratulations were exchanged between these two, who had been -ocean voyagers together, and who had parted on the deck of the broken -vessel, expecting to meet again only upon the other shore of eternity. - -"I am dying of impatience to hear how you were rescued from the horrors -of that terrible shipwreck," said Lord Dudley. "Is the story too long to -tell us to-night?" - -"It is a long story, but it may be told in a few words," said Howard. "I -was tossed about for some time, clinging desperately to a slender spar, -then picked up by a blockade runner bound for Cuba. - -"This, in turn, was captured by a Spanish war vessel. I remained a -prisoner of Spain until such time as the vessel put into port, and I -reported to our American consul in that country. - -"He immediately wrote to America for the necessary papers to prove my -identity as a citizen of America. These being obtained and examined, I -was released, after a tedious delay, and came home as fast as wind and -tide could carry me. There, my lord, you have the whole story in a -nutshell." - -"And a very interesting one, too, I doubt not, had it been related in -detail. I heartily rejoice that you were saved to tell it," said Lord -Dudley, with interest. - -Then he added, as if some afterthought had suddenly struck him: - -"And, Templeton, the lady--who came over in your care--was she also -saved?" - -Templeton started, and flashed a hurried glance at Xenie. - -She was toying with her jeweled fan, and looking away as carelessly as -if she had forgotten his existence. - -He did not know that she was listening intently to every word. - -He looked back carelessly at the nobleman. - -"Yes, she was rescued with me. We clung to the spar together. I would -have lost my own life rather than that frail and helpless girl should -have perished!" - -"She returned with you, then?" said Lord Dudley. - -"Yes, she returned in my care. She was a helpless young widow," said -Howard, evasively. "She lost all her friends in Europe." - -Then other friends claimed him, and he turned away. - -"So Mr. Templeton is an old acquaintance of yours, Mrs. St. John?" - -"Yes; he was my late husband's nephew," she answered, with languid -indifference. - -He saw that she did not care to pursue the subject. - -"It puzzled me when I first saw you to-night that I could not account -for the strange familiarity of your face," he said; "but since I have so -unexpectedly met with my fellow-voyager, Howard Templeton, I distinctly -recall the reason. You are singularly like a lady who traveled in his -care--your very height, your very features; though, as I remember now, -very different in expression. She appeared almost heart-broken; yet she -was very beautiful. I need not tell you that, though, since I have -already said she looks like you," he added, with an admiring bow. - -"What was her name?" asked Mrs. St. John, eagerly, quite oblivious of -the delicate compliment. - -"I have forgotten it," said Lord Dudley. "Forgetting names is a weakness -of mine. Yet I remember that Templeton called her by her Christian -name--a very soft and sweet one. Let me see--_Laura_, perhaps." - -Xenie sat silent and thoughtful. There was a strange pain at her heart. -She could not understand it. - -"It cannot be that I am sorry he is living," she said to herself. "My -triumph is greater than if he were dead. He knows that I have my sweet -revenge. It was never sweet until I knew him living to feel its pangs! -For all his haughty bearing it must be that he feels it in all its -bitterness." - -Then a sudden irrelevant thought flashed across these -self-congratulations. - -"I wonder who that Laura can be? Is he in love with her?" - -It was the most natural thought in the world for a woman; yet she put it -away from her with a sort of angry impatience. - -"What if he does love her?" she thought, scornfully, "He cannot marry -her. He is a beggar. I have stripped him of everything. She will leave -him for lack of gold, as he left me. Then he may feel something of what -I suffered through his sin!" - -And she felt gladder than ever before at the thought of Howard -Templeton's poverty. She knew that he could not marry the girl for whom -he said he would have lost his own life--that beautiful, mysterious -_Laura_. - -Mrs. Egerton was passing and she called her. - -"I am going home," she said. "I have danced too much. I am tired, and -the rooms are suffocating." - -"A multiplicity of excuses," laughed Lord Dudley. "Ossa upon Pelion -piled. Mrs. St. John, you will not be so cruel?" - -"I must; my head aches," she replied; and though he pleaded and Mrs. -Egerton protested, she was obstinate. - -Mrs. Egerton saw her depart, feeling sorely vexed with her. - -Howard Templeton saw her leaving, and crossed the room to her. - -"I shall do myself the pleasure of calling upon you to-morrow," he said, -quietly, as he lightly touched her hand. - -They had to wear a mask, these two deadly foes, before the curious eyes -of the world. - -She flashed a sudden, haughty look of inquiry into his steadfast eyes. - -He stooped over her quickly. - -"Yes," he whispered, hurriedly and lowly; "it is _vendetta_ still. War -to the knife!" - -Then Lord Dudley, full of regrets, attended her to her carriage. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - - -"Xenie, is that you? Are you just home from the ball?" - -Mrs. Carroll turned sleepily on her pillow and looked at the little -figure that came gliding in, looking ghost-like in the pale glimmer of -the night-lamp in its trailing white robes and unbound hair. - -"Yes, mamma, it is I. But I have been home several hours from the ball." - -"And not asleep yet, dear?" said Mrs. Carroll, in mild surprise. - -"No; I am so restless I cannot sleep. I am sorry I had to disturb you, -mamma, but I came to ask you to give me some simple sleeping potion." - -"Certainly, love; but wouldn't it be wiser to try and sleep without it? -Did you try counting backward?" - -She rose as she spoke and turned up the gas. Mrs. St. John laughed--a -short, mirthless laugh. - -"Oh, yes, mamma, I tried all the usual old-woman remedies, but to no -avail. My brain is too excited to yield to trifling measures. Give me -something strong that will induce sleep directly." - -Her mother, looking at her keenly, saw that she was very pale, and her -wide-open, dark eyes looked heavy with some speechless pain. - -"Dear, you are not ill, are you?" she inquired, going to a little -medicine-case and taking out a small vial and wineglass. - -"No, mamma, only nervous and restless. Give me the opiate. It is all I -need." - -"Did you enjoy the ball?" asked her mother, pouring out the drops with a -steady hand. "Who was there?" - -"Oh, a number of people. Lord Dudley, for instance. You remember we -visited his castle while we were abroad--that great show-place down in -Cornwall. I did not tell him about it, though. He is very handsome and -elegant. Aunt Egerton recommended him to me as a most desireable catch." - -She wanted to tell her mother that the sea had given up its dead--that -she had seen Howard Templeton alive and in the flesh, but somehow she -could not bring herself to utter his name; so she had rattled on at -random. - -"Humph! I should think Mrs. Egerton had had enough of making matches for -you," her mother muttered. "After the way Howard Templeton treated you -she----" - -"Oh, mamma," said Xenie, interrupting her suddenly. - -"What?" said Mrs. Carroll. - -"He--he is here," said Xenie, with a gasp. - -"He--who, child?" asked her mother. - -"The man you named," said Xenie, in a low voice, as she took the -wineglass into her shaking hand. - -"Not Howard Templeton?" said Mrs. Carroll, with such an air of blank -astonishment that she looked almost ludicrous in her wide-frilled, white -night-cap, and Xenie must have laughed if it had not been for that -strange and heavy aching at her heart. As it was, she simply said: - -"Yes, mamma." - -"Then he wasn't shipwrecked, after all--I mean he wasn't drowned, after -all. Somebody saved him, didn't they?" said Mrs. Carroll, in a good deal -of astonishment. - -And again Xenie said, quietly: - -"Yes, mamma." - -"But how did it all happen? Or did you ask him?" inquired her mother, -curiously. - -"He is coming here to-morrow. I dare say he will tell you all about it. -I am going now. Good-night," said Xenie, draining the contents of the -wineglass and setting it down. - -"Good-night, my darling," said Mrs. Carroll, looking after her a little -disappointedly as she went slowly from the room. - -But Xenie did not look back, though she knew that her mother was burning -with curiosity to know more of her meeting with Howard Templeton. - -She went to her luxurious room, crept shiveringly beneath the satin -counterpane, and was soon lost to all mundane interest in the deep sleep -induced by the drug she had taken. - -She slept long and uninterruptedly, and it was far into the day when she -awoke and found her maid, Finette, waiting patiently to dress her. - -"You must arrange my hair very carefully, Finette," she said, as the -maid brushed out the dark luxuriance of her tresses, "and put on my -handsomest morning-dress. I expect a caller this morning." - -It always pleased her to appear at her very fairest in Howard -Templeton's presence. - -She liked for him to realize all he had lost when he gave her back her -troth because she was poor, and because he was not manly enough to dare -the ills of poverty for her sake. - -So Finette arranged the silky, shining, dark hair in a soft mass of -waves and puffs that did not look too elaborate for a morning toilet, -and yet was exquisitely becoming, while it gave a certain proud -stateliness to the _petite_ figure. - -Then she added a little comb of frosted silver, and laid out several -morning-dresses of various hues and styles for the inspection of her -mistress. - -Mrs. St. John looked them over very critically. - -It was a spring morning, but the genial airs of that balmy season had -not yet made their appearance sufficiently for an indulgence in the -crisp muslin robes that suited the month, so Xenie selected a -morning-robe of pale-pink cashmere, richly trimmed in quilted satin and -yellowish Languedoc lace. - -The soft, rich color atoned for the unusual absence of tinting in the -oval fairness of her face, and when she descended to the drawing-room -she had never looked lovelier. - -The slight air of restless expectancy about her was not enough to -detract from her beauty, though it robbed her of repose. - -"Mamma, has little Jack come in yet from his morning airing?" she -inquired of Mrs. Carroll, who was sorting some bright-colored wools on a -sofa. - -"Yes, half an hour ago. You slept late," said Mrs. Carroll. - -"Let us have him in to amuse us," said Mrs. St. John, restlessly. - -Mrs. Carroll rang a bell and a servant appeared. - -"Tell Ninon to bring my son here," said Mrs. St. John. - -Presently the little French maid appeared, leading the beautiful, -richly-dressed child by the hand. - -Little Jack rushed forward tumultuously and climbed into Xenie's lap. -She kissed him fondly but carefully, taking care that he did not -disarrange her hair or dress. - -"Pretty mamma," whispered the dark-eyed child, patting her pale cheeks -with his dimpled, white hand. - -Mrs. St. John smiled proudly, and just then her mother said, with the -air of one who vaguely recalls something: - -"Did I dream it last night, Xenie, or did you tell me that Mr. Templeton -is alive, and that he is coming here to-day?" - -There came a sudden hurried peal at the door-bell. Xenie started, -growing white and red by turns. - -"I told you so," she answered. "And there he is now, I suppose." - -She sat very still and waited, clasping the beautiful boy to her wildly -beating heart. - -There was a bustle in the hall, then the door was thrown open and a -gentleman was ushered in. - -He was a large, handsome young man, in the uniform of a sea captain. He -wore a large, dark beard, and his brown eyes flashed their eagle gaze -around the room, half-anxiously, half-defiantly, until they rested on -Mrs. St. John's face where she sat clasping the child in her arms. - -As she met his gaze she put the child down upon the floor and started up -with a low cry. - -"_Jack Mainwaring!_" she gasped. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - - -Jack Mainwaring--for it was indeed himself--looked at his sister-in-law -with a half-sarcastic smile. - -He had no love for Lora's relations. He considered that they had treated -him badly. He was as well-born as they were, and had been better off -until Xenie had married the old millionaire. - -Yet they had flouted his love for Lora and refused to sanction an -engagement between them, hoping to send her to the city and find a -richer market for her beauty. So it was with a smile of scorn he -contemplated the agitation of the beautiful young widow. - -"Yes, Mrs. St. John, it is Jack Mainwaring," he said, grimly. "Don't be -alarmed, I won't eat you." - -Xenie regarded him with a stare of haughty amazement. - -"I do not apprehend such a calamity," she said, icily. "But--I thought -you dead." - -"Yes," he said. "I have passed through some terrible disasters, but -luckily I escaped with my life. You will not care to hear about that, -though, so I will not digress. I will say that I came up from the -country this morning. I went down there yesterday to look for Lora. You -will wonder, perhaps, why I am here this morning." - -Mrs. Carroll had sent the nurse away as soon as he entered. They were -alone, she and Xenie and the child, with the handsome, desperate young -man, looking as if he hovered on the verge of madness. - -He had not even spoken to his mother-in-law, who regarded him with a -species of terror. - -Xenie fell back into her seat at the mention of Lora's name. Her lip -quivered and her eyes filled. - -"You--you surely have not come for Lora," she said, and her voice was -almost a moan of pain. "You surely must have heard----" - -"That _my wife_ is dead," he said, and his voice shook so that it was -scarcely audible. "Yes, they told me she was drowned. Is it true?" - -"She--she drowned herself," answered Xenie, in a low tone of passionate -despair. - -She had not asked him to sit down, but Captain Mainwaring dropped down -heavily into a chair with a groan of mortal agony, and hid his convulsed -face in his hands. - -"Oh, my God, _no_!" he cried out, wildly. "They did not tell me that. It -is not true. It cannot be true. She would not have done that, my little -Lora!" - -"It is all your fault," cried out Mrs. Carroll, confronting him with a -pale face and flashing eyes. "You drove her to it, Jack Mainwaring, you -broke her heart. You killed her as surely as if your hand had pushed her -into that great, cruel sea where she found her death!" - -"She was my wife--I loved her," said the sailor in a voice of anguish, -as he lifted his wet eyes to the face of the angry mother of his lost -one. "_You_ were the cruel one. You denied her my love, and perhaps when -you found out that she belonged to me in spite of you, you tormented her -to death." - -Mrs. Carroll did not answer him. She was afraid to speak. A moment ago, -in her rage and excitement, words had hovered on her lips that would -have betrayed the fact that a child had been born to Lora. - -But a quick telegraphic signal from her daughter arrested the truth on -her lips. So she remained silent, fearful that some angry, unguarded -word might betray Xenie's perilous secret. - -Meanwhile little Jack clung to Mrs. St. John's dress, and regarded the -big, handsome, bearded seaman with fearless, fascinated eyes. - -The door opened suddenly and Howard Templeton stepped into the room, but -no one saw him or heard him, so intense was the excitement that pervaded -their hearts. - -He was about to advance toward Mrs. Carroll when he saw Jack Mainwaring -sitting in a position that screened the new-comer from the ladies, while -it exposed to full view his own anguished and tear-wet face. - -Howard paused instantly and stared at the handsome sailor with -increasing surprise each moment, until that expression was succeeded by -one of fervent pleasure. - -He had known Jack Mainwaring quite well several years before, and had -been sincerely sorry when he had heard of his loss at sea. - -Now, after one puzzled moment, resulting from Jack's long, glossy beard, -he recognized him, and his heart leaped with joy to think that Lora's -husband was still numbered among the living. - -"But I did not come here to bandy words," continued poor Jack, lifting -his bowed head dejectedly. "Mrs. St. John, will you tell me how long my -wife has been dead?" - -Xenie named the date in a half-choked voice. It was fourteen months -before. - -Captain Mainwaring took a well-worn letter from his pocket and ran over -it again, while his manly face worked convulsively with emotion; then he -said, in a voice that quivered with deep feeling: - -"My poor Lora, my unfortunate wife, left me a child, then. Where is that -child, Mrs. St. John?" - -A blank, terrified silence overwhelmed the two women. Instinctively -Xenie's arm crept around the child at her knee and drew him closer to -her side. - -Captain Mainwaring had scarcely noticed little Jack before, but Xenie's -peculiar action attracted his attention. He rose and took a step toward -her. - -"You do not answer me," he said. "Can it be, then, that this is Lora's -child and mine?" - -Xenie caught the child up and held him tightly to her breast, while she -faced the speaker with wild, angry eyes, like a lioness at bay. - -"Back, back!" she cried, "do not touch him! This is _my_ child--mine, do -you hear? How dare you claim him?" - -"Yours, yours," cried the sailor, retreating before the passionate -vehemence of her voice and gestures; "I--I did not know you had a child, -madam." - -"You did not," cried Xenie with breathless defiance. "No matter. Ask -mamma, there. Ask Doctor Shirley! Ask anyone you choose. They will all -tell you that this is my child--_my_ child, do you understand?" - -"Madam, I am not disputing your word," cried poor Jack, in amaze at her -angry vehemence. "Of course you know best whose child it is. But will -you tell me what became of Lora's baby?" - -Mrs. St. John stared at him silently a moment, then she answered, -coldly: - -"Lora's baby? Are you mad, Jack Mainwaring? Who told you that she had a -baby?" - -His answer was a startling one: - -"Lora told me so herself, Mrs. St. John." - -Xenie St. John reeled backward a few steps, and stared at the speaker -with parted lips from which every vestige of color had retreated, -leaving them pallid and bloodless as a ghost's. - -"What, under Heaven, do you mean?" she inquired, in a hollow voice. - -Captain Mainwaring held up the letter in his hand. - -"Do you see this letter?" he said. "It is the last one Lora wrote me. I -received it at the last port we touched before our ship was burned. She -begged me to come back to her at once if I could, and save her name from -the shadow of disgrace. She told me that a child was coming to us in the -spring. I--oh, God, I was frantic! I meant to return on the first -homeward bound vessel! Then came the terrible fire and loss of the -vessel. Days and days we floated on a raft--myself and three -others--then we were rescued by a merchant vessel bound for China. We -had to go there before we could come home. For months and months I -endured inconceivable tortures thinking of my poor young wife's terrible -strait. And after all--when I thought I should so soon be at home and -kiss her tears away--I find her _dead_!" - -His voice broke, he buried his face in his hands, and, strong man though -he was, sobbed aloud like a child. - -They watched him, those four--Templeton, himself unseen--the frightened -mother and daughter, and the little child with its sweet lips puckered -grievingly at the man's loud sobs. - -But in a minute the man mastered himself, and went on sadly: - -"I was half frantic when I heard that my wife was dead. But, after -awhile, I remembered the little child. I said to myself, I will go and -seek it. If it be a little girl I will call it Lora. It may comfort me a -little for its mother's loss." - -He paused a moment, and looked at the pale, statue-like woman before -him. - -"Where is the child?" he asked, almost plaintively. - -Her eyes fell before his earnest gaze, her cheeks blanched to the pallor -of marble. - -"She must have been mistaken," she faltered. "There was no child." - -The young sailor regarded her keenly. - -"Madam, I do not believe you," he answered, bluntly. "You are trying to -deceive me. I ask you again, where is my child? Is it dead? Was it -drowned with its hapless young mother?"' - -"I tell you there was no child," she answered, defiantly, stung to -bitterest anger by his words. - -"But there _was_ a child," persisted Captain Mainwaring. "Lora would not -have deceived me." - -"Not willfully, I know, but she was mistaken, I tell you," was the -passionate response. - -"I do not believe you, Mrs. St. John. You are trying to deceive me for -some purpose of your own. You kept my wife from me, and you would fain -keep my child, also. You have hidden it away from me! Nay, I believe on -my soul that it is my child you hold in your arms and claim as your own. -Give it to me," he cried, advancing upon her. - -But she retreated from him in terror. - -"Never! never!" she cried out, in a passionate voice. - -"Xenie, Xenie!" cried Howard Templeton, advancing sternly, "do not stain -your soul longer with such a horrible falsehood. Give Jack Mainwaring -the child! You well know that it is his and Lora's own!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - - -Xenie St. John turned with a half-stifled shriek and looked at the -daring intruder. - -She saw her enemy standing in the center of the room looking down at her -from his princely hight with a lightning flash of scorn in his bright -blue eyes, his lips set sternly under his curling blonde mustache. - -He was elegantly attired in the most fashionable morning costume, and -his fair, proud Saxon beauty had never appeared more striking. Xenie's -dark eyes flashed their gaze into his blue ones with a blaze of -passionate defiance. - -"How dare you say so?" she cried, stamping her small, slippered foot -upon the rich carpet with angry vehemence. "Are you mad, Howard -Templeton?" - -He stood still, folding his arms across his broad breast, regarding her -with a steady calmness strangely at variance with her passionate -vehemence. - -"No, I am not mad," he answered, in low, even tones, while his blue eyes -gazed strangely into her own--"I am not mad, and I dare assert nothing -but what I know to be the truth. So I repeat what I said to you just -now. Give Captain Mainwaring the innocent little child in whose name you -have perpetrated such a monstrous fraud. It is his child and your -sister's. I will prove it, and swear to it if necessary, before any -court in the land." - -The calm and steady assurance of his words and looks and tones struck -Xenie with inward terror. Yet it seemed to her impossible that Howard -Templeton could really know the truth. Her heart quaked with terror, yet -she tried to brave it out in very desperation. - -"How dare you say so?" she repeated, but her voice faltered, and she -trembled so that she could scarcely hold the little child in her arms. - -Mrs. Carroll crept to her side and stood there dumbly, filled with a -yearning desire to help Xenie and shield her from the consequences of -her sin, but so horror-stricken that she could not even speak. - -Howard Templeton regarded Xenie with a look of scornful amazement. - -"Madam," he said, in clear, ringing, vibrant tones, "I can scarce -believe that you will try to persist in this terrible deception in the -face of all that I have said. Listen, then, and you shall know why I -dare confront you with your sin." - -"Speak on," she answered, cresting her beautiful head so defiantly, and -looking at him so proudly that no one, not even her mother, dreamed of -the terrible pain that ached at her heart. - -"I have known of this deception from the first," he said. "Ever since -the evening I called upon your sister, before you went to Europe. You -personated Lora very cleverly. I will give you that much credit; but you -did not deceive me five minutes. I saw through the mask directly, and -understood the daring game you were playing in furtherance of your -revenge against me. Your clever acting did not blind me. I had loved you -once, remember, and the eyes of love are very keen." - -Alternately flushing and paling, Xenie stared at him, still clasping the -little child to her wildly beating heart. - -"Bah!" she cried out, contemptuously, as he paused; "who would believe -this wild tale that you are telling? If you suspected me, why did you -not speak out?" - -"I had a fancy to see the farce played out," he answered, coldly. "I was -curious to know how far you would willfully wander in the path of sin to -gratify your thirst for revenge. I followed you to Europe, although you -did not dream of such a thing until that wild and rainy dawn when you -met me on the shore near your cottage." - -A groan forced itself though her pallid lips as she recalled that -dreadful day. - -"But, Xenie," he continued, slowly, "I never meant to let matters go as -far as they have gone. It amused me for a little while to watch your -desperate game, but I always intended to check you before you -consummated your clever plan. But that strange power that some call -fate, and others Providence, has come between me and my first -intention. You have tasted the full sweetness of the cup of revenge, and -now you are doomed to drink the bitter dregs. The disgraceful truth will -all be known. The wealth you have cheated me of by a terrible fraud will -have to be restored. The time has come when I cannot spare you if I -would." - -She shivered as if an icy wind had blown against her, so impressive were -his looks and words; but she saw that Captain Mainwaring was looking at -her with mingled wrath and scorn on his handsome, honest face; and the -spirit of defiance only grew stronger within her. - -"I defy you," she began, imperiously, but the words died half-uttered on -her lips, and a shriek of fear and terror burst forth instead. - -For the closed door had opened silently and suddenly, and a beautiful, -fragile-looking woman had glided into the room. - -Xenie thought it was the ghost of her who lay in that green grave under -the skies of France, with the white cross marked: "Lora, ætat 18." - -The beautiful intruder paused a moment and gazed questioningly around -her. - -As if by magic, her gaze encountered that of the young sea captain who -was staring at her with wild, half-frightened eyes, like one who sees a -vision. - -Lora--for it was indeed herself--gazed at the handsome young sailor a -moment in bewilderment; then a wild and piercing shriek of joy burst -from her lips. She rushed forward and threw herself upon his broad -breast in a transport of happiness. - -"Oh, Jack, Jack!" she cried, twining her white arms tightly around his -neck, "you are alive! What happiness for your poor Lora!" - -Captain Mainwaring clasped and kissed her with passionate joy, -understanding nothing very clearly except the one ecstatic fact that -Lora was indeed alive, and having through his deep joy a vague -consciousness that Mrs. St. John had somehow terribly wronged and -deceived him. - -"You see," said Howard Templeton, coldly to Xenie as she stared -speechlessly. "Lora has returned to claim her own. Your reign is over." - -Lora heard the words, and breaking from the fond clasp of her husband's -arms, turned to her sister. - -"Oh, Xenie!" she cried, then she stopped short, and her lovely face -flushed and her dark eyes beamed. - -She had caught sight of the beautiful boy that nestled in the clasp of -her sister's arms. - -Lora watched him a moment with parted lips and eager eyes. - -"Oh!" she breathed, in tones of ineffable tenderness, "how beautiful he -is!" then, in low and almost humble accents, she murmured: "Xenie, you -will let me kiss him once." - -"It is Lora's voice and face," cried Mrs. St. John, half-retreating -before her as she advanced, "and yet I saw Lora lying dead--drowned in -the cruel sea!" - -"No, no," cried Lora, eagerly, "that poor creature you saw drowned was -not your sister, Xenie." - -"She wore your shawl, your rings," exclaimed Mrs. St. John, -incoherently. - -"Yes, that is true," said Lora, patiently, "but I can easily explain -that, Xenie. She was a poor, mad creature that I met in my -wandering--even madder than myself, perhaps, for I remember it all -distinctly. She stripped me of my shawl and my jewels--to make herself -fine as she said. I let her have them and she went away and left me. -Then it must have been that she cast herself into the sea. It was she -whom they found and whom you buried under the marble cross with my name -upon it. She was some poor, unknown unfortunate whom you mourned as your -sister." - -She came closer to her sister's side as she spoke, and looked up -pleadingly into her face. - -"Xenie, you will not disown me, will you? I am indeed your sister, Lora, -although you thought me dead. I owe my life to Howard Templeton. He -found me ill and dying in a poor woman's cot, and cared for me and saved -me. Yes, at the very last hour, when they said I was dying, he would not -give me up. He brought a little baby and laid it in my arms, and life -came back to me at the touch of the little lips and hands. He deceived -me, but it was for my own good. It saved my life, and when I grew -stronger I could bear to be told of the innocent deception he had -practiced, and I gave back the child to the kind peasant mother who had -lent it to me to save my life. But, oh, Xenie, if I talked all day I -could never tell you how much I owe to Howard Templeton. He has been all -that the best and noblest brother on earth could be! You must not hate -him any longer. Xenie, you must forgive him and be kind to him for my -sake, since but for his tender care I must surely have died." - -As she ceased to speak, Jack Mainwaring strode forward and caught Howard -Templeton's hands in a grasp of steel. Words failed him, but the tearful -gaze of the honest eyes was far more expressive of his gratitude than -the most eloquent speech. - -But Xenie remained still and speechless. She suffered Lora to kiss and -caress her, but she remained still and pale, seemingly incapable of a -return of her sister's tenderness. Her dark eyes stared straight before -her, filled with a dumb terror, as if some dread anticipation was -painted on the walls of her mind. - -Slowly, like one fascinated, Lora crept nearer, and twining her arms -about her little child, kissed his sweet brow and lips. Xenie turned -mechanically and their eyes met. - -They regarded each other silently a moment, but in Lora's eyes there was -a yearning tenderness, a plaintive prayer that said plainer than words: - -"Oh! my sister, give me my child. Let me lay him in his father's arms, -and say: 'My husband, this is my child and yours.'" - -The ice around Xenie's frozen heart melted at that wordless prayer. -Slowly she laid the beautiful, dark-eyed boy in the yearning arms of the -young mother. - -"Take him, Lora," she said, "I absolve you from your vow of silence. I -cannot withhold this crowning joy that will complete your happiness, -although it wrecks my own. Upon my head fall all the bitter consequences -of my sin." - -With the words she turned to leave the room, but that bitter -renunciation before her deadly foe had been too hard for her. - -She staggered blindly a moment, then fell to the floor like one bereft -of life. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - - -On the deck of a noble steamer outward bound, Lora Mainwaring leaned -upon her husband's arm and waved a fond farewell to her mother and -sister who watched her tearfully from the shore. - -Captain Mainwaring was about to make his first voyage as the commander -of the vessel, and his wife chose to go with him, declaring that she -feared the dangers of the sea far less than the anguish of a second -separation from her husband. - -Yet the tears stood thickly in her eyes as she clasped the dimpled hand -of her little son and watched those two sad figures on the shore--the -beloved mother and sister whom she was leaving for long and weary -months--and it might be, for who could tell--perhaps forever! - -Two months had passed since the eventful day when Lora had returned to -the dear ones who mourned her as dead--two months of passionate -happiness to her, yet crowded with bitterness and humiliation to her -beautiful and high-spirited sister. - -For yet again had the fabulous fortune of the old millionaire changed -hands, and Howard Templeton was victor now. - -Her passionate revenge, her perilous secret belonged to the world now. -It was as Howard had said. He could not have spared her if he would, for -Jack Mainwaring was filled with rage and scorn at the knowledge that -Xenie had made his innocent child the instrument of a wicked revenge. - -Passionate and impulsive, and hating his wife's relations with cordial -good will, Jack lost no time in spreading the story to the winds. - -The day came when a bitter impulse moved him to repentance, but it was -too late to undo his work. - -"You were very wrong, Jack," little Lora said to him, tearfully; "you -should have remembered that it was not for her sake alone my sister -planned and carried out the deception. She gained her revenge, but she -also saved my name from obloquy. When you rail so bitterly against her, -do not forget that I also lent myself to the deception in my cowardly -fear of the world's censure." - -So Captain Mainwaring was slowly brought to take a more reasonable view -of the case. He apologized bluntly but heartily to Xenie, and she -forgave with him an almost apathetic indifference. - -For the beautiful and passionate woman was changed now almost beyond -belief. Even as she had hastened to be revenged on Howard Templeton for -her wrongs, she now made haste to offer restitution. He had no need to -contend for his rights. Every dollar of which she had defrauded him was -now legally restored to him again. - -And when that act of restitution was accomplished, Xenie fell into -strange and dangerous apathy. The idle tongues of the world wagged -busily, but she of whom they gabbled remained secluded in her beautiful -home, silent, thoughtful, sufficient unto herself, heedless alike, it -seemed, of their praise or blame. - -But the sorrowing mother who daily condemned herself for her share in -the trouble, as she anxiously watched her daughter, saw that her -delicate cheek was growing thin and white, the brilliant lustre was -fading from the mournful black eyes, the musical voice had a subtle tone -of weariness. How could it be otherwise when she had lost so much at one -fell stroke of fate? - -Fortune, revenge, the world's applause, even the little child whom she -had loved almost as her own, had slipped from her clasp in an hour, and -left her empty-handed on the bleak shores of fate. - -She did not know what to do with her blank and ruined life, and her -empty heart whose idols all lay shattered in the dust. - -So she went her way in silence, not caring to look back, not daring to -look forward. For what was left to her now? Nothing but life in a world -that seemed to have ended for her forever--life "more pathetic than -death." - -So, as she turned her dim eyes away from the gallant ship that was -bearing Lora so swiftly away from her native land, she said in a voice -that was sadder than tears: - -"Let us go home, mother." - -And while Lora went sailing away over the blue summer sea, beneath the -smiling sky of June, they turned their faces homeward. - - * * * * * - -"Aunt Egerton!" - -"Yes, dear," said the elegant woman of fashion, rising with a rustling -of silk and lace to greet her niece. "It is I. I came early on purpose -to go with you and see little Lora off, but you were already gone. I -would have followed you, but they told me I should be too late. So I -waited for you here." - -Then she rustled back to her seat again and there ensued an embarrassed -silence. - -For this was the first time that Mrs. Egerton had crossed the threshold -since the story of Xenie's revenge and its ultimate failure had become -known to the carping world. - -She, in common with the world, had been terribly shocked by the -disclosure, and had been in full accord with society when it turned its -back upon its whilom beautiful favorite. - -Now, as she sat there in the rich arm-chair of violet velvet, with all -the prestige of her rank and wealth about her, she shrank uneasily -before the half-veiled scorn in the beautiful, dusky eyes of the woman -who sat opposite regarding her with a cold, inquiring glance. - -Turning to her sister-in-law, Mrs. Carroll, she engaged her in a little -desultory chat while she recovered her self-possession. - -"So Lora has gone on a voyage with her husband?" - -"Yes," Mrs. Carroll said, briefly. - -She was silently wondering to herself what had brought her proud -sister-in-law to Xenie's house after she had, in the world's parlance, -so completely "cut" her. - -"Is she quite happy?" continued Mrs. Egerton, patronizingly. - -She had a private opinion that no one could be happy in such a -misalliance as Lora had made, but she forbore to air her secret views -for the benefit of her auditors. - -"Lora is perfectly happy, I believe," was the confident answer. - -"Ah, I am very glad. Her story has been as romantic as a novel. I am -pleased to hear that it has ended in the same happy fashion." - -Then she turned to Mrs. St. John. - -"Xenie, I expect you were surprised to find me here this morning. You -must have thought----" - -She paused here, a little disconcerted by the steady fire of the proud, -dark eyes that gravely regarded her. - -"Ah, well," she resumed in a moment, with a little laugh, "I have been -sadly vexed with you, Xenie. Who could help it? I had been so proud of -you, and hoped such great things for you, I could hardly bear it when I -learned to what length your passion had carried you." - -She paused in sheer pity as she saw the blush of shame flashing suddenly -into those white cheeks. - -"Well, never mind," she continued, with a significant smile. "All is not -lost yet. We will not recall the past. But I wish to talk to your -mother. Won't you gather a bunch of your beautiful roses for me, dear, -while we have our little chat?" - -Glad of an excuse for leaving the room, Xenie turned away, followed by a -smile of blended triumph and cunning from her maneuvering aunt. - -She ran down the marble steps at one side of the house that led into the -beautiful rose-garden that lay glowing and blushing under the balmy sky -of June. - -Running down the graveled path, she stopped short very suddenly, and a -low cry escaped her lips: - -"Howard Templeton!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - - -A gentleman, standing alone beside a marble fountain, turns with a start -and looks at her. His face is handsome, eager, agitated. - -"Mrs. St. John," he says; then a strange constraint seems to fall upon -both. They remain standing still and regarding each other in painful -silence. - -It is the first time they have met since the day of her terrible -humiliation, more than two months ago. In the passionate war they waged -he had been the victor. One would think that he would meet her now with -words of exultation. - -Yet he is silent, and a dark-red flush creeps slowly up his temples, -while his handsome blue eyes regard her with a strange intentness. - -To the day of his death he remembers her as she looks now. Not the -expression of a feature, not a fold of her robe escapes his memory. - -She looks like some beautiful, pale statue. - - "Gown'd in pure white that fitted to the shape-- - A single stream of all her soft, dark curls - Pour'd on one side." - -The sunshine beams upon her lovingly. A creeping rose-tree throws out -its briery arms as though it would fain draw her into its thorny -embrace. The light breeze scatters the scented rose-petals in a shower -of sweetness under her feet. A happy bird warbles its lay of love above -her drooping head. - -Suddenly she turns to go, thrilled with a bitter pang of remembrance. - -The movement breaks the spell that binds him. He springs after her. - -"Do not go," he exclaims, in a voice of unconscious pleading. - -"Why should I stay?" she asks, turning her proud, dark eyes upon him. -"Why have you intruded your unwelcome presence upon me?" - -The flush on his fair, handsome face deepens. - -"Xenie, pardon the _ruse_ by which I have gained admittance to your -presence," he exclaims. "I wished to see you and I went to Mrs. Egerton, -and stating my reasons, begged her to arrange this meeting." - -"Did you not know that the very sight of you is hateful in my eyes?" she -demands, spiritedly. - -"I feared so," he answers, with an unconscious tone of sadness in his -voice. "Yet I wished to see you. There is something I have to tell you." - -"You can tell me nothing that I wish to hear," she retorts, haughtily. -"Let me pass, sir. I refuse to listen!" - -But the tall, handsome form blocks her way, and shows no signs of -yielding. - -"Stay, one moment, Xenie," he exclaims. "Suppose I tell you that your -vengeance is secure after all--that Uncle John's missing will is found -at last?" - -She whirls toward him, her dark eyes blazing with incredulous surprise. - -"At last!" she says, with a stifled gasp. "At last! And who--who----" - -"I found it," he answers, not waiting for her to finish the incoherent -question. "He had hidden it, I cannot imagine why, in the most unlikely -place in the world. By the merest accident I came upon it yesterday. -Take it, Xenie. It secures your revenge to you now, beyond the shadow of -a doubt." - -He drew an official-looking document from his breast and placed it in -her shaking hand. She holds it in a mechanical grasp, her dark, -wondering eyes lifted to his proud, agitated face. - -"Yes," he repeats, slowly, "your vengeance is now secure. Every penny of -my Uncle John's vast wealth is bequeathed to you in the legal document -you hold in your hand. I am left utterly penniless!" - -But instead of the triumphant joy he expects to see in her mobile face, -her look of wonder deepens. - -"_You_ found the will--_you_ brought it to me," she says, with slow -gravity. "Who knows of it besides yourself?" - -"No one except your aunt, Mrs. Egerton," he answers, calmly; "I have -told her, and she is very anxious to congratulate you." - -Her red lips curl with faint scorn. But she does not speak. This sudden -turn of fortune's wheel seems to have dazed her. She stands quite still -holding the precious paper in her tightly-clasped hand, while her dark -eyes fix themselves upon it in a strange, intent fashion. - -She has lost her revenge, she has lost the world's applause, but this -little bit of yellow paper is able to buy it all back for her. It seems -too stupendous to believe. - -"Why have you done this thing?" she asks, rousing herself, and lifting a -curious glance to the silent man before her. - -"I do not understand you," he begins, half-haughtily. - -"Oh! yes, you do," she interrupts him quickly. "When you found this -will, which leaves you penniless, and me, your enemy, triumphant, you -must have been tempted to destroy it. You knew that I had resorted to a -fraud in order to gain my revenge. How did you conquer the temptation to -repay me likewise? Were you nobler than I that you did not burn this -paper and keep your uncle's wealth?" - -"Xenie, if you will answer me one simple question, I will tell you why I -beat down the temptation to keep the wealth which has caused us both so -many a bitter heart-ache," he said to her, in a grave, sad voice. - -"I will answer you," she repeated, slowly. - -"Tell me this, then, Xenie. In the hour when the result of your hopes -and plans became known to you--when you thought you had fully secured -the revenge for which you had toiled--did your success make you happy?" - -"No," she answered, in low but steady tones, while her whole frame -quivered with suppressed emotion. - -"No," he re-echoed; "revenge has not in it the elements of happiness. It -is but a consuming fire that destroys everything sweet and lovely. We -both have proved it; therefore, Xenie, I will have no more to do with -it. I have repented in bitterness of spirit the deadly feud we waged so -long against each other. The only atonement that was left to me you hold -in your hand." - -"It was a brave atonement when you remember all that it involves for -you," she cried, with a sudden remorseful pity in her voice. "You have -been nobler than I have." - -"Perhaps it was only selfish after all," he answered, impulsively; "for, -Xenie, I have been very unhappy in your unhappiness. Every arrow that -was pointed at your heart has pierced mine. I have long ago realized -that, no matter how terrible the loss to myself, I could never be happy -save in the ultimate triumph of the woman I love." - -"Love!" she echoed, looking at him with a wondering, startled gaze. - -The blue eyes met hers, full of mad, hopeless passion, so long repressed -and beaten down that now it seemed a consuming flame. - -"Yes, love," he answered, recklessly. "Forgive me, Xenie, but let me -speak one moment. Do you think I have forgotten those brief, bright days -when we loved each other? Do you think I can ever forget them? I have -never ceased to love you; I never shall until this beating heart is dust -and ashes! I count that one bright memory of our mutual love worth all -its bitter cost!" - -The burning crimson flashed into her cheeks. Did he mean it--all that -those impetuous words implied? - -"You cannot fool me with empty words," she cried. "Do I not know better? -Could my love be so much to you when you threw it away for--for this -that I hold in my hand?" and she threw a glance of scorn upon the paper -in her grasp that represented all the vast wealth of the old -millionaire. - -There was a moment's silence; then the pent-up heart of the man broke -out into passionate words; the bird in the bough overhead hushed its -song and seemed to listen. - -"Xenie, Xenie, my love and lost darling, why will you wrong me so? Oh, -my God! how little I weighed that filthy lucre against your love! I -swear to you here, under this blue heaven, and in this hour when I never -expect to behold your beautiful face again, that I broke our troth alone -because I loved with too dear a passion to doom you to the ills of -poverty for my sake. I love you, Xenie, deeply, fondly, devotedly, and I -gloried in the thought of lavishing wealth upon you; and when my uncle -bade me resign you I gave up my hope--not because I was afraid to brave -poverty _for_ you, but because I dared not face it _with_ you. Darling, -how could I bear to doom you, my tender flower, to the ills of poverty -and want? But, there, I have told you all this before, and you would not -believe it. Why should I weary you again? It is only because I am -leaving you forever that I have yielded to the weakness. Farewell, -Xenie, and may God bless you!" - -He ceased, and in the solitude and stillness of the odorous rose garden -it seemed to him as if she must hear his heart beating, so loud and fast -were its throbs of anguish. But she was silent, and he turned to go. - -"Howard, stay," she murmured, faintly. - -He retraced his steps to her side. - -"Xenie, what are you doing?" he cried in horror; for she had taken the -millionaire's will between her white and jeweled fingers and was tearing -it swiftly into the smallest fragments. - -The tiny white bits were flying from her hands like a miniature -snow-storm. - -She laughed lightly at his look of horror. - -"John St. John never meant me to have all his money," she answered. "I -coerced him into making this will, and he hid it then, hoping, no doubt, -that it would never be found. There is an end of it. Let all remain as -it was before. You have your share and I mine." - -"And your revenge?" he asked, looking at her as if he doubted his own -sanity. - -"Never speak of it again," she answered, turning from him, while the -crimson blush of shame overspread her face. - -A wild hope, undreamed of before, darted into his mind. He caught her -hand in his. - -"Xenie, why have you done this thing?" he asked. - -Her dark eyes lifted to his, full of a noble repentance. - -"Because I love you," she answered, "and I cannot war against you any -longer. Forgive me, Howard; it was never hatred that wrought my sin; it -was the cruel madness of love." - -He caught her in his arms with a low cry of passionate thanksgiving, and -the little birds, listening in the nests above their heads, heard the -sound of kisses and passionate words, mixed with a woman's happy sobs. - -"Xenie," he said, presently, when her sobs grew calmer, "they told me -that Lord Dudley had sued for your hand, and that you had promised to -return to England with him as his bride. You cannot imagine what I -suffered when I heard it. Even while I thought you hated me I could -never feel indifferent to you, though I tried hard to put you out of my -heart." - -"Lord Dudley asked me," she whispered back. "He was very noble. He knew -all my story, but he judged me very gently, and he would have given me -his name and love, but I told him it might never be--that I had loved -but one in my life, and that I could never love another." - -He pressed a dozen kisses on the sweet red lips that whispered the fond -confession. - -"And you forgive me everything, do you, Howard?" she questioned, -gravely. "You know that I have sinned very grievously. I have almost -periled my soul in my mad rage for an unholy revenge." - -"May God forgive you as freely as I do, my darling," he answered, -fondly. - - * * * * * - -When they strolled into the drawing-room arm-in-arm, a little later, -Mrs. Egerton rose from her arm-chair, rustling more than ever in her -happy self-importance. - -"My dear Xenie," she simpered, "let me be the first to congratulate you -that your husband's missing will is found at last." - -For answer, Xenie drew her to the window. - -"Aunt Egerton, I forgot your bunch of roses," she said, "but I want you -to look down there in that graveled walk." - -She pointed to the tiny fragments of paper, and Mrs. Egerton's face grew -pale. - -"What is it?" she asked, uneasily. - -"It is St. John's will," Xenie answered steadily, yet crimsoning -painfully beneath her aunt's curious glance. - -"And you have destroyed it," Mrs. Egerton exclaimed. "Were you mad, -child?" - -Xenie looked at her aunt with a gesture of proud humility. - -"No," she answered, "I have been mad, but, thank God I have come to my -senses at last. I destroyed the will because I had wronged Howard enough -already without taking his inheritance from him. I have confessed my -faults to him and he has forgiven everything." - -"And the long vendetta is over," said Mrs. Egerton. "Henceforth you will -be----" she paused for a suitable word. - -"Xenie will be my wife," said Howard Templeton, drawing near. - -Mrs. Carroll, who had been silent all this while, drew near and took her -daughter for one moment into the tender clasp of her maternal arms. - -"God bless you, my daughter," she murmured. "You have known deep -sorrow--may your future years be very happy ones." - - * * * * * - -My readers, we close our story as we began it--with a wedding. But this -time the wedding bells indeed are "golden bells," ringing out the mellow -chimes of true happiness. - -For this is not the union of winter and summer, this is not the sordid -barter of youth and beauty for an old man's gold. It is that one true -and beautiful union upon earth where the solemn vow of marriage welds -eternally together - - "Two souls with but a single thought, - Two hearts that beat as one." - - -[THE END.] - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - - -This novel was originally serialized in the _New York Family Story -Paper_; this electronic edition is derived from the later hardcover -reprint in the _Columbus Series_, in which it shared a volume with _Wild -Margaret_ by "Geraldine Fleming" (actually Charles Garvice). - -Added table of contents. - -Retained some obsolete spellings (e.g. hight). - -Italics are represented with _underscores_. - -Page 5, changed "marry him for him for money" to "marry him for his -money." - -Page 10, moved comma from before to after "now" in "May I ask if you are -friends with Mr. Templeton now, Mrs. St. John?" - -Page 13, added missing open quote before "I'll tell them that you are -mad." - -Page 15, changed "you generosity" to "your generosity" and "where both -drawn" to "were both drawn." - -Page 16, changed "brought it with my gold" to "bought it with my gold." - -Page 17, changed "desparate" to "desperate." - -Page 21, changed ? to ! in "No, no--oh, better that she were!" - -Page 22, changed "by-and-bye" to "by-and-by." - -Page 26, capitalized d in "Doctor Shirley" and added missing close quote -after "serve her as well." - -Page 30, changed Carrol to Carroll. - -Page 31, changed "Mr. Carroll" to "Mrs. Carroll." - -Page 33, changed "gaping audibly" to "gasping audibly." - -Page 36, changed "sound's" to "sounds." - -Page 37, changed "Howord Templeton" to "Howard Templeton." - -Page 38, changed "prevade" to "pervade." - -Page 48, changed . to ? in "Is it not a brilliant victory?" - -Page 50, changed ? to ! after "too horrible." - -Page 51, changed "Mr. Carroll" to "Mrs. Carroll." - -Page 56, removed erroneous quotes from text following "Ninon said." - -Page 59, changed "unknow" to "unknown." - -Page 61, changed "unknow" to "unknown." - -Page 64, changed . to ? in "how could he return to Lora without the -child?" - -Page 67, changed "about to attended" to "about to attend." - -Page 72, changed "nonchalantly" to "nonchalant." - -Page 79, added missing second hyphen to "mother-in-law." - -Page 82, added missing period after "persisted Captain Mainwaring." - -Page 86, added missing inner close quote after "my child and yours" and -changed "Uupon" to "Upon." - -Page 87, added missing close quote after "world's censure." - -Page 88, changed "foward" to "forward" and "grset" to "greet." - -Page 90, changed "exclaimed" to "exclaims." - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Dreadful Temptation, by Mrs. Alex. 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