Mrs. E. Burke Collins

“ Rosamond Arleigh frowned.
“I have been ill, that is all,” she returned, coldly; “only a little touch of the old heart trouble. You have called here to-night, Gilbert Warrington, to—It is the old business, I suppose.”
“You are right; it is the old affair, that little slip of yours which is fated to follow you through life like a dark shadow, fated to dog your footsteps to the very grave. ‘The sins of the parents’—you know the rest of it, my dear Rosamond. So your sin will fall, in all its black horror and shame and disgrace, upon your child!” ”

“ There was the sound of a firm footstep; a moment later Douglas Darrow bent over her and took her wasted form in his arms.
"Beatrix, Beatrix!" he whispered, "look up and hear what I have to say. You must not shed tears, my beautiful darling! Oh, Beatrix, I love you so! Come to me, and be my wife. I can not live without you! I will shield you from all ill, and if suffering must come upon you, I will devote my life trying to alleviate your suffering. Tell me, Beatrix, will you try to care for me? I am twenty-eight years old, but I have never really loved any woman before ”

“ Violet’s face grew ashen white.
“What has happened?” she moaned. “Oh, Leonard, Leonard, something awful has happened! What is it?”
He turned to the door, then slipped back to Violet’s side and took her in his arms. For the moment all jealous doubts were set at rest—for the moment only—it is hard to kill jealousy.
“Be brave and calm, my darling,” he whispered, gently; “I will stand between you and all harm!”
But, alas! there comes a time into all lives when human love is powerless and human care can avail nothing. Such an hour had come to Violet Arleigh now. ”

“ And yet, this woman—for the creature resembled a woman—might have been pretty some day, even as she had once been young.
For a moment Beatrix stood like one petrified, an awful horror in her eyes, which were riveted upon the dreadful sight, her limbs shaking like an old person with the palsy.
Sister Angela spoke at last in a low, trembling voice.
"My dear, I would not look at—at it," she said, gently. "Do not fear. You will never be like that; I am sure of it. That woman is old, and you, my poor child! will not live to be old, I am sure of it, after that affliction comes upon you. ”

“ Listen, Jessie, and let me tell ‘the story of my thralldom.’ I love you—love you with all my heart and soul. I have been a wild sort of a fellow, flirting with every passably pretty woman who was silly enough to let me. I have flirted away my best days in this idle pastime, and have won for myself the unenviable reputation of a flirt; but lately I have awakened to a new life, new hopes, new ambition—say, rather, for the first time, real ambition. A feeling of disgust and aversion for my career as a trifler has taken possession of me. I feel the need of a real aim, a true object in existence. ”

“ And so I shall! You shall call no other woman wife! Oh, Keith! if you do not love me I shall die—I shall die!"
The sleeper moved uneasily upon the pillow, and the beautiful lips parted slightly, while, low and sweet, but clear and distinct to the ears of the listener, came the one muttered word:
"Beatrix!"
It was enough to arouse the slumbering devil in the woman's breast. She started as though she had been shot. A moan of bitter anguish passed her lips, and fell upon the dead silence of the sick-room. She turned blindly, like one groping in the dark, and fled back to the death-chamber. ”

“ Violet made no reply; she stood like one stunned, as gradually the truth, the bitter truth, crept into her heart. She was in the power of this villain. How, in Heaven’s name, could she escape? There must be some way of escape, some road out of the dilemma, but she knew not which way to turn. Gilbert Warrington seemed to read her very thoughts.
“Every man has his price, I have been told,” he observed, sententiously. “I have mine. Are you willing to pay a price for keeping your unpleasant secret, Miss Arleigh? Tell me, are you?”
She caught her breath with a suppressed cry. ”

“ Beatrix started, and a shudder ran over her slender frame.
"Yes; I will answer you," she returned, bravely. "I am going to do as I think best in this matter, Serena; and I certainly shall not consult your wishes. Keith Kenyon is nothing to you—nothing—less than nothing!"
Serena's face was pale to ghastliness; her form shook perceptibly, her eyes scintillated. She was a very unlovely picture of anger—impotent, restrained rage—as she stood there.
"Be careful!" she hissed; "be careful, Beatrix Dane! I give you fair warning; you are treading upon dangerous ground; you are making a grave mistake. ”

“ A smile stole over Gilbert Warrington’s thin lips.
“Do not imagine for one moment that I care for you,” he said, harshly. “I have never loved any woman in all my life save your mother, and she scorned me. Listen, Violet, while I tell you my story in as few words as possible. Years ago, when I first met your mother, she and Harold Arleigh were living as happily as ideal lovers, just for all the world like romances one reads in old books. It was not the fashion then to debate the question, ‘Is marriage a failure?’ and Harold and Rosamond never once thought of such a thing. ”

“ Lynne—" began Beatrix, hurriedly.
"She has never been a sister to me," panted the dying woman, wildly; "and I have carefully concealed from her the secret of my life, because she was not fit to share it. But no matter now; the papers will tell you all. Now I am tired and must sleep. Kiss me, Beatrix; I am dying, and I am—your—"
She strove hard with a mighty struggle to speak another word, but the rigid lips refused to give it utterance. The word which was not spoken in life could never be spoken in death. Beatrix stooped and kissed her. ”

“ Violet Arleigh, there is a dark cloud resting over your life, a cloud which will never disappear, a stain that can not be wiped out—the stain of black disgrace. When the time comes for the truth to be known, how many of your present dear friends, think you, will remain true? How many will rally around you and stand by you through everything? My word for it, you will not find one. When the truth comes out, who will care for you and seek you for a wife? Not your handsome lover, Leonard Yorke ”

“ As though it were possible for Keith to control and direct his own heart! For love is not a matter of our own volition. It must go where it is sent by fate; we can not steer its course. And so Serena, with her mad determination to revolutionize nature, must needs attempt to wreck two lives already saddened by the darkest and most bitter of sorrows—a sorrow more cruel than death.
All this had flashed through Beatrix's brain as she stood there, her eyes upon Serena's pale, triumphant face, her heart sinking slowly into the very depths of dark despair. ”

“ How did she know? She would not be the first woman who had been deceived by a man, and misled by specious pleading to her own unhappiness. She was not the first, and she would not be the last.
And Will Venners was so much sought after and admired, and so welcome in society, while she—what was she but a poor girl, a hired companion, paid the same as Betty Harwood, or any other hireling at Yorke Towers?
Jessie Glyndon was proud—very proud; and she felt a horrible fear that Will Venners was merely trifling with her, just for idle pastime. ”

“ I will not put it into words, for if you were to know it—to know the secret of your own dark inheritance—it would kill you as you stand there before me. Beatrix, there is poison in your very life-blood—an awful taint suspected, which can only be proved by this crucial test. Beatrix, obey me; place your hand in yonder fire, as I bid you. If it comes forth burned and disfigured—a mass of horrible burns and unsightly scars, your body racked with suffering, then thank your God upon bended knee that you have escaped the doom of your race. ”

“ Violet, if you will marry me at once, I will swear to leave you and never come near you again. I want the Arleigh fortune, and if you will secure it to me by marriage, I will never trouble you more. You shall be as free as the bird of the air. What do you say, Violet?”
“I say that you are a villain, Gilbert Warrington, and that I would sooner die than become your wife.” ”

“ Not a word, or a cry, or a groan, passed Beatrix Dane's lips as she crouched there, and over her a great darkness settled; life drifted away from her grasp; the graceful head fell forward, and she lost consciousness. It was merciful oblivion; but it was destined not to last.
She lifted her head at length, and gazed wildly about her in the darkness. No sound reached her ears; the next room was as silent as the grave. Mrs. Lynne and Serena had gone to their own apartments to talk over the horrible story which had come into their possession. Beatrix was left alone—alone! ”

“ Violet went straight up to Mrs. Yorke’s companion and laid her hand upon the white sleeve of Miss Glyndon’s dress.
“Jessie, let me take that up to Mrs. Yorke,” she said in a pleading tone; “and you—you go out into the grounds for a little while. It will do you good to get the fresh air. You are looking very pale.”
Jessie Glyndon’s large gray eyes met the earnest gaze of Violet’s with a swift, half-startled expression in their depths.
“I—looking pale? Why, you must be mistaken, Miss Arleigh. I was never better nor stronger in my life.” ”

“ He had devoted himself to Keith Kenyon as much as he possibly could, and to the earnest labors of the young physician, as well as Beatrix's tender care, Keith Kenyon owed his return to health. The time came when Beatrix, standing at his bedside, listened to Keith's pleading words—words which broke her heart afresh.
"You shall not leave me, my darling!" the young man cried, passionately. "My wife, my wife, I need you! You must not separate us in this dreadful way, this death in life. It is worse than though death itself had intervened to tear us apart. ”

“ On, like a wild creature—for she is afraid of the night and the lonely darkness—Rosamond Arleigh flies; the man who is in pursuit of her keeps close in her wake—on, on!
Half hidden by a clump of great live-oaks, Doctor Danton’s carriage stands patiently waiting, its driver, Tom, a faithful negro, nodding upon the box.
All at once Tom became conscious of a slight, dark-robed figure, and a woman’s voice broke the silence, calling swiftly, softly:
“Drive me to Yorke Towers at once. Quick, quick! Lose no time!” ”

“ It was a grewsome thought, and as she realized what it meant to her and to Keith—the endless separation, the death in life—for the first time since she had learned of this awful sorrow, her own dark inheritance, the poor girl felt that she "could curse God and die!" And how could she know of the great good in store, the wonderful and unexpected blessing which God was about to bestow upon her? So it often is with us poor mortals. Just at the darkest hours of our lives the light is breaking, though hidden from our eyes. ”

“ It might be amusement for him, but for her it would be death—worse than death; for Jessie Glyndon was the sort of woman who could not endure the burden of life if once deprived of love. She was all alone in the world, and accustomed to her cold, [Pg 164] loveless existence; but once let the sun of affection arise upon her life, its setting would mean her utter ruin and destruction. Better to grope on in the darkness in her lonely way than to reach out and gather the proffered flower of love, only to see it wither in her grasp. ”

“ Alone in her room that night, Beatrix sat down at the open window to think over the new life so soon to be unfolded to her. Keith Kenyon's wife! No position in the world could be so desirable; no girl was ever so happy as she.
"He is so noble, so good, so grand!" she thought to herself, her fair cheek flushing with rapture at thought of her lover's perfections. How noble he appeared in her eyes! How handsome, how manly! To her there was but one man worth looking at in the world—handsome Keith Kenyon. ”

“ The carriage did not halt; its speed was unchecked. Once more she called loudly in accents of terror, a strange horror beginning to tug at her heart-strings.
“Driver! Stop! Stop a moment!”
There was danger that the sound of her voice in its wild appeal might reach the ears of a chance passer, although at this hour, in this lonely country place, there was little danger. But still she might contrive to make herself heard by somebody. The very thought drove the life-blood from about Gilbert Warrington’s craven heart.
In a pretty clump of woodland he halted the carriage. ”

“ But Serena felt, in her bitter hatred, that she could reach out and hurt the poor woman in her grave.
"No matter," she cried angrily, as she sat nursing her wrath to keep it warm; "I am mistress here and Bernard Dane is old and feeble. It will not take long, now that Aunt Celia is dead and out of the way, to resume my old power over him. I must hold a tight rein, or my control will be diminished. No more of those people shall be allowed here. Beatrix must never show her face here again. She shall never enter these gates while I live!" ”

“ On, on, she went, like a mad creature, down the long walk which led to the entrance to The Oaks. A turn to the right, and there, at the foot of a huge magnolia-tree, she saw Leonard Yorke. He arose from his seat upon a rustic bench, and, pale and agitated, came to meet her.
“Violet! Good heavens! what is the matter?” he cried. “Oh, my darling, you are ill and in trouble! What has hurt you? Tell me all, Violet, for I would lay down my life for you!” ”

“ Serena's face wore a look of triumph, and her pale blue eyes flashed with exultation.
"Why not?" she muttered, low under her breath, "why not? He is very rich and very old, and—I must have money. And Keith will never care for me, and he is married to that wretched girl who will be a mill-stone about his neck while she lives, and she may live many years. I am not sure but that I have solved the problem for myself, and found a way—an unexpected way—out of my difficulties. Keith's love—the love of the only man on earth worth having—can never be mine—never! It is useless to aspire, to hope. ”

“ But in reality this is what he was saying to her:
“So, Miss Violet, you think that there is hope for me? I have loved her so long; it is no flirtation this time. Sweet Jessie Glyndon is the only woman I have ever loved well enough to wish to make my wife.”
And Violet’s sympathetic tone responds:
“I think she likes you, Will. Shall I tell you why? Because, although she laughs at you when you attempt to enact the lover, just let any one venture a slighting remark concerning you, and she will fly into a passion and defend you with all her might. ”

“ CHAPTER X. AN OLD MAN'S SECRET.
Yes, he was Serena Lynne's betrothed husband, and bound in honor to make her his wife. The sharp remembrance cut him to the heart like a sword. He fell back with a cry of anguish, and the love-words died upon his lips.
"May Heaven have pity!" he groaned. "I had forgotten—forgotten. Don't look at me with such piteous eyes. Beatrix! oh, Beatrix, my love, I have done wrong! I have made a mistake, and my happiness is wrecked. All my life is ruined and darkened forever!"
Old Bernard Dane hobbled over to Keith's side and laid a trembling hand upon his arm. ”

“ It means to suffer in secret and silence, and to lie down and die, sooner than see the one punished for whom you suffer. This is to be a woman. There! I have no more to say tonight—No—wait a moment before you go to your own room which I have had prepared for you. Come here, and let me look at you. Yes, to be sure, you are fair. I thought that you would be. You are beautiful, indeed. Oh, heavens! what a fate—what a fate for one so young and fair! Now, Beatrix Dane, answer me: have you come here prepared to render strict obedience to my wishes? ”