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diff --git a/old/51996-8.txt b/old/51996-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 3e2aaec..0000000 --- a/old/51996-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8523 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of My Pretty Maid, by Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: My Pretty Maid - or, Liane Lester - -Author: Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - -Release Date: May 4, 2016 [EBook #51996] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY PRETTY MAID *** - - - - -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/)) - - - - - - - - - - NEW EAGLE SERIES No.682 - 15 CENTS - - - My Pretty Maid - - By - - Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - - [Illustration] - - _STREET & SMITH - PUBLISHERS, - NEW YORK._ - - - - - MY PRETTY MAID; - - OR - - LIANE LESTER - - - BY - - MRS. ALEX. MCVEIGH MILLER - - AUTHOR OF - - "Sweet Violet," "The Pearl and the Ruby," "The Senator's Bride," - "The Senator's Favorite," "Lillian, My Lillian," and numerous - other excellent romances published exclusively in the - EAGLE and NEW EAGLE SERIES. - - - [Illustration: S AND S - NOVELS] - - - NEW YORK - - STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS - - 79-89 SEVENTH AVENUE - - - - - Copyright, 1898 and 1899 - By Norman L. Munro - - - My Pretty Maid - - - - -Publisher's Note - - -Notwithstanding the fact that the sales of magazines have increased -tremendously during the past five or six years, the popularity of a -good paper-covered novel, printed in attractive and convenient form, -remains undiminished. - -There are thousands of readers who do not care for magazines because -the stories in them, as a rule, are short and just about the time they -become interested in it, it ends and they are obliged to readjust their -thoughts to a set of entirely different characters. - -The S. & S. novel is long and complete and enables the reader to spend -many hours of thorough enjoyment without doing any mental gymnastics. -Our paper-covered books stand pre-eminent among up-to-date fiction. -Every day sees a new copyrighted title added to the S. & S. lines, each -one making them stronger, better and more invincible. - - -STREET & SMITH, Publishers - -79-89 SEVENTH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY - - - - -MY PRETTY MAID. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER I. A DESPERATE CHANCE. - CHAPTER II. FATE IS ABOVE US ALL. - CHAPTER III. "MY PRETTY MAID." - CHAPTER IV. SECRET LOVE. - CHAPTER V. ROMA'S LOVERS. - CHAPTER VI. AFTER THE CRIME. - CHAPTER VII. GRANNY'S REVENGE. - CHAPTER VIII. THE BROKEN ENGAGEMENT. - CHAPTER IX. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. - CHAPTER X. ROMA SEEKS A NEW MAID. - CHAPTER XI. THE BEAUTY SHOW. - CHAPTER XII. "THE QUEEN ROSE." - CHAPTER XIII. EDMUND CLARKE'S SUSPICION. - CHAPTER XIV. ROMA FINDS AN ALLY. - CHAPTER XV. "A DYING MOTHER." - CHAPTER XVI. A LOVE LETTER. - CHAPTER XVII. A CRUEL FORGERY. - CHAPTER XVIII. LIANE'S FLEETING LOVE DREAM. - CHAPTER XIX. WHAT DOLLY TOLD. - CHAPTER XX. "AS ONE ADMIRES A STATUE." - CHAPTER XXI. A HARVEST OF WOE. - CHAPTER XXII. AT A FIEND'S MERCY. - CHAPTER XXIII. A MURDEROUS FURY. - CHAPTER XXIV. A STRAND OF RUDDY HAIR. - CHAPTER XXV. A TRUE FRIEND. - CHAPTER XXVI. TREMBLING HOPES. - CHAPTER XXVII. WHEN HAPPINESS SEEMED NEAR! - CHAPTER XXVIII. A SWORD THRUST IN HIS HEART. - CHAPTER XXIX. THE BRIDAL. - CHAPTER XXX. BEFORE THE DAWN. - CHAPTER XXXI. WHEN THE CLOUDS ROLLED BY. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -A DESPERATE CHANCE. - - -"How fast the river flows! How it roars in my ears and drowns the sound -of your voice, my dearest! It is bearing me away! Oh, save me! save me!" - -The river was the stream of Death, and the lone voyager floating out on -its rushing tide was a loved and loving young wife. - -The frail white hands clung fondly to her husband's as she rested with -her head upon his breast, and the faint voice murmured deliriously on: - -"How it rushes on--the wild river! How it rocks me on its broad breast! -It is not so noisy now; it is deeper and swifter, and its voice has a -lulling tone that soothes me to sleep. Hold me tight--keep me awake, -dear, lest it sweep me away to the sea!" - -Ah, he would have given the world to hold her back, his darling, the -dearest of his heart, but the rushing torrent was too strong. It was -sweeping her away. - -Several days ago a beautiful daughter--her first-born after five years' -wifehood--had been laid in her yearning arms. - -But, alas! the first night of its birth, during a temporary absence of -the old nurse from the room, the little treasure had been stolen from -its mother. - -Panic seized the whole household, and rigorous search was at once begun -and kept up for days, but all to no avail. - -The father was frantic, but, though he would have given his fortune -for the return of the child, he was powerless; and now, as a sequel to -this tragedy of loss and pain, his dear young wife lay dying in his -arms--dying of heartbreak for the lost babe--poor bereaved young mother! - -Tears rained from his eyes down on her pallid face as he strained her -to his breast, his precious one, going away from him so fast to death, -while outside, heedless of his despair, the golden sun was shining on -the green grass, and the fragrant flowers, and the little birds singing -in the trees as if there were nothing but joy in the world. - -The old family physician came in softly, with an anxious, sympathetic -face, and whispered startling words in his ear. - -A look of aversion crossed the young husband's face, and he groaned: - -"Doctor Jay, I cannot bear the thought!" - -"I feared you would feel so, Mr. Clarke, but all my medical colleagues -agree with me that nothing but the restoration of her child can save my -patient's life. It is the desperate chance we take when we feel that -all hope is lost." - -"Then I must consent!" - -"You are wise," the old doctor answered, tiptoeing from the room, only -to reappear a little later, followed by the nurse with a little white -bundle in her arms. - -The low voice of the delirious woman went babbling on. - -"Darling," murmured her husband, pressing his lips to her pale brow. - -"Yes, yes, dear, I'm going away from you. Hark!" - -The sudden wail of an infant had caught her hearing. - -Her dull eyes brightened with returning intelligence, she moved -restlessly, and the nurse laid a wailing infant against her breast. - -"Dear mistress, can you hear me? Here is your baby back again." - -They had taken a desperate chance when all hope seemed lost. - -By the advice of the consulting physicians, another child had been -substituted for the stolen one, and, at its helpless cry, hope crept -back to the mother's breaking heart; the rushing waves ceased to moan -in her ears, silenced by that little piping voice, and the sinking life -was rallied. - -She lived, and the babe grew and throve in its luxurious surroundings, -and the mother worshiped it. No one ever dared tell her the truth--that -it was not her own infant that had been restored to her arms, but a -little foundling. No other child ever came to rival it in Mrs. Clarke's -love, and it was this fact alone that sealed her husband's lips to the -cruel secret that ached at his heart. He feared the effect of the truth -on his delicate wife, taking every precaution to keep her in ignorance, -even to moving away from his own home, and settling in a distant place. - -Though he never relaxed his efforts to find his lost child, the years -slipped away in a hopeless quest, and Roma, the adopted girl, grew -eighteen years old, and her beauty and her prospects brought her many -suitors. - -In his heart Mr. Clarke hoped the girl would make an early marriage, -for he was tired of living a lie, pretending to love her as a daughter -to deceive his wife, while an aching void in his own heart was always -yearning for his own lost darling. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -FATE IS ABOVE US ALL. - - -It was six o'clock by all the watches and clocks at Stonecliff, and the -girls at Miss Bray's dressmaking establishment hastily put up their -work and were starting for home, chattering like a flock of magpies, -when their employer called after them testily: - -"Say, girls, one of you will have to take this bundle up to Cliffdene. -Miss Clarke wanted it very particularly to wear to-night. Liane Lester, -she lives nearer to you than any of the others. You take it." - -Liane Lester would have liked to protest, but she did not dare. With a -decided pout of her rosy lips, she took the box with Miss Clarke's new -silk cape and hurried to overtake Dolly Dorr, the only girl who was -going her way. - -"What a shame to have to carry boxes along the village street late in -the afternoon when every one is out walking! I think Miss Bray ought -to keep a servant to fetch and carry!" cried Dolly indignantly. "Oh, -look, Liane! There's that handsome Jesse Devereaux standing on the -post-office steps! Shouldn't you like to flirt with him? Let's saunter -slowly past so that he may notice us!" - -"I don't want him to notice me! Granny says that harm always comes of -rich men noticing poor girls. Come, Dolly, let us avoid him by crossing -the street." - -Suiting the action to the word, Liane Lester turned quickly from her -friend and sped toward the crossing. - -But, alas, fate is above us all! - -Her haste precipitated what she strove to avoid. - -Drawing the veil down quickly over her rosy face, the frolicsome -wind caught the bit of blue gossamer and whirled it back toward the -sidewalk. Jesse Devereaux gave chase, captured the veil, and flew after -the girl. - -She had gained the pavement, and was hurrying on, when she heard him at -her side, panting, as he said: - -"I beg pardon--your veil!" - -A white hand was thrust in front of her, holding the bit of blue gauze, -and she had to stop. - -"I thank you," she murmured, taking it from his hand and raising her -eyes shyly to his face--the brilliant, handsome face that had haunted -many a young girl's dreams. - -The dazzling dark eyes were fixed eagerly on her lovely face, and -his red lips parted in a smile that showed pearly-white teeth as he -exclaimed gayly: - -"Old Boreas was jealous of your hiding such a face, and whisked your -veil away, but out of mercy to mankind I concluded to return it." - -"Thank you, very much!" she answered again, and was turning away when -Dolly Dorr rushed across the street, breathless with eagerness. - -"How do you do, Mr. Devereaux?" she cried gayly, having been introduced -to him at a church festival the evening before. - -"Ah, Miss----" he hesitated, as he lifted his hat, and she twittered: - -"Miss Dorr; we met at the festival last night, you know. And this is my -chum, Liane Lester." - -"Charmed," he exclaimed, while his radiant black eyes beamed on Liane's -face, and he stepped along by Dolly's side as she placed herself -between them, intent on a flirtation. - -"May I share your walk?" he asked, and Dolly gave an eager assent, -secretly wishing her girl friend a mile away. - -But as she could not manage this, she proceeded to monopolize the -conversation--an easy task, for Liane walked along silent and ill at -ease, "for all the world," thought the lively Dolly to herself, "like a -tongue-tied little schoolgirl." - -No wonder Liane was demure and frightened, dreading to get a scolding -from granny if Jesse Devereaux walked with them as far as her home. - -Liane lived alone, in pinching poverty, with a feeble old grandmother, -who was too old to work for herself, and needed Liane's wages to keep -life in her old bones; so she was always dreading that the girl's -beauty would win her a husband who would pack the old woman off to the -poorhouse as an incumbrance. - -She kept Liane illy dressed and hard worked, and never permitted her to -have a beau. Marriage was a failure, she said. - -"What was the use of marrying a poor man, to work your fingers to the -bone for him?" she exclaimed scornfully. - -"But one might marry rich," suggested innocent Liane. - -"Rich men marry rich girls, and if they ever notice a poor girl, she -mostly comes to grief by it. Don't never let me catch you flirting with -any young man, or I'll make you sorry!" granny answered viciously. - -She had not made her sorry yet, for the girl had obeyed her orders, -although her beauty would have brought her a score of lovers had she -smiled on their advances, but Liane had not seen any man yet for whom -she would have risked one of granny's beatings. - -How would it be now, when her young heart was beating violently at -the glances of a pair of thrilling dark eyes, and the tones of a -rich, musical voice, when her face burned and her hands trembled with -exquisite ecstasy? - -Old Boreas, why did you whisk her veil away and show Jesse Devereaux -that enchanting young face, so rosy and dimpled, with large, shy eyes -like purple pansies, golden-hearted, with rims of jet, so dark the -arched brows and fringed lashes, while the little head was covered with -silky waves of thick, shining chestnut hair? What would be the outcome -of this fateful meeting? - -Sure enough, as they came in sight of Liane's humble home, there was -granny's grizzled head peeping from the window, and, with an incoherent -good evening to her companions, Liane darted inside the gate, hurrying -into the house. - -But at the very threshold the old woman met her with a snarl of -rage, slapping her in the face with a skinny, clawlike hand as she -vociferated: - -"Take that for disobeying me, girl! Walking out with that handsome -dude, after all my warnings!" - -"Oh, granny, please don't be so cruel, striking me for nothing! I'm too -big a girl to be beaten now!" pleaded Liane, sinking into a chair, the -crimson lines standing out vividly on her white cheeks, while indignant -tears started into her large, pathetic eyes. - -But her humility did not placate the cruel old hag, who continued to -glare at her victim, snarling irascibly. - -"Too big, eh?" she cried; "well, I'll show you, miss, the next time I -see you galivanting along the street with a young man! Now, who is he, -anyhow?" - -"Just a friend of Dolly Dorr's, granny. I--I--never saw him till just -now, when he asked Dolly if he might share her walk." - -"Um-hum! A frisky little piece, that Dolly Dorr, with her yellow head -and doll-baby face! I don't want you to walk with her no more when he -goes along, do you hear me, Liane? Two's company, and three a crowd." - -"Yes, ma'am"--wearily. - -"Now, what have you got in that pasteboard box, I say? If you've been -buying finery, take it back this minute. I won't pay a cent for it!" - -"It's finery, granny, but not mine. Miss Bray sent me to carry it to -the rich young lady up at Cliffdene, and I just stopped in to see if -you will make your own tea while I do my errand, for I shouldn't like -to come back alone after dark." - -"Better come alone than walking with a man, Liane Lester!" grunted the -old woman, adding more amicably: "Go along, then, and hurry back, and -I'll keep some tea warm for you." - -"Thank you, granny," the poor girl answered dejectedly, going out with -her bundle again, her face shrouded in the blue veil, lest she should -meet some one who would notice the marks of the cruel blow on her fair -cheek. - -Her way led along the seashore, and the brisk breeze of September blew -across the waves and cooled her burning face, and dried the bitter -tears in her beautiful eyes, though her heart beat heavily and slow in -her breast as she thought: - -"What a cruel life for a young girl to lead--beaten and abused by an -old hag whom one must try to respect because she is old, and poor, and -is one's grandmother, though I am ashamed of the relationship! I fear -her, instead of loving her, and it is more than likely she will kill me -some day in one of her brutal rages. Sometimes I almost resolve to run -away and find work in the great city; but, then, she has such a horror -of the poorhouse, I have not the heart to desert her to her fate. But I -could not help being ashamed of her when Mr. Devereaux saw her uncombed -head and angry face leering at us out of the window. Never did I feel -the misery of my condition, the poverty of my dress and my home, so -keenly as in his presence. I do not suppose he would stoop to marry a -poor girl like me, especially with such a dreadful relation as granny," -she ended, with a bursting sigh of pain from the bottom of her sore -heart. - -The tide swept in almost to her feet, and the sea's voice had a hollow -tone of sympathy with her sorrow. - -"Oh, I wish that I were dead," she cried with a sudden passionate -despair, almost wishing that the great waves would rush in and sweep -her off her feet and away out upon the billows, away, from her weary, -toilsome life into oblivion. - -But here she was at the gates of beautiful Cliffdene, the home of the -Clarkes, a handsome stone mansion set in spacious ground on a high -bluff, washed at its base by the murmuring sea. - -She opened the gate, and went through the beautiful grounds, gay with -flowers, thinking, what a paradise Cliffdene was and what a contrast to -the tumble-down, three-roomed shanty she called home. - -"How happy Miss Clarke must be; so beautiful and rich, with fine -dresses, and jewels, and scores of handsome lovers! I wonder if Mr. -Devereaux knows her, and if he admires her like all the rest? He would -not mind marrying her, I suppose. She does not live in a shanty, and -have a spiteful old grandmother to make her weary of her life," thought -poor, pretty Liane, as she paused in the setting sunlight before the -broad, open door. - -At that moment a superb figure swept down the grand staircase toward -the trembling girl--a stately figure, gowned in rustling silk, whose -rich golden tints, softened by trimmings of creamy lace, suited well -with the handsome face, lighted by spirited eyes of reddish brown, -while the thick waves of shining, copper-colored hair shone in the -sunset rays like a glory. Liane knew it was Miss Clarke, the beauty -and heiress; she had seen her often riding through the streets of -Stonecliff. - -"What do you want, girl?" cried a proud, haughty voice to Liane as they -stood face to face on the threshold, the heiress and the little working -girl. - -"Miss Bray has sent home your silk cape, Miss Clarke." - -"Ah? Then bring it upstairs, and let me see if it is all right. I have -very little confidence in these village dressmakers, though Miss Bray -has very high recommendations from the judge's wife," cried haughty -Roma Clarke, motioning the girl to follow her upstairs, adding cruelly: -"You should have gone round to the servants' entrance, girl. No one -brings bundles to the front door." - -Liane's cheeks flamed and her throat swelled with resentful words that -she strove to keep back, for she knew she must not anger Miss Bray's -rich customer. But she hated her toilsome life more than ever as she -followed Roma along the richly carpeted halls to a splendid dressing -room, where the beauty sank into a cushioned chair, haughtily ordering -the box to be opened. - -Liane's trembling white fingers could scarcely undo the strings, but -at last she held up the exquisite evening cape of brocaded cream silk, -lined with peach blossom and cascaded with billows of rare lace. - -It was daintily chic, and had been the admiration of the workroom. All -the girls had coveted it, and Dolly Dorr had draped it over Liane's -shoulders, crying: - -"It just suits you, you dainty princess." - -The princess stood trembling now, for Roma flew into a rage the instant -her wonderful red-brown eyes fell on the cape. - -"Just as I feared! It is ruined in the arrangement of the cascades of -lace. Who did it--you?" she demanded sharply. - -"Oh, no, Miss Bray arranged it herself, I assure you," faltered Liane. - -"It must be altered at once, for I need it walking out in the grounds -with my guests to-night. You're one of the dressmaker's girls, -aren't you? Yes? Well, you shall change it for me at once, under my -directions. Hurry and rip the lace off carefully." - -Liane's heart fluttered into her throat, but she protested. - -"I--I cannot stay. I should be afraid to go home after dark. I am sure -Miss Bray will alter it to-morrow." - -"To-morrow! when I want it to-night? You must be crazy, girl! Do as I -bid you, or I'll report you to your employer to-morrow and have you -discharged." - -Liane's throat choked with a frightened sob, and she dared not disobey -and risk dismissal from Miss Bray and a beating from granny. - -"I will do it, but I am terribly afraid to go home alone," she -faltered, taking up the scissors and the garment. - -"Nonsense! Nothing will hurt you. Here, this is the way I want it, and -be sure you do not botch it, or you will have to do it all over again! -Now, I am going down to dinner. I'll be back in an hour and a half, and -you ought to have it done by that time!" cried the imperious beauty, -sweeping from the room, though Liane heard her tell the maid in the -hall to keep an eye on that girl from the dressmaker's, that she did -not slip anything in her pocket. - -The clever maid sidled curiously into the lighted dressing room, and, -as soon as she saw the tears in the eyes of Liane and the crimson -print on her fair cheek, she jumped to her own conclusions. - -"You poor, pretty little thing, did Miss Roma fly in a rage and slap -your face, too?" she exclaimed compassionately. - -"Certainly not!" the girl answered, cresting her graceful -chestnut-brown head with sudden pride. "Do you think I would allow your -mistress to insult me so?" - -"She would insult you whether you liked it or not," the maid replied -tartly. "She has slapped my face several times in her tantrums since I -came here, and I would have quit right off, but her mother is an angel, -and when I complained to her, the sweet lady gave me some handsome -presents and begged me to overlook it, because her daughter was -somewhat spoiled by being an only child and an heiress. So I stayed for -the kind mother's sake, and if Miss Roma really did strike you in her -rage over the cape, let me tell Mrs. Clarke, and she will reward you -handsomely to keep silence!" - -"But I assure you Miss Clarke did not strike me!" Liane protested. - -"There's the print of her fingers on your face to speak for itself, -poor child!" - -"That mark was on my face when I came," Liane answered, almost -inaudibly, out of her keen humiliation. - -"Oh, I see. What is your name?" - -"Miss Lester--Liane Lester." - -"A pretty-sounding name! I've heard of you before, Miss Lester--the -lovely sewing girl whose grandmother beats her. All the village knows -it and pities you. Why do you stand it? Why don't you run away and get -married? You are so lovely that any man might be glad to get you for -his bride." - -The color flamed hotly into Liane's cheek. She was proud, in spite of -her poverty, and it chafed her to have her private affairs so freely -discussed by Miss Clarke's servant. - -"Please do not talk to me while I'm sewing," she said firmly, but so -gently that the pert maid did not take offense, but slipped away, -returning when the cape was nearly done, with a dainty repast on a -silver waiter. - -"Mrs. Clarke sent this with her compliments. She heard about your being -up here sewing, and felt so sorry for you." - -Liane had not tasted food since her meager midday luncheon, but she -was too proud to own that she was faint from fasting. - -"She was very kind, but I--I really am not hungry," she faltered. - -"But you have not had your tea yet, and one is apt to have a headache -without it," urged the tactful maid, and she presently persuaded Liane -to eat, although not before the cape was done, so great was her dread -of Miss Clarke's coarse anger. - -The maid had adroitly let Mrs. Clarke know all about Liane, and now she -slipped a crisp banknote into her hand, whispering: - -"Mrs. Clarke sent you this for altering the cape for her daughter." - -Liane was almost frightened at the new rustling five-dollar bill in her -hand. She had never seen more than three dollars at a time before--the -amount of her weekly wages from Miss Bray. - -"Oh, dear, I can't take this. It's too much! Miss Bray only gets five -dollars for the making of the whole cape," she exclaimed. - -"Never mind about that, if Mrs. Clarke chooses to pay you that for -altering it, my dear miss. She is rich and can afford to be liberal -to one who needs it. So just take what she gives you, and say -nothing--not even to her daughter, who has a miserly heart and might -scold her for her kindness," cautioned the maid, who pitied Liane with -all her heart. - -Liane cried eagerly: - -"Oh, please thank the generous lady a hundred times for me! I love her -for her kindness to a poor orphan girl. Now, do you think Miss Roma -would come and look at the cape? For I must be going. Granny will be -angry at my coming back so late." - -"Here she comes now, the vixen!" and, sure enough, a silken gown -rustled over the threshold, and Roma caught the cape up eagerly, crying: - -"Ten to one you have botched it worse than before! Well, really, you -have followed my directions exactly, for a wonder! That will do very -well. You may go now, and if you think you ought to be paid anything -for these few minutes' extra work, you can collect it off Miss Bray, as -she was responsible for the alterations. Sophie, you can show the girl -out," and, throwing the cape over her arm, the proud beauty trailed her -rustling silk over the threshold and downstairs again. - -"The heartless thing! I'd like to shake her!" muttered Sophie angrily, -as she led the way out of the beautiful house down upon the moonlight -lawn, adding: - -"I'll go to the gates with you, so you won't get frightened at Mr. -Clarke's big St. Bernard." - -"What a beautiful night, and how sweet the flowers smell!" murmured -Liane, lifting her heated brow to the cool night breeze, and the -pitying stars that seemed to beam on her like tender eyes. - -"Would you like some to take home with you? You will be welcome, I -know, for the frosts will be getting them soon, anyhow," cried Sophie, -loading her up with a huge bunch of late autumn roses, "and now good -night, my dear young lady," opening the gate "you have a long walk -before you, but I hope you will get home safely." - -Liane opened her lips to tell the woman how frightened she was of the -lonely walk home, but she was ashamed of her cowardice, and the words -remained unsaid. With a faltering "I thank you for your kindness; -good night," she clasped the roses to her bosom and sped away like a -frightened fawn in the moonlight, down the road along the beach, a -silent prayer in her heart that granny would not be angry again over -her long stay, and accuse her of "galivanting around with beaus." - -Sophie leaned over the gate, watching her a minute, with pity and -admiration in her clear eyes. - -"What a beautiful creature!--a thousand times lovelier than Miss Roma!" -she thought. "But what a cruel lot in life. It is enough to make the -very angels weep." - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -"MY PRETTY MAID." - - -There was not a more nervous, startled maiden in all New England that -night than Liane as she flew along the beach, haunted by a fear of -drunken men, of whom Stonecliff had its full quota. - -And, indeed, she had not gone so very far before her fears took shape. - -She heard distinctly, above her frightened heartbeats and her own light -steps, the sound of a man's tread gaining on her, while his voice -called out entreatingly: - -"Elinor, Elinor! wait for me!" - -The sea's voice, with the wind, seemed to echo the call. - -"Elinor, Elinor! wait for me!" - -But Liane did not wait. She only redoubled her speed, and she might -have escaped her pursuer but that her little foot tripped on a stone -and threw her prone upon the sands. - -Before she could rise a man's arms closed about her tenderly, lifting -her up, while he panted: - -"Elinor, what girlish freak is this? Why wouldn't you wait for me, -dear?" - -Liane gasped and looked up at him in terror, but that instant she -recognized him, and her fears all fled. - -"Oh, Mr. Clarke, you have made a mistake, sir. You don't know me, -although I know what your name is. I am Liane Lester!" she cried -breathlessly. - -He dropped her hand and recoiled in surprise, answering: - -"I beg a hundred pardons for my apparent rudeness. I saw you flying -along as I smoked my cigar above the hill, and your figure looked so -exactly like my wife's that I flew after you. I hope you will find -it easy to forgive me, for you do resemble my wife very much, and, -although you are young and fair, you may take that as a compliment, for -my wife is very beautiful." - -"I thank you, sir, and forgive you freely. I have never seen Mrs. -Clarke, but I have just come from your house, and was running home -every step of the way because I had to stay till after dark, and -I feared my grandmother would be uneasy over me!" faltered Liane, -blushing at his intent gaze, for the wind had blown her veil aside, -and her lovely features, pure as carven pearl, shone clearly in the -moonlight. - -"And I am detaining you yet longer! Excuse me, and--good night," he -said abruptly, smiling kindly at her, lifting his hat and turning back -toward Cliffdene, while he thought with pleasure: - -"What a lovely girl! She reminded me of Elinor when she was young." - -Liane thought kindly of him, too, as she hurried along. - -"What a noble face and gracious voice! Miss Roma Clarke is blessed in -having such a splendid father." - -She had only granny, poor child; coarse, ugly, repulsive, cruel granny. -She could not even remember her parents or any other relation. A lonely -childhood, whose only bright memories were of its few school days, a -toilsome girlhood, robbed of every spark of youthful pleasure; coarse -scoldings and brutal beatings. It was all a piteous life--enough, as -Sophie, the maid had said, to make the very angels weep in pity. - -Strange, as she hastened on, how Jesse Devereaux's eyes and smile -haunted her thoughts with little thrills of pleasure; how she wondered -if she should ever see him again. - -"Perhaps Dolly Dorr will make him fall in love with her, she is so -pretty, with her fluffy yellow hair and big torquoise-blue eyes," she -thought, with a curious sensation of deadly pain, jealous already, -though she guessed it not. - -The night was still and calm, and suddenly the dip of oars in the water -came to her ears. She looked, and saw a little boat headed for the -beach, with a single occupant. - -The keel grated on the shore, the man sprang out, and came directly -toward her, pausing with hat in hand--a tall fellow, dark and -bewhiskered, with somber, dark eyes. - -"Ah, good evening, my pretty maid. Taking a stroll all alone, eh? Won't -you have a moonlight row with me?" - -"No, thank you, sir; I am in a hurry to get home. Please stand aside," -for he had placed himself in her way. - -"Not so fast, pretty maid. It is good manners, I trow, to answer a -stranger's courteous questions, is it not?" still barring her way. -"Well, show me the way to Cliffdene." - -The trembling girl pointed mutely back the way she had come. - -"Thank you--and again: Do you know Miss Roma Clarke?" - -"I have just seen her at Cliffdene," she answered. - -"So she is not married yet?" - -"Oh, no," Liane answered, trying to pass, but he caught her hand, -exclaiming mockingly: - -"Not married yet? Well, that is very good news to me. I will give you a -kiss, pretty one, for that information." - -"You shall not! Release me at once, you hound!" cried the girl, -struggling to free herself. - -But the insolent stranger only clasped her closer and drew her to him, -the fumes of his liquor-laden breath floating over her pure brow as he -struggled to kiss her shrieking lips. - -And, absorbed in the conflict, neither one noticed a third person -coming toward them from the town--an exceedingly handsome young man, -who hurried his steps in time to comprehend the meaning of the scene -before him, and then shot out an athletic arm, and promptly bowled the -wretch over upon the wet sands. - -"Lie there, you cur, till I give you leave to rise!" he thundered, -planting his foot on the fellow's chest while he turned toward the -young lady. - -"Why, good heavens! Is it you, Miss Lester?" he cried, in wonder. - -"Yes, Mr. Devereaux. I was hurrying home from an errand to Cliffdene -when this man jumped out of his boat, and threatened to kiss me." - -"Apologize to the lady on your knees, cur!" cried Jesse Devereaux, -helping him with a hand on his coat collar. - -The wretch obeyed in craven fear. - -"Now tell me where you came from in the boat." - -"From the nearest town," sullenly. - -"Then get into that boat and go back to it as fast as you can row, and -if you are ever caught in Stonecliff again, I promise to thrash you -within an inch of your life." - -The defeated bully obeyed in craven silence, but the gleam of his -somber eyes boded no good to the man who had so coolly mastered him. - -Devereaux and Liane stood side by side, watching the little boat shoot -away over the dancing billows, leaving ripples of phosphorescent light -in the wake of the oars. Then he turned and took her hand. - -"You had quite an adventure," he said. "Why, you are trembling like a -leaf, poor child!" - -He felt like drawing her to his breast, and soothing her fears; but -that would not be conventional. So he could only regard her with the -tenderest pity and admiration, while clasping the trembling little hand -as tight as he dared. - -Liane was so nervous she could not speak at first, and he continued -gently: - -"It was rather imprudent for a young girl like you to be walking out -alone after nightfall. Did you not know it, Miss Lester?" - -She faltered nervously: - -"Oh, yes, I knew it! I was frightened almost to death, but I--I could -not help it!" - -"Why?" - -"My employer sent me on an errand to Cliffdene, and I was detained -there until after dark." - -"They should have sent some one to see you safely home." - -"Yes," Liane answered, shivering, but not making any explanation. She -hated in her simple, girlish pride to have him know how she had been -treated by Roma Clarke. - -"I--I must be going now. Thank you ever so much for coming to my -rescue," she added, stooping to gather her roses, that lay scattered on -the sands. - -Jesse Devereaux helped her, and kept them, saying as he drew her little -hand closely within his arm: - -"I will carry them and see you safe home." - -Arm in arm they paced along under the brilliant moonlight, with the -solemn voice of the ocean in their ears. But they were heedless. They -heard only the beating of their own excited hearts. - -The mere presence of this man, whom she had never met till to-day, -filled Liane's innocent heart with ecstasy. - -To be near him like this, with her arm linked in his so close that she -felt the quick throbbing of his disturbed heart; to meet the glances of -his passionate, dark eyes, to hear the murmuring tones of his musical -voice as he talked to her so kindly--oh, it was bliss such as she had -never enjoyed before, but that she could have wished might go on now -forever! - -He made her tell him all that the stranger had said to her, and Liane -felt him give a quick start when Roma's name was mentioned, although -he said lightly: - -"He must be some discarded lover of Miss Clarke." - -"Yes," she answered, and, raising her eyes, she saw near at hand the -wretched shanty she called her home. - -How short their walk had been--barely a minute it seemed to the girl! -But now they must part. - -She essayed to draw her hand from his clasping arm, murmuring: - -"I--I cannot let you go any farther with me, please! Granny does not -allow me to walk out with--with gentlemen! She told me to come home -alone!" - -Jesse Devereaux protested laughingly, but he soon saw that Liane was in -terrible earnest, her face pale, her great eyes dilated with fear, her -slender form shaking as with a chill. - -"Do you mean to say that you cannot have the privilege of receiving me -sometimes as a visitor under your own roof?" he asked, more seriously -then; but the girl suddenly uttered a low moan of alarm, and shrank -from him, turning her eyes wildly upon an approaching grotesque form. - -Granny had worked herself into a fury over Liane's long stay, and at -last hobbled forth to meet her, armed with a very stout cane, that -would serve the double purpose of a walking stick and an instrument of -punishment. - -And, in spite of her age, she was strong and agile, and Liane would -have cause to rue the hour she was born when next they met. - -She strained her malevolent gaze all around for a sight of the truant, -and when they lighted on Liane and Devereaux, arm in arm, a growl of -fury issued from her lips. - -Before Liane could escape, she darted forward with surprising agility, -and lifted her stout cane over the girl's shrinking head. - -A start, a shriek, and Devereaux saw, as suddenly as if the old hag had -arisen from the earth by his side, the peril that menaced Liane. - -That descending blow was enough to kill the frail, lovely girl, the -object of granny's brutal spite! - -Another instant and the stick would descend on the beautiful head! - -But Devereaux's upraised arm received the force of the blow, and -that arm fell shattered and helpless by his side, but the other hand -violently wrenched the old woman away from her victim, as he demanded: - -"You vile beast! What is the meaning of this murderous assault?" - -They glared at each other, and the old woman snarled: - -"I have a right to beat her! She disobeyed my orders, and she belongs -to me. She's my granddaughter." - -"Heaven help me, it is true!" moaned Liane, as he looked at her for -confirmation. - -"Let me get at her! Let me get at her!" shrieked granny, intent on -punishing the girl, and writhing in Devereaux's clutch. - -But Devereaux, with one arm hanging helpless at his side, held her -firmly with the other. - -"You shall not touch her!" he said sternly. "You shall go to prison for -this outrage." - -At that both the old woman and the girl uttered a cry of remonstrance. - -Devereaux looked at Liane inquiringly, and she faltered: - -"The disgrace would fall on me!" - -"Yes, yes, she is my granddaughter," howled granny eagerly, seeing her -advantage. Devereaux comprehended, too. He groaned: - -"But what can you do? You must not be exposed again to her fury!" - -Granny glared malevolently, while Liane bent her eyes to the ground, -meditating a moment ere she looked up, and said timidly: - -"I think you are right. I cannot live with granny any more, for she -would surely kill me some day. Let her go home, and I will go and spend -the night with Dolly Dorr, who lives not far from here." - -"You hear what Miss Lester says? Will you go home peaceably, while she -goes to her friend for safety?" demanded Devereaux, eager to close the -scene, for he was faint from the pain of his broken arm. - -Granny saw that she was cornered, and cunningly began to feign -repentance, whimpering that she was sorry, and would never do so any -more if Liane would only come home with her now, for she was afraid to -spend the night alone. - -"She shall not go with you, you treacherous cat," he answered sternly, -releasing her and bidding her angrily to return home at once. - -Cowed by his authority, she could not but choose to obey, but as she -started, she flung back one shaft: - -"Better come with me, Liane, than stay with him, my dear. Remember my -warnings about rich young men and pretty, poor girls! A beating is -safer than his love!" - -Liane's cheeks flamed at the coarse thrust, but Devereaux said -earnestly: - -"Do not mind her taunt, Miss Lester. I will always be a true friend to -you, believe me!" - -"You are a true friend already. From what horrors have you saved me -to-night?" Liane cried, bursting into tears. "Your poor arm, how -helpless it hangs! Oh, I fear it has been broken in my defense," and -suddenly sinking on her knees, in an excess of tenderest gratitude, she -pressed her warm, rosy lips to the hand that had so bravely defended -her from insult and injury. - -"Oh, you are a hero, you have saved my life, and I can never forget -you!" she sobbed hysterically. - -"Yes, my arm is broken; I must hurry back to town and have it set," he -answered faintly. "I must let you go on to Miss Dorr's alone, but it is -not far, and you are safe now. Good night," he murmured, leaving her -abruptly in his pain. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -SECRET LOVE. - - -Liane gazed after Devereaux's retreating form in bewilderment, her -cheeks burning with the thought: - -"He was angry because I kissed his hand! Oh, why was I so bold? I did -not mean to be, but it made my heart ache to see him suffering so -cruelly from his defense of my life! How pale he looked--almost as if -he were going to faint. Oh, I love him!" and she wept despairingly, as -she hurried to Dolly Dorr's, careless now of the beautiful roses that -lay crushed upon the ground where they had fallen. - -Dolly was sitting on her little vine-wreathed porch, singing a pretty -love song, and she started in surprise as Liane came up the steps. - -"Why, Liane, my dear, what is the matter? You are crying; your cheeks -are all wet!" she cried, putting her arms about the forlorn girl, who -sobbed: - -"May I stay with you all night, Dolly? Granny has beaten me again, and -I have run away!" - -"I don't blame you! You should have done it long ago. Of course you -may stay with me as long as you wish!" replied pretty little Dolly, -with ready sympathy, that might not have been so warm if she had known -all that had transpired between Liane and Devereaux, on whom she had -set her vain little heart. - -But Liane was too shy and nervous to tell her friend the whole story. -She simply explained, when pressed, that granny had beaten her for -walking with Devereaux that afternoon, and attempted it again because -she was late getting home, after altering Miss Clarke's cape. - -"So I ran away to you," she added wearily. - -"That was right. We will all make you welcome," said Dolly cordially, -sure that her father and mother, and her two little brothers, would all -make good her promise. - -"You should have seen them all peeping out of the window in amazement -this afternoon when I came walking up with the grand Devereaux at my -side," she continued consciously. "I asked him in, and he sat on the -porch nearly half an hour talking to me. When he was leaving, I asked -him to call again, and pinned some pansies in his buttonhole, and what -do you think he said, Liane?" - -"I could never guess," the girl answered, with a secret pang of the -keenest jealousy. - -"He said: 'What exquisite pansies! They remind me of Miss Lester's -eyes--such a rare, purplish blue, with dark shadings." - -Liane caught her breath with stifled rapture, that he had remembered -her, but Dolly added wistfully: - -"He must have read in my face that I was disappointed at not having -a compliment, too, for he went on to say that my eyes were just like -bluebells. Liane, which are the prettier flowers, pansies or bluebells?" - -"I should say that it is all a matter of taste," Liane replied gently. - -So presently they went upstairs to bed, but Dolly was so excited she -talked half the night. - -"Liane, have you heard of the Beauty Show that is to be held in the -town hall next week?" she asked, as she rolled her yellow locks in kid -curlers to make them fluffy. - -Liane shook her head. - -"No? Why, that is strange. Every one is talking about it, and they say -that you and I are pretty enough to compete for the prize, although -Miss Roma Clarke intends to exhibit her handsomest portrait." - -"Is it a portrait show?" - -"It is this way, Liane: A Boston artist has a commission to design the -outside cover of a magazine for December, and he wants to get a lovely -young girl for the central figure--a young girl taken from life. So he -has advertised for five hundred pictures of beauties, to be delivered -by next week, when they will be exhibited on the walls of the town -hall, and judges appointed to decide on the fairest. Of course, the -artist himself is to be one of the judges, and they say that Mr. Clarke -and Mr. Devereaux will be two of the others, but I don't know the rest. -Don't you think it's unfair, Liane, to have Roma Clarke's father and -lover for judges? Of course, they will show her some partiality in -their votes." - -Liane murmured with dry lips in a choking voice: - -"Is Mr. Devereaux Miss Clarke's lover?" - -"So they say, but I hope it's not true. I'm trying to catch him -myself," confessed Dolly quite frankly. "I don't really think it's -fair for Miss Clarke to compete for the prize, anyway. She ought to -leave the chance to some beautiful, poor girl that needs that hundred -dollars so much worse than she does!" - -"A hundred dollars!" exclaimed Liane. - -"Yes; just think of it! You must try for the prize, Liane." - -"I don't know; I must think over it first. Wouldn't it seem conceited -in me? As if I were sure that I was a raging beauty?" doubtfully. - -"Why, so you are! Every one says so, and you can see it for yourself in -the glass there! Prettier than I am, really!" Dolly owned magnanimously. - -"Small good my pretty face has brought me!" sighed Liane. - -"Well, it may get you that hundred dollars, if you try for it! And -it might have gotten you a nice husband long ago, but for your -cantankerous old granny! The idea of her slapping you for walking with -that splendid Devereaux! But I'll give him a hint, when I see him -again, never to go near you any more!" exclaimed Dolly, quite eager to -give the warning, for she thought: - -"I didn't like the way he talked about her eyes; for she had certainly -made an impression on him, and I'm afraid I shouldn't stand much chance -if she went in to win against me. So I'm glad of granny's opposition -for once! If I'm lucky enough to marry him, I'll have Liane at my -house for a long visit, and introduce her to some good catches." - -Liane little dreamed of these shrewd thoughts in the pretty, little, -yellow noddle, while Dolly prattled on: - -"You have not seen the artist, either, have you? His name is Malcolm -Dean, and he's quite a handsome fellow. I wish one of us could -catch him, Liane! Why, I've heard he gets a fortune for everything -he designs, and that magazine has promised him a fortune for their -December cover." - -"We had better go to sleep, Dolly, or we will be too tired to go to -work in the morning," suggested Liane, and Dolly obediently shut her -eyes and drifted off into dreamland. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -ROMA'S LOVERS. - - -Haughty Roma Clarke did not give another thought to the poor sewing -girl who had pleased her fastidious taste so entirely in the alteration -of her cape. - -She threw the dainty wrap over her graceful shoulders, for the -September evenings already grew chill, and wandered out into the -grounds to watch for Jesse Devereaux, whom she expected to call. - -Her restless, impatient nature would not permit her to wait patiently -in the drawing room to receive him. She thought it would be so -gloriously romantic to stroll about the grounds, clinging to his arm, -the splendid moonlight etherealizing her beauty, the murmur of the sea -in their ears, the fragrance of flowers all around them. She would not -be bothered here with papa or mamma coming into the room to talk to -Jesse, and breaking up their delightful tête-à-tête. - -She went into a rose arbor near the gate, thinking that she would go -out to meet him as soon as she heard the click of the latch. - -She had been there but a few moments when Liane passed by with the -maid, but she kept very still, though she thought: - -"That girl is actually beautiful, and would look superb in good clothes -instead of that simple, dark-blue print gown. How foolish it seems for -poor girls to be pretty, when they can have nothing nice to set off -their beauty. I suppose they must always be pining for riches. How -that poor serving girl must have envied me while sewing on this cape! -Well, I suppose Miss Bray will give her perhaps twenty-five cents -for the extra work, and that will buy her a new ribbon. She ought to -be glad that I made her alter it, giving her a little extra pay from -her employer. Of course, she could not expect me to pay her myself. -My allowance from papa is much too small to permit me the luxury of -charity!" - -She heard Sophie's light tread, as she returned to the house and -muttered: - -"I hate that maid. I know she tells tales of me to mamma, and that -mamma believes everything, instead of scolding her for tattling! Never -mind, Miss Sophie; see if I don't pay you off some time for your -meddling! And as for giving you those old gowns you've been hinting -for so long, I'd stick them into the fire first!" - -She gathered a rose, pulled it to pieces viciously, as if it had been -the pert maid she was demolishing, then sighed impatiently: - -"Heigh-ho, how slow he is coming!" - -The gate latch clicked, and she sprang up with a start, her eyes -flashing, her heart throbbing with joy. - -She looked out, and saw the figure of a man coming along the graveled -walk. - -As he came opposite she started forward, crying sweetly: - -"Oh, Jesse, dear, is that you?" - -The man stopped and faced her. It was her father, and he laughed -merrily: - -"Not Jesse, dear; but papa, dear!" - -Roma recoiled in bitter disappointment, and said petulantly: - -"Jesse promised to come. Have you seen him?" - -"No, I only walked outside the gates a little way. I saw no one except -a very lovely young girl coming from here. Do you know anything about -her, Roma?" - -"If she was dressed like a kitchen maid in a print gown, she was a -girl from the dressmaker's who brought home some work," Roma answered -carelessly. - -"I did not notice her dress in the moonlight. I could not keep my eyes -from her face, she was so very beautiful," Mr. Clarke replied, somewhat -dreamily. - -Roma shrugged her shoulders scornfully: - -"A poor girl has no business to be pretty," she exclaimed. - -Mr. Clarke frowned at the sentiment. - -"Roma, I do not like to hear you express yourself so heartlessly. You -would like to be pretty even if you were poor." - -"I cannot even imagine myself poor like the common herd!" she retorted, -tossing her beautiful head with queenly pride. - -If she had been looking at the man before her, she must have seen -that a strange look came upon his face as his secret thoughts ran -sarcastically: - -"Ignorance indeed is bliss, in this case." - -But he knew he could never tell her the truth, much as he sometimes -longed to do it, in a sudden anger at her ignoble nature. He could not -love the girl who had been taken from a foundling asylum, and placed -in the stead of his own lost darling. Ah, no, it was impossible! It -seemed to him that there was nothing lovable about Roma, although his -wife clung to her with devotion. - -He looked at her as she faced him in the moonlight, so proud and -confident of her position; her jewels gleaming, her silks rustling as -she moved, and thought that, but for the chance that had brought her -into his home, she, too, might now be dressed like a servant as she had -so contemptuously said of poor Liane Lester. - -He felt as if he should like to cast it into her face, the willful, -insolent beauty, but he clinched his teeth over the bitter words. - -"Heaven help me to bear my cross for Elinor's sake!" he thought. - -Roma suddenly came closer to him, and placed her hand on his arm, -saying coaxingly: - -"Please don't be angry, papa, dear! I didn't mean to seem heartless!" - -"I'm glad of that, Roma, for your heart should be full of sympathy, -instead of contempt, for that poor, pretty, little sewing girl." - -"Yes, papa," gently answered Roma, for she intended to ask him for some -new jewels to-morrow, and did not wish to vex him. - -"Tell me," he continued eagerly, "all that you know about this pretty -Miss Lester." - -"I know nothing, papa. I never saw her before this evening, when she -brought home my work, and said she was one of Miss Bray's sewing girls. -Why, what an interest you take in her, papa! Did you stop and speak to -the poor girl?" - -"She was running to get home in a hurry, and tripped and fell down; -I assisted her to rise. We introduced ourselves, and then she went -on; that was all," he explained. "Well, I will leave you to watch for -Jesse, while I go and talk to your mamma." - -Beautiful Roma looked after Mr. Clarke with angry eyes, muttering: - -"The idea of scolding me, his daughter and heiress, about that -insignificant little sewing girl! And he thought her very beautiful. I -wonder if mamma would be jealous if she heard of his open admiration! I -think I will give her a hint, and see!" and she laughed wickedly, while -she again turned her eyes toward the gate, watching for her laggard -lover. - -"Why doesn't he come?" she murmured impatiently, for Roma was so -spoiled by overindulgence of a willful nature that she could not bear -to wait for anything. She was imperious as a queen. - -As the minutes slipped past without bringing the lover, for whom she -waited so eagerly, her angry temper began to flame in her great, -red-brown eyes like sparks of fire, and she paced back and forth -between the arbor and the gate like a caged lioness, her bosom heaving -with emotion. - -Jesse Devereaux, who had known her only as a bright, vivacious girl, -would not have known his sweetheart now, in her fury of rage at his -nonappearance. - -Angry tears sparkled in her eyes, as she cried: - -"If he could not keep his word, he should have sent an excuse. He must -know I shall be bitterly disappointed!" - -All the beauty of the night mattered nothing to her now. The moonlight, -the flowers, the murmur of the sea, were maddening to the girl waiting -there alone for her recreant lover. Love and hate struggled for mastery -in her capricious breast. - -Jesse Devereaux had been hard to win, but she prized him all the more -for that, and she could not bear the least apparent slight from him. - -"He did not care to come; he has let some trivial excuse keep him -away! I will have to teach him that he cannot trifle with my love!" she -vowed darkly, flying into the house in a passion. - -Seating herself angrily at her desk, she wrote: - - MR. DEVEREAUX: Your failure to keep your engagement with me this - evening, without any apparent excuse, seems to me a sufficient excuse - for breaking our engagement. - - ROMA. - -She tore a sparkling diamond from her finger, wrapped it in a bit -of tissue paper, and inclosed it in the letter, hurrying downstairs -again and sending it off to Stonecliff by a messenger, with special -directions to deliver it personally to Jesse Devereaux at his hotel. - -Her feelings somewhat relieved by this explosion of resentment, Roma -laughed harshly, murmuring to herself: - -"He will be here the first thing in the morning to beg me to take him -back, promising never to slight me so cruelly again. Of course, I will -forgive him, after pouting a while, and making him very uneasy, but -from this day forward he will have learned a lesson that I must be -first with him in everything. I will never tolerate neglect, and he -must learn that fact at once." - -She was so agitated she could not go into the house just yet. She -wandered about the grounds, trying to overcome her angry excitement -before she went in, for she knew that her mother was sure to come to -her room for a little chat before retiring, and she could not bear her -questioning. - -"Dear mamma, I know she idolizes me, but at times I find her very -tiresome," she soliloquized. "How tired I get of her lecturing on the -beauty of goodness, as if I were the wickedest girl in the world! I -know I am not goody-goody, as she is, and I don't want to be! Good -people don't have much fun in this world; they let the wicked ones get -the advantage and run over them always. However, I shall be as sweet as -sugar to her to-night, for I want her to help me tease papa to-morrow -for that set of rubies I want!" - -She leaned upon the gate, letting the cool wind caress her heated brow, -waiting for her cheeks to cool, and her heart to thump less fiercely -with anger before she went in to encounter her mother's searching gaze; -but it would have been a thousand times better for her if she had gone -to sob her grief out on that mother's gentle breast, than waited here -for the fate that was swiftly approaching. - -The dark, sinister-looking stranger who had insulted Liane Lester on -the beach had rowed back to shore as soon as Devereaux was out of sight. - -He was interested in Roma Clarke, as his questions to Liane had plainly -shown. - -He came slowly, cautiously, up to the gate, his heart leaping with hope -as he saw a beautiful head leaning over it that he hoped and believed -must be Roma's herself. - -"What luck for me, and what a shock for her!" he muttered grimly, as he -advanced. - -At the same moment Mrs. Clarke was sending Roma's maid out with a -message that it was so chilly she ought to come in, or she might take -cold. - -She would not listen to her husband's remonstrance that Roma was with -her lover, and might not wish to be interrupted. - -"Jesse can come in, too; I am sure he would not wish Roma to get sick -out in the night air with nothing on her head!" cried the anxious -mother. - -"How you love that girl!" he cried testily, and she laughed sweetly. - -"Are you getting jealous of my love for our daughter, dear? You need -not, for the first place in my heart is yours, but remember how -devoted I have always been to Roma, ever since she was born." - -"I know, but has she ever seemed to show the right appreciation of your -devotion?" he exclaimed abruptly. - -A deep and bitter sigh quivered over the wife's lips, but she parried -the question with a complaint: - -"You are always insinuating some fault against my darling. Your heart -is cold to her, Edmund." - -He put his arms around her, and kissed the still lovely face with the -passion of a lover. - -"At least it is not cold to you, my darling!" he cried; and pleased at -his love-making, she momentarily forgot Roma, and nestled confidingly -against his breast. - -He was glad that she could not know his secret thoughts, for they ran -stubbornly: - -"She is right. My heart is indeed cold to Roma. I shall be glad when -Devereaux marries her and takes her away, and I do not believe it will -break my wife's heart, either; for she seemed to bear it well enough -when her daughter was away at boarding school those three years." - -Meanwhile Sophie went away most reluctantly with her message, thinking: - -"I am sure Miss Roma will not thank me for breaking up her tête-à-tête -with her lover, for, of course, she is staying out just to keep him all -to herself. But I cannot disobey Mrs. Clarke's commands, though I'll -saunter along as slowly as I can, so as to give Miss Roma a little more -time." - -Sophie was an intelligent and good-hearted girl, and might have been -invaluable to Roma, if she could have appreciated such a treasure; but -by her selfishness and arrogance she had completely antagonized the -young woman, who only stayed, as she had frankly told Liane, for Mrs. -Clarke's sake. - -As she strolled along, picking a flower here and there, and giving Roma -all the time she could, she thought of Liane with pity and admiration. - -"There's a lovely girl for you! If she had been rich instead of Miss -Roma, I fancy she'd make a better mistress," she murmured, and then the -sound of subdued voices came to her ears. - -"There she is at the gate with Mr. Devereaux, sure!" she thought, as -she saw two heads together, the man's outside, while the murmur of -excited voices came to her ears. - -"I hope they aren't quarreling already! She had trouble enough hooking -him, to be sure!" she thought as she went forward noiselessly, perhaps -hoping to catch a word. - -She was rewarded by hearing Roma say: - -"I will come outside and talk with you. We must not run the risk of -being overheard by any one from the house." - -The gate latch clicked as she stepped outside and joined her companion, -a tall, dark man, whom Sophie did not doubt must be Jesse Devereaux. - -She led her companion out toward the high cliff, washed at its base by -the surging sea, and Sophie stole after them, thinking curiously: - -"Now, what secret have they got, these two, that no one from the house -must overhear, I wonder? It is very strange, indeed, and I'll bet they -have a mind to elope, just to make a sensation! These rich folks will -do any foolish thing to get their names and pictures in the papers! -They think it's fame, but any jailbird can get published in the papers. -Well, I'll follow you, my lady, and there's one from the house who will -hear your secret in spite of your precautions." - -She crept along after them, so near that if they had turned their heads -they must have seen the skulking figure; but neither Roma nor the man -looked back, but kept along the edge of the cliff on the narrow path, -talking angrily, it seemed to Sophie, though their words were drowned -by the roar of the sea, to the great chagrin of the curious maid. - -"But they are certainly quarreling! Ah, now they are stopping! I don't -want to interrupt them yet; so I'll hide!" she thought, darting behind -a convenient ledge. - -In the clear and brilliant moonlight the two figures faced each other, -perilously near to the edge of the cliff, and Sophie, peering at them -from her concealment, suddenly saw a terrible thing happen. - -The man had his back to the sea, facing Roma, and both were talking -vehemently, it seemed, from their gestures; when all at once the girl -thrust out her foot and struck her companion's knee, causing him to -lose his balance. The result was inevitable. - -The tall figure lurched backward, swayed an instant, trying to recover -itself, toppled over with a shriek of rage, and went over the cliff a -hundred feet down into the foaming waters. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -AFTER THE CRIME. - - -Sophie Nutter could hardly believe the evidence of her own startled -eyes when she saw the terrible crime of her young mistress. - -She knew that Roma was selfish and cruel, but she had never realized -that such depths of wickedness were concealed beneath her beautiful -exterior. - -When she saw Roma push the supposed Jesse Devereaux over the face of -the cliff to a dreadful death, the hair seemed to rise on her head with -horror, and from her lips burst an uncontrollable shriek of dismay and -remonstrance, while she tried to spring forward with outstretched arms -in a futile impulse to avert the man's awful fate. - -Too late! The writhing, struggling body went hurtling down over the -high cliff, and struck the water with a loud thud that dashed the -spray high in air. Then Sophie's limbs relaxed beneath her, and she -fell in a heap like one paralyzed, behind the ledge of stones, while -her terrified shriek went wandering forth on the air of night like a -wailing banshee. - -But Roma had shrieked, wildly, too--perhaps in nature's recoil from -her own sin--so Sophie's protesting cry lost itself in dismal echoes. -Then all grew still save for the voice of the sea and the dash of water -churning itself to fury at the foot of the bluff. - -The maid, crouching low in her concealment, heard Roma flying with -terror-haunted footsteps from the scene of her awful crime, and -muttered distractedly: - -"She has murdered her handsome lover, the beautiful fiend! God in -heaven alone knows why! I thought she loved the very ground he trod on!" - -The maid was suffering from severe nervous shock. She sobbed -hysterically as she thought of handsome Jesse Devereaux lying drowned -at the foot of the cliff, and beaten by the cruel waves that would -wash him out to sea when the tide turned, so that Roma's sin would be -forever hidden from the sight of men. - -"I will go and inform on her at once! She shall suffer the penalty!" -she vowed at first; but when she thought of gentle, loving Mrs. Clarke -her resolution wavered. - -"It will kill her to learn of her child's wickedness, the good, gentle -lady who has been so kind and generous to me! I do not know what to -do! I would like to punish the daughter, and spare the mother, but I -cannot do both," she groaned, in a state of miserable indecision. - -It was some time before her trembling limbs permitted her to drag -herself from the spot; and when she gained the house and her bed she -could not rest. She tossed and groaned, and at length was seized with -hysterical spasms, obliging the housemaid to call for assistance. - -In the meantime Roma, far less excited than Sophie, had also retired to -her room and flung herself down by the open window to await impatiently -the inevitable good-night chat with her mother. - -"I wish she would not come. Her affection grows really tiresome at -times," she muttered rebelliously, as she heard the light footsteps -outside her door. - -Mrs. Clarke entered and sat down close to her daughter, putting her -white hand tenderly on the girl's shoulder. - -"Good girl, to come in when mamma sent for you," she said caressingly, -as to a child. - -"You--sent--for--me!" Roma faltered, in surprise. - -"Yes, by Sophie. I feared you would take cold, bareheaded out in the -night air." - -"I have not seen Sophie," Roma muttered sullenly, with a downcast face. - -"Why did Jesse leave so soon?" continued the mother curiously. - -"He did not come. I have been walking in the grounds alone." - -"But your papa said, dear----" - -"Yes, I know; papa told you I was waiting for Jesse at the gate, but he -never came. He disappointed me!" - -"Why, that is very strange, dear. And you are grieved over it, I see. -Your face is pale, and your whole frame trembles under my touch. Do not -take it so hard, darling. Of course Jesse was detained. He will come -to-morrow." - -"He should have sent me an excuse, mamma!" - -"He must have been prevented. I am sure he would not neglect you -purposely. He will explain to-morrow." - -Roma tossed her proud head, with a bitter laugh. - -"I tell you, mamma, I will not brook such negligence. I have broken our -engagement." - -"Roma!" - -The girl gave a reckless laugh of wounded pride. - -"Yes; I sent him a note, with his ring, just now, setting him free." - -"You were precipitate, Roma; you should have waited for an explanation." - -"I did not choose to wait!" - -"I fear you will regret it." - -"I do not think it likely." - -Mrs. Clarke gazed at her in sorrowful silence, whose reproach goaded -Roma into adding haughtily: - -"I wished to teach Jesse, early, a lesson that I am not to be neglected -for anything; that I must be foremost always in his thoughts." - -"But have you not gone too far in giving him this lesson? His thoughts -will not belong to you now." - -"He will bring back his ring, and beg me to take it back to-morrow." - -"Are you certain, Roma?" - -"As sure as I am of my life!" with a confident laugh. - -"Well, perhaps you know him better than I do, Roma, but I fancied Jesse -Devereaux very high-spirited--too high-spirited to bear dictation." - -"He will have to bend to my will!" Roma cried arrogantly, and the -gentle lady sighed, for she knew that her daughter made this her own -motto in life. Power and dominion were hers by the force of "might -makes right." - -Mrs. Clarke rose with a sigh and touched Roma's cheeks with her lips, -saying kindly: - -"Well, I hope it will all come right, dear. Good night." - -She returned to her own room, thinking: "Poor girl, she is the -miserable victim of her own caprice. I could see that she is too -terribly agitated to sleep an hour to-night." - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -GRANNY'S REVENGE. - - -The half dozen pretty young girls who served for Miss Bray were -light-hearted, hopeful young creatures in spite of their poverty, and -at their daily work they sociably discussed their personal affairs with -the freedom and intimacy of friends. Beaus and dress were the choice -topics just as in higher circles of society. Liane Lester was the only -quiet one among them, granny's edicts barring her both from lovers and -finery. - -Dolly Dorr was turning them all green with envy the next morning -by boasting of the attentions she had received from the grand Mr. -Devereaux, when one of the girls, Lottie Day, interposed: - -"He is not likely to call on you again very soon, for I heard Brother -Tom saying at breakfast this morning that Mr. Devereaux had broken his -arm by a fall last night." - -A chorus of compassionate remarks followed this announcement, and Dolly -exclaimed vivaciously: - -"I wish I might be allowed to nurse the poor fellow!" - -Nan Brooks replied chaffingly: - -"Miss Roma Clarke might have some objection to that scheme. They say -she is engaged to him." - -"That's why I want a good chance to cut her out. The proud, stuck-up -thing!" cried Dolly indignantly, and from the remarks that followed it -was plainly to be seen that Miss Clarke was not a favorite among the -pretty sewing girls. - -Roma had never lost an opportunity to impress them with the difference -in their stations and her own, as if she were made of quite a superior -sort of clay, and the high-spirited young creatures bitterly resented -her false pride. - -Not one of them but would have been glad to see Dolly "cut her out," as -they phrased it, with the handsome Devereaux, but they frankly believed -that there could be no such luck. - -In their gay chatter, Liane alone remained silent, her beautiful head -bent low over her sewing to hide the tears that had sprung to her eyes -while they talked of Jesse Devereaux's accident. - -"It was for my sake!" she thought gratefully, with rising blushes, -though her heart sank like lead when she heard them saying he was -engaged to Miss Clarke. - -"He belongs to that proud, cruel girl! How I pity him!" she thought. -"Yet, no doubt, he admires her very much. She does not show him the -mean, selfish side of her character, as she does to us poor sewing -girls." - -She would have given anything if only she had not yielded to her -passionate gratitude, and kissed his hand. - -"He was disgusted at my boldness. He believed I had given him my love -unasked, and he turned away in scorn. Yet how could I help it, he was -so kind to me; first saving me from that ruffian, then from granny's -blows? Oh, how could I help but love him? And I wish, like Dolly, that -I might be permitted to nurse him as some reparation for his goodness," -she thought, her cheeks burning and her heart throbbing wildly with the -tenderness she could not stifle. - -Every way she looked it seemed to her she could see his dark face, -with its dazzling black eyes, looking at her with an admiration and -tenderness they should not have shown, if he were indeed betrothed to -another. Those glances and smiles had lured Liane's heart from her own -keeping and doomed her to passionate unrest. - -She listened to everything in silence, nursing her sweet, painful -secret in her heart, afraid lest a breath should betray her, until -suddenly Ethel Barry, the girl next her, exclaimed: - -"How quiet Liane is this morning, not taking the least interest in -anything we say!" - -"No interest! Oh, Heaven!" thought Liane, but Dolly Dorr interposed: - -"You would be quiet, too, if you had been beaten as Liane was by granny -last night, and forced to seek refuge with a friend." - -Liane crimsoned painfully at having her own troubles discussed, but -granny's faults were public property, and she could not deny the truth. - -"She is old and cross," she said, generously trying to offer some -excuse. - -"You need not take up for her, Liane. She doesn't deserve it!" cried -one and all, while Mary Lang, the oldest and most staid of the six -girls, quickly offered to share her own room with Liane if she would -never return to the old woman. - -She was an orphan, and rented a room with a widow, living cozily at -what she called "room-keeping," and the girls had many jolly visits -taking tea with Mary. - -Liane thanked her warmly for her offer. - -"But will you come?" asked Mary. - -"I cannot." - -"But why?" - -The girl sighed heavily as she explained: - -"Granny came to Mrs. Dorr's this morning, all penitence for her fault, -and begged me to come home, promising never to beat me again." - -"Do not trust her; do not go!" cried they all; but it was useless. - -"She is old and poor. How could she get along without me? She would -have to go to the poorhouse, and think how cruelly that would disgrace -me!" cried Liane, who had no love for the old wretch, but supported her -through mingled pride and pity. - -And she actually returned to the shanty that day when her work was -done, much to the relief of the old woman, who feared she had driven -her meek slave off forever. - -"So you are back? That's a good girl!" she said approvingly, and added: -"They may tell you, those foolish girls, that I am too strict with you, -Liane, but I'm an old woman, and I know what's best for you, girl. It -was through letting your mother have her own way that she went to her -ruin; that's why I'm so strict on you." - -"My mother went to her--ruin!" faltered Liane, flushing crimson, but -very curious, for she had never been able to extract a word from granny -about her parents, except that they were both dead and had been no -credit to her while living. - -"Yes, her ruin," granny replied, with a malicious side glance at the -startled girl. "She ran away from me to be an actress when she wasn't -but seventeen, and a year later she came back to me with a baby in her -arms--you! She had been deceived and deserted, and you, poor thing, had -no lawful name but the one she had picked out of a book--Liane Lester." - -"Oh, Heaven!" sobbed the girl, burying her white face in her hands, -thinking that this blow was more cruel even than one of the old woman's -beatings. - -At heart Liane had a strange pride, and she was bitterly ashamed of her -low origin and her cruel grandmother, whom no one respected because of -her vile temper. - -To be told now that she had no lawful name, that her mother had been -deceived and deserted, was like a sword thrust in the poor girl's heart. - -She sobbed bitterly, as granny added: - -"I didn't never mean to tell you the truth, but now that you are -getting wild and willful, like your mother was, it's best for you to -know it, and take her fate as a warning." - -Liane knew the accusation was not true, but she did not contradict it; -she only sobbed: - -"Did my mother die of a broken heart?" - -"No, indeed, the minx; she got well and ran away again, and left you on -my hands." - -"Is she living now?" - -"She is, for all I know to the contrary. But she takes good care never -to come near me, nor to send me a dollar for your support." - -"I take care of myself, and you, too, granny." - -"Yes, the best you can; but she ought to help--the ungrateful -creature!" granny exclaimed so earnestly that she could scarcely doubt -the truth of her story. - -It was a cruel blow to Liane's pride, and up in her bare little chamber -under the eaves that night she lay awake many hours sobbing hopelessly -over her fate. - -"I would rather be dead than the daughter of a woman who was deceived -and deserted! Mr. Devereaux would never give me a second thought if he -knew," she sighed, with burning cheeks, as she sank into a restless -sleep, troubled with dreams in which her hero's magnetic, dark eyes -played the principal part--dreams so sweet that she grieved when the -cold gray light of dawn glimmered upon her face and roused her to -reality and another day of toil. - -Very eagerly the girls questioned her when she reached Miss Bray's as -to granny's mood, and she answered quietly: - -"No, she did not scold me or strike me this time; she was kind in her -way." - -But she did not tell them granny's way of kindness, for her heart sank -with shame as she looked around the group of her light-hearted friends, -thinking how different their lot was from hers; all of them having -honorable parentage, and dreading lest they would not wish to associate -with her if they knew she had no right to her pretty name, Liane -Lester, that her wronged mother had simply picked it out of a story -book. - -Miss Bray had a hurry order this morning--a white gown ruffled to the -waist--so she set all the girls to work, and as they worked their -tongues flew--they knew pretty nearly everything that had happened in -the village since yesterday. - -The choice bit of gossip was that Miss Clarke's maid, Sophie Nutter, -had left her, and gone to Boston. - -"They say she had a sick spell night before last, and went out of her -head, talking awful things, so that the servants were quite frightened, -and called up their mistress herself. Sophie had hysterical spasms, and -accused Miss Roma of dreadful crimes right before her mother's face," -said Mary Lang. - -"Miss Roma must have been very angry--she has such a temper," cried -Dolly, as she threaded her needle. - -"Oh, Miss Roma wasn't present, and her mother took steps never to let -her find it out, you may be sure." - -"It must have been something awful," said Lottie Day. - -"I should say so! She declared to Mrs. Clarke she had seen Miss Roma -push Mr. Devereaux over the bluff and drown him! Just think--when Mr. -Devereaux had not been near the place, but was lying at his hotel with -a broken arm!" - -"It was all a dream," said Miss Bray from her cutting board. - -"Yes, but she could hardly be convinced yesterday morning that she had -not really seen Miss Roma commit a murder. They had to send for the -doctor to tell her that Mr. Devereaux was really alive at his hotel, -having broken his arm by a fall on the sands. They say she went off -into more hysterics when she heard that, and muttered: 'A fall over -the cliff was more likely, but how he escaped death and got to shore -again puzzles me. And why did she do it, anyway? It must have been a -lovers' quarrel. I must get away from here. She will be pushing me over -the bluff next.' And she had her trunk packed and went off to Boston, -though she looked too ill to leave her bed," added Mary Lang, who had -had the whole story straight from the housekeeper at Cliffdene. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE BROKEN ENGAGEMENT. - - -"Oh, how rash and foolish I have been!" thought Roma, the next day, -when she heard of Jesse Devereaux's accident. - -"His arm broken by a fall on the sands last night--most probably on -his way to see me, poor fellow! And in my angry resentment at my -disappointment I have broken our engagement! How rash and foolish I -am, and how much I regret it! I must make it up with him at once, my -darling!" she cried repentantly, and hurried to her mother. - -"Mamma, you were right last night. I regret my hasty action in -dismissing Jesse without a hearing. How can I make it up with him?" - -"You can send another note of explanation, asking his forgiveness," -suggested Mrs. Clarke. - -"Oh, mamma, if I could only go to him myself!" she cried, impatient for -the reconciliation. - -"It would not be exactly proper, my dear." - -"But we are engaged." - -"You have broken the engagement." - -Roma uttered a cry of grief and chagrin that touched her mother's heart. - -"Poor dear, you are suffering, as I foreboded, for last night's folly," -she sighed. - -"Please don't lecture me, mamma. I'm wretched enough without that!" - -"I only meant to sympathize with you, dear." - -"Then help me--that is the best sort of sympathy. I suppose it wouldn't -be improper for you to call on Jesse, at his hotel, would it?" - -"No, I suppose not." - -"Then I will write my note to him, and you can take it--will you?" - -Mrs. Clarke assented, and was on the point of starting when a messenger -arrived with a note for Roma, replying to hers of the night before. - -In spite of his broken right arm, Jesse Devereaux had managed a scrawl -with his left hand, and Roma tore it open with a burning face and -wildly beating heart, quickly mastering its contents, which read: - - Mr. Devereaux accepts his dismissal with equanimity, feeling sure - from this display of Miss Clarke's hasty temper that he has had a - lucky escape. - -It was cool, curt, airy, almost to insolence; a fitting match for her -own; and Roma gasped and almost fainted. - -Where was all her boasting, now, that she would teach him a lesson; -that he would be back in a day begging her to take back his ring? - -She had met her match; she realized it now; remembering, all too late, -how hard he had been to win; a lukewarm lover, after all, and perhaps -glad now of his release. - -Oh, if she could but have recalled that silly note, she would have -given anything she possessed, for all the heart she had had been -lavished on him. - -With a genuine sob of choking regret, she flung the humiliating note to -her mother, and sank into a chair, her face hidden in her hands. - -Mrs. Clarke read, and exclaimed: - -"Really, he need not comment on your temper while displaying an equally -hasty one so plainly. He must certainly be very angry, but I suppose -his suffering adds to his impatience." - -"He--he--will forgive me when he reads my second note!" sobbed Roma. - -"But you do not intend to send it now, Roma!" exclaimed Mrs. Clarke, -with a certain resentment of her own at Jesse's brusqueness. - -But Roma could be very inconsistent--overbearing when it was permitted -to her; humble when cowed. - -She lifted up a miserable face, replying eagerly: - -"Oh, yes, mamma, for I was plainly in the wrong, and deserve that he -should be angry with me. But he will be only too glad to forgive me -when he reads my note of repentance. Please go at once, dear mamma, -and make my peace with Jesse! You will know how to plead with him in -my behalf! Oh, don't look so cold and disapproving, mamma, for I love -him so it would break my heart to lose him now. And--and--if he made -love to any other girl, I should like to--to--see her lying dead at my -feet! Oh, go; go quickly, and hasten back to me with my ring again and -Jesse's forgiveness!" - -She was half mad with anxiety and impatience, and she almost thrust -Mrs. Clarke from the room in her eagerness for her return. - -It mattered not that she could see plainly how distasteful it was to -the gentle lady to go on such a mission; she insisted on obedience, and -waited with passionate impatience for her mother's return, saying to -herself: - -"He is certainly very angry, but she will coax him to make up, and -hereafter I will be very careful not to let him slip me again. I can be -humble until we are married, and rule afterward. Mamma will not dare -leave him without getting his forgiveness for me. She knows my temper, -and that I would blame her always if she failed of success." - -But there are some things that even a loving, slavish mother cannot -accomplish, even at the risk of a child's anger. Jesse Devereaux's -reconciliation to Roma was one of them. - -The mother returned after a time, pale and trembling, to Roma, saying -nervously: - -"Call your pride to your aid, dear Roma, for Jesse was obdurate, and -would not consent to renew the engagement. I am indeed sorry that I -humbled myself to ask it." - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. - - -Jesse Devereaux had never spent a more unpleasant half hour in his life -than during Mrs. Clarke's visit. He admired and esteemed the gentle -lady very much, and it pained him to tell her that he no longer loved -her daughter, and was glad of his release. - -Yet he did so kindly and courteously, though he was well aware that no -gentleness could really soften the blow to her love and pride. - -"I have been betrothed to your daughter only two weeks, dear madam, -but in that short time I have discovered traits in her character that -could never harmonize with mine. We have both been spoiled by indulgent -parents; both are willful and headstrong. Such natures do best wedded -to gentle, yielding ones. It is best for our future happiness that we -should separate, although I should have kept faith with Roma, had she -not yielded to her hasty temper and broken the engagement," he said. - -She looked at his pale, handsome face as he rested on the sofa, and -decided that he was only holding out for pride's sake. Surely he must -love beautiful Roma still--he could not hate her so soon. - -"Roma is not headstrong, as you think; only hasty and impulsive," she -faltered. "See how she has humbled herself to you in the depths of her -love. Why, I left her weeping most bitterly over her fault, and praying -for your forgiveness. How can I go back and tell her you refuse it; -that you scorn her love?" - -She was frightened, indeed, to return from an unsuccessful mission to -Roma. There were tears in her imploring eyes as she gazed at him. - -"I do not refuse her my forgiveness; I accord it to her freely," he -replied. "Neither do I scorn her love, but I do not believe it can be -very deep, else she could not have been so angry with me last night. -And I am free to confess that my love was not of the strongest, either, -for I realize now that I am glad of my freedom, if you will pardon me -for my frankness, dear lady." - -How could she pardon aught that must wound her daughter vitally? An -angry flush rose into her cheek, her blue eyes flashed. - -"You are cruelly frank!" she cried; and he answered: - -"I lament the painful necessity, but circumstances leave me no -alternative, Mrs. Clarke. I feel that I entered into an engagement -too hastily, and that its sudden rupture is a relief. I tender my -friendship to your daughter with profound gratitude for her kindness, -but I can never again be her lover." - -In the face of such frankness she sat dumb. What was there to say that -could move him? - -Her heart sank at the thought of Roma's disappointment. She rose -unsteadily to her feet, blinded by angry tears. - -"I may still retain your friendship?" he pleaded, but her lip curled in -scorn. - -"No, you are cruel and unjust to Roma. I despise you!" she answered, in -wrath, as she stumbled from the room, wondering at his heartlessness. - -She would not have wondered so much if she could have known that -Roma had never really filled his heart, but that the glamour of her -fascinations and her open preference had somehow drawn him into a -proposal that had brought him no happiness, save a sort of pride in -winning the beautiful belle and heiress from many competitors. All the -while he did not really love her; it was just his pride and vanity that -were flattered. - -There had come a sudden, painful awakening that fateful day, when -rescuing Liane Lester's veil. He had looked deep into those shy, lovely -eyes of hers, and felt his heart leap wildly, quickened by a glance -into new life. - -Roma's eyes had never thrilled him that way; he had never wondered at -her great beauty; he had never longed to take her in his arms and clasp -her to his heart at first sight. This was love--real love, such as he -had never felt for the proud beauty he had rashly promised to marry. - -In that first hour of his meeting with Liane, he cursed himself for his -madness in proposing to Roma. - -Yet, he was the soul of honor. He did not even contemplate retreating -from his position as Roma's affianced husband. He only felt that he -must avoid the fatal beauty of Liane, lest he go mad with despair at -his cruel fate. - -Then had followed the meeting with her again, that night when he had so -fortunately saved her from the insults of a stranger and the brutality -of her old grandmother. How proud and glad he had been to defend her, -even at the pain of a broken arm; how he had loved her in that moment, -longed to shelter her on his breast from the assaults of the cruel -world. - -He could never forget that moment when, overcome by gratitude, the girl -had bent and kissed his hand, sending mad thrills of love through his -trembling frame. - -Had he been free, he would have poured out his full heart to her that -moment, and the tender stars would have looked down on a scene of the -purest love, where two hearts acknowledged each other's sway in ecstasy. - -But he was bound in the cruel fetters of another's love, from which he -could not in honor get free. His heart must break in silence. - -He had to hurry away from her abruptly to hide the love he must not -confess. - -In his sorrow and suffering that night, judge what happiness came to -him with Roma's angry letter, sent by special messenger, restoring his -ring and his freedom! - -His heart sang pæans of joy as he let his thoughts cling lovingly to -Liane, realizing that now he might woo and win the shy, sweet maiden -for his own. - -Very early in the morning he penned his note to Roma, making it -purposely curt and cold, that she might not attempt a reconciliation. - -He felt so grateful to her that he was not at all angry, and thanked -her in his heart for her summary rejection. - -The unpleasant interview with Mrs. Clarke over, he dismissed the whole -matter from his mind, and gave all his thoughts to Liane, chafing at -the delay that must ensue from his forced confinement to his room. - -"You must let me get out of here as soon as possible, doctor. I have -something very important to do!" he cried eagerly. - -"Love-making, eh?" bantered the doctor, thinking of Roma. "All right, -my dear fellow. I shall have you walking about in a few days, I trust; -but I warn you it will be a long while before you can do any but -left-handed hugging!" - -"Pshaw!" exclaimed his patient; but he colored up to his brows. He was -indeed thinking of how impassionedly he would make love to Liane when -he saw her again. - -"I shall ask her to marry me on the spot!" he decided joyfully, -"and--I hope I'm not vain--but I don't believe she will say no. We -must be married very soon, so I can take her away from her wretched -surroundings. That old grandmother can be pensioned off. She shall -never see Liane again after she is my wife. Of course, the world will -say I've made a mésalliance, but I'm rich enough to please myself, and -my darling is beautiful enough to wear a crown." - -The doctor found him the most impatient patient in the world. He never -complained of the pain in his arm, though it was excruciating. He only -chafed at his confinement. - -"I want to get out," he said. "Doctor, you know I'm one of the judges -at the Beauty Show to-morrow night." - -"I'm going to let you go with your arm in a sling. Hang it all, I -wouldn't miss it myself for anything! Say, there's more than one beauty -in Stonecliff, but it goes without saying that you judges will award -the prize to Miss Clarke, eh?" cried the jocose physician. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -ROMA SEEKS A NEW MAID. - - -Roma's rage and grief at her mother's failure to set matters straight -between her and Devereaux were beyond all expression. - -But, for very pride's sake, she concealed the deepest bitterness of her -heart. - -She could not accuse her gentle mother of wanton carelessness, for -the tears stood in her deep-blue eyes as she told the story of her -interview, concluding sadly: - -"Do not think, my darling, that I did not do my best to bring him to -reason, putting pride away, and telling him how devotedly you loved -him, and that it would break your heart to lose him now. He was cold -and unresponsive to all my pleadings, and as good as said he was glad -to be free of you. I confess I lost my temper at the last, and told him -I despised him, before I came away." - -Roma did not speak, she only tapped the rich carpet with a restless -foot, indicative of a white heat of repressed anger; but Mrs. Clarke -did not read her mood aright; she thought she was bearing the blow with -fortitude. - -In her keen sympathy she exclaimed: - -"It is a cruel blow to your pride and love, my daughter, and I only -wish I knew how to comfort you." - -Roma lifted her white face and glittering eyes to Mrs. Clarke's anxious -scrutiny, and actually laughed--a strange, mirthless laugh, that -chilled her mother's blood. Then she said, with seeming coolness: - -"You can comfort me right off, mamma, by begging papa to give me those -rubies I've wanted so long! As for Jesse, he is only holding off from -pride! I shall win him back, never fear!" - -"You shall have your rubies, dear," her mother answered kindly, though -she thought: "What a strange girl? How can she think of rubies at such -a moment?" - -"Thank you, mamma, you are very good to me!" Roma answered prettily, in -her gratitude for the rubies; then, as Mrs. Clarke was going out, she -added: "I wonder if Sophie is well enough to get up and wait on me. I -am in need of her services." - -Mrs. Clarke paused in some embarrassment, and answered: - -"I shall have to lend you my own maid till I can get you another. -Sophie Nutter left quite abruptly this morning." - -"I'm glad of it. I disliked the girl, and I suspected her of telling -tales of me to you!" cried Roma. - -Mrs. Clarke neither affirmed nor denied the charge. She simply said: - -"We should be kind to our servants, Roma, if we expect them to bear -good witness for us." - -"Kindness is wasted on the ungrateful things!" Roma answered -impatiently. "I must have another maid immediately." - -"But where shall we find her? Not in this little town, I fear. So we -must send to Boston." - -"Wait! I have an idea, mamma!" - -"Well?" - -"I should like to have that neat little sewing girl that altered my -cape that night. She is so clever with her needle, she would be a real -treasure to me, and save you many dressmaking bills." - -"Would she be willing to come?" - -"We can find out by asking the old woman she lives with--you know, -mamma, that old tumble-down shanty at the end of town, coming out of -Cliffdene? It is a little more than a mile from here. Liane Lester -lives there with an old grandmother that beats her every day, I've -heard, and I've no doubt she would jump at the chance of a situation -here!" - -Mrs. Clarke forbore to remind her daughter that she, too, had been -accused of beating her maid; she only said warningly: - -"You would have to be kinder to her than you were to Sophie, or she -would not be likely to stay, my dear." - -"How could you believe Sophie's fibs on me?" cried Roma petulantly; but -Mrs. Clarke turned the exclamation aside by saying: - -"Perhaps you had better go and see about the new maid at once." - -"Oh, mamma, I think you might do it yourself! I--I am too nervous and -unhappy to attend to it just now. Won't you just drive down into town -again and see about the girl?" answered Roma. - -Mrs. Clarke did not relish the task, but she was so used to bearing -Roma's burdens that she assented without a murmur, and went out again -to see about the new maid, sadly troubled in her mind about what had -happened last night, when the delirious maid had told such shocking -stories on her daughter. - -"It could not be true; of course not, but it is shocking that Sophie -should even have imagined such awful things! It all came of Roma being -cross and impatient with her, and making a bad impression on her mind. -Now, if this young sewing girl should consent to serve Roma, I shall -make it a point to see that she is not ill-used," she thought, as her -handsome carriage stopped at Liane's humble home, and the footman -opened the door and helped her out. - -She swept up the narrow walk to the door, an imposing figure, thinking -compassionately: - -"What a wretched abode! It will be a pleasing change to Liane Lester if -the girl will consent to come to Cliffdene." - -She tapped on the open door, but no one replied, though she saw the old -woman's figure moving about in the room beyond. - -"She is deaf and cannot hear me. I will just step in," she thought, -suiting the action to the word. - -Granny was sweeping up the floor, but she turned with a start, dropping -her broom as a soft hand touched her shoulder, and, confronting the -beautiful intruder, asked: - -"Who are you? What do you want?" - -Mrs. Clarke smiled, as she replied: - -"I am Mrs. Clarke, of Cliffdene. I wish to see Liane Lester." - -"Liane's down to her work at Miss Bray's, ma'am, but you can tell me -your business with her. I'm her grandmother," snarled granny crossly. - -"My daughter Roma has lost her maid; she wishes to offer Liane the -vacant place, with your approval. She will have a pleasant home, and -much better wages than are paid to her by Miss Bray for sewing." - -Mrs. Clarke had never seen Liane Lester, but she felt a deep sympathy -for her from what she had heard, and was strangely eager to have her -come to Cliffdene. - -So she waited impatiently for granny's reply, and as she studied the -homely figure before her, a sudden light beamed in her eyes, and she -exclaimed: - -"How strange! I recognize you all at once as the woman who nursed me -when my daughter Roma was born. You have changed, but yet your features -are quite familiar. Oh, how you bring back that awful time to me! Do -you remember how my child was stolen, and that I would have died of -a broken heart, only that she was restored to me almost at the last -moment, when my life was so quickly ebbing away?" - -The quick tears of memory started to the lady's eyes, but granny's -fairly glared at her as she muttered: - -"You are mistaken!" - -"Oh, no, I cannot be! I recall you perfectly," declared Mrs. Clarke, -who had an astonishing memory for faces. - -"I never saw you before in my whole life! I never was a sick nurse!" -declared the old woman, so positively and angrily that Mrs. Clarke -thought that, after all, she might be mistaken. - -"Really, it does not matter. I was misled by a resemblance, and I -thought you would be glad to hear of your nurse child again," she said. - -A strange eagerness appeared on the old woman's face as she muttered: - -"It's my misfortune that I haven't such a claim on your kindness, -ma'am. God knows I'd be glad to meet with rich friends that would pity -my poverty-stricken old age!" - -Mrs. Clarke's white hand slipped readily into her pocket, taking the -hint, and granny was made richer by a dollar, which she acknowledged -with profuse gratitude. - -"And as for Liane going as maid to your daughter, ma'am, I'd like to -see this Miss Roma first, before I give my consent. I want to see if -she looks like a kind young lady, that would not scold and slap my -granddaughter," she declared cunningly. - -Mrs. Clarke colored, wondering if Sophie's tales had reached the old -woman's ears, but she said quickly: - -"I would insure kind treatment to your grandchild if she came to serve -my daughter." - -"Thank you kindly, ma'am. I believe you, but will you humor an old -woman's whim and persuade Miss Roma to come to me herself?" persisted -granny, with veiled eagerness. - -"I will do so if I can, but I cannot promise certainly," Mrs. Clarke -replied, rather coldly, as she rustled through the door. - -She was vexed and disappointed. Everything seemed to go against her -that day. How angry Roma would be at the old woman's obstinacy, and how -insolently she would talk to her, looking down on her from her height -of pride and position. It was as well to give up the thought of having -Liane come at all. - -And how strangely like the old woman was to Mrs. Jenks, the nurse she -had had with her when Roma was born. She was mistaken, of course, since -the old creature said so; but she had such a good memory for faces, and -she had never thought of two such faces alike in the world. - -But if Mrs. Clarke went away perturbed from this rencontre, she left -granny sadly flustrated also. - -The old creature sat down in the doorway, her chin in her hands, and -gazed with starting eyes at the grand carriage from Cliffdene rolling -away. - -"Who would have dreamed such a thing?" she muttered. "Here I have lived -two years neighbor to the Clarkes, and never suspected their identity, -and never heard their girl's name spoken before! Well, well, well! And -they want Liane to wait on Roma. Ha, ha, ha!" - -She seemed to find the idea amusing, for she kept laughing at intervals -in a grim, mocking fashion, while she watched the road to Cliffdene as -if she had seen a ghost from the past. - -"Will the girl come, as I wish? Will she condescend to cross old -granny's humble threshold? I should like to see her in her pride and -beauty. Perhaps she, too, might have a dollar to fling to a poor old -wretch like me!" she muttered darkly. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -THE BEAUTY SHOW. - - -Roma was indeed surprised and angry at granny's summons. She flatly -refused to go, declaring: - -"The insolence of the lower classes is indeed insufferable. Why, I -offered that girl a situation much more profitable than the one she -holds now, and here that crazy old witch, her grandmother, wishes to -annoy me with all sorts of conditions! Call on her, indeed, in her old -rookery of a house! I shall do nothing of the kind, but I will write a -note to the girl, at Miss Bray's, and I have no doubt she will fairly -jump at the chance, without saying 'by your leave' to that old hag!" - -Delighted at the idea of outwitting the insolent old woman, as she -deemed her, Roma quickly dispatched a patronizing, supercilious note to -Liane, and waited impatiently for the reply. - -She hardly gave another thought to poor Sophie Nutter, now that she -was gone. Least of all did it enter her beautiful head that the maid -had quit in fear and horror at the crime she had seen her commit that -night. - -Mrs. Clarke, in her tenderness over Roma's feelings, had bound all the -servants never to betray Sophie's wild ravings to her daughter. - -So, secure in her consciousness that her terrible deed had had no -witness, Roma tried to dismiss the whole affair from her mind, -believing that her victim lay at the bottom of the sea and could never -rise again to menace her with threats of exposure, as he had done that -night, bringing down on himself an awful fate. - -The man she had remorselessly hurled from the cliff to a watery grave -belonged to an episode of Roma's boarding-school days, that she hoped -was forever hidden from the knowledge of the world. The thought of -exposure and betrayal was intolerable. It was a moment when she dare -not hesitate. Desperation made her reckless, branded her soul with -crime. - -The strongest love of her life had been given to Jesse Devereaux. Woe -be to any one who came between her and that selfish love! Woe be to -Devereaux himself when he scorned that love! Turbulent passion, that -brooked no obstacle, burned fiercely in Roma's breast. Proud, vain, -self-indulgent, she would brook no opposition in anything. - -Out of all the five hundred girls whose portraits had been accepted -for the Beauty Show, there was not one more eager than Roma to win the -prize--not for the money, but for the additional prestige it would add -to her belleship. - -Her handsomest portrait had been offered, and Roma had scrutinized it -most anxiously, hour by hour, searching for the slightest flaw. - -She had a wealth of rich coloring in eyes, hair, and complexion, but -her features were not quite regular; her nose was a trifle too large, -her mouth too wide. Aware of these defects, she would have been a -little uneasy, only that she counted on the votes of her father and -Devereaux as most certain. Besides, she considered that her brilliant -social position must prove a trump card. - -"The palm will surely be mine, both by reason of beauty and belleship," -she thought triumphantly, sneering, as she added: "The town will surely -choose one of its own maidens for the honor, and who would think of -awarding the prize to any one here except myself? True, they say -that all of Miss Bray's pretty sewing girls have had their pictures -accepted, and it's true that some of them are rather pretty, especially -that Liane Lester, but who would think of giving a vote to a common -sewing girl? I don't fear any of them, I'm sure! But, how I should hate -any girl that took the prize from me!" she concluded, with a gleam of -deadly jealousy in her great, flashing eyes, that could burn like live -coals in their peculiar, reddish-brown shade. - -But an element of uncertainty was added to the situation, now, in the -defection of Jesse Devereaux. - -"What if, in his passionate resentment against me, he should cast his -vote for another?" she thought, in dismay so great that she determined -to humble herself to the dust if she could but win him back. - -She sent him flowers every day, and, accompanying them, love letters, -in which she poured out her grief and repentance; but, alas, all her -efforts fell on stony ground. - -The recreant knight, busy with his new love dream, scarcely wasted -a thought on Roma. He replied to her letters, thanking her for the -flowers and her kindly sentiments, assuring her that he bore no malice, -and forgave her for her folly; but he added unequivocally that his -fancy for her was dead, and could never be resurrected. - -"His fancy! He can call it a fancy now!" the girl moaned bitterly, -and in that moment she tasted, for the first time, the bitterness of a -cruel defeat, where she had been so confident of success. - -She could not realize that he loved her no more, that the fancy she -had so carefully cultivated was dead so soon! The pain and humiliation -were most bitter. She rued in dust and ashes her hasty severance of her -engagement. - -Added to the bitterness of losing his love was the pain of having him -vote against her at the Beauty Show. - -"He will be sure to do so out of pure spite, even if he thought me the -most beautiful of all!" she thought bitterly. "Oh, I wonder for whom he -will cast his vote! How I should hate her if I knew! I--I could trample -her pretty face beneath my feet!" - -In desperation she resolved to cultivate the acquaintance of the -artist, Malcolm Dean. He was to be one of the judges, she knew. Perhaps -she could win him over to her side. - -Gradually she took heart of hope again. - -It could not be possible Jesse's heart had turned against her so -suddenly. No, no! When they met again she would be able to draw him -back again. - -She had heard that he was going to be present at the Beauty Show. She -would wear her new rubies and her most becoming gown for his eyes. - -There were other girls than Roma planning to look their prettiest that -night, and one was Liane Lester. - -Her girl friends had persuaded her to send in her picture with theirs, -and all six had been photographed in a large group by the Stonecliff -artist. - -No one could gainsay the fact that it was a beautiful group, from the -petite, flaxen-haired Dolly, to the tall, stately brunette, Mary Lang. -Miss Bray was quite proud of them, and wished she had not been too old -and homely to compete for the prize. - -"How sweet they look in their plain white gowns--as pretty as any -millionaire's daughters!" she said proudly. "Indeed, I don't see why -one of them can't take the prize? What if they are just poor sewing -girls? Almost any of them is as pretty as Miss Clarke, with her fame as -a beauty! But her pa's money helped her to that! Look at Liane Lester, -now; that girl's pretty enough for a princess, and if she had fine -fixings, like Roma Clarke, she could outshine her as the sun outshines -the stars! But, of course, I wouldn't have Liane know I said it, -because a poor girl must never cultivate vanity," she concluded to her -crony, Widow Smith, who agreed to everything she said. - -Liane had been almost frightened at first when the girls insisted on -her going to the Beauty Show to see the exhibition of photographs, and -hear the prize awarded. - -"For if you should be chosen, you must be there to receive the prize," -cried Dolly. - -"I could never dream of being chosen," the girl cried, with a blush -that made her lovelier than ever. - -"You must come! Tell granny you have thrown off her yoke now, and -intend to have a little fun, like other young girls. If she rebels, -tell her you will leave her and live with me!" encouraged Mary Lang. - -"You mustn't miss it for all the world!" cried Lottie Day vivaciously. -"Did you know that the ladies of the Methodist church intend to have a -supper in the town hall, also, that night?" - -Little by little they tempted Liane to rebel against granny's arbitrary -will and accompany them. - -"But I have nothing to wear!" she sighed. - -"Oh, a cheap, white muslin will do! It will look real sweet by -gaslight, with a ribbon round your waist," suggested Miss Bray herself, -and then Liane's heart gave a thump of joy. She told them about the -five dollars Mrs. Clarke had given her for the work on Roma's cape, and -how she had kept all knowledge of it from granny, longing to enjoy the -money herself. - -"You were quite right, since she takes every penny of your wages!" they -all agreed, while Miss Bray added kindly: - -"You can get a sweet pattern of white muslin and a ribbon for your -waist and neck, with five dollars. I will cut and fit your gown for -nothing." - -"And we girls will take parts of it home at night and help you make -it!" cried her young friends. - -"Oh, how good you all are to me! I hope I may be able to return your -favors some day," cried the girl, grateful tears crowding into her -beautiful eyes. - -And just then came the note from Roma Clarke, offering Liane a -situation as her maid. - -The girl shared the note with her friends, and they were unanimously -indignant. - -"The idea of thinking that any of us would stoop to be a maid!" they -cried, while Liane, with flushing cheeks, quickly indited a brief, -courteous, but very decided refusal of the young lady's offer. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -"THE QUEEN ROSE." - - -"What impudence! She thanks me for my offer, but finds it quite -impossible to accept. And her note is worded as if written to an -equal!" cried Roma angrily, as she tossed Liane's answer to her mother. - -Mrs. Clarke examined it somewhat curiously, commenting on the neatness -and correctness of the writing. - -"She has made good use of her limited opportunities for education," she -said. - -"But, mamma, the idea of her refusing my offer, to remain with Miss -Bray at three dollars a week." - -"Perhaps there is a little pride mixed up with her position. She may -consider her present place more genteel, my dear." - -"I really do not see any difference to speak of. Poor people are all -alike to me," Roma cried scornfully. "As for Liane Lester, I should -like to shake her! I suppose her pretty face has quite turned her head -with vanity! Why, mamma, she and those other sewing girls at Miss -Bray's have even sent their pictures to the Beauty Show." - -"The competition was free to all, my dear, and poverty is no bar to -beauty. I have seen some of the prettiest faces in the world among -working girls. But still, I do not suppose any of Miss Bray's employees -can compete with you in looks," returned Mrs. Clarke, with a complacent -glance at her handsome daughter. - -"Thank you, mamma, but you haven't seen this Lester girl, have you? She -is really quite out of the ordinary, with the most classic features, -while I--well, I confess my features are the weak point in my beauty. I -don't see why I didn't inherit your regular features!" complained Roma. - -"You do not resemble me, but you are not lacking in beauty, dear. I -suppose you must be more like your father's family, though I never saw -any of them. But don't begin to worry, darling, lest you should lose -the prize. I feel sure of your success," soothed the gentle lady. - -"But, mamma, there is Jesse, who will be sure to vote against me for -spite, and I'm afraid that papa is the only one of the judges I can -count upon." - -"You cannot count upon him, Roma, because he has declined to serve, -fearing to be accused of partiality if he votes for you." - -"Then I shall have to go entirely on my own merits," Roma returned, -with pretended carelessness, but at heart she was furious at her -father's defection, only she knew it was useless to protest against his -decision. She had learned long ago that she could not "wind him around -her little finger," as she could her adoring mother. - -Again her hopes recurred to Jesse Devereaux. She must make every effort -to lure him back. - -Her mother's patient maid grew very tired dressing Miss Roma for the -show when the night came. - -"She was as fussy and particular as some old maid! I did up her hair -three times in succession before it suited! My! But she was cross as -a wet hen! I believe she would have slapped me in the face if she -had dared! I hope to goodness she may fail to get the prize, though -I wouldn't have dear Mrs. Clarke hear me say so for anything in the -world! But I'm just hoping and praying that some poor girl that needs -the money may get that hundred dollars!" exclaimed the maid to her -confidante, the housekeeper. - -There was not one among the servants but disliked the arrogant -heiress, who treated them as if they were no more than the dust beneath -her dainty feet. They whispered among themselves that it was strange -that such a sweet, kind lady as Mrs. Clarke should have such a proud, -hateful daughter. - -While Roma was arraying herself in the finest of silk and lace, set off -by the coveted new rubies, Liane Lester was making her simple toilet at -the home of Mary Lang, with whom she had promised to attend the show. - -Granny had most grudgingly given her consent to Liane's spending the -night with Mary, since she dared not offer any violent opposition. -Since Liane had threatened open rebellion to her tyranny, the old woman -was somewhat cowed. - -Liane put up her beautiful, curling tresses into the simplest of knots, -but she did not need an elaborate coiffure for the chestnut glory of -rippling, sun-flecked locks. It was a crown of beauty in itself. - -She put on the crisp, white gown she had bought with Mrs. Clarke's -gift, and Mary helped to tie the soft ribbons at her waist and neck. - -"Oh, you lovely thing! You look sweet enough to eat!" she cried. "Now, -then, put on the roses your mysterious admirer sent you to wear, and -we will be off." - -Liane blushed divinely as she fastened at her waist a great bunch of -heavy-headed pink roses, that had been sent to Miss Bray's late that -afternoon, with an anonymous card that simply read: - - FAIR QUEEN ROSE: Please wear these sister flowers at the Beauty Show - to-night. - -No name was signed, but the merry girls all declared that Liane had -caught a beau at last, and that he would be sure to declare himself -to-night. They persuaded her to wear the roses, though she was -frightened at the very idea. - -"Suppose some great, ugly ogre comes up to claim me!" she exclaimed -apprehensively, as she pinned them on and set off, all in a flutter -of excitement, for the town hall, clinging to Mary's arm, for she was -quite nervous over the prospect of the evening's pleasure. - -Now, as she passed along the lighted streets to the festive scene, and -saw others, also gayly bedecked, hurrying to the same destination, she -felt a thrill of pleasant participation quite new and exhilarating. - -"Just see what I have missed all my life, through granny's hardness!" -she murmured plaintively to Mary, who squeezed her arm lovingly, and -answered: - -"Poor dear!" - -The hall was already crowded with people, and the supper of the -Methodist ladies was busily in progress when they entered the place -that was gayly decorated with flowers and bunting, framing the pictures -that lined the walls. - -"Let us walk around and look at the beauties," Mary said, and, -following the example of the other visitors, they mingled with the -crowd and feasted their eyes on the five hundred pretty faces that were -deemed worthy to compete for the prize. - -They soon found out that Miss Clarke's portrait and the group of six -sewing girls claimed more attention than any others. - -But there were many eyes that turned from the pictured to the living -beauty, and whispers went round that drew many eyes to Liane, wondering -at her marvelous grace. - -Liane had never appeared at a public function in the town before, and -many of the people thought she was a stranger. Curious whispers ran -from lip to lip: - -"Who is the lovely girl with the pink roses?" - -Roma, in her rich gown and sparkling rubies, heard the question, and -bit her lips till the blood almost started. - -"It is only one of the dressmaker's sewing girls!" she said haughtily, -and started across the room to her mother, who had paused to speak to -Jesse Devereaux. - -He had just entered, looking pale and superbly handsome; but with his -right arm in a sling, and the lady, for Roma's sake, resolved to forget -her resentment and try to propitiate him. - -"I am afraid I was too hasty that morning," she said gently. "Will you -forgive me and be friends again, Jesse?" - -"Gladly," he replied, for he valued her good opinion, little as he -cared for her proud, overbearing daughter. - -The next moment Roma, coming up to them, heard her mother exclaim, to -her infinite chagrin: - -"Tell me, Jesse, who is that perfectly lovely girl in the white gown -with the pink roses at her waist?" - -Jesse looked quickly, and saw Liane again for the first time since that -eventful evening on the beach, when he had saved her from insult and -injury. His heart gave a strangling throb of joy and love, mingled -with pride in her peerless loveliness. - -"You are right. She is peerless," he answered, in a deep voice, -freighted with emotion. "Her name is Liane Lester." - -"Impossible!" almost shrieked the lady in her surprise; but at that -moment Roma confronted them, her proud face pale, her eyes gleaming, -murmuring: - -"Oh, Jesse, how glad I am to see you out again! No wonder you were -cross with me, suffering as you were with your poor arm. But I forgive -you all." - -"I thank you," he replied courteously, and Roma took her station at his -side quite as if she had the old right. - -He was vexed, for he was anxious to cross over to Liane and ask her -to have an ice with him. Then he would keep at her side all the rest -of the evening. He would see her home, too, and before they parted he -would tell her all his love, and ask for her hand. - -With these ecstatic anticipations in his mind, it was cruel torture to -be kept away from her against his will by the two ladies, and, worst -of all, with an air as if they had a right to monopolize him all the -evening. - -In desperation he asked them to take an ice with him, vowing to himself -he would escape directly afterward. - -But Roma was thirsty that evening, it seemed. She took two ices, and -trifled over them, her mother waiting patiently, while Jesse, outwardly -cool and courteous, inwardly cursed his untoward fate, for he saw other -men seeking introductions to Liane, and loading her with attentions, -carried away by the charm of her beauty. - -Still he could not shake off Roma without absolute rudeness, for she -clung to his arm persistently, though it was near the hour for the -announcement of the award of the evening, and yet he had not spoken one -word to fair Liane, the queen of his heart. - -Suddenly Malcolm Dean ascended the rostrum, and the gay, laughing -groups about the hall became intensely still, waiting for his verdict. - -"I am no orator," he smiled. "So I will briefly announce, as a member -of the committee of the beauty contest, that we examined the pictures -in detail to-day, and unanimously award the prize for most perfect -beauty to Miss Liane Lester!" - -A breathless hush had fallen on the crowd as Malcolm Dean's voice was -heard speaking, and every ear was strained, not to lose a word--for -many a fair young girl was listening in feverish excitement, hoping to -hear her own name. - -Roma's heart gave a wild leap, her eyes flashed, her cheeks paled, and -she half rose from her seat in uncontrollable excitement. - -But the suspense of the aspirants for the prize lasted but a moment, -for Malcolm Dean purposely made his announcement audible to every one -in the hall: - -"Miss Liane Lester!" - -The name ran from lip to lip in excited tones, while many a young heart -sank with disappointment, so many had hoped to be chosen queen of -beauty, caring more for the honor even than the money. - -Then the voices swelled into plaudits, and Liane, shrinking with -bashful joy, heard her name shouted from eager lips: - -"Miss Lester! Miss Lester!" - -Roma had uttered a stifling gasp of disappointment, and sank heavily -back into her seat. - -"She is the most beautiful girl I ever saw!" cried Jesse impulsively. -It was cruel to tell Roma this, and he realized it, but his heart was -on his lips. He could not check it, though he saw the deadly fire of -hate leap into her flashing eyes. - -Mrs. Clarke touched her daughter's arm caressingly, saying: - -"Do not feel so badly over it, Roma, darling. No doubt the committee -were governed somewhat by partiality, thinking that the prize ought to -be given some poor girl who needed the money." - -Jesse felt the delicate thrust, and answered quickly: - -"You were struck with her beauty yourself, Mrs. Clarke!" - -"Yes, she is a very pretty girl," she replied, rather carelessly, then -paused, as Malcolm Dean lifted his hand for silence, and said in the -hush that followed: - -"Will Miss Lester please come forward and receive the prize?" - -A wild impulse came to Devereaux to escort Liane forward. How proud -he would be to take that little fluttering hand and lead her to the -rostrum to receive the award! He knew that every eye would be on them, -that it would be a virtual declaration of his sentiments toward her, -but he gloried in the thought. He rose quickly, exclaiming: - -"Excuse me, please!" - -But Mrs. Clarke's voice, cold and grating, fell on his ear: - -"Please escort Roma to the open air--to the carriage! Do you not see -that she is almost fainting?" - -Roma was indeed drooping heavily against her mother, in pretended -weakness. Her ruse had its effect. Jesse had to offer his arm and lead -her from the room, followed by her mother. After some little delay -their carriage was found, and, while placing them in it, Mrs. Clarke -said coolly: - -"Now if you will find my husband and send him to us, you will add -greatly to the obligation you have placed us under." - -He bowed silently and hurried away, meeting Mr. Clarke, fortunately, -coming out. A hasty explanation, and they parted, Devereaux returning -to the room, wild to speak to Liane after all this baffling delay. - -But the prize had been presented, and Liane was surrounded by an -obsequious crowd, offering eager congratulations. - -By her side stood the handsome young artist, Malcolm Dean, gazing -with rapt admiration on her shy, blushing face, and then Devereaux -remembered that the artist had said, while they were deciding on the -pictures that afternoon, that this was surely the fairest face in the -whole world, and he should not rest until he knew the original. - -"If the counterfeit presentiment can be so charming, how much more -lovely, the original!" he exclaimed. - -And now by his looks Devereaux saw that his anticipations were more -than realized. The ethereal charm of Liane's beauty held him as by a -spell. - -It seemed to Liane as if she had fallen asleep and waked in a brighter -world. - -But an hour ago she had been poor little Liane Lester, the humble -sewing girl, who had spent her little fortune, five dollars, the -largest sum she had ever possessed at once in her life, on this simple -white gown for the festal occasion. Now she stood there, the centre -of admiring congratulations, receiving introductions and alternately -bowing and smiling like some great beauty and heiress. - -She felt like an heiress, indeed, with that crisp new hundred-dollar -bill tucked into her belt, and her cheeks glowed with shy pride and -joy, for she had dared to indulge some trembling daydreams over gaining -the prize, and now she hoped they might be realized. - -There were sad hearts there, too, for many a vain little maiden was -disappointed, among them Dolly Dorr, who stifled her chagrin, however, -and kissed Liane very sweetly, saying: - -"Don't forget that I persuaded you to compete for the prize, although I -was afraid all the time you would carry it off from us all." - -Every one laughed at Dolly's naïve speech. She was such a frank, pretty -little thing, and, next to Liane, the prettiest girl in Miss Bray's -employ. - -But among all the disappointed ones, no one had been so vexed as to -leave the scene like Roma, and it was soon whispered through the room -that she had scolded her lover for giving his vote to Liane instead of -herself. - -"I heard them quarreling; I was just behind Mrs. Clarke," said the lady -who had started the report, and she added that Roma had been taken -almost fainting to her carriage, unwilling to remain and witness her -rival's triumph. - -There were many who rejoiced over Roma's defeat, and others who -wondered at Devereaux's disloyalty. - -He should have paid her the compliment of his vote, since it could have -made no difference in the result, they said. - -But Devereaux, returning to the hall, eager to speak to Liane, and -indifferent to comments on his actions, was forced to stand on the -verge of the crowd waiting his turn, till Dolly Dorr, espying him, -hastened to his side. - -She said to herself that here was one prize, at least, that Liane had -not won yet, and she would lose no time trying to make good a claim. - -"If he has quarreled with Miss Clarke, so much the better. Hearts are -often caught in the rebound," she thought eagerly, as she engaged his -attention with some bantering words. - -Devereaux smiled kindly on the sunny-haired little maiden, but she -found it impossible to engross his attention. - -She soon saw that his whole mind was fixed on Liane, and he could not -keep from watching her face, until Dolly said quite crossly: - -"You are like all the rest! You cannot keep your eyes from off Liane -Lester, now that she has taken the beauty prize!" - -Devereaux answered dreamily: - -"I could look at her forever!" - -His brilliant, dark eyes glowed and softened with tenderness, and a -passionate flush reddened his smooth olive cheek. - -Dolly stared, and said sharply: - -"Perhaps Miss Clarke wouldn't like that so well!" - -"What has she to do with my looking at Miss Lester?" he cried -impatiently. - -"But aren't you engaged to Miss Clarke?" - -"No, I am not!" - -"But everybody says so!" - -"Everybody is mistaken." - -Dolly's eyes beamed with joy as she cried gayly: - -"Then you are free, Mr. Devereaux?" - -He answered with a happy laugh: - -"Free as the wind--free to look at Miss Lester as much as I choose--or -as long as she will allow me." - -This did not please Dolly at all, so she said spitefully: - -"I dare say she doesn't care whether you look at her or not! She has -no eager eyes for any one but that handsome Mr. Dean, and he has been -standing beside her ever since he gave her the prize, and walked back -to her seat with her, just as if they were lovers." - -"You are trying to make me jealous, Miss Dolly!" he laughed, unwilling -for her to perceive the pain she gave him. - -And he added, as some of the crowd around Liane moved aside: - -"Please excuse me while I speak to Miss Lester." - -Dolly made an angry little pout at him as he moved away. She had -forgiven Liane for winning the prize of beauty, but if she carried -off Devereaux's heart, too, why, that would be quite different. Liane -knew how Dolly had set her heart on him. It would be mean if she came -between them, she thought. - -She managed to get near them when they met, and marked Liane's blush -and smile of pleasure. - -"And she always pretended not to care for flirting! But I suppose she -will turn over a new leaf from to-night," she muttered jealously, as -she edged nearer, trying to overhear everything that passed between the -pair. - -She had one triumph, at least, when she heard Devereaux prefer a low -request to walk home with Liane that evening. - -"I am very sorry, but--I have already promised Mr. Dean," the girl -murmured back, in regretful tones. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -EDMUND CLARKE'S SUSPICION. - - -Roma Clarke gave her parents a very uncomfortable quarter of an hour -riding home that evening. - -She threw pride to the winds, and raved in grief and anger at her -defeat in the contest for the beauty prize, charging it most bitterly -at the door of Jesse Devereaux. - -Mr. Clarke learned for the first time now of the broken engagement, -and, on finding that it was Roma's fault, he could not help censuring -her severely for the folly by which she had lost her lover. - -He thought bitterly in his heart: "Ah, how different my own sweet -daughter must have been from this ill-tempered, coarse-grained girl -who betrays her low origin in spite of the good bringing up and fine -education she has received! My poor wife! How disappointed she must -feel at heart, in spite of her brave show of affection and sympathy! -And, as for Jesse Devereaux, he is a splendid young fellow, and has had -a lucky escape from Roma's toils. I cannot feel that she will make any -man a lovable wife, though I shall be glad enough to have her married -off my hands!" - -When Roma had gone, sobbing, to her room, he talked very earnestly to -her mother, somewhat blaming her for encouraging the girl's willful -temper. - -"She is spoiled and selfish," he declared. "I for one am willing to own -that the prize was well given to Miss Lester. She is very lovely--far -lovelier than Roma!" - -"How can you say so of our dear girl?" Mrs. Clarke cried reproachfully. - -"Because, my dear wife, my eyes are not blinded, like yours, by love -and partiality, and thus I can do justice to others," he answered -firmly. - -"You have never loved our daughter as you should. Therefore, I have -felt it my duty to love and cherish her the more!" she sobbed. - -He took her tenderly in his arms, and kissed the beautiful, quivering -lips, exclaiming: - -"Oh, my love, if our daughter were more like you, I could love her a -hundredfold better! But, alas, she is so different, both in beauty and -disposition, from my angel wife!" - -"I have fancied she must be like your own relations, Edmund." - -"Perhaps so," he replied evasively, continuing: - -"This girl who took the prize this evening won my admiration, darling, -because she has a wonderful likeness to you in your young days, Elinor; -when we were first married." - -"Oh, Edmund, I was never so exquisitely beautiful!" she cried, blushing -like a girl. - -"Oh, yes, indeed; quite as beautiful as Liane Lester--and very lovely -still," he answered, gazing into her eyes with the admiration of a -lover, giving her all the tenderness he withheld from Roma, his unloved -daughter. - -She nestled close to his breast, delighted at his praises, and -presently she said: - -"It is rather a coincidence, your fancying that Miss Lester looks like -me, while I imagine that her grandmother--a dreadful old creature, by -the way--resembles Mrs. Jenks, the old woman who nursed me when Roma -was born." - -Some startled questioning from her husband brought out the whole story -of her visit to granny. - -"Of course I was mistaken in taking her for Mrs. Jenks, but the old -crone needn't have been so vexed over it," she said. - -Edmund Clarke was startled, agitated, by what she had told him, but he -did not permit her to perceive it. - -He thought: - -"What if I have stumbled on the solution of a terrible mystery? The -likeness of Liane Lester to my wife is most startling, and, coupled -with other circumstances surrounding her, might almost point to her -being my lost daughter!" - -He trembled like a leaf with sudden excitement. - -"I must see this old woman--and to-night! I cannot bear the suspense -until to-morrow!" he thought, and said to his wife artfully: - -"Perhaps I am selfish, keeping you from poor Roma in her distress." - -"I will go to her at once, poor child," she said, lifting her fair head -from his breast. - -"And I will take a walk while I smoke," he replied, leaving her with a -tender kiss. - -He lighted a cigar, and started eagerly for the cottage of granny, -hoping to find her alone ere Liane returned from the hall. - -His whole soul was shaken with eager emotion from what his wife had -told him about the old woman's identity. - -In the cool, clean September moonlight he strode along the beach, -eager-hearted as a boy, in the trembling hope of finding his lost child -again. - -What joy it would be to find her in the person of lovely Liane, who had -already touched his heart with a subtle tenderness by the wonderful -likeness that brought back so vividly his wife's lost youth in the days -when they had first loved with that holy love that crowned their lives -with lasting joy. Not one cloud had marred their happiness save the -loss of their infant daughter. - -He had restored what happiness he could to Elinor by the substitution -of a spurious child, but for himself there must ever be an aching void -in his heart till the lost was found again. - -He stepped along briskly in the moonlight, and to his surprise -and joy he found the old woman leaning over the front gate in a -dejected attitude, as if loneliness had driven her outdoors to seek -companionship with nature. - -"Ah, Mrs. Jenks, good evening!" he exclaimed abruptly, pausing in front -of her and lifting his hat. - -Granny started wildly, and snapped: - -"I don't know you!" - -"You have a poor memory," laughed Mr. Clarke. "Now, I knew you at once -as Mrs. Jenks, who nursed my wife when our daughter Roma was born. My -name is Edmund Clarke. We used to live in Brookline. I sold my property -there and moved away when Roma was an infant." - -"I never heard of Brookline before, nor you, either!" snapped granny. - -"Your memory is bad, as I said before, but you won't deny that your -name is Jenks?" Mr. Clarke returned. - -As the whole town knew her by that name, she felt that denial was -useless, but she preserved a stubborn silence, and he continued: - -"I came to ask you, granny, how you came by such a beautiful -granddaughter." - -"Humph! The same way as other people come by grandchildren, I s'pose. -My daughter ran away to be an actress, and came back in a year without -a wedding ring, and left her baby on my hands, while she disappeared -again forever," returned granny, with an air of such apparent -truthfulness that he was staggered. - -He was silent a moment, then returned to the charge. - -"How old is Liane?" - -"Only seventeen her next birthday." - -"I should have taken her for quite eighteen." - -"Then you would have made a mistake." - -"Is her mother dead?" - -"I don't know. I never heard of her after she ran away and left her -baby on my hands." - -"Eighteen years ago?" - -"No; not quite seventeen, I told you, sir." - -"And you do not really remember Mrs. Clarke, whom you nursed at -Brookline eighteen years ago? Come, it ought to be fresh in your -memory. Do you not recall the distressing facts in the case? The infant -was stolen from my wife's breast, and she was dying of the shock when -a spurious daughter was imposed on her, and she recovered. You, Mrs. -Jenks, were sent to the foundling asylum for the child, and laid it -on Mrs. Clarke's breast, restoring her to hope again. You cannot have -forgotten!" - -Granny Jenks looked at him angrily in the moonlight. - -"You must be crazy! I don't know you, and I don't care anything about -your family history! Go away!" she exclaimed fiercely. - -Mr. Clarke was baffled, but not convinced. He stood his ground, saying -firmly: - -"You may bluster all you please, Granny Jenks, but you cannot shake my -conviction that you are the wretch that stole my daughter, and placed a -foundling in her place to deceive and make wretched my poor wife. This -girl, Liane Lester, is the image of my wife, and I am almost persuaded -she is my own daughter. If I have guessed the truth it will be wiser -for you to confess the fraud at once, for denial now will be useless. I -believe I am on the right track at last, and I will never stop till I -uncover the truth. And--the more trouble you give me, the greater will -be your punishment." - -His dark eyes flashed menacingly, and the hardened old woman actually -shivered with fear for an instant. Then she shook off the feeling, and -turned from him angrily, reëntering her house, and snarling from the -doorway: - -"I know nothing about your child, you crazy fool! Go away!" - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -ROMA FINDS AN ALLY. - - -Dolly Dorr was right. Handsome Malcolm Dean had never quitted Liane's -side since the moment he had clasped her hand in congratulating her on -her triumph as queen of beauty. - -He remained by her side, enraptured with her beauty and her bashful -grace, and he lost no time in preferring a request to walk home with -her that night, thinking to himself how sweet it would be to walk -with her beneath the brilliant moonlight, the little hand resting on -his arm, while the low, musical voice answered his remarks with the -timidity that showed how unconscious she was of her own enchanting -beauty. - -He could scarcely credit what they had told him this afternoon when -examining the portraits: that Liane Lester was only a poor sewing girl, -with a cruel grandmother, who beat her upon the slightest pretext, and -never permitted her to have a lover. - -"She looks like a young princess. It is a wonder that some brave young -man has not eloped with her before now," he declared. - -"Every one is afraid of Granny Jenks," they replied; but Jesse -Devereaux only remained gravely silent. He had decided to win sweet -Liane for his own, in spite of a hundred vixenish grannies. - -He had sent her the fragrant roses to wear, determining to disclose his -identity that night, and to win her sweet promise to be his bride. - -Now his plans were all spoiled by the artist's sudden infatuation, and -he could have cursed Roma for the spiteful manoeuvring that had kept -him an unwilling captive, while Liane was drifting beyond his reach. - -All his pleasure was over for to-night, yet he did not give up hope -for the future. His dark eyes had not failed to detect the joy in her -glance, and the blush on her cheek at their meeting, and his ears had -caught the little regretful ring in her voice, as she whispered that -she had already promised Mr. Dean. - -Presently the people all began to go away, and with keen pain he saw -Liane leaving with her new admirer, her little hand resting like a -snowflake on his black coat sleeve. - -"But it shall be my turn to-morrow," he vowed to himself, turning away -with a jealous pang, and pretending not to see Dolly Dorr, who had -lingered purposely in his way, hoping he would see her home. - -Disappointed in her little scheme, she rather crossly accepted the -offer of a dapper dry-goods clerk, and went off on his arm, laughing -with forced gayety as she passed Devereaux, to let him see that she did -not care. - -Devereaux did not even hear the laughter of the piqued little flirt. -He could think of nothing but his keen disappointment over Liane. He -returned to his hotel in the sulks. - -After all his pleasant anticipations, his disappointment was keen and -bitter. - -"How can I wait until to-morrow?" he muttered, throwing himself down -disconsolately into a chair. - -Suddenly a messenger entered with a telegram, and, tearing it hastily -open, he read: - - Come at once. Father has had a stroke of apoplexy. - - LYDE. - -Lyde was his only sister, married a year before, and a leader in -society. He could fancy how helpless she would be at this juncture--the -pretty, petted girl. - -Filial grief and affection drove even the thought of Liane temporarily -from his mind. - -Calling in a man to pack his effects, he left on the earliest train for -his home in Boston. - -But as the train rushed on through the night and darkness, Liane -blended with his troubled thoughts, and he resolved that he would write -to her at the earliest opportunity. He would not leave the field clear -for his enamored rival. - -He realized, too, that the clever and handsome artist would be a -dangerous rival; still, he felt sure that Liane had some preference for -himself. On this he based his hopes for Malcolm Dean's failure. - -"She will not forget that night upon the beach, and the opportune -service I did her. Her grateful little heart will not turn from me," he -thought hopefully. - -Malcolm Dean was the only one he could think of as likely to come -between him and Liane. He had not an apprehension as to Roma Clarke's -baleful jealousy. And yet he should have remembered the hate that had -flashed from her eyes and hissed in her voice when she taxed him with -voting for Liane. - -Again, she had nearly fainted when he was excusing himself to speak to -her successful rival. - -And even now, while the fast-flying train bore him swiftly from -Stonecliff, Roma paced her chamber floor like one distraught, wringing -her hands and alternately bewailing her fate and vowing vengeance. - -Before Roma's angry eyes seemed to move constantly the vision of her -rival in her exquisite beauty. Liane, in her girlish white gown, with -the fragrant pink roses at her slender waist--Liane, the humble sewing -girl she had despised, but who had now become her hated rival. - -Jesse Devereaux admired her; thought her the loveliest girl in the -world. Perhaps, even, he was in love with her. That was why he had -taken so gladly the dismissal she had so rashly given. - -A fever of unavailing regret burned in Roma's veins, the fires of -jealous hate gleamed in her flashing eyes. - -"I would gladly see her dead at my feet," she cried furiously. - -Before she sought her pillow, she had resolved on a plan to forestall -Devereaux's courtship. - -She would go to-morrow morning to see the wicked old grandmother -of Liane; she would have a good excuse, because the old woman had -desired the visit, and she would tell her that Devereaux was engaged -to herself, and warn her not to permit her granddaughter to accept -attentions that could mean nothing but evil. She would even bribe the -old woman, if necessary. She was ready to make any sacrifice to punish -Jesse for what she called to herself his perfidy, ignoring the fact -that she had set him free to woo whom he would. - -Granny was tidying up her floor next morning, when a footstep on the -threshold made her start and look around at a vision of elegance and -beauty framed in sunshine that made the coppery waves of her hair shine -lurid red as the girl bowed courteously, saying: - -"I am Miss Clarke. Mamma said you wished to see me." - -Granny dropped her broom and sank into a chair, staring with dazed eyes -at the radiant beauty in her silken gown. - -As no invitation to enter was forthcoming, Roma stepped in and seated -herself, with a supercilious glance at the shabby surroundings. She -thought to herself disdainfully: - -"To think of being rivaled in both beauty and love by a low-born girl -raised in a hovel!" - -Yet she saw that everything was scrupulously clean and neat, as though -Liane made the best of what she had. - -The old woman, without speaking a word, stared at Roma with eager eyes, -as if feasting on her beauty, a tribute to her vanity that pleased Roma -well, so she smiled graciously and waited with unwonted patience until -granny heaved a long sigh, and exclaimed: - -"It is a pleasure to behold you at last, Miss Roma, as a beauty and an -heiress! Ah, you must be very happy!" - -The young girl sighed mournfully: - -"Wealth and beauty cannot give happiness when one's lover is fickle, -flirting with poor girls at the expense of their reputations." - -"What do you mean?" gasped the old woman, and somehow Roma felt that -she was making a favorable impression, and did not hesitate to add: - -"I am speaking of your granddaughter, Liane Lester. The girl is rather -pretty, and I suppose that her vanity makes her ambitious to marry -rich. She flirts with every young man she sees, and lately she has been -making eyes at my betrothed husband, Jesse Devereaux, a handsome young -millionaire. He loves me as he does his life, but he is a born flirt, -and he is amusing himself with Liane in spite of my objections. So I -thought I would come and ask you to scold the girl for her boldness." - -"Scold her! That I will, and whip her, too, if you say so! I will do -anything to please you, beautiful lady," whimpered granny, moving -closer to Roma, and furtively stroking her rich dress with a skinny, -clawlike hand, while she looked at the girl with eager eyes. - -Roma frowned a little at this demonstration of tenderness, but she was -glad the old woman took it so calmly about Liane, and answered coolly: - -"So that you keep them apart, I do not care how much you whip her, for -her boldness deserves a check, and I suppose that you cannot restrain -her, except by beating." - -She was surprised and almost shocked as granny whispered hoarsely: - -"I would beat her--yes; I would kill her before she should steal your -grand lover, darling!" - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -"A DYING MOTHER." - - -Even Roma's cruel heart was somewhat shocked at granny's malevolence -toward her beautiful young granddaughter, but she did not rebuke the -old hag; she only resolved to make capital of it. So she said: - -"I don't want you to kill her, but I wish you could take her away from -here, where Jesse Devereaux can never find her again. She is in my way, -and I want her removed!" - -"It would be worth money to you to get her out of your way," leered -granny cunningly: - -Roma hesitated a moment, then answered frankly: - -"Yes, but I could not promise to pay you much. Papa makes me a very -small allowance." - -The old woman crept nearer to the beautiful, cruel creature, and gazed -up into her face with an expression of humble adoration, while she -murmured wheedlingly: - -"I would take her away from here--far away--where she could never -trouble you again, pretty lady, for a reward that even you could -afford to bestow." - -"What is that?" cried Roma eagerly, and she was startled when granny -answered nervously: - -"A kiss!" - -"A kiss!" the girl echoed wonderingly. - -Granny was actually trembling with excitement, and she added pleadingly: - -"You are so pretty, Miss Roma, that I have fallen in love with you, and -for my love's sake I would like to kiss you once. If you grant my wish, -I will be your slave for only one kind look and kiss!" - -She was softened and agitated in a strange fashion, but she could not -help seeing that Roma recoiled in surprise and disgust. - -"Really, this is very strange! I--I am not fond of kissing old women. -I scarcely ever kiss even my own mother. I would much rather pay you a -little money!" she exclaimed. - -Granny's face saddened with disappointment, and she muttered: - -"So proud; so very proud! She could not bear a downfall!" - -Roma flushed with annoyance, and added: - -"You seem so very poor that even a small sum of money ought to be -acceptable to you!" - -"I am miserably poor, but I love you--I would rather have the kiss." - -If Roma had known the old woman's miserly character she would have been -even more surprised at her fancy. As it was, she hardly knew what to -say. She gazed in disgust at the ugly, yellow-skinned and wrinkled old -hag, and wondered if she could bring herself to touch that face with -her own fresh, rosy lips. - -"I--I would rather give you a hundred dollars than to kiss you!" she -blurted out, in passionate disgust. - -Instantly she saw she had made a grave mistake. Granny drew back -angrily from the haughty girl, muttering: - -"Hoity-toity, what pride! But pride always goes before a fall!" - -"What do you mean?" flashed Roma. - -A moment's silence, and granny answered cringingly: - -"I only meant that you would be humiliated if that pretty Liane stole -Devereaux's heart from you and married him. The other night I beat -Liane for walking with him on the beach by moonlight!" - -"Heavens! It is worse even than I thought!" cried Roma, springing to -her feet, pale with passion. - -She advanced toward granny, adding: - -"Will you take her away by to-morrow, and never let him see her face -again if I grant your wish?" - -"I swear it, honey!" - -"There, then!" and Roma held up her fresh, rosy lips, shuddering with -disgust as the old crone gave her an affectionate kiss that smacked -very strongly of an old pipe. - -"Be sure that you keep your promise!" she cried, hastening from the -house. - -Granny watched her until she was out of sight, clasping her skinny arms -across her breast, after the fashion of one fondling a beloved child. - -"How proud, how beautiful!" she kept saying over to herself in delight. -Then she went in and closed the door, while she sat down to make her -plans for gratifying Roma's wish. - -Not a breath of last night's happenings had reached her, for she seldom -held communication with any one, being feared and hated by the whole -community, as much as Liane was loved and pitied. She knew nothing -of the popular beauty contest, and that Liane had won the prize of -a hundred dollars. If she had known, she would have managed to get -possession of the money ere now. Liane, having spent the night with -Mary Lang, had gone to her work from there, and was having an ovation -from her girl friends, who put self aside and rejoiced with her over -her triumph. - -The proud and happy girl answered gratefully: - -"But for your persuasions I should never have ventured to send in my -picture for the contest. I want to testify my gratitude by giving each -of you five dollars to buy a pretty keepsake." - -They protested they would not take a penny of her little fortune, but -the generous girl would not be denied. - -"I have seventy-five dollars left! I am rich yet!" she cried gayly, for -Liane was the happiest girl in the world to-day. - -But it was neither her signal triumph nor the money that made her -happy, it was because she had seen Jesse Devereaux again, and his -radiant, dark eyes had told her the story of his love as plain as words. - -Though she was grateful to the handsome artist for his attentions, she -was disappointed because he had kept Jesse from walking home with her -last night. - -But she looked eagerly for some demonstration from him to-day. Perhaps -he would send her some more flowers, for he had whispered gladly as -they parted: - -"Thank you for wearing the roses I sent you!" - -Liane's heart leaped with joy at hearing the flowers had come from -Jesse, and she placed them carefully away that night, determined to -keep them always, for his dear sake. - -How her heart sank when Dolly Dorr, who had been rather quiet and sulky -that morning, suddenly remarked: - -"Mr. Devereaux went off, bag and baggage, they say, to Boston last -night, so I suppose that is the last we shall see of him!" - -Liane could not keep from exclaiming regretfully: - -"Oh, dear!" - -"You seem to be sorry!" Dolly cried significantly. - -All eyes turned on Liane, and she blushed rosy red as she bent lower -over the work she was sewing. - -Dolly added curtly: - -"I did not think you would be so ready to take away another girl's -chance, Liane." - -"But he has broken with Miss Clarke. They quarreled last night," said -Lottie Day. - -"I did not mean Miss Clarke. I meant myself. Liane knows he has paid me -some attention, and that I have set my cap at him! I thought she was -my true friend, but I caught her making eyes at him last night!" Dolly -exclaimed ruefully. - -The gay girls all laughed at Dolly's jealousy, but Liane could not -say a word for embarrassment, knowing in her heart how baseless were -Dolly's hopes. - -The angry little maiden continued: - -"He told me last night that he was free from Miss Clarke; and I believe -I could win him if no one tried to spoil the sport. I would never have -introduced him to Liane if I had thought she would try to cut me out." - -"Oh, Dolly, you know I have not tried. Could I help his coming to speak -to me last night?" cried Liane. - -"No, but you needn't have encouraged him by flirting when he spoke to -you, blushing and rolling up your eyes." - -A derisive groan went around among the merry band at Dolly's charge, -and Mary Lang spoke up spiritedly: - -"Dolly Dorr, you are simply making yourself ridiculous, putting in a -claim to Mr. Devereaux because he happened to speak to you once or -twice! Any one with half an eye can see he's in love with Liane, and -I'll state for your benefit that he told her last night he sent her -that bouquet of roses, and he wanted to walk home with her, only Mr. -Dean was ahead of him!" - -"Oh! Oh! Oh!" ran the chorus of voices, Liane drooping her head in -blushing confusion, and Dolly pouting with disappointment, while she -cried spitefully: - -"He's nothing but a wretched flirt! He flirted with Miss Clarke, and -then with me, and next with Liane! I'm glad he got ashamed of himself, -and sneaked off; and I hope he will never come back!" - -Her little fit of temper spoiled the rest of the day for the girls, and -Liane Lester was glad to get away at six o'clock, where, after a while, -she could be alone with her own thoughts. - -But granny was sniveling, with her apron to her eyes, when she entered -the poverty-stricken room. - -"What is it, granny? Are you ill?" she asked. - -"No, I have bad news!" - -"Bad news?" - -"Yes; I've heard from my daughter, your mother, at last. She's dying -down to Boston, and wants you and me to come," with an artful sob. - -"But, of course, we cannot go!" Liane said, with strange reluctance. - -"But, of course, we can. I've got a little money; enough for the trip. -I've just been waiting for you to come and help me to pack our clothes." - -"That will not take long. Our wardrobes are not extensive. But, I--I -don't want to go!" declared Liane. - -"You unnatural child, not to want to see your poor dying mother!" -snapped the old woman. - -"She has been an unnatural mother!" answered the girl warmly. - -"No matter about that! She is my child, and I want to see her before -she dies, and you've got to go, willy-nilly! So go along with you and -get the tea ready; then we will get packed to go on the first train!" -declared granny, with grim resolution. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -A LOVE LETTER. - - -Liane's little sewing chair was vacant the next day, and there was -grief and surprise among the five girls present when Miss Bray -explained the reason. - -Liane had sent her a little note the night before, she said, telling -her that her grandmother was taking her to Boston to see a dying -relative, and she did not know when she should be back, but hoped Miss -Bray would have work for her on her return. She left her dear love for -all the girls, and hoped she should see them soon again. - -Every one expressed sorrow but Dolly Dorr, who from spite and envy had -suddenly changed from a friend to an enemy of Liane. - -Dolly tossed her pretty, flaxen head scornfully and insinuated ugly -things about Liane following Jesse Devereaux to Boston. A dying -relative was a good excuse, but it could not fool Dolly Dorr, she said -significantly. - -The other girls took the part of the absent one, and even Miss Bray -gently reproved Dolly for her slanderous words. The upshot of the -matter was that she grew red and angry, and developed the rage of a -little termagant. Taking offense at Miss Bray's rebuke, she angrily -resigned her position, tossed her jaunty cap on her fluffy, yellow -head, and flew home. - -The ambition to captivate Jesse Devereaux had quite turned the silly -little noddle, and she was passionately angry at Liane for what she -denominated "her unfair rivalry." - -But on reaching home and finding that her father had just been thrown -out of work, Dolly was a little flustrated at her own precipitancy in -leaving her place, especially as Mrs. Dorr, a weak, hard-worked woman, -bewailed their misfortunes in copious tears. - -"Don't cry like that, mamma, I know of a better place than Miss Bray's, -where I can find work. Miss Clarke wants a maid," cried Dolly eagerly. - -Mrs. Dorr's pride rebelled at first from her pretty daughter going into -service like that, but the notion had quite taken hold of Dolly, and in -the end the worried mother yielded to her persuasions, especially as -the wages were liberal, and would help them so much in their present -strait. - -Dolly hurried off to Cliffdene, and asked for Miss Clarke, offering -her services for the vacant place, as Liane Lester had gone away. - -Roma's red-brown eyes flashed with joyful fire as she cried: - -"Where has she gone?" - -"Her grandmother took her to Boston to see a dying relative, miss." - -"Ah!" exclaimed Roma, and her heart leaped with joy as she realized -that granny had kept her promise to take Liane far away. - -"Now I may have some chance of winning Jesse back again," she thought. - -But Dolly's next words threw a damper on her springing hopes. - -"Liane can't fool me with a tale of a dying relative! I believe she had -an understanding with Jesse Devereaux to follow him down to Boston," -she exclaimed spitefully. - -Roma started violently, her rich color paling to ashen gray. - -"Jesse Devereaux gone!" she cried, in uncontrollable agitation that -betrayed her jealous heart to Dolly's keen eyes. - -The girl thought shrewdly: - -"She loves him even if he did tell me he was not engaged. Whew! won't -she hate Liane when she knows all!" - -And, taking advantage of Roma's mood, she added: - -"Liane has been flirting for some time with Mr. Devereaux, and the -night she got the beauty prize he sent her roses to wear, and voted -for her, and offered to walk home with her that night, only he was -disappointed, because Mr. Malcolm Dean had asked her first." - -Roma, inwardly furious with jealous rage, tossed her proud head -carelessly, and answered: - -"Mr. Devereaux cares nothing for the girl! He is engaged to me, but -we had a little tiff, and he was just flirting with her to pique me -because I would not make up with him just yet!" - -Although she regarded Dolly as greatly her inferior, she was placing -herself on a level with her by these confidences, encouraging Dolly to -reply: - -"Of course, I know he wouldn't marry Liane, but she was foolish enough -to think so, and I feel certain she's down to Boston with him now." - -Roma knew better, but she only smiled significantly, giving Dolly the -impression that she agreed with her entirely, and then she said: - -"I will agree to give you a week's trial, and mamma's maid can -instruct you as to your duties. When can you come?" - -"To-morrow, if you wish." - -"Very well. I shall expect you," returned Roma, abruptly ending the -interview. - -When Dolly was going back the next day, she stopped in at the post -office for her mail, and the smiling little clerk in the window, as he -handed it out, exclaimed: - -"Don't Miss Liane Lester work with you at Miss Bray's, Miss Dolly? -There's a letter for her this morning, the first letter, I believe, -that ever came for her, and now that I come to think about it, she -never calls here for mail, anyhow!" - -Dolly's cheeks flushed guiltily, and her heart gave a strangling thump -of surprise, but she said, quite coolly: - -"Yes, Liane works at Miss Bray's with me, and I'm going down there now, -so I'll take her letter, if you please, and save her the trouble of -calling for it." - -The unsuspecting clerk readily handed it out, and Dolly clutched it -with a trembling hand, hurrying out so as to read the superscription -and gratify her curiosity. - -"What a beautiful handwriting! A man's, too, and postmarked Boston. -Now, it must be Devereaux or Dean writing to her!" she muttered, -longing to open it, yet not quite daring to commit the crime. - -She placed it at last in her pocket, thinking curiously: - -"As I don't know where Liane is, of course I cannot forward this letter -to her, and--I would give anything in the world to know what is in it, -and who wrote it! Perhaps Miss Clarke would know the writing." - -That evening, when she was brushing out the long tresses of Roma's -hair, she ventured on the subject: - -"To-day the postmaster gave me a letter from Boston to Liane Lester, -but I don't know where to send it, and I am wondering who wrote it!" - -She felt Roma give a quick start as she cried: - -"Let me see it!" - -Dolly giggled, and brought it out of her pocket. - -"Oh! It is Mr. Devereaux's writing," cried Roma excitedly. - -"So I thought, miss. Now I wonder what he wrote to her about? I must be -mistaken thinking he knew she had gone to Boston," cried Dolly. - -Roma turned the letter over and over in her hand, her eyes blazing, -her cheeks crimson, her heart throbbing with jealous rage. - -How dared he write to Liane? How dared he forget her, Roma, so -insolently, and so soon? She would have liked to see them both -stretched dead at her feet! - -They looked guiltily at each other, the mistress and maid, one thought -in either mind. Dare they open the letter? - -Dolly twittered: - -"I shouldn't think you would allow him to write to her! He belongs to -you!" - -She felt like making common cause with Roma against Liane, in her -bitter envy forgetting how often she had inveighed against Roma's pride -and cruelty. She continued artfully: - -"The letter can never do her any good, because we don't know where to -send it. And--and would it be any harm for us to take a peep at it?" - -"I think I have a right," Roma answered, her bosom heaving stormily, -then she clutched Dolly's arm: - -"Girl, girl, if we do this thing--you and I--will you swear never to -betray me?" she breathed hoarsely. - -"I swear!" Dolly muttered fiercely, in her anger at Liane, and then -Roma's impatience burst all bounds. She quickly broke the seal of the -letter, her angry eyes running over the scented sheets, while Dolly -coolly read it over her shoulder. - -And if ever two cruel hearts were punished for their curiosity, they -were Roma's, the mistress, and Dolly's, the maid. - -It was an impassioned love letter that Devereaux had written to Liane, -and it ended with the offer of his hand, as she already possessed his -heart. - -The young lover had chosen the sweetest words and phrases to declare -his passion, and he explained everything that she might have -misunderstood. - -He had fallen in love with her at first sight, but he was bound by -a promise to one he no longer even admired. In honor he could not -speak to Liane, but his betrothed had herself broken the fetters that -bound him, and he was free now to woo his darling. He had intended to -tell her so that night of the beauty contest, but Malcolm Dean had -rivaled him. Then had come the summons to his sick father, tearing -him away from Stonecliff. He must remain some time in Boston with his -sinking father, and his impatience prompted this letter. Would Liane -correspond with him? Would she be his beloved wife, the treasure of his -heart and home? He should wait with burning impatience for her reply. - -Roma threw the letter on the floor and stamped on it with her angry -foot. - -Not in such tender, passionate phrases had he wooed her when she -promised him her hand, but in light, airy words, born of the flirtation -through which she had successfully steered him to a proposal so quickly -regretted, so gladly taken back. Oh, how she loved and hated him in a -breath! - -As for the girl, thank Heaven, granny had promised to keep her out of -the way. Ay, even to kill her, if she commanded it. It was strange -how the old woman had fallen so slavishly under her sway, but she was -thankful for it, though she shuddered still with disgust at remembrance -of granny's fond caress. - -She said to herself that it were better for Liane Lester that she never -had been born than to cross her path again, and to take from her the -love of the man she had worked so hard to win, and then so rashly lost. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -A CRUEL FORGERY. - - -At the elegant family mansion on Boston's most aristocratic avenue, -Jesse Devereaux, watching by the bedside of his sick father, waited -with burning impatience for the answer to the letter in which he had -poured out the overwhelming tenderness of his soul. - -No shadow of doubt clouded his love, he felt so sure of Liane's love -in return. Had it not trembled in her voice, gleamed in her eyes, and -blushed on her cheeks? - -Oh, they would be so happy together, he and his young bride, Liane! He -would make up to her for all the poverty and sorrow of her past life. -Life should be flower-strewn and love-sweet for her now. - -Of course he expected some opposition from Lyde, his proud, fashionable -sister, when she learned that he was off with his engagement to the -heiress, Miss Clarke, and meant to wed a poor girl, who worked for her -living. But he meant to stand firm, and when she saw how sweet and -beautiful Liane was, she would be ready to excuse him and accept his -darling for a sister. - -In these rosy daydreams the hours flew, and on the second day after -posting his letter he received a reply. - -It gave him something of an unpleasant shock when he held the square -blue envelope in his hand and read the ill-written address: - - MISTER JESS DEVEROW, - No. -- Comonwelt Avnoo, - Bostin, - Mass. - -His cheek flushed, and he sighed. - -"Poor girl, of course she has had no opportunities of education, but -she can have private teachers, and soon remedy all that." - -And he opened the letter with the eagerness of a lover, despite the -slight damper on his spirits, caused by his love's bad chirography, -united to even worse orthography. - -His eager eyes traveled quickly over the small sheet with the awkward -sentences of one little used to epistolary work. - - STONECLIFF, the 17 Sept. - - DEER MISTER DEVROW: Deer me, what a s'hpise your letter wuz! I - thought you wuz jest flirtin' with me! I had heerd what a flirt you - wuz, so I jest tryed my hand on you! They told me you wuz ingage to - the beautiful Miss Clarke, and I thought what fun to cut her out! - - But I didn't think I could do it. I didn' know as I was so pretty - till I tuk the beauty prize that nite. Deer me, how glad I wuz of - that money! I'm a grate heiress now, like Miss Clarke, ain't I? - - I'm much obleedge fur your offer to marry, but I can't see my way - clear to accept, being as I don't love you well enuff. I never did - admire these dark men with sassy, black eyes and dark hair. I've - heern tell they are as jealous as a turk. I make bold to say, I think - Mr. Deen is the style I most admire--deep blue eyes and brown curls. - He seems to have took a fancy to me, too, and if he should ast me the - question you did, I know I could say yes. Forgive if this pains, but - it's best to be frank, so you won't go on loving me in vane. - - I'm grateful to you for your vote that helped to git me that hundred - dollars! I'm goin' down to Bostin to see the sites, and buy me a red - silk gown, I always wuz crazy for one! - - Truly yours, - LIANE LESTER. - -Devereaux sat like one dazed, going over and over the letter of -rejection. He could hardly realize that Liane's little hand had penned -those words. - -No more cruel blow at a strong man's love and pride had ever been dealt -than that letter, showing the writer to be possessed of so shallow -a nature as to be incapable of appreciating the treasure of a true -heart's love, so ungratefully thrown away. - -Jesse Devereaux thrust it away from him at last, and sat staring -blankly before him with heavy eyes, like one contemplating the ruins of -his dearest hope. - -It seemed to him as if he had just laid some dearly loved one in the -grave. Hours and days of sorrow seemed to pass over him as he sat there -brooding darkly over his fate. - -Was it indeed but an hour ago he had felt so hopeful and glad, telling -himself he had just found the sweetest joy of life in the dawn of love? - -What foolish thoughts, what a misplaced love, what rash confidence in -an innocent face and demure, pansy-blue eyes! - -She had just been flirting with him because she heard he was a great -flirt, and was engaged to Miss Clarke, and she wanted to see if she -could "cut her out." It was all heartless vanity that he had taken for -shy, bashful love. The ignorant little working girl had proved herself -an adept in the art of flirtation. - -It was a crushing blow, and his heart was very sore. He had loved her -so, ever since the night they had first met, loved her with the passion -of his life! Even now the memory of her sweetness would not down. He -would be haunted forever by her voice, her glance, her smile, so -alluring in their beauty, so false in true womanly worth and grace, -will-o'-the-wisp lights, shining but to betray. - -And Malcolm Dean was his rival in the heart of the lovely, coquettish -working girl! She admired his "deep-blue eyes and brown curls" as much -as she disliked "sassy black eyes and dark hair." She would marry him -if he asked her, she said. Jesse wondered cynically if Dean had been -merely flirting, too, or would his love prompt him to elevate pretty -Liane to the proud position of his bride. - -Meanwhile, Liane, innocent as an angel, of course, of the letter that -Roma had sent in her name, had duly arrived in the city. - -Her grandmother had taken her to cheap lodgings that night, and, after -they had been shown to a room, the old woman said abruptly: - -"Now I'll go and inquire about my daughter." - -Liane went to the window and looked out in awe at the lights of the -great city, wondering how far away from this spot Jesse Devereaux could -be to-night. Her young heart throbbed with joy at the thought of his -nearness, for she had no realization of the extent of Boston. - -While she was musing and wondering granny returned, saying crossly: - -"It seems I made a mistake in the address. She ain't here at all, but -I'm tired, and not a step shall I stir from this to-night, so we'll go -to bed, Liane, and I'll hunt her in the morning." - -"But if she should die before morning, granny?" - -"Let her die, then; I can't help it! Go to bed!" snarled the old woman, -creeping into bed; so Liane, seeing the uselessness of remonstrance, -followed her example. - -The next morning, after breakfast, granny announced that she would -leave Liane in care of the landlady, while she went out in search of -the dying daughter. - -"Let me go with you," pleaded the girl, with a vague hope of meeting -Devereaux somewhere on the street, all her thought clinging to him with -tender persistence. - -"No, I won't have you along with me, but I'll come back for you as -soon as I find her," snapped granny, so sharply that Liane gave in and -watched her depart with keen regret. - -"I should have liked to go with her to see some of the sights of the -great city," she sighed, so forlornly that the landlady said cheerily: - -"Well, come in here and sit a while with my sick sister, and I'll hurry -up my morning's work and go out with you myself this afternoon." - -Lizzie White was a pretty shop girl, just recovering from a spell of -fever, and she took an instant interest in the pretty new boarder. - -"Sister Annie can show you all over the city," she said. "But," -hesitatingly, "haven't you any other clothes to wear?" her glance -falling deprecatingly on Liane's simple dark-blue print gown and summer -straw hat. "It's time for fall things, you know," she added. - -Liane blushed at the poverty of her attire, but answered gently: - -"These are the best clothes I have, but I have a little money of my -own, and if I knew where to go, I would buy a blue serge suit." - -"Sister Annie can take you to a place this afternoon--the very store -where I work when I am well," replied Lizzie encouragingly. - -Afternoon came, but no granny yet, and Mrs. Brinkley offered to take -Liane out, saying it was such a pity to stay indoors all day when the -sun shone so bright and warm. - -Liane accepted eagerly, and then her new friend, Lizzie, shyly -proffered her a new fall suit of her own to wear. - -"Do wear it to please me, and because people will make remarks on your -print gown," she said eagerly, and the girl, fearful that Mrs. Brinkley -might be ashamed of her shabby attire, accepted gratefully. - -Her appearance was indeed quite different when clothed in Lizzie's -brown cloth skirt, scarlet silk waist, and jaunty brown jacket, with a -brown walking skirt to match. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -LIANE'S FLEETING LOVE DREAM. - - -Liane was enchanted with the beautiful city, and Mrs. Brinkley, who -felt a proud proprietorship in it, was delighted with her praises. - -They went from one grand building to another, but the good woman soon -noticed that Liane seemed best pleased walking along the crowded -streets, and that instead of observing all that she pointed out, the -girl's eyes wandered wistfully from one face to another, as if in -search of some one. - -"Are you looking for your grandmother?" she asked. - -"Oh, no, ma'am," and Liane blushed like a rose. - -"Then it must be your beau, you look so bashful. Have you got a beau in -Boston?" - -Liane shook her pretty head, but she looked so conscious that the woman -plied her with curious questions, until the young girl owned that she -knew one person in Boston, a young man, who had spent several weeks at -Stonecliff. Then the curious matron did not rest until she had learned -his name. - -"Jesse Devereaux! Was he handsome as a picture, with big, rolling, -black eyes? Yes? Why, my pretty dear, you must not set your heart on -him. He is one of the young millionaires up on Commonwealth Avenue, the -swellest young man in Boston. He would never stoop to a poor working -girl." - -She saw the beautiful color fade from the girl's rosy cheek, and her -bosom heaved with emotion as she faltered: - -"He was very kind to me at Stonecliff!" - -Mrs. Brinkley knew the world so well that she took instant alarm, -exclaiming warningly: - -"Don't you set any store by his kindness, child. No good comes of rich -young men showing attentions to pretty working girls. If you have -followed him here through a fancy for his handsome face, then you had -better go home to-night." - -Eagerly, blushingly, Liane disclaimed such a purpose, saying granny had -brought her to see a relative. - -"I--I only thought I might see his face in some of the crowded -streets," she faltered. - -"It is better for you never to see his face again, for it's plain to be -seen he has stolen your heart," chided the widow. "Come, I'll show you -his grand home, and then you may understand better how much he is above -you, and how useless it is to hope to catch him." - -Liane's cheeks burned at the chidings of the good woman, and tears -leaped to her eyes, but she did not refuse the proffer of seeing -Devereaux's home. She thought eagerly: - -"I might see him at the window, or perhaps coming down the steps into -the street. Then, if he should come and speak to me joyfully, as he did -that night at the beauty contest, I believe even this good, anxious -woman could see that he loves me." - -She walked along happily by Mrs. Brinkley's side, carrying the jaunty -brown jacket on her arm, as Lizzie had advised, for the sun's rays were -warm, and she was weary from her sightseeing. The scarlet silk waist -looked very gay, but if she had dreamed of the dreadful letter that had -told Devereaux she was coming to Boston to buy a red silk gown, she -would have torn it off and trampled it beneath her feet. - -Her beautiful eyes sparkled with pleasure at sight of the splendid -homes of Boston's wealthy class, and she could not help exclaiming: - -"I am not envious, but I would like to be rich and live in one of these -palaces." - -"That you can never do, child, so don't think about it any more, as -I tell Lizzie, when she gets to sighing for riches," rejoined the -prudent matron. "Look, now, at that grand house we're coming to; Mr. -Devereaux lives there with his old father and his young married sister, -the proudest beauty in Boston. You see, I read all about them in the -society columns, and--oh!" - -She paused with a stifled shriek, for the great front door of the grand -mansion had indeed opened, as Liane secretly prayed it would, and a man -came down the steps--Jesse Devereaux himself! - -Leaving Lyde beside his father's bed, he was going out for a walk -to try to shake off the benumbing influences of the letter that had -shattered his air castles into hopeless ruins. - -It seemed to him as if his thoughts had taken bodily shape, as he -beheld Liane there in reach of his hand, her timid, eager glance lifted -almost appealingly to his face. - -He hesitated, he almost stopped to speak to her, so thrilled was he by -the sight of her lovely face again, but his eyes fell on the gay red -silk waist, and the words of her letter recurred to his mind: - -"I'm coming down to Bostin to see the sites, and buy a red silk gown. -I've always been crazy for one." - -She was here, she had the red silk gown she craved, and idle curiosity -had led her to pass his house, perhaps boasting to her companion, -meanwhile, that she had flirted with the owner and refused his hand. - -A deep crimson rose to his brow, and his heart almost stopped its -beating with wounded love and pride. Just glancing at Liane with cold, -indifferent eyes, he lifted his hat, bowed stiffly, and passed her by -in scorn. - -The girl, who had almost stopped to speak to him, gave a sigh that was -almost a sob, and dropped her eyes, moving on by Mrs. Brinkley's side -with a sinking heart. - -"That was he, Jesse Devereaux himself," whispered the latter excitedly. -"My, what a cold, haughty stare and bow; enough to freeze you. You see -how 'tis, my dear? When city folks visit the country they're mighty -gracious, but when country folks come to the city, they don't hardly -recognize 'em." - -Liane's pale smile at Mrs. Brinkley's observation was sadder than the -wildest outburst of tears. - -"I see that you are right," she answered, with gentle humility that -touched her new friend's heart, and made her exclaim: - -"Don't never give him another thought, honey. He ain't worth it. You're -sweet enough and pretty enough to marry the proudest in the land, but -nothing don't count now but money." - -They hurried home to the poor lodgings, so different from the splendid -locality they had just left, and found granny just returned from her -search and in rather a good humor from the day's outing. - -She did not scold Liane for going out, as the girl expected, but said -calmly: - -"I was too late. I found Cora dead and the funeral just starting, so I -went with it, and saw her laid away in her last home. Then I thought I -had just as well finish the day looking over the things she left, but I -wasn't any better off by it, for the people where she boarded took it -all for debt." - -She was lying straight along, but, of course, Liane did not know it, -and she tried to feel a little sorrow for the unknown mother laid in -her lonely grave to-day, but the emotion was very faint. She could not -grieve much for one she had never seen, and of whom granny had given -such a frankly bad report. - -Her first thought was that now she could go back to Stonecliff, away -from the city that had held Jesse Devereaux, whose proud glance and -chilling bow had stabbed her heart with such cruel pain. - -But on making this request, the old woman scowled in disapproval. - -"Back to Stonecliff? No, indeed!" she cried. "I hate the place, and -I left it for good when we came away. You can get a place to work in -Boston, and we will stay here." - -"Yes, it will be easy to get in as a salesgirl at the store where I -work. I'll recommend you," said the sick girl kindly. - -Liane knew there was no appeal from granny's decision, and, after -thanking Lizzie for the loan of her gown and hat, she returned to the -shabby little room, longing to seek solitude in her grief. - -But granny soon entered, carrying a bundle, and exclaiming: - -"Mrs. Brinkley says you bought this dress to-day, and paid for it, -too! Now, where'd the money come from, I'd like to know?" - -Liane had to confess the truth about the beauty contest, and, as soon -as the old woman took it in, she cried furiously: - -"And you dared to spend that money for finery, you vain hussy?" - -"It was my own, granny," Liane answered. - -"Where is the rest of it? Give me every penny that is left, before I -beat you black and blue!" raged the old termagant. - -"Granny, you promised never to beat me again if I would stay and work -for you in your old age," reminded Liane. - -"I don't care what I promised! Give me the rest of the money before I -kill you!" hissed the savage creature, clutching Liane's arm so tight -that she sobbed with pain. - -"Let go, or I'll call for help!" - -"Dare to do it, and I'll choke you before any one comes!" winding her -skinny claws about the fair white throat. - -Liane felt as if her last hour had come, and she was so unhappy she did -not greatly care, but she struggled with the old harpy, and succeeded -in throwing her off, while she said rebelliously: - -"I will never give you the money while I live, and if you kill me to -get it, it will do you no good. You will be hanged for my murder." - -Perhaps granny saw the force of this reasoning, for she desisted from -her brutality, whining: - -"I'm so poor, so miserably poor, that you ought to give me every penny -you get." - -"And dress in rags!" cried the girl indignantly. "No, granny, I will -never do it again, and if you illtreat me any more, I will run away -from you, and then you will starve." - -She knew she would never have the heart to carry out her threat, but -she had found out that she could intimidate the old woman by the threat -of leaving, so she put on a bold air, and continued: - -"Here is five dollars for a present, and it is all you will get of that -money. I gave away twenty-five dollars in keepsakes to my girl friends -before I left Stonecliff, and I have spent thirty dollars for some -decent clothes to wear. Now, I have given you five dollars, and I have -but forty left, and I shall keep that for myself, in case I have to run -away from you and hide myself from your brutality." - -Granny snatched eagerly at the money, muttering maledictions on the -girl for her extravagance, but Liane, sitting with downcast eyes, -pretended not to take any notice of her, until the old woman, glaring -at her in wonder at the beauty that could win such a prize, demanded -harshly: - -"Was Miss Clarke's picture in that contest?" - -When Liane answered in the affirmative, she was startled at the woman's -anger. - -"You dared to take that prize over beautiful Roma's head--you?" she -cried furiously. - -"I did not take it. The judges gave it to me. The contest was open to -any pretty girl, rich or poor," Liane answered gently. - -Granny looked as if she could spring upon the girl and rend her limb -from limb, so bitter was her rage. She moved about the room, clinching -her hands in fury, whispering maledictions to herself, but again Liane -forgot to notice her, she was so absorbed in her own troubles. - -She had dreamed a fleeting dream of love and bliss, and the awakening -was cruel! - -"I have been vain, foolish, to dream he loved me because he sent me -a few roses and offered to walk home with me that night. He was only -amusing himself," she thought, shrinking in pain from the cruel truth. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -WHAT DOLLY TOLD. - - -Seven weeks slipped uneventfully away. - -The bright, cool days of October gave place to dreary, drizzly, bleak -November. - -Liane had become absorbed into Boston's great army of busy working -girls. Lizzie White had secured her a position at a glove counter in -the same store with herself, and granny had rented two cheap rooms in -Mrs. Brinkley's house, and gone to housekeeping. - -Her resentment against Liane continued unabated, and she never gave -the girl a kind word, but she refrained from acts of violence, lest -her meek slave should rebel and leave her alone, in her old age and -poverty, to fight the battle of a useless existence. - -Meanwhile Judge Devereaux had died and been buried with the pomp and -ceremony befitting his wealth and position, and his son and daughter -had inherited his millions. - -Roma Clarke did not fail to send a letter of the sweetest sympathy -to her former lover--a letter that in writing and expression was so -far different from Liane's letter that he could not fail to note the -difference. - -"Poor Liane! What a pity her mind is not as cultured as her lovely -face!" he thought, with a bitter pang. - -Since the day of their meeting on the avenue, he had not seen Liane, -and he supposed she had seen the sights of the city, bought some garish -finery, and returned to the wretched hovel she called her home. - -He despised her for her shallow coquetry, but he could not help pitying -her poverty, and the wretched life with the old hag, from whose brutal -violence he had once rescued her at the cost of a broken arm. - -"How gladly I would have taken her from her wretched lot to a life of -love and luxury, but she preferred Dean. I wonder if he has justified -her hopes?" he thought bitterly. - -He grew more and more curious on the subject after his father's burial, -in the quiet that comes to a house of mourning, and he suddenly -resolved to return to Stonecliff and find out for himself. - -The little seaside town looked very gloomy in the downpour of a cold -November rain, and the boom of the sea, lashed to fury in a storm, was -disquieting to his nerves, but he sallied forth to the post office, and -stood on the steps, watching to see Liane passing by on her way from -work, as on the first day he had seen her lovely face. - -How freshly it all came back to him, that day but two months ago, when -he had followed her to restore her truant veil, and first looked into -the luring blue eyes that had thrilled his heart with passion. - -What a mighty passion for the shallow coquette had been born in his -heart at that meeting--passion followed by pain! Ah, how he wished now -that he had never met her, that he had let the blue veil blow away -on the heedless wind! The little acts of kindness had brought him a -harvest of pain. - -Even now, despite all, he was waiting and watching with painful -yearning for another sight of her face. - -But the moments waned, and she came not. - -He saw the other work people of the town going home through the falling -dusk. Four of Miss Bray's girls dropped in at the post office, flashing -surprised glances at his handsome, familiar face, wondering at his -return; then they went out again, and he thought that presently Liane -and Dolly would be passing also. - -But he was disappointed, and presently he realized that it was useless -waiting longer. - -"Dean must have married her and taken her off already, but it must have -been a very quiet affair. I have seen nothing of his marriage in the -papers," he thought with strange disquiet, as he came down the steps. - -A handsome carriage, with prancing gray horses, in a silver-mounted -harness, with liveried footman, suddenly drew up at the curbstone, and -a brilliant face flushed on him from the window. - -"Oh, Jesse, what a surprise! How do you do? Won't you look in our box -and bring me out my mail?" cried Roma Clarke gushingly. - -There was nothing for it but obedience. Jesse came out to her with two -letters and a paper, and as she took them, she threw open the carriage -door, urging sweetly: - -"Come home with me, do, and see papa and mamma. They will be so glad to -see you. Poor papa has been ill of a fever, and is just convalescing." - -He was in a reckless mood. He accepted the invitation and went home -with her, but she did not find him a very congenial companion. He -ignored her coquettish attempts to return to their old footing. - -"You hate me yet," she pouted. - -"Not at all. I am glad to be your friend, if you will permit me," he -replied courteously. - -"Friend!" Roma cried, in an indescribable tone. - -He ignored the reproach, and said calmly: - -"Tell me all that has happened since I went back to Boston. Who are -married and who are dead?" - -"No one that you know," replied Roma, and she never guessed what a -thrill of joy the words sent to his heart. - -He was glad. He could not help it, that Malcolm Dean had not married -Liane yet. He was yearning for news of her, yet he knew better than to -ask Roma for it. He knew it would only make her angry and jealous. - -While he was alone in the drawing room, Roma having gone to apprise her -parents of his arrival, he was startled to see Dolly Dorr sidle in, -dressed in a dark-gray gown, with a maid's white cap and apron. - -He arose in surprise. - -"Miss Dorr! Is it possible?" - -Dolly colored and hung her head, muttering: - -"You're surprised to see me here as Miss Clarke's maid." - -"Yes," he replied frankly; then a sudden thought came to him, and he -added: "And your pretty friend, Miss Lester? Is she at Cliffdene also?" - -Dolly tossed her head scornfully. - -"No, indeed, she is not here!" - -"Where, then?" he asked eagerly, with a painful curiosity. - -"Don't you know?" cried Dolly pertly, with her flaxen head on one side, -like a bird, and he answered quickly: - -"Of course not!" - -Dolly smoothed down her white apron with her little hands, and, -glancing at him sidewise with her bright blue eyes, returned -indignantly: - -"Then, if you don't know, I can tell you. I used to like Liane, but I -despise her now. That beauty prize made a fool of the girl, and turned -her so silly no one liked her any more. She spent all that money for -gaudy clothes and cheap jewelry, trying to entrap that artist, Mr. -Dean. She was crazy about him, and didn't mind everybody knowing it, -either. So at last she went chasing off to some city after him, and I -don't know what became of her then, and I don't care, for every one -says she must have gone straight to the bad." - -She studied his paling cheek with keen eyes for a moment, then added: - -"But I almost forgot. Mr. Clarke sent me to show you up to his room." - -Devereaux rose silently, and followed the pert maid upstairs. - -It never occurred to Devereaux to doubt Dolly's story in the least. He -believed her a simple, truthful, shallow little maiden devoid of guile. - -The little actress had played her part well, and Roma, listening behind -a curtain, was delighted with the skill of her pupil, so hastily -schooled a moment before in her artful story. - -With a heavy heart Devereaux followed the scheming maid upstairs to Mr. -Clarke's apartment, where he met a joyful welcome. - -"Ah, my boy, I have been ill for many weeks. It seems an age since -we parted that night at the Beauty Show," he exclaimed, as he wrung -Devereaux's hand, adding sadly: "The strangest thing of all is the -disappearance of the successful contestant for the prize. She went -away a day or two afterward, and no one has the least knowledge of her -whereabouts." - -This was confirmation of Dolly's artful story, and Devereaux felt a -strange choking in his throat that kept him silent, while Mr. Clarke -continued eagerly: - -"To tell the truth, I was deeply interested in the beautiful Miss -Lester, and felt a hearty sympathy for her troubles. She led a sad -existence with that wicked old grandmother, and I was on the point of -asking her to come and stay at Cliffdene as my typewriter, just to -give her a better home, you know, poor girl, when she disappeared so -strangely, going away, some people insinuate, to lead a gayer life," -sighing. - -Devereaux knew quite well, from the letter he had received from her, -that Liane could scarcely have filled the position of Mr. Clarke's -typewriter, but he was too generous to say so. He swallowed the lump in -his throat as best he could, and answered: - -"I hope the insinuations are not true, but I cannot tell. I saw Miss -Lester once in Boston. It was a few days after the contest, and she was -walking past my home with a respectable-looking, middle-aged woman. I -have never seen her since." - -"So it was to Boston she went? I wish I could find the poor girl! I -would try to interest my wife in her fate," exclaimed Mr. Clarke, but -that lady, entering at the moment, overheard the words, and frowned -angrily. - -"I will have nothing to do with the girl, and the interest you take in -her is very displeasing to me," she said curtly. - -Roma had worked busily, fostering jealousy in her mind until she almost -hated the name of Liane Lester. - -She shook hands with Devereaux, welcomed him cordially, and returned to -the subject. - -"Speaking of that girl," she said, "I feel that sympathy is wasted on -such as Liane Lester. At one time Roma and I were both so moved with -pity for her poverty that we offered her the position of Roma's maid, -with a good salary and a comfortable home, but the old woman and the -girl both refused, as if they had actually been insulted, though Dolly -Dorr, who worked with Liane, was glad enough to apply for the position -Liane refused, and fills it very acceptably to Roma. After that we took -no further interest in the girl, and rumor says that her head was quite -turned by vanity after getting the beauty prize, so that she and the -old granny moved away from Stonecliff." - -Mrs. Clarke had pitied and admired Liane until her rivalry with Roma, -and the latter's specious tales had turned the scales against her, and -made her jealous of her husband's interest in the lovely girl, so she -said again, with flashing eyes and heightened color: - -"I do not approve of Mr. Clarke's strong interest in the girl, and -would certainly never consent to receive her beneath the roof of -Cliffdene." - -She did not understand the strange glance of blended reproach and pity -her husband bent upon her as he thought: - -"My poor, deceived love, I cannot be angry with her, for she does not -understand the painful interest I take in this Liane Lester, foreboding -that she may possibly be our own child, doomed to poverty and woe, -while her place in our homes and hearts is usurped by an upstart and -an ingrate, without one lovable trait, but whom my poor wife feels -compelled to blindly worship, believing her her own child! Ah, how -unfortunate this illness that has prevented my tracing Nurse Jenks' -history!" - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -"AS ONE ADMIRES A STATUE." - - -Happily unconscious of her father's unfavorable opinion, Roma entered -and seated herself close to his chair, displaying an unwonted -tenderness for him that deceived no one but Devereaux, for whose -benefit it was designed. Both her parents knew that Roma was never -affectionate, except to gain some end of her own. - -On this occasion she was unwontedly sweet and gentle, with a new -pensiveness in her manner more attractive to Devereaux than her usual -brilliancy. She made no bids for his attention; she seemed sadly -resigned to her fate, as her downcast eyes and stifled sighs attested. -It touched him, but he felt too sad at heart to console others, and he -soon tore himself away, returning that night to Boston, wondering if it -could be possible, that the same city had held Liane all this time that -he had supposed her safe at Stonecliff. - -He knew that Malcolm Dean was in Philadelphia, and had been there for -some time, and he wondered if the artist's love for Liane had failed to -realize her confident hopes. - -"Poor little thing! I pity her, with her sweet love dream blighted!" he -thought generously, as he awakened early the next morning, pursuing the -same sad train of thought. - -A startling surprise awaited him after breakfast, where Lyde was -sitting going over the new magazines. - -Her dark eyes brightened suddenly, as she exclaimed: - -"Upon my word, Jesse, the beautiful face on the outside cover of this -magazine resembles perfectly the pretty girl from whom I buy my gloves!" - -"Really!" he exclaimed, taking the magazine, and flushing and paling -alternately, as he saw before him the cover that Dean had designed, -with Liane's face for the central figure. - -How beautiful it was? How beautiful! His heart leaped madly, then sank -again in his breast. - -"Do you think it can be accidental, or is it really her portrait? She -is lovely, Jesse, with a natural, high-bred air, the darkest eyes, like -purple pansies rimmed in jet, and the most beautiful chestnut hair, all -touched with gleams of gold. I have woven quite a romance round her, -fancying her some rich girl reduced to poverty." - -His heart was beating with muffled throbs, his eyes flashed with -eagerness, but he asked with seeming carelessness: - -"What is her name?" - -He was not in the least surprised when she answered: - -"Miss Lester, and the other girls call her Liane. It is a pretty name, -and, oddly enough, I read it once in a novel. She must have been named -from it; don't you think, Jesse?" - -"Perhaps so." - -He could hardly speak, he was so excited, and Lyde rambled on: - -"We have fallen in love with each other, pretty Liane and I. She always -hurries to meet me and show me her gloves. Her eyes smile at me so -tenderly, as if she were really fond of me, and I almost believe she -is, for when I allow her to try on my gloves for me, she has such a -caressing way, I almost long to kiss her. But then, perhaps, she has -the same manner with all, just to get trade," disappointedly. - -Devereaux recalled the caressing touch of her lips on his hand that -night by the sea; her pretty, bashful gratitude, and groaned within -himself. - -"Oh, my lost love, my false love!" - -Aloud he said cynically: - -"I thought you were too proud, Lyde, to notice a pretty salesgirl." - -"Oh, Jesse, I like to be kind to them all, poor things! And they -appreciate a kind word and smile more than you might think. And many -of these girls are so very pretty, too, that really, if I were looking -for beauty, I believe I should seek it among the working girls in our -stores. This Liane Lester, too, is lovelier than all the rest, and her -voice so soft and sweet that, really, I am sure she must be a reduced -aristocrat." - -He wondered if he dare tell her the truth about Liane, the story of his -love. Smilingly he said: - -"You will have me falling in love with your pretty glove girl." - -"Oh, not for the world!" she cried, in dismay. "My dear Jesse, never -think of loving and marrying out of your own set. One can admire beauty -in a poor girl as one admires beauty in a statue, but, lifted above her -station, my pretty Liane would not be half so admirable." - -"Of course not," he replied cynically, and decided not to make her his -confidante. - -All the same, he determined to see for himself again the lovely face -that had won Lyde's admiration. He knew where she bought her gloves, -and that afternoon he was close by when the little army of salesgirls -came pouring out into the street. - -By and by came two arm in arm, Lizzie White and Liane, and his eyes -feasted again on the lovely face beneath the little blue hat, noting -with gladness its purity of expression. - -"They lied. She is pure and innocent still, in spite of pardonable -vanity and girlish coquetry," he thought, with a subtle thrill of joy. - -Then he saw Granny Jenks dart forward with a skinny, outstretched claw, -whining: - -"I came for your wages, Liane. I was afraid you might fool away the -money before you got home." - -"The old harpy!" he muttered, with irrepressible indignation, as he saw -her clutch the money Liane had earned by her week's toil. - -Then he drew back quickly, lest she should see him, a sudden resolve -forming in his mind. - -He would follow them, and find out where her home was, and if she -deserved the cruel things they said of her at Stonecliff. He felt sure -that she had been slandered, poor, pretty Liane, leading her simple, -blameless life of toil and poverty. - -He thought with pleasure of Mr. Clarke's interest in Liane, and -promised himself to write to that gentleman all he could find out about -her, little dreaming of the cruel consequences that would follow on the -writing of the letter. - -"Poor little girl, it is a shame that evil hearts should malign and -traduce her, living her humble life of toil, poverty, and innocence!" -Jesse Devereaux said to himself pityingly, on returning from following -Liane to her humble abode. - -He satisfied himself that her surroundings, though poor, were strictly -respectable, and that she earned a meager living for herself and granny -by patient, daily toil, and he had turned back to his own life of ease -and luxury with a sore heart. - -Keen sympathy and pity drove resentment from his mind, effacing all but -divine tenderness. - -He longed for an intensity that was almost pain to brighten her daily -life, so weary, toilsome, and devoid of pleasure. - -"Had she but loved me, beautiful, hapless Liane, how different her lot -in life would have been!" he thought, picturing her as the queen of -his splendid home, her graceful form clothed in rich attire, her white -throat and her tiny little hands glittering with costly gems, while -she leaned on his breast, happy as a queen, his loving bride. - -He wondered what had become of Malcolm Dean, and why his ardent -admiration of Liane had waned so soon. - -Almost simultaneously with the thought the doorbell rang, and Malcolm -Dean's card was presented to him. - -"Show the gentleman in." - -They stood facing each other, the handsome blond artist and the -dark-haired millionaire, and the latter recalled with a silent pang -that Liane preferred men with fair hair and blue eyes. - -They shook hands cordially; then, as Dean sank into a chair, he noted -that he had grown pale and thin. - -"You have been ill?" - -"Yes, for weeks, of a low fever that kept me in bed in Philadelphia, -while my heart was far away. Can you guess where, Devereaux?" - -"Perhaps at Stonecliff?" - -"Then you have guessed at my passion for the beautiful prize winner." - -"It was patent to all observers that night," Devereaux answered, in -a strangled voice, with a fierce thumping of the heart. Oh, God, how -cruel it was to discuss her with his fortunate rival, who had only to -ask and have. - -Dean noticed nothing unusual. He continued earnestly: - -"I don't mind owning to the truth, Devereaux. Yes, I lost my heart -irretrievably that night to lovely Liane Lester, and I made up my mind -to overlook the difference in our position and woo her for my own. But -I had to go to Philadelphia the next day, and I was detained there some -time getting my design ready for the magazine, and this was followed by -a spell of illness. At length, all impatience, I returned to Stonecliff -two days ago to seek the fair girl who had charmed me so. Fancy my -dismay when I found her gone, and no clue to her whereabouts!" - -Again Devereaux's heart thumped furiously. - -"You loved her very much?" he asked hoarsely. - -"I adored her. She was to me the incarnation of simple beauty and -purity." - -"And had you any token of her preference in return?" - -"None. She was too shy and bashful to give me the sign the coquette -might have deemed befitting. She hid her heart beneath the drooping -fringe of her dark, curling lashes. Yet I dared to hope, and there was -one thing in my favor: I did not have a rival." - -"You are mistaken!" - -"How?" - -"I was your rival!" - -"You, Devereaux!" - -They almost glared at each other, and Devereaux said hoarsely: - -"I was in love with Miss Lester before you ever saw her face!" - -"After all, that is not strange. Who could see her and not love her? -But was your suit successful?" - -"No." - -"Rejected?" - -Devereaux flushed, then answered frankly: - -"Yes." - -Malcolm Dean could not conceal his joyful surprise. - -"I cannot comprehend her rejection of your suit. I should have thought -you irresistible." - -Devereaux struggled a moment with natural pride and selfishness, then -answered: - -"She preferred you." - -"Me? How should you know?" - -"By her own confession to me." - -Malcolm Dean was frankly staggered by his friend's statement. His blue -eyes gleamed with joy and his bosom heaved with pride. - -"You have made me very happy, but how very, very strange that she -should have made such a confession to you," he cried, in wonder. - -Again Devereaux had a short, sharp struggle with his better self and -his natural jealousy of the more fortunate lover of Liane, then his -pity for the girl triumphed over every selfish instinct, and he said: - -"She was very frank with me--the frankness of innocence that saw -no harm in the confidence. On the same principle I see no harm in -confiding in you, Dean;" and he impulsively drew from his breast -Liane's letter. - -Had he dreamed of the fatal consequences, he would have withheld his -eager hand. - -There is love and love--love that has shallow roots and love that -cannot be dragged up from its firm foundations. - -"Read!" said Devereaux, generously placing in his rival's hand Liane's -letter. - -For himself he could have forgiven all her faults of innocence and -ignorance could she but have returned his love. - -It did not occur to his mind that the artist could be in any way -different; that the ill spelling and the puerile mind evinced by the -letter would inspire him with keen disgust. - -It only seemed to him that all these faults could be remedied by Liane -by the influence of a true love. The glamour of a strong passion was -upon him, blinding him to the truth that instantly became patent to -Dean's mind. - -The artist, reading the shallow effusion, flung it down in keen disgust. - -"Heavens, what a disappointment! Such beauty and apparent sweetness -united to shallowness and vanity!" he exclaimed. - -"It calls forth your pity?" Devereaux said. - -"It excites my scorn!" the artist replied hotly. - -"Remember her misfortunes--her bringing up by that wretched old -relative in want and ignorance. Surely the influence of love will work -every desirable change in the fair girl who loves you so fondly," -argued Devereaux. - -Malcolm Dean was pacing the floor excitedly. - -"You could not change the shallow nature indicated by that letter, if -you loved her to distraction," he exclaimed. "Mark how she confesses to -deliberate coquetry to win you from your betrothed; how cold-bloodedly -she gloats over her triumph. Why, my love is dead in an instant, -Devereaux, slain by this glimpse at Liane Lester's real nature. Thank -fortune, I did not find her at Stonecliff yesterday. I shall never seek -her now, for my eyes are opened by that heartless letter. Why are you -staring at me so reproachfully, Devereaux? You have even more cause to -despise than I have." - -"And yet I cannot do it; Heaven help me, I love her still!" groaned the -other, bowing his pale face upon his hands. - -"But, Devereaux; this is madness! She is not worth your love. Fling the -poison from your heart as I do. Forget the light coquette. Return to -your first love." - -"Never!" he cried; but in all his pain he could not help an unconscious -joy that Liane could yet be won. - -He had not meant to turn Dean's heart against her, but the mischief was -done now. Poor little girl! Would she hate him if she knew? - -The old pitying tenderness surged over him again, and he longed to -take her in his arms and shield her from all the assaults of the cruel -world. Vain and shallow she might be; coquette she might be, yet she -had stormed the citadel of his heart and held it still against all -intruders. - -"I am going now," the artist cried; turning on him restlessly. "This -is good-by for months, Devereaux. I think I shall join some friends of -mine who are going to winter in Italy, to study art, you know. Wish you -would come with us." - -"I should like to, but my father is lately dead, you know, and -Lieutenant Carrington, my sister's husband, is ordered to sea with his -ship. I cannot leave Lyde alone, poor girl." - -"Then good-by, and thank you for showing me that letter. What if I -had married her in ignorance?" with a shudder. "For Heaven's sake, -Devereaux, be careful of getting into her toils again. Better go back -to Miss Clarke, and make up your quarrel. Adieu," and with a hearty -handclasp, he was gone, leaving his friend almost paralyzed with the -remorseful thought: - -"Would she ever forgive me if she guessed the harm I have done?" - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -A HARVEST OF WOE. - - -Devereaux's thoughts clung persistently to Liane. He could not shut -away from his mind her haunting image. - -Pity blended with tenderness, as putting himself and his own -disappointment aside, he gave himself up to thoughts of bettering her -poverty-stricken life, so toilsome and lonely. - -He took up his pen and wrote feelingly to Edmund Clarke, telling him -how and where he had found Liane again, and of his full belief in -her purity and innocence, despite the cruel slanders circulating in -Stonecliff, the work, no doubt, he said, of some jealous, unscrupulous -enemy. - -He assured Mr. Clarke that he was ready to assist in any way he might -suggest in bettering the fair young girl's hard lot in life. - -The letter was immediately posted, and went on its fateful way to fall -into jealous Roma's hands and work a harvest of woe. - -Affairs at Cliffdene were already in a critical stage, and it wanted -but this letter to fan the smoldering flames into devastating fury. - -Mr. Clarke, impatient of his lingering convalescence, had taken a -decisive step toward recovering his lost daughter. - -He had written a letter summoning old Doctor Jay, of Brookline, on a -visit, and he had explained it to his wife by pretending he wished to -avail himself of the old man's medical skill. - -Doctor Jay was the physician who had attended Mrs. Clarke when her -daughter was born, and he received a warm welcome at Cliffdene, a guest -whom all delighted to honor; all, at least, but Roma, who immediately -conceived an unaccountable aversion to the old man, perhaps because his -little hazel-gray eyes peered at her so curiously through his glasses -beneath his bushy gray eyebrows. - -There was something strange in his intent scrutiny, so coldly curious, -instead of kindly, as she had a right to expect, and she said pettishly -to her mother: - -"I detest Doctor Jay. I hope he is not going to stay long." - -"Oh, no, I suppose not, but I am very fond of Doctor Jay. He was very -kind and sympathetic to me at a time of great suffering and trouble," -Mrs. Clarke replied so warmly that she aroused Roma's curiosity. - -"Tell me all about it," she exclaimed. - -Mrs. Clarke had never been able to recall that time without suffering, -but she impulsively told Roma the whole story, never dreamed of until -now, of the loss of her infant and its mysterious restoration at the -last moment, when her life was sinking away hopelessly into eternity. - -Roma listened with startled attention, and she began to ask questions -that her mother found impossible to answer. - -"Who had stolen away the babe, and by what agency had it been -restored?" demanded Roma. - -Mrs. Clarke could not satisfy her curiosity. The subject was so painful -her husband would never discuss it with her, she declared, adding that -Roma must not think of it any more, either. - -But, being in a reminiscent mood, she presently told Roma how she had -been deceived in old Granny Jenks' identity, and how indignantly the -old woman had denied the imputation of having been her nurse. - -"I was so sure of her identity that her anger was quite embarrassing," -she said. - -Roma's thoughts returned to granny's affection for herself, and she -felt sure the old woman had lied to her mother, though from what object -she could not conceive. Her abject affection for herself seemed fully -explained by the fact of her having been her nurse child. - -But she was, somehow, ill at ease after hearing her mother's story, and -longed eagerly to know more than she had already heard. - -"I wonder if I dare question papa or the old doctor?" she thought when -her mother had left her alone, resting easily in her furred dressing -gown and slippers before a bright coal fire, while in the room beyond -Dolly Dorr was getting her bath ready. - -Roma was devoured by curiosity. She sat racking her brain for a pretext -to intrude on her father and the old doctor, who were still in the -library together, chatting over old times when the Clarkes had lived in -Brookline. - -A lucky thought came to her, and she murmured: - -"I will pretend to have a headache, and ask Doctor Jay for something to -ease it. Then I will stay a while chatting with them and making myself -very agreeable until I can bring the subject around, and get the -interesting fact of my abduction out of them." - -Stealing noiselessly from the room, she glided downstairs like a -shadow, pausing abruptly at the hall table, for there lay the evening's -mail, just brought in by a servant from the village post office. - -Roma turned over the letters and papers, finding none for any one but -her father, but the superscription on one made her start with a stifled -cry. - -She recognized the elegant chirography of Jesse Devereaux on the back -of one letter. - -"Now, why is he writing to papa?" she wondered, eagerly turning the -letter over and over in her burning hand, wild with curiosity that -tempted her at last to slip the letter into her bosom. - -Then, taking the rest of the mail in her hand, Roma went to the -library, thinking that the delivery of the mail would furnish another -plausible pretext for her intrusion. - -There was a little anteroom just adjoining the library, and this she -entered first to wait a moment till the fierce beating of her heart -over Devereaux's letter should quiet down. - -Her slippered feet made no sound on the thick velvet carpet, and, as -she rested for a moment in a large armchair, she could hear the murmur -of animated voices through the heavy portières that hung between her -and the library. - -Believing that the whole family had retired, and that they were safe -from interruption, Doctor Jay and his host had returned to the tragedy -of eighteen years before--the loss of the infant that had nearly cost -the mother's life. - -Roma caught her breath with a stifled gasp of self-congratulation, -hoping now to hear the whole interesting story without moving from her -chair. - -In her hope she was not disappointed. - -"I have never ceased to regret the substitution of that spurious infant -in place of my own lovely child," sighed Mr. Clarke. - -Roma gave a start of consternation, and almost betrayed herself by -screaming out aloud, but she bit her lips in time, while her wildly -throbbing heart seemed to sink like a stone in her breast. - -Doctor Jay said questioningly: - -"You have never been able to love your adopted daughter as your own?" - -"Never, never!" groaned Edmund Clarke despairingly. - -"And her mother?" - -"She knows nothing, suspects nothing; for the one object of my life has -been to keep her in ignorance of the truth that Roma is not her own -child. She has an almost slavish devotion to the girl, but I think in -her inmost heart she realizes Roma's lack of lovable qualities, though -she is too loyal to her child to admit the truth even to me." - -"It is strange, most strange, that no clue has ever been found that -would lead to the discovery of your lost little one," mused the old -doctor, and after a moment's silence the other answered: - -"One thing I would like to know, and that is the family from which Roma -sprang. It must have been low, judging frankly from the girl herself." - -The listener clinched her hands till the blood oozed from the tender -palms on hearing these words, and she would have liked to clutch the -speaker's throat instead. - -But she sat still, like one paralyzed, a deadly hatred tugging at her -heartstrings, listening as one listens to the sentence of death, while -Doctor Jay cleared his throat, and answered: - -"I am sorry, most sorry, that your surmises are correct, but naturally -one would not expect to find good blood in a foundling asylum, though -when I sent Nurse Jenks for the child, I told her to get an infant of -honest parentage, if she could." - -"Then you know Roma's antecedents?" Mr. Clarke questioned anxiously. - -"My dear friend, I wish that you would not press the subject." - -"Answer me; I must know! The bitterest truth could not exceed my -suspicions!" almost raved Mr. Clarke in his eagerness, and again the -clinched hands of the listener tightened as if they were about his -throat. - -Hate, swift, terrible, murderous, had sprung to life, full grown in the -angry girl's heart. - -She heard the old doctor cough and sigh again, and a futile wish rose -in her that he had dropped down dead before he ever came to Cliffdene. - -Doctor Jay, all unconscious of her proximity and her charitable wishes, -proceeded hesitatingly: - -"Since you insist, I must own the truth. Nurse Jenks deceived me." - -"How?" hoarsely. - -"She never went near the foundling asylum. She had at her own home an -infant, the child of a worthless daughter, who had run away previously -to go on the stage. Leaving this child on her mother's hands, the -actress again ran away, and the old grandmother palmed it off on you as -a foundling." - -"My God! I see it all," groaned Edmund Clarke. "The old fiend exchanged -infants, putting her grandchild in the place of my daughter, and -raising her in poverty and wretchedness. I have seen my child with her, -my beautiful daughter. Listen to my story," he cried, pouring out to -the astonished old physician the whole moving story of Liane Lester. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -AT A FIEND'S MERCY. - - -Doctor Jay listened with breathless attention, and so did Roma. - -Pale as a breathing statue, her great eyes dilated with dismay and -horror, her heart beating heavily and slow, Roma crouched in her chair -and listened to the awful words that told her who and what she was, the -base-born child of Cora Jenks, and granddaughter of old granny, whose -very name was a synonym for contempt in Stonecliff. - -She, Roma, who despised poor people, who treated them no better than -the dust beneath her well-shod feet, belonged to the common herd, and -was usurping the place of beautiful Liane, whom she had despised for -her lowly estate and hated for her beauty, but who had become first her -rival in love and now in fortune. - -To the day of her death beautiful, wicked Roma never forgot that bleak -November night, that blasted all her pride and flung her down into the -dust of humiliation and despair, her towering pride crushed, all the -worst passions of her evil nature aroused into pernicious activity. - -Stiller than chiseled marble, the stricken girl crouched there, -listening, fearing to lose even a single word, though each one quivered -like a dagger in her heart. - -Her greatest enemy could not have wished her a keener punishment than -this knowledge of her position in the Clarke household--an adopted -daughter, secretly despised and only tolerated for the mother's sake, -holding her place only until the real heiress should be discovered. - -No words could paint her rage, her humiliation, her terrors of the -future, that held a sword that might at any moment fall. - -Oh, how she hated the world, and every one in it, and most of all Liane -Lester, her guiltless rival. - -While she listened, she wished the girl dead a hundred times, and all -at once a throbbing memory came to her of the fierce words Granny Jenks -had spoken in her rage against Liane. - -"I would beat her; yes, I would kill her, before she should steal your -grand lover from you darling!" - -Roma could understand now the old hag's devotion to herself. It was -the tie of their kinship asserting itself. She shuddered with disgust -as she recalled the old woman's fulsome admiration and adoration, and -how she had been willing to sell her very soul for one kiss from those -fresh, rosy lips. - -How eagerly she had said: - -"I will scold Liane, and whip her, too. I will do anything to please -you, beautiful lady!" - -No wonder! - -Roma was bitterly sorry now that she had not let granny kill Liane when -she had been so anxious to do it. She felt that she had made a great -mistake, for her position at Cliffdene would never be assured until -Liane was dead. - -Edmund Clarke was certain now that Liane was his own child, and he -swore to Doctor Jay that he would find her soon, if it took the last -dollar of his fortune. - -The old doctor replied: - -"I do not blame you, my friend, for it does, indeed, appear plausible -that this Liane Lester must be your own lost child, and I can conceive -how galling it must be to your pride to call Nurse Jenks' grandchild -your daughter, while, as for your noble wife, it is cruel to think of -the imposition practiced on her motherly love all these years. But it -is certain that she must have died but for the terrible deception we -had to practice." - -Edmund Clarke knew that it was true. He remembered how she had been -drifting from him out on the waves of the shoreless sea, and how the -piping cry of the little infant had called her back to life and hope. - -"Yes, it was a terrible necessity," he groaned, adding: - -"And only think, dear doctor, how sad it is that Roma, with a devilish -cunning, that must be a keen instinct, has always hated sweet Liane, -and has succeeded in poisoning my wife's mind against her, arousing a -mean jealousy in my uncomprehended interest in the girl! Think of such -a sweet mother being set against her own sweet daughter!" - -"It is horrible," assented Doctor Jay, and he continued: - -"But this excitement is telling on your nerves, dear friend, weakened -by your recent severe illness. Let me persuade you to retire to bed, -with a sedative now, and to-morrow we will further discuss your plan of -employing a detective to trace Liane and the fiendish Nurse Jenks." - -"I believe I will take your advice," Roma heard Edmund Clarke respond -wearily, and Doctor Jay insisted on preparing a sedative, which he -said should be mixed in a glass of water, half the dose to be taken on -retiring, and the remainder in two hours, if the patient proved wakeful. - -"I wish it was a dose of poison," Roma thought vindictively, as she -hurried from the room and gained her own unperceived, where she found -her maid waiting most impatiently to assist her in her bath. - -"Never mind, Dolly, you can go to bed now. I went to mamma's room for -a little chat, and we talked longer than I expected, so I will wait on -myself this once," she said, with unwonted kindness in her eagerness to -be alone; so Dolly curtsied and retired, though she said to herself: - -"She is lying. She was not in her mother's room at all, for I went -there to see, and Mrs. Clarke had retired. She must have been up to -some mischief and don't want to be found out. She had a guilty look." - -Meanwhile Roma flung herself into the easy-chair before the glowing -fire, stretched out her slippered feet on the thick fur rug, and gave -herself up to the bitterest reflections. - -"There are four people who are terribly in my way, and whom I would -like to see dead! They are Liane Lester, Granny Jenks, old Doctor Jay, -and Edmund Clarke, the man I have heretofore regarded as my father," -she muttered vindictively. - -She knew that the two last named would know neither rest nor peace -till they found Liane and reinstated her in her place at Cliffdene as -daughter and heiress, ousting without remorse the usurper. - -"Ah, if I only knew where to find her, granny would soon put her out of -my way forever!" she thought, regretting bitterly now that she had not -made the old hag keep her informed of her whereabouts. - -The spirit of murder was rife in Roma's heart, and she longed to end -the lives of all those who stood in her way. - -"I wish that Edmund Clarke would die to-night! How easy it would be if -some arsenic were dropped into his sedative--some of that solution I -was taking a while ago to improve my complexion," she thought darkly, -resolving to wait until all was quiet and herself attempt the hellish -deed. - -One death already lay on her conscience, and the form of the man she -had remorselessly thrust over the bluff stalked grimly through her -dreams. To her soul, already black with crime, what did the commission -of other deeds of darkness matter? - -The death of Edmund Clarke so quickly decreed, she began to plan that -of the old doctor. - -This was not so easy. He did not have a convenient glass of sedative -ready by his bedside. But she had noticed at supper that he was fond of -a glass of wine. - -"I must poison a draught for him before he leaves Cliffdene," she -thought, regretting that she could not accomplish it to-night. - -But Edmund Clarke's speedy death would delay the search for Liane a -while, even if it did not postpone it forever. - -For the old physician was not likely to prosecute it after the death -of his patron. He could have no interest in doing so, though she would -make sure he did not by putting him out of the way if she could. - -Her mind a chaos of evil thoughts, Roma rested in her chair, waiting -till she thought every one must be asleep before she stole from the -room to poison the draught for the man she had regarded until this -hour as her own father, and to whose wealth she owed her luxurious life -of eighteen years. - -Neither pity nor gratitude warmed her cold heart. She had never loved -him in her life, and she hated him now. - -In her rage and despair she had forgotten Jesse Devereaux's letter to -her father until, in a restless movement, she heard the rustle of paper -in her corsage. - -An evil gleam lightened in her eyes, and she drew the letter forth, -muttering: - -"Ah, this will beguile my weary waiting!" - -In five minutes she was mistress of the contents. - -It was the letter Devereaux had written to acquaint Edmund Clarke with -Liane's address--the fateful letter that was to betray the girl into -the hands of her bitterest foe. - -Ah, the hellish gleam of wicked joy in the cruel red-brown eyes; the -stormy heaving of Roma's breast as she realized her great good fortune; -all her enemies in her power, at her mercy! The mercy the ravenous wolf -shows to the helpless lamb! - -She laughed low and long in her glee, and that laughter was an awful -thing to hear. - -"Oh, how can I wait till to-morrow?" she muttered. "Yet I cannot go to -Boston to-night, nor to-morrow, if Edmund Clarke dies to-night. Shall -I spare his life till I go to Boston, and have his daughter put out of -the way?" - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -A MURDEROUS FURY. - - -Hours slipped away while the beautiful fiend, so young in years, so -old in the conception of crime, crouched in her seat, waiting, musing, -pondering on the best schemes for ridding herself of those who stood in -her way. - -She was eager as a wild beast to strike quickly and finish the awful -work she had set herself to do. - -It seemed to her that she might never have another such opportunity for -ending Edmund Clarke's life as was offered to her by the conditions of -the present moment. - -It was most important to get rid of him, she knew, and the sooner -the better for the safety of her position as heiress of the Clarke -millions. Let him die first, and she could attend to the others -afterward. - -At the dark, gloomy hour of midnight, while the icy winds wailed around -the house like a banshee, Roma went groping through the pitch-black -corridors toward the room where Mr. Clarke lay sleeping with his -gentle, loving wife by his side. - -Like a sleek, beautiful panther the girl crept into the unlocked door, -knowing the room so well that she could find her way to the bedside in -the darkness, and put out her stealthy, murderous hand, with the bottle -of poison in it, seeking for the glass that held the sleeping potion -Doctor Jay had prescribed. - -Her heart beat with evil exultation, for it seemed to her that her -errand could scarcely fail of success. Edmund Clarke was sound asleep, -she knew by his deep breathing, and she decided that, after pouring the -poison into the glass, she would make enough noise in escaping from -the room to arouse him fully, so that he would be sure to swallow the -second dose ere sleeping again. - -It was a clever plan, cleverly conceived, and in another moment it -would be executed, and no earthly power could save the victim from -untimely death. - -But in her haste Roma made one fatal mistake. - -In groping for the glass, she held the vial with the arsenic clasped in -her hand. - -And she was very nervous, her white hands trembling as they fluttered -over the little medicine stand by the head of the bed. - -That was why, the next moment, there came the sharp clink of glass -against glass as her hands came in contact with what she sought, -overturning and breaking both, with such a sharp, keen, crystalline -tinkle that both the sleepers were aroused suddenly and quickly, and -Mr. Clarke flung out his arms, clutching Roma ere she could escape, and -demanding bewilderedly: - -"What is the matter? Who is this?" - -"Edmund! Edmund!" cried his equally startled wife, hastily lighting -a night lamp close to her arm, in time to see Roma writhing and -struggling in her father's arms. - -"Roma!" he panted. - -"Roma!" echoed his wife. - -It was a situation to strike terror to the girl's guilty heart. - -But in her scheming she had not failed to take into account any -possible contretemps. - -Failing in her efforts to escape before her identity was detected, Roma -laughed aloud, hysterically: - -"Dear papa, do not squeeze me so hard, please; you take away my -breath! Why, you must take me for a burglar!" - -Edmund Clarke, releasing her and not yet fully awake, stammered -drowsily: - -"Yes--I--took--you--for--a--burglar. What do you want, Roma?" - -"Yes, what is the matter, my dear?" added Mrs. Clarke wonderingly, -while Roma, mistress of the situation still, pressed her hand to her -cheek, groaning hysterically: - -"Oh, papa, mamma, forgive me for arousing you, but I am suffering so -much with a wretched toothache, and I came to ask you for some medicine -to ease it!" - -"Poor dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Clarke, with immediate maternal sympathy, -as she rose quickly from her bed and motioned Roma into her dressing -room, searching for remedies within a little medicine case while she -plied her with questions. - -"When did it begin to ache, dear? Why didn't you send Dolly for the -medicine? It will make you worse, coming along the cold corridors!" - -"For goodness' sake, don't tease! Give me the medicine quick as you -can!" Roma answered crossly, dropping into a chair and hiding her face -in her hands, her whole form shaking with fury at the failure of her -scheme to kill Edmund Clarke. - -A blind, terrible rage possessed her, and she would have liked to -spring upon him and clutch his throat with murderous hands. - -But she dare not give way to her murderous impulse; she must wait and -try her luck again, for die he must, and that very soon. - -She could only wreak her pent-up rage by cross answers to the gentle -lady she called mother, and Mrs. Clarke, with a patient sigh of wounded -feeling, turned to her, replying: - -"I did not mean to tease you, Roma, but here is some medicine. Put five -drops of it upon this bit of cotton and press it into the cavity of -your tooth, and it will give you speedy relief. In the morning you must -visit a dentist." - -Roma lifted her pale face, and answered: - -"Yes, I will visit a dentist, but not one at Stonecliff. I will go to -Boston by the early train." - -"I will go with you and do some shopping," said her mother, who had a -very feminine love of finery. - -"Very well," the girl answered, scowling behind her hand, for she -preferred to go alone on her mission to Granny Jenks. - -But she realized that it would not do to offend the only person who -seemed to have any real fondness for her, so, making a wry face behind -her hand, she went up to Mrs. Clarke, saying gently: - -"I did not mean to be cross to you, dear mamma, but I am in such agony -with this pain that I could not help my impatience. I want you to -forgive me and try not to love me any less for my faults, please." - -Mrs. Clarke could not help wondering what favor Roma was planning to -ask for now, but she answered sweetly: - -"I forgive you, dear, and, of course, I shall always love my daughter." - -"But papa does not love me much. I often meet his glance fixed on me in -cold disapproval, and at times he is very stern to me!" complained Roma. - -"That must be your fancy, dear. He could not help loving you, his own -daughter, dearly and fondly," soothed the lady, though she knew that -she had herself noticed and complained of the same thing in her husband. - -"You do not love Roma as I do," she had said to him, reproachfully, -many times, getting always an evasive, unsatisfactory reply. - -So she could not offer her much comfort on this score; she could only -put her arm about the form of the arch traitress, murmuring kind, -tender words, actually getting in return a loving caress that surprised -her very much, it was so unusual. - -But Roma for the first time in her life comprehended the necessity of -fortifying her position by a staunch ally like her mother. - -"I will go back to my room now. I must not keep you up any longer in -the cold, dear, patient mamma," she cried gushingly, as she kissed her -and left the room. - -Mrs. Clarke was grateful for the caress, but she retired to bed with -the firm conviction that it would take a very large check indeed to -gratify Roma's desires in Boston to-morrow. Her affectionate spells -were always very costly to her parents. - -"Do you think I had better take the second dose of that sedative? I am -very nervous from my sudden awakening, and wish we had locked the door -on retiring," her husband said petulantly. - -"It would be very unkind to lock the door on our own daughter. Roma -was just now lamenting your sternness and lack of love and sympathy," -returned the lady. - -Edmund Clarke stifled an imprecation between his teeth, then demanded -earnestly: - -"Have I ever failed in love and sympathy to you, dear Elinor?" - -"Never, my darling husband," she answered, fondly clasping his hand. - -"And never will my love fail you, dearest; but I cannot say as much -for Roma, whose nature is so unlike yours that I confess she repels -instead of attracts me," he exclaimed, reaching out for the medicine -and exclaiming impatiently on finding the glass broken and the draught -lost. - -Ah, how nearly it had been a fatal draught, had not Heaven interposed -to save his life! - -As he set it back on the table, he added: - -"Why, here is a broken vial on the table beside the glass. I wonder how -it came there!" - -"I do not know; but it really does not matter, dear. There, now, shut -your eyes, and try to sleep," advised his wife, knowing the importance -of sound, healthful sleep to the convalescent. - -But to her dismay he arose and turned the key in the lock, saying as he -lay down again: - -"I'll try to sleep now; but I'll make sure first of not being disturbed -again." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -A STRAND OF RUDDY HAIR. - - -At early daylight the next morning a servant tapped at Edmund Clarke's -door with a message from Doctor Jay. - -He found himself quite ill this morning, and must go home at once. -Would Mr. Clarke grant him a few parting words? - -Mr. Clarke was up and dressed. He had just said good-by to his wife and -Roma, who had taken an early train to Boston. - -He went at once to Doctor Jay's room, finding him seated by the window, -looking ill and aged from a bad night. - -"Good morning, my dear old friend. You look ill, and I fear you have -not rested well." - -"No; my night was troubled by ghastly dreams. I could scarcely wait -till morning to bid you good-by." - -"I am very sorry for this, for I had counted on a pleasant day with -you. My wife and Roma are gone to Boston for the day, leaving their -regrets for you, and kindly wishes to find you here on their return." - -The doctor started with surprise, exclaiming: - -"It must have been an unexpected trip." - -Edmund Clarke then explained about Roma's midnight sufferings from -toothache, necessitating a visit to her dentist. - -"My wife would not have left me, but she felt sure I should not be -lonely, having you for company," he added regretfully. - -"My dear friend, I should like to remain with you, and, rather than -disappoint you, I will wait until the late afternoon train; but--all -my friendship for you could not tempt me to spend another night at -Cliffdene!" - -"You amaze me, doctor! This is very strange! Why do you look so pale -and strange? Why did you spend so uncomfortable a night, when I tried -to surround you with every comfort?" - -"You did, my dear friend, and every luxury besides--even a key to my -door, which I forgot to use," returned Doctor Jay, so significantly -that Edmund Clarke reddened, exclaiming: - -"It is not possible you have been robbed! I believe that all my -servants are honest!" - -He thought that the old physician must be losing his senses when he -answered, with terrible gravity: - -"Nevertheless, I was nearly robbed of my life last night!" - -"Great heavens!" - -Doctor Jay's brow was beaded with damp as he loosened his cravat and -collar, and pointed to his bared neck. - -Edmund Clarke leaned forward, and saw on the old man's throat some dark -purple discolorations, like finger prints. - -"Have you in your household any persons subject to vicious aberrations -of mind?" demanded Doctor Jay. - -"No one!" answered his startled host, and he was astounded when his -guest replied: - -"Nevertheless, a fiend in human form entered this room last night under -cover of the darkness and attempted to murder me by vicious strangling!" - -"Heavens! Is this so?" - -"You have the evidence!" exclaimed the physician, pointing to his bared -throat with the print of the strangler's fingers. - -"This is most mysterious!" ejaculated Edmund Clarke, in wonder and -distress, while the physician continued: - -"Last night I retired and slept soundly until after midnight, when -I was aroused by the horrible sensation of steely fingers gripping -my throat with deadly force. Vainly gasping for my failing breath, I -struggled with the intruder, who held on with a maniacal strength, -panting with fury as I clutched in my arms a form that I immediately -knew to be that of a woman, soft, warm, palpitating, though her -strength was certainly equal to that of a man. We grappled in a -terrible struggle, and I clutched my fingers in her long hair, causing -her such pain that, with a stifled moan, she released my throat, struck -me in the face, and fled before I could regain my senses, that deserted -me at the critical moment." - -"This is most mysterious, most shocking! No wonder you are anxious to -leave Cliffdene, where you so nearly met your death. But this must be -sifted to the bottom at once, and the lunatic identified, for it could -be no other than a lunatic. I will have the whole household summoned. -We will question every servant closely!" cried Clarke eagerly, turning -to ring the bell. - -But Doctor Jay stopped him, saying: - -"Wait till I question you on the subject. Have you in your employ a -woman with red hair?" - -"What a question! But, no. My women servants are all gray-haired or -black-haired, with one exception. That is Roma's maid, a pretty little -blonde, with the palest flaxen curls." - -He looked inquiringly at the doctor, who replied: - -"After my struggle was over and I was able to light a lamp, I found -entangled in my fingers some threads of hair--beautiful long strands of -ruddy hair, copperish red in the full light." - -He took an envelope from his breast, and drew from it a ruddy strand -of long hair, holding it up to the light of the window, where it shone -with a rich copper tint. - -"My God!" groaned Edmund Clarke. - -"You recognize the hair?" cried Doctor Jay. - -"It is Roma's hair!" was the anguished answer. - -"I thought so!" - -"You thought so! Is the girl, then, a lunatic, or a fiend? And what -motive could she have to take your life--an old man, who has never -harmed her in his blameless life?" cried the host, in consternation. - -Edmund Clarke had never been confronted with such a terrible problem of -crime in his life. His face paled to an ashen hue, and his eyes almost -glared as he stared helplessly at his friend. - -"I have a theory!" cried Doctor Jay. - -"What is it?" - -"The girl must have overheard our conversation last night." - -"Impossible!" - -"Why?" - -Mr. Clarke revolved the matter silently in his mind for a moment, then -answered: - -"Well, of course, not impossible, but quite improbable." - -"Is there not a curtained alcove or anteroom next the library?" - -"Yes; but why should the girl have suspected us--why concealed herself -there to listen?" - -"Heaven only knows, but it is possible that some accident brought her -there--perhaps an errand of some kind--maybe to get medicine from -me for her aching tooth. She caught a few words that aroused her -curiosity, kept silence, and listened, overhearing the truth about -herself." - -"It must indeed have happened that way!" - -"And the shock drove her mad," continued Doctor Jay. "Her resentment -flamed against me for knowing so much of her low origin. In her first -senseless fury she sought my life." - -"It is a terrible situation!" cried his friend, and both were silent -for a moment, gazing at the lock of hair as if it had been a writhing -serpent; then Clarke continued: - -"It is a wonder the fiend incarnate did not seek my life also, thus -removing from her path the two who were plotting to oust her from her -position and reinstate the real heiress!" - -But even as he spoke he remembered last night's accident when he had -been aroused by the clink of breaking glass and found Roma in hysterics -by his bedside. - -He told Doctor Jay the whole story, adding: - -"I could not imagine how the bottle came there. It was certainly not -on the stand when I retired to bed, and when I read the label this -morning, it ran: 'Poison--arsenic.'" - -"I should like to see the bottle." - -"Come with me," returned Mr. Clarke, leading the way to his room. - -Fortunately the chambermaid had not disturbed anything yet, so the -fragments of the bottle and glass were found upon the table. - -"It is a fearfully strong solution of arsenic, and I fancy she -intended to pour it into your sedative, so that in case you drank it -you would be silenced forever," affirmed the doctor. - -They could only stare aghast at each other, feeling that Providence had -surely preserved their lives last night. - -"She was nervous in the dark, jostling the bottle against the glass, -breaking both, and thus defeating her murderous game! The toothache -was probably a clever feint to explain her presence in your room," -continued the old doctor, who had a wonderful insight into men and -motives, and seemed to read Roma like an open book. - -A sudden terror seized on Mr. Clarke. - -"She has taken my darling wife away with her! What if she means to -murder her, too? I must follow them on the next train and separate them -forever!" he cried frantically. - -"I believe you are right, my friend." - -After further thought and consultation, they decided that, although -Roma and Mrs. Clarke must be immediately separated, it would not -be prudent to reveal the truth to her yet, for the shock would be -sufficient to dethrone her reason. Therefore it would not be prudent to -arrest Roma yet for her attempted crimes. - -"We have just time enough for a hasty breakfast before catching the -next train. Come!" cried Edmund Clarke, leading the way from the room. - -In the corridor they encountered Dolly Dorr mincing along, with her -yellow head on one side like a pert canary; and her master, stopping -her, exclaimed: - -"Your mistress had a bad time with the toothache, I fear, last night, -Dolly!" - -Dolly, dropping a curtsy, answered slyly: - -"Indeed she did, sir, and the medicine she got when she went after -Doctor Jay didn't help her one bit, for she walked the floor groaning -and sobbing all night." - -They glared at her in amazement, while she continued, with pretended -sympathy: - -"She would not let me sit up with her, poor thing, but I was stealing -back to her room to see if I could help her any when I met her flying -out of Doctor Jay's room, and she said she had gone for a remedy for -the toothache, and he burned her gums with iodine and almost set her -crazy with the pain. Then she scolded me for being up so late, and sent -me back to my room to stay." - -She gave Doctor Jay a quizzical glance from her saucy blue eyes, but -his face was entirely noncommittal as he replied: - -"I am very sorry I burned her so badly with the iodine, but I thought -it would give the quickest relief." - -"Well, she has gone to a dentist in Boston now, and he may soon help -the pain," said Edmund Clarke, passing on, while Dolly Dorr muttered -suspiciously: - -"There were mysterious carryings on in this house last night, for -sure!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -A TRUE FRIEND. - - -Liane Lester, late that afternoon, when coming home from her work -with her friend, Lizzie White, saw again the handsome face and dark, -flashing eyes of Jesse Devereaux. He had believed himself unseen, but -he was mistaken. - -Some subtle instinct had turned Liane's timid glance straight to the -spot where he was watching, unseen, as he believed. - -The quick, passionate throb of her heart sent the blood bounding to her -cheeks and made her hands tremble as they clasped the envelope with her -slender weekly earnings. - -But at the same instant Liane dropped the thick, curling fringe of her -lashes quickly over her eyes, for in his alert glance she met no sign -of recognition, and her heart sank heavily again as she remembered his -cold, careless greeting the day she had passed his house with Mrs. -Brinkley. - -The good woman was right. He might have amused himself with her in the -country, but he was indifferent to her in town. He would not even take -the trouble to bow when they met by chance, as now. - -But Liane had the most loyal heart in the world, and she could never -forget that night by the sea when Devereaux had saved her from the -insulting caresses of the dark-browed stranger, and afterward from -granny's blow, breaking his arm in her defense. - -"How brave and noble he was that night! He was so handsome and adorable -that my heart went out to him, never to be recalled, in spite of all -that has happened since," she thought sadly. - -With lowered lashes and a heart sinking heavily with its hopeless love -and pain, Liane passed on with her friend, little dreaming that she was -followed to her home by Devereaux, nor what dire consequences would -follow on his learning her address. - -She was restless that night, and he haunted her dreams persistently, -and on the morrow she rose tired, and pale, and sad, almost wishing -she had not met him again, to have all the old pain and regret revived -within her breast. - -The long day dragged away, and when she went home that evening she -found awaiting her the Philadelphia magazine that had her beautiful -face on the outside cover. Accompanying this was a batch of novels, -together with a basket of fruit and a bunch of roses. - -"Hothouse roses and tropical fruit--you must have caught a rich beau, -Liane!" cried Mrs. Brinkley, as she delivered the gifts. - -"Oh, no; there must be some mistake," she answered quickly, but her -heart throbbed as she remembered the meeting with Devereaux yesterday, -and she wondered if he could possibly be the donor. - -"Impossible!" she sighed to herself, as the woman continued: - -"There cannot be any mistake, for there is the card, tied to the -basket, with 'Miss Liane Lester, with kind wishes of a true friend,' -written on it. They came by a neat messenger boy, who would not answer -a single question I asked him." - -"A charming mystery! Oh, what magnificent roses for the last of -November!" cried Lizzie, inhaling their fragrance with delight, while -Liane handed around the basket, generously sharing the luscious fruit -with her friends. - -She was thinking all the while of the words Jesse Devereaux had said to -her on the beach that never-to-be-forgotten night: - -"I will be a true friend to you." - -The card on the basket read the same: "A True Friend." - -It was enough to send the tremulous color flying to Liane's cheek, -while a new, faint hope throbbed at her heart. - -Granny was out somewhere, or she would have got a scolding on suspicion -of knowing the donor of the presents. She wisely kept the truth to -herself, dividing the fruit with her friends, placing the books in her -trunk, and the roses in a vase in Lizzie's room, though she longed very -much to have them in her own. - -That night her dreams were sweet and rose-colored. - -She went to work with a blithe heart next morning, and, although it -was the first day of December, and a light covering of snow lay on the -roofs and pavements, she did not feel the biting wind pierce through -her thin jacket; her pulse was bounding and her being in a glow because -of the great scarlet rose pinned on her breast, seeming to shed a -summer warmth and sweetness on the icy air--the warmth of hope and love. - -All day her visions were rose-colored, and her thoughts hovered about -Devereaux until she almost forgot where she was, and was recalled -unpleasantly to reality by a proud, impatient voice exclaiming: - -"I have spoken to you twice, and you have not heard me! Your thoughts -must be very far away. Show me your best kid gloves--five and a half -size!" - -At the same moment a small hand had gently pressed her arm, sending an -odd thrill through her whole frame, causing her to start and look up at -a handsome, richly dressed woman, whose dark-blue eyes were fixed on -her in surprise and dislike. - -She knew the proud, cold face instantly. It belonged to a woman she had -seen on Edmund Clarke's arm the night of the beauty contest. It was his -wife, the mother of haughty Roma, and Liane comprehended instantly her -glance of anger--it was because she had taken the prize over Roma's -head. - -Wounded and abashed by the lady's scorn, Liane attended to her wants -in timid silence, only speaking when necessary, her cheeks flushed, -her soft eyes downcast, her white hands fluttering nervously over the -gloves. - -Mrs. Clarke selected a box of gloves, paid for them, and said in a -supercilious tone, quite different from her usual gentle manner: - -"I will take the gloves with me. You may bring them out to my carriage -on the opposite side of the street." - -She was purposely humbling Liane, and the girl felt it intuitively. -Her bosom heaved, and her blue eyes brimmed with dew, but she did not -resent the proud command, only took up the box of gloves and followed -her customer out of the store to the thickly crowded pavement and over -the crossing, where a carriage waited in a throng of vehicles on the -other side. - -All at once something terrible happened. - -Mrs. Clarke, keeping proudly in front of Liane, and not noticing -closely enough her environment of vehicles and street cars, suddenly -found herself right in the path of an electric car that in another -moment would have crushed out her life had not two small hands reached -out and hurled her swiftly aside. - -Hundreds of eyes had seen the lady's imminent peril, and marked with -kindling admiration the girl's heroic deed. - -Without a selfish thought, though she was exposing herself to deadly -danger, Liane bounded wildly upon the track and seized the dazed and -immovable woman with frantic hands, dragging her by main force off the -track of the car that, in the succeeding moment, whizzed by at its -highest speed, just as the two, Liane and the rescued woman, fell to -the ground outside the wheels. - -Eager, sympathetic men bore them to the pavement, where it was found -that Mrs. Clarke was in a swoon, so deathlike that it frightened Liane, -who sobbed and wrung her hands. - -"Oh, she is dead! The terrible shock has killed her! Can no one do -anything to bring back her life? She must not die! She has a loving -husband and a beautiful daughter, who would break their hearts over -their terrible loss!" - -"Who is she?" they asked the sobbing girl, and she answered: - -"She is Mrs. Clarke, a wealthy lady of Stonecliff, and must be visiting -in the city." - -At that moment the lady's eyes fluttered open, she gazed with a dazed -air on the curious faces that surrounded her, and murmured: - -"Where am I? What has happened?" - -There were not lacking a dozen voices to tell her everything, loud in -praise of the lovely girl who had saved her life at the imminent risk -of her own. - -"I--I did no more than my duty!" she sobbed, blushing crimson while -they all gazed on her with the warmest admiration. There are so few who -do their duty even in this cold, hard world, and one man exclaimed: - -"It was not your duty to risk your life so nearly. Why, the car fender -brushed your skirt as you fell. It was an act of the purest heroism!" - -Mrs. Clarke pressed her hand to her brow bewilderingly, murmuring: - -"I remember it all now! I stepped thoughtlessly on the track, and when -I saw the car rushing down on me, I was so dazed with fear and horror -I could not move or speak! No, though my very life depended on it, I -could not move or speak! I could only stand like a statue, a breathing -statue of horror, facing death! My feet were glued to the rail, my -eyes stared before me in mute despair! Horrible anticipations thronged -my mind! Suddenly I was caught by frantic hands and dragged aside! I -realized I was saved, and consciousness fled." - -At that moment the carriage driver, who had got down from his box and -was waiting on the curb, advanced, and said anxiously: - -"Shall I take you back to the hotel, madam?" - -"Yes, yes." She glanced around at Liane, and put out a yearning hand. -"Come with me, dear girl. I--I am too ill to go alone. Let me lean on -your strength." - -Somehow Liane could not refuse the request. She felt a strange, sweet -tenderness flooding her heart for the proud lady who, up to the present -time, had used her so cruelly in unfair resentment. - -She sent a message explaining her absence across to the store, and led -Mrs. Clarke's faltering steps to the carriage. - -"Oh, I dropped the box of gloves in my rush to drag you from the track! -I must go back for them!" she cried, in dismay. - -"No, miss, here they are. An honest man picked them up and handed them -up on the box this instant," said the driver, producing the gloves. - -"Oh, my dear girl, no need to think of gloves at a moment like this! -How can I ever thank you and bless you enough for your noble heroism -that saved my life!" cried Mrs. Clarke fervently. - -She gazed in gratitude and admiration at the exquisite face that owed -none of its charm to extraneous adornment. The wealth of sun-flecked, -chestnut locks rippled back in rich waves from the pure white brow, the -great purplish-blue eyes, the exquisite features, the dainty coloring -of the skin; above all, the expression of innocence and sweetness -pervading all, thrilled Mrs. Clarke's heart with such keen pleasure -that she quite forgot it was this radiant beauty that had rivaled Roma -in the contest for the prize. She said to herself that here was the -loveliest and the bravest girl in the whole world. - -The carriage rattled along the busy streets, and Liane timidly -disclaimed any need of praise; she had but tried to do her duty. - -"Duty!" cried Mrs. Clarke, and somehow her cold, nervous hand stole -into Liane's, and nestled there like a trembling bird, while she -continued with keen self-reproach: - -"You have returned good for evil in the most generous fashion. I was -treating you in the most haughty and resentful manner, trying to sting -your girlish pride and make you conscious of your inferiority. Did you -understand my motive?" - -"You were naturally a little vexed with me because I had carried off -the prize for which your lovely daughter competed," Liane murmured -bashfully. - -"Yes, and I was wickedly unjust. You deserved the prize. Roma, with all -her gifts of birth and fortune, is not one-half so beautiful as you, -Liane Lester, the poor girl," cried Mrs. Clarke warmly. "Do you know -I am quite proud that my husband says you resemble me in my girlhood; -but, to be frank, I am sure I was never half so pretty." - -Liane blushed with delight at her kindness, and bashfully told her -of her meeting on the beach with Mr. Clarke, when he had impulsively -called her Elinor. - -"He told me then that I greatly resembled his wife!" she added, gazing -admiringly at the still handsome woman, and feeling proud in her heart -to look like her, so strangely was her heart interested. - -Mrs. Clarke could not help saying, so greatly were her feelings changed -toward Liane: - -"My husband admires you greatly; did you know it? He wishes to befriend -you, making you an honored member of our household. I believe he would -permit me to adopt you as a daughter, so strong will be his gratitude -for your act of to-day." - -"Oh, madam!" faltered Liane, in grateful bewilderment, feeling that she -could be very happy with these kind people, only for proud, willful -Roma, and she added: - -"Your handsome daughter would not want me as a sister!" - -Mrs. Clarke hesitated, then answered reassuringly: - -"Oh, yes, yes, when she learns how you saved my life to-day, Roma -cannot help but love you dearly!" - -The carriage stopped in front of a grand hotel, and she added: - -"I want you to come in and stay all day with me, Liane, dear. I am too -nervous to be left alone, and Roma has gone to a dentist and will not -be back until late afternoon." - -Liane went with her new friend into the grand hotel, and they spent a -happy day together, the tie of blood, undreamed of by either, strongly -asserting itself. - -Mrs. Clarke found Liane a charming and congenial companion, as -different from selfish, hateful Roma as daylight from darkness. - -In spite of her loyalty, she could not help contrasting them in her -mind, so greatly to Roma's disadvantage that she murmured to herself: - -"I would give half my fortune if Roma were like this charming girl!" - -She lay on the sofa and talked, while Liane stroked her aching temples -with cool, magnetic fingers, so enchanting Mrs. Clarke that she caught -them once and pressed them to her lips. - -"I love you, dear, you are so sweet and noble. Bend down your head, -let me kiss you for saving my life!" and Liane's dewy lips gave the -longed-for caress so fervently that it thrilled the lady's heart with -keen pleasure. How cold and reluctant Roma's lips were, even in her -warmest, most deceitful moods. - -But ere the day was far advanced Edmund Clarke suddenly burst in upon -them, pale with anxiety lest wicked Roma had already harmed his gentle -wife. - -He was astonished when he found her in company with Liane Lester. - -Explanations followed, and surprise was succeeded by delight. - -He was so sure that Liane was his own daughter that he longed to clasp -her in his arms, kiss her sweet, rosy lips, and claim her for his own. - -But he did not dare risk the shock to his delicate, nervous wife. - -"I must wait a little, till I can get proof to back up my assertion," -he decided, so his greeting to Liane, though grateful and friendly, was -repressed in its ardor, while he thought gladly: - -"Thank Heaven! She has won her way, unaided, to her mother's heart, -and that makes everything easier. I shall not have to encounter her -opposition in ousting Roma from the place so long wrongfully occupied." - -"Do you know what I am thinking of, Edmund, dear?" said his wife. "I -wish to adopt Liane for a daughter." - -He started with surprise and pleasure, his fine eyes beaming: - -"A happy idea!" he exclaimed; "but do you think Roma would care for a -sister?" - -She hesitated a moment, then answered: - -"Frankly, I do not, but I have fallen so deeply in love with this dear -girl, and she seems already so necessary to my happiness, that Roma -must yield to my will in the matter." - -At this moment Liane arose, saying sweetly: - -"I am your debtor for a charming day, Mrs. Clarke, but it is time for -me to go now, or my grandmother will be uneasy about me." - -"Then you must promise me to come here again to-morrow morning; for I -shall never let you work for a living again. Edmund, you must send her -home in the carriage," cried Mrs. Clarke, kissing her charming guest -farewell. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -TREMBLING HOPES. - - -Mrs. Brinkley was amazed to see Liane coming home in an elegant -carriage, and when she entered she could not help exclaiming: - -"Really, my dear, I shall believe presently that you and Mistress Jenks -must be rich folks in disguise! Here was your granny receiving a visit -from a grand young lady in a carriage this morning, and now you coming -home in another one, just when I was expecting you and Lizzie to come -trudging home, afoot, from work. It's rather strange, I think, and, -coupled with your gifts yesterday, it looks like you were fooling with -some rich young man that means nothing but trifling, though I hope for -your own sake it ain't so!" - -There was a sharp note of suspicion in her voice, but Liane, inured -to harshness, dared not resent it, only shrank sensitively, as from a -blow, and meekly explained the happenings of the day, giving the bare -facts only, but withholding the promises Mrs. Clarke had made, too -incredulous of good fortune coming to her to make any boast. - -Mrs. Brinkley flushed, and exclaimed: - -"That was a brave thing you did, my dear, and I want you to excuse me -if I hurt your feelings just now. I spoke for your own good, wishing to -be as careful over your welfare as I am over my own sister Lizzie's!" - -"I understand, and I thank you!" the young girl answered sweetly, -emboldening Mrs. Brinkley to ask curiously: - -"Did the rich lady whose life you saved give you any reward?" - -"She asked me very particularly to return to the hotel to-morrow, and -intimated that I should not have to work for my living any more!" - -"Then your fortune's made, my dear girl. Let me congratulate you," -cried Mrs. Brinkley. "I've news for you, too. I was lucky enough to -secure two new boarders for my two empty rooms this morning." - -Liane feigned a polite interest, and she added: - -"One was a man, a language teacher in a boarding school. I didn't like -his looks much. He is dark and Spanish looking, but he paid my price in -advance, so that reconciled me to his scowling brow and black whiskers. -The other is a seamstress, very neat and ladylike, and I believe I -shall find her real pleasant. Her name is Sophie Nutter, and his is -Carlos Cisneros." - -Liane's eyes brightened as she exclaimed: - -"There used to be a lady's maid at Cliffdene named Sophie Nutter. I -wonder if it can be the same?" - -"You might make a little call on her and see. Her room is next yours, -and your granny has gone out to buy some baked beans for her supper." - -Liane was glad that granny had not seen her come home in the carriage, -she hated having to explain everything to the ill-natured old crone, -and she started to go upstairs, but looked back to ask: - -"Who was granny's caller?" - -"I don't know. She was in such a bad temper when she went away, I -didn't dare ask. The young lady was all in silk and fur, with a thick -veil over her face, but some locks of hair peeped out at the back of -her neck, and they were thick and red as copper. She stayed upstairs -with granny as much as an hour, and when she left the old woman seemed -to be perfectly devilish in her temper. Seems to me I'd be afraid to -live with her if I was you, Liane!" - -"So I am, Mrs. Brinkley, but she is old and poor, and it would be -wicked for me to desert her, you know!" - -"I wonder what God leaves such as her in the world for to torment good -people, while He takes away good, useful ones, that can ill be spared!" -soliloquized the landlady; but Liane sighed without replying, and, -running upstairs, tapped lightly on the new boarder's door. - -It opened quickly, and there were mutual exclamations of surprise and -pleasure. It was, indeed, the Sophie Nutter of Cliffdene. - -"Do come in my room and sit down, Miss Lester. I'm so proud to see you -again!" cried the former maid. - -Liane accepted the invitation, and they spent half an hour exchanging -confidences. - -"I saw in a Stonecliff paper that you got the prize for beauty, and -no wonder! You are fairer than a flower, my dear young lady! But, my -goodness, how mad Miss Roma must have been! By the way, I saw her -getting out of a carriage here to-day, and she was closeted with your -granny an hour in close conversation. Does she visit you often?" - -"She has never been here before. I cannot imagine why she came, but I -dare not ask granny unless she volunteers some information," confessed -Liane, as she started up, exclaiming: "I hear her coming in now, so I -will go and help her make the tea!" - -"Bless you, my sweet young lady, you deserve a better fate than living -with that cross old hag!" exclaimed Sophie Nutter impulsively. - -She was surprised when Liane turned back to her and said with a sudden -ripple of girlish laughter: - -"Sophie, suppose my lot should change? Suppose Mrs. Clarke should do -something grand for me in return for saving her life to-day? Suppose -I were rich and grand, which it isn't likely I shall ever be! Could I -employ you for my maid?" - -"Yes, indeed, my dear Miss Lester, and I should be proud, and grateful -for the chance to serve such a sweet, kind mistress!" cried Sophie -earnestly. - -"Thank you, and please consider yourself engaged, if the improbable -happens!" laughed Liane, in girlish mockery, as she hurried out, -meeting in the hall a dark-browed stranger, from whom she started back -in dismay as he passed scowlingly to his room. - -It was no wonder Liane recoiled in fear and dislike from Carlos -Cisneros, the new boarder. - -The sight of his somber, scowling face, with its dark beard, recalled -to her that night upon the beach when Devereaux had saved her from a -ruffian's insults. - -For it was the selfsame face that had scowled upon her in the moonlight -that night. It had terrified her too much ever to be forgotten. - -He had evidently recognized her, too, from his start of surprise, and -the angry bow with which he passed her by. - -Trembling with the surprise of the unpleasant rencounter, Liane -hastened to seclude herself within her own rooms. - -Granny Jenks had just entered, and she was still in the vilest of -humors, glaring murderously at Liane, without uttering a word, and -giving vent to her temper by banging and slamming everything within her -reach. - -Liane, gentle, sorrowful, patient, her young heart full of the -happenings of the day, and tremulous hopes for the morrow, moved softly -about, laying the cloth for tea on the small table, and helping as much -as the snapping, snarling old woman would permit. - -The sight of her humility and patience ought to have melted the hardest -heart, but Granny Jenks was implacable. She only saw in the lovely -creature a rival to Roma, and an impediment that must be swept from her -path. - -Most exciting had been the interview that day between granny and her -real granddaughter, and they had mutually agreed that Liane's continued -life was a menace not to be borne longer. The beautiful, injured girl -must die to insure Roma's continuance in her position. - -When Roma left the house a devilish plot had been laid, whose barest -details almost had been worked out, and the beautiful schemer's heart -throbbed with triumph as she swept out to her carriage. - -She had not noticed, on entering the house, a dark, scowling face at -the parlor window, neither did she guess that, while she was with -granny, the new boarder went out and slipped into the carriage, -unobserved by the driver, calmly remaining there and awaiting her -return. - -When she entered the carriage and seated herself, looking up the next -moment to find herself opposite Carlos Cisneros, she opened her lips -to shriek aloud, but his hand closed firmly over her lips, and his -hoarse voice muttered in her ear: - -"Scream, and your wicked life shall end with a bullet in your heart, -adventuress, false wife, murderess!" - -The driver, unaware of his double fare, whipped up his horses and drove -on, while the strange pair glared fiercely at each other, the man -hissing savagely: - -"I don't know how I keep my hands from your fair white throat, -murderess, unless I am lenient because I remember burning kisses you -once gave me before your false nature turned from me, and you fled from -the school, where you had wedded the poor language teacher secretly -while I lay ill of a fever. Cruel heart, to desert me while I was -supposed to be dying!" - -"A pity you had not died!" she muttered viciously between her red lips, -and he snarled: - -"It is not your fault that I am living! When I found you, after long, -weary search, at Cliffdene, that night, and you toppled me so madly -over the cliff, I am sure you meant to kill me!" - -"Yes, I cannot see how I failed!" she muttered. - -"If you wish to know, the explanation is easy. I was picked up more -dead than alive by a passing yacht, and carried to the nearest town, -where I spent weary months in a hospital from the blow I had received -on my head in falling over the bluff. I have but lately recovered, and -came here and found a position to teach in a school." - -"You had wisely concluded to give up your pursuit of me?" she sneered. - -"Yes, discouraged by the warm reception I got from you at Cliffdene; -but, fate having thrown you across my path again, I believe I ought to -make capital of it. You are my wife secretly, and you tried to murder -me. Both are dangerous secrets. Perhaps you would pay me well to keep -them?" - -"I suppose that I must do so?" Roma answered, after a moment's -hesitancy, with bitter chagrin. - -"Very well. I will take what money you have about you now, and I must -know what terms you will make for my silence. A liberal allowance -monthly would suit me best." - -Roma emptied her purse into his hands, saying: - -"If we agree upon terms of silence, will you promise never to molest me -again? Not even if I marry another man!" - -"I promise! And I pity the fellow who gets you, if you treat him as you -did me!" - -"The less you say on that subject the better! Do not forget that you -persuaded an innocent schoolgirl into a secret marriage, that she was -bound to repent when she came to her sober senses," she cried bitterly. -"But there, it is too late now for recriminations. I hoped you were -dead, but, since you are not, I wish only to be rid of you!" - -"You can buy my silence!" replied Carlos Cisneros, so calmly that she -congratulated herself, thinking: - -"He is not going to be dangerous, after all." - -Aloud, she said: - -"I will arrange to send you a monthly allowance of fifty dollars, the -best I can do for you! Will that satisfy your greed?" - -"It is very little, but I will accept it," he replied sullenly. - -"Very well; now leave me, if you can do so without attracting the -driver's attention. I shall be leaving the carriage at the next -corner," she said, and he obeyed her, springing lightly to the ground, -and disappearing. - -"He was not very violent, thank goodness!" sighed Roma, believing that -as long as she paid him he would not betray her dangerous secrets; but -bitterly chagrined that he was not dead, as she had believed so long. - -"Perhaps I can compass that later!" she thought darkly, as she gave the -order to the driver for Commonwealth Avenue. - -She had determined to call on Lyde Carrington, with whom she had a -society acquaintance, in the hope of seeing Jesse Devereaux again. - -Mrs. Carrington received her with graceful cordiality, and Roma -proceeded to make herself irresistible, in the hope of getting an -invitation to remain a few days. - -"I shall have to remain in Boston several days to have my teeth treated -by a dentist, but mamma is compelled to return to Cliffdene to-night. I -think of sending for my maid to cheer my loneliness," she said. - -"Come and stay with me," cried Lyde, falling into the trap. - -She knew that Jesse had been engaged to the dashing heiress, and -amiably thought that their near proximity to each other might effect a -reconciliation. - -She had a shrewd suspicion of Roma's object in coming; but she did not -disapprove of it; she was so anxious to see him married to the proper -person, a rich girl in their own set. She knew he was romantic at -heart, and secretly feared he might make a mésalliance. - -But even while she was thinking these thoughts she remembered Liane, -and said to herself: - -"If my pretty glove girl were rich and well-born, I should choose her -above all others as a bride for my handsome brother!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -WHEN HAPPINESS SEEMED NEAR! - - -Granny Jenks, after great bustling about and clattering of dishes, sat -down at last to copious draughts of strong tea, flavored with whisky. - -"Oh, granny, aren't you taking a drop too much?" ventured Liane -apprehensively. - -"Mind your own business, girl. I'll take as much as I choose! Ay, and -pour some down your throat, too, if you don't look out!" - -Liane drank her tea in silence, while the old woman went on angrily: - -"I want that forty dollars you kept back from me, girl, and I mean to -have it, too, or give you a beating!" - -This was a frequent threat, so Liane did not pay much heed, she only -gazed fixedly at the old hag, and said: - -"Granny, suppose I were to go away and leave you forever, do you think -you could be happy without me?" - -"Humph! And why not, pray?" - -Liane sighed, and answered: - -"I was just thinking how I have been your slave, beaten and cuffed -like a dog for eighteen years, and I was wondering if in all that time, -when I have been so patient and you so cruel, if you had in your heart -one spark of love for your miserable grandchild!" - -"Eh?" cried granny, staring at her fixedly, while Liane continued: - -"Ever since I could toddle I have labored at your bidding, fetching -and carrying, with nothing, but scoldings and beatings in return, and -not a gleam of sunshine in my poor life. You have not shown me either -mercy or pity; you have made my whole life as wretched as possible, and -I have sometimes wondered why Heaven has permitted my sufferings to -continue so long. Now, I have a strange feeling, as if somehow it was -all coming to an end, and I wonder if you will miss me, and regret your -unnatural conduct, when I am gone out of your life forever?" - -She spoke with such sweet, grave seriousness that the old woman -regarded her earnestly, noting, as she had never closely done before, -the beauty and sweetness of the young eyes turned upon her with such -pathetic solemnity. - -"Maybe you mean to run away with some rascal, like your mother!" she -sneered at length. - -"I was not thinking of any man, or of running away, granny; only, it -seems to me, there's a change coming into my life, and I am going out -of yours forever!" - -"Do you mean you're going to die?" - -"No, granny, I mean that I shall be happy, after all these wretched -years; that my starved heart will be fed on love and kindness, and I -want to tell you now that if Heaven grants me the blessings I look for, -I shall leave you that forty dollars as a gift, for then I shall not -need it," returned Liane solemnly. - -"Better give it here, now; you might forget when your luck comes -to you. And--and, you ain't never going to need it after to-night, -anyway!" returned granny, with a ghastly grin. - -"No, I prefer to wait till to-morrow!" the young girl answered, with -a sudden start of fear, for the glare the old woman fixed on her was -positively murderous. - -She got up, thinking she would go down and see if Lizzie had returned -from her work yet; but granny sprang from her chair and adroitly turned -the key in the lock, standing with her back against the door. - -Liane's eyes flashed with impatience. - -"Let me out, granny!" she cried. "This is not fair!" - -"Give me that money!" grumbled the hag, with the tone and look of a -wild beast. - -"I--I--Mrs. Brinkley put it in a savings bank for me!" faltered Liane, -bracing herself for defense, for her startled eyes suddenly saw murder -in the old woman's face. - -She felt all at once as if she would have given worlds to be outside -that locked door, away from the deadly peril that menaced her in the -beastly eyes of half-drunken granny. - -She was not a coward. Yesterday she had faced death bravely for Mrs. -Clarke's sake, and would have given her life freely for another's; but -this was different. - -To be murdered by the old hag who had blasted all her young life, just -as her hopes of happiness seemed about to be realized, oh, it was -horrible! Unrelenting fate seemed to pursue her to the last. - -She drew back with a gasping cry, for the old woman was upon her with -the growl of a wild beast and the well-remembered spring of many a -former combat, when the weak went down before the strong. - -Liane, who had always been too gentle to strike back before, now -realized that she must fight for her life. Granny intended to kill her -this time, she felt instinctively, and silently prayed Heaven's aid. - -She opened her lips to shriek and alarm the household, but granny's -skinny claw closed over her mouth before she could utter a sound, and -then a most unequal struggle ensued. - -Liane was no match for the old tigress, who scratched, and bit, and -tore with fury, finally snatching up a club that she had provided for -the occasion, and striking the girl on her head, so that she went down -like a log to the floor. - -Granny Jenks snarled like a hyena, and stooped down over her mutilated -victim. - -She lay white and breathless on the floor, her pallid face marked with -blood stains, not a breath stirring her young bosom, and the fiend -growled viciously: - -"Dead as a doornail, and out of my pretty Roma's way forever!" - -Suddenly there came the loud shuffling of feet in the hall, and the -pounding of eager fists on the locked door. - -Granny Jenks started in wild alarm. She realized that the sounds of her -struggle had been heard, and regretted her precipitate onslaught on -Liane. - -"I should have waited till they were all asleep; but that whisky fired -my blood too soon!" she muttered, as, paying no heed to the outside -clamor, she dragged the limp body of her lovely victim to the inner -room, throwing it on the bed and drawing the covers over it, leaving a -part of her face exposed in a natural way, as if she were asleep. - -She was running a terrible risk of detection but nothing but bravado -could save her now. - -She dimmed the light, and returned to the other room, demanding: - -"Who is there? What do you want?" - -Several angry voices vociferated: - -"Let us in! You are beating Liane!" - -At that she snarled in rage and threw wide the door, confronting Mrs. -Brinkley and her sister, with the two new boarders. - -"You must be crazy!" she exclaimed. "I was pounding a nail into the -wall to hang my petticoat on, and Liane is asleep in the bedroom. If -you don't believe me, go and look!" - -They did not believe her, so they tiptoed to the door and peeped -inside, and there, indeed, lay the girl, seeming in the dim half light -to be sleeping sweetly and naturally. - -"You can wake her if you choose, but she said she was very tired, and -hoped I would not disturb her to-night," said artful granny coolly, -though in a terrible fright lest she be taken at her word. - -They retreated in something like shamefaced confusion, leaving granny -mistress of the situation. - -"What made you so sure she was beating the girl?" asked Carlos Cisneros -of Sophie Nutter, who had raised the alarm. - -"I used to know them at Stonecliff, where they lived, and she beat her -there, poor thing, so when I heard the noise I thought she was at her -old tricks again!" replied Sophie, going back downstairs to the parlor, -where she had been looking at Mrs. Brinkley's photographs. - -The language teacher followed her, and as he was rather handsome, and -knew how to be fascinating with women, he soon gained her confidence, -and found out everything she knew about Stonecliff, even to the cause -of her leaving Roma Clarke's service. His eyes gleamed with interest as -she added earnestly: - -"Although I have seen Mr. Devereaux alive since, and they tell me I -was raving crazy that night, still I can never be persuaded that I did -not see Miss Clarke push a man over the bluff to his death." - -She was astounded when he answered coolly: - -"You were not mistaken, but the man was not Devereaux. It was another, -who held a dangerous secret of hers, so that she wanted him dead." - -Sophie looked at him suspiciously. - -"Did you see her push him over the bluff as I did? Ugh! That horrible -scene! It comes before me now, as plain as if it was that night!" she -shuddered. - -She was amazed when he answered: - -"I was the man she tried to drown!" - -He was secretly delighted that there had been a witness to Roma's -crime. It made his hold upon her that much firmer. - -He added, in reply to Sophie's gasp of wonder: - -"I was saved by a passing yacht, and put in a hospital, where I nearly -died from a wound on my head." - -Sophie gasped out: - -"And--and aren't you going to punish the hussy?" - -His eyes flashed, but he answered carelessly: - -"Well, not just yet!" - -"Shall you ever?" - -"Wait and see," he replied. "Can you imagine what brought her into this -house to-day?" - -"I cannot. I suppose she knew Granny Jenks at Stonecliff; but I am sure -she hated sweet Liane, because she carried off the beauty prize over -her head." - -Carlos Cisneros gleaned all he could from Sophie, but he gave her no -further information about himself, content with making a very good -impression, indeed, on Sophie's rather susceptible heart. - -Meanwhile, upstairs, granny, having locked the door with a stifled -oath, dropped down on the rug, and lay for long hours in a drunken -stupor, while the dreary night wore on. - -Suddenly, as the bells hoarsely clanged four in the morning, granny -started broad awake, shivering with cold in the fireless room, and sat -up and looked about her, whimpering like a startled child: - -"Liane! Liane!" - -A sudden comprehension seemed to dawn upon her, and, getting up -heavily, she stalked into the inner room. - -The dim lamp was burning low, casting eerie shadows about the room, and -she walked over to the bed, where she had thrown something the evening -before. - -The ghastly thing lay there still, just as she had placed it with the -coverlid drawn up to the chin, the silent lips fallen apart, the eyes -a little open and staring dully, as granny placed her skinny claw over -the heart, feeling for a pulsation. - -There was none. She had done her work well. Her victim--the victim -of eighteen years of most barbarous cruelty--lay pale and motionless -before her, the mute lips uttering no reproach for her crime. - -The old woman gazed and gazed, as if she could never get done looking, -and then her face changed, her lips twitched, she blinked her eyelids -nervously, and sank down by the bed, overcome by a sudden and terrible -remorse. - -"My God! What have I done?" she groaned self-reproachfully. - -Far back in granny's life was a time when she had been a better woman. -It seemed to return upon her now. - -She groped beneath the coverlid for Liane's cold, stiff hand. - -"Liane, little angel, I am sorry," she muttered. "I would bring you -back if I could! Oh, why did the foul fiend send her here to tempt me -to the damnation of this deed? But she is safe now! Roma is safe now! -And she has promised that I shall not miss Liane's labor." - -A new thought struck her. It would soon be day, and she must hasten to -hide the evidence of her crime. - -She started up nervously, and busied herself searching Liane for -the coveted money, but not finding it, she began other necessary -preparations. - -It was that dismal hour that comes before the dawn, when she stole -through Mrs. Brinkley's dark halls and passed like a shadow through the -side door, escaping safely into the street with a shawled and hooded -burden that must be safely hidden from the sight of men. - -Lightly and softly fell the cold December snow, covering up the -footprints of the skulking woman; but they could not blot the dark -stain of crime from her black soul. - -Dawn came slowly, and broadened into perfect day, and in the Brinkley -house the household stirred and went about accustomed tasks. Soon -granny's voice went snarling through the open door, calling shrilly -downstairs: - -"Liane! Liane!" - -Lizzie White answered back from the kitchen: - -"She is not here!" - -Then granny tapped on Miss Nutter's door. - -"Is that lazy baggage in here?" - -"I have not seen her since last night," answered Sophie, and presently -the house rang with granny's cries of anger and distress. - -All went in haste to her rooms, and she reported that Liane had -certainly run away, as she had many times threatened to do. All her -clothes and little trinkets, together with her little hand bag, were -missing. - -Granny's blended anger and grief were so superbly acted that her simple -listeners did not doubt her truth. - -Mrs. Brinkley, thinking of the fine presents Liane had received from -some unknown admirer, secretly doubted the story the girl had told her, -and confided to Lizzie her belief that she had indeed eloped, and would -most likely come to a bad end. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -A SWORD THRUST IN HIS HEART. - - -A hopeless love must always evoke pity in a generous mind. Devereaux -could not help being touched when he found Roma installed as his -sister's guest, and comprehended that it was love for himself that had -brought her there. - -Men, even the bravest and strongest, are pitiably susceptible to -woman's flattery. Roma's persistent love, faithful through all -the repulses it had received, was a subtle flattery that touched -Devereaux's heart, cruelly wounded by Liane's rejection, and made him -think better of himself again. - -Roma brought all the batteries of her fascination to bear on her -recreant lover that first evening, and he submitted to be amused with -charming grace, that thrilled her with renewed hope. - -Mrs. Carrington, too, lent her womanly aid to further the little -byplay she saw going on between the estranged lovers. She knew that -propinquity is a great thing in such a case, and believed that -a reconciliation was certain. Of course, she did not know that -Devereaux's heart belonged to Liane, or she would not have been so -confident. - -Roma telegraphed for her maid the next morning, fully resolved to make -the most of her visit, and after breakfast, when she saw Devereaux -preparing to go out, in spite of her blandishments, she asked him to -call on her mother at the hotel, and tell her that she would be Mrs. -Carrington's guest during her short stay. - -She was more than ever determined to marry the young millionaire now, -and thus make her position in life secure, even if by any untoward -accident she should be ousted from her place as the Clarkes' daughter -and heiress. - -Devereaux promised to do as she asked, and sallied forth, in reality -tired of Roma's company, though too polite to show it. - -About the middle of the day he called at Mrs. Clarke's hotel to convey -Roma's message, and was surprised to find her father there also. - -They greeted him most cordially, and Mrs. Clarke exclaimed: - -"Is it not tedious, waiting by the hour for a caller who never comes?" - -"Do you mean your daughter?" he asked, hastening to deliver Roma's -message. - -"Then she has not heard of my accident yet?" exclaimed the lady. - -"No!" he replied, and with unwonted animation she hastened to pour out -the whole story of yesterday. - -She did not spare herself in the least, frankly describing her pride -and hauteur. - -"I will not deny that I was vexed and jealous, and hated her because -she had rivaled Roma for the beauty prize," she confessed. "I am -ashamed of it now, and bitterly repented after learning her angelic -sweetness and nobility of heart." - -Devereaux's heart thrilled with joy at these generous praises of lovely -Liane, and he listened in eager silence to all Mrs. Clarke had to say, -glad, indeed, that she proposed to adopt the girl, but wondering much -if Roma would agree to the plan. - -"So, then, it is Miss Lester you are awaiting?" he said, with a -quickened heart throb. - -"Yes; and I think it most strange that she has not kept her promise to -come here early this morning. If I knew her address, I should have gone -long ago to her house, but, unfortunately I forgot to ask it," sighed -Mrs. Clarke, while her husband listened to everything with a glad, -eager face. - -"I wrote you, Mr. Clarke, two days ago, sending you her address, which -I had myself just discovered," said Devereaux, looking at him. - -"That is very strange. I did not receive it." - -"Perhaps it had not been delivered when you left home." - -"Perhaps so." - -"And," pursued Devereaux, with a crimson flush mounting up to his brow -at thought of seeing the dearest of his heart again, "if I can serve -you in doing so, I will go and bring Miss Lester here to see you. It -may be her excessive modesty that keeps her away." - -They fairly jumped at his offer, and he hurried away, most eager, -indeed, to do them this favor, glad in his heart of this grand -opportunity for poor Liane. - -Mrs. Clarke looked at her husband, with a half sigh tempering her soft -smile. - -She exclaimed: - -"He is in love with that charming girl! Could you not see it? Alas, for -my poor Roma!" - -"Roma scarcely deserves our sympathy in the matter. She lost him by -her own folly," Mr. Clarke replied impatiently, and the subject was -dropped. He did not care to discuss Roma with his heart full of his own -dear child. - -Meanwhile Devereaux took a carriage to Liane's humble abode, full of a -joy he could not repress at thought of seeing Liane again. - -But he sighed to himself: - -"I shall feel guilty in her presence, because I was indirectly the -means of her losing Malcolm Dean! Ah, had she but loved me instead, -what happiness would be mine instead of this aching loneliness of -heart." - -When he alighted at Mrs. Brinkley's door and rang the bell, the small -family, excepting a servant, was out, and a neat maid answered the ring. - -"Miss Lester?" with a comprehensive grin. "Oh, sir, she beant here! She -runned away last night with her beau!" she exclaimed. - -It was like a sword thrust quivering in his heart, those sudden words. -He grew pale, and stared at her, muttering: - -"Impossible!" - -"But, sir, it's true as gospel! And her poor granny is in a fine taking -over it, too. She says as how Liane was cruel to go off so, and leave -her in poverty to end her days in the poorhouse!" - -"Where is the old woman? I should like to see her," he said dismally, -hoping for some light. - -"She's out, sir, looking for the girl, swearing to kill the man as -persuaded her off." - -"And the family?" - -"All out, sir. Mrs. Brinkley went to market, and her sister Lizzie to -the store, where she and Liane worked." - -Devereaux pressed a dollar into the good-natured servant's hand, and -stumbled back to the carriage, almost blind with pain from this sudden -stroke of fate. - -The servant looked after him with mingled wonder, admiration, and -gratitude, and describing him afterward to the family, exclaimed: - -"The prettiest man I ever saw in my life--coal-black eyes and hair, -straight nose, dimple in his chin, slim, white hands, diamond ring, -good clothes, fit to kill! He must 'ave been another of Liane's beaus, -for, when I told him she had eloped, he turned white as a corpse, and -kind of staggered, like I had hit him in the face. But he didn't forget -his company manners, for he bowed like a prince and put a whole silver -dollar in my hand as he went back to his carriage." - -"That sounds like Jesse Devereaux, Miss Clarke's lover!" cried Sophie -Nutter, and Mrs. Brinkley said quickly: - -"Well, Liane knew that man, and was in love with him, but he snubbed -her with the proudest bow I ever saw, one day when we passed by his -grand home on Commonwealth Avenue." - -"So he lives on Commonwealth Avenue!" remarked Carlos Cisneros, with -a flash of his somber, black eyes. He was thinking of the house he -had followed Roma's carriage to yesterday--the palatial mansion on -Commonwealth Avenue. - -"So she is there at my rival's house, and she dares to think I will -let her marry him! And I have two scores to settle with the handsome -Devereaux!" he thought. - -Devereaux could scarcely believe the terrible news. - -He hoped there might be some mistake, and he determined to go to the -store and see if she might not be there. - -But there were no pansy-blue eyes smiling over the glove counter, but a -pair of sparkling black ones, whose owner smiled. - -"Miss Lester? No; she is not here to-day. I cannot tell you anything -about her; but there's her friend, Miss White, you can ask -her--Lizzie!" - -Lizzie White hurried forward, but she could tell him no more than he -had already heard. - -She wondered whom the handsome stranger could be, but she was too timid -to ask his name, only she thought within herself that he must surely be -in love with Liane, he was so pale and disturbed looking. - -It seemed to her that he was most loath to accept the theory that the -girl had gone away with a lover. - -"Is there no possibility she has run away alone to escape her -grandmother's cruelty?" he insisted. - -Lizzie said she could not tell, she had never heard Liane mention any -man's name, but she had been more confidential with her mother. - -"Could you--would you--tell me her lover's name?" he pleaded; but -Lizzie answered that it would not be right to betray her friend's -confidence. - -"He was a rich young man, and not likely to marry my poor friend," she -added sorrowfully, and after that admission he could extract no more -from Lizzie. - -With a sad heart he returned to the Clarkes' with his ill news. - -Mr. Clarke was terribly excited: - -"I will not believe she has gone with any man! I should sooner believe -that that old hag has made way with the girl! Give me the address, -Devereaux, and I will go and wring the truth from her black heart, -if you will stay and cheer my wife while I am gone!" he exclaimed, -springing up in passionate excitement. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - -THE BRIDAL. - - -Dolly Dorr arrived duly that afternoon at the Devereaux mansion, her -little head full of fancies as vain as Roma's--both dreaming of winning -the same man. - -But when Dolly saw her hero's magnificent home her hopes began to fall -a little. She began to comprehend that there were heights she could not -reach. Miss Roma would be sure to get him back now--of course, she had -come there for that purpose. - -Dolly felt as angry and disappointed as was possible to one of her -limited brain capacity, but she hid her feelings and tried to attend to -her various duties as Roma's maid. - -She saw that her mistress was subtly changed since she had left -Cliffdene. A harrowing anxiety gleamed in her eyes, and when they were -alone Roma was more irritable than she had ever seen her before. - -The reason was not far to seek. Jesse Devereaux had returned a while -ago with news that nearly drove her mad. - -It was the story of her mother's rescue yesterday by Liane Lester, and -the consequent resolve to adopt Liane as a daughter. - -Roma listened to him with the most fixed attention; she did not move or -speak, but sat dumbly with her great, shining eyes fixed on his face, -drinking in every word with the most eager attention. - -Inwardly she was furious, outwardly calm and interested, and at the -last she said, with marvelous sweetness: - -"You have almost taken my breath away with surprise. So I am to have a -sister to dispute my reign over papa's and mamma's hearts! How shall I -bear it?" - -He was astonished at the equanimity she displayed. She had a better -heart than he had thought. - -"So you do not care?" he exclaimed curiously. - -"What does it matter whether I care or not? No one loves poor Roma -now!" she sighed, with a glance of sad reproach. - -The conversation had taken a reproachful turn, and he adroitly changed -it. - -"But I had not told you all. Your parents' good intentions must come -to naught, for the reason that Miss Lester went away mysteriously -last night, and the cause of her disappearance is supposed to be an -elopement." - -"Oh! With whom?" - -Roma's attempt at surprise was not very successful. - -"No one knows," he replied, and she exclaimed: - -"How sorry poor mamma will be!" - -"And you?" he asked curiously. - -Roma had drawn so close to him that she could speak in an undertone. -She locked her jeweled fingers nervously together now in her lap, and -lifted her great eyes to his, full of piercing reproach, murmuring -sadly: - -"It does not matter to me either way, Jesse. I have lost interest in -everything, now that you have turned against me!" - -It was most embarrassing, her pathetic grief, and it touched his manly -heart with deepest pity. - -"My dear girl, I am sorry you take our estrangement so hardly! Believe -me, I have not turned against you, as you think. I am still sincerely -your friend," he answered, most kindly. - -But the great red-brown eyes searched his face with passion. - -"Oh, Jesse, I do not want your friendship! I want your love--the love -I threw away in the madness of a moment! Give it back to me!" she -cried, with outstretched hands pleading to him. - -Impulsively he took one of the jeweled hands in his, holding it -nervously yet kindly while he said: - -"It is cruel kindness to undeceive you, Roma, but I cannot let you go -on hoping for what can never be! You never had my heart's love, Roma. -It was only an ephemeral fancy that is long since dead. I thought you -wished to flirt with me, and I entered into it with languid amusement. -Somehow--I never can quite understand how--I drifted into a proposal. -I regretted it directly afterward, and realized that my heart was not -really interested. You broke our engagement, and I was glad of it. -Forgive my frankness and let us be friends!" - -But her face dropped into her hands with a choking sob, her whole -frame shaking with emotion, and he could only gaze upon her in silent -sympathy, feeling himself a brute that he could not give the love she -craved. - -Roma remained several moments in this attitude of hopeless grief, then, -rising with her handkerchief to her eyes, glided slowly past him--so -slowly that he might have clasped her in outstretched arms had he -chosen. - -But he remained mute and motionless, sorrow and sympathy in his heart, -but nothing more. - -Sobbing forlornly, Roma passed him by, and went to her own room. - -There Dolly had an exhibition of her imperious temper, culminating in a -threat to slap her face. - -Dolly's quick temper flamed up, and she retorted fiercely: - -"Slap me if you dare, and I'll leave your service on the spot! Yes, and -I'll go and tell Mr. Devereaux the fate of his letter to Liane Lester, -too! I--I--wish I hadn't never had anything to do with you, either. I'm -sorry I treated sweet Liane so mean! She was a heap nicer than you!" - -Roma turned around quickly, holding out a pretty ring with a little -diamond in it. - -"Don't leave me, Dolly; at least, not yet," she sighed mournfully. -"I'm sorry I was cross to you. Forgive me, and let's be friends again. -Take this little ring to remember me, for I shall never need it after -to-night!" - -"What do you mean, Miss Roma?" cried the girl, slipping the ring -coquettishly over her finger, but Roma threw herself face downward on -a sofa without replying. - -Dolly went into another room to arrange the clothes she had brought -her mistress, and to admire herself occasionally in a long pier glass, -and so the time slipped past, and in the gloaming Roma's voice called -faintly: - -"Dolly!" - -"Yes, miss." - -Roma was standing up, very pale, very tragic-looking, by the couch, in -her hands a letter and a tiny vial of colored liquid. - -"Dolly, you are to take this letter to Mr. Devereaux and ask his sister -to come with him to my room. Tell them both I have swallowed poison, -and shall be dead in a few minutes!" - -Dolly snatched the letter and ran shrieking from the room, while Roma -sank back on the couch, her eyes half closed, her face death-white, the -vial of poison, half drained, clasped in her fingers. - -Devereaux tore open the letter, and read the single line it contained: - -"I cannot live without your love! I have taken poison!" - -He and Mrs. Carrington almost flew upstairs after hurriedly telephoning -for a physician. - -They knelt by her couch, reproaching her for her rashness, declaring -that they had sent for a physician to save her life. - -"It is useless. I will not take an antidote. I am determined to die!" -she replied stubbornly, and looked at Devereaux reproachfully, while -Lyde caught her hands, exclaiming: - -"Oh, Jesse, why couldn't you love her and make up with her, so that she -needn't have been driven to this?" - -Encouraged by this outburst of sympathy, Roma whispered audibly in her -ear: - -"If he would only make me his wife, I could die happy!" - -"Do you hear?" nodded Lyde to her brother. - -"Yes." - -"I have dreamed of it so long. I have loved him so well, I cannot be -happy even beyond the grave unless I can call him my husband once -before I die!" sobbed Roma piteously, and by her labored breathing and -spasms of pain it seemed as if each moment must be her last. - -"Give her her dying wish lest she haunt you!" whispered the nervous, -frightened Lyde. - -Roma's sufferings grew so extreme that his reluctance yielded to pity. -He bowed assent, and hurried from the room to summon a minister. - -The physician entered in haste, but Roma repulsed him. - -"Stand back! I will not take an antidote! I am already dying!" she -screamed. - -He caught the vial from her fingers. - -"How much have you taken?" - -"The bottle was full--and you see what is left!" - -"Then God have mercy on your soul. I am powerless to save you from your -own rash act, poor girl, even if you permitted me to try. Why have you -done this dreadful thing?" - -"A quarrel with my lover!" - -"Yes, it is true," sobbed Lyde. "She and Jesse quarreled, and she -rashly swallowed the poison." - -She added chokingly: - -"They--they--are going to be married presently. Please stay to the -ceremony." - -Jesse Devereaux entered at that moment with a minister. - -Roma was moaning in pain, her eyes half closed. - -"Can you do nothing, doctor?" - -"Alas, no! She must be dead in a few minutes!" - -He bent down and took her hand. - -"Are you ready, Roma?" - -"Oh, yes, yes! Heaven bless you, dear!" - -The ceremony began in its simplest form, the minister standing close -by the couch to catch the faint responses of the dying girl. They were -uttered clearly and audibly, with a faint ring of joy in the accents, -very different from Devereaux's low, reluctant tones: - -Then the minister said solemnly: - -"I pronounce you man and wife!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - -BEFORE THE DAWN. - - -None could envy Edmund Clarke's feelings as he hastened on his way to -find out the fate of the fair girl he believed to be his daughter! - -He could not credit the story of her elopement. - -Harrowing suspicion pointed to the probability that Roma, having found -out the truth about herself, had hurried to Boston to have the real -heiress put out of the way. - -What more likely than that the wicked girl had intercepted Jesse's -letter containing Liane's address and made capital of it to further her -own evil ends? - -The man shuddered as he realized what a fiend he had cherished as his -daughter. He realized that it was the old fable of warming a viper in -the bosom that stings and wounds the succoring hand. - -Roma could never come under his roof again. Her vile attempt on his -life and Doctor Jay's precluded such a possibility. - -But he groaned aloud as he thought of having to break all the truth to -his frail, delicate wife--unless he should be able to first find Liane -and get the proofs of her real parentage. - -With a trembling hand he rang Mrs. Brinkley's bell, starting back in -surprise when it was answered by no less a person than Sophie Nutter. - -"Mr. Clarke!" she faltered, in blended surprise and pleasure. - -"Sophie!" he exclaimed, following her into the little parlor, as she -said: - -"Come in, sir. All the folks are out but me, and I must say I am -as much surprised to see you here to-day as I was to see Miss Roma -yesterday." - -Artful Sophie, she distrusted Roma, and took this method to find out if -he knew of his proud daughter's goings-on. - -"Roma here yesterday!" he exclaimed, in a voice of agony, feeling all -his suspicions confirmed. - -"Yes, sir, she was here to see old Mistress Jenks yesterday, and spent -an hour with her!" returned Sophie quickly, scenting some sort of a -sensation in the air. - -She saw him grow pale as death, and he almost groaned: - -"Liane? Where was she?" - -"At her work, sir, at the store." - -"Where is she now?" - -"It is thought she has run away with some rich young man, sir. She is -missing this morning, and all her clothes gone!" - -"The old woman--where is she? I must see her at once!" - -"Lordy, sir, the poor old creature ain't here this afternoon. She went -out to look for Liane, vowing to kill the fellow that persuaded her -away!" - -Mr. Clarke had always liked Sophie when she was a member of his -household. Her kind, intelligent face invited confidence. - -"Do you think that her distress was genuine, or was she playing a -part?" he asked, adding: "To be frank with you, Sophie, I have a deep -and friendly interest in Liane Lester, and I suspect foul play on the -old woman's part." - -It needed but this to make Sophie pour out all that she knew of the -old hag's cruelties to Liane up to last night, when the sounds of a -supposed scuffle had penetrated to her ears, causing the family to -intrude on the old woman en masse, to find that granny had only been -driving a nail, and that Liane was asleep in bed. - -"You saw her asleep?" he asked. - -"Yes; we all tiptoed to the door, and she lay peacefully in bed, with -the covers drawn up to her chin." - -"You are sure that she was breathing?" he asked hoarsely. - -"Why, no, sir--but--my God, do you think there could have been anything -wrong?" cried Sophie, alarmed by his looks. - -He answered in a voice of anguish: - -"I suspect that you were looking at the corpse of sweet Liane; I -suspect that the noise you heard was old granny beating her to death, -and that she has hidden the dead away, and put out a hideous lie to -account for her disappearance!" - -Sophie was so terrified that she burst into violent weeping. - -But Edmund Clarke's face wore the calmness of a terrible despair. He -felt now that Liane had been foully murdered, and that nothing remained -to him but to take the most complete vengeance on her murderers. - -He exclaimed hoarsely: - -"Do not weep so bitterly, my good girl; tears will not bring back the -dead. All that remains to us now is to take vengeance on her enemies. -To do this we must find proofs of their crime. Come with me, and let us -search Granny Jenks' room." - -It was not hard to break open the locked door, and they went into the -gloomy apartments, Sophie opening the window and letting in a flood of -light. - -Then she saw what had escaped their eyes last night--stains of blood on -the bare, uncarpeted floor. In the bedroom, the pillow where Liane's -head had rested last night was also marked by red stains that told in -their own mute language the story of a terrible crime. - -Their horrified eyes met, and he groaned: - -"It is as I told you! She was murdered, sweet Liane! Oh, I will take a -terrible vengeance for the crime!" - -Sophie replied with heartbroken sobbing, and they remained thus several -moments, shuddering with horror in the bare, fireless room. - -But not a tear dimmed the man's eyes. He was stricken with despair -that lay too deep for tears. His heavy eyes wandered about the room, -lighting on a small black trunk in a corner. - -"If I could only find the proofs!" he muttered, and unhesitatingly -broke the lock, scattering the contents out upon the floor. - -It was filled with yellowing relics of a bygone day, and he turned them -over rapidly, saying to Sophie: - -"I am searching for something to prove a suspicion of mine--a suspicion -of a deadly wrong!" - -She dried her eyes and looked on with womanly curiosity, while he -picked up and shook a little red box in the bottom of the trunk. - -A dozen or two trinkets and letters fell out on the floor, and he -searched them eagerly over, lighting at last on a slender golden -necklace belonging to an infant. - -He held it with a shaking hand, saying to Sophie: - -"See this little clasp forming in small diamonds the word 'Baby'? It -belonged to my wife in infancy, and when our little Roma was born she -clasped it on her neck." - -"And Granny Jenks has stolen it!" she cried indignantly. - -"Worse than that! She stole also the child that wore it!" he answered, -with a burst of the bitterest despair. - -His heart was breaking with its burden of concealed misery, and -Sophie's eager, respectful sympathy drew him on till he could not -resist the temptation to tell her all, sure of her sympathy. - -It was like reading a novel to Sophie--the story of the lost babe, -the spurious one substituted, and all that had happened since to the -present moment. - -"Oh, my dear sir, I believe you are quite right! Sweet, beautiful Liane -was surely your daughter, while as for the other, she never had the -ways of a lady, for all her grand bringing up, and she had the same -cruel spirit like granny, always wanting to beat any one who displeased -her. She slapped my face several times when I was her maid, and maybe -you know, sir, that I left her service because I saw her push a man -over the cliff one night." - -"I have heard it whispered that you fancied something of the kind. My -wife said you were crazy," returned Mr. Clarke. - -"Crazy--not a bit of it, sir! It was God's holy truth! I can show you -the man! He escaped the death she doomed him to, and lives in this very -house!" cried Sophie, glad that she could defend herself. - -"I should like to see the man!" cried Clarke, who was eager to get all -the evidence possible against Roma. - -"He will be coming in directly from his school," cried Sophie; and, -indeed, at that moment a step was heard in the hall, and the dark, -bearded face of the new boarder appeared passing the door. - -"Come in!" called Sophie imperatively, and as he obeyed: "Mr. Clarke, -this is Carlos Cisneros, the man Miss Roma pushed over the bluff." - -Cisneros bowed to the stranger and scowled at the informer. - -"Why did you betray my confidence?" he cried threateningly. - -"Because I knew you wanted to get your revenge on her, and this man -will help you to it." - -The two men glared at each other, and Mr. Clarke asked: - -"Why did she thirst for your life?" - -"I held a dangerous secret of hers, and she believed me dead. When I -hunted her down and threatened to betray her, she tried to kill me. She -pushed me over the bluff, but I was picked up by a passing yacht, and -my life was saved." - -"What was that secret?" - -"She has promised to pay me richly for keeping it," sullenly answered -the man. - -"She cannot keep her promise, because she is not my daughter at all, -but an adopted one, and, finding out that she has attempted many -crimes, I shall cast her off penniless." - -"That alters the case. If she cannot pay me for holding my tongue, I'll -take my revenge instead," answered Carlos Cisneros, with flashing eyes. -"Sir, Roma is my wife. We were married secretly at boarding school. -Then she tired of me and went home, while I was ill. When I hunted her -down she attempted to murder me!" - -Suddenly they were startled by a tigerish snarl of rage. - -Granny, creeping catlike along the hall, came suddenly upon the open -door, and the group within her room. - -She staggered over the threshold, and glared like a tiger in the act of -springing. - -Mr. Clarke, still holding the shining necklace in his hand, cried -bitterly: - -"Miserable murderess, you are detected in your crimes! Here is the -proof in my hand that you are the fiend that stole my infant daughter -from her mother's breast, and made her young life one long torture! -Here upon the floor and the bed are the blood stains that prove you -murdered my child last night. My God, I only keep my hands off your -throat so that you may tell me what you have done with my precious -dead!" his voice ending in a hollow groan. - -The detected wretch crept closer to Cisneros, whining: - -"Don't let him kill me! I know I deserve it, but don't let him kill me!" - -"Tell him the truth, then!" cried Cisneros, who, although not a very -good man himself, was astonished at the story he had heard, and felt a -keen disgust for the repulsive, whining old creature. - -"What is it you want to know?" she muttered, gazing fearfully at Clarke. - -"Was not Liane Lester my own child?" - -"Yes, I s'pose it's useless to deny it, now that you've found your -baby's necklace in my trunk." - -"And the girl I adopted as my daughter is your grandchild?" - -"Yes--but you'll have to keep her now, and give her all your gold. You -won't never find Liane no more!" she muttered, with a cunning leer, as -of one demented. - -"Tell me why you stole my child!" - -"It won't do you any good to find out now. She won't never come back -any more!" she muttered stubbornly. - -He groaned in anguish, but reiterated: - -"I insist on having the truth. Answer my question." - -"Tell him the truth, you she devil!" growled Cisneros, pinching her arm -as she huddled closer to his side. - -She whined with pain, but she was mastered; she did not dare persist in -her obstinacy. - -So she whimpered: - -"My daughter Cora stole the baby from your wife's breast, and she loved -it so that I daren't take it away, lest she should die. So I let her -keep it, and when her own child came she wouldn't never have naught -to do with it, but clung to the other one, poor, crazy thing! So I -thought I would raise them as twins, but when Doctor Jay sent me to get -one from the foundling asylum in its place, the devil tempted me to -keep your baby because Cora loved it so, and I put my own grandchild -in your wife's arms, hoping you wouldn't find out the truth, and that -Cora's child would be a great rich lady. My poor girl went stark mad, -and they put her in the crazy asylum for life, but I was ashamed of the -disgrace. I told every one she had run away again to be an actress. -And I kept the baby to work for me till it grew a great girl, with -a face like an angel, and a heart like an angel, too, but somehow I -always hated her, because I had a bad heart!" - -"And then your grandchild found out the truth, and came and told you to -kill Liane?" cried her accuser. - -"How did you know that?" she demanded, shrinking in deadly fear. - -"No matter how. You know it is true." - -The light of mingled madness and defiance glared out of the woman's -eyes. She growled: - -"Well, I had to do it when she told me. Roma always would have her way, -just like Cora, her mother! I said I hated to do it, the girl was such -a lamb; so sweet, so gentle; but you cannot take Roma's place from her -now, since Liane's dead: though I hated to do it, she was such a little -angel." - -Sophie Nutter burst into violent sobbing, Mr. Clarke's lips twitched -nervously so that he could not speak, but Cisneros, with flashing eyes, -exclaimed: - -"So you killed the sweet angel, you fiend from Hades! Well, I hope you -will swing for your diabolical crimes! A dozen lives like yours would -not pay for one like hers! Come, now, we want to know where you hid her -body." - -She glanced at him resentfully, answering, to his surprise: - -"They may hang me if they want to! I don't love my life since I killed -Liane! I miss her so, sweet lamb, I miss her so! I thought I hated her, -and I used her cruelly, but when she was dead, when I saw the blood on -her white face, I loved her! I kissed her little cold hand. I told her -I was sorry I had done it, and wished I could bring her back to life! -She was good to me, little angel, and I hate Roma because she made me -kill her! I told her it was not right to kill her, but she hounded me -to it! Now she can keep Liane's place at Cliffdene, but I don't want to -see her any more. Cruel, wicked Roma, that made me a murderess!" - -She rocked her body miserably to and fro, maundering hoarsely on, while -Sophie's vehement sobbing filled the room as she recalled last night, -when she had looked her last on Liane's still, white face, cruelly -fooled by the old woman's lies. - -Mr. Clarke cried, with fierce, despairing anger: - -"No more of this paltering, woman! Tell us where to find Liane's body!" - -To his joy and amazement, the half-crazed woman answered: - -"Roma told me to throw her in the river or the sewer, but she was so -sweet I could not do it! I hid her in an old cellar, very dark and -cold, and when I begged her to speak to me, she opened her sweet eyes -again! Come with me, and I will show you!" - -Almost afraid to hope that she spoke the truth, they followed the -half-crazed woman to an old unoccupied house several blocks away, and -there, indeed, they found Liane, faintly breathing and half frozen, -lying on the floor of a cold, dark cellar, half covered with some -scraps of carpet that granny had laid over her in her late repentance. - -Again Sophie's passionate sobs broke out, echoed dismally by granny, -who muttered pleadingly: - -"Don't take her from me if she lives; don't give me Roma to live with! -I hate her now, the wicked wretch, and I'd rather have my little angel, -Liane! I'll never beat her again; no, never! Do you hear me promise, -Liane?" - -But there was no recognition in the half-open eyes of the poor girl, -as they searched their faces, and, pushing granny sharply aside, Edmund -Clarke took up his daughter in his arms and bore her back to Mrs. -Brinkley's, while Carlos Cisneros was sent in haste for a physician. - -Granny, seeming to have no fear of arrest for her dreadful crimes, -hovered anxiously about, eager as any to aid in undoing her evil work. - -Liane was laid in Sophie's soft white bed, and the girl said tenderly: - -"I will nurse her myself, and no one knows better than I how to care -for her, for I used to be a nurse in a hospital." - -"Keep the old woman out," said Mr. Clarke sternly, and she went back to -her own rooms, sobbing like a beaten child. - -The doctor was soon on the scene, and he looked very grave, indeed, -when he had made his examination. - -"It is a serious case," he said. "There has been a severe blow on the -head that stunned her, and all her faculties are benumbed. How long -this state will last I cannot tell, but I hope I shall bring her around -all right." - -Mr. Clarke rejoiced exceedingly at even this small ray of hope, and, -engaging the doctor to remain until his return, set out impatiently to -Devereaux's house to tax Roma with her crimes. - -He was burning with impatience. He could not wait, he was so eager to -tell wicked Roma the truth that all her schemes had failed, and that, -by Heaven's good mercy, Liane would be restored to her parents' hearts, -while she, the wicked usurper, would be driven out to live with the old -hag who had helped her in her nefarious plot against his daughter's -life. - -He took with him Carlos Cisneros, and, unknown to them both, Granny -Jenks followed in their wake, cunningly curious to see how Roma took -her downfall. - -At nightfall they reached the Devereaux mansion, just a few moments -after the ceremony that had made Roma the wife of the young -millionaire. Indeed, Lyde and the other two witnesses had just -withdrawn from the apartment, on Roma's request to be left alone with -her husband. - -She looked up at him with shining, love-filled eyes, murmuring: - -"Please kneel down by me, Jesse, so that I may put my arms around your -neck and die with my head upon your breast." - -He pitied the rash girl so much that he could not refuse her anything -in her dying hour. He obeyed her wish, and held his arm around her with -her bright head on his bosom, expecting every moment to be her last. - -But the minutes flew, and Roma showed not a sign of dying. Instead, her -breathing was very strong and regular, and she tightened her arms about -him, exclaiming: - -"Oh, my husband, would you be glad if life could be granted to me now, -that I might live, your happy bride?" - -"Do not let us dwell on the impossible, Roma," he answered kindly. - -"But why impossible, Jesse, dearest? I am not really certain of dying. -I do not feel like it now, at all, and perhaps the dose I took was not -really sufficient to kill me! Now that I am your wife, it seems as if a -new elixir of life is coursing through my veins, and I long to live for -your precious sake! Oh, surely you do not wish me to die!" - -Here was a dilemma, certainly. Jesse Devereaux, holding the warm, -palpitating figure in his arms, did not know how to answer her piteous -appeal, and he was saved the necessity, for at the moment the door -opened, admitting Lyde, followed by Edmund Clarke, with granny, who -had forced herself in, bringing up the rear. - -Lyde had told him hurriedly what had happened, and he had asked to see -Roma; hence the intrusion. - -The bride still clung fondly to her husband, and when they entered, she -exclaimed, in strong, natural accents: - -"Papa, dear, congratulate us. We are married." - -"So I have heard," he replied, with keen sarcasm, adding: "I was told -that you were dying, but you do not look much like it. Your cheeks are -red, your eyes bright and clear, and your voice does not falter." - -Roma actually laughed out softly and triumphantly, saying: - -"I have just told my dear husband that I do not feel like dying at all, -and that love and happiness have given me a new elixir of life." - -Edmund Clarke would have spared exposing her if it had been really her -dying hour, but he saw that she had grossly deceived Devereaux, so he -returned, with bitter sarcasm: - -"As you feel so strong and happy, I have some exciting news to break to -you." - -"News, papa?" sweetly. - -"Do not call me papa," he answered bitterly. "You know well that I am -not related to you, and that your discovery of the truth has caused -you to attempt the most heinous crimes to keep my real daughter from -coming into her birthright. I am here to tell you that your plot to -kill Doctor Jay and myself has been discovered. Your attempted murder -of Liane Lester came near success, but, happily, she has revived, and -Granny Jenks, your wicked grandmother, has confessed that you were -substituted in her place, and that Liane is my own child!" - -"Heavens!" cried Devereaux, his arms falling from around Roma; but she -clung to him, exclaiming passionately: - -"I am your wife! No matter what he charges, I am your wife; do not -forget that, Jesse!" - -"And no doubt you pretended that you had swallowed poison, just to -entrap him in your toils!" cried Edmund Clarke scornfully, while -Devereaux, looking at her as she clung to him, exclaimed: - -"Is this true, Roma?" - -Her eyes flashed with defiance as she answered, rising, quickly: - -"Yes, it is true. I only swallowed some colored water to frighten you -all, and to make you marry me, because I loved you so dearly! You must -forgive me, my darling husband, for you cannot alter anything now!" - -He recoiled from her touch with loathing, and Mr. Clarke broke in: - -"Do not trouble yourself over her words, Jesse, for she has no claim -upon you. She has already a living husband--one whom she tried to -murder, to put him out of her way, but he is here to testify to the -truth of my words." - -Through the open door stepped the wronged husband with a manly air, -saying to startled Roma: - -"Every man's hand is against you but mine, Roma, and even my heart -recoils at your wickedness; but I love you still, and if you will -repent of your sins and promise to lead a better life, I will take you -back, and our old dream of a dramatic life shall be fulfilled." - -It was a noble touch in the life of a man who had not been very good, -but who was at least Roma's superior in everything, and she could not -help but recognize it. - -Beaten, foiled, in everything, she turned to the man she had wronged, -saying: - -"It is worth all the rest to find such a constant heart." - -She laughed mirthlessly, mockingly, and left the room, scowling as she -passed at Granny Jenks, huddled against the door, holding back her -skirts from contact with her granddaughter, while she muttered: "I -don't love you any more, and I wish never to see you again. I am going -back to Liane." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - -WHEN THE CLOUDS ROLLED BY. - - -It was Christmas morning at Cliffdene, and snow lay deep upon the -ground, while the boom of the sea, lashed into fury by howling winter -winds, filled the air, but within all was light, and warmth, and joy. - -A few days ago the Clarkes had come home, with their daughter Liane -restored to health after weary weeks of illness and nervous prostration -from her terrible beating at Granny Jenks' hands and the subsequent -exposure in the cold cellar. - -They called her Liane still, because the name of Roma was associated -with so many unpleasant things that they had no wish for her to bear it. - -Mr. Clarke had spent a thrilling hour making clear to his wife all the -happenings of the past eighteen years, but she had borne the shock -better than he expected. Her love for Roma, never as strong as the -maternal love, though carefully fostered, died an instant death when -she heard the story of the girl's terrible crimes. Bitter tears she -shed, indeed, but they were for her own daughter's sufferings in those -cruel years while she had been kept back from her own. - -"We will make it up to her, my darling, by devotion now," cried her -husband, kissing away her tears; then they hastened to the bedside of -Liane, for she could not be moved yet from her humble abode. - -After several days of unconsciousness she began to improve, and in a -week was able to have the truth carefully broken to her by her own -mother, who with Sophie Nutter shared the task of nursing her back to -health. Doctor Jay was sent for to assist with his medical skill, and -great was his joy to find her restored to her own, and so beautiful -and worthy, in spite of the rearing she had had from brutal granny, -the miserable old hag, who was so crushed by the contempt and scorn of -every one that she sought consolation in the bottle and drank herself -to death in a week, expiring miserably in a hospital. - -As soon as Liane was well enough to see a visitor Mrs. Carrington -called. - -"Do you remember me, my dear?" she asked, and Liane murmured: - -"I sold you gloves." - -"Yes, and fascinated me at the same time. I have been in love with you -ever since." - -Lyde wondered at the sudden blush on the girl's cheek as Liane thought -within herself that she would be glad if Lyde's brother only loved her -also. - -As for him, of course, she did not see him till she left her room, but -flowers came for her every day--great red roses, breathing the language -of love--and on the day before they went to Cliffdene, her devoted -mamma said: - -"Dear, if you feel well enough, I should like you to send a kind little -note to Jesse Devereaux, thanking him for the flowers he has been -sending every day." - -"I will write," Liane replied, with a blush and a quickened heartbeat, -and her fond mother added: - -"Jesse is a fine young man, and admires you very much." - -When he received the note, so neatly and gracefully written, without a -mistake in wording or spelling, Devereaux was puzzled. - -It was certainly not like the writing of the letter in which she had -rejected him. He concluded that her mother or her maid Sophie had -written it. - -"Poor girl, she will have to have private instructors to repair the -defects in her education," he thought. - -A few days before Christmas the Clarkes bade a kind farewell to -the good-natured Mrs. Brinkley and Lizzie White, and returned to -Stonecliff, whither the news had preceded them in letters to friends. - -Devereaux was at the station to bid them farewell, and by the most open -hinting he managed to secure from Mrs. Clarke an invitation to spend -Christmas with them at Cliffdene. - -He arrived on Christmas morning, and was presently shown into the -holly-wreathed library, where Liane was sitting alone, exquisitely -gowned in dark-blue silk, from which her fair face arose like a -beautiful lily. - -Devereaux's greeting was joyous, but Liane was cold and constrained. -She could not forget how he had snubbed her in Boston when she was only -a poor working girl. - -But they had not exchanged a dozen words before they were interrupted -by the unexpected entrance of Dolly Dorr. - -Dolly had been staying at her own home ever since Roma's flight with -her husband, and she had been having a hard battle with her conscience, -which culminated in the triumph of the right; hence her presence here -to-day. - -Dolly made her little curtsy, and began bashfully: - -"Miss Clarke, and Mr. Devereaux, I have wronged you both, and I have -come now to try to make amends." - -They gazed at her in silent surprise, and she hurried on, eager to tell -her story and escape their reproachful eyes: - -"Miss Liane, when you went away to Boston, I got a letter addressed -to you from the post office, and Miss Roma opened it, and we read it -together. Then she bribed me to answer it, and I guess Mr. Devereaux -has the ugly letter she made me write. Here's yours, and--please -forgive me. I am sorry I behaved so badly," tossing a letter into -Liane's lap and flying precipitately from the apartment. - -Liane opened the letter bewilderedly, and read, with Devereaux's eager -eyes upon her face, and her cheeks scarlet, his passionate love letter -and proposal of marriage. As she finished, he said eagerly: - -"I received a rejection in answer to that letter, but, Liane, dearest, -may I ask you to reconsider it?" - -Her lovely eyes met his in a happy, eloquent glance, and, springing to -her side, he wound his arms about her, drawing her close to his breast, -while their yearning lips met in a long, clinging kiss. - - -THE END. - - - - -_The Famous "Nick Carter"_ - - -That is how folks speak of the detective whose adventures have -interested and entertained two generations of readers. Nick Carter is -truly famous. Stories about him have been translated into every modern -language and his name has become a watchword throughout the entire -civilized world. - - _The New Magnet Library_ - -contains his adventures exclusively in book form and it also contains a -wealth of other detective literature. More worthier, moral, wholesome -and refreshing stories were never offered to the reading public at any -price. If you have never read the =New Magnet Library= there is a big -treat in store for you. Ask your dealer for a catalogue of these books, -or send to us for one, and you will be surprised at the amount of good -reading matter published in this line that fifteen cents will buy. - -PRICE, FIFTEEN CENTS PER COPY - -"_The Right Books at the Right Price_" - - NOTICE--If these books are sent by mail, four cents must be added to - the price of each copy to cover postage. - - -Street & Smith, _Publishers_, New York - - - - - _Big Books_ _Big Value_ - -The Select Library - - -We want to call the attention of every novel reader to the fact that -THE SELECT LIBRARY contains a splendid assortment of first-class -stories by authors whose names are famous everywhere. Among those -represented are Rudyard Kipling, A. Conan Doyle, H. Rider Haggard, -Alexandre Dumas, The Duchess, R. L. Stevenson, Augusta J. Evans and -others too numerous to mention. - -Why waste a lot of time looking over your newsdealer's whole stock of -paper-covered books, when by ordering the titles in THE SELECT LIBRARY -you are sure to get novels that cannot fail to interest and please you? -They represent a careful selection from over five hundred standard -titles. Every book in the line is in great demand. Send for a complete -catalogue. - - -STREET & SMITH - - 79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York City - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - - -Added table of contents. - -Italics are represented with _underscores_, bold with =equal signs=. - -Page 8, Changed "ben" to "been" in "had been substituted." - -Page 31, Retained possible typo (or uncommon spelling) "torquoise." - -Page 84, corrected "cirrcumstances" to "circumstances" ("circumstances -leave me"). - -Page 91, added missing quote after "bear good witness for us." - -Page 95, corrected "slipppd" to "slipped" ("slipped readily into her -pocket"). - -Page 121, removed unnecessary quote after "no difference in the result." - -Page 134, changed ligature to "oe" in "manoeuvring" (ligature retained -in HTML version). - -Page 135, removed unnecessary quote after "pretty, petted girl." - -Page 149, "dying down to Boston" seems like an error but is reproduced -as printed. - -Page 174, added missing comma in "It was my own, granny." - -Page 180, corrected "presenty" to "presently" ("presently he realized"). - -Page 190, corrected "aristrocrat" to "aristocrat." - -Page 193, removed unnecessary quote after "pale and thin." - -Page 194, added missing quote after "her whereabouts!" - -Page 196, added missing quote after "confiding in you, Dean!" - -Page 211, removed unnecessary comma from "and whip her." - -Page 212, added missing quote after "fiendish Nurse Jenks." - -Page 224, changed ? to , after "door on retiring." - -Page 229, changed ? to . after "Wait till I question you on the -subject." - -Page 234, added missing quote after "and sobbing all night." - -Page 263, corrected "clatttering" to "clattering" ("clattering of -dishes"). - -Page 277, corrected "Leslie" to "Lester" in "Miss Lester you are -awaiting." - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's My Pretty Maid, by Mrs. Alex. 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