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diff --git a/76634-h/76634-h.htm b/76634-h/76634-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..608e1d0 --- /dev/null +++ b/76634-h/76634-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9918 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> +<meta charset="UTF-8"> +<title> + Lillian's vow | Project Gutenberg +</title> +<link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> +<style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; +} + +.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} +.p6 {margin-top: 6em;} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } + +hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 47.5%; margin-right: 47.5%;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +td { vertical-align: top; } + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; +} /* page numbers */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} +img.w100 {width: 100%;} + + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} +.x-ebookmaker .figleft {float: none; text-align: center; margin-right: 0;} + +/* Poetry */ +/* uncomment the next line for centered poetry */ +/* .poetry-container {display: flex; justify-content: center;} */ +.poetry-container {text-align: center;} +.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} +.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} +.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:small; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; +} + +/* Poetry indents */ +.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3em;} +.poetry .indent1 {text-indent: -2.5em;} +.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2em;} +.poetry .indent3 {text-indent: -1.5em;} + +.tiny {font-size: 50%;} +.small {font-size: 75%;} +.medium {font-size: 125%;} +.large {font-size:150%;} +.sig {text-align: right; margin-right: 2.5em; } + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowe120 {width: 60em;} +.illowe38_1875 {width: 15em;} +.illowe43_5 {width: 20em;} +.illowe47_4375 {width: 20em;} +.illowe54_625 {width: 20em;} + +table.seaside { min-width: 75%; } +table.seaside td.tdr, table.seaside th.tdr { width: 7em; } + +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76634 ***</div> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowe120" id="cover"> +<img class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p class="center small">PRICE 25 CENTS</p> + +<h1>Lillian’s Vow</h1> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center medium">BY MRS. E. BURKE COLLINS</p> + +<p class="center small">THE SWEETHEART SERIES.</p> + +<table> +<tr><td> +<p class="medium">GEORGE<br> +MUNRO’S<br> +SONS,<br> +PUBLISHERS,</p> +</td><td class="tdr"> +<p class="medium">17 to 27<br> +VANDEWATER<br> +STREET,<br> +NEW YORK.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr><td> +<p class="tiny">Copyright, 1898, by George Munro’s Sons.</p> +</td><td> +<p class="tiny">By Subscription, $10.00 per Annum. +</p> +</td></tr> +</table> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_SWEETHEART_SERIES">THE SWEETHEART SERIES.</h2> +</div> + + +<p>This series contains the most popular books of the day. +They are 12mos, printed on good paper, in large, clear type, +and bound in handsome photogravure covers.</p> + +<table> +<tr><td class="tdr">1</td><td class="tdl">The Marquis</td><td class="tdl">Charles Garvice</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2</td><td class="tdl">Beautiful Ione’s Lover</td><td class="tdl">Laura Jean Libbey</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">3</td><td class="tdl">The Midnight Marriage</td><td class="tdl">Mrs. Sumner Hayden</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">4</td><td class="tdl">All For Love of a Fair Face</td><td class="tdl">Laura Jean Libbey</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">5</td><td class="tdl">A Wasted Love</td><td class="tdl">Charles Garvice</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">6</td><td class="tdl">Daisy Brooks</td><td class="tdl">Laura Jean Libbey</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">7</td><td class="tdl">Leslie’s Loyalty</td><td class="tdl">Charles Garvice</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">8</td><td class="tdl">Little Rosebud’s Lovers</td><td class="tdl">Laura Jean Libbey</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">9</td><td class="tdl">Elaine</td><td class="tdl">Charles Garvice</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">10</td><td class="tdl">A Struggle for a Heart</td><td class="tdl">Laura Jean Libbey</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">11</td><td class="tdl">Claire</td><td class="tdl">Charles Garvice</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">12</td><td class="tdl">Junie’s Love-Test</td><td class="tdl">Laura Jean Libbey</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">13</td><td class="tdl">Her Heart’s Desire</td><td class="tdl">Charles Garvice</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">14</td><td class="tdl">Leonie Locke</td><td class="tdl">Laura Jean Libbey</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">15</td><td class="tdl">Her Ransom</td><td class="tdl">Charles Garvice</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">16</td><td class="tdl">Madolin Rivers</td><td class="tdl">Laura Jean Libbey</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">17</td><td class="tdl">A Coronet of Shame</td><td class="tdl">Charles Garvice</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">18</td><td class="tdl">The Heiress of Cameron Hall</td><td class="tdl">Laura Jean Libbey</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">19</td><td class="tdl">Woman Against Woman</td><td class="tdl">Mrs. M. A. Holmes</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">20</td><td class="tdl">The Song of Miriam</td><td class="tdl">Marie Corelli</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">21</td><td class="tdl">Lorrie; or, Hollow Gold</td><td class="tdl">Charles Garvice</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">22</td><td class="tdl">His Perfect Trust</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">23</td><td class="tdl">Addie’s Husband</td><td class="tdl">By the Author of “Jessie”</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">24</td><td class="tdl">The Heiress of Hilldrop</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">25</td><td class="tdl">For Another’s Sin</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">26</td><td class="tdl">Set in Diamonds</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">27</td><td class="tdl">The World Between Them</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">28</td><td class="tdl">A Passion Flower</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">29</td><td class="tdl">A True Magdalen</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">30</td><td class="tdl">A Woman’s Error</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">31</td><td class="tdl">Leonie, the Sweet Street Singer</td><td class="tdl">By the Author of “For Mother’s Sake”</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">32</td><td class="tdl">At War with Herself</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">33</td><td class="tdl">The Belle of Lynn</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">34</td><td class="tdl">The Shadow of a Sin</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">35</td><td class="tdl">Claribel’s Love Story</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">36</td><td class="tdl">A Woman’s War</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">37</td><td class="tdl">Lady Audley’s Secret</td><td class="tdl">Miss M. E. Braddon</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">38</td><td class="tdl">Hilary’s Folly</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">39</td><td class="tdl">From Gloom to Sunlight</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">40</td><td class="tdl">A Haunted Life</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">41</td><td class="tdl">The Mystery of Colde Fell; or, Not Proven</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">42</td><td class="tdl">A Dark Marriage Morn</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">43</td><td class="tdl">The Duke’s Secret</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">44</td><td class="tdl">His Wife’s Judgment</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">45</td><td class="tdl">A Thorn in Her Heart</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">46</td><td class="tdl">A Nameless Sin</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">47</td><td class="tdl">A Mad Love</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">48</td><td class="tdl">Irene’s Vow</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">49</td><td class="tdl">Signa’s Sweetheart</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">50</td><td class="tdl">Not Like Other Girls</td><td class="tdl">Rosa N. Carey</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>For sale by all newsdealers and booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt +of 25 cents each, or five copies for $1.00, by the publishers.</p> + +<p class="center"> +Address GEORGE MUNRO’S SONS,</p><p class="right"> +17 to 27 <span class="smcap">Vandewater Street, New York</span>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span></p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2>LILLIAN’S VOW;</h2> +<p class="center">OR,</p> +<p class="center medium">THE MYSTERY OF RALEIGH HOUSE</p> +<p class="center p4">BY</p> +<p class="center medium">MRS. E. BURKE COLLINS.</p> +<p class="center p6 small"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1889, by George Munro.</span></p> +<p class="p4"> </p> +<figure class="figcenter illowe47_4375" id="i0"> +<img class="w100" src="images/i0.jpg" alt="SWEETHEART SERIES"> +</figure> + +<p class="center p4"><span class="smcap">New York</span>:<br> +<span class="medium">GEORGE MUNRO’S SONS, PUBLISHERS,</span><br> +<span class="smcap">17 to 27 Vandewater Street</span>.<br> +</p> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span></p> +</div> + +<figure class="figleft illowe38_1875" id="i1"> +<img class="w100" src="images/i1.jpg" alt=""> +<figcaption class="caption"><p><b>Purifies as +well as Beautifies +the Skin</b> +No other cosmetic +will do it.</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p class="center medium">A SKIN OF BEAUTY IS A JOY FOREVER.</p> + +<p class="center">DR. T. FELIX GOURAUD’S</p> + +<p class="center medium">Oriental Cream, or Magical Beautifier,</p> + +<p>Removes Tan, Pimples, Freckles, Moth-Patches, Rash +and Skin diseases, and every blemish on beauty, and +defies detection. On its virtues it has stood the test +of 54 years; no other has; and is so harmless we taste +it to be sure it is properly made. Accept no +counterfeit of similar name. The distinguished +Dr. L. A. Sayre said to a lady of the +<i>haut ton</i> (a patient): “<i>As you ladies will use +them, I recommend ‘Gouraud’s Cream’ as +the least harmful of all the Skin preparations.</i>” +One bottle will last six months, using +it every day.<b>Gouraud’s Poudre +Subtile removes superfluous hair +without injury to the skin.</b></p> + +<p class="center"> +FERD. T. HOPKINS, Proprietor,</p><p class="right"> +37 Great Jones St., New York.</p> + +<p>For sale by all Druggists and Fancy Goods +Dealers throughout the U. S., Canadas, and +Europe.</p> + +<p>Also found in N. Y. City at R. H. Macy’s, +Wanamaker’s, and other Fancy Goods Dealers. ☞ Beware of Base Imitations. +$1,000 Reward for arrest and proof of any one selling the same.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="Practical_Palmistry"><span class="smcap">Practical Palmistry.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class="center medium">A TREATISE ON CHIROSOPHY,</p> + +<p class="center">BASED ON ACTUAL EXPERIENCES.</p> + +<p class="center"><b>By HENRY FRITH.</b></p> + +<p class="center">WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center">ALSO,</p> + +<p class="center large">HOW TO HYPNOTIZE.</p> + +<p class="center medium">Including the Whole Art of Mesmerism.</p> + +<p class="center"><b>By PROFESSOR BARTER.</b></p> + + +<p>This is the most comprehensive treatise on Palmistry +and Hypnotism that has ever been issued.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p class="small">For sale by all newsdealers, or sent by mail, postage paid, on +receipt of 25 cents, by the publishers. Address</p> +</div> + +<p class="center small"> +GEORGE MUNRO’S SONS, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>,<br> +P. O. Box 1781. 17 to 27 Vandewater Street, New York.<br> +</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="LILLIANS_VOW">LILLIAN’S VOW.</h2> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> +</div> + + +<p class="center"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. POOR LILLIAN!</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. MISS RALEIGH’S COMPANION.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. HAUNTED.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. APRES!</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. JACK STRIKES A BLOW.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. IN THE ROUND ROOM.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. ROSAMOND SPEAKS HER MIND.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. HER LORD AND MASTER.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. DECEIVED.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. ACCEPTED.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. IN THE CONSERVATORY.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. FROM THE OTHER WORLD.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. A GUILTY CONSCIENCE.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. MISJUDGED.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. THE DIE IS CAST.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. A TRYING ORDEAL.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. A SNAKE IN THE GRASS.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. “BEWARE!”</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX. BESSIE SEES THE GAME.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX. GREEK MEETS GREEK.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI. IN AMBUSH.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII. HER FLIGHT.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII. VAN ALSTYNE’S REVENGE.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV. GONE TO HER DOOM.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV. FORGED FETTERS.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI. FACE TO FACE.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII. UNMASKED.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII. GEOFFREY GREY ATONES.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX. DISCOVERED.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX. THE END.</a><br> +</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">POOR LILLIAN!</p> + + +<p>“Help! Help!”</p> + +<p>A hoarse groan, a stifled cry, then silence settled down. +A clear, crisp wintery night, with the great city lying +asleep beneath an opal-tinted sky, the rush and roar of the +day’s turmoil temporarily suspended. It was late, and +few people were abroad, especially upon this retired street, +where a flickering, flaring electric light threw a yellow glare +over the scene.</p> + +<p>A man—old and white-haired, frail and feeble—was +struggling in the grasp of strong hands, while a dark face, +over which a broad-brimmed felt hat was slouched, so that +his eyes and the upper part of his face were hidden from +sight, bent over him, glaring down into the white, frightened +countenance of his victim.</p> + +<p>That this was no common case of garroting or highway +robbery was apparent at a glance.</p> + +<p>“Where is it?” hissed the assailant. “Give it to me at +once, Gilbert Leigh, or, as sure as I live, I will kill you! +Give me the book—the memorandum-book in your possession, +with all its contents undisturbed! You <i>must</i> do it! +You shall, Gilbert Leigh! You hold my liberty, my very +life, in your hands. You must be mad to think that I +would let you go until I have gained possession of the +book! Give it to me, I say, or—”</p> + +<p>The strong fingers of his right hand tightened their hold<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> +upon the old man’s throat, while the other hand went into +the inner pocket of the thick, warm overcoat that the old +man wore. Something was quickly transferred from the +pocket to that of the assailant—something which proved +to be a long, leathern book fastened with a band of stout +elastic. The dusky eyes under the slouched hat sparkled +with gratification, and low under his breath he panted +swiftly:</p> + +<p>“I have it! The book is mine! And so will perish +every clew to my guilt! I would die before the truth +should be known! Why, this old man held proofs which +would have ruined me and ousted me from my high position! +I would—”</p> + +<p>“Stop!”</p> + +<p>The word, gasped feebly, fell from the pale lips of the +half-dead old man.</p> + +<p>“Listen to me,” he went on, brokenly, as the hold of +the other gradually relaxed from about his throat. “I +have a word to say. In—in—my investigations among the +books and papers of your office—investigations which I was +commanded to make by my superiors—I have discovered +that you are not only a forger and embezzler—a living disgrace +to the time-honored name that you bear—but that +you are—”</p> + +<p>He bent his gray head and whispered a few words in the +ears of the other man. With a savage howl, like a wild +beast suddenly let loose upon its prey, he flashed about and +grasped the old man once more by the throat. There was +murder now in the dark eyes gleaming under the broad-brimmed +felt hat.</p> + +<p>“<i>Die!</i>” he panted, hoarsely, “you miserable old spy! +Say your prayers now, for I am going to kill you!”</p> + +<p>“By Jove! we’ll see about that!” cried a clear, ringing +voice, as firm footsteps drew rapidly near, and a tall figure +came to an abrupt halt. Crash! went a blow—a back-handed, +powerful blow—which landed directly in the chest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span> +of the would-be assassin. There was a dull thud as a dark +form dropped to the pavement, then the electric light went +out in that sudden and exasperating way which electric +lights are prone to do upon the smallest provocation, and +when it flared up once more, the limp, lifeless form upon +the pavement and the tall figure of the new-comer bending +over it were the only objects in sight. The new-comer, the +man who had struck the blow, was tall and handsome, with +pale, olive complexion, soft, dark eyes and waves of dark +hair. A face good to look at anywhere. He stooped and +peered into the old man’s upturned countenance, a delicate +patrician face, with clear-cut features, and a broad forehead +with a fringe of soft white hair.</p> + +<p>“I’m afraid he’s dead, poor fellow!” said the young +man, ruefully. “Well, of course it will be another item +for the ‘Daily Thunderer,’ and I wouldn’t be a hard-working +journalist, with my fortune all to make, if I did +not welcome an item.”</p> + +<p>He was speaking lightly, as one accustomed to such +scenes, but there was an under-current of feeling in his +voice which revealed the kindly heart beating in his breast.</p> + +<p>He drew from his pocket a policeman’s whistle and blew +a shrill blast.</p> + +<p>Silence for a moment, during which time the young man +proceeded to tear open the old man’s shirt-collar, and lift +the white head to give him a little air.</p> + +<p>There was no sign of life. The chest did not move, the +white hands lay limp and lifeless at his side.</p> + +<p>Tramp, tramp, down the street, swift and straight, came +the echo of heavy footfalls. A moment more the gleam of +a silver badge, a blue uniform, and a gruff voice demanding +sternly:</p> + +<p>“Come, now! What’s all this? Why”—in a tone of +satisfaction—“if it ain’t Mr. Lyndon!”</p> + +<p>The young man grasped the hand extended.</p> + +<p>“Jack Lyndon, of the ‘Daily Thunderer,’ at your service.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span> +Your name is McElroy, I believe? Yes; well, I +found this old man just now in the grasp of a garroter, +highway robber, whatever you may choose to call him. I +struck the fellow a blow, he came down with a thud; but +he got off somehow, and the old man is, I believe—McElroy, +can he be dead?”</p> + +<p>McElroy laid his hand upon the heart of the prostrate +man, and a swift look of horror dawned upon his face, as +the electric light flared up brightly, revealing the features +plainly.</p> + +<p>“Good heavens! it’s Mr. Leigh! Dear, dear! that’s +awful now! And poor Miss Lillian, it will just kill her! +I think, Mr. Lyndon—I really think and fear that the old +man is gone! If it’s so, I tell you what, I wouldn’t like to +face Lillian Leigh with his body. Mr. Lyndon, you never +knew such a case in your life of father and daughter so +wrapped up in each other that they could hardly bear to +be out of each other’s sight. You see, there ain’t none of +the Leigh family left but Miss Lillian and her father. +She does type-writing at home, and old Mr. Leigh himself +was an expert accountant, and some folks say a kind of spy +in the big commercial house of Raleigh & Raleigh—to look +after the interests of the firm in a quiet way, you know; +it’s the biggest commercial concern in the whole state—to +watch over slippery young clerks and wild fellows, to +keep an eye upon all the employees, in fact. A number +of them—I speak the plain truth—are sons of the best +families here. They need watching, Mr. Lyndon”—shaking +his head slowly and dubiously—“sure’s you are born, +they need watching.”</p> + +<p>All this time he had been chafing the thin, white hands, +and trying to force a little brandy between the old man’s +clinched teeth. He laid the white head back against Lyndon’s +knee at last with a low sigh.</p> + +<p>“’Tain’t no use! It really seems like ’tain’t no use, Mr. +Jack. I—I—see—”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span></p> + +<p>He arose to his feet and pointed to a row of buildings, +all alike, with an air of quiet respectability. Their rows +of shuttered windows, each house with its high, arched +porch and white stone steps—the neat brass door-plates at +every door—told, without words, that this was a neighborhood +of boarding-houses and “apartments to let.” The +policeman lifted his club and pointed to a side window in +the second story of one of the houses, where a faint light +gleamed like a star. Even while they gazed, the blind was +opened softly, and some one peered out into the night below. +McElroy groaned.</p> + +<p>“Them’s their rooms up there, Mr. Lyndon!” he said, +softly. “Who is going to bring the old man into the +house? And who—” he flashed about with a tragic gesture—“Good +God! Who’s going to tell Miss Lillian?”</p> + +<p>The window-blind upstairs was closed softly, and the +watching figure disappeared. A strange pang shot through +Jack Lyndon’s big, honest heart. Years afterward, he was +wont to look back upon that moment, and say that it was +a presentiment of what was to come.</p> + +<p>“Poor girl! My heart aches for her!” he muttered. +“It will be a terrible blow to bear.” And then, before he +scarcely realized it, Jack Lyndon found himself standing +upon the white stone steps of No. 3 ——, McElroy at his +side, ringing the door-bell in a peremptory summons. +One! boomed from the tower of a church not far away. +One! repeated a silvery-toned time-piece somewhere within +the silent house at whose door they were standing. Silence—utter +silence—broken at length by the opening of an +upper window, and a masculine voice demanded sternly who +was there, and what they wanted at that time of night.</p> + +<p>A few words made clear the sad situation. The window +was closed, and a little later the house-door was opened, +and the gas-light burning dimly in the hall turned up to a +cheery blaze. They bore him into the wide hall and laid +him, limp and lifeless, upon a sofa there. Somebody telephoned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> +for the nearest physician, and a group of half-dressed +men and women gathered round the sofa, gazing, +with horror-distended eyes, upon the sad spectacle. Then +the physician bustled in; five minutes’ examination, and +the verdict came. Gilbert Leigh was dead. He had died +from the effects of strangulation.</p> + +<p>“Who will tell Lillian?”</p> + +<p>Somebody asked the question in an awe-stricken voice. +Nobody essayed to reply. It was answered in an unexpected +way. The opening of a door above stairs; a hush +of solemn silence; then the rustle of a woman’s draperies; +flying footsteps down the broad stairs descending into the +hall below, and, before any one could realize the situation, +a slight figure, in a flowing robe of white cashmere, with a +cloud of golden hair streaming over her shoulders, dashed +into their midst, and fell upon her knees by the sofa, while +a pair of soft, white arms went around the old man’s neck.</p> + +<p>“Papa!” One shrill cry which cut to the heart of every +person present. “Papa! Oh, papa, papa! open your eyes +and look at me just once! Speak to me, papa—just one +word! Oh, papa, papa, papa!”</p> + +<p>Jack Lyndon ventured to her side at last, and laid his +hand—a strong, white hand—lightly upon the bowed +golden head.</p> + +<p>“Miss Leigh”—in a voice that quivered with sympathy—“try +to be brave!”</p> + +<p>She lifted a small, childish face—a beautiful face, with +perfectly chiseled features, and eyes so large and deep and +dark that they looked like black velvet.</p> + +<p>“Do you—know—what is wrong, sir?” she faltered, +feebly. “Papa went out this evening—down to the office. +He had papers to attend to. Papa never leaves me alone +when he can help it; but he found that he had forgotten +his memorandum-book. It contained business relating to +the private affairs of his employers which was priceless. +Papa often said that if he lost the book he could never<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span> +enter his employers’ presence again or expect to be treated +with confidence. I know that he would defend the book, +if need be, with his life. Sir”—she arose to her feet with +quiet dignity—“if that book is gone from his body it has +been stolen, and he has been attacked while defending it.”</p> + +<p>Then with a swift burst of passionate grief she flashed +about, and fell upon her knees once more, winding her +arms about her father’s neck; and then, drawing the cold +face down to her own, she laid her white cheek against his.</p> + +<p>“How cold you are, papa!” in a low, tense voice inexpressibly +pathetic. “You were never so cold before. +What is the matter, dear? You are weak and ill and faint, +and—”</p> + +<p>Her eyes fell for the first time upon the great purple +marks about his throat—the cruel marks of the assassin’s +strong fingers. She started up with a bitter cry.</p> + +<p>“What—what does this mean?” she panted, pointing to +the tell-tale marks. “He is dead—dead!”</p> + +<p>The truth had come to her at last. He had been murdered. +The book had been taken from him, and he had +died in its defense.</p> + +<p>“Oh, papa! papa! speak, and tell your little Lily this +awful secret! My papa, who has gone from me forever—tell +me, tell me! You will come back to me, papa! If +disembodied spirits can return to earth, I know that you +will come to me! Speak, papa! Oh, my papa! All I had +to love in the great, cold, cruel world, speak, and tell me—who +did this awful deed?”</p> + +<p>And then a strange occurrence took place. Even the +physician could not repress an exclamation of surprise. +The dead man’s lips parted slowly, and a few drops of blood +oozed from them and trickled down upon the snowy beard. +To those present it seemed for a moment—so wrought up +were they by the awful tragedy—that Gilbert Leigh had +indeed attempted to speak; that in answer to the pitiful beseeching<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> +of his child, the dumb lips had attempted to frame +a reply and utter the name of his murderer.</p> + +<p>The girl’s pale face froze into an icy calm. She lifted +her right hand with a swift gesture, upon her face a look +which made the spectators hold their breath in speechless +awe.</p> + +<p>“Hear me!” she said, in the same tense voice, “and +bear witness to what I say! I take no oath, I bind myself +by no pledge, I make no wild assertions or prophecies, but, +I say this: my father’s murderer shall yet be found! It +may be years before it comes to pass; but sooner or later, +the man who took Gilbert Leigh’s life in this base, dastardly +manner, shall be found and punished! And when +the hour comes in which I shall stand face to face with +him, when his guilt is exposed and his crime revealed, may +God have mercy upon him, for I shall have none!”</p> + +<p>She sunk upon her knees once more at her dead father’s +side, like a pallid, sad-eyed ghost; and when morning stole +in at the shuttered windows, she was crouching there still. +Not a tear had she shed; not another word had passed her +lips; but there was that in her pale young face which made +all who saw her afraid.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">MISS RALEIGH’S COMPANION.</p> + + +<p>“Which shall I wear, mamma, the pale blue silk, with +white lace and pearl ornaments, or the new amber satin +with hand-painted panels and black lace overdress looped +with diamonds? Ah, yes, that will be the handsomest and +most striking! And I shall wear <i>all</i> the Raleigh diamonds!”</p> + +<p>“But, Rosamond, <i>all</i> the Raleigh diamonds would be too +many jewels for a single toilet. It would be bad taste, my +dear; yet, after all”—Mrs. Raleigh bent her stately head +with its silver-gray puffs in a meditative way—“it would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> +be something unique! What a woman requires nowadays +in fashionable society is to look as odd and unusual as possible. +But, Rosamond, we live in a great city, and our +fashionable society is controlled by—”</p> + +<p>“The woman I hate!” burst forth Rosamond, vindictively, +with an angry gesture. “She is my own cousin, +but I hate her, hate her, <i>hate</i> her! I tell you, mamma, +the day upon which Cousin Lenore Vane made her grand +marriage was a bad day for her as well as myself! When +she became the wife of a senator I knew then that my reign +was over—that I could never surpass her in position, in +social triumph. And since that day I have hated her as I +have never hated any living creature, and I shall hate her +till I die! To see her surrounded by her satellites is perfectly +nauseating to me, and the absurd flatteries lavished +upon her—why, in her presence I am hardly noticed—nearly +drive me mad!”</p> + +<p>“I know—I understand”—soothingly; “but never +mind, Rosamond! You are bound to make a grand marriage +some day. She is the wife of Senator Van Alstyne, +it is true; but in point of wealth you are—”</p> + +<p>“The daughter of Grafton Raleigh, of the great firm of +Raleigh & Raleigh!” interrupted Rosamond, haughtily. +“No business house in the whole United States holds a +higher or more enviable position! Do not forget that, +mamma!”</p> + +<p>Rosamond Raleigh began to pace up and down the luxurious +room, her delicate blonde face flushed slightly, the +big, china-blue eyes drawn close together with the ugly +scowl which puckered her white forehead, her small, jeweled +hands clinched angrily. She came to a halt at length, +and her face wore a very unlovely expression in its jealous +wrath.</p> + +<p>“The wife of Senator Van Alstyne! And what of +that!” she pouted, angrily. “He is a great, coarse, pompous +creature, most repugnant to me, or to any civilized<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> +taste. If there was any use in wondering over such matters +in this corrupt age, I would marvel exceedingly that +he should ever have been made a member of the United +States Senate! But these affairs are unfathomable. As +for Lenore, she was always sly and underhand. I know +that she has never cared for her big, red-faced senator, and +only married him to gratify her vanity, and—mamma, +say what you like, you can never change my opinion—there +is a secret in Lenore Vane’s life. And I believe +that, to cover up this secret—this bad, black, unpleasant +secret—she married Senator Van Alstyne!”</p> + +<p>“Rosamond!”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Raleigh’s face was pale as death, and in her gray-blue +eyes something like terror.</p> + +<p>“You are talking wildly, daughter,” she returned, trying +to steady her voice. “You could know nothing concerning +Lenore’s past. She is seven years your senior. +You were twenty-five last summer,” she added, musingly.</p> + +<p>“Hush!” Rosamond turned quite pale. “The idea of +your telling my age right out like that! Anyone in the +next room might have heard every word! But, speaking +of Lenore’s position, I am going to shine her down to-morrow +night at her own reception! In point of beauty +she can not hold a candle to me! With her pale, colorless +face, and big, dark eyes, and all that assumption of hauteur! +Bah! I am sick of all the silly flatteries lavished +upon that woman! Ah-h!” hissing the word forth vindictively, +“if only it were in my power to unmask her, to expose +her secret—whatever it may be! And, mamma, listen, +and believe me: I am convinced that the day is coming +when I shall triumph—when I shall cast her down from +her high pedestal into the very dust at my feet! Oh, what +a day that will be!”</p> + +<p>“Rosamond!”</p> + +<p>“Then I will pay back the debt of hatred that I owe, +with compound interest,” hissed the girl, paying no heed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> +to her mother’s warning voice; “and so, mamma”—changing +to a lighter tone—“I shall go to Madame Lenore +Van Alstyne’s reception to-morrow night, wearing the +Raleigh diamonds and that incomparable amber satin. +You know me well enough to be sure that I am going to +have my own way!”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Raleigh sighed as she turned away, while Rosamond +crossed the room to a door which communicated +with a small octagonal apartment, and opened it hastily. +Her face was still harsh and angry, and there was a glitter +in the blue eyes which boded ill for some one.</p> + +<p>“Noisette!” she called, shrilly.</p> + +<p>A young girl, a pale-faced, dark-eyed girl, seated at a +window in the tiny room, busily engaged in painting upon +a piece of amber satin, laid down her brush, and turned +swiftly.</p> + +<p>“Do you want me, Miss Rosamond?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“Do I want you? Humph! Of course I would be sure +to call you if I did <i>not</i> want you! That goes without saying! +Have you finished the last panel of the amber satin?”</p> + +<p>“Not quite.” The girl’s voice was slow and hesitating. +“My heart hurts me so this morning that I could not work +quite so fast as usual, and so—”</p> + +<p>“Bring it here to me!”</p> + +<p>The voice was low and ominous; Rosamond Raleigh was +trembling with rage. Slowly Noisette obeyed the command, +and entered the outer apartment, in one small, +shapely hand the amber satin panel, exquisitely painted +with bunches of scarlet poppies, and long, clinging tendrils +of pale-green leaves. It was the work of a true artist, and +Rosamond Raleigh knew it—knew that her hand-painted +fans and costly bits of silk and satin were the envy of half +her set. And she realized perfectly that she was getting +all this exquisite work done for such a mere nothing—the +poor girl was a dependent upon the Raleighs—that it was +a positive sin.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></p> + +<p>One glance at the girl’s pale face and heavy, red-rimmed +eyes, but not a tinge of pity stirred Miss Raleigh’s cold +heart. The heart of a fashionable woman, immersed in +dress and society, is colder and harder than stone.</p> + +<p>“Not done yet,” in a cutting voice, “and the reception +at Senator Van Alstyne’s to come off to-morrow night, and +I must have that dress to wear. I will have it; do you +hear me? That painting must be done, though it kills you +to do it.”</p> + +<p>“Miss Rosamond, I will try.”</p> + +<p>The girl’s voice was very faint, and trembled perceptibly.</p> + +<p>“But my heart hurts me awfully,” she continued, “and +sometimes I am obliged to stop and rest; and it is so difficult +to breathe. Everything seems to get dark before me, +and I feel afraid. And besides,” hesitatingly, “the odor +of the paints is disagreeable.”</p> + +<p>“Well, have you finished your complaints?” sneered +Miss Raleigh, pitilessly. “Because if you have I would be +pleased to see you go to work. I think I have done enough +for you in taking you out of the orphan asylum and giving +you a good home. But you are getting so lazy that you do +not earn your salt. Go back to the sewing-room at once, +and have that panel finished before three o’clock, or”—she +drew her breath with a little hiss, her blue eyes glaring +angrily into the girl’s white, pain-distorted face—“it will +be bad for you, my lady,” she added, sharply.</p> + +<p>Noisette bent her head slightly, and, taking the panel, +returned to the room that she had left, closing its door behind +her. Her face was white and rigid, and one hand +clutched at her heart as though in pain.</p> + +<p>“Heaven help me!” murmured the poor girl, under her +breath. “I am dying, and she knows it. Ah, better for +me if she had left me in the asylum. At least they have +some mercy there.”</p> + +<p>She sunk into the low seat at the window and took the +brush in her cold, clammy hand.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span></p> + +<p>“God pity the orphan!” she murmured, feebly.</p> + +<p>The brush began to move slowly, uncertainly over the +glinting, amber satin; at length it fell upon the dainty +fabric, leaving a big red stain. It looked like heart’s blood.</p> + +<p>The girl started up as though some one had struck her +a blow; her head fell forward. A sensation stole over her +like floating dreamily through space. The pale lips parted, +and one word escaped them:</p> + +<p>“Mother!”</p> + +<p>That was all.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“Rosamond! Come here, quick! Oh, God, have mercy +upon us!”</p> + +<p>Rosamond Raleigh heard her mother’s voice in tones of +wildest excitement and alarm an hour or two later, and +arising from the satin couch, where she had been reading a +French novel, she hastened to the octagonal room whence +the sound proceeded.</p> + +<p>Her mother was standing beside the marble table, upon +which the painting materials were scattered, and Noisette’s +head had fallen forward and rested against the marble top +of the table. But the first object that caught Rosamond’s +eye as she entered the room was the spot of fresh paint +upon the amber satin panel.</p> + +<p>She caught her breath with a gasp of rage.</p> + +<p>“You have ruined my dress!” she shrieked, rushing to +the side of the poor girl, and seizing her rudely by the +shoulder; “you have literally ruined it! But you shall +pay for it! I swear it! I will make you suffer for this! +Mamma!”—falling back with a terrified cry—“what is the +matter?”</p> + +<p>Noisette’s head had fallen limply to one side, as the rude +fingers closed down upon the thin shoulders in that cruel +grip; her eyes were half open, set, staring and glassy; her +lips were parted, showing the white teeth with a ghastly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> +expression. Noisette was dead! Heart disease had stricken +her down while at her work.</p> + +<p>The orphan girl’s troubles were ended. She had died +at her post, engaged in a thankless task.</p> + +<p>For just a moment the hard heart of Rosamond Raleigh +quailed; she sunk into a seat and covered her face with +her hands.</p> + +<p>“Mamma!” glancing up at last, “is she really dead? +Is there no hope—no mistake? Why, this is awful! And +it will get into the newspapers. I wouldn’t have Jack +Lyndon get hold of the affair, not for a fortune! I’m +more than half afraid of his sharp tongue and sharper pen. +Can we do nothing?” arising, and, with evident repugnance, +approaching the still figure in the chair.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Raleigh shook her head. She had seen Death in +too many forms not to know his dread presence beyond a +doubt.</p> + +<p>“She has been dead an hour, I should think,” Mrs. +Raleigh observed; “but for form’s sake I will send for a +physician. And then—oh, dear!—there will be a coroner’s +inquest, and—”</p> + +<p>“Never! Not in this house! Mamma, just think of +the publicity! We must manage to avoid it in some way.”</p> + +<p>And they did. In their high position, and with plenty +of money at their command—alas! what will not money +do?—all was speedily arranged. The body of the girl was +arrayed for its last resting-place, and borne into an unused +room, where it was placed in a plain coffin, to be +buried quietly away in the nearest cemetery early in the +morning.</p> + +<p>The arrangements all concluded, Mrs. Raleigh locked +the door of the room where the dead girl lay sleeping so +peacefully, and turned to go back to the drawing-room. +But at that very moment the door-bell rang, there was a +brief pause in the spacious entrance-hall, then the sweeping +of silken skirts coming to the wing of the house where<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> +the dead girl lay. Mrs. Raleigh started nervously. A +moment later she was face to face with Lenore Van Alstyne. +Tall and slender, with great, melancholy dark eyes, +and a face of marble pallor, she was very beautiful, and—you +could read it at a glance—a woman who would die for +pride’s sake. Mrs. Raleigh could not control her surprise +at sight of her niece.</p> + +<p>“I heard that Noisette was dead,” began Lenore at +once; “so I drove around to see if I can do anything. +Let me see her, Aunt Helen.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, my dear, it is not a pleasant sight. I—”</p> + +<p>Lenore’s haughty lip curled.</p> + +<p>“Death is seldom a pleasant sight, Aunt Helen!” she +returned, coldly. “I have always liked the girl; she was +very unassuming, and certainly industrious. Let me go +in, Aunt Helen. See, I have brought her some flowers—her +favorite lilies.”</p> + +<p>So, though much against her will, Mrs. Raleigh unlocked +the door, and they entered the chamber of death, +followed shortly by Rosamond.</p> + +<p>Lenore laid her lilies upon the open coffin, and then, +moved by a sudden impulse, sunk down upon her knees +beside the dead girl. Silence fell over all, and the moments +passed, and still she knelt there. Mrs. Raleigh +turned to her daughter.</p> + +<p>“Rosamond, this is no place for you,” she began in a +stage whisper; but she stopped short in unfeigned surprise +at sight of the look upon Rosamond’s face.</p> + +<p>“Mamma,” drawing her mother aside and speaking in +an almost inaudible tone, lest their visitor should hear, +“look! Did you ever see a more perfect resemblance +than those two faces? In life we never observed it, but +death brings the truth startlingly forward. Noisette is +the very image of Lenore!”</p> + +<p>“Nonsense! What absurdity, child! It is only one of +those accidental resemblances which one stumbles across<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> +very often. Ah! there; she is going at last, thank Heaven! +I shall never feel comfortable until that body is out +of the house,” she added, plaintively.</p> + +<p>The body was out of the house early the next morning, +buried away with scant ceremony, and soon forgotten.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>Mrs. Raleigh sat in her dainty boudoir a few days later. +The reception at Senator Van Alstyne’s was a thing of the +past, but Rosamond had been conspicuous by her absence.</p> + +<p>“If I can not wear the amber satin I will not go at +all,” the willful beauty had declared with an emphatic +stamp of a small foot in a dainty bronze slipper; “but I +shall make capital out of this horrid affair. Our set shall +believe that I remained at home out of respect for my +protégée’s memory, and not because I was disappointed in +my dress. And I must find another girl in Noisette’s +place—I believe I will advertise for a companion.”</p> + +<p>And so she did—and fate decreed that this advertisement +should attract poor Lillian Leigh’s notice, and she +resolved to apply for the position. So Mrs. Raleigh, upon +this particular morning of which I write, was interviewing +Lillian, who had ventured to call at the Raleigh mansion +in response to the advertisement. A slender, black-robed +figure, she looked like a mere child as she told her pitiful +story.</p> + +<p>“I want employment, madame,” she said, lifting her +great, sad brown eyes to the cold, high-bred face before +her. “The old work—type-writing—has failed me; and +besides, I prefer to leave my present home. I can not +endure to remain among the old familiar scenes. I wish +to lead a retired life, and yet I have my own living to +make.”</p> + +<p>A cold, critical glance swept the black-robed figure from +head to foot, then Mrs. Raleigh’s slow, languid voice observed:</p> + +<p>“You may make a trial of us, if you like. Of course<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> +we can not pay much to a novice, but after a time you +will receive a good salary.”</p> + +<p>So the arrangements were speedily completed, and for a +pitifully small sum Lillian Leigh agreed to act as “companion” +to Miss Rosamond Raleigh, little dreaming of +what lay before her, and that fate was leading her blindly +on. Coming down the broad staircase, the first evening of +her life at the Raleigh mansion, Lillian came suddenly face +to face with a tall, dark, brigandish-looking man who had +just entered the house. One glance, and he fell back, +clutching wildly at a carved Gothic chair which stood +near, his dark face grown pale as death.</p> + +<p>“Who are you?” he gasped. “Surely you are Gilbert +Leigh’s daughter?”</p> + +<p>She bowed coldly.</p> + +<p>“I am Gilbert Leigh’s daughter!” she returned, in a +dignified manner.</p> + +<p>He glanced furtively about him. There was no one in +the hall—no one within hearing, apparently. He caught +her hand with a hasty gesture.</p> + +<p>“I must know you better, Miss Leigh,” he said, swiftly, +his evil eye studying every feature of the pale, indignant +face. “I am Richard Raleigh, only son and heir of +the Raleighs,” he added, with a smile.</p> + +<p>As he spoke he drew his handkerchief from his pocket, +and a card fluttered with it to the floor. Lillian stooped +and picked it up. It was a small photograph, and—could +it be possible?—it was a photograph of her own face! +Trembling like a leaf, she flashed indignantly upon him.</p> + +<p>“How dare you!” she was beginning, wildly; but, +checking her agitation, she went on, swiftly: “Mr. Raleigh, +where did you obtain this photograph? I must +know! It is one that my father carried in his pocket. +There can be no mistake. See, here are his initials, +‘G. L.,’ on the back of the card. Mr. Richard Raleigh, +I demand an answer. Where did you get this picture?”</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">HAUNTED.</p> + + +<p>For just a moment Richard Raleigh quailed like a +craven form before the angry blast in those fearless dark +eyes.</p> + +<p>“My dear young lady, you must be mad!” he cried, +mockingly. “Ah, yes; it is one that I picked up down-town +in the office of the ‘Thunderer.’ Jack Lyndon, +one of the staff, had it. Seems that he was present when +your father’s body was found; the photograph fell from +his pocket, and Lyndon picked it up. I saw it, fell in +love with it, begged Jack to relinquish it, which he did; +and so I have it. Are you satisfied, Miss Leigh?”</p> + +<p>She was trembling like a reed in the wind, her brown +eyes flashing like fire at the insulting narrative.</p> + +<p>“I don’t believe a word of it,” she pouted at last. +“Mr. Lyndon is a gentleman—a true, noble-hearted, honorable +gentleman! He was my best friend when papa died—was +murdered,” she added, bleakly. “Mr. Raleigh, I +don’t care what you say; you shall not slander Mr. Jack +Lyndon in my presence. He is the noblest man whom I +have ever met.”</p> + +<p>“I thank you.”</p> + +<p>The girl turned swiftly about; she had not heard the +street door open. A tall form stood at her side; a pair of +grave, kindly eyes gazed into the girl’s excited face, as, +hat in hand, Jack Lyndon bowed low before Miss Raleigh’s +companion, waiting-maid, and general factotum.</p> + +<p>“God bless you for your championship,” he added, +softly. An angry light overspread Richard Raleigh’s face, +but he bowed with tolerable civility as his eyes met Jack +Lyndon’s.</p> + +<p>“Ah, good-evening, Lyndon,” he sneered. “May I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> +inquire the nature of the business which has conferred +upon the house of Raleigh the honor of your presence?”</p> + +<p>Jack’s handsome face flushed.</p> + +<p>“A note of invitation from Miss Rosamond Raleigh +brings me here,” he said, coldly. “It is a matter of +small importance to me whether I call or not, Mr. Raleigh, +but a lady’s written request is not to be neglected.”</p> + +<p>Lillian had slipped the photograph of her own face into +her pocket, and glided away to finish the errand which had +brought her thither. A little later, passing through the +great hall once more, on her way upstairs, she caught a +glimpse of a pretty little tableau: Rosamond Raleigh, in +the music-room, seated at the grand piano, attired in an +artistic robe of white surah, with pink roses at her throat +and one half-open bud nestling in her dyed, blonde hair. +She was most artistically got up, and as the small, jeweled +hands swept the white keys, the big blue eyes were lifted, +with a sweet, childish expression, to the grave, handsome +face of Jack Lyndon, as he stood beside the instrument. +What was Rosamond’s object in inviting him there? he +asked himself again and again. He was only a poor journalist; +rapidly rising in his profession, it is true, but not +worthy to compare, in point of wealth and position, with +the daughter of Grafton Raleigh the millionaire. And it +never once occurred to Jack that the proud, haughty society +woman might have found a heart beating under her +silken bodice, even as Undine found her soul.</p> + +<p>Lillian, passing through the hall, saw the couple at the +piano, for the door was open, and a strange pang shot +through her heart as she passed hastily upstairs to attend +to her duties. There were guests invited to the Raleigh +mansion that night, and Jack had found himself included +in the invitations, while, much to his surprise, the tiny +scented note contained a P.S., carefully underscored:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“Please come very early. Say at eight.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span></p> + +<p>And, wondering greatly, he had obeyed her.</p> + +<p>He found Miss Raleigh awaiting him.</p> + +<p>“Senator and Mrs. Van Alstyne will look in at our reception +to-night,” she announced. “You know that +Mrs. Van Alstyne is my cousin? I thought that you +might like to describe her costume when you write up our +reception for to-morrow’s paper,” with a little laugh.</p> + +<p>Jack bowed and smiled his thanks, and then the door-bell +rang, and the first arrival was announced.</p> + +<p>Who that saw Lenore Van Alstyne that night will ever +forget her? She wore a trailing robe of shimmering pink +satin, with a V-shaped corsage draped with costly white +lace and a great cluster of snow-white marguerites. Not +a jewel did she wear, not even a flower in the massive coils +of silky dark hair. She was adorned by her own stately +beauty and gracious sweetness—jewels which no money +can purchase.</p> + +<p>It was a grand affair, though only a small party, for +Rosamond disliked a crowd. The evening wore away—that +evening during which Miss Raleigh devoted herself to +the entertainment of Jack Lyndon as sedulously as, in her +character of hostess, she dare venture.</p> + +<p>Late in the evening Rosamond went upstairs to the +pretty octagonal room which adjoined her own chamber to +get a small painting which Jack Lyndon had expressed a +desire to see and with which she would not trust a servant. +She was smiling softly to herself as she ran lightly +up the stairs and laid her hand upon the silver door-knob +of the little room where poor Noisette had passed so many +lonely hours, and—yes, where she had died.</p> + +<p>A strange chill crept over Rosamond Raleigh’s heart at +the recollection, and the smile faded from her lips.</p> + +<p>The door swung slowly open, and she crossed the threshold. +She started back with a low, frightened cry. Some +one had extinguished the gas; but the moonlight streaming +in at the window, whose shade was not yet drawn, revealed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span> +the interior of the pretty room, and rested in a +pearly pathway of light upon the figure seated at the +window—the childish little figure, with a pathetic droop +to the small head, bent, as usual, over the painting +materials. An awful horror crept over the fashionable +beauty as she stood there.</p> + +<p>How still everything was! The room was too far removed +from the drawing-rooms below for any sound of +mirth and revelry to reach it. Sometimes a quivering, +wailing burst of music, sobbing itself into silence, floated +up the staircase, and made a ghostly echo in the room, +where—She glanced once more toward that pathetic little +figure bending over the painting, and Rosamond realized, +with a shiver of horror, that it was no living creature +upon which she gazed. An inarticulate cry passed +her lips, as she ventured a little nearer. Was it Noisette’s +spirit which sat there in the moonlight, working out +the hard task? Rosamond saw that the shadowy fingers +which grasped the brush were painting away at the amber +satin panel. Painting—painting! but never to finish. +The strokes of the brush up and down left no trace; the +panel was just as Noisette had left it when death had +called her, when the brush had fallen from her nerveless +grasp, leaving the big red stain that looked like heart’s +blood. Trembling, gasping for breath, Miss Raleigh +turned and fled from the haunted room. She was no +weak-minded, hysterical girl, to go in nervous spasms over +a sight which she well knew she could never convince the +world that she had witnessed. She fled precipitately, +however, nor paused to take breath until she found herself +down in the brilliantly lighted drawing-room once more, +and explaining, in a breathless, laughing, altogether +charming fashion, that the picture must be mislaid, for +certainly it was not to be found. And no one but her +mother observed the set expression that had dawned upon +her face, and the look of nameless terror in her eyes.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span></p> + +<p>“Miss Rosamond!”</p> + +<p>She glanced up with a start, to see a tall, liveried footman +standing at her side.</p> + +<p>“I don’t like to trouble you,” he went on, hesitatingly, +“but it’s an old woman who will not be denied. She is +down in the housekeeper’s room, and if you wouldn’t +mind seeing her a moment, Miss Rosamond—”</p> + +<p>With a haughty gesture, Rosamond waved him aside. +A little later she was standing in the housekeeper’s cozy +sitting-room, before a snowy-haired, wrinkled old woman +with mild black eyes. She was bent nearly double over +the heavy oaken staff which she clutched with two skinny +hands; but at sound of the opening door, and the swish! +swish! of silken drapery, she lifted her head, and her bold, +black eyes met the glance of interrogation in Miss Raleigh’s +cold blue orbs.</p> + +<p>“What do you want?” she demanded, sharply.</p> + +<p>The old crone bowed humbly.</p> + +<p>“I am told that you have guests here to-night, Miss +Raleigh,” she began, in a low tone. “I am a dabbler in +the occult and mysterious—I am a clairvoyant. I can +read the future, unmask the present, and,” with an upward +glance of her great black eyes, “expose the secrets +of the past. Don’t look so incredulous, lady—I can do +it!”</p> + +<p>“What do you want?” demanded Rosamond, haughtily.</p> + +<p>“Permission to exhibit my strange powers before your +guests,” returned the woman, promptly. “I am very +old, and it is my only means of earning a livelihood. Let +me go into your drawing-room, and I promise to surprise +and astound you. Stay a moment, lady. Is there any +one present whom you dislike—whom you hate?”</p> + +<p>Rosamond’s eyes glittered.</p> + +<p>“There is. Ah, if you could unmask her, if you could +show me her past and expose her secret, so carefully +guarded, I would make you rich for life!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span></p> + +<p>The old woman bent her head, and her lips moved as +though speaking, yet she uttered no word.</p> + +<p>“Come!” said Rosamond, moved by a sudden impulse. +“I will give you permission to exhibit your powers. But +if there is any villainy hidden under it all, if you have a +sinister object in coming here to-night, I will have you +punished to the full extent of the law.”</p> + +<p>The old woman’s eyes twinkled.</p> + +<p>“Trust me, lady. You will never regret it,” she returned. +Low under her breath she was muttering to herself +in a broken, disjointed way, as she followed Miss Raleigh +to the drawing-room:</p> + +<p>“At last! At last! The hour for which I have longed +is here! Oh, to see her once again—to—”</p> + +<p>They had reached the drawing-room door. A few +words of explanation, and all the company gathered in +eager excitement about the old woman, who had sunk into +a low seat and sat as still as a statue. At last:</p> + +<p>“Murdered!” she cried, in a shrill voice, which penetrated +to every corner. “Murdered! Poor Gilbert Leigh! +My friends, the guilty wretch who took that old man’s +life is present within this very room.”</p> + +<p>There was a stifled shriek, followed by a heavy fall; the +gas-lights had gone out suddenly, leaving the great room +in darkness, and an awful silence settled over the scene.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">APRES!</p> + +<p>Some one lighted the gas in a moment, and its yellow +rays revealed a pale-faced, terrified group. Lillian, who +had been sent to bring Mrs. Raleigh a fan, was standing +in the open door of the library, pale as marble, one hand +clutching the white satin fan with its delicate spray of wild +roses, the handiwork of the girl who had gone to her long +rest such a short time before; the other hand, cold and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span> +trembling, pressed tightly over her wildly throbbing heart; +her big, dark eyes, dilated with horror, fixed blankly before +her. Richard Raleigh crouched in a corner, glaring +about him like a wild beast suddenly brought to bay, and +prone upon the velvet-carpeted floor Lenore Van Alstyne +lay in a dead swoon, and the old woman—fortune-teller +or whatever she might be—had disappeared.</p> + +<p>For a few moments everybody stood staring helplessly +about them, too overcome by the shock of the surprise—the +audacity of the affair—to collect their scattered +faculties.</p> + +<p>With a muttered execration, Richard Raleigh strode +over to the door and caught Lillian by the arm.</p> + +<p>“You are responsible for all this jugglery!” he hissed, +his angry black eyes devouring the pale face of the shrinking +girl. “You are to blame, Lillian Leigh, and rest assured +that you shall suffer for it!”</p> + +<p>The stately little head was crested proudly, and the +dark, flashing eyes gave him back scorn for scorn.</p> + +<p>“Take your hand from my arm, Mr. Raleigh!” the +low, level voice commanded, calmly. “How dare you +touch me? And as for your insulting words, you shall answer +for them! My father—”</p> + +<p>Good heavens! what had she been about to say? It +came home to her, with a sharp, keen pang of bitter memory, +that she who had never before been separated from +her father, her protector and defender, was all alone. +She had no father now—never any more! She had been +so accustomed to look to him for help, for love, for protection, +that for a brief moment she had lost sight of the +cruel truth. Her heart turned to her father as the sunflower +turns to the sun—and—she had no father now! +With one swift, lightning stroke of memory the poor girl +came back to the consciousness of her loss—that bitter, +irretrievable loss—and she saw the blank, empty future +stretched out before her eyes—without her father! Ah!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span> +cruel, cruel fate! To be bereft of his tender care—his +loving words of counsel—his kindly guidance!</p> + +<p>For just a moment the orphan girl forgot even Richard +Raleigh’s dreaded presence, as the full knowledge of her +desolation rushed over her heart like a swirling flood. +But still Richard Raleigh gazed with bold eyes into her +face, and still the stern, dark hand, crowned with a glittering +diamond, clutched the girl’s white arm.</p> + +<p>“Let go my arm, sir!” she commanded once more, in +a low, scornful tone. “How dare you insult me?”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Raleigh will be good enough to obey this lady’s +command!” said a cool, low voice close by, and Lillian, +turning swiftly, saw Jack Lyndon at her side. Not another +word; but Raleigh’s grasp relaxed, and he loosened +his hold; then, with a sneer, he turned upon his heel and +left the room.</p> + +<p>There was a great deal of excitement over Lenore, and, +therefore, this scene had been almost unobserved. Senator +Van Alstyne bustled forward, and lifting his wife’s +graceful form as though she had been an infant, placed +her carefully upon a sofa, while a group of pale, excited +people gathered around, and restoratives were brought. +But one pair of eyes had watched the scene between Lillian +and Jack Lyndon—one pair of steely orbs, glinting now +with anger too deep for words—and a white-robed figure, +which hovered ever in the vicinity of Jack Lyndon, was +trembling with excitement and jealous wrath.</p> + +<p>“I will send that girl away to-morrow as surely as I +live,” muttered Rosamond, low under her breath. “I +will not be tormented by the sight of her any longer. +And yet,” with a strange sinking of the heart, or “the +muscular viscus” which did duty for that organ with Miss +Rosamond Raleigh—“it would be just my luck to have +Jack Lyndon fall desperately in love with her and marry +her if I were to send her away—cast her adrift without a +home. Oh, dear! was any woman ever so tormented before?<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> +First, I must lose my waiting-maid—ugh! I can’t +get Noisette out of my mind!—and now Lillian gives me +trouble. First one maid and then the other. One thing +certain, and upon that point I shall be adamant hereafter: +Lillian Leigh shall not be allowed to show herself among +my guests. What evil genius sent her here at this particular +juncture? Oh, yes!” catching sight of the white +satin toy in the girl’s trembling hand, “mamma’s fan! +It is the very last fan that Noisette painted. Ugh! +there it is again. I can not forget for a moment. And +now I think that Mr. Lyndon has had quite enough to say +to my servant. I intend to put a stop to it.”</p> + +<p>She glided swiftly over to the retired corner near the +door where Lillian stood, while Jack Lyndon bent his +handsome head and spoke in low, eager tones. He was +learning the reason for her sudden and unexpected appearance +at the Raleigh mansion.</p> + +<p>“It is no place for you, Miss Leigh,” he said, gravely; +“we must try to find you more suitable employment; and—and +(pardon me, but I can not refrain from a few words +of warning) it is better for you not to remain longer under +the same roof with—”</p> + +<p>“Lillian!” Miss Raleigh’s sharp, cutting voice broke in +upon his low-spoken words with a suddenness that made +her start. “What are you doing here? Don’t you see +that mamma is suffering—absolutely suffering—for a fan? +Go give it to her; and then,” in a low tone, “go up to +my room and stay there!”</p> + +<p>Lillian bowed. Well, of course Miss Raleigh was right. +It was not Lillian’s place to stand among Miss Raleigh’s +select and fashionable guests; she—a hired companion—waiting-maid—upper +servant!</p> + +<p>With a grateful “I thank you for your kindness, Mr. +Lyndon,” Lillian glided away, leaving Rosamond, nothing +loath, to take the place at Jack Lyndon’s side which +she had just vacated.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span></p> + +<p>“How annoying and unpleasant it is, Mr. Lyndon, to +be troubled with servants who are above their stations, and +who, in common parlance, ‘have seen better days.’ Now +that girl really knows nothing of the duties and proprieties +of her position here; and I want to be kind and gentle +with her, yet I must be firm, and I fear that I have a disagreeable +task before me. For it is so difficult to train +such people without wounding their sensibilities; and when +they once imagine themselves slighted or insulted, there is +no hope of doing anything with them. And so,” with a +pretty deprecatory gesture of the small gloved hands, +“you see how it is.”</p> + +<p>It was a slightly ambiguous speech, but it had its own +effect. Jack’s conscience gave a queer little twinge of remorse.</p> + +<p>He had been too hard in thought upon Miss Raleigh—too +hard and stern, after all. She meant well—she did the +best that she knew. And hers had been but a superficial +and artificial education, a life without aim or object, an +empty fashionable career, with only the false lights of +pleasure and worldly amusements to lure her on.</p> + +<p>How vapid and unsatisfying it must be. And he little +dreamed—this grave young knight of the quill—that that +same life of fashionable dissipation was Rosamond Raleigh’s +highest ideal, filled every vacant corner of her +heart, was, in fact, the only existence for which she cared, +or which it was possible for her to know and be content. +His grave eyes met her appealing glance kindly, and his +voice took on a gentler tone as he returned:</p> + +<p>“You have my sympathy in your grievous trials, my +dear Miss Raleigh!”</p> + +<p>A low cry resounded through the room and startled the +two. Lenore had opened her eyes and returned to consciousness. +She was struggling and panting and gasping +for breath, her eyes—beautiful dreamy dark eyes—were +dilated with horror; the small, cold hands were tearing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> +wildly at the frosty white lace upon her breast, and she +looked like one distraught.</p> + +<p>“Take me away! take me away!” she panted, feebly. +“Oh, Van!” burying her pale face upon the black coat-sleeve +of the pompous senator—“has—has he gone?”</p> + +<p>Van Alstyne bent his head and gazed into his wife’s +frightened face with eyes full of undisguised wonder. He +was coarse and red faced and hard featured, with small, +ferret-like eyes and iron-gray hair and beard.</p> + +<p>“Lenore!” in a deprecatory tone, “whom do you +mean, dear? Don’t you remember you were frightened +by an old woman—witch—beldame—whom your cousin +Rosamond saw fit to introduce among her select guests. +By Jove!” with a fierce assumption of dignity, “it has +come to a pretty pass indeed if a man is compelled to meet +such trash at the very first houses! Lenore, try to be +calm. There is nothing to fear, you have had a fright—a +foolish fright—followed by a fainting fit, which latter I +must say does not surprise me. My dear, I never knew +you to faint before but once,” he added, briefly, with a +significant glance which brought the red blood to her pale +cheek.</p> + +<p>Ah, yes! she remembered that other swoon. Heaven +knows she had reason to remember it. It had occurred at +her own marriage. In memory she saw it all—went +through the same scene once more. The brilliantly lighted +church; the gay, glittering crowd; the bridal procession, +with the bride, whiter than death itself, leaning upon +the arm of the pompous bridegroom, while they made their +triumphal exit from the sacred edifice, out to the long line +of waiting carriages drawn up beside the curb; the crowd +in the street without surging, swaying to and fro; and +above all others one face—a face which appeared amid the +throng, gazing upon her with great dark eyes full of mute +reproach. One swift instant their eyes had met, and like +one suddenly stricken dead, the bride fell to the pavement.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span></p> + +<p>It all came back to her now in a swift, hurried flash; +then there was a sudden transformation scene. Lenore +Van Alstyne started to her feet. She looked like a galvanized +corpse, but the pale lips shut themselves down +closely, and the white hands clinched and unclinched each +other fiercely; and then a light silvery laugh rang out, and +she turned to the watching, lynx-eyed man at her side.</p> + +<p>“Come, let us dance! Rosamond said that we should +have the lancers, and now is as good a time as any. Waltz, +did you say, Captain Burnham?” as a tall, soldierly man +bowed before her with a few low, eager words. “Ah, +pray excuse me from that. I am not very strong. My +foolish nerves have played me a sad trick, and I do not +feel equal to a waltz. But the lancers—I shall be delighted. +Rosamond, <i>ma cousine</i>, where is the music?” turning +as she spoke with a light laugh to meet Rosamond’s +astonished gaze, as she still conversed with Jack Lyndon.</p> + +<p>“Surely you are not able to dance, Lenore,” she was +beginning; but Mrs. Van Alstyne cut the remonstrance +short.</p> + +<p>“Nonsense!” she cried, lightly.</p> + +<p>And then Jack Lyndon found himself offering his arm +to Miss Raleigh, and the business of dancing the lancers +was begun.</p> + +<p>But everything comes to an end sooner or later, and at +last the reception was over; and Jack Lyndon, feeling +very much as though he were awaking from an unusually +fanciful dream, found himself on his way home, holding +in his memory the half-whispered words of the heiress, +Miss Raleigh:</p> + +<p>“Don’t forget the opera to-morrow night! Call early, +Jack—I beg your pardon—Mr. Lyndon,” a swift crimson +tingeing her cheek.</p> + +<p>After which he could not fail to catch a glimmer of the +light of truth, and open his sleepy eyes to the suspicion<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span> +that the cold, statuesque Miss Raleigh was really becoming +interested in the poor journalist.</p> + +<p>“Poor little Lillian!” was all that he said—and that +certainly seems a strange remark to make, when we consider +that Miss Raleigh was the object of his thoughts.</p> + +<p>And at that very hour, in the Van Alstynes’ spacious +mansion, Lenore was pacing up and down her own room, +its door securely locked against intruders, her face pale as +marble, all assumed gayety vanished, one hand clutching +at her heart, as she murmured, brokenly:</p> + +<p>“It must be—it must be true. It was his voice—I +would know it anywhere. Oh! may Heaven have pity +and let me die, for I am the most miserable woman in the +whole world!”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">JACK STRIKES A BLOW.</p> + + +<p>“Well! Miss Lillian Leigh!”</p> + +<p>Lillian glanced up with a start at sound of that voice—or +was it the hiss of a serpent?—and her pale face flushed +a little as she arose to her feet. It was in Miss Raleigh’s +sleeping-room, and she had been dreaming over the fire, +awaiting the coming of her tyrannical task-mistress, and +while she sat there these thoughts had been flitting +through her brain:</p> + +<p>“I wonder what was the matter to-night? Just as I +was about to open the library door, when I went to carry +Mrs. Raleigh’s fan, it opened suddenly from within, and a +strange, weird-looking old woman rushed out, flew down +the hall, and was out of the front door and gone before I +could recover my breath. And there were the library +lights all extinguished; and Mrs. Van Alstyne—that pale, +proud-looking lady—had fainted dead away. And Miss +Raleigh looked so overcome with terror! It must have +been some very unusual excitement; but, of course, I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> +dared ask no questions, and it is no concern of mine. I +am afraid of Mr. Richard Raleigh,” she went on, after a +brief pause, her busy brain full of the late strange occurrences, +“and but for Mr. Lyndon he might have said +more. I must avoid Mr. Raleigh as much as possible. +How good Mr. Lyndon is—so noble, so kind! I wonder—I +wonder if he cares for Miss Rosamond? And how she +smiles upon him! I should think that—”</p> + +<p>And then that shrill, high-pitched voice had broken in +upon the girl’s reverie, calling her name in a tone of authority.</p> + +<p>“Get up, you lazy creature! Why have you not a chair +before the fire all ready for me when I come in, as—as my +other maid used to do? Here, I enter my room tired to +death, and the hour late, and I find my maid—my—maid,” +with inexpressible scorn in the cutting voice, +“seated before my fire without a thought of my comfort. +How dare you?”</p> + +<p>Lillian stood still, quite overcome by this tirade; then +she made haste to wheel the chair which she had just +vacated closer to the fire.</p> + +<p>“I—I beg you pardon, Miss Raleigh,” she said, quietly. +“I did not mean to do anything wrong. I am tired, and +as you told me to wait for you, I naturally sat before the +fire this cold night.”</p> + +<p>With awful dignity Miss Raleigh motioned the chair +aside.</p> + +<p>“Get me another!” she commanded, insolently. “I +do not care for a seat which my servant occupies.”</p> + +<p>The red blood crimsoned Lillian’s pale face, and her +beautiful brown eyes flashed. But she compressed her lips +firmly, and brought another chair, into which Miss Raleigh +sunk with an air of intense fatigue.</p> + +<p>“I am tired to death!” she exclaimed, savagely. +“Come and take my hair down, and brush it thoroughly.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> +I am accustomed to having it brushed every night for at +least an hour before I retire!”</p> + +<p>Poor Lillian glanced at the clock ticking away upon the +velvet-draped bracket near. The hands pointed to the +hour of two.</p> + +<p>Rosamond laughed disdainfully at sight of the consternation +upon Lillian’s face.</p> + +<p>“Oh! you will soon find that you must keep all sorts of +hours if you remain in my employ, Miss Lillian Leigh!” +she sneered, coarsely. “I always make my waiting-maid +earn her salary, you may well believe! Whoever fills that +position must earn the money, though the effort should +cost her her life. Ah! what is that?”</p> + +<p>The ivory-backed brush trembled in Lillian’s grasp as +she stood with uplifted hand, the rosy fire-light flashing +up painted a vivid red spot upon Rosamond Raleigh’s pale +cheek; then the flame sunk down into feathery ashes once +more. A sound had fallen upon their ears plainly, distinctly; +it was a low, hollow groan! Trembling like a leaf +Miss Raleigh started to her feet. Her long hair fell over +her shoulders in a streaming golden shower; she looked +unearthly in the loose white wrapper which she had +already donned. Pale, and shaking like an aspen, she +went over to the door of the little octagonal room, and +threw it open wide.</p> + +<p>“Lillian, come here!” she commanded; and slowly and +wonderingly Lillian obeyed. “Go into that room,” continued +Miss Raleigh, authoritatively, “and see if there is +anybody hidden there! Look behind the curtains and +furniture; leave nothing unsearched.”</p> + +<p>Wondering greatly, Lillian lighted a small bronze lamp +which stood upon a bracket, and slowly and hesitatingly +she entered the little room. She returned, after a brief +absence, very pale and grave.</p> + +<p>“There is no one there, Miss Raleigh,” she announced, +placing the lamp upon a marble table near.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span></p> + +<p>“Come with me!”</p> + +<p>Rosamond snatched up the lamp and forced her trembling +slave to follow her back into the little room once +more. Everything was just as it had been left that day +when they had carried something away from it—something +stark and stiff and white, something which would never +come back again—would never come back. Would it +not?</p> + +<p>Rosamond Raleigh’s memory was a good one; she shivered +involuntarily. With mad haste she explored every +corner of the room; peering behind furniture, lifting +silken curtains, leaving no chance for any human being to +remain concealed. Then she left the room and locked the +door behind her; after which she extinguished the lamp +and threw herself into the easy-chair once more.</p> + +<p>“Brush my hair!” she commanded, ungraciously. “I +am half dead with fatigue.”</p> + +<p>And there poor Lillian stood for a whole mortal hour, +brushing out the beauty’s shining, silken hair until her +brain reeled, and her cold hand shook so that she could +scarcely move the brush, and the white lids began to droop +over the weary eyes, while the cat-like orbs of her cruel +task-mistress seemed never to court slumber. At last, in +sheer exhaustion, Lillian came to a halt.</p> + +<p>“Miss Raleigh, excuse me to-night, will you not?” she +pleaded. “I am not accustomed to such late hours, and +I have been through a great deal to-day, and am so tired +that I can scarcely stand.”</p> + +<p>Rosamond snatched the brush from her hand and threw +it across the room in a childish outburst of temper.</p> + +<p>“Go!” she cried, stamping her foot savagely. “I see +plainly the sort of a maid you will make!”</p> + +<p>Pale and resolute, Lillian faced the woman before her.</p> + +<p>“Miss Raleigh, will you please bear in mind that I did +not apply for the position of waiting-maid? Your advertisement +said a companion; and I, of course, believed that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span> +my duties would be simply those of a companion—to read +to you, sew, sing and play if you desired it, write, go +errands—all such light duties. But to dress and undress +you, to keep the fire burning in your room indefinitely, +and to stand and brush your hair all night long, I must +confess my inability to cope with all that. I am young +and not very strong. I have never worked before in my +life—only a little type-writing, and my health would soon +break down under such endless work as this, which keeps +a girl employed all day and all night, too. Good-morning, +Miss Raleigh; the clock is about to strike three. I +beg leave to retire.”</p> + +<p>Rosamond gathered up her mass of shining hair and +secured it for the night.</p> + +<p>“Very well,” her steely eyes fixed upon the girl with +cold disdain, “we will speak further upon this subject in +the morning. After to-night I intend to have you sleep +in the little round room next to mine. I am lonely here +in the wing of the house away from every one else.”</p> + +<p>“Very well.”</p> + +<p>Lillian grew deathly pale. She had heard the story of +the round room hinted at by the servants, even during her +brief sojourn at the Raleigh mansion, and she was afraid—afraid. +For she was timid, and the whispers in the servants’ +quarters hinted at a dark deed.</p> + +<p>But, glad to escape from her task-mistress, she hastened +away to the little room which had been assigned her, at +the furthest end of the hall, and hastily retiring, the +friendless orphan girl was soon fast asleep. And in +dreams she was no longer poor, and alone, and forsaken; +but happy as mortals are never happy upon this earth—only +in dreams.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> +<div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse indent0">“Only in dreams is a ladder thrown</div> +<div class="verse indent3">From the lonely earth to the vaulted skies;</div> +<div class="verse indent1">But the dream departs, and the vision flies,</div> +<div class="verse indent3">And the sleeper awakes on his pillow of stone.”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span></p> +<p>The next day passed quite uneventfully. Rosamond had +compromised with Lillian, retaining her as general factotum, +on condition that she should not be compulsively detained +from her rest after midnight. So night came down +once more, and Rosamond, in her sumptuous apartment, +was preparing to attend the opera.</p> + +<p>“I will wear blue silk and pearls!” she announced. +“Mamma and I are going to hear ‘Il Trovatore’ with +Mr. Lyndon. He is quite the fashion now, so I venture +to go with him, although of course he is not in our set, +and is only a poor journalist. And—oh, yes, Lillian, before +it gets too late, I want you to run down to the greenhouse—the +one away at the further end of the grounds—and +tell Barnes, the gardener, to send me a bouquet of +pink rosebuds. Make haste now, for I don’t like to be +kept waiting.”</p> + +<p>To hear was to obey. Lillian made haste to do so. +Five minutes later she was standing at the entrance to the +long greenhouse, dimly lighted by a hanging lamp, and +lying like a great dark shadow athwart the dusk of early +night. She peered eagerly through the gloom.</p> + +<p>“Barnes!” she called, timidly, “Miss Raleigh has sent +me to—”</p> + +<p>An arm stole around her waist, and a slim, dark hand +crowned by a flashing diamond closed down upon Lillian’s +hand, while Richard Raleigh’s silky voice cried:</p> + +<p>“Ah! my pretty wild bird—caged at last!”</p> + +<p>With a wild cry Lillian wrenched herself away from his +hold, her face pale, her eyes blazing.</p> + +<p>“How dare you?” she gasped, brokenly.</p> + +<p>And at that very instant her quick eyes caught sight of +a tall form hastening through the grounds, and she called, +wildly:</p> + +<p>“Barnes, is it you? Oh, come—quick—help!”</p> + +<p>With a muttered oath, Raleigh had grasped her arm<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> +once more, and held her fast, trying to calm her wild outcries.</p> + +<p>The tall figure turned swiftly and hurried footsteps +reached her side. Not Barnes the gardener, but tall, +handsome Jack Lyndon, who had heard her frenzied cry, +and had come to the rescue.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Raleigh, unhand that lady!” a low voice panted, +furiously, “or, by Heaven! you cowardly dog, I will kill +you!”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">IN THE ROUND ROOM.</p> + + +<p>For a moment, awful silence, while the two men stood +glaring at each other with eyes full of hatred and defiance. +Richard Raleigh was the first to speak.</p> + +<p>“Ha! Our doughty friend of the ‘Thunderer!’ Sir +Knight of the Quill and Paste-pot, whose coat of arms is +two pens crossed upon a background of inky paper! Mr. +Jack Lyndon,” growing more and more furious, “you deserve +to be punished for this audacity, and taught to know +your place.”</p> + +<p>“I have a mind to horsewhip you as I would a vicious +dog!” stormed Jack, his tall form trembling with excitement, +his strong hands clinching and unclinching themselves, +as though longing to strike his opponent down at +his feet.</p> + +<p>“I never fight my inferiors!” snarled Raleigh, with cutting +sarcasm.</p> + +<p>“You have no inferiors outside the brute creation!” returned +Jack, with stinging contempt. “By Jove!” turning +with sudden energy, as Raleigh, impelled by devilish +malice, caught Lillian by the arm once more in a rude +grasp.</p> + +<p>There was silence for half a second, broken by the sound +of a heavy blow, followed by a sickening thud as Raleigh’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> +tall form swayed heavily forward and fell into a clump of +shrubbery which grew near.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Mr. Lyndon!” Lillian’s voice pealed forth in wild +terror, “you have killed him!”</p> + +<p>Jack stooped over the prostrate form, his face pale and +still, in his handsome dark eyes a look that was bad to see.</p> + +<p>“No danger of that,” he muttered, angrily, for Jack +Lyndon’s temper, usually well under control, was now at +white heat. “Such creatures are not so easily exterminated. +Miss Leigh, I beg your pardon, but it was hardly +prudent for you to venture out here alone so late.”</p> + +<p>“Miss Raleigh sent me for a bouquet of pink rosebuds,” +she returned. “I never dreamed of meeting Mr. Raleigh!” +she added, innocently.</p> + +<p>Jack’s face darkened.</p> + +<p>“I should think not, indeed!” he panted. “Do not +trouble about the flowers, Miss Leigh. I have already sent +a bouquet to Miss Raleigh, which I imagine will prove satisfactory. +Come, let me accompany you back to the house. +That fellow yonder is recovering consciousness, and I do +not care to have any further argument with him.”</p> + +<p>Richard Raleigh, with slow and painful effort, was rising +to his feet. Jack drew Lillian’s trembling hand through +his arm and led her away. It was some distance back to +the house; and at length, in a secluded nook, where trailing +rose-vines, half denuded of their leaves, still clung to a +tiny summer-house, Jack Lyndon paused.</p> + +<p>“Lillian!”—in a tone of alarm—“Miss Leigh, you are +ill, fainting!” he exclaimed. “Oh, my darling—my +darling, let me stand between you and the storms of life! +You are too dainty and delicate to meet the adverse winds +of fate, and battle alone and single-handed. Let me—”</p> + +<p>“Lillian!”</p> + +<p>A shrill, high-pitched voice broke in upon his eager +words with cold disapproval.</p> + +<p>“Lillian Leigh! Good heavens! is it possible?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span></p> + +<p>And Miss Raleigh, with a white burnoose wrapped about +her, and the long silken train of her azure robe flung carefully +across her arm, appeared suddenly before them, like +Banquo’s ghost—and quite as unexpected.</p> + +<p>“Can it be possible”—in a grave, sweet, reproachful +tone, which no one knew better than Rosamond Raleigh +when and how to assume—“Lillian, whom I had believed +immaculate, flirting out under the trees this wintery night, +with—Why!”—with an affected start and a little shriek—“if +it isn’t Mr. Lyndon! Why, Mr. Lyndon, how you +startled me! I did not expect to find you here with my +maid!”</p> + +<p>There was a world of cruel significance in the sharp, cutting +voice, which made Jack Lyndon gnash his teeth.</p> + +<p>“By Jove!” he muttered under his breath, “a man has +to endure unlimited insults from a woman, simply because +she <i>is</i> a woman, when ten to one if they do not deserve—”</p> + +<p>Whatever it was which, according to Mr. Jack Lyndon, +the weaker sex deserved, was destined never to be known. +He had dropped Lillian’s hand, feeling the unpleasantness +of her position, and longing to spare her all that he could. +Pale and grave, he turned to Rosamond.</p> + +<p>“Miss Raleigh!”—in a low voice, his eyes upon the +pearl-powdered and daintily rouged face plainly revealed +by the moonlight—“I entered your grounds through the +side gate—the shorter way which you pointed out to me. +I was on my way to the house, and <i>you</i>, when I heard a +scream—a woman’s voice in wild alarm, calling for <i>help</i>! +I hastened to the spot and found Miss Leigh at the very +door of the greenhouse, in the grasp of a ruffian!”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Lyndon! Upon <i>our</i> grounds? Grafton Raleigh’s +private grounds?” in an awe-stricken tone.</p> + +<p>Jack smiled. “Even upon Mr. Grafton Raleigh’s +sacred premises, my dear Miss Rosamond, the glaring insult +was perpetrated. And the perpetrator was your own +brother, Richard Raleigh!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span></p> + +<p>“Mr. Lyndon!”</p> + +<p>“It is true, Miss Raleigh, I assure you. And—I must +confess—I was so angry that I—knocked him down!”</p> + +<p>“You did?” her eyes flashing wickedly. “Well, I am +sure that he deserved it! I have sometimes felt an insane +desire myself to knock Rick down! He is so exasperating! +But now you have done it for me!”</p> + +<p>“Oh, no! I did it to rescue Miss Leigh—as her knight-errant! +And although I am sorry to be upon such terms +with <i>your</i> brother, Miss Raleigh, I could not stand quietly +by and see a lady insulted—above all things, the lady +who—”</p> + +<p>“Lillian, go into the house!” cut in Miss Raleigh, +sharply. “You need not be afraid to go alone! Have +my opera-cloak, fan and gloves all ready by the time I +reach the house. Mr. Lyndon, I have to thank you for +that exquisite bouquet!” she added, laying a white hand +upon his arm and lifting a radiant face to his. Impelled +by an irresistible impulse, Jack bent his head and kissed +the dainty fingers which rested upon his sleeve. A flush +of triumph shot through Rosamond’s cheek, her heart +leaped and bounded like a mad thing.</p> + +<p>“He cares for me! I verily believe it!” she whispered +to herself. “And I don’t see how he could help it! He +ought to be proud and elated at winning the favor of Grafton +Raleigh’s only daughter! As for that sly little minx, +Lillian Leigh, I will get rid of her before many days!”</p> + +<p>And then, leaning upon Jack Lyndon’s arm, she went +slowly back to the house where mamma, in lavender brocade +and diamonds, awaited her coming. If Jack had +hoped to catch a glimpse of Lillian, or to breathe a few +whispered words into her ear, he was grievously disappointed, +for he saw her no more.</p> + +<p>Upstairs in Miss Raleigh’s chamber Lillian heard the +sound of the carriage-wheels as the carriage drove away to +the opera.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span></p> + +<p>“Why am I so different from other girls?” she asked +herself; “I am young, well educated, not bad looking”—her +eyes wandered over to the great mirror which had +so often reflected Miss Raleigh’s features—“and I—I <i>do</i> +care for Mr. Lyndon. He is so noble and good; how could +any one help caring for him? And she,” with a sharp +sting of jealous pain stirring blindly in her heart, “<i>she</i> +likes him, I can see that, though he is poor and she the +daughter of a millionaire!”</p> + +<p>And then a pause of silence, after which Lillian started +to her feet with a little cry of remorse.</p> + +<p>“I am not pleasing papa,” she cried, her eyes full of +tears; “he would like me to keep up my studies, and I +have been neglectful. I will get my books and look over +my French and German. When Miss Raleigh comes I will +not be so tired.”</p> + +<p>When Miss Raleigh came the midnight chimes had long +been rung. She entered the room, her face full of displeasure. +Jack Lyndon had been all that a gentleman—an +admirer—should be that evening; but when he bade her +good-night he had asked permission to speak a few words +in private with Miss Leigh the next morning. “Something +of importance to communicate,” he had said. Rosamond +Raleigh marched straight to her own room and +opened its door. Trembling with wrath, she stalked into +her sleeping apartment.</p> + +<p>“Lillian Leigh”—her voice was loud and shrill—“your +conduct is disgraceful in the extreme! You have been the +occasion of an insult—a gross insult to my brother—<i>my</i> +brother; do you understand me? <i>You</i>, a common servant-girl! +I will have you punished as you deserve! I will disgrace +you—ruin you forever—so help me Heaven, I will!”</p> + +<p>“Miss Raleigh!”</p> + +<p>Lillian’s voice, cold and clear, broke in upon her mad +ravings.</p> + +<p>“I have done no wrong—no intentional harm! If your<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span> +brother is not a gentleman, and forgets the respect due a +lady, I am not responsible. And Mr. Lyndon said—”</p> + +<p>“Don’t mention his name!” stormed Rosamond. +“He has been making light of you to me to-night—laughed +at you, made sport of you. He says that you +threw yourself in his way!”</p> + +<p>“Miss Raleigh, I do not believe you! I do not believe +a word that you say. Mr. Lyndon is a gentleman.”</p> + +<p>“You—don’t—believe me?” panted Rosamond—“don’t—believe +<i>me</i>? Take that—and that, you beggar!” +bringing her hand down with all its sharp, glittering rings +across Lillian’s pale cheeks in a shower of stinging blows. +“You shall go into the round room and sleep upon the +sofa!” raved Miss Raleigh. “To-morrow your bed shall +be brought there!”</p> + +<p>She unlocked the door of communication between the +two rooms, and dragging Lillian after her by the arm, too +overcome by the insults which had been heaped upon her +to utter a word, she entered the round room. Moonlight +streamed in at the window—or was it moonlight? No; +the shade was closely drawn; but a soft, clear radiance was +diffused through the room. And there, in its old place at +the window, sat a slight, drooping figure—a thin, attenuated +form—while the shadowy fingers were painting—painting +away at an amber satin panel—a task that was +never done, that would never be done! And the strange, +soft light which shone throughout the apartment disclosed +the features of the dead Noisette.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">ROSAMOND SPEAKS HER MIND.</p> + + +<p>Full of blank, wordless horror, Rosamond stood staring +into the startled face of her companion, too terrified to +move from the spot and shut out the awful scene.</p> + +<p>And still the girlish figure at the window of the round<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span> +room bent over its never-ending task; still the shadowy +fingers wielded the brush, and the scarlet poppies and +graceful vine tendrils grew beneath that ghostly touch upon +the amber satin—grew and blossomed into artistic beauty, +but never done—never to be done.</p> + +<p>Shivering all over, like one with an ague, Rosamond +Raleigh clutched the arm of her waiting-maid.</p> + +<p>“Lillian!”—her teeth chattering like castanets as she +attempted to speak—“it is Noisette, the girl who—who—died +in this room two weeks ago! It is she; there is no +mistake about it; no freak of the imagination, no fancy. +It is Noisette Duval, the little French girl whom I took +from the orphan asylum and treated like a sister. We gave +her a home—a good home, only receiving in return her services +as my maid, and stipulating that she should spend +her spare time in painting little things—fans, sashes, dress +panels, and such trifles. I was always kind to her, as kind +as any one could be!”</p> + +<p>Miss Raleigh came to a halt. It seemed to her as those +words—those false, wicked words—passed her lips that a +hand was laid upon her shoulder—a firm, detaining hand—which +gripped the soft white flesh with a merciless clutch. +Trembling violently, she burst into a flood of hysterical +tears, sinking down upon the velvet-covered floor, with her +white face buried in her cold, shaking hands.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Lillian, I am haunted! I am haunted!” she sobbed, +brokenly, at last. “I know it, I feel it! Whenever I +enter this room I see her—see her sitting there at the window +painting, painting away, with that dejected look upon +her face so thin and wan and so unearthly white. Oh, +Lillian! what shall I do?”</p> + +<p>A strange courage, born of desperation, seemed to take +possession of Lillian Leigh’s heart. She glanced fearfully +in at the open door of the round room, then with a swift +movement she crossed its threshold and entered the room.</p> + +<p>Straight up to the window, looking neither to the right<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span> +nor to the left, went Lillian. Her heart beat wildly, +throbbing like a sledge-hammer in her frightened ears; but +she went calmly over to where the apparition still was visible, +and stooping, peered into the still, calm, unearthly face. +Instantly there was a low sob, a faint moaning sound which +fell upon the silence with a strange, despairing echo, and +then the vision faded away—the apparition was gone! And +nothing was left to tell the two terrified witnesses that +there had been a ghostly visitant within the room—nothing, +save the memory of that which they could not forget, +which they would never forget as long as they both should +live.</p> + +<p>With a shudder Lillian went back to the other room, to +the graceful figure in shimmering silk crouching upon the +carpet, wringing white jeweled hands in wildest terror, +while shudders like convulsions passed over her frame.</p> + +<p>“Come, Miss Raleigh,” urged Lillian, venturing to lay +her hand upon the bowed head, “let me help you to undress +and put on a wrapper, and then I will brush out +your hair, and try to help you to forget this thing. Oh, +Miss Rosamond, there is nothing there! You can see for +yourself. It is all dark now in the round room. There is +nothing to fear—it is gone. Come, sit in this easy-chair, +and try to be calm and brave.”</p> + +<p>Trembling like an aspen, Rosamond lifted her head.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid!” she whimpered, feebly, sobbing like a +child who awakes in his sleep frightened and alarmed, +full of shadowy fears of he knows not what.</p> + +<p>She sat gazing about her for a brief space, then she staggered +to her feet.</p> + +<p>“Is it really gone?” she faltered. “Then I will—Oh, +heavens! what is that?” with a shrill shriek which resounded +throughout the silent house, as a sharp rap was +heard upon the door of the room.</p> + +<p>That was the last drop in the bucket; Rosamond’s self-control—such +as it was—gave way, and shriek after shriek<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> +rent the silence, while poor Lillian stood like a statue, too +terrified to move, not knowing what to do; afraid to +open the door lest Rosamond’s shrieks should redouble in +violence, yet to stand there and do nothing—good heavens! +it was maddening!</p> + +<p>“Rosamond,” called a voice through the key-hole, “for +mercy’s sake, what is the matter? Open the door at once, +I say! Are you being murdered in there?”</p> + +<p>The shrieks were cut short in a twinkling. Rosamond +started up, pale and breathless.</p> + +<p>“It is mamma,” she panted, in a tone of relief, as she +threw herself into an easy-chair, with clasped hands and a +face so full of terror that it was a sight to behold.</p> + +<p>Lillian flew to the door and unlocked it. Upon the +threshold, in awful dignity and a flannel dressing-gown, +stood Mrs. Raleigh.</p> + +<p>“What—what is the matter?” she gasped, feebly. “I +heard such a disturbance in here that I began to think the +house was on fire, or some other awful calamity had occurred, +so I left my bed, threw on a wrapper, and came +here at once. Rosamond,” turning to her weeping daughter +with a face full of alarm, “what has happened?”</p> + +<p>And then, amid sobs and tears, and wild terror unsuppressed, +Rosamond sobbed forth the story of the ghostly +apparition. Her mother listened with undisguised contempt.</p> + +<p>“A ghost? Bah! Rosamond Raleigh, I gave you credit +for a little common sense! If ever I hear anything of this +nonsense again, I shall tell your father. He will send you +off somewhere into the country”—Rosamond shivered with +disgust—“or to some place of retirement, and place you +under a physician’s care, and we will see if your nerves will +give way at every little strain. Rosamond Raleigh, you +are a fool!”</p> + +<p>She was a real Job’s comforter, Lillian thought; but +perhaps it was the proper course to take. At all events,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> +she knew the nature with which she had to deal. Rosamond +dried her tears and leaned her head against the soft +cushions of the chair, listening, with half-closed eyes, to her +mother’s lecture.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Raleigh went over to the door of the round room +and threw it open. One glance and she turned away with +a disdainful sniff. Darkness there, and nothing more.</p> + +<p>“It was all a delusion—a foolish fancy!” she exclaimed, +harshly.</p> + +<p>“It was not, indeed, Mrs. Raleigh. I beg your pardon +for contradicting you, but I saw it myself.”</p> + +<p>Lillian could not refrain from this outburst of explanation. +Mrs. Raleigh turned coldly upon her and transfixed +her with a Gorgon stare.</p> + +<p>“Did I address <i>you</i>, girl?” she demanded, severely. +“We never permit servants to speak their minds in that +way. You will have to learn your place if you remain in +Miss Raleigh’s employ.”</p> + +<p>“I do not know that I shall remain in Miss Raleigh’s +employ,” returned Lillian, quietly. “I was engaged as +companion, but find myself reduced to the position of waiting-maid. +The position is not an agreeable one, and I was +not educated and trained for a servant, Mrs. Raleigh.”</p> + +<p>“Mamma,” sobbed Rosamond, beginning to turn on the +water-works once more, “that girl will go away and will +tell everybody that this house is haunted; and she will +make Mr. Lyndon think me a horrible creature, and—”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Lyndon, indeed!” interposed Mrs. Raleigh, with +a look of disgust too deep for words to express. “And +pray, who is Mr. Lyndon, that he should be of such importance, +and his opinion so highly prized by Grafton +Raleigh’s only daughter? Rosamond, I think you forget +yourself! Jack Lyndon is only a poor newspaper <i>attaché</i>—a +mere nobody, with neither money nor position—only a +handsome face and a sharp tongue to call his own. He is +the last man in the world to whom your father would be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> +willing to give his daughter. You must be mad to think +seriously of Jack Lyndon. Put it out of your mind at once +and forever. He is a villain to try to win your heart.”</p> + +<p>Rosamond started to her feet, pale and wrathful, overcome +by anger which for a time was too deep for expression. +Twice she opened her lips to speak before the +words which she was striving to utter were suddenly hissed +forth, sharp and shrill:</p> + +<p>“Hush! Don’t say another word, mamma, for I will +not listen. A villain! Jack Lyndon is the best and noblest +man in the round world. And poor, without position +though he may be, he is the only man for whom I have +ever really cared, and—mamma, you may as well know it +now as later—I intend to marry him.”</p> + +<p>A low cry fell from Lillian’s lips. She could not forget +his words to her so short a time before; his tender tone +and the look upon his handsome face when he begged her +to let him stand between her and the storms of life. And +yet he must have said something which made Rosamond +Raleigh believe that he cared for her, or she would never +have spoken in that way. Mrs. Raleigh flashed about at +the sound of that low cry, and her hard, cold eyes swept +Lillian from head to foot.</p> + +<p>“So you are in love with him too, are you?” she +sneered.</p> + +<p>Rosamond turned her steely eyes upon the shrinking +girl.</p> + +<p>“You must be mad,” she hissed, “if you imagine for +a moment that Mr. Lyndon has ever thought seriously of +you. He is kind to everybody, and treats all women alike. +With the woman he loves, of course, it is different,” she +went on, icily. “If he has ever spoken kindly to you, or +noticed you in any way, it is because of the chivalry and +deference of his nature, but anything further is absurd.”</p> + +<p>And then memory reminded her with a cruel little stab +of Jack Lyndon’s words to her that very evening. He had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> +begged for a private interview with Lillian Leigh on the following +morning, and the look in his eyes when he made +the request of Rosamond revealed the secret of his heart. +He loved a woman dearly, but it was not Rosamond Raleigh! +And as Miss Raleigh remembered, her thin lips +shut themselves closely together, and the small, cold hands +clinched each other fiercely, while low under her breath +she muttered, with angry emphasis:</p> + +<p>“He shall not see her! He must not! I will manage it +some way, and I shall get rid of her as soon as possible.”</p> + +<p>So she turned to Lillian with a peremptory gesture.</p> + +<p>“Go to bed!” she commanded, sternly. “Last night +when I wished you to remain with me you made a great +fuss; to-night you seem inclined to remain up till morning. +Go to your own room. I shall not need you to-night, +and I wish to talk with mamma.”</p> + +<p>Thus summarily dismissed, Lillian said good-night briefly +and took her departure, sore-hearted and sad in mind and +body. What did it all mean? She had begun to trust +Jack Lyndon implicitly, and to find out his treachery was +a fearful blow. She closed the door of her room behind +her and stirred the fire into a cheery blaze. Her eyes fell +upon a card lying upon the table; she picked it up and +read these words penciled upon it:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“If Lillian Leigh would gain a clew to the murderer of +her father, let her be in the grounds by the east gate to-morrow +night at nine precisely.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Trembling like a leaf, Lillian read these words.</p> + +<p>“A clew!” she panted, at last. “Can it be possible? +What would I not do to gain possession of it? Oh, to find +out the name of the dastardly wretch who took my father’s +life I would be willing to lie down and die.”</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>Meanwhile, in Rosamond’s room, Mrs. Raleigh was talking +away in a low, eager tone.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span></p> + +<p>“You are right, Rosamond,” she said, excitedly, +“Lenore Van Alstyne has a secret—a bad secret, I am +certain. And <i>he</i> does not know it—does not dream it—that +pompous man who has bought her with his gold! She +hates him, but he does not know why. Here, I found this +in the dressing-room after the guests left last night. I saw +it drop from Lenore’s pocket. Read it, Rosamond, and +tell me what you think.”</p> + +<p>She thrust a scrap of paper into Rosamond’s hand. Her +face flushed with unholy triumph.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">HER LORD AND MASTER.</p> + + +<p>The wintery sunlight stole in at the windows of the +breakfast-room at Senator Van Alstyne’s sumptuous mansion. +It paved a shining pathway over the pretty crimson +carpet, over the round damask-covered table, glittering +with silver and crystal and delicate Sèvres china. A bird +sung in a gilded cage amid the flowering plants in the bay-window, +and the sunlight shone over all with a soft mellow +glow which even the sparkling wood fire upon the marble +hearth could not outshine. That same sunshine danced in +irreverent glee upon the top of Senator Van Alstyne’s iron-gray +head, as he sat with the morning paper before him, +absorbed in the news. But all the same there was a frown +upon his brow, and an unpleasant expression hovered +about his coarse red face which betrayed inward annoyance +or trouble. And so you will perceive that even riches can +not keep trouble away, and that a man may be a senator +and a millionaire, but still know what it is to be annoyed.</p> + +<p>He glanced up from his paper at last, and turned toward +the ormolu clock ticking musically upon the marble mantel, +and the scowl upon his face grew deeper.</p> + +<p>“In the name of Heaven, why does not she come<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> +down?” he exploded at length; “half past ten o’clock! +Why on earth a woman wishes to remain all day in her +room is more than I can tell. I will endure her airs and +graces no longer. When I married Lenore Vane I intended—”</p> + +<p>The click of high heels, the sweeping of silken skirts, +and the door of the breakfast-room opened and Mrs. Van +Alstyne appeared.</p> + +<p>She wore a pink surah morning-dress garnitured with +yellow lace, and her beautiful face looked like chiseled +marble, as with a cold, proud, weary manner she swept to +her place at the breakfast-table.</p> + +<p>“Good-morning, Van!” nodding slightly toward him. +“Really, I am unconscionably late! Why did you wait all +this time for me?”</p> + +<p>“Why?”</p> + +<p>It was as though the one word had been fired off like a +cannon-ball, so sudden and sharp was the expletive.</p> + +<p>“Simply because I have always told you, madame, that +I will never take my meals alone as long as my wife is able +to come to them. If you were ill it would be different; +but as it is I demand obedience, and I shall exact it hereafter!”</p> + +<p>She shut her white teeth hard together, and the white +hand that poured the steaming coffee from the silver urn +shook a little. But she compressed her lips over the sharp +retort which trembled for utterance, and went on with her +occupation. At last:</p> + +<p>“Here is a letter that came for you this morning,” he +snarled, as he tossed a square white envelope across the +table, where it fell beside her plate. “By the way,” he +demanded, harshly, his small eyes upon her face with a +look of menace, “who is ‘C. F.’?”</p> + +<p>“‘C. F.’?” And the blood forsook her white face; +the cup of delicate egg-shell china which she was about +lifting to her lips fell from her grasp and was shivered into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> +fragments. “You startled me, Van,” she observed, +apologetically.</p> + +<p>His eyes snapped.</p> + +<p>“But that is not answering my question,” he persisted. +“There’s no use in your trying to keep all your past to +yourself, Lenore Van Alstyne. When I married you, you +acknowledged that there was something in your past of +which I was in ignorance—deuced disagreeable to have a +wife with secrets in her life—and I agreed to ask no questions; +and it was also settled upon the day”—emphatically, +with his ugly eyes staring full into her own—“that I +honored you with my name, my hand and fortune, that all +your past was to be dropped forever with the name of +Vane. You remember that that was the agreement, +Lenore?”</p> + +<p>She bowed coldly.</p> + +<p>“Heaven knows I have small chance to forget,” she returned, +wearily, “since you remind me of it every day of +my life—every weary, endless day of my wretched life!” +she moaned, stopping short in a spasm of terror at sight +of the thunder-cloud upon his face.</p> + +<p>“See here, madame”—he brought his big, fat hand +down upon the table with a force which made the china +jump—“if all these heroics are intended to act as a means +of diverting me from getting at the truth, let me tell you, +my lady, that you are failing in your attempt. Once more +I ask—nay, demand of you, Mrs. Van Alstyne—<i>who is +‘C. F.’?</i>”</p> + +<p>“I do not know what you mean,” she faltered.</p> + +<p>“Well, are you never going to open that letter? You +will see by glancing at it that it is sealed with the monogram +‘C. F.’”</p> + +<p>For the first time she glanced at the letter. It was lying +face uppermost, addressed in a bold, legible hand to +Mrs. Lenore Van Alstyne. Surely that handwriting was +familiar to her? A strange pang shot through her heart,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> +an awful pallor overspread her cheek; she crushed her +teeth into her under lip with savage ferocity as she took +the letter from the table and turned it over. It was sealed +with a drop of wax, red and glistening, which bore the +monogram “C. F.” She knew then why her husband +had awaited her appearance at the breakfast-table. He +was afraid to open the letter and seal it again, as he had +been guilty of doing before now, for the wax could not be +broken and resealed without betraying the truth. Her lip +curled with disdain as she slowly opened the letter. One +glance—one swift, eager glance—and she started to her +feet with a low moan. One hand was pressed against her +heart as though to still its awful tumult, the other clutched +the letter in a most despairing grasp.</p> + +<p>“Heaven help me!” she whispered low under her +breath. And all the time those basilisk eyes were upon +her with an eager, devouring gaze, and Senator Van +Alstyne watched his wife as a cat watches the mouse upon +which it is about to spring. At last:</p> + +<p>“Well, Mrs. Van Alstyne, you seem inclined to be tragical +this morning!” he sneered. “Here, give me the +letter.”</p> + +<p>She drew back with a gesture of horror in her beautiful +dark eyes—a look that was bad to see.</p> + +<p>“No! no! no!” she panted, hoarsely; “you must +not! I—I mean that it is nothing. My heart hurts me +this morning, and I was a little startled! I shall be all +right soon, and—”</p> + +<p>“Mrs. Van Alstyne!”</p> + +<p>He darted forward and clutched her white arm in a grasp +of steel.</p> + +<p>“Give me that letter, I say!” he panted, glaring down +into her terrified face with his cruel eyes. “How dare you +have secrets from me—I, your husband, your lord and +master? Give me that letter at once, I command you, or +by the Heaven above us I will force it from you!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span></p> + +<p>Her head was crested like the head of some beautiful +wild creature brought to bay by the cruel hounds, and her +starry eyes flashed fire.</p> + +<p>“Unhand me, sir!” she commanded, in a low, ominous +voice. “Let go my arm, Van Van Alstyne, or I will ring +for the servants, and throw myself upon their protection!”</p> + +<p>“Will you give me that letter?” he hissed once more.</p> + +<p>“No! I will not! You have no more right to demand +my letters of me in this brutal way than I have to see yours—if +I care to—from the pretty ballet-dancer who wrote to +you yesterday!”</p> + +<p>He fell back a little, and his ruddy face grew pale.</p> + +<p>“Nonsense! A man and a woman are different in the +eyes of society. It would be a pretty thing if a woman +were allowed the same privileges that a man is permitted.”</p> + +<p>Her lip curled with haughty scorn.</p> + +<p>“We agree to disagree upon that subject, Senator +Van Alstyne,” she returned, quietly; “and now I will +finish my breakfast.”</p> + +<p>“You will do nothing of the sort! By Jove! madame, +I will have you to know that I am master of this house, +and that you—curse you!—are my wife! You belong to +me, just the same as my horses and dogs, my plate and +furniture! Give me that letter or I will take it.”</p> + +<p>She flashed him one look—a look of mingled scorn and +defiance—then, with a swift gesture, she wheeled about and +tossed the letter into the fire. It flamed up red and glowing—flared +and flickered and died down into a heap of +feathery ashes. Whatever secret the letter contained, it +was safe from Van Van Alstyne.</p> + +<p>For just a moment he stood there, glaring down into +her face, his own so distorted by rage that it had lost all +semblance to a human countenance. His eyes scintillated, +his burly form shook with wordless wrath. He wheeled +about, and lifting his hand, brought it down—oh, shame to +his manhood!—upon the white face of the woman before<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span> +him. No sound escaped her—no cry, no moan. Awful +silence fell over the room; she neither spoke nor moved. +The clock ticked away. One, two, three, four moments +had come and gone; then, with a swift gesture of unutterable +contempt, she lifted her scornful eyes to his face and—laughed. +It was a bad thing to hear—that laugh. He +grew pale, and shivered slightly as he heard it.</p> + +<p>“Ah, what a glorious country this must be!” she +sneered, in a low, cutting voice, “whose senate is honored +by such creatures as you! Wife-beater, falsifier, base, +perjured villain! How I loathe the name I bear!”</p> + +<p>“Take care that you do not dishonor it!” he sneered.</p> + +<p>She lifted her cold eyes to his face.</p> + +<p>“Dishonor?”—she laughed once more. “Look to +yourself, Van Van Alstyne.”</p> + +<p>She swept past him from the room up to her own chamber +ere he could detain her.</p> + +<p>Once alone in her room, with the door locked securely, +she threw herself face downward upon the floor with a +storm of bitter sobs.</p> + +<p>“He lives! he lives!” she murmured; “after all these +years he lives and is true! How horribly I have suffered, +how bitter my punishment, how fearfully I must atone! +Yet it was an unintentional sin—it was my mistake; this +is my punishment! God pity me and let me die, for my +heart is broken.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">DECEIVED.</p> + + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Lenore</span>,—Must see you. Failing in that, I will write +you to-morrow.</p> + +<p class="sig"> +<span class="smcap">Cyril.</span>”<br> +</p> +</div> + +<p>Those were the words written upon the scrap of paper +which Mrs. Raleigh eagerly displayed to her daughter. +Rosamond glanced the note over, and, crumpling it fiercely +in her hand, she lifted her eyes to her mother’s face.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span></p> + +<p>“Well, it is evident that she has a secret with a vengeance!” +sneered Rosamond, “for there is something behind +all this, I am sure. And it is no ordinary flirtation +or escapade, for Lenore never flirts, and is scrupulously +exact in her behavior. Mamma, this is a clew to the mystery +which hangs around Lenore Van Alstyne; I am sure +of it! Let me keep this paper. I will watch her closely +and wait in patience, and if I am not greatly mistaken +there will be developments before long. I never did fancy +Lenore’s reticence in regard to the early part of her life. +You know she lived in Europe with a relative of her father’s, +who afterward died, leaving her alone and dependent +upon us. But she never speaks of her girlhood’s days +or her life in Europe. If I chance to refer to that time +she changes the subject as hastily as possible; and I have +seen her grow pale and shudder perceptibly when I happened +to mention the subject. I should say that whatever +her secret may be, it must have occurred some time early +in her life, about her sixteenth or seventeenth year.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Raleigh nodded.</p> + +<p>“I believe you are right,” she said; “and now, Rosamond, +you had better retire. These continued late hours +are wearing upon you, and you are beginning to look +jaded and—and—old! I will stay with you to-night; you +are lonely and afraid.”</p> + +<p>“Do,” in a tone of relief. And so at last Rosamond +Raleigh’s head rested upon her pillow, but the wide-open +eyes staring into the darkness found no sleep. They saw +ever before them that pathetic little figure, the shadowy +hands working ever on, so patient—so piteously patient—even +like the fates weaving away at their never-to-be-completed +web. The memory of the vision in the round room +haunted Rosamond Raleigh sleeping or waking, and when +morning came she arose pale and unrefreshed, feeling as +though life were a veritable burden. As soon as breakfast +was over she summoned Lillian.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span></p> + +<p>“I want you to go down-town on an errand for me, +Lillian,” she began. “Here is a note to Madame Dupont, +my milliner. She has removed to a place quite out +of the world, I should say. Take the note and bring me +a reply. If she is not in wait for her return.”</p> + +<p>Lillian was more than willing to go. It was a crisp, +wintery morning, and a walk—even so long a walk—would +do her good. So she hurriedly prepared herself and +was soon in the street, her face turned in the direction indicated. +She had not been gone a quarter of an hour +when the door-bell rang and Jack Lyndon made his appearance. +Although his call was intended for Lillian, +prudence warned him that it would be more discreet to inquire +for Miss Raleigh. He was shown into the pretty +red-and-gold reception-room, and a little later he was +holding Miss Raleigh’s hand in his, gazing down into a +pair of frank, innocent blue eyes; just as frank and innocent +as though she had not sent Lillian away purposely, +and as though she were not playing a game—a desperate +game—which must either be won or lost.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Mr. Lyndon, I’m so glad to see you!” lifting the +frank blue eyes for an instant to his, then letting the gold-brown +lashes droop over them once more. “I was feeling +really blue and lonely, and wishing that my good fairy +would send some congenial spirit to me; and, lo! you have +come.”</p> + +<p>She looked fair and sweet as a picture, in a dainty +house-dress of pale-blue surah shrouded in white lace, fastened +at the throat with a quaint pearl brooch. But Jack +was full of the object which had brought him thither, and +felt possessed with the spirit of unrest. Rosamond talked +on gayly, cheerily, trying to divert his mind from the subject +with which it was engaged. At last:</p> + +<p>“Miss Raleigh, I have called this morning hoping to +obtain an interview with Miss Leigh. I have something +of real importance to say to her, and trust that you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span> +will permit me to infringe upon her time for a brief +space.”</p> + +<p>Rosamond’s face was like a marble mask. She arose +and rang the bell. A servant appeared.</p> + +<p>“Send my maid to me, Williams,” she commanded.</p> + +<p>The man looked blank.</p> + +<p>“If you please, Miss Rosamond, she’s gone out. She +left word with me that if you wanted her, to say that she +has gone up-town on an errand of her own, which you +gave her permission to attend to to-day. You see, Miss +Rosamond, you had not yet left your room, and Miss +Leigh did not wish to disturb you.”</p> + +<p>“Very well, Williams,” she returned. “You may +go.”</p> + +<p>And as the door closed behind him, Miss Raleigh added, +with apparent frankness:</p> + +<p>“Dear me! I wonder what Lillian’s particular business +up-town can be? I told her that you were coming here +this morning to see her in regard to a matter of importance. +She looked confused, but she said nothing. Now, +Jack—Mr. Lyndon, do not look so disappointed! Can not +I act as a substitute for my maid?”</p> + +<p>The tone of sarcasm in her voice had its own effect. +Jack colored slightly.</p> + +<p>“I—I beg your pardon, Miss Raleigh,” he said, hastily. +“I am aware that my conduct is very unusual. I beg +that you will be lenient with me, and try to believe that I +mean nothing wrong. And now I will bid you good-morning.”</p> + +<p>The look of disappointment which clouded her face was +genuine.</p> + +<p>“Why need you leave me so soon?” she pleaded. But +Jack, disappointed and chagrined, was not to be beguiled.</p> + +<p>He made his adieu and was soon out in the street, wandering +he scarcely knew whither. He was off duty for a +few hours, and the sense of freedom was sweet. He wandered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> +aimlessly down-town, away to the lower part of the +city, where the city parks lay basking in the wintery sunlight, +nearly deserted now by their usual occupants.</p> + +<p>All at once Jack lifted his head, and his eyes fell upon +a slight, graceful figure in deep black, seated upon a +bench in Douglas Park, her fair, pure face uplifted, while +the beautiful dark eyes watched the fleecy clouds overhead +with a dreamy, abstracted air. Why had Rosamond Raleigh +told him that Lillian had gone up-town, when in +truth she had taken the opposite direction? He drew near +the slight form.</p> + +<p>“Waiting for the clouds to roll by, Miss Leigh?” he +asked, mischievously.</p> + +<p>Lillian started, and a swift wave of color flamed into her +cheek as Jack came forward and seated himself at her +side.</p> + +<p>“Why did you run away?” he asked, plaintively.</p> + +<p>She laughed.</p> + +<p>“Run away? From what—or whom?”</p> + +<p>“From me!” he replied, venturing to take her hand in +his own. “I called upon you just now, but Miss Raleigh +informed me that you had gone up-town, or rather her +servant said so. I was in despair, so I wandered on without +aim; to-day is a holiday, and I seldom get one; but at +last fate led me straight to your side. Lillian, fate is +kind. My darling, say that you are glad to see me!”</p> + +<p>The frank brown eyes met his, and there was no dissimulation +in their depths.</p> + +<p>“I am glad,” she murmured, softly. “Oh, so glad to +see you! I was thinking of you just now!”</p> + +<p>He lifted her hand to his lips. They were almost as +much alone in the bleak, deserted park as Adam and Eve +in Eden; and indeed it was Eden to them.</p> + +<p>Alas! and alas! there is no Eden without a serpent!</p> + +<p>“Lillian, I love you!” The words burst from Jack’s +lips in a torrent of passionate yearning. “Darling, let<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span> +me take you away from that house where you are so unhappy! +Where you are ill-treated and insulted. Be my +wife, Lillian, and I swear before Heaven to do all in my +power to make you happy! And I will help you to find +your father’s murderer! I know that you will never forget +the vow that you took that awful night beside his +body. Let me help you, darling, in your efforts to bring +Gilbert Leigh’s murderer to justice! You do care for me, +Lillian, darling?”</p> + +<p>“With all my heart!” she answered, simply.</p> + +<p>“Then you will be my wife some day?”</p> + +<p>The shy, brown eyes drooped before his eager gaze, and +sweet and low came the answer, “Yes.”</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“Ah, good-evening, Mr. Lyndon. How glad I am that +you have come! My truant maid did not return until—oh, +a short time ago. And I have something to tell you, +a love secret that I have surprised. What do you think? +Lillian is in love!”</p> + +<p>Jack started, and his face grew deathly pale. Then he +remembered that she was his betrothed wife, and he +smiled.</p> + +<p>“In love? Oh, yes, why not?” he faltered; “and I +wish to say to you to-night, Miss Raleigh, that I—”</p> + +<p>“Hush!” smiling archly into his face, “I have surprised +a tender secret. Come with me, Mr. Lyndon; I +want to show you a pretty scene!”</p> + +<p>She opened a side door which led into the grounds, and, +quite bewildered, Jack followed the graceful figure in +black velvet and pearls, with a crimson shawl wrapped +about her shoulders. On to the furthest extremity of the +grounds, to the east gate. Rosamond halted, and motioned +Jack to be silent. In the clear moonlight everything was +visible, and this is what Jack Lyndon saw: The girl who +only that morning had promised to be his wife—Lillian +Leigh—clasped close in the arms of a man. And the pale<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span> +radiance of the moonlight glinting down upon the pair revealed +to Jack’s agonized eyes—the form and face of +Richard Raleigh!</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">ACCEPTED.</p> + + +<p>Lillian had gone to the rendezvous at the last gate +with perfect confidence, and with no thought of Richard +Raleigh in her mind. The night was very beautiful. +The moonlight silvered all things, and by its pale, clear +radiance she made her way to the trysting-place. Her +heart was filled with quiet happiness. Jack loved her. +To Lillian Leigh the beginning and the end of all things +was comprised in those words. Jack loved her, and wanted +her to be his wife. Of his poverty she never thought. +He earned a reasonable salary, and it requires but little to +keep two who are contented and satisfied with their lot +in life—happy in being together.</p> + +<p>Lillian had never been rich. She had never known the +pleasure of having all the money that she wanted, a handsome +home, rich dresses and costly jewels, servants to +command, and a carriage in which to ride. What one has +never possessed one can hardly miss; and she could see +only happiness and prosperity in the future for herself and +Jack. Ah! there never was any one like Jack! So handsome, +so brilliant, so manly and good! Her heart was +thrilling with love and devotion toward Jack Lyndon as +she hastened to meet this stranger who had written and +asked her to come. A clew to her father’s murderer! +The very thought made her heart beat fierce and fast +within her breast.</p> + +<p>“He shall be brought to justice, no matter who he may +be!” she muttered, as she hurried onward.</p> + +<p>The gate was reached at last, and Lillian came to a +halt. There was no one there. A rustic seat stood near<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span> +under a huge beech-tree. She seated herself and drew her +white cloak closer about her shoulders.</p> + +<p>“I wonder who it is and why he does not come?” she +said to herself, impatiently, and just a little frightened to +be out alone at that hour so far from the house.</p> + +<p>Crash! through the underbrush came the sound of +heavy footsteps. Pale and frightened, Lillian started to +her feet. The branches of the beech-tree grew thickly +around her, although denuded now of leaves. A hand +pushed the branches aside, and a tall, dark form loomed +up before her in the moonlight.</p> + +<p>“Lillian!” exclaimed a voice.</p> + +<p>One glance, and she fell back pale and trembling with +horror too deep for words.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Raleigh!” she panted; “I did not expect to see +<i>you</i>.”</p> + +<p>He laughed—an unpleasant, sneering laugh.</p> + +<p>“No, I suppose not. That was a surprise which I held +in reserve for you—a pleasant surprise, I trust, my dear. +Lillian, listen to me. Do not turn coldly away; I have +something to say to you, and, so help me Heaven, I mean +every word that I utter! Lillian, I love you! Stop! I +mean no insult. I love you purely, honorably, with all +my heart, and I ask you to be my wife. Do not look so +scornful; pause and reflect before you decline an alliance +with a Raleigh.”</p> + +<p>She stood before him pale as marble, her large dark eyes +lifted to his face in wordless scorn.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Raleigh, let me pass!” she commanded, coldly. +But he caught her hands in his own.</p> + +<p>“Stay, Lillian. No, I do not intend to be violent or +rude with you. I ask you to listen quietly to me, as quietly +as you would listen to Lyndon—curse him!—if he were +to make love to you as he does to every woman who is +foolish enough to listen to him. Ah, I guessed your +secret, my sweet Lillian; but when you have heard all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span> +that I have come to say, I imagine that you will change +your mind. Lillian, I wrote and asked you to meet me +here to-night that I might reveal the name of your father’s +murderer. It is more than a mere clew that I possess, +Lillian Leigh—I know the man who took your father’s +life.”</p> + +<p>She was trembling like an aspen, her white hands +clasped, her dark eyes shining like stars.</p> + +<p>“His name!” she panted, hoarsely; “tell me his name, +Mr. Raleigh!”</p> + +<p>Richard Raleigh bent his head, and his dusky eyes +studied her face with a fierce, eager intensity.</p> + +<p>“If I tell you what reward will you give me, Lillian?” +he queried, earnestly; “will you promise to be my wife?”</p> + +<p>She threw back her head with a haughty gesture, and +faced him with fearless contempt.</p> + +<p>“No! a thousand times, no!” she panted, angrily. +“I can conceive of no conditions, no circumstances, under +which I would consent to marry you, Richard Raleigh! +You are a bad man, a base, wicked man, and I despise and +condemn you. And I have no right to listen to words of +love from you, for I am already betrothed!”</p> + +<p>He started, his face flushing and paling alternately.</p> + +<p>“Is it possible?” he cried. “Since when, may I ask? +I have a good reason for my question.”</p> + +<p>“I promised to-day to be Mr. Lyndon’s wife!” she answered, +proudly.</p> + +<p>An awful look flashed over Raleigh’s face. He grew +pale, and his eyes held a strange, lurid, brassy light.</p> + +<p>“Jack Lyndon! Curse him! He is always in my +way!” he snarled. “He is a gay Lothario, making love +to every woman, every pretty face that he meets. To my +certain knowledge he has talked all sorts of soft nonsense +to Rosamond. He has other strings to his bow, and now +you too. Oh, Lillian,” in a tone of sad reproach and regret, +“I would rather see you dead than deceived and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span> +misled by Jack Lyndon. He is a notorious lady-killer, +and a man of no honor—”</p> + +<p>“Stop! Not another word, Mr. Raleigh. I will not +listen. Jack Lyndon is good and true—upright and honorable. +Such a nature as his is beyond your comprehension.”</p> + +<p>Richard Raleigh laughed.</p> + +<p>“Beyond my comprehension? I grant that,” he returned, +sardonically. “But if you believe for a moment +that Jack Lyndon is true to you, if you believe for a +second that when he is absent from you he does not make +love to other women—what, irresistible Jack! Beauty, as +he is called!—I will soon undeceive you. I have it in my +power to do so. Look!”</p> + +<p>He took from the seat where he had placed it a field-glass +of remarkably strong magnifying power. By its aid +any object could be distinguished a half a mile away. +Richard Raleigh arranged the glass which he turned upon +the drawing-room windows of the house. He brought it +within easy range by stepping into a side-path, clear from +obstructing trees and shrubbery.</p> + +<p>A moment’s silence fell, then a voice full of triumph:</p> + +<p>“Lillian, come, quick!”</p> + +<p>She scarcely realized what she was doing. Under ordinary +circumstances Lillian Leigh would have shrunk from +such an action; but almost before she was aware of it, she +found herself peering through the glass straight in at Miss +Raleigh’s drawing-room window. This is what she saw:</p> + +<p>Rosamond Raleigh seated in a low velvet chair, and +Jack Lyndon leaning over her, gazing into her face with +eager eyes, while one hand held hers. Lillian turned away +with a shudder.</p> + +<p>Raleigh laughed sardonically.</p> + +<p>“Are you satisfied that Jack Lyndon is at least a flirt?” +he asked, softly.</p> + +<p>She made no reply. What could she say? If Jack<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> +Lyndon were false and treacherous, in whom could she believe? +Sick and faint, she turned away, and seating herself +upon the rustic seat, she covered her face with her +hands. How long a time passed in silence she knew not. +The silence was broken at last by Raleigh’s voice.</p> + +<p>“Lillian, would you know the truth—the bad, black, +dreadful truth? Listen to me, then, and believe that I +speak truly, Lillian Leigh.”</p> + +<p>He stooped and spoke a few words in a low tone.</p> + +<p>With a moan of anguish she fell at his feet, and lay +there for a time quite oblivious to all that had come upon +her. Not unconscious, not in an ordinary swoon. There +are blows which fall crushing upon the human heart with +such force, such awful paralyzing force, that they benumb +the brain and bring a dull torpor upon the senses, crushing +the mind and the reason for the time being, because +they are not strong enough to believe and accept the full +force of the awful shock. In some such a trance poor +Lillian lay for a time. At last Raleigh stooped and lifted +the slight black-robed form in his arms, adjusting the +white cloak about her with a tender touch. It was certain +that with all his vices there was a soft, tender spot in +his heart for Lillian. But his face was set and stern, and +low under his breath he murmured, faintly:</p> + +<p>“I have half a mind to give up the whole business and +run away. But, no; there is too much involved. Father +has revealed too much; I have promised, and I can not go +back now that I have started on the road to success. I +have put my hand to the plow and must not turn back. +I must go on to the bitter end, no matter what the consequences +may be.”</p> + +<p>And as he lifted Lillian in his arms to place her upon +the rustic seat, just at that juncture Rosamond had appeared +with Jack Lyndon. But neither Lillian nor +Richard Raleigh dreamed of such a thing.</p> + +<p>One swift glance of horror, just long enough to know<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> +and realize that his eyes had not deceived him, or the +moonlight played any trick with his eyesight, and Jack +Lyndon wheeled swiftly about and retraced his steps to the +house, followed at a little distance by Rosamond, her heart +full of gratified triumph. She had succeeded beyond her +wildest hopes.</p> + +<p>The goal was very nearly won. If only she were patient +and played her cards properly all would yet be well.</p> + +<p>Back in the drawing-room once more, Jack seated himself +without a word. He felt in a mood for anything now—reckless +and desperate—fit for any mad deed. Lillian +was false. If that were so—and how could he doubt the +evidence of his own eyesight?—then there was not a woman +in the world worth caring for, worth trusting in. As he +sat in moody silence a soft hand was laid upon his forehead, +smoothing the hair from his brow, and a low, magnetic +voice murmured, sweetly:</p> + +<p>“Jack, don’t look so down-hearted. What in the world +is the matter? There,” with a low, rippling laugh, “I +hear Lillian coming into the house—the little deceiver. +Shall I call her in here and question her?”</p> + +<p>He shivered all over as with a chill.</p> + +<p>“Forbear!” he cried, lightly. “To intrude upon her +happiness would be unkind. Come, Rosamond,” calling +her by that name for the first time in his life, “let us sit +here and have a pleasant chat and shut out all the world—all +false women and men, all deceit and wrong-doing. +Let us be a veritable Darby and Joan, for one night only, +as the play-bills say.”</p> + +<p>He was in just the mood to fall into her snare, and +Rosamond Raleigh knew it.</p> + +<p>Poor though he was, she had learned to love the brilliant +young journalist with a mad, unceasing love of which +no one believed her capable. And she had made up her +mind to marry him.</p> + +<p>“I have money enough for both,” she had decided.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span></p> + +<p>To-night he was so reckless and defiant, so desperate +and bitter, that Rosamond’s gentle sympathy, her ignoring +of the possibility of Lillian having any claim upon his +affections, all had its own deadly effect.</p> + +<p>And sitting at Rosamond’s side in the dimly lighted +drawing-room, fully convinced of Lillian’s falseness and +unworthiness, and therefore considering himself free from +her, Jack Lyndon made the mad mistake of his life. He +asked Rosamond Raleigh to be his wife, and Miss Raleigh +promptly accepted him.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">IN THE CONSERVATORY.</p> + + +<p>Senator Van Alstyne’s splendid mansion was ablaze +with light. It looked like a fairy palace, glittering with +its brilliant illumination. Within, the great rooms were +thrown open, and wreathed and decorated with flowers, +with banks of roses and jasmine, and a flower-wreathed +nook from behind which a band of musicians sent forth +strains of music maddening, intoxicating. A grand reception +was taking place, and Senator Van Alstyne, in all +the ugliness of conventional evening-dress, was prominent +among his aristocratic guests, his red face fairly +shining with gratified pride and flattered vanity. In the +center of the great drawing-room stood a queenly figure in +a sweeping robe of white velvet, with diamonds sparkling +all over her white lace overdress like fairy frost-work glittering +with dew-drops. She was pale and cold and proud, +and in the depths of the beautiful dark eyes there was a +weary look—a look of self-scorn.</p> + +<p>“I am pitiably weak,” she was saying to herself, with +bitter self-contempt, “for I ought to have asserted my +dignity as a woman; and when that blow was struck me—that +cowardly, unmanly blow—it would have been better,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> +and I would have more self-respect now, if I had gone +away. Gone to toil and hardship—to work, to starve and +die, and be out of all this gilded misery. For, oh! if it +be true, and if he is living, what am I? I dared not read +the entire letter, for Van Alstyne would have taken forcible +possession of it; so I do not know his address, or where +he is, or where to write. Heaven help me!” she murmured, +feebly. “What shall I do?”</p> + +<p>Yet all the time these bitter thoughts were running riot +through her brain she was standing, the cynosure of all +eyes, in the sumptuous drawing-room, in her white velvet +and point lace and sparkling diamonds, the most admired, +even as she was the most beautiful, woman present. And +like a huge watch-dog Senator Van Alstyne moved about +near her, his keen, ferret-like eyes keeping vigilant watch +upon her movements.</p> + +<p>“I will find out what is tormenting her so!” he declared, +resolutely. “There is something wrong—some +secret—and it is connected with that letter. The next +letter that arrives for her shall be opened by my hands before +ever she sees it. It is no more than right that I +should know the contents of her letters. By Jove! she is +my wife, and I am her lord and master!”</p> + +<p>Just then his eyes fell upon a stylish, graceful little figure +in trailing yellow silk and blood-red rubies. A pair +of big, black, velvety eyes were uplifted with an admiring +expression to his face—with a look which drew him to her +side—and the great Senator Van Alstyne was soon engrossed +with Mrs. Vernon, a notorious flirt and belle, who +looked upon all men as lawful prey, and lost no opportunity +of subjugation. There was a Mr. Vernon, too; but +then nobody ever troubled themselves in regard to him, +save only as Mrs. Vernon’s husband. She monopolized +all masculine attention, and in her sweet, innocent, childish +way had been guilty of more cruelty, responsible for +more family feuds and conjugal infelicities than any other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span> +woman in the city. Yet she had always contrived to escape +blame or censure, and if any one ventured to blame +her she posed as a martyr, and was looked upon as the +victim of envious foes.</p> + +<p>“My dear senator,” she cooed sweetly, as she laid her +white-gloved finger-tips upon his black coat-sleeve, and +prepared for an agreeable promenade, “I really must congratulate +you upon the success of your entertainment. It +is <i>recherché</i>; it is the most perfect that I have ever witnessed. +And how superbly beautiful Mrs. Van Alstyne +looks to-night! No wonder everybody falls in love with +her. That reminds me to ask you the name of her new +admirer—the stranger who haunts her like a shadow. He +is so handsome—perfectly splendid. With such an interesting +pallor, and large, dark, melancholy eyes, silky +black mustache and wavy dark hair. I declare he is just +for all the world like the Giaour and all of dear, delightful, +awfully wicked Lord Byron’s heroes! And he looks +at Lenore—Mrs. Van Alstyne—with such a look! What +is his name, did you say, senator?”</p> + +<p>And she knew full well that the jealous old senator had +not said, and did not know, and it was for that very reason +that she had broached the subject. For Lenore had +been so coldly proud in her reception of Mrs. Vernon that +that lady could not find it in her heart to forgive her, and +instead had vowed to pay her back.</p> + +<p>She watched Van Alstyne’s face change from smiling +red to angry purple, and his small eyes snap with displeasure. +She noticed, too, the clinched hand and hard, +labored breathing. Nothing escaped her eager, malicious +eyes.</p> + +<p>“I have not the pleasure of knowing all Mrs. Van +Alstyne’s friends,” he returned, stiffly. “Be good enough +to point him out to me, Mrs. Vernon. Perhaps I can tell +you his name if I have the pleasure of seeing the gentleman.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span></p> + +<p>“Ah, yes, to be sure! I am always doing foolish, childish +things,” in a tone of mock sorrow. “Forgive me, +senator—please; and I’ll promise, like the naughty boy, +never to do it again. There! I see my fascinating hero—the +mysterious unknown. He is standing not far from +Mrs. Van Alstyne. She does not appear to see him at all; +but some magnetism draws him thither—sort of needle +and the pole attraction, you know,” with a silly laugh.</p> + +<p>Van Van Alstyne’s greenish eyes followed the direction +in which Mrs. Vernon was gazing. He saw a tall, graceful +figure in faultless evening-dress standing near Lenore. +A wondrously handsome man with a decidedly foreign aspect, +dark Oriental eyes, and pale, statuesque face. Lenore +evidently did not observe him. She was engaged in +conversation with a group of ladies and their attendant +cavaliers, but the stranger stood still as a statue, his eyes +fastened upon her like one who is biding his time, waiting +patiently for his hour to come. And still without observing +him she turned aside and wandered away to the conservatory. +Van Alstyne’s eyes shone with a lurid light, +and he set his yellow teeth close together, hissing forth a +naughty word from between them. He arose to his feet; +Mrs. Vernon arose also and laid her hand upon his arm. +He could not shake her off, and he knew it; it was best +also to keep in Mrs. Vernon’s good graces, so the wily +senator was compelled to stifle his yearnings in the direction +of the conservatory—the conservatory which Lenore +entered and went on straight to her doom.</p> + +<p>She wandered down the flower-scented aisles with a +tinkling fountain splashing dreamily and tropical birds +singing overhead in their gilded cages—birds that, like herself, +had been taken in their wild beauty and imprisoned +in a glittering prison against which they might beat their +wings in vain, for they could never escape—nothing would +free them but death. Lenore caught her breath with a +weary little sigh.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span></p> + +<p>“Nothing but death,” she murmured, softly; “and I +have the means of escape always with me.”</p> + +<p>She gazed upon one white finger on which a large solitaire +diamond glittered in the gas-lighted conservatory +like living fire.</p> + +<p>“No one would ever dream,” she went on, drearily, +“that under this shining stone there lies a drop of poison—such +subtle, deadly poison, and so swift in its effect, that +I have only to press the hidden spring in this ring to find +death and eternal quiet.”</p> + +<p>“Lenore!”</p> + +<p>A voice at her side—a rich, sweet voice, speaking in a +cautious tone. She started, and her face grew white as +marble. She pressed one hand against her heart, with a +low cry. One swift glance around the place, and then +both white hands were laid in his, and a voice full of suppressed +delight murmured, faintly:</p> + +<p>“Cyril! Good God! can it be you? I could not believe +it—I could not believe it even when I saw your letter! +Oh, Cyril! Cyril!”</p> + +<p>She threw herself into his arms, her proud head pillowed +upon his breast, her white arms wound about his neck, +and lay there in a very trance of delight.</p> + +<p>“Oh! my love—my love!” she murmured, softly. +“After all these years, to hold you thus once more! But, +Cyril,” starting up with wide-open, wild, dilated eyes and +a face of ashen pallor, “stop—and think! You—you +know all; and in your letter you said that if I would see +you, you would be able to explain away all the awful mistake +of the past. Tell me, Cyril—tell me, oh! my beloved, +you were not all to blame!”</p> + +<p>“So help me Heaven, I was not to blame!” he said, +fervently. “We were duped, betrayed, deceived—you +and I. It was not my fault—it was not our sin; and for +seventeen years—seventeen long, dark, bitter years—we +have walked apart upon this earth—you and I. But no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> +human power shall part us now, my darling—no one can +come between us ever any more.”</p> + +<p>Her eyes met his with wild terror.</p> + +<p>“Cyril—I am Van Van Alstyne’s wife,” she faltered.</p> + +<p>His eyes flashed. He stooped and whispered a few +words in her ear—words which made the blood leap madly +in her veins.</p> + +<p>“Cyril! Can you—prove it?” she cried.</p> + +<p>“I can and will, my beloved!” He held her close to +his heart once more, and showered kisses upon the sweet +red lips. “You are mine, Lenore!” he whispered, tenderly. +“All this mystery shall be cleared up, and the +world shall know the martyr you have been.”</p> + +<p>Footsteps! She sprung to an upright position and +hastened away, while her companion turned to encounter +the scowling face of the master of the house—and upon +his arm, smiling, giggling, the irrepressible Mrs. Vernon, +her black eyes twinkling with gratified malice and spite.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">FROM THE OTHER WORLD.</p> + + +<p>Slowly Lillian aroused herself, and in perfect ignorance +of what had taken place just a few feet away from the +scene of her own sorrow, sat up pale and trembling, Richard +Raleigh bending over her.</p> + +<p>“It is true, Lillian,” he said, gravely, “all true. But, +unless I speak, there is no proof—no way of proving to the +world the deed of which I accuse that man. We must be +quiet and wait patiently for the next developments. Lillian, +promise to be my wife, and I swear to unearth the +murderer and deliver him up to justice.”</p> + +<p>He was speaking fast and in low, eager tones. His face +had grown deathly pale—a strange, unearthly pallor—and +great drops of perspiration stood upon his brow. She put +up her hands with a repelling gesture.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span></p> + +<p>“Keep away!” she cried, wildly. “There is no truth +in you, Richard Raleigh! You are bad and false, and I do +not believe you. Keep away! Do not trouble me more, +for my brain reels, and I am weak and faint and half insane!”</p> + +<p>Her eyes were glittering with a feverish light; her hands +were hot and trembling; her breath came in fitful gasps. +She looked ill and weak.</p> + +<p>“It is all true, Lillian,” Raleigh repeated once more. +“It is a hard thing to say—hard, hard; but the truth can +not be denied. I repeat to you boldly—to you, the daughter +of the dead man, Gilbert Leigh—that <i>Jack Lyndon +took your father’s life</i>!”</p> + +<p>She put up her hands once more with a shrill cry of +pain.</p> + +<p>“Don’t!” she panted, hoarsely. “If there is any pity, +any mercy in your heart, Richard Raleigh, do not repeat +that false lie! Why should he do such a fiendish deed? +What motive could he have had?”</p> + +<p>Raleigh’s eyes flashed. If she would only discuss the +matter with him, there was a hope of convincing her of +the truth of his words.</p> + +<p>“Why, indeed?” he repeated. “Why should anybody +have had cause? Yet the awful deed was done. I will +tell you all if you have strength to listen; I will repeat the +circumstances of the affair just as I witnessed it, and then +you can judge for yourself. I was coming home from +Mrs. Howard’s reception, Lillian, on the night of your +father’s murder. It was late, and I had walked, so I hurried +onward, my head bent, my thoughts busy. All at +once I heard the sound of footsteps, and as the street was +deserted—I was coming down the street upon which you +then lived, Lillian—it attracted my attention, and glancing +up I saw your father, Gilbert Leigh, on the opposite side. +I was about to cross over and join him when the electric +light went out into darkness—you know their exasperating<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span> +ways—and when I was able to see once more, I observed +your father in eager conversation with another man. It +was very near your own door, Lillian; and just then you +opened your window and glanced out as though looking for +your father. I saw your sweet face and I halted; forgive +me, Lillian, I could not help thinking it was the sweetest +face in the round world. Your father was just beyond the +range of your window; you could not see him, so you closed +your blind and I turned away. Stepping on a few paces, +I caught the sound of men’s voices in angry altercation, +and once more I halted.</p> + +<p>“‘Give me the book!’ I heard an angry voice demand.</p> + +<p>“‘I will not!’ responded your father, firmly. ‘It does +not belong to me but to my employers, and I will defend +it with my life!’</p> + +<p>“Then an awful pause, broken by a smothered groan +and a sound like some one struggling upon the pavement. +I dashed across the street, and there I found—<i>don’t</i> look +at me with such horror-stricken eyes, Lillian—I found +your father in the grasp of murderous hands, just breathing +his last. Over him stood his murderer—that man, +Jack Lyndon. Why did I not denounce him at once, you +ask? Lillian, it was through sympathy and pity for you. +He told me that he was your intended husband; that your +father had treated him villainously; he fell upon his knees +before me and begged me to spare him and let him go +free. I weakly consented out of pity for you, oh, my beloved, +never dreaming that the day was coming when I too +should bow before you in humble supplication for your +love. I have carried this secret about in my heart, corroding +and poisoning my whole life, until I can keep silent +no longer. And now, Lillian, that you have heard all, +what will you do?”</p> + +<p>Her face froze over like a marble mask.</p> + +<p>“Denounce my father’s murderer, and give him up to +justice!” she said, in a low, stern voice.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span></p> + +<p>Richard Raleigh shuddered.</p> + +<p>“Lillian, listen. The secret is ours. No one else in +the wide world, but you and I, has any knowledge of his +crime. Shall <i>I</i> denounce him, or shall <i>you</i>? You did +care for him once; but you shall, if you wish, deliver him +over into the cruel hands of the law.”</p> + +<p>She covered her face with her hands, sobbing and trembling +in a weak, womanish way.</p> + +<p>“I can not—I can not!” she sobbed, bitterly. “No, +no; a thousand times no! I will not speak! I will die before +I will denounce Jack Lyndon! I can not believe it; +it is all false—false—false!”</p> + +<p>Richard Raleigh took her hand in his.</p> + +<p>“It is true, Lillian; and because it is true I am going +to denounce him to the authorities—Jack Lyndon, the +murderer of your father!”</p> + +<p>She started up with a low cry.</p> + +<p>“You shall not! You shall not, Richard Raleigh!”</p> + +<p>“I must. Justice demands it.”</p> + +<p>“You shall not! You must not!” wringing her hands +in wild beseeching. “Have pity—have mercy! My brain +is reeling—I know not what I say. <i>Only spare him!</i> I—I +loved him once—loved my father’s murderer! Oh, +God! And I stood beside my father’s body and vowed to +deliver his murderer up to justice! What a weak—pitifully +weak wretch I am!”</p> + +<p>“You are a woman, consequently weak in resolution +where one you love is concerned. Let me do it, Lillian! +I will deliver Jack Lyndon into the hands of the law. I +<i>must</i>; it is my duty.”</p> + +<p>“Richard”—calling him by his name, in a voice full of +heart-break, seizing his hand in both her burning palms—“listen +to me. If you do this thing—if you persist in this +determination—if you denounce Jack Lyndon to the authorities, +I will take my own life!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span></p> + +<p>For just a moment, silence—awful silence; then Richard +caught the girl’s slight, trembling form in his arms and +held her close against his breast.</p> + +<p>“Darling, I love you! My God, how I love you!” he +panted. “Be mine, Lillian—be my wife, loved and honored; +the wife of Richard Raleigh, only son of Grafton +Raleigh, millionaire. It is no position to scorn. Be my +wife, Lillian, and I swear to let Jack Lyndon go free, to +hold my peace, and leave him to God and his own conscience! +Refuse me, and I will—I must—let the law take +its course! But I prefer to give up the pursuit, to let remorse +do its own work in Jack Lyndon’s breast—a +Nemesis to hunt him down. Believe me, Lillian, if the +dead—the holy dead—can behold us, he, your departed +father, will approve—would say, if his dumb lips were unsealed: +‘Daughter, forego vengeance. Leave that to +Heaven.’”</p> + +<p>He paused and gazed around him in the pale moonshine. +What ailed the moonlight? It seemed to grow suddenly +dim and obscure, as though the moon were in an eclipse. A +strange chill had crept into the air; an awful unseen presence +seemed to stand at their sides. Lillian glanced up +with a convulsive shudder.</p> + +<p>“Who called me?” she cried, wildly. “Mr. Raleigh, +I swear to you I heard my father’s voice—my dear, dead, +murdered father call clearly, distinctly, ‘Lillian!’”</p> + +<p>He caught her to his heart once more. She had no +strength left to repulse him now.</p> + +<p>“Superstitious child!” he cried. “Darling, my life is +in your hands; what are you going to do with it? Think +it all over, and let me know your decision. Be my wife at +once, and be lifted out of this poverty. You need not fear +my parents’ displeasure; I know how to win their consent, +and I swear before high Heaven, I swear before my +Maker, by all my hopes of happiness, to let Jack Lyndon +go free and unaccused! Will you consider it, Lillian, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> +give me your answer to-morrow? Meet me at this place +at ten to-morrow night. Will you come, Lillian?”</p> + +<p>Her face was as pale as death, her eyes full of heart-break.</p> + +<p>“Yes; I will be here with my answer to-morrow night +at ten,” she returned, mechanically.</p> + +<p>She slipped away and up the path like a wild creature, +back to the house, and fled upstairs to Miss Raleigh’s +chamber, where she threw herself down upon the rug before +the fire, shivering violently. Not a word did she utter. +Her heart was in a tumult, her brain seemed on fire. +The closing of the outer door of the house aroused her at +last, and she knew that Jack was gone. Click! click! +came the sound of high heels, and a little later Miss Raleigh +entered her room. Her face was all aglow with triumph +as she sunk into an easy-chair.</p> + +<p>“Come and take off my shoes, Lillian,” she commanded. +“I feel like sitting up till morning, for I am +just too happy to sleep! Oh, Lillian! I must tell somebody, +or my heart will burst with its burden of gladness! +Lillian, Jack Lyndon has asked me to be his wife; and, +poor though he is, I love him, and have accepted him. +He loves me so dearly—so very dearly, Lillian—and he has +loved me so long, but feared to speak before. Lillian!”—with +a voice full of horror—“look!”</p> + +<p>She had started to her feet with a gasp of terror. All of +a sudden the gas-light had begun to grow dim and burn +with a faint, blue, unearthly glow. And then—<i>then</i>—the +door of the round room opened slowly—slowly—and there, +upon the threshold, pale and wan and pathetic, with one +hand pressed upon her heart, and great, sad, dark eyes +lifted to Miss Raleigh’s horrified face with a look of wild +beseeching—stood the apparition of Noisette.</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">A GUILTY CONSCIENCE.</p> + + +<p>Rosamond Raleigh’s blue eyes grew black as night as +they stared in wildest terror into the face of the apparition.</p> + +<p>A convulsive tremor crept over her frame. She fell +back a few paces and lifted her hands with a maddened +gesture.</p> + +<p>“Keep back! keep back!” she shrieked. “My God! +am I never to be free from this horrible thing? Lillian—look—for +the love of Heaven, look!”</p> + +<p>Lillian had been standing all this time, white and wild-eyed, +gazing before her upon the awful sight. She turned +aside with a low groan.</p> + +<p>“Miss Raleigh, it is really true”—the girl’s voice was +low and faint—“you are—you must be—haunted! I have +never believed in such things before, but I can not doubt +the evidence of my own eyesight upon so many occasions. +I, of course, have never seen the young girl Noisette +Duval, but you seem to recognize her.”</p> + +<p>“Recognize her!” with a hysterical laugh. “I should +think so indeed. Even that endless painting upon which +she is always working is familiar to me. She died, stricken +down by heart disease, in the round room yonder, while +engaged in painting poppies and vine leaves upon an +amber satin panel for a ball-dress—just the loveliest thing. +Oh, Lillian!”—bursting into a flood of hysterical tears—“I +have never been able to wear amber—<i>so</i> becoming to +me, too—since that day. There—thank Heaven, it is +gone!” sinking into a seat with a sigh of intense relief.</p> + +<p>Lillian came slowly forward and removed Miss Raleigh’s +dainty kid boots, substituting velvet slippers; and then, +Rosamond having donned a comfortable wrapper, Lillian +began her nightly task of brushing out her long yellow<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> +hair. She was silent and sad; her heart lay quivering on +her breast, bowed down with that awful weight of dull anguish +and despair. Surely she was but a foot-ball of fate. +What a burden for such young shoulders to bear! Yet she +must bear it and be silent—for the present at least.</p> + +<p>And while her heart was aching madly in her breast she +stood and brushed out the silky hair of the idle, contemptuous +beauty who was going to marry the man whom Lillian +Leigh loved—the man who, with unheard-of fickleness, +had asked her to marry him only that morning, and +then at night had besought—oh, the irony of fate!—the +woman who employed her as waiting-maid—servant—to +be his wife. Could such perfidy be possible?</p> + +<p>There is not a woman in the world who will fail to understand +the emotions which racked the poor girl’s heart +as these thoughts rushed through it like a torrent. Love—deep +and devoted love—which at the same time was full +of scorn and contempt; despair, anguish unutterable, yet +all the time the pride of a woman to uphold her. Ah! +woman’s pride—woman’s pride! When God made woman +weak and loving, with such utter self-abnegation in her +love, He gave her also the delicate, sensitive instinct which +keeps many a woman’s feet from by and forbidden paths. +The pride which is part of a woman’s nature will sustain +and uphold her ofttimes when nothing else will. There +are women—Heaven help them!—who have nothing left +them but their womanly pride. Pure and cold as snow and +hard as adamant, it stands like a glittering wall of ice between +her and the world. That pride was all that Lillian +Leigh had to lean upon now, in her hour of darkness. It +was her rock and her defense in time of trouble.</p> + +<p>“I shall be married soon,” observed Rosamond, complacently, +yet glancing furtively about her with frightened +eyes; “for if I remain much longer in this house I shall +die of fright. Of course Jack has but small means, but I +have money enough for us both, and—”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span></p> + +<p>“And he will consent to live upon your money?” burst +forth Lillian, impetuously. “Miss Raleigh, I could never +respect a man who would do that!”</p> + +<p>Miss Raleigh’s thin lip curled with a condescending +smile.</p> + +<p>“My dear Lillian, you have not been asked to respect +Mr. Lyndon. And as for living upon my money—that +question lies between ourselves solely and absolutely. Mr. +Lyndon is not accountable to you, or <i>any</i> of my servants, +I hope!”</p> + +<p>Lillian made no reply. The hot blood rushed to her +white face in a surging flood; then it receded, leaving her +pale as death.</p> + +<p>“May I go now, Miss Raleigh?” she asked, wistfully. +“See, the clock’s hands are pointing to one; and I am +very tired.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, go!” ungraciously. “I imagine that I shall not +be disturbed again to-night. I must devise some plan to +get rid of or outwit this ghostly visitant—to guard +against its reappearance. I <i>must</i> put a stop to it!”</p> + +<p>She started as the audacious words passed her lips, her +face took on a deathly pallor, and her eyes dilated with +sudden horror. Surely that was a laugh—a low, sweet, +mocking laugh which had fallen upon the silence as though +defying her to do her worst. Rosamond fell back into the +chair from which she had just arisen, and sat clutching +wildly at its carved arms.</p> + +<p>“Lillian, as surely as you live, that was Noisette’s voice—Noisette’s +laugh. I remember it well, although she +seldom laughed aloud. She was a grave, quiet, taciturn +girl—one who had little to say, and was never demonstrative +or merry. Yet I swear that was Noisette Duval who +laughed then as though in derision. Don’t go to bed now, +Lillian, for Heaven’s sake! I will not stay here alone now. +No, I will retire, and you may go after I am asleep. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span> +will take a sedative, and will be sound asleep in a short +time.”</p> + +<p>Utterly selfish, the cruel woman did not pause to reflect +upon the terrors which Lillian was suffering. The poor +girl was timid and nervous as any other woman would +have been under the circumstances, and she longed to +reach the privacy of her own chamber—longed intensely to +be alone, to stare her sad future in the face. But the +woman unfortunate enough to be employed by Rosamond +Raleigh was allowed no time to weep over her own sorrows.</p> + +<p>Rosamond hurriedly prepared herself for bed; then she +went to an Indian cabinet which stood in all the glory of +quaint carving in one corner of the room, and opening it, +took a bottle from one of the shelves. The vial bore a +suggestive label—two cross-bones surmounted by a grinning +skull, and below, in large letters, “Chloral—<i>Poison!</i>”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Miss Raleigh,” interposed Lillian, “surely you +will not take that? It might kill you.”</p> + +<p>“Nonsense, you little goose! I always take it when I +am disturbed at night. It is the only thing that makes +me sleep.”</p> + +<p>She took a golden spoon from the cabinet and dropped +a few drops of the chloral into some water, then hastily +swallowing the dose, she returned the vial to the cabinet +and retired for the night. Five minutes later she was +wrapped in a heavy, sluggish slumber.</p> + +<p>Free at last, Lillian turned the gas down to the faintest +glimmer, and at last sought her own room. The fire had +gone out, the lamp burned low. She went straight to bed +and lay there all the rest of the night, her eyes wide open, +while she tried to stare her future in the face. The pale +gray light of dawn creeping in at the window found her +still sleepless; but at last she sunk into an unquiet sleep +which lasted until the dressing-bell rang.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span></p> + +<p>She awoke with a start, and, pale and spiritless, arose +and made her simple toilet. With light footsteps she entered +Miss Raleigh’s sleeping-room. Rosamond lay sleeping +soundly, so Lillian dropped the shades over the windows, +extinguished the gas, and softly withdrew.</p> + +<p>One day—only one brief day, and then she must give +Richard Raleigh his answer. Her whole future hung +trembling in the balance, and before the sun should set +that night her decision must be made.</p> + +<p>Coming down-stairs on her way to the conservatory to +gather a bouquet for Rosamond’s boudoir, Lillian accidentally +encountered the master of the house. His face +looked pale and grave, and there was an air of preoccupation +about the pompous millionaire which she had never +observed before. To her amazement, at sight of her, Mr. +Raleigh stopped short, and a smile from which she shrunk +involuntarily crossed his lips.</p> + +<p>“Ah, good-morning, Miss Leigh,” he said, pleasantly, +unctuously. “How are you this fine morning? I am +afraid that you are working too hard. You look pale—too +pale, Lillian. I do not wish you to be overworked, and +really the work is unsuited for you. We will find you +something better—something better,” with a smile and a +pat of the girl’s soft hand which he had taken in his own. +“This occupation is entirely out of place,” resumed the +millionaire, blandly; “this is no business for Gilbert +Leigh’s daughter—no, indeed! It is a shame that you +should hold a position of this kind in my household, and I +mean to put an end to it.”</p> + +<p>Utterly overwhelmed, Lillian could only bow and murmur +something unintelligible in regard to his kindness, +and then she withdrew her hand and hurried to the conservatory, +feeling very uncomfortable and far from easy in +her mind. Grafton Raleigh had never noticed her before, +save in a chance encounter in the hall or some of the +rooms, when the stiffest of bows would be all the notice<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> +ever vouchsafed by him to his daughter’s waiting-maid. +Lillian did not like this sudden change of demeanor, and +she hurriedly gathered her flowers and retreated up the +stairs, with a vague terror creeping into her heart, a feeling +that some new calamity was threatening her.</p> + +<p>The breakfast hour in the handsome breakfast-room +found Mrs. Raleigh, her husband and son, alone at the +table.</p> + +<p>“I wonder what keeps Rosamond so late?” observed +Richard, turning over the pile of letters beside his plate.</p> + +<p>His father frowned.</p> + +<p>“That girl is getting altogether too indolent!” he observed. +“And I do think she keeps that little maid of +hers up half the night, Helen!”—turning swiftly to his +wife at the head of the table, behind the silver urn. “I +insist that you inquire into this matter. The girl is no +common servant, remember, and she may astonish you +some day.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Raleigh favored her husband with a long, comprehensive +stare.</p> + +<p>“Well, I declare,” she burst forth, indignantly, “wonders +will never cease! My daughter’s waiting-maid must +indeed be possessed of rare graces to have attracted the attention +of the fastidious Grafton Raleigh. Rest assured—Ah, +there comes Rosamond now! The poor child has had +a bad night. I can see that at a glance.”</p> + +<p>The door of the breakfast-room had swung slowly open, +and Rosamond, in a pale-blue wrapper which made her +pale face look even more death-like, glided into the room. +She was wan and haggard, and there were dark circles beneath +her eyes. At sight of her, her mother’s face grew +stern.</p> + +<p>“Rosamond”—in a reproving voice—“you have been +taking chloral again.”</p> + +<p>Rosamond halted just within the door, which she closed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span> +behind her. She glanced into her mother’s face as she +burst forth in a shrill treble:</p> + +<p>“Yes, I have been taking it, and I shall be compelled +to resort to it every night or never sleep again on earth if +something is not done to relieve me of the visitations from +which I suffer. Papa—mamma! it is the truth, so help +me Heaven! I am haunted—haunted by the spirit of +Noisette Duval. I am never safe from it. It comes when +I am sad and when I am cheerful; it comes at night and +at day; when I am alone and when Lillian is present! +And, papa”—wringing her hands nervously—“I have +concluded to ask—to beg of you—permission to have the +round room closed up forever. Will you consent, papa?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Raleigh sneered and frowned and objected, but he +ended by being overruled. Before noon of that day half +a dozen workmen were busily engaged in sealing up the +pretty octagonal chamber. The door of communication +between it and Rosamond’s sleeping-room was removed, +the aperture closed, and the wall papered to correspond with +the rest of the room. The door leading into the hall was +also removed, and when the work was completed Rosamond +congratulated herself upon having completely exorcised +the spirit which so persistently haunted her.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">MISJUDGED.</p> + + +<p>Silence in the conservatory, where we left Senator Van +Alstyne standing, red and angry, in the presence of the +stranger who was also his guest.</p> + +<p>The two men stood silently regarding each other. Van +Alstyne’s ferret-like eyes glowed with a lurid light, an unpleasant +sneer curled his sensual lip, half hidden by the +long, carefully kept mustache.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Vernon, still hanging on the senator’s arm, glanced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span> +from one to the other, and thoroughly enjoyed the situation.</p> + +<p>Van Alstyne bowed coldly, stiffly.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon, sir. There is some mistake, +doubtless;” the irate senator spoke with ill-concealed disgust; +“but I have not the—ahem!—honor of your acquaintance, +Mr.—”</p> + +<p>“Fayne, sir—Cyril Fayne,” with quite as cold a salute +as the senator himself had bestowed, and upon his matchless +face a look of utter contempt and scorn.</p> + +<p>So this was the man who had bought Lenore Vane with +his gold. This creature who possessed so little of the true +refinement of a gentleman that he would not receive a +guest who was unknown to him with the calm courtesy +due from one gentleman to another under any circumstances. +And that Cyril Fayne was a gentleman was as +patent to the observer as that Van Van Alstyne was not.</p> + +<p>Low under his breath Cyril Fayne was muttering softly:</p> + +<p>“Heaven help her! Her burden has been hard to bear. +Poor Lenore—poor heart-broken Lenore! Curses upon +the man—the man whom I believed years ago to be my +friend, and who is to blame for all this misery! All the +sorrow and anguish of our parting, and the seventeen +long, dark, bitter years which lie between that time and +now. Curse him! Wherever he is, I shall find him if he +is still above ground. All her happiness blighted; all the +best of my life spoiled; all the woe and anguish that have +been mine until now—though I am not old, for I have +seen but forty years—I feel as if my whole life had come +to an end!”</p> + +<p>And while these thoughts were rushing through his +brain, he was standing still as a statue, while Van Van +Alstyne’s eyes were searching his face with an ill-bred +stare which at last became more than Cyril Fayne could +endure.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span></p> + +<p>“Possibly Senator Van Alstyne recognizes an old acquaintance +in me!” he suggested, mockingly.</p> + +<p>Van Alstyne’s red face grew purple with rage.</p> + +<p>“No, I do not!” he cried, vehemently; “and I must +say that my wife shows deuced small respect for her husband—her +protector—by Jove! her lord and master—to +receive men at her reception who are not only strangers to +me, but whom she does not trouble herself to present to +me!”</p> + +<p>“Your wife!”</p> + +<p>The two words fell like stones from Fayne’s lips; and +the moment they were spoken he realized that he had +made a mistake.</p> + +<p>Senator Van Alstyne stared for a moment, too astonished +to utter a word; then bristling with rage, he drew a +step nearer, and Heaven only knows what atrocity might +have been perpetrated, but down came a tiny gloved hand +upon his arm, and a sweet voice cried, gayly:</p> + +<p>“Come, senator, you promised to show me the datura! +Now, don’t stand here squabbling over nothing, I beg of +you! Of course Lenore—Mrs. Van Alstyne—will make +everything clear. Dear me! if Mr. Vernon should make +such a fuss over every gentleman whom I invite to our +house without consulting his royal highness, he would live +in a tumult for sure. Van Van Alstyne, you are as jealous +as a Turk. Now, if I were your wife—”</p> + +<p>The fascinating Mrs. Vernon possessed more influence +over the doughty senator than any other living creature. +Fayne bowed coldly and stepped aside for them to pass. +While down went the senator’s iron-gray head, and his +thick lips touched the gloved hand resting upon his arm, +while he whispered, softly:</p> + +<p>“If you were my wife! Oh, Bessie, if you only were!”</p> + +<p>And thus you will perceive that senators, and even married +senators, are not quite impervious to a little flirtation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span> +with a pretty woman. And it is possible that, while they +are so particular that their wives should be like Cæsar’s +better half, “above suspicion,” the lives of many a public +man are not beyond reproach. Van Van Alstyne’s creed +was that a man can do as he feels inclined; a woman +must conduct herself as she is directed. One creed for +the man and another for the woman, and, of course, no +equality. In this case the superiority was all upon one +side, not the senator’s. And there are many men like +Van Van Alstyne.</p> + +<p>As soon as Cyril Fayne had disappeared, Mrs. Vernon +lifted her great black velvety eyes with their belladonna +brilliance and their delicately painted lids to the face of +the man at her side with an affectation of child-like innocence.</p> + +<p>“Where did dear Lenore disappear to?” she queried, +sweetly. “Didn’t you see her when we entered the conservatory? +No? Is it possible? Why, I saw her in close +conversation with that delightful Mr. Fayne. I say, Van, +he is delightful, isn’t he? No? Oh, you horrid creature! +Of course, I don’t consider any man so nice as—as—you,” +giggling like a school-girl. “There now, I am certain I +see Lenore. Yes, to be sure. Nobody else wears white +velvet, point lace, and such diamonds as Senator Van +Alstyne’s lovely wife. And if there is not such a costume +as I describe seated over yonder—there, by the banksia +roses—then I’m a kitten, that’s all! Ah, Mrs. Van Alstyne,” +as they suddenly appeared before Lenore, who +glanced up with a swift start, “we have been looking for +you everywhere. Why did you not present that handsome +Mr. Fayne? You ought not to be so selfish as to +keep him all to yourself, when half the ladies in the drawing-room +yonder are just dying to know him. But the +senator and I hunted him up and down, and Mr. Van Alstyne +introduced himself, and we found that he is Mr. Cyril +Fayne. So your pretty little mystery is a mystery no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span> +longer. Lenore! Mrs. Van Alstyne! you are ill—you are +going to faint!”</p> + +<p>Lenore lifted her heavy eyes, and passed one hand over +her brow as though to relieve the dull pain which was +throbbing in her temples.</p> + +<p>“Ill? No, no!” she gasped, feebly. “What were you +saying, Mrs. Vernon, about—about some gentleman—Mr.—”</p> + +<p>“Cyril Fayne,” supplemented Mrs. Vernon, promptly; +“at least, so he introduced himself. Your husband has +made his acquaintance, after a fashion. I do not imagine +that they love each other very dearly, however. Certainly +not a case of love at first sight.”</p> + +<p>“Hardly!” growled the senator. “Why, the fellow +actually sneered when I spoke of you, Lenore, as my +wife! There! Bessie, she has fainted.”</p> + +<p>Lenore had started to her feet, and then, with a long, +quivering sigh, had fallen back into the chair once more, +pale and still.</p> + +<p>“Hush!” commanded Van Alstyne, as his companion +evinced signs of excitement. “Be still, will you? I +don’t want the whole crowd out yonder to gather in here—and +the story would go the rounds of the newspapers to-morrow, +with some infernal lie tacked on to it. Just hold +her head, Bessie, while I get some water from the fountain +yonder and bathe her head. Chafe her wrists a little. +Gently—there!”</p> + +<p>He hastened to the tiny fountain splashing dreamily +into a marble basin, and soon returned with a silver cup +full of its perfumed water. As he approached the recumbent +form of his wife, Mrs. Vernon dropped something +which she had been holding in her hand, with a hasty +glance in his direction—and Van Van Alstyne did not +know that the appearance of haste was assumed on purpose +to excite his curiosity. He stepped swiftly to her +side.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span></p> + +<p>“What is it, Bessie?” he asked, cautiously.</p> + +<p>She smiled.</p> + +<p>“Oh, nothing that you have not seen before, I dare +say,” she returned. “Only a medallion that Lenore +wears about her neck.”</p> + +<p>His red face flushed a deeper crimson.</p> + +<p>“A medallion! I never gave it to her,” he panted. +“Let me see it, Mrs. Vernon.”</p> + +<p>And before Bessie Vernon could stop him—if she had +wished to—he drew forth from its hiding-place about +Lenore’s white throat, a black onyx locket in the shape of +a medallion. An instant later he pressed the spring and +the lid flew open. One glance, and with a hoarse cry of +rage and jealous wrath too deep for articulate expression, +Van Van Alstyne dropped into the nearest seat, and sat +staring helplessly into Mrs. Vernon’s face. She laughed +lightly.</p> + +<p>“Ah! so you see that your cold, white marble women +are not always as immaculate as they appear!” she +sneered. “Lenore Van Alstyne is so good, so awfully, +fearfully good! She will never flirt, or do anything just a +little ‘off;’ she preaches domestic felicity—a regular +Darby and Joan sort of existence; she frowns severely +upon poor me because I like to flirt and am gay and full +of life; and all the time, night and day, she wears about +her neck, hidden from view, the portrait of a man who is +not her husband. Do you see, Van Van Alstyne? This +little thin chain to which the medallion is attached is +riveted on. And do you recognize the face of the portrait? +It is the face of Mr. Cyril Fayne.”</p> + +<p>Silence—perfect silence. An awful tempest was raging +within the man’s soul. He stood still as death. There +was no sign of life save the slow rising and falling of his +chest. His face was ghastly white; his under lip bleeding +from the ferocity with which he had gnawed it; his hands +were clinched fiercely together. He took a step in Lenore’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span> +direction, where she still lay, white and unconscious, +rigid as though life were extinct. He lifted his strong +right hand as though to strike her in all her helplessness. +Swiftly the hand was uplifted, slowly it fell to his side +once more. A strange expression crept over his face; an +awful resolution settled down upon it like a mask. He +turned, and his eyes met Bessie Vernon’s. He smiled. +It was bad to see that cold, cruel smile.</p> + +<p>“I will not touch her!” he muttered, hoarsely. “Put +the trinket back where you found it, under the lace at her +throat, Bessie; and keep your tongue still over this unpleasant +scene, or—or I will make you sorry for it. We +will let Mrs. Lenore Van Alstyne go on in her own road +and say nothing at present. But the day will come—the +day will surely come when she will wish that she had died +to-night—here—now.”</p> + +<p>He turned upon his heel and left the conservatory, Mrs. +Vernon, with a scared look upon her pretty face, following +closely in his wake. She felt like a child who has been +playing with fire which suddenly burst forth into a conflagration +which nothing could subdue.</p> + +<p>And poor Lenore—poor wronged Lenore! who was innocent +of sin, if only he had known or would have believed +it, lay there still unconscious, like one dead. Better +for her if she had been!</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">THE DIE IS CAST.</p> + + +<p>Nine! boomed from the big clock in a neighboring +steeple; nine! tinkled musically from the gilded time-piece +in Miss Raleigh’s boudoir.</p> + +<p>Lillian started up with a cry of dismay, and the lace-work +with which she had been risking her eyesight fell +from her hands to the floor.</p> + +<p>“One hour more,” she murmured, faintly, “only one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span> +hour more, and then I must give Richard Raleigh his answer. +Oh, Heaven, help and pity me!”</p> + +<p>She was all alone in the dainty boudoir, for Rosamond +was below in the drawing-room, entertaining a few guests—Mrs. +Vernon and one or two more of Rosamond’s particular +friends. And she was expecting Jack. Of course +he would come, and then there would be an interview—a +private interview—with papa in the library, and the poor +journalist would ask for the hand of the millionaire’s +daughter.</p> + +<p>“And if papa refuses,” thought Rosamond, “for Jack +is not rich, and papa may object—I—I shall marry him +anyway! I am of age, fortunately.”</p> + +<p>And then there flitted through her brain the thought of +poverty, even though genteel poverty, with the man she +loved, and her heart grew faint and sick within her breast.</p> + +<p>“I could not bear to be poor!” she muttered, with a +shudder of aversion. “I just could not endure it.”</p> + +<p>And she sat in the drawing-room attired in a soft gray +satin gown with a great deal of white lace, a subdued, +Quakerish costume, quaint and becoming, and chatted +with Bessie Vernon and the rest, and all the time her heart +was listening for a ring at the door-bell, the sound of a +familiar step in the hall.</p> + +<p>“Rosamond,” whispered Mrs. Vernon, after awhile, “I +have something to tell you—something rich! Are you engaged +for twelve to-morrow? No?” as Rosamond shook +her head in the negative. “Then I will call and see you. +I want to tell you something, but you must be sure and +never mention it, never, as long as you live. It is something +about Lenore Van Alstyne.”</p> + +<p>Rosamond started.</p> + +<p>“Very well, I shall expect you to-morrow. And you +may rely upon my secrecy, Bessie.”</p> + +<p>And then Mrs. Vernon’s carriage was announced, and +Mrs. Vernon took her departure, with a whispered reminder<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span> +to her hostess of the morrow’s engagement. And +then the other callers left. Still Jack Lyndon had not +made his appearance. What did it mean?</p> + +<p>Feeling restless and uneasy, full of a strange disquiet, +Rosamond threw a wrap about her shoulders and went out +into the grounds. A glorious moonlight night. She +wandered slowly down the nearest walk, and at last found +herself in the vicinity of the east gate.</p> + +<p>“I wonder what Rick meant by being out here last +night with Lillian?” she muttered. “Some mischief, I +have no doubt. But I don’t care what happens if only he +keeps her away from Jack. I firmly believe that Jack +cared for her; but I will kill her before she takes him +from me.”</p> + +<p>She came to a halt with a start of surprise. She had +nearly reached the east gate, and her quick eyes had +caught sight of two dark forms.</p> + +<p>Just at that moment the clock in the steeple struck ten.</p> + +<p>“I declare!” panted Miss Raleigh, in a low, wrathful +voice, “it is Rick and that girl again. Now, this is too +much—too much altogether. Papa would be so angry if +he knew.”</p> + +<p>Even as she gazed upon the scene Richard Raleigh took +Lillian’s slight form in his arms and kissed her unresisting +lips.</p> + +<p>Miss Raleigh could endure no more. She darted swiftly +forward and confronted the pair in the radiant moonlight, +pale and wrathful.</p> + +<p>“You shameless creature!” she panted, bringing her +hand down upon Lillian’s shoulder with a fierce grip. +“You shall leave my employ at once—this very night! +As for you, Richard Raleigh, I shall tell papa of your +shameful conduct, this moment—this very moment, sir, +and he will settle with you. The idea of a disgraceful +affair like this going on right under our very eyes!”</p> + +<p>And before Lillian could recover from her bewilderment,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span> +Rosamond turned swiftly about, and rushed like a +mad woman back to the house. She burst into the drawing-room +quite pale with excitement, and she came to a +startled halt as her eyes fell upon Jack Lyndon. He had +been closeted all the evening with Grafton Raleigh, though +Rosamond had not suspected his presence in the house; +and now in the drawing-room—the interview over—they +sat conversing with Mrs. Raleigh and waiting for Rosamond +to appear.</p> + +<p>There was a hurried greeting, after which Rosamond, +pale and excited, turned to her father.</p> + +<p>“Papa—mamma, I beg your pardon, and Mr. Lyndon’s +also, for rushing in upon you in this fashion. But really +I must speak or you may reproach me for my silence later +on. Papa, last night I saw your son, Richard Raleigh, +down at the east gate, where he had evidently gone by appointment +to meet my waiting-maid, Lillian Leigh. To-night +I walked out into the grounds. I felt lonely,” with +a glance of tender reproach into Jack’s startled face, +“and chancing to walk in the same direction, I saw them +there again. And, papa, Richard had that girl in his +arms and—was actually kissing her!”</p> + +<p>“Rosamond!” This from Mrs. Raleigh.</p> + +<p>But the master of the house uttered no word. Pale and +faint, Jack Lyndon leaned heavily against the marble +mantel, supporting his head upon his hand and waiting +for what was to come next.</p> + +<p>“Mamma, it is true. Do not look so angry. It is not +my fault. But I consider his conduct shameful—shameful! +And that girl is a bold, shameless creature, not fit to +be in the house with refined ladies. She is—”</p> + +<p>“Hush! Not another word, Rosamond Raleigh!” She +wheeled about swiftly, and there upon the threshold stood +her brother, and at his side, pale and trembling, Lillian +Leigh. “Not another word!” repeated Richard Raleigh, +fiercely—“or you shall answer to me for your insults!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span> +Father, I have good news to tell you. I have asked Lillian +to be my wife, and she has consented.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">A TRYING ORDEAL.</p> + + +<p>It was as still as death in the luxurious drawing-room—the +sudden, awful silence of the grave itself, so intense +that it was almost palpable. It was broken at last by +Helen Raleigh’s cold, cutting, imperious voice:</p> + +<p>“Grafton,” her hard eyes uplifted to her husband’s +face, “you are master here. I desire you to put an end +to this shameful, disgraceful scene. Your son—my son,” +with a hysterical sob, “who dares stand there and insult +his own mother—I demand that he be punished as he deserves. +And as for you,” she glided swiftly over to where +Lillian stood, pale as marble and trembling like a leaf, +and brought one white, jeweled hand down with a grip of +iron upon the girl’s shrinking shoulder, “leave my house +this moment, you miserable little wretch—you beggar! +Begone, I say, or I shall—”</p> + +<p>“Mother—stop! Not another word!” Richard Raleigh’s +face was pale as death and his eyes flashed ominously. +“I command you to be silent. This lady is my +promised wife, and as such I swear that she shall be respected! +Father, are you never going to speak?”</p> + +<p>Grafton Raleigh wheeled about and confronted his astonished +wife.</p> + +<p>“Helen,” his voice was low and stern, “cease this +tirade at once. Richard is right, and—and”—in a whisper—“he +has reasons—good reasons—for the step. The +girl is placed in a position which she is not fitted to fill,” +he went on, in a louder tone. “She is pure and lovely; +and Richard—ahem!—loves her, and she—ahem!—loves +Richard, and I have promised not to interfere. I do not +see—I do not see why they should not marry.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Raleigh could only stand and stare blankly into +her husband’s flushed face. Sinking at last upon a velvet +sofa, she still sat in blank, wordless silence, too overwhelmed +to speak—too crushed by the suddenness of the +blow to find words to utter. At last:</p> + +<p>“Great heavens! am I mad, or am I dreaming? Grafton +Raleigh, are you in your senses? You, Grafton Raleigh, +millionaire—you, who have just listened quietly to +the proposal for the hand of your only daughter from a +beggarly journalist,” Jack Lyndon bowed mockingly, +“you, who have listened, I say,” went on the irate lady, +“and have decided to give him a chance to win Rosamond, +your only daughter—”</p> + +<p>A pause during which Rosamond flashed a swift glance +into the pale face of her prospective betrothed, but failed +to see any ecstatic joy mirrored upon his countenance. +Mrs. Raleigh continued:</p> + +<p>“You now permit your son—your only son—to say such +words to a servant-girl—a common servant-girl—your +daughter’s waiting-maid! Your son, who might have had +his choice of half a dozen wealthy and fashionable women! +Grafton Raleigh, if I did not believe—ay, know that you +had gone mad—I would promise you to be revenged for +this. But you are out of your senses, and I must be patient +as possible. But I can not be patient!” she sobbed, +starting to her feet and beginning to pace up and down +the great room with nervous tread. “I shall die! I—shall—die! +Oh, somebody do something for me—quick! +I am going to faint—to die—to—die!”</p> + +<p>And then followed an attack of hysterics which prostrated +the irate mother entirely, and made Jack Lyndon +cast wistful glances toward the door, through which for +the present he dared not attempt to escape. After a little +Mrs. Raleigh’s maid appeared and the patient was carried +up to her own room, and a physician telephoned for, +after which silence settled down once more.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span></p> + +<p>Pale and still, the group in the drawing-room below +stood gazing into each other’s faces. Jack was the first to +break the strange, oppressive silence. He walked straight +up to Lillian and held out his hand.</p> + +<p>“Allow me to congratulate you, Miss Leigh,” he said, +in a cold, hard voice. “You have done the best thing +possible—for yourself.”</p> + +<p>Lillian’s eyes flashed, she bowed coldly, but she did not +seem to notice his offered hand. She could not take it. +She could not shake hands with the man whom Richard +Raleigh had accused of her father’s murder. With a +shudder she turned aside, then she forced herself to glance +back into his face again.</p> + +<p>“And you,” she returned, quietly, her face pale with +righteous indignation, “may you be as happy as you deserve.”</p> + +<p>He turned away, pale and trembling, and with a brief, +comprehensive good-night to the others, left the room.</p> + +<p>Rosamond followed him into the hall.</p> + +<p>“Jack,” in a low tone, “I am not yet clear as to the +result of your interview with papa. He said—”</p> + +<p>“That he would make no objection for the present—would +let affairs take their own course, etc., etc.; but he +stipulates that there shall be no engagement, and that the +matter be kept secret for a year. Only I may call as +often as I please, and be looked upon as an honored guest, +and all that sort of thing, while you are to be left untrammeled. +If any other suitor appears with more money, +more brains, more good looks than I possess—”</p> + +<p>“Jack!” in a tone of protest, and with a girlish giggle +Rosamond threw herself into his arms.</p> + +<p>For just a moment he submitted to the embrace, shutting +his teeth down fiercely into his under lip; then he removed +her clinging arms and turned toward the door.</p> + +<p>“I must go, Rosamond,” he said, firmly. “I am expected +down at the office for a good six hours’ work.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span></p> + +<p>“Poor fellow!” in a tone of tender compassion; “that +shall soon be a thing of the past. For, of course, we shall +be married some time, Jack, and—and then you need +never work again.” He shuddered. “And it is absurd +in papa,” she went on, vehemently, “to impose such conditions +upon us. As though I could ever care for any one +else. And if a richer suitor should make his appearance”—“Heaven +grant it!” was Jack’s mental ejaculation—“it +would make no difference to me, Jack, I assure you. Ah, +must you go? Good-night, then.”</p> + +<p>And a pair of thin lips were held up suggestively, so +what could Jack do but bend his handsome head and touch +them lightly with his own?</p> + +<p>The first kiss! But, alas! Jack Lyndon was thinking +even then of the lips which he had kissed only the morning +before—or was it a century ago?</p> + +<p>Sick and faint and heart-weary, he closed the door of +the Raleigh mansion behind him and went down the +street, pale and wan, his eyes full of moody light. He +looked like a desperate gambler who has staked his all +upon one throw of the dice—and lost.</p> + +<p>“I hope to Heaven some wealthy suitor will come along +and win her from me,” muttered this strange lover +hoarsely, as he strode on down the broad, aristocratic avenue, +back to the office of the “Thunderer.” “What a +sham—what a miserable sham I am!” he burst forth, impetuously, +“to ask a man for his daughter in marriage, +hoping all the time that he will refuse me. And I actually +believed that Grafton Raleigh almost suspected it, or +he would hardly have listened so graciously to a proposal +for Rosamond’s hand from a poor devil of a writer. Ah, +me! I can only leave it to time and fate. How beautiful +she was to-night!” he went on, suddenly breaking the +silence which had fallen over him; “the woman who has +blighted my faith in all womankind, and has caused me to +make shipwreck of my whole life! She loved me only a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> +few hours ago!” he added, bitterly. “Yesterday she told +me with tears in her eyes and kisses upon my lips that she +loved me. To-night she is betrothed to a millionaire’s +son. Good God! I would give my life to know the truth, +and why she has changed so! Bah! what a fool I am! As +though it were anything but the glittering bait which +Richard Raleigh holds out to her! Yesterday morning +she did not know that he meant marriage, so the poor +newspaper scribbler was in favor. To-night there is the +prospect of life in a fine house, with servants and jewels +and costly dresses—bah! all that goes to make up a woman’s +heaven—and for these she turns her back upon love +and me, and accepts the glittering future. But one thing +puzzles me.”</p> + +<p>He came to a halt upon the deserted streets, and stood +staring blankly through the semi-darkness.</p> + +<p>“Why should Richard Raleigh wish to marry a poor +girl like Lillian Leigh?” he went on, slowly. “And he +really means honorable marriage, or he would never have +taken the bold step of presenting her to his family as his +betrothed wife. And why—why is Grafton Raleigh, the +purse-proud millionaire, so resigned? Nay, more—I +firmly believe that he is willing—is even pleased; for I +surprised a look of intense satisfaction and relief upon his +face while he listened to Richard’s words. Ah, well, it is +a mystery to me,” he went on, as he plunged into the +gloom of the nearest street corner and hastened on down-town—“a +mystery which I may never unravel. But, for +my own part, I am the most miserable man alive, and the +sooner the Gordian knot of life is cut the better for me!”</p> + +<p>In the meantime, a terrible scene was taking place at +the Raleigh mansion. Mrs. Raleigh, recovered from the +hysterics, was still able to enact the rôle of the injured +mother, the insulted and outraged lady, and she spared no +words to impress upon her hearers the full enormity of the +crime from which she was suffering.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span></p> + +<p>“A common servant-girl!” she panted, angrily, pacing +madly up and down her handsome chamber, whither her +husband and Rosamond had followed her. “A working-girl—daughter +of one of my husband’s employees! A low-born +creature like that to be the wife of my son—my +handsome Richard—who might have his choice among the +ladies of the land! Grafton, I can not endure it!” she +shrieked, madly. “Drive that girl from the house—I +command you! She shall not remain here! I hate her—hate +her! I hate her pretty baby face and silly ways, her +cat-like deceit, her snaky way of winding herself about +everybody’s heart but mine! Ah, no! not mine—nor +Rosamond’s! We are women, and we know a bad, designing +woman—a base adventuress—when we see one. It +takes a woman to know a woman’s real nature, I tell you, +Grafton Raleigh.”</p> + +<p>“On the principle that it takes a thief to catch a thief, +I presume,” intervened that gentleman, dryly. “Now, +Mrs. Raleigh, are you done? Have you finished your +tirade? If so, then perhaps—possibly you may listen to +me. For I have something to say to you and also to my +daughter—a revelation to make. Richard and I have +been hiding something—an important discovery—from +you both, for our own private reasons. Mrs. Raleigh—Rosamond—listen +both of you. How would you like—how +would you both like—to be poor? Poor! Not simply +deprived of extravagances—a few extra jewels, an unnecessary +servant, a useless superfluity of some sort; but poor—plainly, +horribly, uncompromisingly poor? How would +you like to live on a back street in a six-room cottage, and +be your own servants, and exist without jewels, walk +instead of drive in your carriage with liveried footman, +forego Newport, Saratoga, and all that? How would you +like to give up Jack Lyndon, Rosamond? For, of course, +without money that marriage is off. Answer me, both of +you, how would you like to be poverty-stricken paupers?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Raleigh’s eyes were riveted upon Grafton Raleigh’s +pale, earnest face.</p> + +<p>“You are mad!” she was beginning.</p> + +<p>He bowed.</p> + +<p>“So you have remarked before, madame!” he interrupted, +coldly. “I repeat my question, how would you +like to be poor? Now listen. The great house of Raleigh +& Raleigh stands upon the verge of ruin, and although it +may sound absurd and incredible to you, there are reasons—real, +tangible reasons—why a marriage with this girl +will obviate all this; will save us from ruin—utter ruin +and black disgrace—a disgrace which will tempt you to +end your lives to escape its obloquy; a disgrace which +would turn Jack Lyndon from you, Rosamond, and would +make our best friend pass us by. I can explain no further +now; you must take my simple word for it. But if +Richard Raleigh does not make that girl Lillian Leigh his +wife, and soon, we will all be beggars, and I—I shall die +in prison, the death of a felon!”</p> + +<p>He paused to mop the cold perspiration from his clammy +forehead with his handkerchief. He was as pale as +death, and trembled visibly.</p> + +<p>“Now, Helen Raleigh,” he continued, glancing into his +wife’s white, startled face with fierce, eager eyes, “will +you keep on with your senseless ravings, or will you make +the best of the situation and consent to the marriage without +asking me unpleasant and troublesome questions? will +you relieve us from the scandal of a marriage without +your consent? in short, will you save us from ruin, disgrace, +and me from a felon’s death?”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">A SNAKE IN THE GRASS.</p> + + +<p>The music surged in sweet, soft strains, the dancers +danced, and the moments went by. And still the mistress<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span> +of all this splendor lay white and unconscious upon the +low seat in the conservatory, where the banksia roses were +heaped in great clusters, and the dreamy splashing of the +little fountain not far away alone broke the silence. Out +in the ball-room Senator Van Alstyne was dancing with +Mrs. Vernon. Her face was flushed with triumph, and her +eyes held a look of exultation in their black, velvety depths.</p> + +<p>“I will be even with Lenore Van Alstyne yet!” she was +muttering low under her breath. “I will pay her off for +her cold, calm superiority over me—her airs and graces, +her assumption of goodness! I hate her, the stuck-up, +haughty creature. I have always suspected that there was +something hidden—a secret in her life—which she would +not like the world to know. I am sure of it now. I shall +tell Rosamond all about it, and if between us we can not +punish and humiliate my lady, then I imagine nobody +can.”</p> + +<p>And the black, velvety eyes shone like diamonds, and +the pretty face was full of eager exultation at the thought—the +alluring prospect of blackening and defiling a sister +woman’s name, and dragging her down into the dust of +shame and humiliation. Lenore was pure and true and +noble, though the victim of strange circumstances. And +this woman—who was no more to be compared with her +than the bright blue, sunshiny summer day can compare +with the black, cold, tempestuous winter’s night—this +woman had power to drag her down from her pedestal of +innocence, simply because Bessie Vernon was unprincipled, +and had set her whole heart upon the ruination of Lenore, +whom she hated with that hatred of her own sex which is +a woman’s Cross of Honor—such women as Bessie Vernon. +And as she floated down the long room on the arm +of the senator, to the sweet waltz music, her thoughts were +busy with a scheme of vengeance.</p> + +<p>And the moments slipped by, and still Lenore did not +return to consciousness. Mrs. Vernon had wandered away<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span> +to the furthest extremity of the drawing-room, and alone, +for a wonder, was watching the conservatory with furtive, +cat-like eyes; but still Lenore lay in that death-like swoon +in the secluded corner among the banksia roses, and the +guests did not dream the truth.</p> + +<p>At length a tall form emerged from the depths of the +fernery just beyond the main conservatory, separated by a +screen of luxuriant flowering vines, and slowly approached +the unconscious woman. It was Cyril Fayne; his face +white and set, his eyes full of smoldering light which was +not good to see. He looked like a man who is bent upon +some desperate errand as he came swiftly forward and fell +upon his knees at her side.</p> + +<p>“She is dead—my love, my wife!” he panted, hoarsely. +“Lenore! Lenore! Open your eyes, my darling, and +tell me that you love me, and will go with me at once—this +very night!”</p> + +<p>Slowly the soft dark eyes opened and met his eager, impassioned +gaze. She half arose, putting out her hands in +a pleading, beseeching way.</p> + +<p>“Don’t! Oh, Cyril! do not let them hear you!” she +cried. “He would listen to no explanation; he would put +a bullet into your heart without a moment’s hesitation. +And if he knew all—if he knew—”</p> + +<p>She stopped short, breathing hard, like one in pain. +Cyril Fayne started.</p> + +<p>“He shall know—he must know soon!” he panted, +softly. “I will only wait for this affair to be ended and +the guests dispersed; then I will demand a private interview +with Senator Van Alstyne. Lenore, my darling, I +am going to take you away from this place—away from the +awful position that you are filling—not your fault, my +love! but it must end now—at once, before another sun +shall set. Think of the horrors of your position—this +sham existence must end at once! Let it be to-morrow +night. Ah! I have a better plan. We need say nothing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span> +to him until all is over with; we would only make a terrible +scene; and once away from here, we will be with each +other, never more to part! You shall learn all the dark +and dreary past, Lenore—the truth of our long parting. I +have written a full confession and explanation for you to +read before you join your fate with mine. Take this and +read it at your leisure,” he added, swiftly, drawing a letter +from his pocket and laying it in her trembling hand.</p> + +<p>“We must be silent as the grave,” he went on, hurriedly; +“keep our own counsel, and all will yet be well. +Lenore, you can not, must not, live on in this way a day +longer, now that you know the truth. Go with me to-morrow +night. I will meet you at any place you may +designate, and we will take passage for Europe at once. +Does that please you, Lenore?”</p> + +<p>She smiled, a sad, dreary smile it was, yet her eyes were +full of tenderness.</p> + +<p>“Anywhere with you, Cyril,” she whispered. “Oh, to +be with you always, after all these long years, will be like +heaven.”</p> + +<p>“Then will you go away with me to-morrow night?” he +panted, eagerly. “I will defer my explanation until we +are gone; then Van Alstyne shall receive a written statement, +with all necessary proofs of the truth, and you +will be out of his way, so that the horrors of his anger +shall not fall upon your head. And he is so violent and +brutal, it is best for you to be gone before he learns the +truth, and that it is no sin. The sin would be in remaining, +Lenore!” She bowed her head like a beautiful white +lily—drooping and pale. “You will go with me?” he +went on, eagerly; “there is no other resource; and—surely +you are willing, Lenore?”</p> + +<p>“Willing?”</p> + +<p>She started to her feet, pale and trembling with excitement, +her hands clasped, her eyes shining like stars.</p> + +<p>“Willing? Oh, Cyril! Ask a starving, freezing wretch<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span> +if he is willing to be taken to a warm, luxurious home, +with every comfort; ask a dying consumptive if he would +be glad to have his health and strength again; ask the +bleeding, fainting heart if it would be happy with the one +it loves—and you will have my answer. Yes, yes; a thousand +times yes. As the old German song says:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> +<div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse indent0">“‘To be with you—that’s my heaven:</div> +<div class="verse indent2">Without you—that’s my hell.’</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>And I have been cast out into utter darkness, and my life +has been desolate and barren long enough. I am going to +accept the cup of happiness held to my lips, and thank God +for the love that has come back to me—Heaven be praised, +not too late!”</p> + +<p>He drew her to his side and kissed the red lips with a +long, lingering kiss.</p> + +<p>“My love! my love!” he cried; “you are mine—mine +by the laws of heaven and earth! Thank God for that. +Now, Lenore, tell me, where shall I meet you to-morrow +night? The ‘Caspian’ sails the next morning; she is +anchored out at sea. We can go on board my friend +Thornton’s yacht at any hour you name to-morrow night, +and he will take us out to where the ‘Caspian’ lies. Once +on board her, we are safe. Tell me what hour to meet you, +Lenore.”</p> + +<p>She bent her head for a moment in deep thought.</p> + +<p>“We entertain again to-morrow night,” she said, slowly. +“Van Alstyne would fill his house every night if it were +feasible. To-morrow at eight we give a dinner to some +foreign embassadors and half a dozen bewhiskered, beribboned +officers—a score of guests. I can manage to slip +away unobserved from the house at ten, perhaps, and will +meet you in the grounds down by the ornamental lake. +You can easily find the place; there is a marble basin full +of gold-fish, and the water is white with pond-lilies. Be +there at ten precisely, Cyril, and I will join you as soon as +possible.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span></p> + +<p>“Prepared to go with me at once?” he queried, breathlessly.</p> + +<p>A quick flush shot athwart the ivory whiteness of her +face and a tender light stole into her luminous eyes.</p> + +<p>“Prepared to go with you? Yes,” she made answer. +“My life here must come to an end. Oh, Heaven! if it +had only come to an end long ago, or, better still, had +never begun. I hate and scorn and loathe myself, Cyril, +and oh—”</p> + +<p>She stopped short, and her face grew ghastly white.</p> + +<p>“Stay!” she whispered, hoarsely, “I have something +to tell you—a revelation to make, Cyril. Listen: I must +tell it quickly, for my guests will miss me, and I must +leave you now.”</p> + +<p>She whispered a few words in his ear.</p> + +<p>He grew pale as death, then he stooped and kissed her.</p> + +<p>“How you have suffered, oh, my love!” he cried; +“but all that is ended now. Good-night, Lenore. I will +meet you to-morrow night at the ornamental lake in the +Van Alstyne grounds at ten precisely, and then—”</p> + +<p>His voice died away into a murmur. He stole from the +conservatory into the grounds through a side door which +opened for him; and then, pale as a marble statue, Lenore +went back to her guests.</p> + +<p>As soon as she was gone there was a rustling among a +group of tall, feathery palms which grew near, and directly +afterward a slight, <i>petite</i> figure in auburn satin and lace and +gleaming, glowing rubies crept slowly forth. It was Bessie +Vernon. Her face was flushed with unholy triumph, +her eyes were scintillating with hatred.</p> + +<p>She had witnessed the entire interview; but they had +spoken in such low tones that she had not caught the conversation, +only the last few words which told of the appointed +tryst.</p> + +<p>Her white hands clinched themselves tightly together, +and low under her breath she muttered, hoarsely:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span></p> + +<p>“He kissed her! I saw him. And they are to meet +to-morrow night at ten, in the grounds. My dear Mrs. +Van Alstyne, immaculate Lenore! when that meeting +takes place I shall be there also!”</p> + +<p>And then she went back to the ball-room, and danced +all the rest of the night, with as much carelessness and +<i>abandon</i> as though she were not plotting the downfall of a +sister woman.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">“BEWARE!”</p> + + +<p>The clocks throughout the Raleigh mansion were just +striking twelve the day after that exciting scene within its +stately walls when the door bell rang, and Rosamond heard +the sound of Bessie Vernon’s voice in the hall. She had +given orders to the footman to show Mrs. Vernon up to +her own room; so a few moments later that lady, in all +the glory of a stylish brown velvet street suit, a big +plumed hat shading her arch, piquant face, entered Miss +Raleigh’s presence and sunk wearily into a seat.</p> + +<p>“Oh, dear, I am tired to death!” she cried, when the +greetings were over; “the demands of society are fearful +upon a weak, delicate woman like me! You know, Rosamond, +how we leaders of society are overworked. Why, +we are perfect martyrs. I have attended five balls this +week, the opera and theater, a flower show and a matinée. +To-night is the Van Alstyne dinner, and to-morrow night +I have promised to hear ‘Il Trovatore’ with Vernon’s old +uncle, the rich Californian. Awful bore, and I know the +opera by heart; but Charlie Stuart will be there, and I +imagine I shall be able to pull through the evening. You +did not appear at the Van Alstyne’s reception, Rosamond? +I forgot to ask you why last night when I called, on my +way to the reception, you know. I thought then that I +had something to tell you—but, dear me! I went straight<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span> +to the discovery of developments of a startling nature. I +wish you had been there, Rosamond.”</p> + +<p>Rosamond looked bored. She was out of temper this +morning, that was plain to be seen.</p> + +<p>“Mamma and I had a previous engagement,” she said, +coldly, “and were compelled to decline. But tell me, +Bessie, what it is that you have discovered? I am just dying +to know. Something about Lenore—I think you intimated.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Vernon’s face assumed a look of awful solemnity.</p> + +<p>“I shrink from telling you, Rosamond!” she said, in a +stage whisper. “After all, Lenore is your own cousin, +and it may have an influence upon your social standing.”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean, Bessie Vernon?” Rosamond +started to her feet, pale with anger. “Explain yourself!” +she commanded imperiously.</p> + +<p>Bessie laughed aloud, a clear, ringing, half-mocking +laugh.</p> + +<p>“Dear, dear! High tragedy and all that sort of thing! +Beats Janauschek completely! Now, Rosamond, just be +calm, and sit down quietly and listen to me. What I said, +I meant; but you will understand me better later on when +I have told my story. First, let me ask you a question: +Have you ever heard of a Mr. Fayne—Mr. Cyril Fayne?”</p> + +<p>Rosamond started uneasily.</p> + +<p>“I have heard the name, I believe,” she returned, +evasively.</p> + +<p>“Well, then, possibly you may be better informed than +I, and perhaps be able to account for the strange—the <i>remarkable</i> +intimacy between Mr. Cyril Fayne and Mrs. +Lenore Van Alstyne.”</p> + +<p>“Bessie!”</p> + +<p>“Mrs. Lenore Van Alstyne!” repeated Bessie, laconically. +“Rosamond, we are on the track at last of your +cousin’s secret. We have long been convinced—you and I—that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span> +she had a secret, and I have found it out. That +secret is her love—her guilty love—for Cyril Fayne!”</p> + +<p>A slow, cruel smile crept over Rosamond’s fair face; her +eyes flashed with a look which was neither sorrow nor regret; +one small, pearly hand clinched itself involuntarily.</p> + +<p>“Go on,” she said, slowly.</p> + +<p>Bessie nodded.</p> + +<p>“I was going on. I am prepared to tell the whole story—just +what I know and saw and heard. I know that +Lenore Van Alstyne wears Cyril Fayne’s portrait in a medallion—the +chain riveted about her neck. I saw them +alone together in the conservatory at Van Alstyne’s; she +was in his arms, and he was kissing her for all he was +worth! And lastly, I heard them lay a plot to elope to-night! +There! What do you think of that?”</p> + +<p>For a moment Rosamond Raleigh sat staring her visitor +in the face, in blank horror too deep for expression.</p> + +<p>At last:</p> + +<p>“Bessie, this is—it must be—a practical joke of your +own. And I think it very small in you, and decidedly bad +form, knowing as you do how proud the Raleighs are.”</p> + +<p>Bessie’s face flushed angrily.</p> + +<p>“It is no practical joke, I assure you, Rosamond Raleigh!” +she retorted. “And if you doubt me I can easily +prove the truth of my words. You will be at the Van +Alstyne dinner to-night, I suppose. It is the dinner for +the foreign embassadors. I would not miss it for the +world.”</p> + +<p>Rosamond nodded.</p> + +<p>“Of course we will have to attend, since we were not at +the reception. And what is your plan, Bessie?”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Vernon bent her head close to Rosamond’s ear and +began to speak in low, cautious tones. When her story +was done she rose to her feet.</p> + +<p>“And now I really must go. I’ve some shopping to +do, and time is flying. What do you think of my plan,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> +Rosamond? Don’t you think it will be a grand <i>exposé</i>? +Ah! I have waited and longed for this for many a long +day. My time has come at last. There was never any love +lost between Lenore Van Alstyne and myself, and I imagine +that you know how to appreciate the situation also; +for if I am not mistaken, you never loved her!”</p> + +<p>“I hate her!” cried Rosamond, excitedly. “I have +hated her always, and of late her cold, calm superiority +has driven me nearly wild. I would give something to put +down her pride and humble her as she deserves. All right, +Bessie. We will be at the Van Alstynes’ to-night, and +then the curtain will rise upon the overthrow—the everlasting +disgrace and utter ruin of Lenore Van Alstyne.”</p> + +<p>As the words left her lips she turned swiftly about. +Something like a chill seemed creeping slowly over her, +and a strange, subtle instinct warned her of another presence +in the room. <i>What was it?</i></p> + +<p>She caught her breath with a gasp of horror, then shriek +after shriek burst from her lips. For there before her—for +bolts nor bars have no power over spirits—stood the +apparition which had so persistently haunted her, and of +which she had fondly persuaded herself she was rid forever—Noisette!</p> + +<p>She held the amber satin panel in one shadowy hand; +the other was uplifted with a warning gesture; upon the +wan, white, shadowy face a look of angry menace. Slowly +the pale lips opened and—oh, it was horrible to witness—the +apparition spoke.</p> + +<p>“<i>Lenore!</i>” it said, in a hollow voice. Then, after a +moment’s pause, one more word broke the awful silence. +That one word was: “<i>Beware!</i>”</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">BESSIE SEES THE GAME.</p> + + +<p>“Rosamond! For the love of Heaven, <i>what is it?</i>”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Vernon stood like one turned to stone; her big dark +eyes, dilated with horror, fixed wildly upon the apparition.</p> + +<p>“What—is—it?” she gasped once more, in a faltering +whisper.</p> + +<p>No answer—no answer. Rosamond stood, wringing her +hands in horror and affright, screaming like a lunatic. +One more glance, and Bessie Vernon turned and fled, with +Rosamond close at her heels—fled from the room and down +the stairs, bursting into the library, where Grafton Raleigh +sat deeply engrossed in the contents of a formidable-looking +document before him. Bursting into the room, they +sunk down upon a low couch, too overcome by terror to +utter a word. “The wicked flee when no man pursueth.” +Grafton Raleigh glanced up with a start of surprise at the +interruption—this unceremonious bursting in upon his +privacy—and arose to his feet, his face dark with displeasure.</p> + +<p>“Good-morning, Mrs. Vernon”—in a cold tone. +“Why, what is the matter with my daughter? Rosamond, +are you mad?”</p> + +<p>“Mad?” with a hysterical outburst. “No, no! But +I shall be mad indeed before long if that dreadful apparition +continues to appear. Oh, papa, listen! You had the +round room closed up, and no one can get in or out of it, +yet I saw just now in my room, standing just where the +communicating door used to be, the apparition—the <i>something</i> +of which I have been telling you so long. And Bessie +saw it also.”</p> + +<p>“It is true, Mr. Raleigh, and no mistake about it!” +corroborated Mrs. Vernon. “I saw it just as certainly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span> +and distinctly as I ever saw anything in my life—just as +plainly as I see you at this moment! And—worse than +all else—it—”</p> + +<p>“Yes, yes, papa!” interrupted Rosamond, trembling +like a leaf and weeping copiously—“something dreadful +occurred! Something which has never happened before! +It—it—<i>spoke</i>!”</p> + +<p>“Rosamond, now really this is going a little too far. +Bessie, I had imagined you possessed a little common sense, +if Rosamond is deficient. Do you mean to assert that you +too saw an apparition in this house in broad daylight, and +that it—the thing—<i>spoke</i> intelligibly?”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Raleigh, it did!” This from Bessie.</p> + +<p>“Papa, it really did!” repeated Rosamond, wildly. +“It spoke two words—one was ‘Beware!’ the other was +‘Lenore!’ We were speaking of Lenore at the time the +apparition appeared—Bessie and I.”</p> + +<p>“Lenore? You must have misunderstood, daughter. +I—I—can’t believe it.”</p> + +<p>“Papa”—desperately—“it is the truth! And we were +not mistaken; we could not be. I suppose it is gone now, +and if you were to go up to my room you would not find +it. But I swear to you there is no mistake or exaggeration +in our story; it is all just as we have told you. I wish you +could see for yourself; and then, I suppose, you would believe.”</p> + +<p>“I will take possession of your room,” he said, decidedly, +“and will remain there for a time. Each day hereafter +I will make it my business to spend a portion of the +day there to watch, and perhaps I shall be able to get at +the root of the mystery.”</p> + +<p>“But it only appears to <i>me</i>!” sobbed Rosamond, wringing +her hands again and again. “It seems to have an +especial spite against me—though if any one is with me in +the room they always see it too. Papa, papa! I can not +stay in this house. Let me go away for a time at least—let<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> +me go home with Bessie for a few days. I will die if I +am forced to remain here, liable to meet that horrible thing +and—and—hear it speak!”</p> + +<p>And poor Rosamond sobbed aloud in uncontrollable +terror and nervous fear.</p> + +<p>“Yes, come home with me, Rosie!” intervened Mrs. +Vernon, her face lighting up at once. “We will have a +pleasant time; and I am expecting some guests from New +York, and I really need an attraction like you, Rosie. And +besides”—in a low tone—“old Arbuthnot, the millionaire, +is to be with us for a few days. Fancy the opportunity +for <i>you</i>, Rosamond, to be shut up in the same house +with him for perhaps a whole week! They <i>do</i> say that he +is as rich as Crœsus! <i>Do</i> come home with me, dear!”</p> + +<p>So it was finally arranged, and then Rosamond went to +inform her mother and order a trunk packed; for even +one week’s stay necessitated much baggage. Upstairs to +her mother’s room she made her way, passing her own door +with a perceptible shudder. She found Mrs. Raleigh lounging +before the fire in a low chair, her hands folded listlessly +in her lap. In a few moments the strange story was +told, and Rosamond announced her intended departure. +Mrs. Raleigh, gazing upon her daughter’s pale, worn face +and great frightened eyes with dark circles beneath, and +thinking of her desperate resort to chloral or some such +drug, was only too glad to consent. But she sighed sadly.</p> + +<p>“I see but little for which to live; small hope in life!” +she cried, in a shrill voice; “my son, my boy, my idol to +be sacrificed to a foolish whim of your father’s. Rosamond, +last night when your father told us that horrible +story—of prospective poverty and disgrace—I thought then +that all life was ended for me. But now you are doomed. +I am convinced that your intellect is giving way. You +are a perfect wreck of what you were a few weeks ago. +You are beginning to look old and faded. Yes, go to Bessie +Vernon’s if you like; it would kill you to remain here,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span> +haunted as you are. I have never believed in such things +before in my life. I have always looked upon such tales +as foolish superstitions, or falsehoods got up for the purpose +of frightening timid people, and altogether unworthy +a sensible person’s notice. But I declare, Rosamond, it is +exceedingly strange and incomprehensible, to say the least. +I always told you to be more careful in your treatment of +Noisette. You were unwarrantably harsh and cruel, and +you are being punished for it now. But what puzzles me +most is that you and Bess should have heard the apparition +speak the name of Lenore. What does it, can it, +mean?”</p> + +<p>“Mamma, do you remember when she—Noisette—lay +dead, and I—I—saw the resemblance between her and +Lenore Van Alstyne? Mamma, I tell you I have heard +something to-day which proves to me that she is not the +immaculate angel that people think her. I will tell you +later on all about it. But just now I am only anxious to +get away. I shall be insane if I stay here much longer and +suffer from this strange, this awful visitation. Where is +Lillian? I want a trunk packed at once.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Raleigh flashed angrily about.</p> + +<p>“Lillian, indeed!” she panted, wrathfully. “I hope +that you do not for a moment believe that you can retain +my Lady Leigh as a waiting-maid? Why, your fastidious +brother is going to commit matrimonial suicide in a few +weeks, I believe! Rosamond, we are a ruined family!”</p> + +<p>Rosamond’s eyes flashed with ominous fire. “Has she +left the house?” she demanded, fiercely.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Raleigh shook her head.</p> + +<p>“She is shut up in her own room. Your father informed +her that the whole house is at her disposal, and +that she can do as she pleases. It pleased her majesty to +lock herself up in her own room, and stay there. I wish”—savagely—“that +she would never come out alive!”</p> + +<p>“Amen!” responded Miss Raleigh, fervently. “Well,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span> +I suppose I can manage with the packing somehow; but I +can not go into that room alone, mamma!”</p> + +<p>At this obvious hint Mrs. Raleigh arose and accompanied +her daughter to her luxurious sleeping-room. She was +quite pale, and trembled with excitement. But they found +the room unoccupied by human or ghostly visitant, and +just as Rosamond had left it, save for one particular: +Upon a white fur rug which lay near the spot where the +apparition had been standing, there was a round red spot +of something which looked like fresh blood. Trembling +visibly, Mrs. Raleigh stooped to examine it; she drew back +with a frightened cry. There was nothing there.</p> + +<p>“Rosamond!” in a husky whisper, “this house <i>is</i> +haunted. I will try to induce your father to put it into the +market at once, for I declare I do not like to live in it. +But come now, daughter, do not look so terrified. I will +ring for my maid and have your trunk prepared. You +will go home with Bessie, and amid her gay surroundings +you will forget this unpleasant, uncomfortable affair.”</p> + +<p>Rosamond’s face lighted up with a slow gleam of interest.</p> + +<p>“And I will write a line to Jack at once,” she said, +“and tell him of my departure, so that he will call on me +at Bessie’s.”</p> + +<p>Her mother frowned.</p> + +<p>“If I were you I would give up that nonsense, Rosie,” +she ventured, in a low, earnest tone. “I heard yesterday +that old Arbuthnot is going to visit the Vernons. You +have heard of him, Rosamond, the railroad king? What a +triumph it would be to become Mrs. Arbuthnot!”</p> + +<p>“And give up Jack? Never, mamma! I have never +cared for any man before in my whole life!”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Raleigh shut her lips tightly together and sighed +dolorously.</p> + +<p>“Both my children gone mad over pretty faces!” she +ejaculated. “But I know Richard well enough to believe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span> +that he has some ulterior object in this affair which will be +known to us later on. If that surmise be true—and I can +not doubt it after what your father said last night—why, we +can understand Richard’s seemingly unpardonable conduct. +But you, good gracious, Rosamond, you have no +sensible excuse for your folly, none in the world.”</p> + +<p>Rosamond’s thin lips were compressed closely, and a +dangerous gleam shone in her eyes.</p> + +<p>“We will not discuss it now, mamma,” she made answer. +“Wait until I come home again, though I do not +know that the idea of returning to this house is a very +lively one—at least, unless this supernatural visitation +should cease. And now ring for Felice, and let me get +ready. Bessie will be tired waiting.”</p> + +<p>But down in the library where she had tarried, Bessie +was occupying herself very much to her own satisfaction. +Some one had summoned Mr. Raleigh from the room, and +only waiting to place the document which had so engrossed +him in a drawer, he arose and left the library.</p> + +<p>As soon as he was gone, Mrs. Vernon crept swiftly over +to the escritoire, and stealthily opening the drawer, drew +forth the great yellow parchment with glaring red seals, +and opened it hastily. The first words which met her +eyes were these:</p> + +<p>“And to my niece, Lillian Leigh, I give, devise, and bequeath +all—”</p> + +<p>Footsteps in the hall without, the turning of the door-knob. +Bessie dropped the document back into the drawer, +and closing it, turned to confront Richard Raleigh. He +looked pale and handsome; but there was a triumphant +smile upon his lips, a lurking devil in his dusky eyes. As +they fell upon the lady he started.</p> + +<p>“Ah, Mrs. Vernon,” bowing lowly; “delighted to see +you.”</p> + +<p>And the hand which took Bessie’s in its grasp closed +down tightly upon her tiny fingers. “Mother has just informed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span> +me that Rosamond is to go to you for a few days,” +he continued. “Now, my dear Mrs. Vernon, surely you +will not shut a poor fellow out of your paradise? You will +let me come sometimes?”</p> + +<p>She laughed lightly.</p> + +<p>“As many times as you please,” she returned. “I +shall have some pretty ladies among my guests, and an +escort is always welcome.”</p> + +<p>Richard’s bold, black eyes sparkled.</p> + +<p>“But,” she added, softly, “what is this rumor—oh, a +little bird told me—about your own marriage?”</p> + +<p>His dark face flushed.</p> + +<p>“I have been caught in Cupid’s net!” he laughed, +“and may as well cry out <i>mea culpa</i> to that charge. Seriously, +Bessie—you used to let me call you Bessie—I am +intending to marry soon Miss Leigh. She is a poor girl, +but lovely. Coming, father!” he added, as his father’s +voice called his name.</p> + +<p>Five minutes later Bessie Vernon was alone in the library +once more, an odd smile upon her painted lips, her +eyes shining like stars.</p> + +<p>“Ah, ha! I see the game at last!” she muttered to herself. +“How stupid not to have seen it before.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">GREEK MEETS GREEK.</p> + + +<p>Richard Raleigh left the library at sound of his father’s +voice calling his name, and hastened to an adjacent +room where that gentleman awaited him. Grafton Raleigh’s +face was pale and troubled.</p> + +<p>“Get rid of that woman, Rick,” he said in a low, +cautious tone; “her eyes are everywhere at once. She +suspects something, and I believe she never took her eyes +off the—the document—after she had first observed it.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span> +Richard started nervously. His father went on: “If she +once gets her curiosity aroused, you might as well attempt +to stay a tornado in its course as to check or restrain her. +Get her out of the library, if you can; go into the conservatory +and talk nonsense—Heaven knows she is always +ready enough to listen! and I will go back to the library +and remove the—the paper. You know Rosamond well +enough to compute the length of time that she will probably +keep Mrs. Vernon waiting—long enough to ruin us, +Rick, if she sees anything more to arouse her curiosity. +And that paper is so extremely conspicuous; and she and +Rosamond burst in upon me so unexpectedly that I had no +time to conceal it. I shall be more careful to lock the +door another time.”</p> + +<p>Pale and looking very uncomfortable, Richard retraced +his steps to the library. As he entered the room Bessie +had just arisen to her feet, about to return to her investigations +in the escritoire. At sound of the opening door +she started guiltily.</p> + +<p>“Ah!” she cried, as her eyes fell upon Richard, “you +are back again, and I am glad! I am tired waiting for +Rosamond. She is an unconscionably long time getting +ready!” pouting bewitchingly as she stood with her long +black eyelashes drooping over her great, velvety eyes—downcast, +as though unable to bear the look of plainly expressed +admiration from Richard Raleigh’s dusky orbs +riveted upon her.</p> + +<p>“Come into the conservatory, Bessie,” he pleaded. “I +want to talk to you.”</p> + +<p>She followed him as obediently as a child, and they entered +the conservatory together. Moving down the long +aisle between rows of bloom and verdure, she lifted her +eyes to his face, with a question in their innocent depths. +No one knew better than Bessie Vernon how to enact the +rôle of innocence and childishness.</p> + +<p>“How long has this little affair been going on, Richard,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span> +she asked, with assumed timidity, “this—this love +affair with Miss Leigh? By the way, have I ever met her? +The name sounds strangely familiar. Wasn’t there a +man by the name of Leigh killed a short time ago?”</p> + +<p>He fell backward with a suppressed cry, which ended in +an impatient exclamation as his foot came in contact with +a rustic jardinière which fell to the floor with a crash, depositing +a great glazed jar filled with lovely blue Mexican +torrinias upon the floor at his feet.</p> + +<p>Half angrily he stooped to rescue the plants. Then, +summoning the gardener, he left him to repair the damage, +and moved calmly away at Mrs. Vernon’s side, with as +much nonchalance as though a fifty-dollar jardinière and +a ruined collection of rare plants worth their weight in +gold to the connoisseur were matters of the greatest indifference +to him.</p> + +<p>“Now, Bessie,” in a low tone, as he led her away to a +retired nook amid great trailing rose-vines, “don’t annoy +me with your chaff about marrying a poor girl. If I +could have had my own way, I would have met another, a +sweeter fate. If I could have won the beautiful woman +whom I have admired above all others,” with a tender +gaze into her downcast, blushing face, a look which spoke +volumes, “then I would have had a chance at happiness. +But as it is,” with a deep sigh, “I must—I have—resigned +all hope; for she, alas! is the wife of another man!”</p> + +<p>“Rick!” in a tone of remonstrance, but at the same +time one little hand stole into his with a faint, wavering +touch, “you must not speak in that way. It is wrong, +awfully wrong; and what would Vernon say?”</p> + +<p>Richard smiled sadly.</p> + +<p>“He would say that he has had the best of it in the +race for the prize. Bessie, why did you not give me a +chance—half a chance—to win you?”</p> + +<p>She turned shyly away.</p> + +<p>“Don’t ask such foolish questions,” she returned.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span> +“Run away now like a good boy, and see if Rosamond is +ever coming.”</p> + +<p>“I will not.”</p> + +<p>He glanced furtively about. Barnes, the gardener, had +removed the <i>débris</i>, and quietly retired. They were alone +in that retired nook in the conservatory. Richard lifted +Mrs. Vernon’s hand to his lips.</p> + +<p>“No, I will not go and leave you!” he cried, eagerly. +“I have sought an interview with you for a long time, +Bessie, and sought in vain. This is my chance now, and I +am going to avail myself of it. Bessie! Bessie! don’t turn +away from me so coldly, sweetheart—”</p> + +<p>He sunk into a seat at her side, for she had seated herself +upon a carved divan amid the fragrant Maréchal Niel +roses, whose perfume loaded the air. He took her hand in +his and drew the dusky head down upon his shoulder. +She started up with a little cry.</p> + +<p>“Don’t! Oh, Rick, it is shameful in you! I—I have +always cared, of course. I might indeed have more than +liked you in time if—if—well, fate hadn’t decreed that I +should marry Arnold Vernon! It is too late now to talk +about it—too late!”</p> + +<p>The little sinner had never thought of such a thing as +marrying Richard Raleigh, or caring for him either, for +that matter, though she had known him all her life. But +the situation was strong, and the effect too much of a +temptation to be resisted. But Bessie Vernon was +destined to pay dearly for that moment of sentimental +folly.</p> + +<p>Richard sighed deeply.</p> + +<p>“You are Arnold Vernon’s wedded wife, and I—I am +going to marry Lillian Leigh!” he said, slowly.</p> + +<p>“Why should you?” she asked, softly; “you need not +marry any one, Richard, if you—do—not love her! And +I do not see what you gain by this marriage. She is a +poor girl!” with a swift, keen glance into his startled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span> +face, “and I see no object in marrying her at all if you do +not—if—you care a little for some one—else!”</p> + +<p>He smiled caressingly.</p> + +<p>“You are a dear little woman, Bessie,” he said, softly, +his dark eyes upon her face with bold admiration; “but +you do not understand a man’s heart. We are often compelled +to submit to much that is unpalatable, and forego +many joys that would make us happy if attainable.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> +<div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse indent0">“‘Much must be borne which is hard to bear;</div> +<div class="verse indent2">Much given away which it were sweet to keep,’</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Owen Meredith tells us; and Owen speaks from extended +experience. We have, all of us, to bear our burdens and +keep silent, and try to make as much out of this life as we +can. And you would not doom me to lasting loneliness, +Bessie?”</p> + +<p>“To be sure not. Hush! Is not that Rosamond coming +at last?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, confound her! So my blissful moment is over! +Bessie, I have something to say to you, and I must communicate +with you in some way. May I write to you? +Will you answer the letter? It will make me very happy +to confide my griefs to you, if you will permit me to +write.”</p> + +<p>Silence! Light footsteps drawing nearer and nearer, +and then a shrill voice, calling loudly:</p> + +<p>“Bessie! Bessie! where are you? I am ready and waiting.”</p> + +<p>“Answer me, Bessie. Will you reply to my letter? +Don’t refuse me. I swear you will never regret it. I +want your advice; and I must speak my mind for once, +for, oh! I have suffered! May I write? Will you reply?”</p> + +<p>The door of the conservatory opened, and Rosamond’s +eyes roved through the flower-scented place.</p> + +<p>“Bessie! Ah, yes, there you are! Well, come, dear; I +am all ready.”</p> + +<p>“Answer me!” reiterated Richard, in a low tone.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span> +“Yes or no? Rosie’s coming in—be quick! Which is it +to be?”</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>A gleam of devilish triumph flashed into his dusky eyes +and lighted up his face. He caught her hand in his and +pressed his lips upon it, and then Bessie Vernon arose.</p> + +<p>She was quite pale, and looked uneasy. Already conscience +was pricking her with its sharp sting, and reminding +her that she had done wrong. Yet it was only a brief +reminder, for Bessie Vernon was not troubled with an undue +amount of conscience.</p> + +<p>And then they joined Rosamond at the door of the conservatory, +and a little later the two ladies drove away to +the elegant home of the Vernons. And then Richard +went back to his father.</p> + +<p>Grafton Raleigh was waiting for his son in the library, +upon his pale face a look of perturbation.</p> + +<p>“Our fears are well founded,” he began, as soon as his +son had entered the room; “that meddling woman has +certainly been looking at that document! Why? Because +this is not the way in which I placed it in the drawer. I +remember perfectly, and indeed I was cautious enough to +place it in a certain position, that I might know if it +should be displaced. If only that fellow Buckley had not +called just then! I knew that his business with me was +urgent, or I would have declined seeing him. But he +saved me a hundred dollars by the call, for he gave me a +pointer which will prevent the loss of at least that much. +Yet it would have been better to have lost fifty times one +hundred than to let Bessie Vernon get hold of our secret. +The sly little cat! She is always where she isn’t wanted, +and it seems as if she were destined to find out all our +family affairs. Rick, I’m afraid of that woman.”</p> + +<p>“I am not.”</p> + +<p>Richard spoke quietly, but there was a meaning tone in +the low, soft, sneering voice.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span></p> + +<p>“Just leave all that to me, father, and I agree to close +Bessie Vernon’s lips effectually—so effectually that no +matter what happens she will not dare to speak. Don’t +ask me how or why. I have not wasted a moment of time +this morning. I know her nature; her insatiable love of +conquest, and her vanity which is never satisfied. I have +made hay while the sun shines; I have won her sympathy +through her overweening vanity, and I am not afraid of +Bessie Vernon or all that she may know. I am no more +afraid of any developments which she may make than I +am afraid of the wind. What troubles me in regard to +this deuced unpleasant business is, whether or no Lillian +has begun to suspect.”</p> + +<p>“The deuce! We had better be dead if that be true.”</p> + +<p>Richard nodded.</p> + +<p>“And so I say, father, that the sooner the marriage is +over, and she becomes my property, the better for our +cause. Shall I endeavor to bring about the marriage in a +few days?”</p> + +<p>“Days?” Grafton Raleigh started. “If you can—all +right, of course,” he returned, thoughtfully; “the sooner +the better. Can not you touch Lillian’s pride and arouse +her jealousy, so that she will be goaded into consent to an +immediate marriage?”</p> + +<p>Richard’s face grew grave.</p> + +<p>“I will send for her to come down to the drawing-room,” +he said. “She shall appoint our wedding-day at +once, and the sooner the better. I know how to manage +her; never fear, father! And—ahem!—I fancy I can +manage Bessie Vernon also.”</p> + +<p>He rang the bell, and when a servant appeared he sent +him to request Miss Leigh to come down to the drawing-room.</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">IN AMBUSH.</p> + + +<p>“Come up to your room, Rosamond. See! I have +given you one across the hall from mine. Our guests will +arrive shortly, and Arnold is down in the drawing-room, +waiting with as much patience as a man usually bestows +upon his wife. Make haste, dear, and get off your wraps, +while I run down and pacify him.”</p> + +<p>And Bessie Vernon, just arrived at the handsome home +which claimed her as its mistress, flitted from the room.</p> + +<p>Rosamond laid aside her hat and wrap, and seated herself +before the cheerful fire in the pretty blue-and-gold +chamber—a triumph of modern art and æsthetic taste.</p> + +<p>“Jack will be surprised,” she said to herself, as she +leaned her head against the puffy blue satin chair-back +and closed her eyes languidly. “But he will call to-night +to join our party bound for the Van Alstyne dinner. And +after that—” She arose slowly to her feet, and moved +over to the window, her face full of triumph, and her eyes +shining with malice—the malice of a woman who hates another +with all her heart, and sees a way open to vent her +cruel spite upon her. “Ah! Lenore Van Alstyne,” she +hissed, bleakly, “you have had your day—my turn is +coming now. You have queened it over me in the past, +it is my hour of triumph now. I hate her—the cold, +proud, grand lady, who makes us all feel our inferiority; +but I shall be even with her yet. I see the way open before +me.”</p> + +<p>She hated Lenore with all the hatred of which her narrow +mind was capable. Her nature was cruel and vindictive, +and she would leave no stone unturned to humiliate +the woman so much her superior. A rap at the door of +her room made her turn swiftly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span></p> + +<p>“Let me in, Rosamond!” called Mrs. Vernon’s voice +through the key-hole. “I want to tell you something.”</p> + +<p>A little later Rosamond and her hostess were sitting before +the fire, while Bessie chattered volubly away.</p> + +<p>“He is coming here to-night, after the Van Alstyne +dinner—Mr. Arbuthnot, I mean, Rosamond—and, dear +me, you incorrigible girl! you pretend not to understand; +but I mean—here it is in plain English—I mean that you +shall marry him!”</p> + +<p>“Bessie!”</p> + +<p>“I mean that you shall become Mrs. Arbuthnot before +many months are past,” repeated Mrs. Vernon, impressively. +“Your coming here is just providential. I had +been wanting you here for Mr. Arbuthnot’s visit, and fate +has decreed that you should come.”</p> + +<p>“But, Bessie, I—”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes! I suppose it is quite in order for you to respectfully +decline, etc., but all the same I will wager that +you will marry Mr. Arbuthnot. True, he is old, but +money, like charity, covers a multitude of sins and short-comings. +And, besides, you will stand a chance of being +a rich widow some day—a real queen—living in royal +state. In which case you will not forget your old friend +Bess. Eh, Rosamond?”</p> + +<p>Rosamond laughed uneasily.</p> + +<p>“You are speaking of impossibilities,” she returned, +coldly. “I may as well tell you now as later. My affections +are already engaged. I love one of the noblest men +in the world,” she added, with a tragical air.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Vernon arose to her feet, and with both white +jeweled hands uplifted in dumb surprise, turned slowly +around upon one foot, like a revolving automaton, and +gazed full into Rosamond’s anxious face. Then she burst +into a peal of silvery laughter.</p> + +<p>“Rosamond, you are the funniest girl—just too awfully +funny for anything. Your affections! Who in the world<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span> +said anything about affections? I was speaking of marriage. +You love the noblest man, and so on. Dear, dear! +you’ll be the death of me, Rosamond! And, come what +may, I still adhere to my opinion that you will win old +Arbuthnot, the railroad king. He is already interested in +you. He saw you with me one day, when we were driving +in the park, and he asked me afterward who you were. +Said that he had never seen a more queenly lady, and that +there was something about you which reminded him of +the late Mrs. Arbuthnot.”</p> + +<p>Rosamond shuddered.</p> + +<p>“Don’t, Bessie!” she cried, angrily. “I will tell you +plainly that I—I care more for Mr. Lyndon than for any +man in the universe.”</p> + +<p>Bessie shrugged her shoulders with a gesture of mock +surprise.</p> + +<p>“The end of the world is at hand,” she exclaimed, +laughingly. “Now, Rosamond, you know as well as I +that you will never marry that newspaper scribbler—never! +No, not though you go to your grave unwedded, +which I am certain is an act of which you will never be +guilty. Why, it is perfectly laughable. The idea of you, +only daughter of Grafton Raleigh, millionaire, to think +seriously for one moment of a poor newspaper scribbler! +Of course I understand; it is merely a jest of yours, Rosie. +And now I am going to ring for refreshments. We will +have a cozy lunch together, after which it will be time to +dress for the affair at Van Alstyne’s.”</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>The great dining-hall of the Van Alstyne mansion was +brilliantly illuminated. The sheen of light fell athwart +the long table with its glittering array of gold and silver, +and brought out into strong relief the gorgeous uniforms +of the foreign officers and the rich toilets of the ladies.</p> + +<p>At the head of the table sat Lenore, in a robe of rich +black lace, through which her snowy arms and shoulders<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> +gleamed like polished marble. Inky black was the entire +costume, lighted up by the shimmering topaz ornaments +that she wore—yellow and uncanny. Her face was as +pale as death, save for a round red spot which looked like +the hectic flush of fever. Her eyes were calm and proud +as they swept the glittering assemblage, her red lips +slightly curling as though with utter scorn. Rosamond +and Mrs. Vernon watched her with furtive eyes. Rosamond +in pale-blue silk and white lace, Bessie in a bewildering +combination of scarlet and gold. Mr. Arbuthnot +had been duly presented to Rosamond, who saw before her +a red-faced, rather pompous-looking old man who seemed +to feel the dignity of his own position; and also he seemed +to be really attracted by Miss Raleigh’s charms. At last +the banquet was at an end, and the guests filed back to +the drawing-room. The clocks all over the great house +struck the hour of ten.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“Cyril, I am here.”</p> + +<p>“Lenore! Oh, I feared that something was wrong, +that all had been discovered and our flight prevented. +For it is better for you that we go away quietly. But, +Heaven be praised, you have come at last! My darling, +I have waited not so very long when the time is +computed by moments, but counted by the suffering of +suspense which I have endured, it has been an eternity. +Lenore, are you ready to go at once? Thornton’s yacht is +down in the harbor and the boat is waiting to take us +thither. You leave no regrets behind, Lenore?”</p> + +<p>She laughed, a low, scornful laugh.</p> + +<p>“Regrets? Good heavens! This is the real beginning +of my life! Cyril, I have taken nothing which that man +ever gave me. I have left my jewels, my wardrobe—all; +this plain merino dress was purchased with money of my +own, which I earned before I ever saw Van Van Alstyne. +Nothing of his goes with me. Come, I am ready. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span> +air of this place—his possessions—stifle me. You have +written the letter, Cyril?”</p> + +<p>“I have written the letter. Senator Van Alstyne will +find it in his room whenever he sees fit to enter it. And +then he will learn the whole truth, and he will know that +I am only claiming my own—that there is no sin—no +crime in the step which we are taking. Lenore, love of +my life, let us go!”</p> + +<p>In the shrubbery close beside them three dark forms +were crouching, watching the scene in perfect silence—Bessie +Vernon, Rosamond Raleigh, and Senator Van Alstyne.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">HER FLIGHT.</p> + + +<p>How still it was! Nothing to break the strange, uncanny +silence of the scene and the hour only the wind +moaning feebly in the tree-tops. The moon came forth +from behind a mass of fleecy white clouds, and gazed down +upon the group crouching in ambush—the three who had +hunted this woman down to gloat over her ruin.</p> + +<p>Cyril Fayne’s arms were about Lenore; her head rested +upon his breast. One brief pause of blissful silence, then +they flitted away through the shrubbery, in the pale radiance +of the moonlight, straight to a side gate which led +from the grounds.</p> + +<p>Not a word was spoken; not a sound betrayed the excitement +which quivered through the waiting group. Bessie +Vernon flashed about at last and clutched Rosamond’s +arm in a nervous grip.</p> + +<p>“Look at Van Alstyne!” she whispered. “He looks +like a galvanized corpse. Van Alstyne!” she called, +softly, “are you dumb or dead? Don’t you see that they +are going—gone? Why don’t you make your way around +to the front and intercept them? No doubt there is a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span> +carriage in waiting to take them away, and I happen to +know that Harvey Thornton’s yacht, ‘White Wings,’ is +in the bay. I suppose he has an object in anchoring +there. Van Alstyne! in the name of Heaven, why don’t +you do something? They will be gone; and if nothing is +done it will be too late to spoil their game and put an end +to their flight.”</p> + +<p>And it never once occurred to this volatile butterfly that +this man had planned deeper, more terrible revenge than +the mere circumvention of the plan of escape together +could ever have visited upon the two.</p> + +<p>Slowly Van Van Alstyne turned, and his eyes met the +gaze of the woman who had plotted so well and successfully. +Bessie shivered.</p> + +<p>“Don’t look at me like that!” she cried. “Go! You +have your revolver; I saw it in your hand a moment ago. +Why not use it? Not to—to kill—of course not; that +would be so dreadfully low and common—but it would +frighten them and make a scene. Then she will be disgraced +forever.”</p> + +<p>He turned slowly and faced her once more. He lifted +his right hand toward heaven—upon his face a look that +was bad to see. He had gnawed his under lip until the +blood was beginning to trickle down upon his stubbly +beard.</p> + +<p>“Curse her! Curse them both!” he hissed, bleakly. +“My curse follow them wherever they go! I curse them +living—I curse them dead! No, I shall not follow them, +Bessie Vernon; I shall remain where I am and let them +take their departure undisturbed. Their punishment will +be greater than my disgrace. Let us return to the house. +My plan of vengeance will soon be revealed to you. I +think it will satisfy even you.”</p> + +<p>The <i>dénouement</i> was so unexpected, this turn in affairs +something of which Bessie had not even dreamed, and for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span> +which she was totally unprepared, she could only stand +and stare blankly into Van Alstyne’s pale, resolute face.</p> + +<p>“I do not understand you,” she faltered. “How can +you punish her if you allow her to go on and elope with +the man of her choice? You might prevent the elopement, +and then you could have held the threat of public +exposure and disgrace over her head in future—for the +rest of her natural life. My word for it, she would rather +be dead than in your power in that way. She would have +been your slave henceforth; for in case of any insubordination, +a gentle reminder of her secret—in your power—would +bring my lady to her senses. Van Van Alstyne, I +don’t understand you. If Arnold were in your place now, +how he would rant and rave! He would be like a madman!”</p> + +<p>“But I am not Arnold Vernon, and if I were, I am +afraid I should do as I am doing now!” he returned, still +with that same ominous quiet in tone and manner. “You +will understand me later,” he added, with a grim smile. +“Believe me, Mrs. Vernon, I am quite competent to manage +this affair for myself. I advise you and Miss Raleigh +to return to the house now; I will follow directly. Ah, I +see young Stuart coming; he will escort you.”</p> + +<p>A tall, fair-haired young fellow, with great gray eyes +and an air of nonchalance, made his way through the +shrubbery and halted.</p> + +<p>“Hope I don’t intrude; eh, Mrs. Vernon? Regular +Paul Pry, am I not? Do let me take you back to the +house,” adding in a low tone, as Bessie promptly laid her +hand upon his arm: “We will go around by the longest +way.”</p> + +<p>Rosamond was taken in charge by a bewhiskered foreign +officer, and they all moved away together, leaving the +senator alone. His face was as white as the face of a dead +man; his hands were clinched fiercely together; he was +trembling in every limb.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span></p> + +<p>“Deserted!” he said, aloud, the word cutting in upon +the silence like a knife; “deserted, abandoned, defied, +made a mock of; I, senator and millionaire, one of the +richest men in the city, one whose word is law, and who +controls millions! Deserted by a pale-faced, trembling +woman because she does not, and never did, love me, but +loves another man! Ah—h!”</p> + +<p>He gnashed his teeth in impotent rage. His pride was +hurt, his self-love wounded, his vanity immolated, and he +stood like a skeleton stripped of its flesh, alone in a howling +wilderness, with only the vultures of social scorn to +prey upon him. Otherwise he was alone.</p> + +<p>“Alone!” he muttered, harshly, after a time. “Well, +I am no more alone now than when she was with me. For +we have always been apart. How I hate her for the contumely, +the shame, the humiliation that she has brought +upon my name! But I shall have revenge. If she were +here now, if she had returned to me a moment ago, or +should even yet come back, I would drag her into the +house which she has disgraced, into the presence of my +guests, and tell the shameful story before them all. I +would have no pity, no mercy, nothing but revenge. +That letter!” he panted, as he strode hastily back to the +house. “I will find the letter which that villain said had +been placed in my room for my perusal—yes, I will read +it, and then I shall know if the course which I have +marked out for myself be a wise one.”</p> + +<p>He shut his lips resolutely together, and hastened +around to a side entrance to the brilliantly lighted mansion.</p> + +<p>Once within the house, he hurried upstairs to his own +room, and closed its door behind him.</p> + +<p>Upon the elegant dressing-table, with full-length mirror +and with all its costly toilet accessories, the gleam of a +white envelope attracted his attention. He snatched it up +and tore it open with all the haste and passion of a madman.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span></p> + +<p>Several sheets of paper met his view, all covered with +writing. He recognized the chirography which he had +seen upon the envelope addressed to Lenore, and an imprecation +passed his lips. Then, still clutching the letter +in one trembling hand, he sunk into the nearest seat and +began to read.</p> + +<p>Down-stairs, Rosamond Raleigh and Mrs. Vernon had +taken upon themselves the task of entertaining the guests—assuming +control of the festivities.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Van Alstyne had been taken suddenly ill, and +had gone to her room. She would be down directly. +Senator Van Alstyne had been summoned away for a short +time upon imperative business.</p> + +<p>Lame excuses, but all that could be invented upon +short notice.</p> + +<p>The evening wore away, and the guests seemed to have +accepted the strange absence of both host and hostess with +unprecedented good nature.</p> + +<p>Bessie Vernon was in her element, for Charlie Stuart +never left her side. And Arnold Vernon, watching the +pair from the corner where he sat conversing with some +ladies, frowned severely and looked as black as a thunder-cloud; +but all of no avail. He could no more prevent his +wife’s mad flirtations than he could turn the waves of the +ocean from their course. He could only sit and glower +moodily upon the scene, and, as Bessie definitely declared, +hate himself to death.</p> + +<p>She flitted past him leaning upon Charlie’s arm, her +piquant face uplifted to his, while saucy retort and witty +repartee flashed from one to the other. And gradually +the elements of a tragedy were evolved from the giddy +foolishness—the overweening vanity of this pleasure-loving +wife.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Cyril Fayne was hastening on with +Lenore toward where, in a secluded corner, a closed carriage +stood in waiting. A little later they were safe inside,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span> +and the carriage drove away like mad in the direction +of the harbor, a half mile distant. Pale as marble and +trembling like a leaf, Lenore crouched upon the seat at his +side, one hand pressed over her heart throbbing madly, the +other grasping his arm with a despairing clutch, as though +she feared that he might be taken from her.</p> + +<p>“Cyril,” she cried, fearfully, “what if he discovers +our flight and follows us? Oh, he is fearful in his anger +and brute violence. It makes my heart quail to even +think of him and the day that he struck me—”</p> + +<p>She stopped short, the words dying upon her lips, as +Cyril Fayne caught her in his arms, muttering a mad imprecation.</p> + +<p>“Struck you? Oh, Lenore, Lenore, you never told me +that. Struck you? How dared he, the villain, the base, +vile wretch! Ah, Senator Van Alstyne, ours will be a terrible +reckoning when the day comes in which we shall +stand face to face. Hear me, Lenore: If the day ever +comes when I shall stand in that man’s presence, I shall +shoot him down as I would shoot a mad dog!”</p> + +<p>“Cyril!”</p> + +<p>“I shall kill him!” he repeated, grimly. “The same +world can not hold Van Van Alstyne and me. For your +sake I submit now and will do no violence, but Heaven +help him if we chance to meet. It drives me mad to think +of it. To dare raise his cowardly hand against a woman, +and that woman—you—my own wife!”</p> + +<p>He kissed the sweet red lips again and again as the carriage +rolled onward. It came to a halt at last and Cyril hastily +alighted. Lenore peered cautiously forth into the night. +The moon had gone down and all was in darkness—a +heavy gloom which hung over the earth like a pall. But +a short distance away she caught the gleam of waves rising +and falling with a low musical murmur, while off +upon the water, a faint light twinkled like a star. The +light is Harvey Thornton’s yacht, “White Wings.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span> +Cyril lifted Lenore to the ground. She clung to him with +a frightened gesture.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Cyril, has any one followed us? Has he—found +out—do you think?”</p> + +<p>Cyril shook his head.</p> + +<p>“I see no one—nothing,” he made answer. “And +now, my darling, we must make haste to the boat, and in +a short time we will be safe upon the ‘White Wings.’”</p> + +<p>One long, eager, searching glance up and down the +beach, and down the long, winding country road by which +they had come, then Lenore slipped her hand through his +arm, and he led her away to where a tiny skiff rocked idly +to and fro at the end of its long chain. A little delay and +they were safe within the boat, flying over the water like a +bird, in the direction of the anchored yacht.</p> + +<p>“Love,” he bent his head and looked into her eyes, “it +is you and I will move upon life’s tempestuous sea. Do +you regret the past? Are you glad that I came back to +you?”</p> + +<p>“Cyril!”</p> + +<p>One swift glance into his handsome dark face, but it +told plainer far than words her heart’s content. He bent +with fresh energy to the oars, and so at last the yacht was +reached and they were safe on board. Half an hour later +the yacht was pushing on, making rapid headway far out +at sea.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>Van Van Alstyne read the letter that Cyril Fayne had +written—read it in ominous silence—his lips sternly compressed, +his face ghastly white, his eyes blood-shot and +fierce with rage. It was finished at last. He crushed the +letter up into a ball, and tossed it into a drawer in his +escritoire, locking it securely. For a few moments he +stood as still as death, an awful look upon his white, +drawn face. Then he wheeled about sullenly and entered +his dressing-room. Having bathed his face and restored<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span> +his disordered attire, he was quite himself once more. +Forcing a smile to his bloodless lips, he went down to the +drawing-room from which he had so long absented himself. +He advanced into the center of the room and the +sight of him somehow checked the merry badinage of the +gay crowd, and laughter died a speedy death. Pale and +stern he faced them. Ah! he was going to taste the +sweets of revenge now.</p> + +<p>“My friends,” he began in a clear, distinct voice, “I +must apologize for my unwarrantable neglect of my guests +to-night. I have a revelation to make. Mrs. Lenore Van +Alstyne has left her home forever. She has gone away in +the night and darkness. She has disgraced herself and +me, and heaped humiliation upon the name of Van Alstyne. +She has fled with her lover, Cyril Fayne.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">VAN ALSTYNE’S REVENGE.</p> + + +<p>When Van Van Alstyne spoke those words—those cruel, +awful words—he was speaking falsely, and he knew it. +For the letter which he had found in his room—the letter +which Cyril Fayne had written—had told the whole +truth. And Van Alstyne had set his teeth hard together +over a fearful imprecation, while he vowed an awful vengeance +upon the woman who had left him forever.</p> + +<p>“I will not kill her,” he muttered, hoarsely. “Oh, no! +she would be out of her misery then. And I will not pursue +them and punish them; for they would publish their +story far and near, and would win all sympathy; and I +would be looked upon as an old tyrant from whose clutches +Lenore had escaped to a brighter, happier life. If the +world knew the truth—knew the contents of this letter—she +would have all sympathy and her course would be universally +approved. And they have played directly into my +hands by not coming out openly and declaring the truth.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span> +But Cyril Fayne—curse him!—would spare her every pang, +every sorrow. He has taken her away to a foreign land, +but they will return some day; and when that time comes, +they will return to find themselves ostracized by all +respectable people, condemned by public opinion, shunned +as moral lepers. That is my revenge! Who shall say +that it is not sweet?”</p> + +<p>And then he had walked quietly down-stairs to the drawing-room, +and repeated to the assembled guests the story +of Lenore Van Alstyne’s downfall. He attempted no palliation, +asked no leniency for the fallen woman; but +coarsely, brutally told the tale which was destined to blight +a woman’s whole life.</p> + +<p>After that there was little desire for merry-making. +Not that they grieved so much over Lenore; she was not a +general favorite. She was too cold and quiet, too honest +and sincere to be appreciated or widely liked. Not being +a hypocrite, she would not sully her white soul with deceit, +and pretend to a friendship which she did not feel. She</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> +<div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse indent0">“Walked too straight for fortune’s end</div> +<div class="verse indent1">And loved too true to keep a friend.”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>And now she must suffer for her honesty and sincerity. +In fashionable society this is inevitable.</p> + +<p>One by one the guests took their departure. A few of +the older gentlemen seemed inclined to tarry; perhaps for +the purpose of offering sympathy and consolation. But +Van Alstyne coolly dismissed them all with a stiff “Thanks +for your sympathy, old friend; I do not require it. I have +seen the coming ruin for some time, and I have shielded her +and covered up her sins and short-comings because she was +my wife. But now that that which was hidden has become +clear, I have no more to say. I prefer to be alone. +Good-night, gentlemen.”</p> + +<p>Once left alone in his deserted house, Van Van Alstyne +went quietly upstairs, where he lighted a bronze hand-lamp.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span> +Then, lamp in hand, he turned in the direction of the suite +of rooms which had been occupied by his wife, separate +and distinct from his own. He paused upon a white fur +rug before the great carved Gothic door, and slowly turned +the silver knob. There were three rooms in the suite—sleeping-room, +dressing- and bath-room—all connected, +and only separated from each other by crimson velvet portières. +The sleeping-room was all in crimson, with dashes +of old gold, with exquisite lace hangings, and carved rosewood +furniture. The dainty satin-covered bed was smooth +and untouched. The black lace robe which she had worn +that night was flung across the foot, and heaped upon the +marble toilet-table were the topaz ornaments, gleaming +and glittering like weird, uncanny eyes. Van Alstyne +opened a drawer in the toilet-table. There were her jewel +cases; every jewel reposed upon the white satin bed; not +one had been removed. A second drawer was filled to the +brim with rare and costly laces—point, Mechlin, duchess, +Valenciennes—of the most costly pattern and dainty workmanship.</p> + +<p>The great carved wardrobes were overflowing with rich +and costly garments. Silks, satins, velvets, furs. Her +Russian sables had been the envy of half the city that winter.</p> + +<p>Van Alstyne paused to place the bronze lamp upon the +toilet-table, while he stood glaring about him with ferocious +eyes. He looked like a tiger—blood-thirsty, cruel—as +he stood there, his small, snaky eyes growing red and +blood-shot, his hands clutching the empty air as though +his fingers were about her throat. Then, with a sudden +bound and a hoarse imprecation, he darted forward like +one possessed with the very frenzy of madness. He +snatched up the costly lace robe—the dress which she had +last worn—and rent it into unsightly fragments, heaping +them upon the fire which burned smolderingly upon the +marble hearth.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span></p> + +<p>Once given over to the evil spirit which had entered his +body, he behaved like a demon. He tore down the beautiful +dresses from the wardrobe, and tearing them into tatters, +piled them high upon the hearth. The flames crawled +over them and thrust their fiery tongues through the silk +and satin and velvet sheen, consuming, ruining, blackening, +destroying. Then he opened the jewel caskets and +tossed their contents upon the velvet carpet, setting his +boot-heel upon them in vindictive fury, grinding them into +fragments. It was an awful sight.</p> + +<p>He came to a pause only when he had wrought utter +ruin and desolation. The frightened servants, aroused +from the slumber which they had only just sought, made +their way at length to their lady’s chamber. It was then +that the maniac grew quiet, and turning abruptly upon +them, ordered the fire to be extinguished and the servants +to retire. Tremblingly they obeyed him; and when they +had gone away again Van Van Alstyne locked the outer +door of the suite of rooms which had been Lenore’s, and +slipping the key into his pocket, went slowly down the +great carved staircase, through the outer door into the +gloom without. It was the dark hour which always comes +before day, a dense darkness which could almost be +felt. But through the gloom Van Alstyne made his way +as straight as a die down to the fountain in the midst of +the marble basin, upon whose surface water-lilies were +thickly matted together. It was a deep and treacherous +pool, which had been turned into an ornament for the Van +Alstyne grounds. Although not large, it was almost fathomless; +and the marble sides served as ornaments, and at +the same time marked a spot which would otherwise be +dangerous.</p> + +<p>Once here, Van Alstyne halted, and drawing the key +from his pocket dropped it into the glistening pool. A +few ripples, and it found bottom somewhere; and then with +a muttered curse he turned away.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span></p> + +<p>Plunging into the shrubbery near, he made his way back +to the house—the lonely, deserted house—and up to his +own chamber, where, hastily disrobing, he threw himself +upon his bed, and after a time fell into a heavy, dreamless +sleep.</p> + +<p>The following evening the city newspapers were teeming +with sensational paragraphs—just such paragraphs as +would drive a proud, sensitive woman to commit suicide. +And thus they told the story of Lenore Van Alstyne’s +downfall:</p> + + +<p class="center">“<span class="smcap">Elopement in High Life!</span>”</p> + +<p>“It is with pain that we chronicle the disgrace and desolation +which have fallen upon the palatial mansion of one +of our most influential citizens. And while our hearts +bleed with sympathy for him, we can only condemn the +base woman who has been the cause of all this sorrow.</p> + +<p>“Last night, at the elegant mansion of a certain millionaire, +a grand entertainment was given. The hostess, a +beautiful brunette, received her guests in apparently her +usual spirits; but a little past ten o’clock she disappeared +from the drawing-room, and her guests saw her no +more.</p> + +<p>“She went to meet her lover, a foreigner, who has been +quite marked in his attentions to her of late. It seems +that an elopement had been planned which was successfully +carried out. She has fled with her lover, this false woman +who has brought sorrow to her fond husband’s heart and +ruin to the home which was once hers.</p> + +<p>“A shadow black as the regions of torment will rest +upon her memory, and henceforth the name of Lenore +Van Alstyne will be a synonym for everything base and +vile. Lost, ruined, irretrievably and forever, it is to be +hoped that she will never return to this place. It is believed +that the guilty pair have gone to Europe.</p> + +<p>“Our distinguished townsman has our earnest sympathy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> +in his affliction. But such a woman will not be deeply +mourned by the community, or long missed.”</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>Seated in the Hotel de Ville, Paris, glancing over an +American newspaper, Lenore read these lines—the awful, +condemning words which made her heart stand still with +wordless horror and blank despair—and she understood. +The man whom she had left had purposely ignored the letter, +and kept silent in regard to its contents—that letter +which would have made plain the whole bitter truth.</p> + +<p>“This is his revenge,” she murmured, brokenly, “and +the end is not yet!”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">GONE TO HER DOOM.</p> + + +<p>Richard Raleigh had sent a message by a servant to +Lillian, requesting her to come down to the drawing-room +for a few moments. He had made up his mind that she +must be his wife at once. There were reasons—grave and +imperative reasons—why the marriage should take place +immediately.</p> + +<p>Grafton Raleigh, writhing under the burden of conscious +guilt which he carried ever with him, awaited Lillian’s appearance +with as much feverish impatience as Richard himself.</p> + +<p>Up and down the great library paced Grafton Raleigh, +his hands folded behind his back, his pale face full of +moody light as he paced to and fro, listening intently for +some sound from the drawing-room which would tell him +that Lillian had obeyed the summons.</p> + +<p>But there was no light footstep upon the staircase, no +low, sweet voice was heard, no sign of Lillian’s coming. +Grafton Raleigh halted at the door of the library, which +stood slightly ajar, and bent his head to listen. Down the +stairs at last came the echo of footsteps, slow and measured;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span> +a moment more and the servant who had been sent +to summon Lillian paused before Richard, who had hastened +into the entrance hall to meet him.</p> + +<p>“Well, what was Miss Leigh’s answer,” he demanded, +hurriedly; “is she coming?”</p> + +<p>He was too eager and anxious to appear his usual cold, +stately self. The man’s stolid face wore a look of surprise.</p> + +<p>“If you please, Mr. Richard,” he returned, obsequiously, +“the young lady is not there!”</p> + +<p>“Not there! What do you mean?” cried Richard, +harshly.</p> + +<p>At sound of his angry voice Grafton Raleigh stepped out +into the hall. The man bowed deprecatingly.</p> + +<p>“Miss Leigh is not in her room, sir, I assure you,” he +said. “I rapped at the door several times, but received no +answer, and then I asked Felice to go in and look. She +rapped, and still no answer. She then ventured to open +the door, which was not locked, and she reported to me +that Miss Leigh was not in her room. The fire is out, and +no trace of Miss Leigh, so Felice reported; and then I +came down at once to you, Mr. Richard.”</p> + +<p>Richard’s face was as pale as death. He dismissed the +servant and followed his father into the library. Once +alone in the room, the two men stood staring at each other +with eyes full of blank bewilderment and horror too deep +for words.</p> + +<p>“She has gone away to escape me!” panted Richard, +angrily. “The girl must be mad! Or, father, some +one may have told her—all!”</p> + +<p>Grafton Raleigh shook his head slowly.</p> + +<p>“Hardly. Who would tell her—even granted that any +one <i>knows</i>? And no one knows but you and I, Rick; for +even if Bess Vernon suspects, she really knows nothing certain. +Besides that, she has not seen or had access to Lillian +since she was here this morning. Richard, the girl +has not gone far, and you must find her!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span></p> + +<p>Richard started.</p> + +<p>“You are right!” he said. “And if I find her I will +bring her back to this house my wife!”</p> + +<p>Grafton Raleigh nodded.</p> + +<p>“Do so by fair means or foul!” he panted, hoarsely. +“She must marry you! There is no loop-hole of escape +for us save through your marriage with Lillian Leigh. +To this end I have partially consented to Rosamond’s foolish +affair with Lyndon. Richard, does it strike you that +Jack Lyndon does not care for Rosamond? I am certain +that he does not, and that he has sought her in marriage +either because he expects to marry a fortune with Rosamond +Raleigh or he ‘has an ax of his own to grind.’”</p> + +<p>Richard’s face grew dark.</p> + +<p>“I know nothing concerning Mr. Lyndon’s affairs,” he +said, stiffly, “and I care less! My business at present is +to find Lillian, and bring her home my wife! She <i>must</i> +consent! We must succeed in this scheme, father, or we +shall be utterly ruined. I am going now to search for her. +Living or dead, I shall find her!”</p> + +<p>He left the house, pale and anxious, his eyes full of an +ominous light, his lips compressed sternly under the shadow +of his silky mustache.</p> + +<p>“Living or dead, I will find her!” he muttered, as he +hastened down the long street.</p> + +<p>Where was poor Lillian? The anguish and suffering +which she had endured since her reluctant consent to a +marriage which Richard Raleigh had wrung from her unwilling +lips could not be overestimated. Utterly alone, +forsaken, friendless, her whole heart clung to the memory +of Jack Lyndon with all the strength of its pure devotion. +Yet he, the man she loved, had been accused by +Richard Raleigh of being her father’s murderer. Could it +be possible? The more that Lillian reflected upon the +dreadful question, the more convinced was she that before +binding herself to Richard Raleigh by the ties of marriage<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span> +it was but right and proper, and only justice to Jack, to +confront him with the question, “Are you guilty or not +guilty?”</p> + +<p>The more the poor girl studied this problem, the more +clear and plain did her course appear to her. She walked +the floor of her room for hours, suffering intensely while +she reflected upon the matter.</p> + +<p>“Why not go to Jack and ask him?” she panted, wildly, +at last; “why not see him alone and accuse him, and mark +the effect of my accusation, and at least give him an opportunity +to prove his innocence?”</p> + +<p>And so at last she decided. She dressed herself hurriedly, +the deep mourning-garments making her look pitifully +pale and fragile, and at last she left her room and +went softly down the servants’ stairs and out of the house +unnoticed. Once in the street, she turned in the direction +of the office of the “Thunderer.” But by the time she +had reached the imposing building her heart failed her, her +courage ebbed away, and she dared not enter. After all, +it was an awful thing to do—to seek a man in his private +office and accuse him of the crime of murder—the man +who had only a few days before told her that he loved her +and asked her to be his wife. She thought of that, and +then of his present engagement to Rosamond Raleigh, and +the small hands clinched themselves tightly together, and +the white teeth sunk sharply into her under lip with fierce +intensity as she hurried away from the vicinity.</p> + +<p>She passed most of the day wandering through the most +unfrequented quarter of the city, not caring to return to +the Raleigh mansion and the man for whom she felt only +aversion, yet whose promised wife she was. At last, after +much indecision, when the afternoon was far spent, she +found herself ascending the long flight of stairs which led +to the office of the “Thunderer,” determined to know the +worst.</p> + +<p>“Come in!” called a well-known voice, in response to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span> +the timid tap upon the great oaken door which shut out +the editorial sanctum from view. The door swung slowly +open and Lillian crossed the threshold. Jack Lyndon sat +at a huge desk covered with papers, briskly engaged in +getting ready a leader for the next issue. He turned, and +as his eyes fell upon the pale, pitiful face he threw down his +pen and started to his feet.</p> + +<p>“Lillian—Miss Leigh!”—in an agitated voice—“do you—wish—to—to—”</p> + +<p>“To speak with you for a few moments upon matters +of importance,” she supplemented. “Yes, Mr. Lyndon.” +Then a pause. “Jack! Jack! tell me that you +are not guilty! I had rather die a thousand deaths than +believe you guilty.”</p> + +<p>All the pride of Jack Lyndon’s honest nature was up in +arms in a moment. His face flushed crimson and then +grew as pale as death. He put out his hand instinctively +and clutched at the desk beside him for support.</p> + +<p>“I deny your right to arraign me, Miss Leigh,” he was +beginning, haughtily. “The crime of which I am +guilty—”</p> + +<p>The door was thrown open at that very instant, cutting +his speech in twain. He had been about to say: “The +crime of which I am guilty is loving you too well.”</p> + +<p>The interruption was disastrous to Jack, for it was Richard +Raleigh who stepped into the room.</p> + +<p>“Lillian! Lillian!”—eagerly, anxiously—“I have +sought you everywhere! Mother is very ill, and Rosamond +absent. We need you at home. Come.”</p> + +<p>He drew her hand passively through his arm, and without +another word led her away. Once outside in the +street, Richard turned and faced Lillian with eager, burning +eyes.</p> + +<p>“Lillian, listen!” he said. “I have a strange request +to make of you. I want to make you my wife—now—within +the hour. There is a church just around the corner;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span> +the clergyman, an old friend of mine, is there this +moment. Let us go there and be married at once. Will +you consent, Lillian?”</p> + +<p>She thought of Jack’s words just spoken, and her wan +face grew white with despair.</p> + +<p>“As you will,” she answered, faintly.</p> + +<p>They passed on and entered the church together.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">FORGED FETTERS.</p> + + +<p>Richard Raleigh entered the church door, and like +one in a dream Lillian followed him. She was scarcely +conscious of her own actions. Her brain felt numb and +dazed; her heart beat low and feeble in her breast; she +was faint and trembling, with a slow horror creeping over +her which was terrible. Life stretched out around her like +a bleak and barren desert, upon which no green thing ever +smiled. The future—ah, she dared not look forward to +the future, which held not a ray of hope. Forsaken, +hopeless—the man she loved, upon whose integrity she had +staked her all of faith and trust in her fellow-creatures, +false—false and base.</p> + +<p>The young heart quailed, as young hearts always do, at +sight of such wickedness, and shrunk back appalled.</p> + +<p>Her father’s slayer! Could it be possible? A personal +affair, which had ended disastrously, between the dead man, +her beloved father, and the man she loved, and whose +promised wife she had been for one whole bright, happy +day.</p> + +<p>“To think of it,” she muttered under her breath, as +she moved onward at Richard Raleigh’s side, “to think +how nearly I had come to being the wife of the man who +took my father’s life. Yet, oh, how weak and feeble I +am! I who swore beside my father’s lifeless body to track<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span> +his slayer down to his just doom. Yet now I shrink—I +tremble at the very thought of betraying Jack Lyndon’s +guilty secret to the world. And I find myself weakly upholding +my own weakness. ‘My father is dead,’ I say to +myself, ‘and to deliver Jack Lyndon up to justice would +do Gilbert Leigh no good. It would not bring him back +to life, restore to me my lost content, or make my father in +that other world any happier to know that the man who +took his life must expiate that crime upon the gallows.’ +Oh, fool, mad fool that I am! It is because my heart—my +weak, womanish heart—still clings to Jack Lyndon, +and will not hate him as he deserves. But I must learn +to hate him, or at least to be free from him even in +thought. And I may as well consent to this marriage that +Richard Raleigh proposes, since the hateful marriage is +to be, and since by that alone I can secure Jack Lyndon’s +freedom from punishment. And—ah, Heaven help me!—we +are at the church even now. It is too late to draw back. +The die is cast!”</p> + +<p>They were ascending the steps of the sacred edifice in the +pale, gray shades of the gathering twilight. Down the +long streets upon either side lights were beginning to +twinkle, and the electric light at the corner had put forth +its round, silvery eye, and was winking and blinking derisively +upon the passers below.</p> + +<p>One swift glance toward the towering granite building +which held the office of the “Thunderer.” She could see +the office windows brightly lighted, and could even discern +the dim outlines of a dark figure seated at the long +desk, with bowed head resting upon one hand in an attitude +of melancholy and dejection.</p> + +<p>For just a moment a swift pang shot through the girl’s +tender heart; but she shrunk from it and pushed it aside, +as wicked and unholy. She seemed to lose all consciousness +of time and place. A black doom seemed to threaten +her; a cloud hung over her life which nothing could lift or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span> +move; voices sounded in her ear. She was conscious of +some one speaking, then asking a question in a slow, solemn +voice. Something impelled her to answer, to assent, and +she did so. Dim lights danced before her eyes, which, “as +in a glass, darkly,” could discern a tall form standing before +her, and then—like a knell of doom—came the words: +“I pronounce you husband and wife!”</p> + +<p>Faint and trembling, she reeled unsteadily, and would +have fallen but Richard Raleigh caught the slight form in +his arms.</p> + +<p>“Poor child!” she heard him say, softly, and his voice +sounded more gentle than she had ever heard it before. +“She is quite overcome. Her father has just died, you +see, and she is weak and faint and ill from want of sleep. +She has been nursing him, sitting by his bedside for many +weary nights.”</p> + +<p>Lillian lifted her horror-filled eyes to his dusky, devil-may-care +face. Standing at God’s holy altar, he was telling +a deliberate falsehood for which there was no excuse or +palliation. Heaven help her! What manner of man was +this—the man who even now was drawing her passive +hand through his arm? while a soft, silky voice—a voice +which she had never hated more bitterly than now—now, +when her hateful chains were forged forever—was whispering +in her ear:</p> + +<p>“My own little wife! mine forever!”</p> + +<p>Trembling like an aspen, she faced him, white and still.</p> + +<p>“There is some mistake,” she faltered, slowly, putting +her hand to her brow, and pushing back the thick golden +hair, as though its weight oppressed her. “I—I—do not +know—Oh, sir”—turning to the surprised clergyman +with a wild, imploring gesture—“tell me, am I really and +lawfully the wife of this man, Richard Raleigh?”</p> + +<p>“You are the wife of Richard Raleigh,” he returned, +quietly, “and may Heaven grant you all happiness!”</p> + +<p>“Happiness? Ha! ha!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span></p> + +<p>The shrill, unnatural laughter resounded through the +silent church, and the two supernumeraries who had enacted +the rôle of witnesses shrunk back in wonder and surprise +not unmixed with alarm.</p> + +<p>Richard beckoned the clergyman aside.</p> + +<p>“She is really ill,” he explained, “poor child! I will +take her home to my father’s house at once.”</p> + +<p>“And you are quite sure, Mr. Richard, that your father +approves the step that you have taken?” queried the +clergyman, gravely.</p> + +<p>“You may set your mind at rest upon that score, Mr. +Woods,” he said, deferentially. “Indeed, the marriage +has my father’s hearty approval. Only we did not expect +to be married this evening, and that explains the privacy +of the affair. My poor little wife is quite friendless and +homeless, you see, and it seems right that I should give +her a home at once. Just hand me the marriage certificate, +Mr. Woods. Ah, yes—thank you.”</p> + +<p>And the folded document was placed in his pocket, a +generous fee bestowed upon the clergyman, a present added +for the witnesses, and then Richard Raleigh led his unwilling +bride from the church. The eyes of the clergyman +followed the pair, and an uneasy look crossed his fine old +face.</p> + +<p>“I hope and pray that there is nothing wrong in this +affair!” he murmured, slowly. “I had rather die than be +guilty of a wrong of that kind! I consider clergymen +somewhat responsible in such matters. They have no right +to perform the marriage ceremony when they know that +they are binding together two lives where one is perhaps +coerced into the compact. Ah, well! I will watch this +case from a distance, and I trust to Heaven that all is +well!”</p> + +<p>Out upon the pavement, Richard Raleigh halted to summon +a passing cab. His face was flushed with triumph; +his eyes shone with a fiendish light; he was arrogant and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span> +overbearing in his manner. He saw the way to victory +now, and there was no more need to fear. As they stood +beside the curb, and waited for the cab to halt, Jack Lyndon, +passing down the street on his way home to a six-o’clock +dinner, saw them, and his face grew as white as +death. He came to a halt. They had just left the +church. Jack could see that, and a slow horror crept over +his heart like a chill.</p> + +<p>Just at that moment Lillian lifted her head, and their +eyes met—met for one brief, fleeting moment, yet long +enough to hold a lingering glance. It was to be a farewell.</p> + +<p>“I shall know that look when we meet beyond this ‘speck +of time,’” quoted Jack Lyndon slowly to himself, as he +moved down the street and was lost to sight.</p> + +<p>Then Richard Raleigh aroused Lillian from the strange +stupor which seemed to have taken sudden possession of +her faculties.</p> + +<p>“Come, darling,” he said, in a low, persuasive tone, as +the cab drew up to the sidewalk, “let me assist you into +the cab, and we will go home at once. You look tired +out, and this unexpected wedding of ours has been too +much for you.”</p> + +<p>She was shivering like one with a chill, as he placed her +in a cab and seated himself at her side. They drove +rapidly away down the street, and Lillian’s head fell back +upon the cushion of the seat. Into her beautiful eyes a +strange, wild gleam crept swiftly. She looked like one +who sees before her an awful precipice or bottomless abyss, +from which nothing can save or rescue her.</p> + +<p>“Take me to the grave-yard!” she moaned; “I want +to go to papa’s grave. Oh, Richard—Mr. Raleigh, take +me there for just a few moments, and I will ask no more.”</p> + +<p>“You must be mad!” he panted, harshly. “The idea +of asking such a thing. Your father’s grave, indeed, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span> +you not a half hour married! Lillian, upon my soul, I +believe that you are going mad!”</p> + +<p>A wild light flashed into the starry-brown eyes.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I am going mad!” she repeated, bleakly; “I +have no doubt of that. I must have been mad when I +consented to marry you, Richard Raleigh, for my life is +utterly ruined, and—”</p> + +<p>He wheeled about swiftly upon the seat and placed his +hand upon her lips.</p> + +<p>“Hush!” he hissed, sibilantly; “I forbid you to utter +another word of that, Lillian Raleigh! You are to obey +me henceforth, remember that! If you are obedient and +tractable you will be a happy wife, and shall never regret +the step that you have taken to-day. But if you—you +defy me—” he drew his breath hard, and his voice died +away into silence.</p> + +<p>The cab stopped before the Raleigh mansion, and a few +moments later Lillian was upstairs in her own room, its +door securely locked; while Richard sought his father in +the library.</p> + +<p>“Won at last!” he cried, triumphantly, as he entered +the room. “Lillian Leigh is my wife, and the Raleigh +fortune is safe!”</p> + +<p>He came to a startled halt. In his haste, and the mad +exultation which had taken possession of him, he had not +observed that there was another person present beside Grafton +Raleigh—a diminutive figure in seal-brown velvet and +flashing diamonds; an arch, smiling face, with a glare of +malice peeping from her bright eyes—Bessie Vernon.</p> + +<p>He fell back with a stifled exclamation; then rallied his +forces and greeted her with effusion. Ten minutes later +he left the library, and stole upstairs to the door of +Lillian’s room, and rapped upon the panel.</p> + +<p>“Open the door, Lillian, please?” he pleaded. “Don’t +be cold and angry with me, sweetheart! I want you to +come down with me to my father.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span></p> + +<p>The key grated in the lock, the door flew open, and +there upon the threshold, looking like a spirit, in a flowing +white cashmere robe, with her golden hair coiled loosely +about her graceful head, stood Lillian. Her eyes glittered +feverishly; her face was pale as death, and resolute.</p> + +<p>“We may as well come to an understanding now, Richard +Raleigh!” she said, in a clear, icy voice. “I have +gone through this farce of a marriage, but I hate you, hate +you, hate you! I am your wife in name only, and I desire +that you keep out of my sight. If your father wishes to +see me, he knows where he can find me. I married you to +save Jack Lyndon—the man I love—from an awful doom; +but I loathe and despise you unutterably, and I shall never +look upon you as aught but a snake in the grass—a man +whom I can never respect—my bitter enemy. Go! I have +no more to say. I am dead to you now, Richard Raleigh—just +as dead as though the grave had closed over my lifeless +form.”</p> + +<p>Lillian Leigh’s wedding-day was a thing of the past, and +what had it brought her? Only black, bitter misery and +woe unspeakable.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">FACE TO FACE.</p> + + +<p>“Do not weep, dear love!”</p> + +<p>Cyril Fayne took Lenore in his arms and kissed the quivering +red lips.</p> + +<p>“Do not grieve so, my darling. That man is a fiend +incarnate, but we will unmask him to the world. We will +rise superior to him and his petty nature—his engrossing +hatred. He is mean and despicable, and the world shall +know the truth and see him as he is. He has kept back +the letter that I wrote him; concealed it from the knowledge +of the world; held his peace as to my explanation, +and then boldly denounced you and me to the public at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span> +large. A man like that would commit any crime. But I +shall punish him! As sure as I live, I shall punish him! +When can you be ready to return to America, Lenore?”</p> + +<p>“Within the hour!” she answered, her eyes flashing, +her voice ringing forth sweet and clear—“at a moment’s +notice! To vindicate my honor, to make my traducers +bow before me in humiliation, to be set right in the eyes of +the world of society—that fashionable, hypocritical society +which has eaten my bread and enjoyed my hospitality times +innumerable—I will go back at any time, Cyril—<i>now!</i>”</p> + +<p>She was pale with excitement, her large dark eyes shining +like stars, her bosom heaving with indignation, like +a beautiful, outraged queen, as she stood in the center of +the great sunlit room in an old Italian palace, her white +silk robe trailing behind her over the marble floor. Cyril +Fayne felt his heart thrill madly at sight of her glorious +beauty, this woman for whose sake he had suffered so much +and so long, this woman who, in turn, had borne so heavy +a burden for his sake, and for his love counted the world +well lost. And he gnashed his teeth in mad despair at +thought of the mistake that he had made in leaving the +letter of explanation behind for Van Van Alstyne’s private +perusal.</p> + +<p>“I should have gone to him—openly and frankly—like +a man,” he said to himself, “and told him the whole +truth, and claimed my wife openly before the whole world! +But Lenore, poor child! was so weak and worn with the +burden that she was bearing, so nervous and fanciful, so +broken down in spirit, that I could not bear the thought of +exposing her to his brutal rage. And so I did what I believed +to be the best. But I have acted the part of a coward +in the eyes of the world, and now I must suffer. In +my blind haste and mad love for my darling, I paused not +to consider after consequences; I did not stop to count the +cost to her, dear love, who has suffered so for me. I +should have remembered the nature of the madman with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span> +whom I had to deal! I have been to blame for my headlong +precipitancy. But I had lived so long without her, +had suffered so intensely, had missed her so, that when I +saw her before me once more, and knew that my long +years of searching for her were over at last, and that she +loved me still, had always loved me, that we had been separated +and kept apart by base treachery, then I struck the +blow which broke her bonds and gave her back to me. +Ah, Geoffrey Grey! Geoffrey Grey! false friend, wicked, +vile traitor! the day will surely come—oh, yes, I shall live +to see it!—when we will stand face to face, and then—”</p> + +<p>He was pacing to and fro, his face white and drawn, his +hands locked convulsively together, upon his features the +impress of mad despair. Up and down the vast apartment +he paced in stern silence.</p> + +<p>All at once his eyes fell upon the figure of a man passing +slowly down the sunlit street between the long rows of +ilex-trees. A handsome, effeminate face, with a womanish +mouth half hidden by the silky beard and mustache of +pale gold. A weak, uncertain, vacillating face, with large, +limpid blue eyes and straight, delicate features. A man +for women to rave over, jest with, and <i>forget</i>! He was +sauntering idly along in the golden, glittering sunlight, +attired in a faultless gray suit, with a red rose in his button-hole, +swinging a tiny cane lazily in one hand as he walked.</p> + +<p>A swift glance, then an awful change passed over Cyril +Fayne’s face. With a hoarse cry, like the cry of a wild +beast suddenly brought face to face with its prey, he dashed +open the great plate-glass window, and springing through +it, was upon the broken stones of the pavement in an instant.</p> + +<p>With one mad bound he sprung upon the dainty, smiling +vision and caught him.</p> + +<p>“Geoffrey Grey!” he hissed between his close-clinched +teeth, “I have you at last! For years I have hunted you +down, but always and ever in vain; you would manage to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span> +elude me always. I followed you from place to place, but +when I came you would fly, and thus escape me. But +justice shall be done, vengeance shall have its own at last. +You are in my power, Geoffrey Grey, and the same world +can contain us both no longer! Villain, coward, traitor, +false friend and traducer of womankind, your hour has +come!”</p> + +<p>For just a moment the graceful figure stood transfixed +with horror and overcome with surprise, like one suddenly +petrified. The smile had died upon his lip, his face had +blanched to an ashen pallor, he was trembling in every +limb. Still the white-faced Nemesis stood over him. The +coward winced.</p> + +<p>“Don’t,” pleaded the low, musical voice, and the gray-clad +figure recoiled from the stern, threatening gaze of the +other. “Do not—hurt me—Cyril! I—I never did all +that of which you accuse me. I—I swear that I am sorry +for what I have done!”</p> + +<p>A thought flashed like an inspiration across his brain. +Slowly his grasp relaxed the miscreant, and his voice, stern +and cold, asked the question:</p> + +<p>“Suppose that I agree to spare you, Geoffrey Grey—suppose +that I should let you go free, what are you willing +to do to show your penitence? But, bah! I am a fool to +trust you, you false fiend! Stay! if I guard you well, if I +remain constantly at your side so that you can not escape +me, strive as you may, if I take you back thus guarded to +America, will you bear witness to Lenore Fayne’s innocence? +Will you take back the wrong that you have done, +the evil that you have wrought, and clear her fair name +before the world? Speak, villain! And if you agree to +my proposition—remember that you can never escape me. +I will guard you always like a jailer! I will never let you +out of my sight, night nor day, until we have landed in +America, and you have made public all this vile plot against +a pure woman’s happiness.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span></p> + +<p>“Answer me, Geoffrey Grey! Will you try to retrieve +your miserable past by this one act of justice? Will you +endeavor to atone in this manner for the unpardonable +wrong that you have done Lenore Fayne and myself, the +husband from whom your villainous treachery separated +her for seventeen long, bad, black years?”</p> + +<p>Dead silence. The leaves of the ilex-trees swayed slowly +in a passing breeze; no sound broke the dead calm. A +bright-eyed <i>donizella</i> tripped past; a group of ugly <i>lazaroni</i> +gathered upon the opposite side of the street, begging +alms in guttural Italian. Cyril Fayne stood like a statue +glaring down into the shrinking face of his enemy run +down at last.</p> + +<p>“Well?” he demanded, at length, “is it yes or no?”</p> + +<p>“Yes!” responded Geoffrey Grey, sullenly.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">UNMASKED.</p> + + +<p>For just a moment Richard Raleigh stood in the corridor +outside Lillian’s room, in utter silence; then, with a +muttering, he turned and walked away. Back to the +library he hastened, finding, to his relief, that Mrs. Vernon +had taken her departure. Pale and troubled, he sunk +into a seat, gazing into the fire in moody silence.</p> + +<p>“Well, the deed is done!” he said, harshly, with a +swift upward glance into his father’s face, “and I have +caught a Tartar.”</p> + +<p>Grafton Raleigh smiled when he had heard his son’s +story.</p> + +<p>“Nonsense, Rick; I would pay no more heed to her +caprices than to the blowing of the wind. All we want is +her signature.”</p> + +<p>Richard nodded.</p> + +<p>“Very true. But, my dear sir, the girl is capable of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span> +anything. Suppose she refuses to sign our little document?”</p> + +<p>Grafton Raleigh started up, pale and alarmed.</p> + +<p>“She must sign it,” he returned, firmly. “If she is +not willing we must force her into it, that’s all. Rick, +the day for scruples and foolish hesitation is past. It is +ruin if we do not get control of—”</p> + +<p>“Hush! The very walls have ears; and since I have +seen Bessie Vernon in the house I am uneasy. This matter +is of vital importance to us both; to me it is more than +you know. There is something which I have never dared +to tell you, and I prefer keeping it to myself. But, believe +me, if Lillian is not coerced into signing this paper, there +will be blacker trouble for me than you realize.”</p> + +<p>Grafton Raleigh sighed.</p> + +<p>“I am sorry, Richard. But then I do not anticipate +much difficulty in the matter. Let her alone until morning; +then your mother must go and see her in her room, +do the maternal, treat her like a young princess, flatter +and defer to her, spoil her generally, and secure that +signature by fair means or foul. After that I will wash +my hands of the management of your wife.”</p> + +<p>And while the worthy pair consulted together, Bessie +Vernon was standing in an anteroom where every word +distinctly reached her ears, waiting for Rosamond to come. +She had accompanied that young lady home on an errand, +after which she would return to the Vernon mansion for a +longer visit. After awhile Mrs. Vernon left the anteroom +and tripped lightly upstairs, moved softly past Rosamond’s +door and down the long corridor to the wing in +which Lillian’s room was situated.</p> + +<p>Her face was pale with anger, the large, soft eyes were +flashing indignantly, the small hands clinched as though +she longed to strike some one.</p> + +<p>“The hypocrite!” she muttered, softly; “he has just +devoted himself to me of late. And he wrote me a letter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> +in which he spoke of himself as fated to marry a woman +whom he did not love, while his heart was attracted elsewhere, +though he did not, of course, dare to say all that +was in his mind. And now—now,” catching her breath +hard, “he bursts in upon his father with the announcement +of his marriage. Ah, Richard Raleigh, I will teach +you a lesson! You shall learn that a woman’s friendship +is not to be trifled with. How dared he make me believe +all that foolish sentiment? I am provoked with myself +for believing it. But I will pay him back for his falsehood—I +declare I will!”</p> + +<p>Poor little silly moth! She had singed her wings in the +flame of flattery, and her vanity was suffering now, and +her pride was horribly wounded.</p> + +<p>She paused at the door of Lillian’s room and rapped +lightly.</p> + +<p>“Miss Leigh!” she cried, softly, through the key-hole—“I +beg your pardon—Mrs. Raleigh—will you open the +door just a moment? I have something of importance to +say to you. It is I—Bessie Vernon.”</p> + +<p>Wondering somewhat, for Lillian had never exchanged +a dozen words with Mrs. Vernon in her life, she opened +the door.</p> + +<p>Bessie darted into the room.</p> + +<p>“Hush!” she whispered, warningly; “do not speak a +loud word. I have not a moment to waste, for I must get +back to Rosamond. I have just learned of your marriage.” +Lillian shuddered. “And I want to warn you. +If Grafton Raleigh or his hopeful son try to get you to +sign a paper—a legal document of some description—refuse +to do it. Remain firm; do not be frightened into it. +Go to some competent lawyer and tell him that these two +men hold in their possession a document which I firmly +believe to be a will, and which bequeaths property—I do +not know how much—to one Lillian Leigh. The paper +reads to the effect that the testator gives his all to his beloved<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span> +niece, Lillian Leigh. Hush! I hear Rosamond! I +have no time for further explanations. Good-night!” +and she was gone, leaving Lillian in a perfect whirl of excitement.</p> + +<p>The next morning Mrs. Raleigh was induced to go to +Lillian’s room and accompany her down to breakfast. +The meal was a constrained one, and Lillian was devoutly +thankful when it was over. But, like everything in this +world, it came to an end at last, and then Grafton Raleigh +invited Lillian into the library. With pale face and compressed +lips she followed him, while Richard brought up +the rear.</p> + +<p>Once in the library and the door closed, a strange chill +passed over Lillian. She felt that a decisive moment had +come. Grafton Raleigh led the way to the escritoire.</p> + +<p>“My dear Lillian,” he began, taking a gold pen in a +jeweled holder from the silver and ebony rack, “I would +like to have you sign your name to a little business matter. +You see, as a married woman you will be expected +to sign deeds in conjunction with your husband. Richard +is about to convey a piece of property, and he cannot +legally do so without his wife’s signature. We have sent +for a notary—Ah! there he is now,” as the door opened +and a grave-looking man entered the room.</p> + +<p>Two of the servants were summoned to act as witnesses.</p> + +<p>Pale as marble, Lillian turned away.</p> + +<p>“I can not sign any paper, Mr. Raleigh, without first +knowing its contents,” she said, firmly. “My father +taught me to read, understand, and weigh well any document +to which I am requested to sign my name. Pardon +me, but I must first read the paper.”</p> + +<p>Richard snatched the document from the desk.</p> + +<p>“You shall not read it!” he cried, angrily. “You are +my wife, and must obey me. Sign your name, Lillian—there,” +indicating a line.</p> + +<p>“I will not. I must first know its contents. Besides,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span> +I have no right to sign business documents; I am not yet +of age.”</p> + +<p>The notary started in surprise.</p> + +<p>“If this be true, I refuse to act in the matter,” he +said. “Mr. Raleigh, there is some mistake here—suppose +we postpone action for the present?”</p> + +<p>And, smiling urbanely and bowing courteously, the little +notary bowed himself out.</p> + +<p>The servants returned to their duties, and Lillian stood +facing her husband, alone.</p> + +<p>“Curse you!” he muttered, harshly. “You little +demon! you have ruined my father and blasted your own +prospects as well. And all because you are heart-broken +for the sake of Jack Lyndon. You think to spite me by +this conduct, but you shall learn that I am master. Now, +listen, madame, and you shall hear the whole truth. You +have been duped—deceived—made a fool of. Jack Lyndon +did not murder your father—and Jack Lyndon loves +you as he loves his own soul. And—you are my wife!”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">GEOFFREY GREY ATONES.</p> + + +<p>What a journey that was across the Atlantic! With +Cyril Fayne standing guard over the white-faced, scared-looking +man who crouched in a retired corner of the deck +all day, and at night was locked in a state-room to which +Fayne himself held the key, guarded like a prisoner on his +way to prison, never for a moment left alone, constantly +under surveillance, Geoffrey Grey will never forget that +journey until the day he dies. But at last the end came, +as everything comes to an end some time or other, and</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> +<div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse indent0">“Good times and bad times, sad times and glad times, and all times alike</div> +<div class="verse indent3">Will pass over.”</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span></p> +<p>And at last the vessel steamed into port, and, half dead +with terror and cowardly shrinking, Geoffrey Grey was +taken on shore, and, still closely guarded, conveyed to the +nearest hotel.</p> + +<p>It was an awful task to which Cyril Fayne had pledged +himself; but he persevered in grim determination, his +face set and stern, and an ominous light in his resolute +dark eyes.</p> + +<p>He knew that the crisis of his life—his own life and +Lenore’s—was close at hand. The hour was drawing nigh +when men should acknowledge their mutual sufferings, +their mutual wrongs, or every man’s hand should be +against him, and his hand against every man in war henceforth. +He shut his teeth closely together with a repressed +cry, heartsick and weary.</p> + +<p>“But she must be defended,” he panted, eagerly, “she +must be upheld by a strong arm; and mine is surely +strong enough for her to lean upon. The world shall +learn the truth and acknowledge its error, and shall beg +her pardon—my sweet, white lily flower, my pearl of +purity!”</p> + +<p>And his face froze over into stern determination. It +would have been bad for Senator Van Alstyne had he +chanced to meet Cyril Fayne at that moment.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>The Raleigh mansion was brilliantly illuminated, and a +grand reception was in progress, for fashion is vigorous +and tyrannical, and Mrs. Raleigh knew that she must +throw open her doors to her dear five hundred friends, and +make known Richard’s marriage to Lillian Leigh, or the +fashionable world would conclude at once that the marriage +was obnoxious to her. So, though secretly much +against her own desires, she had issued cards for a grand +reception in honor of her son’s marriage.</p> + +<p>But she found more difficulty with Lillian than she had +apprehended. At first the girl refused outright to appear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span> +at all, but the entreaties of Mrs. Raleigh were not without +effect. Lillian felt that, after all, it would be a small +concession for her to appear in the drawing-room for a +short time; and since it would keep peace in the family, +she consented at last. But she refused firmly to lay aside +her mourning. In vain did Mrs. Raleigh lay before her +the enormity of a bride appearing in black; her words +were wasted. The utmost to which her persuasion could +induce Lillian to agree was a compromise between black +and white. So a beautiful costume had been ordered of +fancy black-and-white crêpe lisse, with heavy jet ornaments. +The girl looked like a queen in mourning-garments +as she stood at Mrs. Raleigh’s side, under the blazing +chandelier in the great drawing-room, receiving the +guests as they arrived.</p> + +<p>Every one seemed conscious of a strange restraint—a +feeling pervaded the apartment as though they were expecting +some one or something to come. It came like an +electric shock as the voice of the footman announced, in +loud tones:</p> + +<p>“Mr. and Mrs. Cyril Fayne—Mr. Geoffrey Grey!”</p> + +<p>Van Alstyne, seated at Bessie Vernon’s side, dropped +the bouquet of orchids which he was just presenting to +that lady, and started to his feet, his red face fairly purple +with wrath—and was it fear that lurked in his snaky little +eyes?</p> + +<p>A strange silence fell upon the room as Cyril entered +with Lenore leaning upon his arm—Lenore all in bridal +white—a robe of shimmering satin strewn with seed-pearls. +Her face was very pale; but her head was held +aloft in haughty grace, and her dark eyes blazed with +scorn. Following closely in their wake was Geoffrey Grey.</p> + +<p>The guests seemed to shrink closer together—the female +portion, at least—as though they thought it contamination +to even breathe the same atmosphere with this woman +whom they had hunted down.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span></p> + +<p>Cyril Fayne bowed lowly before the astonished assemblage; +then he spoke, and the words that he uttered froze +the audience into silence.</p> + +<p>“I present to you,” he began, in a clear, ringing voice, +“my wife, Mrs. Lenore Fayne, and I wish to tell you our +strange story—a story which I believed had been made +public long ago, or I would have left Europe before this +to set right in the eyes of the world the woman so bitterly +wronged.</p> + +<p>“My friends, this lady became my wife nearly eighteen +years ago. See, here is the marriage certificate. We were +married in Arles, France, as you will see by glancing at +this document. We were separated by fraud and treachery—separated, +and I believed her dead, and she believed +me false. Afterward she read my name in the list of +deaths on board a burning steamer, and she too believed +me gone to my last account.</p> + +<p>“Her only relatives—the Raleighs—were traveling +through France. They found her and took her home to +America with them, and with them she resided for years. +But she never told her story. They did not know the +truth; and when Senator Van Alstyne asked her hand in +marriage they looked upon it as a grand match for her; +and so, urged and influenced—pressed upon all sides—Lenore +consented and became the wife of Senator Van +Alstyne. Of the life which she led with him I will not +speak. In the meantime I came to America, and, roving +about aimlessly, I saw my wife one day by accident, and +learned that she was married to another man.</p> + +<p>“In the disguise of an old woman, a fortune-teller, I +managed to get into her presence, and, by the aid of a little +juggling, which I had learned in the East, threw the +party into consternation, in the midst of which I managed +to slip a note into her hands.</p> + +<p>“I afterward wrote her a full explanation of what had +happened, and in her reply I learned what I had suspected,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span> +that she loved me still, and hated the man Van Alstyne. +And she was my wife! To me not all the years of +separation could prevent my claim. I determined to claim +her, after which a legal process would settle all questions, +and a repetition of the marriage ceremony would make all +binding. In the eyes of God she was my wife.</p> + +<p>“And now comes the point wherein I blame myself +severely. Lenore was weak and nervous. She feared Van +Alstyne with a terror beyond expression, and she shrunk +from an open explanation. Weakly I yielded, and we +went away together, leaving a letter for Van Alstyne, explaining +all.</p> + +<p>“He found and read that letter, learned the whole +truth, then he went down to his drawing-room, into the +presence of his guests, and told them a deliberate falsehood—that +Lenore had fled with her lover, that she was +base and vile.</p> + +<p>“I acknowledge the weakness of my own course; but it +was a mistake made through the kindest intentions toward +my suffering wife. She did not know all that had taken +place until we had been living in Italy for some time, our +marriage having been celebrated for the second time upon +my friend Thornton’s yacht. All formalities were rigorously +observed. She is my lawful wife.</p> + +<p>“The very day that we learned the truth and how Van +Alstyne had sought, by the ruin of her fair fame, to obtain +revenge, that very day Providence threw into my way the +man who had wrought the sorrow of our lives—Geoffrey +Grey. I have forced him to return with us to America to +bear witness to the truth of my words, and the secret of +Lenore Fayne’s life. Geoffrey Grey, speak, and tell the +truth, the whole truth, I command you.”</p> + +<p>Geoffrey Grey lifted his handsome head and gazed about +him with a crest-fallen expression.</p> + +<p>“I acknowledge my own wrong-doing,” he said, slowly. +“Years ago, when I was only twenty-one, I loved<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span> +Lenore Vane; but she never cared for me. I was accustomed +to flattery and homage, and the thought that she +did not love me, and would never care for me, made me +desperate. I asked her to be my wife, but she refused, +and refused me with scorn, ending at last by acknowledging +her love for Cyril Fayne. I had never liked him; +he was always so grand and dignified; he never joined me +in my mad escapades; and he loved Lenore so dearly and +with such jealous tenderness that he would scarcely permit +me to speak her name. At last they were married, +and not long afterward Cyril Fayne was called away to +England upon business, and Lenore was left alone. In +an evil hour an awful plot entered my brain, and I determined +to separate husband and wife, if possible, forever. I +planned a tale of Cyril’s treachery and falseness. I made +Lenore believe, with such apparently overwhelming proof +that no woman dare doubt it that Cyril Fayne had gone to +England with another woman, and that she was a deserted +wife. About that time a steamer was burned at sea. +I caused a list of the dead to be shown Lenore—a list +which contained the names of Cyril Fayne and a woman +registered upon the steamer’s books as his wife. It is useless +to add that I had caused the false report to be printed +that she might see and believe in his treachery. A few +months later her child was born—a puny little girl. A +short time after its birth I sought Lenore again and asked +her to be my wife. She refused me with bitter scorn, +averring that, true or false, she loved Cyril Fayne, and +would never love another. In my anger I determined to +be avenged, and I—I stole her child and took it to America. +Once there, I placed it in an orphan asylum—the +asylum of St. Vincent in this city. The child was afterward +removed from the asylum by the Raleighs under the +name of Noisette—Noisette Duval.”</p> + +<p>There was a wild cry, and Rosamond Raleigh started to +her feet, pale and trembling. There in the door-way stood<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span> +a slight, childish figure—a pale, sad face, with great, +dark, unearthly eyes—in one hand a bit of amber satin, +while the shadowy fingers plied the brush as usual with +swift, deft strokes—never ending—never ending.</p> + +<p>Another wild shriek went up from Rosamond Raleigh’s +pale lips, then she tottered a few steps and fell to the +floor. When they lifted her and bore her from the room, +the overwrought brain had given way, and she was raving +like a mad woman.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">DISCOVERED.</p> + + +<p>For a time the guests stood staring in utter consternation; +then Van Van Alstyne started to his feet. The apparition +had disappeared.</p> + +<p>“My friends,” he began, trying to control his mad +rage, “I pronounce this scene a bit of clap-trap and stage +effect which is too ludicrous to be believed. I look upon +the woman yonder,” pointing toward Lenore with such a +look of hatred upon his face that he was absolutely repulsive—“as—as—”</p> + +<p>He never finished. With one mad bound Cyril Fayne +darted forward, but before he could lay his hands upon +Van Alstyne the senator fell limply to the floor, stricken +down by apoplexy.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>Society rallied about Lenore, and did all in its power to +make amends for what had occurred—all but Bessie Vernon, +who refused stubbornly to acknowledge Lenore as an +acquaintance. Rosamond Raleigh was very ill with brain +fever, and in her delirium the burden of her cry was ever:</p> + +<p>“Take her away—take her away! She is painting my +ball-dress with her heart’s blood!”</p> + +<p>And as time passed it began to be currently reported +that the proud Miss Raleigh would never again recover the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span> +full use of her mental faculties. Old Arbuthnot appeared +fairly infatuated, and hovered about the Raleigh mansion +like an unquiet spirit. Presents of rare flowers, costly +wines and dainty luxuries found their way daily to the +Raleigh mansion, and were duly huddled into an anteroom +out of Rosamond’s sight. It was a case of real +affection upon the part of the railroad king, which brought +tears of regret to Mrs. Raleigh’s eyes—regret because of +the fear which possessed her that Rosamond would never +be in a mental condition to accept Arbuthnot and his +millions.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Jack Lyndon did the coldly polite and +courteous lover, calling once a day with punctilious courtesy +to inquire after Rosamond’s health; but though he was +told that in her delirium she called him to come to her, +and although her mother hinted that a sight of him would +please the sick girl, he made no effort to see her.</p> + +<p>He looked as he felt—a disappointed man, a man who +has risked all upon one venture and lost.</p> + +<p>Lillian kept her own room continually; but she felt it +her duty to offer to help nurse Rosamond, so it came +about that she was installed there as assistant to Mrs. Raleigh.</p> + +<p>One day that lady requested Lillian to go up to Richard’s +room for a bottle of some particular lotion which +had been placed there and forgotten.</p> + +<p>“Run up there, please, Lillian,” urged the now quite +urbane mother-in-law. “You will find the bottle in the +closet in the corner of Rick’s room, near the fire-place. +He is not there. The idea of your shrinking from entering +your own husband’s room on an errand! Richard has +gone to see Doctor Thompson. A consultation between a +half dozen physicians is to be held over Rosamond to-morrow, +and he has gone to appoint the hour. Make haste +and get the lotion, Lillian; I must not neglect Rosamond +for a moment.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span></p> + +<p>So Lillian left the room and went reluctantly to that +which Richard Raleigh occupied. The door-bell had been +muffled and all noises hushed on account of the sufferer; +so Lillian did not hear the outer door open, and was not +aware of Jack Lyndon’s presence in the house until she +saw him coming swiftly, silently up the staircase straight +to where she stood. It was too late to retreat, so she stood +her ground, greeting him with a cool nod, and answering +his questions as to Rosamond’s state with swift conciseness.</p> + +<p>“Jack Lyndon did not murder your father, and he +loves you as he loves his own soul!”</p> + +<p>She remembered the words, and her heart almost broke +with its burden of anguish. She turned away, but Jack +caught her hand in his own.</p> + +<p>“Stay! Just a moment, Lillian—Mrs. Raleigh!” he +corrected himself. “I have never had an opportunity to +speak with you before since the late unpleasant events. +Lillian, tell me, why do you hate me so?”</p> + +<p>Her eyes met his with a look of terror.</p> + +<p>“Hate you? I do not. I never can,” she faltered, +and before he could recover from his surprise she flitted +past him, down the long hall to the room which was occupied +by Richard Raleigh. For just a moment she hesitated +before the door, a feeling of intense repugnance +creeping over her. Then she remembered Mrs. Raleigh’s +peremptory order; she laid her hand upon the knob, and +opened the door softly, slowly.</p> + +<p>The room was vacant. A strange sensation crept over +the girl’s heart; a feeling that something was about to +happen.</p> + +<p>“What is the matter with me?” she exclaimed, impatiently. +“I feel like a detective on the track of a criminal, +and who has nearly hunted him down!”</p> + +<p>Just then her eyes fell upon an object which lay upon +Richard’s desk—a large, roomy escritoire which stood beside<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span> +a window. It was a pencil, an odd-looking affair of +gold, in a long, flat shape, which terminated in a snake’s +head, with two tiny rubies for eyes.</p> + +<p>“Papa’s pencil!” she panted, in a low, horror-stricken +voice. “Papa’s gold pencil, the one that he carried for +so many years, and that he used to say he meant me to +have. How came it here? How came it in Richard Raleigh’s +possession?”</p> + +<p>She turned it slowly over in her trembling fingers, +then she returned it to the desk.</p> + +<p>“He must explain how that pencil came into his possession,” +she said, resolutely. “I will know!”</p> + +<p>She moved slowly across the room to the closed door beside +the fire-place and opened it swiftly. Her face was +pale with excitement, and her heart beat fast.</p> + +<p>One glance into the interior revealed a large closet in +the wall, with a row of shelves at the back. There was +no sign of the bottle for which she had been sent, and Lillian +turned to the shelves and began to search for it there. +Still no sign of its whereabouts. Only a box remained to +be searched—a large box which stood below the row of +shelves. Though much against her will, Lillian at last +lifted the lid and began to glance over the contents.</p> + +<p>A suit of men’s clothing rolled into a bundle. Half +consciously she turned it over. It was a plain, dark business +suit, but stained with mud and water, as though the +clothing had fallen into a gutter, and, rolled up inside the +bundle, a book, the sight of which made Lillian cry aloud +with mad horror and despair.</p> + +<p>“Papa’s book!” she panted, brokenly, “the book for +which he went back to the office that night and never returned—only +his dead body all bruised and blackened +from a murderer’s clutches. What does this mean?”</p> + +<p>She opened the book swiftly, eagerly. A note fell from +its pages—a note in Richard Raleigh’s handwriting, and +signed by his name, begging Gilbert Leigh not to expose<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span> +him to the world; acknowledging himself as a forger and +embezzler; but adding that if the truth were known, and +the house of Raleigh & Raleigh should cast him off, he +would be ruined beyond redemption. How came that +book in his possession? The awful question struck to her +heart like a blow.</p> + +<p>She staggered to her feet, still grasping the book in one +trembling hand; and turning swiftly about, she stood face +to face with Richard Raleigh.</p> + +<p>Silence—the dead, unbroken silence of the grave. He +stood like one turned to stone, his dark eyes blazing with +a lurid light.</p> + +<p>“Richard Raleigh!” her low voice was full of wordless +horror, “your bad, black secret has come to light at last. +I am going now to denounce you. False villain, your +hour has come!”</p> + +<p>She left the room, carrying the book in her hand. Still +Richard Raleigh never spoke, never moved. When she +was gone he started suddenly, like one aroused from a bad +dream. Going over to the door of the room, he locked it +securely.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">THE END.</p> + + +<p>At the foot of the stairs Lillian’s strength suddenly +gave way, and she sunk down upon the floor in a huddled +heap, in a dead swoon.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Raleigh, tired with waiting for her to return, came +to search for her, and found her lying there with that book +clasped to her breast, her eyes closed—no sign of life. +She summoned a servant and had the unconscious girl +carried to her own apartment; then she went back to Rosamond’s +side. There was a little change apparent in the +sick girl—it was hoped, for the better.</p> + +<p>There was a light step upon the stairs; the door of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span> +Rosamond’s room opened softly. Mrs. Raleigh lifted her +heavy eyes and saw Lenore standing near.</p> + +<p>“Auntie, you are quite worn out,” said a sweet, compassionate +voice. “I have come to relieve you. Go and +lie down for awhile, and I will do everything for Rosamond.”</p> + +<p>She led the exhausted woman away to another room +and made her lie down, while she bathed the aching brow +with Cologne water; then darkening the windows, she +went out and left Mrs. Raleigh just sinking into a peaceful +slumber. Then Lenore went back to Rosamond.</p> + +<p>Upstairs in his own room Richard Raleigh stood staring +blankly into vacancy. His face was like marble; all the +triumph had left his eyes, and fear and horror unutterable +were in its place. He went over to the escritoire at +last and sunk into a seat before it.</p> + +<p>“She means it!” he muttered, fiercely, “she means +every word that she uttered! She will set the bloodhounds +of the law upon my track, and I shall die a horrible +death upon the gallows, or drag out an endless existence +in a prison cell. I will not! No, I will circumvent +her yet!”</p> + +<p>He drew a sheet of paper toward him and wrote upon it +these words:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>“I hereby confess that I am the murderer of Gilbert +Leigh. He held in his possession certain facts in regard +to my private affairs which he refused to relinquish, and +which he declared to be his duty to lay before the house +of Raleigh & Raleigh. I knew that he would keep his +word; I knew also that if these facts were to become +known I would be disgraced and turned adrift. I used +every endeavor to induce Leigh to give up this book in +which his information had all been noted, and to give up +at the same time his intention of exposing me; but he refused. +I met him one night not far from his own door,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> +and endeavored to take forcible possession of the book, +but he fought like a tiger, and in the struggle met his +death.</p> + +<p>“The very day after his burial, an old man—a stranger +in the city—came to our office and introduced himself as +the only brother of Gilbert Leigh, and left in our care his +private papers, including his will, in which he bequeathed +all he possessed to his niece, Lillian. That night the old +man died suddenly in the street, with heart disease. The +Raleigh fortune was in peril. Wild speculations had made +us tremble for our own safety; and my father and I conceived +the idea of retaining the will and inducing Lillian +to become my wife; after which I believed it an easy matter +to get her to sign her property over to me as her lawful +guardian; then I could rescue the tottering house of +Raleigh. The fortune, which belongs by right to Lillian +Leigh Raleigh, is estimated at over a million. She has +become my wife, but she hates me and loves Jack Lyndon. +I confess that I separated these two by false representations. +He was led to believe her false; she was made +to believe that in a quarrel with her father Jack Lyndon +had killed him. I threatened to hand him over to the +authorities unless she consented to marry me. But she +repudiated me after the marriage, and declared that she +had sacrificed herself to save the man she loved. I swear +that this is a full and true confession, so help me God!</p> + +<p class="sig"> +“<span class="smcap">Richard Raleigh.</span>”<br> +</p> +</div> + +<p>Silence in the room—utter silence as the last words are +traced. Richard Raleigh’s face was like marble, and his +eyes wore a hunted, desperate look. He opened a drawer +in the escritoire and took from it a small leather case; it +contained two revolvers—one was empty, the other loaded. +He removed the latter from its crimson velvet bed and +passed his hand lightly over it, a cynical expression upon +his face.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span></p> + +<p>“Six shots,” he muttered, sharply; “six chances of +emigration to another world!”</p> + +<p>His lip curled scornfully; he threw his handsome head +back with a gesture of disdain.</p> + +<p>“Bah! what do I fear?” he cried, contemptuously. +“What is it that Bulwer says:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> +<div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse indent0">“‘Fear life—not death;</div> +<div class="verse indent2">To whatever bourne my breath is borne, the way is easy now; for life,</div> +<div class="verse indent2">Like a pagan sacrifice, leads us on to the great high priest with the knife.</div> +<div class="verse indent2">Bitter? I dare not be bitter in the few last hours left to live—</div> +<div class="verse indent2">Needing so much forgiveness, God grant me at least to forgive!</div> +<div class="verse indent2">And there’ll be no space for the ghost of her face</div> +<div class="verse indent2">Down in that narrow room—</div> +<div class="verse indent2">And the mole is blind, and the worm is mute—</div> +<div class="verse indent2">And there <i>must</i> be rest in the tomb!’</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Farewell, dear world!” he cried, sarcastically. “I +am going to another, and, let us hope, a better one! +Hush! I hear the sound of footsteps upon the stairs. +Come, my friend; the hour draws nigh. The officers! the +officers!” he cried, starting up. “But I shall escape +them!” he added, sinking slowly back into his seat once +more.</p> + +<p>The revolver was pressed against his temple; the footsteps +came nearer—nearer; they halt at the door of his +chamber, and then a loud rap resounded throughout the +house—a rap which was followed by a startling report. +Richard’s fingers closed over the weapon in his grasp; he +pulled the trigger.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>In Rosamond’s sick-room, whither she has returned, his +mother hears the ominous report. Pale and trembling, +she stands for a moment, then she dashes open the door, +only to find herself confronted by her husband. Grafton<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span> +Raleigh looks like a ghost as he grasps her hand and leads +her into an adjoining room.</p> + +<p>“Be brave!” he moans, “for an awful calamity has +come upon us!”</p> + +<p>And then with many pauses, and between her sobs and +broken cries, he tells her the story—the whole ghastly +story of how her only son has died.</p> + +<p>The sound of footsteps upon the stairs had not been the +footsteps of the officers come to drag him away, but some +of Richard’s own boon companions who had come in haste +to consult him upon some matter of importance to them.</p> + +<p>The ghastly remains of Richard Raleigh were buried away +out of sight, and poor Lillian, having placed her affairs, together +with his dying confession, in the hands of a competent +lawyer, was soon installed heiress to her uncle’s +fortune. Through her agency the affairs of the Raleighs +were set straight, and no one knew how nearly they had +come to ruin.</p> + +<p>Rosamond recovered—a pale wreck. The first thing +that she did was to send for Jack Lyndon and give him +his freedom. She afterward married old Arbuthnot, and +although she will never entirely recover her mental +equilibrium, she leads society in her city to-day. For +brain is not a requisite for the average leader of fashion.</p> + +<p>Lenore and Cyril live in a handsome house in the most +aristocratic quarter of the city, and are so very happy +that they are learning to forget the sad past.</p> + +<p>Bessie Vernon eloped with Charlie Stuart soon after +the return of Lenore to America—even at the very time +that she was refusing to acknowledge Lenore as a friend.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>“Jack, Jack! look up and say that you forgive me for +ever harboring such a dreadful suspicion against you.”</p> + +<p>The journalist lifted his head from the writing with +which he was busily engaged, and saw standing before him +a slim, black-robed figure. Perhaps he thought of another<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span> +interview which once took place in the office of the +“Thunderer” as he arose and stood before Lillian, pale +and still.</p> + +<p>“Don’t look at me like that!” she cried; “but say +that you forgive me; for oh, Jack, you do not know how +I have suffered!”</p> + +<p>“I forgive you! Of course I could not do otherwise!” +he returned, gravely. “You were under the influence of +a wicked man, and—”</p> + +<p>“You do care a little for me still, don’t you, Jack?” +all pride thrown to the winds now, and her two hands +clasping his. She knows his stubborn pride—the pride +which will not give way an inch; and she knows that +never for one moment does he forget the difference between +the poor journalist and the heiress to a million. +But Lillian is determined to have no more misunderstandings, +so she clings to his hands and looks straight into his +eyes.</p> + +<p>“Jack, you asked me once to be your wife. I—I have +never cared for any one but you! If you—would—ask me +again!”</p> + +<p>He stoops and gathers her close to his heart, and their +eyes meet in a look of deathless affection—perfect trust.</p> + +<p>“Dear love!” he whispers, softly—“the one love of +my life!”</p> + + +<p class="center p4">THE END.</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center"> +THE FOLLOWING BOOKS</p> +<p class="center">—BY—</p> +<p class="center large">CHARLES GARVICE</p> +<p class="center">ARE NOW READY IN</p> +<p class="center medium">THE LAUREL LIBRARY:</p> +</div> + + +<p>No.</p> + +<p> +3 Paid For! (Her Ransom).<br> +4 Elaine.<br> +6 On Love’s Altar (A Wasted Love).<br> +11 Better than Life.<br> +17 Married at Sight.<br> +18 Once in a Life.<br> +19 A Life’s Mistake.<br> +20 She Loved Him.<br> +21 The Marquis.<br> +23 ’Twas Love’s Fault (Nance).<br> +24 Queen Kate.<br> +25 His Love So True (Leslie’s Loyalty)<br> +26 In Cupid’s Chains.<br> +27 Just a Girl (A Strange Duchess).<br> +28 The Outcast of the Family.<br> +29 The Mistress of Court Regna (Claire). Illustrated.<br> +30 A Coronet of Shame.<br> +31 An Innocent Girl (Her Heart’s Desire). Illustrated.<br> +32 By Devious Ways (The Girl of His Heart). Illustrated.<br> +33 Story of a Passion. Illustrated.<br> +35 Lorrie; or, Hollow Gold.<br> +37 Heart for Heart.<br> +39 A Modern Juliet.<br> +40 Nell of Shorne Mills.<br> +41 A Heritage of Hate.<br> +42 The Shadow of Her Life.<br> +43 Love, the Tyrant.<br> +44 At Love’s Cost.<br> +45 With All Her Heart.<br> +49 Only a Girl’s Love.<br> +50 Leola Dale’s Fortune.<br> +51 Only One Love.<br> +52 His Guardian Angel.<br> +56 Iris; or, Under the Shadow.<br> +</p> + +<p>The above books are for sale by all newsdealers, or will be +sent by mail, on receipt of the price, 25 cents each, by the +publishers. Address</p> + + +<p class="right"> +GEORGE MUNRO’S SONS, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>,<br> +P. O. Box 1781. 17 to 27 Vandewater St., New York.<br> +</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="Age_of_Reason">Age of Reason.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">BEING AN INVESTIGATION OF</p> + +<p class="center medium">True and Fabulous Theology</p> + +<p class="center">BY</p> + +<p class="center medium">THOMAS PAINE,</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Secretary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs in +the American Revolution</span></p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p>The Age of Reason is undoubtedly one of the ablest +and boldest arguments ever put forth against the Bible as +being the inspired word of God.</p> + +<p>Its author, although born in England, warmly espoused +the cause of the patriots in the American Revolution, and +wrote and published several pamphlets at that time which +renewed the determination of the men of ’76 to conquer or +die.</p> + +<p>He afterward went to France, and at the time of the +French Revolution was a member of the Convention. A +motion being made in that body to exclude foreigners, of +which there were but himself and one other, and as he was +particularly referred to by the mover of the resolution, he +conceived that he had but a few days of liberty, and immediately +proceeded to write the second part of the “Age of +Reason,” the first part having been written some time before. +Shortly after it was finished, Thomas Paine was arrested as +a foreigner and conveyed to the prison of the Luxembourg. +He contrived on his way there to call on Joel Barlow, and +put in his hands the manuscript of the second part of the +“Age of Reason,” addressed to the protection of the citizens +of the United States.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center"> +<span class="medium">AGE OF REASON</span><br> +in two Parts, Complete in One Book.<br> +PRICE 25 CENTS.<br> +</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="small">For sale by all newsdealers and booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt +of 25 cents, by the publishers.</p> + +<p class="center small"> +Address GEORGE MUNRO’S SONS,</p><p class="right small"> +17 to 27 <span class="smcap">Vandewater Street, New York</span>.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2><span class="small">TWENTY-FIVE</span><br> + +<span class="smcap">Masterpieces of Dumas</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class="center medium">MAILED FOR $1.50.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center small">ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY IN THE ORDER IN WHICH +THEY SHOULD BE READ.</p> + +<p> + Ascanio.<br> + The Two Dianas.<br> + The Page of the Duke of Savoy.<br> + Marguerite de Valois.<br> + Chicot the Jester.<br> +The Forty-five Guardsmen.<br> + The Three Musketeers.<br> + Twenty Years After.<br> + The Vicomte de Bragelonne.<br> + Ten Years Later.<br> + Louise de la Valliere.<br> + The Man in the Iron Mask.<br> + The War of Women; or, Nanou.<br> + The Black Tulip.<br> + Beau Tancrede; or, The Marriage Verdict.<br> +The Conspirators; or, The Chevalier d’Harmental.<br> + The Regent’s Daughter.<br> + Joseph Balsamo.<br> + The Memoirs of a Physician.<br> + The Queen’s Necklace.<br> + Six Years Later; or, Taking the Bastile.<br> + The Countess de Charny.<br> + Andrée de Taverney.<br> + The Chevalier de Maison Rouge.<br> + The Corsican Brothers.<br> +</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center"><b>The above Books will be sold only in +lots of 25 at $1.50.</b></p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center"> +<span class="smcap">Address GEORGE MUNRO’S SONS, Publishers</span>,</p><p class="right"> +17 to 27 Vandewater St., New York.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="LAURA_JEAN_LIBBEYS">LAURA JEAN LIBBEY’S</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center medium">CHARMING STORIES</p> + +<p class="center">PUBLISHED IN BOOK FORM</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center"> +<b>10 CENTS EACH.<br> +Any Three for 25c. The Nine for 75c.<br> +</b></p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="small">These books are 12mos, printed on good paper, in large, bold +type, and bound in handsome photogravure covers.</p> + +<p><b> +The Heiress of Cameron Hall.<br> +Daisy Brooks.<br> +A Struggle for a Heart.<br> +Madolin Rivers.<br> +Junie’s Love-Test.<br> +All for Love of a Fair Face.<br> +Leonie Locke.<br> +Little Rosebud’s Lovers.<br> +Beautiful Ione’s Lover.<br> +</b></p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2> +<span class="small"><span class="smcap">Five Great Books by</span></span><br> +Charles Garvice.</h2> +</div> + +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"><b>10c. Each. The Five for 35c.</b></p> +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="small">These books are 12mos, printed on good paper, in large, bold +type, and bound in handsome photogravure covers.</p> + +<p><b> + ELAINE.<br> + HER RANSOM.<br> + A WASTED LOVE.<br> + LESLIE’S LOYALTY.<br> + HER HEART’S DESIRE.<br> +</b></p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p>The above works will be sent, post-paid, on receipt of +the price, by the publishers. Address</p> + +<p class="center"> +GEORGE MUNRO’S SONS, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>.<br> +P. O. Box 1781. 17 to 27 Vandewater St., New York.<br> +</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2><span class="small">THE</span><br> +LUCKY DREAM BOOK,</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">WITH</p> + +<p class="center medium">COMBINATION NUMBERS,</p> + +<p class="center">AND</p> + +<p class="center large">THE ORACULUM;</p> + +<p class="center">OR,</p> + +<p class="center medium"><span class="smcap">Napoleon Bonaparte’s Book of Fate</span>.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"><b>PRICE 25 CENTS.</b></p> +<hr class="r5"> + +<p>Both sacred and profane history are full of so many +examples of the fulfillment of dreams, that he must be +very skeptical and but little versed in natural science +who would refuse to have faith in them.</p> + +<p>In this book the interpretation of almost every imaginable +dream is given, based on practical experience, +by a man who has made this particular branch of research +a life study.</p> + +<p>This book also contains Napoleon’s Oraculum, which +was consulted by him on every occasion. The translator +has several times consulted it for his own amusement, +and, incredible as it may appear, he found its +answers to correspond with truth, as they afterward +came to pass.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<div class="blockquot small"> + +<p>The Lucky Dream Book is of a size convenient for the pocket, +and is printed from large, clear type, on good paper, and bound +in a unique symbolic cover.</p> + +<p>For sale by all newsdealers, or sent by mail, postage paid, on +receipt of 25 cents, by the publishers. Address</p> +</div> + +<p class="center"> +GEORGE MUNRO’S SONS, Publishers,</p><p class="right"> +17 to 27 <span class="smcap">Vandewater St., New York</span>.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="Look_it_up_in_the_Dream_Book">“Look it up in the Dream Book.”</h2> +</div> + +<hr> + +<p class="center medium">THE</p> + +<p class="center large">MASCOT</p> + +<p class="center large">DREAM BOOK,</p> + +<p class="center small">WITH</p> + +<p class="center medium">COMBINATION NUMBERS.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"><b>Price 10 Cents.</b></p> +<hr class="r5"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Mascot Dream Book</span> is the most complete +and serviceable ever issued at the low price of 10 +cents.</p> + +<p>It has been rendered famous by the success and +good fortune invariably attending those who consult +its pages.</p> + +<p>It also contains a Horoscope and Fortune Teller, +and is full of information on many other subjects +of like interest.</p> + +<p>Of pocket-book size, it can be carried without +inconvenience. Its sale thus far has been phenomenal.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Mascot Dream Book</span> is for sale by all newsdealers, +or it will be mailed to any address on receipt of 10 cents +by the publishers. Address</p> +</div> + +<p class="center"> +GEORGE MUNRO’S SONS, Publishers,</p><p class="right"> +17 to 27 Vandewater Street, New York.</p> +<p class="small">(P. O. Box 1781.)</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="Alices_Adventures_in_Wonderland">Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center"><b>By LEWIS CARROLL,</b></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Author of “Through the Looking-Glass.”</span></p> + +<p class="center">With Forty-two Beautiful Illustrations by John Tenniel.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Handsomely Bound in Cloth. 12mo.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><b>Price 50 Cents.</b></p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<h2>Through the Looking-Glass,</h2> + +<p class="center">——AND——</p> + +<p class="center medium">WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE.</p> + +<p class="center"><b>By LEWIS CARROLL.</b></p> + +<p class="center">ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN TENNIEL.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Handsomely Bound in Cloth. 12mo. Price 50 Cents.</span></p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<h2>NEW TABERNACLE SERMONS.</h2> + +<p class="center">BY THE</p> + +<p class="center medium">Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage, D.D.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Handsomely Bound in Cloth. 12mo. Price 50 Cents.</span></p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<h2>Juliet Corson’s New Family Cook Book.</h2> + +<p class="center"><b>By MISS JULIET CORSON.</b></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Handsomely Bound in Cloth. Price 50 Cents.</span></p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p>The above books are for sale by all newsdealers, or will be +sent by mail, postage paid, on receipt of the price, by the +publishers.</p> + +<p class="center"> +Address GEORGE MUNRO’S SONS,<br> +<span class="small"><span class="smcap">Munro’s Publishing House</span>,</span></p><p class="right"> +17 to 27 Vandewater Street, New York.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="Kitchen_Lessons_for_Young_Housekeepers">Kitchen Lessons for Young Housekeepers</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">By ANNIE H. JEROME.</p> + +<p class="center">Price 10 Cents.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Letter-Writing Made Easy.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">Price 10 Cents.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<h2>Cutting-Out and Dressmaking</h2> + +<p class="center">From the French of Mlle. E. Grand’homme.</p> + +<p class="center">Price 10 Cents.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<h2>Munro’s Dialogues and Speakers.</h2> + +<p> +No. 1. The Funny Fellow’s Dialogues.<br> +No. 2. The Clemence and Donkey Dialogues.<br> +No. 3. Mrs. Smith’s Boarders’ Dialogues.<br> +No. 4. Schoolboys’ Comic Dialogues.<br> +No. 1. Vot I Know ’Bout Gruel Societies Speaker.<br> +No. 2. The John B. Go-off Comic Speaker.<br> +No. 3. My Boy Vilhelm’s Speaker.<br> +</p> + +<p class="center">PRICE 10 CENTS EACH.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<h2>HUNTERS’ YARNS.</h2> + +<p class="center medium">A Collection of Wild and Amusing Adventures.</p> + +<p class="center">PRICE 10 CENTS.</p> + +<p class="center">This book comprises Thrilling Battles with Indians, Terrific +Encounters with Serpents and Alligators, Long Swims, +Races for Life, etc., etc., as Related by Hunters and +their Companions Around the Camp-fire.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p>The above books are for sale by all newsdealers, or will be +sent by mail, postage paid, on receipt of the price, by the +publishers.</p> + +<p class="center"> +Address GEORGE MUNRO’S SONS,<br> +<span class="small"><span class="smcap">Munro’s Publishing House</span>,</span></p><p class="right"> +17 to 27 Vandewater Street, New York.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2><span class="small">A PRACTICAL GUIDE<br> + +To the Acquisition of the</span><br> + +SPANISH LANGUAGE.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="center">BY LUCIEN OUDIN, A.M.</p> + +<p class="center">Price 10 Cents.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center"><b>MUNRO’S FRENCH SERIES.</b></p> + +<p class="center">No. 1:</p> + +<p class="center medium">An Elementary Grammar of the French Language.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Illion Costellano.</span></p> + +<p class="center">Price 10 Cents.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center"><b>MUNRO’S FRENCH SERIES.</b></p> + +<p class="center">Nos. 2 and 3:</p> + +<p class="center medium">Practical Guides to the French Language.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Lucien Oudin</span>, A.M.</p> + +<p class="center">Price 10 Cents Each.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center"><b>MUNRO’S GERMAN SERIES.</b></p> + +<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Two Volumes.</span>)</p> + +<p class="center">A METHOD OF</p> + +<p class="center medium">Learning German on a New and Easy Plan.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Edward Chamier.</span></p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p>The above books afford a cheap and easy means of learning +the Spanish, French, and German languages. They have +had a large sale, and have invariably given entire satisfaction.</p> + +<p>For sale by all newsdealers, or sent by mail, on receipt +of the price, 10 cents each, by the publishers.</p> + + +<p class="center"> +Address GEORGE MUNRO’S SONS,<br> +<span class="small"><span class="smcap">Munro’s Publishing House</span>,</span></p><p class="right"> +17 to 27 Vandewater Street, New York.</p> + + + + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>November, 1901.</p> +</div> + +<h2>THE SEASIDE LIBRARY.</h2> + +<p class="center medium">POCKET EDITION.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"><b>AUTHORS’ CATALOGUE.</b></p> +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center"><i>Books marked thus * are at present in Alligator covers.</i></p> + +<p class="center">[<i>When ordering by mail please order by numbers.</i>]</p> + + +<h3>E. About.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><th class="tdr">No.</th><th class="tdl">Title</th><th class="tdr">Pages</th></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1467*</td><td class="tdl">A New Lease of Life</td><td class="tdr">264</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Amedee Achard.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">2196</td><td class="tdl">The Royal Chase</td><td class="tdr">334</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Mrs. Leith Adams.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1345</td><td class="tdl">Aunt Hepsy’s Foundling</td><td class="tdr">294</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Author of “Addie’s Husband.”</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">388</td><td class="tdl">Addie’s Husband; or, Through Clouds to Sunshine</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">504</td><td class="tdl">My Poor Wife</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1046</td><td class="tdl">Jessie</td><td class="tdr">167</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Author of “A Fatal Dower.”</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">372</td><td class="tdl">Phyllis’s Probation</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Author of “A Golden Bar.”</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">483*</td><td class="tdl">Betwixt My Love and Me</td><td class="tdr">178</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Author of “A Great Mistake.”</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">588</td><td class="tdl">Cherry</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1040</td><td class="tdl">Clarissa’s Ordeal</td><td class="tdr">385</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1137</td><td class="tdl">Prince Charming</td><td class="tdr">199</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1187</td><td class="tdl">Suzanne</td><td class="tdr">227</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2055</td><td class="tdl">A Great Mistake</td><td class="tdr">384</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Author of “For Mother’s Sake.”</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1900</td><td class="tdl">Leonie; or, The Sweet Street Singer of New York</td><td class="tdr">287</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Hamilton Aide.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">383*</td><td class="tdl">Introduced to Society</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Albert W. Aiken.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1899</td><td class="tdl">Injun Paul; or, The Prairie Cat. Illustrated</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>George L. Aikin</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1901</td><td class="tdl">Bob O’Link</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Gustave Almard.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1341</td><td class="tdl">The Trappers of Arkansas</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1396</td><td class="tdl">The Adventurers</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1398</td><td class="tdl">Pirates of the Prairies</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1400</td><td class="tdl">Queen of the Savannah</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1401</td><td class="tdl">The Buccaneer Chief</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1402</td><td class="tdl">The Smuggler Hero</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1404</td><td class="tdl">The Rebel Chief</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1650</td><td class="tdl">The Trail-Hunter</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1653</td><td class="tdl">The Pearl of the Andes</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1672</td><td class="tdl">The Insurgent Chief</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1688</td><td class="tdl">The Trapper’s Daughter</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1690</td><td class="tdl">The Tiger-Slayer</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1692</td><td class="tdl">Border Rifles</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1700</td><td class="tdl">The Flying Horseman</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1701</td><td class="tdl">The Freebooters</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1714</td><td class="tdl">The White Scalper</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1723</td><td class="tdl">The Guide of the Desert</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1732</td><td class="tdl">Last of the Aucas</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1734</td><td class="tdl">Missouri Outlaws</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1736</td><td class="tdl">Prairie Flower</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1740</td><td class="tdl">Indian Scout</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1741</td><td class="tdl">Stronghand</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1742</td><td class="tdl">Bee-Hunters</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1744</td><td class="tdl">Stoneheart</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1748</td><td class="tdl">The Gold-Seekers</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1752</td><td class="tdl">Indian Chief</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1756</td><td class="tdl">Red Track</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1761</td><td class="tdl">The Treasure of Pearls</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1768</td><td class="tdl">Red River Half-Breed</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>F. M. Allen.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">2211</td><td class="tdl">Through Green Glasses</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Grant Allen.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">712</td><td class="tdl">For Maimie’s Sake</td><td class="tdr">295</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1221</td><td class="tdl">“The Tents of Shem”</td><td class="tdr">292</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1783</td><td class="tdl">The Great Taboo</td><td class="tdr">223</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1870*</td><td class="tdl">What’s Bred in the Bone</td><td class="tdr">292</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1008*</td><td class="tdl">Dumaresq’s Daughter</td><td class="tdr">296</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2017</td><td class="tdl">Miss Cayley’s Adventures</td><td class="tdr">197</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2022*</td><td class="tdl">Duchess of Powysland</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Mrs. Alexander.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">5</td><td class="tdl">The Admiral’s Ward</td><td class="tdr">419</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">17</td><td class="tdl">The Wooing O’t</td><td class="tdr">392</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">62</td><td class="tdl">The Executor</td><td class="tdr">473</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">189</td><td class="tdl">Valerie’s Fate</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">229</td><td class="tdl">Maid, Wife, or Widow?</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">286</td><td class="tdl">Which Shall it Be?</td><td class="tdr">346</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">339</td><td class="tdl">Mrs. Vereker’s Courier Maid</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">490</td><td class="tdl">A Second Life</td><td class="tdr">390</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">564</td><td class="tdl">At Bay</td><td class="tdr">178</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">794</td><td class="tdl">Beaton’s Bargain</td><td class="tdr">205</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">797</td><td class="tdl">Look Before You Leap</td><td class="tdr">234</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">805</td><td class="tdl">The Freres</td><td class="tdr">630</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">806</td><td class="tdl">Her Dearest Foe</td><td class="tdr">473</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">814</td><td class="tdl">The Heritage of Langdale</td><td class="tdr">391</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">815</td><td class="tdl">Ralph Wilton’s Weird</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">900</td><td class="tdl">By Woman’s Wit</td><td class="tdr">207</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">997*</td><td class="tdl">Forging the Fetters, and The Australian Aunt</td><td class="tdr">166</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1054</td><td class="tdl">Mona’s Choice</td><td class="tdr">300</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1057</td><td class="tdl">A Life Interest</td><td class="tdr">431</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1189</td><td class="tdl">A Crooked Path</td><td class="tdr">390</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1199</td><td class="tdl">A False Scent</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1867</td><td class="tdl">Heart Wins</td><td class="tdr">262</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1459</td><td class="tdl">A Woman’s Heart</td><td class="tdr">394</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1571</td><td class="tdl">Blind Fate</td><td class="tdr">335</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2158</td><td class="tdl">What Gold Can Not Buy</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Mrs. Alderdice.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1582</td><td class="tdl">An Interesting Case</td><td class="tdr">366</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Alison.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">481*</td><td class="tdl">The House That Jack Built</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Hans Christian Andersen.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1814</td><td class="tdl">Andersen’s Fairy Tales</td><td class="tdr">380</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>W. P. Andrews.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1172*</td><td class="tdl">India and Her Neighbors</td><td class="tdr">285</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>F. Anstey.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">59</td><td class="tdl">Vice Versâ</td><td class="tdr">221</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">225</td><td class="tdl">The Giant’s Robe</td><td class="tdr">280</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">503</td><td class="tdl">The Tinted Venus. A Farcical Romance</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">819</td><td class="tdl">A Fallen Idol</td><td class="tdr">228</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">616</td><td class="tdl">The Black Poodle, and Other Tales</td><td class="tdr">239</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>G. W. Appleton.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1346</td><td class="tdl">A Terrible Legacy</td><td class="tdr">304</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2004</td><td class="tdl">Frozen Hearts</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Sir Edwin Arnold.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">960</td><td class="tdl">The Light of Asia</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Edwin Lester Arnold.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">685</td><td class="tdl">The Wonderful Adventures of Phra the Phœnician</td><td class="tdr">347</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>T. S. Arthur.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1337*</td><td class="tdl">Woman’s Trials</td><td class="tdr">216</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1636</td><td class="tdl">The Two Wives</td><td class="tdr">184</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1688*</td><td class="tdl">Married Life</td><td class="tdr">214</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1640</td><td class="tdl">Ways of Providence</td><td class="tdr">215</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1641*</td><td class="tdl">Home Scenes</td><td class="tdr">216</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1644*</td><td class="tdl">Stories for Parents</td><td class="tdr">215</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1649*</td><td class="tdl">Seed-Time and Harvest</td><td class="tdr">216</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1652*</td><td class="tdl">Words for the Wise</td><td class="tdr">215</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1654*</td><td class="tdl">Stories for Young Housekeepers</td><td class="tdr">212</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1657*</td><td class="tdl">Lessons In Life</td><td class="tdr">215</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1658*</td><td class="tdl">Off-Hand Sketches</td><td class="tdr">216</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1660</td><td class="tdl">The Tried and the Tempted</td><td class="tdr">212</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2164</td><td class="tdl">Ten Nights in a Bar-room and What I Saw There</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Sir Samuel W. Baker.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">267</td><td class="tdl">Rifle and Hound in Ceylon</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">538</td><td class="tdl">Eight Years’ Wanderings in Ceylon</td><td class="tdr">205</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1502</td><td class="tdl">Cast Up by the Sea</td><td class="tdr">410</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>R. M. Ballantyne.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">89</td><td class="tdl">The Red Eric</td><td class="tdr">178</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">95</td><td class="tdl">The Fire Brigade</td><td class="tdr">170</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">96</td><td class="tdl">Erling the Bold</td><td class="tdr">184</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">772</td><td class="tdl">Gascoyne, the Sandal-Wood Trader</td><td class="tdr">259</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1514</td><td class="tdl">Deep Down</td><td class="tdr">420</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Honore De Balzac.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">776</td><td class="tdl">Père Goriot</td><td class="tdr">212</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1128</td><td class="tdl">Cousin Pons</td><td class="tdr">297</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1318</td><td class="tdl">The Vendetta</td><td class="tdr">254</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2189</td><td class="tdl">Shorter Stories</td><td class="tdr">186</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2231</td><td class="tdl">The Chouans</td><td class="tdr">290</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>S. Baring-Gould.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">787</td><td class="tdl">Court Royal</td><td class="tdr">406</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">878</td><td class="tdl">Little Tu’penny</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1122*</td><td class="tdl">Eve</td><td class="tdr">283</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1201*</td><td class="tdl">Mehalah: A Story of the Salt Marshes</td><td class="tdr">270</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1697*</td><td class="tdl">Red Spider</td><td class="tdr">222</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1711</td><td class="tdl">The Pennycomequicke</td><td class="tdr">448</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1763</td><td class="tdl">John Herring</td><td class="tdr">445</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1779*</td><td class="tdl">Armiuell</td><td class="tdr">519</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1821*</td><td class="tdl">Urith</td><td class="tdr">438</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>Frank Barrett.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">986</td><td class="tdl">The Great Hesper</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1138</td><td class="tdl">A Recoiling Vengeance</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1245*</td><td class="tdl">Fettered for Life</td><td class="tdr">313</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1461</td><td class="tdl">Smuggler’s Secret</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1611</td><td class="tdl">Between Life and Death</td><td class="tdr">292</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1750</td><td class="tdl">Lieutenant Barnabas</td><td class="tdr">292</td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3>J. M. Barrie.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1896</td><td class="tdl">My Lady Nicotine</td><td class="tdr">206</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1977</td><td class="tdl">Better Dead</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2099</td><td class="tdl">Auld Licht Idylls</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2100</td><td class="tdl">A Window in Thrums</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2101</td><td class="tdl">When a Man’s Single</td><td class="tdr">162</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2167</td><td class="tdl">A Tillyloss Scandal</td><td class="tdr">164</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Basil.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">344*</td><td class="tdl">“The Wearing of the Green”</td><td class="tdr">275</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">585*</td><td class="tdl">A Drawn Game</td><td class="tdr">304</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>G. M. Bayne.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1618*</td><td class="tdl">Galaski</td><td class="tdr">237</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Anne Beale.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">188</td><td class="tdl">Idonea</td><td class="tdr">239</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">199*</td><td class="tdl">The Fisher Village</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Alexander Begg.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1605*</td><td class="tdl">Wrecks in the Sea of Life</td><td class="tdr">348</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>By the Writer of “Belle’s Letters.”</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">2091</td><td class="tdl">Vashti and Esther</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>E. B. Benjamin.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1706*</td><td class="tdl">Jim, the Parson</td><td class="tdr">244</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1720*</td><td class="tdl">Our Roman Palace</td><td class="tdr">360</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>A. Benrimo.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1624*</td><td class="tdl">Vic</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>E. F. Benson.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">2105</td><td class="tdl">Dodo</td><td class="tdr">213</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>E. Berger.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1646</td><td class="tdl">Charles Auchester</td><td class="tdr">333</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>E. Berthel.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1589*</td><td class="tdl">The Sergeant’s Legacy</td><td class="tdr">342</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Walter Besant.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">97</td><td class="tdl">All in a Garden Fair</td><td class="tdr">271</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">137</td><td class="tdl">Uncle Jack</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">140</td><td class="tdl">A Glorious Fortune</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">146*</td><td class="tdl">Love Finds the Way, and Other Stories. By Besant and Rice</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">230</td><td class="tdl">Dorothy Forster</td><td class="tdr">283</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">324</td><td class="tdl">In Luck at Last</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">541</td><td class="tdl">Uncle Jack</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">651*</td><td class="tdl">“Self or Bearer”</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">882</td><td class="tdl">Children of Gibeon</td><td class="tdr">459</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">904</td><td class="tdl">The Holy Rose</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">906</td><td class="tdl">The World Went Very Well Then</td><td class="tdr">366</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">980</td><td class="tdl">To Call Her Mine</td><td class="tdr">164</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1055</td><td class="tdl">Katharine Regina</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1065*</td><td class="tdl">Herr Paulus: His Rise, His Greatness, and His Fall</td><td class="tdr">278</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1143*</td><td class="tdl">The Inner House</td><td class="tdr">183</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1151*</td><td class="tdl">For Faith and Freedom</td><td class="tdr">356</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1240*</td><td class="tdl">The Bell of St. Paul’s</td><td class="tdr">352</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1247</td><td class="tdl">The Lament of Dives</td><td class="tdr">244</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1378</td><td class="tdl">They Were Married. By Walter Besant and Jas. Rice</td><td class="tdr">189</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1413</td><td class="tdl">Armorel of Lyonesse</td><td class="tdr">401</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1462</td><td class="tdl">Let Nothing You Dismay</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1530</td><td class="tdl">When the Ship Comes Home. By Besant and Rice</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1655</td><td class="tdl">The Demoniac</td><td class="tdr">347</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1861</td><td class="tdl">St. Katherine’s by the Tower</td><td class="tdr">377</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>M. Betham-Edwards.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">273</td><td class="tdl">Love and Mirage; or, The Waiting on an Island</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">579*</td><td class="tdl">The Flower of Doom, and Other Stories</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">594*</td><td class="tdl">Doctor Jacob</td><td class="tdr">207</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1023*</td><td class="tdl">Next of Kin—Wanted</td><td class="tdr">220</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1407*</td><td class="tdl">The Parting of the Ways</td><td class="tdr">390</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1500*</td><td class="tdl">Disarmed</td><td class="tdr">203</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1543*</td><td class="tdl">For One and the World</td><td class="tdr">340</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1627*</td><td class="tdl">A Romance of the Wire</td><td class="tdr">192</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Jeanie Gwynne Bettany.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1810</td><td class="tdl">A Laggard in Love</td><td class="tdr">189</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Bjornstjerne Bjornson.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1385</td><td class="tdl">Arne</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1388</td><td class="tdl">The Happy Boy</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>William Black.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1</td><td class="tdl">Yolande</td><td class="tdr">329</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">8</td><td class="tdl">Shandon Bells</td><td class="tdr">274</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">21</td><td class="tdl">Sunrise: A Story of These Times</td><td class="tdr">324</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">23</td><td class="tdl">A Princess of Thule</td><td class="tdr">334</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">39</td><td class="tdl">In Silk Attire</td><td class="tdr">316</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">44</td><td class="tdl">Macleod of Dare</td><td class="tdr">294</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">49</td><td class="tdl">That Beautiful Wretch</td><td class="tdr">215</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">50</td><td class="tdl">The Strange Adventures of a Phaeton</td><td class="tdr">372</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">70</td><td class="tdl">White Wings: A Yachting Romance</td><td class="tdr">261</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">78</td><td class="tdl">Madcap Violet</td><td class="tdr">310</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">81</td><td class="tdl">A Daughter of Heth</td><td class="tdr">336</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">124</td><td class="tdl">Three Feathers</td><td class="tdr">328</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">125</td><td class="tdl">The Monarch of Mincing Lane</td><td class="tdr">271</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">126</td><td class="tdl">Killmeny</td><td class="tdr">240</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">138</td><td class="tdl">Green Pastures and Piccadilly</td><td class="tdr">391</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">265</td><td class="tdl">Judith Shakespeare: Her Love Affairs and Other Adventures</td><td class="tdr">260</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">472</td><td class="tdl">The Wise Women of Inverness</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">627</td><td class="tdl">White Heather</td><td class="tdr">337</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">898</td><td class="tdl">Romeo and Juliet: A Tale of Two Young Fools</td><td class="tdr">162</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">962</td><td class="tdl">Sabina Zembra</td><td class="tdr">454</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1096</td><td class="tdl">The Strange Adventures of a House-Boat</td><td class="tdr">335</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1132</td><td class="tdl">In Far Lochaber</td><td class="tdr">287</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1227</td><td class="tdl">The Penance of John Logan</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1259</td><td class="tdl">Nanciebel: A Tale of Stratford-on-Avon</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1268</td><td class="tdl">Prince Fortunatus</td><td class="tdr">421</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1389</td><td class="tdl">Oliver Goldsmith</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1394</td><td class="tdl">The Four Macnicols, and Other Tales</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1426</td><td class="tdl">An Adventure in Thule</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1505</td><td class="tdl">Lady Silverdale’s Sweetheart</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1506</td><td class="tdl">Mr. Pisistratus Brown, M. P.</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1725</td><td class="tdl">Stand Fast, Craig-Royston!</td><td class="tdr">408</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1892</td><td class="tdl">Donald Ross of Heimra</td><td class="tdr">367</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>R. D. Blackmore.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">67</td><td class="tdl">Lorna Doone</td><td class="tdr">454</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">427</td><td class="tdl">The Remarkable History of Sir Thomas Upmore, Bart., M. P.</td><td class="tdr">210</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">615</td><td class="tdl">Mary Anerley</td><td class="tdr">488</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">625</td><td class="tdl">Erema; or, My Father’s Sin</td><td class="tdr">396</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">629</td><td class="tdl">Cripps, the Carrier</td><td class="tdr">333</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">630</td><td class="tdl">Cradock Nowell</td><td class="tdr">568</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">631</td><td class="tdl">Christowell</td><td class="tdr">458</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">632</td><td class="tdl">Clara Vaughan</td><td class="tdr">489</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">633</td><td class="tdl">The Maid of Sker</td><td class="tdr">507</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">636</td><td class="tdl">Alice Lorraine</td><td class="tdr">494</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">926</td><td class="tdl">Springhaven</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1267</td><td class="tdl">Kit and Kitty</td><td class="tdr">419</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Isa Blagden.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">705</td><td class="tdl">The Woman I Loved, and the Woman Who Loved Me</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Edgar Janes Bliss.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">2102</td><td class="tdl">The Peril of Oliver Sargent</td><td class="tdr">177</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Frederick Boyle.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">356*</td><td class="tdl">A Good Hater</td><td class="tdr">244</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Miss M. E. Braddon.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">35</td><td class="tdl">Lady Audley’s Secret</td><td class="tdr">279</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">56</td><td class="tdl">Phantom Fortune</td><td class="tdr">464</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">74</td><td class="tdl">Aurora Floyd</td><td class="tdr">333</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">110</td><td class="tdl">Under the Red Flag</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">153</td><td class="tdl">The Golden Calf</td><td class="tdr">297</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">204</td><td class="tdl">Vixen</td><td class="tdr">328</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">211</td><td class="tdl">The Octoroon</td><td class="tdr">160</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">234</td><td class="tdl">Barbara; or, Splendid Misery</td><td class="tdr">256</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">263</td><td class="tdl">An Ishmaelite</td><td class="tdr">338</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">315</td><td class="tdl">The Mistletoe Bough. Christmas, 1884.<br>Edited by Miss M. E. Braddon</td><td class="tdr">197</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">434</td><td class="tdl">Wyllard’s Weird</td><td class="tdr">312</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">478</td><td class="tdl">Diavola</td><td class="tdr">233</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">480</td><td class="tdl">Married in Haste. Edited by Miss M. E. Braddon</td><td class="tdr">240</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">487</td><td class="tdl">Put to the Test. Edited by Miss M. E. Braddon</td><td class="tdr">365</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">488</td><td class="tdl">Joshua Haggard’s Daughter</td><td class="tdr">438</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">489</td><td class="tdl">Rupert Godwin</td><td class="tdr">369</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">495</td><td class="tdl">Mount Royal</td><td class="tdr">431</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">496</td><td class="tdl">Only a Woman. Edited by Miss M. E. Braddon</td><td class="tdr">390</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">497</td><td class="tdl">The Lady’s Mile</td><td class="tdr">425</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">498</td><td class="tdl">Only a Clod</td><td class="tdr">403</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">499</td><td class="tdl">The Cloven Foot</td><td class="tdr">416</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">511</td><td class="tdl">A Strange World</td><td class="tdr">429</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">515</td><td class="tdl">Sir Jasper’s Tenant</td><td class="tdr">416</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">524</td><td class="tdl">Strangers and Pilgrims</td><td class="tdr">473</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">529</td><td class="tdl">The Doctor’s Wife</td><td class="tdr">431</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">542</td><td class="tdl">Fenton’s Quest</td><td class="tdr">240</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">544</td><td class="tdl">Cut by the County; or, Grace Darnel</td><td class="tdr">163</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">548</td><td class="tdl">A Fatal Marriage, and The Shadow in the Corner</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">549</td><td class="tdl">Dudley Carleon; or, The Brother’s Secret,<br>and George Caulfield’s Journey</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">552</td><td class="tdl">Hostages to Fortune</td><td class="tdr">409</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">553</td><td class="tdl">Birds of Prey</td><td class="tdr">414</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">554</td><td class="tdl">Charlotte’s Inheritance. (Sequel to “Birds of Prey”)</td><td class="tdr">397</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">557</td><td class="tdl">To the Bitter End</td><td class="tdr">459</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">559</td><td class="tdl">Taken at the Flood</td><td class="tdr">490</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">560</td><td class="tdl">Asphodel</td><td class="tdr">468</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">561</td><td class="tdl">Just as I am; or, A Living Lie</td><td class="tdr">437</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">567</td><td class="tdl">Dead Men’s Shoes</td><td class="tdr">459</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">570</td><td class="tdl">John Marchmont’s Legacy</td><td class="tdr">498</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">618</td><td class="tdl">The Mistletoe Bough. Christmas, 1885.<br>Edited by Miss M. E. Braddon</td><td class="tdr">257</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">840*</td><td class="tdl">One Thing Needful; or, The Penalty of Fate</td><td class="tdr">281</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">881</td><td class="tdl">Mohawks</td><td class="tdr">515</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">890*</td><td class="tdl">The Mistletoe Bough. Christmas, 1886.<br>Edited by Miss M. E. Braddon</td><td class="tdr">252</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">943</td><td class="tdl">Weavers and Weft; or, “Love that Hath Us in His Net”</td><td class="tdr">206</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">947</td><td class="tdl">Publicans and Sinners; or, Lucius Davoren</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1036</td><td class="tdl">Like and Unlike</td><td class="tdr">402</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1098</td><td class="tdl">The Fatal Three</td><td class="tdr">357</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1211</td><td class="tdl">The Day Will Come</td><td class="tdr">415</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1411</td><td class="tdl">Whose Was the Hand?</td><td class="tdr">377</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1664*</td><td class="tdl">Dead Sea Fruit</td><td class="tdr">348</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1893</td><td class="tdl">The World, Flesh and the Devil</td><td class="tdr">472</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1933</td><td class="tdl">Nobody’s Daughter. Sequel to “Diavola”</td><td class="tdr">265</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Annie Bradshaw.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">706*</td><td class="tdl">A Crimson Stain</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Charlotte M. Braeme, Author of “Dora Thorne.”</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">19</td><td class="tdl">Her Mother’s Sin; or, A Bright Wedding Day</td><td class="tdr">174</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">51</td><td class="tdl">Dora Thorne</td><td class="tdr">320</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">54</td><td class="tdl">A Broken Wedding-Ring</td><td class="tdr">336</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">68</td><td class="tdl">A Queen Amongst Women</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">69</td><td class="tdl">Madolin’s Lover; or, The Love that Lived</td><td class="tdr">329</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">78</td><td class="tdl">Redeemed by Love; or, Love’s Victory; or, Love Works Wonders</td><td class="tdr">240</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">76</td><td class="tdl">Wife in Name Only; or, A Broken Heart</td><td class="tdr">287</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">79</td><td class="tdl">Wedded and Parted</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">92</td><td class="tdl">Lord Lynne’s Choice</td><td class="tdr">197</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">148</td><td class="tdl">Thorns and Orange-Blossoms</td><td class="tdr">319</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">151</td><td class="tdl">The Ducie Diamonds</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">155</td><td class="tdl">Lady Muriel’s Secret</td><td class="tdr">185</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">156</td><td class="tdl">“For a Dream’s Sake”</td><td class="tdr">189</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">174</td><td class="tdl">Under a Ban</td><td class="tdr">270</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">190</td><td class="tdl">Romance of a Black Veil</td><td class="tdr">160</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">194</td><td class="tdl">“So Near, and Yet So Far!”</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">220</td><td class="tdl">Which Loved Him Best? or, Two Fair Women</td><td class="tdr">184</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">237</td><td class="tdl">Repented at Leisure</td><td class="tdr">283</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">244</td><td class="tdl">A Great Mistake</td><td class="tdr">384</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">246</td><td class="tdl">A Fatal Dower</td><td class="tdr">249</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">249</td><td class="tdl">“Prince Charlie’s Daughter;” or, The Cost of Her Love</td><td class="tdr">191</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">250</td><td class="tdl">Sunshine and Roses; or, Diana’s Discipline</td><td class="tdr">244</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">254</td><td class="tdl">The Wife’s Secret, and Fair but False</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">273</td><td class="tdl">For Life and Love</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">283</td><td class="tdl">The Sin of a Lifetime; or, Vivien’s Atonement</td><td class="tdr">201</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">285</td><td class="tdl">The Gambler’s Wife</td><td class="tdr">309</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">291</td><td class="tdl">Love’s Warfare</td><td class="tdr">181</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">292</td><td class="tdl">A Golden Heart</td><td class="tdr">184</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">296</td><td class="tdl">A Rose in Thorns</td><td class="tdr">183</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">299</td><td class="tdl">The Fatal Lilies, and A Bride from the Sea</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">300</td><td class="tdl">A Gilded Sin</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">303</td><td class="tdl">Ingledew House, and More Bitter than Death</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">304</td><td class="tdl">In Cupid’s Net</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">305</td><td class="tdl">A Dead Heart, and Lady Gwendoline’s Dream</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">306</td><td class="tdl">A Golden Dawn, and Lover for a Day</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">307</td><td class="tdl">Two Kisses, and Like no Other Love</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">308</td><td class="tdl">Beyond Pardon</td><td class="tdr">268</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">322</td><td class="tdl">A Woman’s Love-Story</td><td class="tdr">173</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">328</td><td class="tdl">A Willful Maid</td><td class="tdr">210</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">335</td><td class="tdl">The White Witch</td><td class="tdr">294</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">352</td><td class="tdl">At Any Cost</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">411</td><td class="tdl">A Bitter Atonement</td><td class="tdr">290</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">430</td><td class="tdl">A Bitter Reckoning</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">433</td><td class="tdl">My Sister Kate</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">459</td><td class="tdl">A Woman’s Temptation</td><td class="tdr">277</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">460</td><td class="tdl">Under a Shadow</td><td class="tdr">245</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">461</td><td class="tdl">His Wedded Wife</td><td class="tdr">300</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">465</td><td class="tdl">The Earl’s Atonement</td><td class="tdr">254</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">466</td><td class="tdl">Between Two Loves</td><td class="tdr">220</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">467</td><td class="tdl">A Struggle for a Ring</td><td class="tdr">245</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">469</td><td class="tdl">Lady Damer’s Secret</td><td class="tdr">256</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">470</td><td class="tdl">Evelyn’s Folly</td><td class="tdr">268</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">471</td><td class="tdl">Thrown on the World</td><td class="tdr">223</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">476</td><td class="tdl">Between Two Sins; or, Married in Haste</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">516</td><td class="tdl">Put Asunder; or, Lady Castlemaine’s Divorce</td><td class="tdr">261</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">518</td><td class="tdl">The Hidden Sin</td><td class="tdr">312</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">519</td><td class="tdl">James Gordon’s Wife</td><td class="tdr">272</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">547</td><td class="tdl">A Coquette’s Conquest</td><td class="tdr">304</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">576</td><td class="tdl">Her Martyrdom</td><td class="tdr">289</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">626</td><td class="tdl">A Fair Mystery; or, The Perils of Beauty</td><td class="tdr">456</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">628</td><td class="tdl">Wedded Hands</td><td class="tdr">358</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">677</td><td class="tdl">Griselda</td><td class="tdr">234</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">741</td><td class="tdl">The Heiress of Hilldrop; or, The Romance of a Young Girl</td><td class="tdr">285</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">745</td><td class="tdl">For Another’s Sin; or, A Struggle for Love</td><td class="tdr">313</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">755</td><td class="tdl">Margery Dew</td><td class="tdr">226</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">759</td><td class="tdl">In Shallow Waters</td><td class="tdr">202</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">778</td><td class="tdl">Society’s Verdict</td><td class="tdr">319</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">792</td><td class="tdl">Set in Diamonds</td><td class="tdr">277</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">807</td><td class="tdl">If Love Be Love</td><td class="tdr">257</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">821</td><td class="tdl">The World Between Them</td><td class="tdr">368</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">822</td><td class="tdl">A Passion Flower</td><td class="tdr">352</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">829</td><td class="tdl">The Actor’s Ward</td><td class="tdr">315</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">853</td><td class="tdl">A True Magdalen; or, One False Step</td><td class="tdr">364</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">854</td><td class="tdl">A Woman’s Error</td><td class="tdr">286</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">908</td><td class="tdl">A Willful Young Woman</td><td class="tdr">283</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">922</td><td class="tdl">Marjorie</td><td class="tdr">346</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">923</td><td class="tdl">At War With Herself</td><td class="tdr">258</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">924</td><td class="tdl">’Twixt Smile and Tear</td><td class="tdr">391</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">927</td><td class="tdl">Sweet Cymbeline</td><td class="tdr">358</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">928</td><td class="tdl">The False Vow; or, Hilda; or, Lady Hutton’s Ward</td><td class="tdr">261</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">928</td><td class="tdl">Hilda; or, The False Vow; or, Lady Hutton’s Ward</td><td class="tdr">261</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">929</td><td class="tdl">The Belle of Lynn; or, The Miller’s Daughter</td><td class="tdr">263</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">931</td><td class="tdl">Lady Diana’s Pride; or, One Against Many</td><td class="tdr">177</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">933</td><td class="tdl">A Hidden Terror</td><td class="tdr">264</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">948</td><td class="tdl">The Shadow of a Sin</td><td class="tdr">217</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">949</td><td class="tdl">Claribel’s Love Story; or, Love’s Hidden Depths</td><td class="tdr">296</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">952</td><td class="tdl">A Woman’s War</td><td class="tdr">319</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">953</td><td class="tdl">Hilary’s Folly; or, Her Marriage Vow</td><td class="tdr">312</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">955</td><td class="tdl">From Gloom to Sunlight; or, From Out the Gloom</td><td class="tdr">328</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">958</td><td class="tdl">A Haunted Life; or, Her Terrible Sin</td><td class="tdr">288</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">964</td><td class="tdl">A Struggle for the Right</td><td class="tdr">245</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">967</td><td class="tdl">Bonnie Doon</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">968</td><td class="tdl">Blossom and Fruit; or, Madame’s Ward</td><td class="tdr">313</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">969</td><td class="tdl">The Mystery of Colde Fell; or, Not Proven</td><td class="tdr">269</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">973</td><td class="tdl">The Squire’s Darling</td><td class="tdr">160</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">975</td><td class="tdl">A Dark Marriage Morn</td><td class="tdr">311</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">978</td><td class="tdl">Her Second Love</td><td class="tdr">198</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">982</td><td class="tdl">The Duke’s Secret</td><td class="tdr">335</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">985</td><td class="tdl">On Her Wedding Morn, and The Mystery of the Holly-Tree</td><td class="tdr">178</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">988</td><td class="tdl">The Shattered Idol, and Letty Leigh</td><td class="tdr">191</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">990</td><td class="tdl">The Earl’s Error, and Arnold’s Promise</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">995</td><td class="tdl">An Unnatural Bondage, and That Beautiful Lady</td><td class="tdr">164</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1006</td><td class="tdl">His Wife’s Judgment</td><td class="tdr">302</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1008</td><td class="tdl">A Thorn in Her Heart</td><td class="tdr">256</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1010</td><td class="tdl">Golden Gates</td><td class="tdr">256</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1012</td><td class="tdl">A Nameless Sin</td><td class="tdr">229</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1014</td><td class="tdl">A Mad Love</td><td class="tdr">270</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1031</td><td class="tdl">Irene’s Vow</td><td class="tdr">265</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1052</td><td class="tdl">Signa’s Sweetheart</td><td class="tdr">361</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1091</td><td class="tdl">A Modern Cinderella</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1134</td><td class="tdl">Lord Elesmere’s Wife</td><td class="tdr">401</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1155</td><td class="tdl">Lured Away; or, The Story of a Wedding-Ring,<br>and The Heiress of Arne</td><td class="tdr">160</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1179</td><td class="tdl">Beauty’s Marriage</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1185</td><td class="tdl">A Fiery Ordeal</td><td class="tdr">206</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1186</td><td class="tdl">Guelda</td><td class="tdr">219</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1195</td><td class="tdl">Dumaresq’s Temptation</td><td class="tdr">324</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1285</td><td class="tdl">Jenny</td><td class="tdr">187</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1291</td><td class="tdl">The Star of Love</td><td class="tdr">212</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1328</td><td class="tdl">Lord Lisle’s Daughter</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1338</td><td class="tdl">A Woman’s Vengeance</td><td class="tdr">215</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1343</td><td class="tdl">Dream Faces</td><td class="tdr">296</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1373</td><td class="tdl">The Story of an Error</td><td class="tdr">299</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1415</td><td class="tdl">Weaker than a Woman</td><td class="tdr">289</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1444</td><td class="tdl">The Queen of the County</td><td class="tdr">386</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1628</td><td class="tdl">Love Works Wonders; or, Love’s Victory; or, Redeemed by Love</td><td class="tdr">270</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1951</td><td class="tdl">The Mystery of Woodleigh Grange</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2010</td><td class="tdl">Her Only Sin</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2011</td><td class="tdl">A Fatal Wedding</td><td class="tdr">160</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2012</td><td class="tdl">A Bright Wedding-Day; or, Her Mother’s Sin</td><td class="tdr">174</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2013</td><td class="tdl">One Against Many; or, Lady Diana’s Pride</td><td class="tdr">177</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2014</td><td class="tdl">One False Step; or, A True Magdalen</td><td class="tdr">361</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2015</td><td class="tdl">Two Fair Women; or, Which Loved Him Best?</td><td class="tdr">184</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2053</td><td class="tdl">The Love that Lived; or, Madolin’s Lover</td><td class="tdr">329</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2068</td><td class="tdl">Lady Latimer’s Escape</td><td class="tdr">236</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2188</td><td class="tdl">His Perfect Trust</td><td class="tdr">338</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Fredrika Bremer.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">187</td><td class="tdl">The Midnight Sun</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Charlotte Bronte.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">15</td><td class="tdl">Jane Eyre</td><td class="tdr">337</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">57</td><td class="tdl">Shirley</td><td class="tdr">405</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">944</td><td class="tdl">The Professor</td><td class="tdr">228</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Rhoda Broughton.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">86</td><td class="tdl">Belinda</td><td class="tdr">261</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">101</td><td class="tdl">Second Thoughts</td><td class="tdr">253</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">227</td><td class="tdl">Nancy</td><td class="tdr">234</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">645</td><td class="tdl">Mrs. Smith of Longmains</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">758</td><td class="tdl">“Good-bye, Sweetheart!”</td><td class="tdr">344</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">765</td><td class="tdl">Not Wisely, But Too Well</td><td class="tdr">314</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">767</td><td class="tdl">Joan</td><td class="tdr">362</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">768</td><td class="tdl">Red as a Rose is She</td><td class="tdr">355</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">769</td><td class="tdl">Cometh Up as a Flower</td><td class="tdr">278</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">862</td><td class="tdl">Betty’s Visions</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">894</td><td class="tdl">Doctor Cupid</td><td class="tdr">319</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1599</td><td class="tdl">Alas!</td><td class="tdr">387</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Louise de Bruneval.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1686*</td><td class="tdl">Sœur Louise</td><td class="tdr">175</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Robert Buchanan.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">145</td><td class="tdl">“Storm-Beaten:” God and The Man</td><td class="tdr">208</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">154*</td><td class="tdl">Annan Water</td><td class="tdr">197</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">181*</td><td class="tdl">The New Abelard</td><td class="tdr">176</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">268</td><td class="tdl">The Martyrdom of Madeline</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">398*</td><td class="tdl">Matt</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">468*</td><td class="tdl">The Shadow of the Sword</td><td class="tdr">282</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">646*</td><td class="tdl">The Master of the Mine</td><td class="tdr">189</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">892</td><td class="tdl">That Winter Night; or, Love’s Victory</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1074*</td><td class="tdl">Stormy Waters</td><td class="tdr">238</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1104*</td><td class="tdl">The Heir of Linne</td><td class="tdr">185</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1350</td><td class="tdl">Love Me Forever</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1455*</td><td class="tdl">The Moment After</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Frank T. Bullen.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">2008</td><td class="tdl">The Cruise of the “Catchalot”</td><td class="tdr">258</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>John Bunyan.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1498</td><td class="tdl">The Pilgrim’s Progress. Illustrated</td><td class="tdr">307</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Captain Fred Burnaby.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">330*</td><td class="tdl">“Our Radicals”</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">375</td><td class="tdl">A Ride to Khiva</td><td class="tdr">173</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">384</td><td class="tdl">On Horseback Through Asia Minor</td><td class="tdr">290</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Aaron Ainsworth Burr.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">951</td><td class="tdl">Zo, A Perfect Woman</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>John Bloundelle-Burton.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">918</td><td class="tdl">The Silent Shore; or, The Mystery of St. James’ Park</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Beatrice M. Butt.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1354*</td><td class="tdl">Dellcia</td><td class="tdr">189</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>E. Lasseter Bynner.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1456*</td><td class="tdl">Nimport</td><td class="tdr">494</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1460*</td><td class="tdl">Tritons</td><td class="tdr">406</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Lord Byron.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">719</td><td class="tdl">Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage</td><td class="tdr">163</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>E. Fairfax Byrrne.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">521*</td><td class="tdl">Entangled</td><td class="tdr">251</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">538</td><td class="tdl">A Fair Country Maid</td><td class="tdr">263</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Mrs. Caddy.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">127*</td><td class="tdl">Adrian Bright</td><td class="tdr">400</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Hall Caine.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">445</td><td class="tdl">The Shadow of a Crime</td><td class="tdr">242</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">520</td><td class="tdl">She’s All the World to Me</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1234</td><td class="tdl">The Deemster</td><td class="tdr">343</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1255</td><td class="tdl">The Bondman</td><td class="tdr">357</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2079</td><td class="tdl">A Son of Hagar</td><td class="tdr">354</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Mona Caird.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1699*</td><td class="tdl">The Wing of Azrael</td><td class="tdr">305</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Ada Cambridge.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1583</td><td class="tdl">A Marked Man</td><td class="tdr">355</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1967</td><td class="tdl">My Guardian</td><td class="tdr">250</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2139</td><td class="tdl">The Three Miss Kings</td><td class="tdr">338</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Mrs. H. Lovett Cameron.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">595</td><td class="tdl">A North Country Main</td><td class="tdr">277</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">796</td><td class="tdl">In a Grass Country</td><td class="tdr">301</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">891*</td><td class="tdl">Vera Nevill; or, Poor Wisdom’s Chance</td><td class="tdr">306</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">912</td><td class="tdl">Pure Gold</td><td class="tdr">401</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">963</td><td class="tdl">Worth Winning</td><td class="tdr">222</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1025</td><td class="tdl">Daisy’s Dilemma</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1028</td><td class="tdl">A Devout Lover; or, A Wasted Love</td><td class="tdr">271</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1070</td><td class="tdl">A Life’s Mistake</td><td class="tdr">176</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1204</td><td class="tdl">The Lodge by the Sea</td><td class="tdr">170</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1205</td><td class="tdl">A Lost Wife</td><td class="tdr">179</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1236</td><td class="tdl">Her Father’s Daughter</td><td class="tdr">256</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1261</td><td class="tdl">Wild George’s Daughter</td><td class="tdr">178</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1290</td><td class="tdl">The Cost of a Lie</td><td class="tdr">178</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1292</td><td class="tdl">Bosky Dell</td><td class="tdr">250</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1782*</td><td class="tdl">A Dead Past</td><td class="tdr">318</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1819*</td><td class="tdl">Neck or Nothing</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Lady Colin Campbell.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1325*</td><td class="tdl">Darell Blake</td><td class="tdr">274</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Rosa Nouchette Carey.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">215</td><td class="tdl">Not Like Other Girls</td><td class="tdr">320</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">396</td><td class="tdl">Robert Ord’s Atonement</td><td class="tdr">376</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">551</td><td class="tdl">Barbara Heathcote’s Trial</td><td class="tdr">538</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">608</td><td class="tdl">For Lilias</td><td class="tdr">399</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">930</td><td class="tdl">Uncle Max</td><td class="tdr">430</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">932</td><td class="tdl">Queenie’s Whim</td><td class="tdr">436</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">934</td><td class="tdl">Wooed and Married</td><td class="tdr">496</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">936</td><td class="tdl">Nellie’s Memories</td><td class="tdr">546</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">961</td><td class="tdl">Wee Wifie</td><td class="tdr">350</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1033</td><td class="tdl">Esther: A Story for Girls</td><td class="tdr">194</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1064</td><td class="tdl">Only the Governess</td><td class="tdr">323</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1135</td><td class="tdl">Aunt Diana</td><td class="tdr">177</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1194</td><td class="tdl">The Search for Basil Lyndhurst</td><td class="tdr">468</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1208</td><td class="tdl">Merle’s Crusade</td><td class="tdr">226</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1545</td><td class="tdl">Lover or Friend?</td><td class="tdr">487</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1879</td><td class="tdl">Mary St. John</td><td class="tdr">407</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1965</td><td class="tdl">Averil</td><td class="tdr">217</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1966</td><td class="tdl">Our Bessie</td><td class="tdr">244</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1968</td><td class="tdl">Heriot’s Choice</td><td class="tdr">440</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Capt. L. C. Carleton.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1902</td><td class="tdl">The Man of Death</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1907</td><td class="tdl">Eagle Eyes, the Scout</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1910</td><td class="tdl">The Trapper’s Retreat</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1911</td><td class="tdl">The Wild Man of the Woods. Illustrated</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>William Carleton.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1493</td><td class="tdl">Willy Reilly</td><td class="tdr">458</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1552</td><td class="tdl">Shane Fadh’s Wedding</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1553</td><td class="tdl">Larry McFarland’s Wake</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1554</td><td class="tdl">The Party Fight and Funeral</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1556</td><td class="tdl">The Midnight Mass</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1557</td><td class="tdl">Phil Purcel</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1558</td><td class="tdl">An Irish Oath</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1560</td><td class="tdl">Going to Maynooth</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1561</td><td class="tdl">Phelim O’Toole’s Courtship</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1562</td><td class="tdl">Dominick, the Poor Scholar</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1564</td><td class="tdl">Neal Malone</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>“Carolus.”</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">2210</td><td class="tdl">The Story of L’Aiglon</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Alice Comyne Carr.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">571*</td><td class="tdl">Paul Crew’s Story</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Lewis Carroll.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">462</td><td class="tdl">Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Illustrated by John Tenniel</td><td class="tdr">189</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">789</td><td class="tdl">Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.<br>Illustrated by John Tenniel</td><td class="tdr">230</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Cervantes.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1576</td><td class="tdl">Don Quixote</td><td class="tdr">635</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>L. W. Champuey.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1468*</td><td class="tdl">Bourbon Lilies</td><td class="tdr">388</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Erckmann-Chatrian.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">329</td><td class="tdl">The Bells; or, The Polish Jew.<br>(Translated from the French by Caroline A. Merighi)</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Victor Cherbuliez.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1516*</td><td class="tdl">Samuel Brohl & Co.</td><td class="tdr">222</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Mary Cholmondeley.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">2217</td><td class="tdl">The Danvers Jewels</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Mrs. C. M. Clarke.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1801*</td><td class="tdl">More True than Truthful</td><td class="tdr">232</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>W. M. Clemens.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1544</td><td class="tdl">Famous Funny Fellows</td><td class="tdr">214</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Captain Clewline.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1912</td><td class="tdl">The Boy Whalers</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1913</td><td class="tdl">The Island Demon</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Mrs. W. K. Clifford.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">546</td><td class="tdl">Mrs. Keith’s Crime</td><td class="tdr">172</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">2104</td><td class="tdl">Love Letters of a Worldly Woman</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Sylvanus Cobb, Jr.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1949</td><td class="tdl">The Queen’s Revenge</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1950</td><td class="tdl">Ivan, the Serf</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>J. Maclaren Cobban.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">485*</td><td class="tdl">Tinted Vapours</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1279*</td><td class="tdl">Master of His Fate</td><td class="tdr">193</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1511*</td><td class="tdl">A Reverend Gentleman</td><td class="tdr">320</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>John Coleman.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">504</td><td class="tdl">Curly: An Actor’s Story</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>C. R. Coleridge.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">403*</td><td class="tdl">An English Squire</td><td class="tdr">266</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1689*</td><td class="tdl">A Near Relation</td><td class="tdr">265</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Beatrice Collensie.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">1352*</td><td class="tdl">A Double Marriage</td><td class="tdr">267</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Mabel Collins.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">749</td><td class="tdl">Lord Vanecourt’s Daughter</td><td class="tdr">324</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">828</td><td class="tdl">The Prettiest Woman in Warsaw</td><td class="tdr">288</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1463</td><td class="tdl">Ida: An Adventure in Morocco</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Wilkie Collins.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">52</td><td class="tdl">The New Magdalen</td><td class="tdr">234</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">102</td><td class="tdl">The Moonstone</td><td class="tdr">352</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">167</td><td class="tdl">Heart and Science</td><td class="tdr">250</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">168</td><td class="tdl">No Thoroughfare. By Dickens and Collins</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">175</td><td class="tdl">Love’s Random Shot, and Other Stories</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">233</td><td class="tdl">“I Say No;” or, The Love-Letter Answered</td><td class="tdr">237</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">508</td><td class="tdl">The Girl at the Gate</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">591</td><td class="tdl">The Queen of Hearts</td><td class="tdr">366</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">613</td><td class="tdl">The Ghost’s Touch, and Percy and the Prophet</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">623</td><td class="tdl">My Lady’s Money</td><td class="tdr">167</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">701</td><td class="tdl">The Woman in White</td><td class="tdr">628</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">702</td><td class="tdl">Man and Wife</td><td class="tdr">614</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">764</td><td class="tdl">The Evil Genius</td><td class="tdr">300</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">896</td><td class="tdl">The Guilty River</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">946</td><td class="tdl">The Dead Secret</td><td class="tdr">348</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">977</td><td class="tdl">The Haunted Hotel</td><td class="tdr">197</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1029</td><td class="tdl">Armadale</td><td class="tdr">676</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1095</td><td class="tdl">The Legacy of Cain</td><td class="tdr">281</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1119</td><td class="tdl">No Name</td><td class="tdr">623</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1269</td><td class="tdl">Blind Love</td><td class="tdr">313</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1347</td><td class="tdl">A Rogue’s Life</td><td class="tdr">188</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1608</td><td class="tdl">Tales of Two Idle Apprentices. By Dickens and Collins</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>M. J. Colquhoun.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">624*</td><td class="tdl">Primus in Indis</td><td class="tdr">162</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1469*</td><td class="tdl">Every Inch a Soldier</td><td class="tdr">286</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Lucy Randall Comfort.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">2072</td><td class="tdl">For Marjorie’s Sake</td><td class="tdr">198</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Hugh Conway.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">240</td><td class="tdl">Called Back</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">251*</td><td class="tdl">The Daughter of the Stars, and Other Tales</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">301</td><td class="tdl">Dark Days</td><td class="tdr">197</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">302*</td><td class="tdl">The Blatchford Bequest</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">341*</td><td class="tdl">A Dead Man’s Face</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">502*</td><td class="tdl">Carriston’s Gift</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">525</td><td class="tdl">Paul Vargas, and Other Stories</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">543</td><td class="tdl">A Family Affair</td><td class="tdr">206</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">601*</td><td class="tdl">Slings and Arrows, and Other Stories</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">711</td><td class="tdl">A Cardinal Sin</td><td class="tdr">351</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">804</td><td class="tdl">Living or Dead</td><td class="tdr">279</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">830</td><td class="tdl">Bound by a Spell</td><td class="tdr">169</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1353</td><td class="tdl">All In One</td><td class="tdr">206</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1684*</td><td class="tdl">Story of a Sculptor</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">1722*</td><td class="tdl">Somebody’s Story</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Ralph Connor.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">2209</td><td class="tdl">Black Rock</td><td class="tdr"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>Edward H. Cooper.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">2182</td><td class="tdl">The Marchioness Against the County</td><td class="tdr">205</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3>J. Fenimore Cooper.</h3> + +<table class="seaside"> +<tr><td class="tdr">60</td><td class="tdl">The Last of the Mohicans</td><td class="tdr">346</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">63</td><td class="tdl">The Spy</td><td class="tdr">278</td></tr> +</table> + +<hr> + +<p class="center">25 Cents a Copy, or Five Copies for $1, Post-paid.</p> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2>THE SWEETHEART SERIES.</h2> +</div> + +<p>This series contains the most popular books of the day. +They are 12mos, printed on good paper, in large, clear type, +and bound in handsome photogravure covers.</p> + +<table> +<tr><td>51</td><td>A Fiery Ordeal</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>52</td><td>Between Two Loves</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>53</td><td>Beyond Pardon</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>54</td><td>A Bitter Atonement</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>55</td><td>A Broken Wedding-Ring</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>56</td><td>Dora Thorne</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>57</td><td>The Earl’s Atonement</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>58</td><td>Evelyn’s Folly</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>59</td><td>A Golden Heart</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>60</td><td>Her Martyrdom</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>61</td><td>Her Second Love</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>62</td><td>Lady Damer’s Secret</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>63</td><td>Lady Hutton’s Ward</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>64</td><td>Lord Lisle’s Daughter</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>65</td><td>A Study in Scarlet</td><td>A. Conan Doyle</td></tr> +<tr><td>66</td><td>Lord Lynne’s Choice</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>67</td><td>Love Works Wonders</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>68</td><td>Prince Charlie’s Daughter</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>69</td><td>Put Asunder; or, Lady Castlemaine’s Divorce</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>70</td><td>Repented at Leisure</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>71</td><td>A Struggle for a Ring</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>72</td><td>Sunshine and Roses</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>73</td><td>Thorns and Orange-Blossoms</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>74</td><td>The Honorable Mrs. Vereker</td><td>“The Duchess”</td></tr> +<tr><td>75</td><td>Under-Currents</td><td>“The Duchess”</td></tr> +<tr><td>76</td><td>A Born Coquette</td><td>“The Duchess”</td></tr> +<tr><td>77</td><td>Under a Shadow</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>78</td><td>Weaker Than a Woman</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>79</td><td>Wedded and Parted</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>80</td><td>Which Loved Him Best?</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>81</td><td>Wife in Name Only</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>82</td><td>A Woman’s Temptation</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>83</td><td>A Queen Amongst Women</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>84</td><td>Madolin’s Lover</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>85</td><td>Only the Governess</td><td>Rosa N. Carey</td></tr> +<tr><td>86</td><td>Camille</td><td>Alexander Dumas</td></tr> +<tr><td>87</td><td>The Sin of a Lifetime</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>88</td><td>Love’s Warfare</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>89</td><td>’Twixt Smile and Tear</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>90</td><td>Sweet Cymbeline</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>91</td><td>April’s Lady</td><td>“The Duchess”</td></tr> +<tr><td>92</td><td>Vendetta!</td><td>Marie Corelli</td></tr> +<tr><td>93</td><td>The Squire’s Darling</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>94</td><td>The Gambler’s Wife</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>95</td><td>A Fatal Dower</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>96</td><td>Her Mother’s Sin</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>97</td><td>Romance of a Black Veil</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>98</td><td>A Rose in Thorns</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>99</td><td>Lord Elesmere’s Wife</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>100</td><td>The Dolly Dialogues</td><td>Anthony Hope</td></tr> +<tr><td>101</td><td>The Kreutzer Sonata</td><td>Count Lyof Tolstoi</td></tr> +<tr><td>102</td><td>Anna Karénine</td><td>Count Lyof Tolstoi</td></tr> +<tr><td>103</td><td>The Mystery of Woodleigh Grange</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>104</td><td>Martha; or, The Story of a Clergyman’s Daughter</td><td>W. Heimburg</td></tr> +<tr><td>105</td><td>His Word of Honor; or, What the Spring Brought</td><td>E. Werner</td></tr> +<tr><td>106</td><td>She Fell in Love With Her Husband; + or, “Good Luck;” + or, Success, and How He Won It</td><td>E. Werner</td></tr> +<tr><td>107</td><td>Ivan, the Serf</td><td>Sylvanus Cobb, Jr.</td></tr> +<tr><td>108</td><td>The Queen’s Revenge</td><td>Sylvanus Cobb, Jr.</td></tr> +<tr><td>109</td><td>The Price He Paid</td><td>E. Werner</td></tr> +<tr><td>110</td><td>The Master of Ettersberg</td><td>E. Werner</td></tr> +<tr><td>111</td><td>Tempest and Sunshine Mary</td><td>Mary J. Holmes</td></tr> +<tr><td>112</td><td>The Homestead on the Hillside</td><td>Mary J. Holmes</td></tr> +<tr><td>113</td><td>The English Orphans</td><td>Mary J. Holmes</td></tr> +<tr><td>114</td><td>The Boat Club</td><td>Oliver Optic</td></tr> +<tr><td>115</td><td>Ballads and Other Verses</td><td>Rudyard Kipling</td></tr> +<tr><td>116</td><td>The Drums of the Fore and Aft</td><td>Rudyard Kipling</td></tr> +<tr><td>117</td><td>The Royal Chase</td><td>Amédée Achard</td></tr> +<tr><td>118</td><td>Little Goldie</td><td>Mrs. Sumner Hayden</td></tr> +<tr><td>119</td><td>Inez: A Tale of the Alamo</td><td>Augusta J. Evans</td></tr> +<tr><td>120</td><td>All Aboard!</td><td>Oliver Optic</td></tr> +<tr><td>121</td><td>Now or Never</td><td>Oliver Optic</td></tr> +<tr><td>122</td><td>Lena Rivers</td><td>Mary J. Holmes</td></tr> +<tr><td>123</td><td>Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyúm</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td>124</td><td>She Loved Him</td><td>Charles Garvice</td></tr> +<tr><td>125</td><td>In His Steps. “What Would Jesus Do?”</td><td>Rev. C. M. Sheldon</td></tr> +<tr><td>126</td><td>Meadow Brook</td><td>Mary J. Holmes</td></tr> +<tr><td>127</td><td>The Iron Pirate</td><td>Max Pemberton</td></tr> +<tr><td>128</td><td>The Hypocrite</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td>129</td><td>Dead Man’s Rock</td><td>“Q” (Arthur T. Quiller-Couch)</td></tr> +<tr><td>130</td><td>The Phantom Future</td><td>Henry S. Merriman</td></tr> +<tr><td>131</td><td>Prisoners and Captives</td><td>Henry S. Merriman</td></tr> +<tr><td>132</td><td>A Parisian Romance</td><td>Octave Feuillet</td></tr> +<tr><td>133</td><td>Carmen: The Power of Love</td><td>Prosper Merimée</td></tr> +<tr><td>134</td><td>Prue and I</td><td>George Wm. Curtis</td></tr> +<tr><td>135</td><td>The Heiress of Glen Gower</td><td>May Agnes Fleming</td></tr> +<tr><td>136</td><td>Magdalen’s Vow</td><td>May Agnes Fleming</td></tr> +<tr><td>137</td><td>Who Wins?</td><td>May Agnes Fleming</td></tr> +<tr><td>138</td><td>Lady Evelyn</td><td>May Agnes Fleming</td></tr> +<tr><td>139</td><td>Estella’s Husband</td><td>May Agnes Fleming</td></tr> +<tr><td>140</td><td>The Baronet’s Bride</td><td>May Agnes Fleming</td></tr> +<tr><td>141</td><td>The Unseen Bridegroom</td><td>May Agnes Fleming</td></tr> +<tr><td>142</td><td>Young Mistley</td><td>Henry S. Merriman</td></tr> +<tr><td>143</td><td>The Sherlock Holmes Detective Stories</td><td>A. Conan Doyle</td></tr> +<tr><td>144</td><td>A Girl of the Klondike</td><td>Victoria Cross</td></tr> +<tr><td>145</td><td>Paula. A Sketch from Life</td><td>Victoria Cross</td></tr> +<tr><td>146</td><td>Sappho</td><td>Alphonse Daudet</td></tr> +<tr><td>147</td><td>Manon Lescant</td><td>L’Abbé Prévost</td></tr> +<tr><td>148</td><td>The Dance of Death</td><td>Jean Corey</td></tr> +<tr><td>149</td><td>A Charity Girl</td><td>Effie A. Rowlands</td></tr> +<tr><td>150</td><td>Husband and Foe</td><td>Effie A. Rowlands</td></tr> +<tr><td>151</td><td>Little Lady Charles</td><td>Effie A. Rowlands</td></tr> +<tr><td>152</td><td>Cast Up by the Tide</td><td>Dora Delmar</td></tr> +<tr><td>153</td><td>The Scent of the Roses</td><td>Dora Delmar</td></tr> +<tr><td>154</td><td>Hearts And Lives</td><td>Wenona Gilman</td></tr> +<tr><td>155</td><td>Blind Dan’s Daughter</td><td>Wenona Gilman</td></tr> +<tr><td>156</td><td>Val, the Tomboy</td><td>Wenona Gilman</td></tr> +<tr><td>157</td><td>My Little Princess</td><td>Wenona Gilman</td></tr> +<tr><td>158</td><td>The Banker’s Daughter</td><td>Magdalen Barrett</td></tr> +<tr><td>159</td><td>The Depth of Love</td><td>Hannah Blomgren</td></tr> +<tr><td>160</td><td>His Legal Wife</td><td>Mary E. Bryan</td></tr> +<tr><td>161</td><td>Lillian’s Vow</td><td>Mrs. E. Burke Collins</td></tr> +<tr><td>162</td><td>Sold for Gold</td><td>Mrs. E. Burke Collins</td></tr> +<tr><td>163</td><td>A Heart of Fire</td><td>Jean Corey</td></tr> +<tr><td>164</td><td>Shadow and Sunshine</td><td>Adna H. Lightner</td></tr> +<tr><td>165</td><td>Lady Gay’s Pride</td><td>Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller</td></tr> +<tr><td>166</td><td>Lancaster’s Choice</td><td>Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller</td></tr> +<tr><td>167</td><td>Tiger-Lily</td><td>Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller</td></tr> +<tr><td>168</td><td>The Pearl and the Ruby</td><td>Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller</td></tr> +<tr><td>169</td><td>Eric Braddon’s Love</td><td>Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller</td></tr> +<tr><td>170</td><td>Little Sweetheart</td><td>Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller</td></tr> +<tr><td>171</td><td>Flower and Jewel</td><td>Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller</td></tr> +<tr><td>172</td><td>Little Nobody</td><td>Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller</td></tr> +<tr><td>173</td><td>Under Five Lakes</td><td>M. Quad</td></tr> +<tr><td>174</td><td>Her Second Choice</td><td>Charlotte M. Stanley</td></tr> +<tr><td>175</td><td>His Country Cousin</td><td>Charlotte M. Stanley</td></tr> +<tr><td>176</td><td>Frou-Frou</td><td>Charlotte M. Stanley</td></tr> +<tr><td>177</td><td>The Little Light-House Lass</td><td>Elizabeth Stiles</td></tr> +<tr><td>178</td><td>The Man She Loved</td><td>Effie A. Rowlands</td></tr> +<tr><td>179</td><td>An Impossible Thing</td><td>Katharine Wynne</td></tr> +<tr><td>180</td><td>Woman, the Mystery</td><td>Henry Herman</td></tr> +<tr><td>181</td><td>Christie Johnstone</td><td>Charles Reade</td></tr> +<tr><td>182</td><td>The Blithedale Romance</td><td>Nathan’l Hawthorne</td></tr> +<tr><td>183</td><td>Through Green Glasses</td><td>F. M. Allen</td></tr> +<tr><td>184</td><td>One Man’s Evil Effie</td><td>A. Rowlands</td></tr> +<tr><td>185</td><td>A Willful Maid</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +<tr><td>186</td><td>A Woman’s Love Story</td><td>Charlotte M. Braeme</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>For sale by all newsdealers and booksellers, or sent, postpaid on receipt +of 25 cents each, or five copies for $1.00, by the publishers.</p> + +<p class="center">Address GEORGE MUNRO’S SONS,</p> +<p class="right">17 to 27 <span class="smcap">Vandewater Street, New York</span>.</p> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2>THE CELEBRATED +<br> +<span class="large">SOHMER</span></h2></div> + +<p class="center">Heads the List of the Highest-Grade Pianos, and<br> + +Are the +favorite +of the Artist +and the +refined +Musical public.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowe54_625" id="i2"> +<img class="w100" src="images/i2.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + + +<p class="center"><i>Every Genuine SOHMER Piano has the following Trade +mark stamped upon the sounding-board.</i></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowe43_5" id="i3"> +<img class="w100" src="images/i3.jpg" alt="Imitations of the “SOHMER PIANO” have +compelled the firm to adopt the above +“TRADE MARK”"> +</figure> + + +<p class="center large">SOHMER & CO.,</p> +<p class="center">NEW YORK WAREROOMS:</p> +<p class="center medium">Sohmer Building, Fifth Avenue, Cor. 22d Street.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center small">CAUTION.—The buying public will please not confound the genuine S-O-H-M-E-R +Piano with one of a similar sounding name of a cheap grade.</p> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="transnote"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2>Transcriber’s Notes:</h2> +</div> + +<p>Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.</p> + +<p>Table of contents has been added and placed into the public domain by +the transcriber. +</p> +</div> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76634 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/76634-h/images/cover.jpg b/76634-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..941cbae --- /dev/null +++ b/76634-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/76634-h/images/i0.jpg b/76634-h/images/i0.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..89f82fa --- /dev/null +++ b/76634-h/images/i0.jpg diff --git a/76634-h/images/i1.jpg b/76634-h/images/i1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..19ba33b --- /dev/null +++ b/76634-h/images/i1.jpg diff --git a/76634-h/images/i2.jpg b/76634-h/images/i2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..041d160 --- /dev/null +++ b/76634-h/images/i2.jpg diff --git a/76634-h/images/i3.jpg b/76634-h/images/i3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..20404f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/76634-h/images/i3.jpg |
