Charles Garvice

“ He may have tried to hide it from you—it is possible—but you may know it!"
"Yes, tell me," said Margaret, soothingly, feeling that it would be well to humor her, "tell me; but let go my dress—you frighten me—please."
"His name is Blair! He is Lord Leyton!" sobbed the girl.
Margaret uttered no cry. For a second she seemed as if she had not heard. The room spun round; the blue sky outside the window turned red; and the sofa opposite her seemed to heave as if shaken by an earthquake. Then she laughed.
"You are a wicked woman!" ”

“ She is a lovely and a charming lady," said Austin Ambrose.
"Isn't she?" exclaimed Lord Blair. "Austin, I did not exaggerate?"
"No; you did not even do her justice! I never saw a more beautiful and bewitching young creature! I don't wonder at your infatuation."
"Infatuation! I don't like the word. Infatuation is not love, and I love her more than ever a man loved yet, I think."
"And you are right," said Austin Ambrose, emphatically. "Blair, my boy, you are in luck. I'm not given to raving about women, but, upon my word, I could do a little raving about Miss Margaret!" ”

“ Margaret bit her lip, and was silent for a second or two, then she said:
"Lord Leyton, there should be, can be, no acquaintance between you and me——"
"Now stop!" he said. "I know what you are going to say; you are going to talk some nonsense about my being a viscount and you being something different, and all that! As if you were not a lady, and as if any one could be better than that! Yes, they can, by George! and you are better, for you are an artist! A difference between us—yes, yes, I should think there was, between a useless fellow like myself and a clever, beautiful——"
"My lord!" ”

“ The prince started as if from a trance and strode toward Blair and Margaret.
"One word, my lord!" he said hoarsely. "You know, you have known from the first, the reason for our meeting. Will you tell me, as man to man, that it had no basis? Will you pledge me your word that you have not injured this lady, for alas, I cannot trust her! It is her heart that has spoken——"
"As man to man I pledge my word that I have not knowingly injured this lady," said Blair brokenly. "She is my wife, Prince Rivani!" then his voice failed him, and he drew Margaret closer to him with a passionate pressure. ”

“ Then the rumor went round that Leyton Court was being done up, and that the earl and countess were going to live there just like an ordinary couple who had not been the hero and heroine of romance.
"I hope they won't be late," said Blair, looking at his watch and then staring down the drive.
"The trains are always late—unless you want to catch them, then they are fatally punctual!" said Margaret. "I feel as if I were growing old waiting for them!"
He turned and looked at her with that smile of combined devotion and admiration which the man wears who is both husband and lover. ”

“ Why had not Heaven blessed him with a daughter like to this beautiful girl? was passing through his mind.
Then he said suddenly:
"You have no parents, Miss Hale?"
"No, my lord," said Margaret sadly.
"And you rely upon your own efforts?" he said gently.
"Yes," replied Margaret, "I depend entirely upon my painting, Lord Ferrers."
"It is not an ignoble dependence," said the stately old man. "You are happy in being able to rely upon yourself. And you delight in your work?"
"I am fonder of it than anything else, my lord," said Margaret, with a smile. ”

“ You used to be a brave woman once, summon up some courage now. Consider, after all, what can you do better than fly with me? In an hour or two, at any moment, as I say, Blair and the countess will meet, the truth will be known, and you—what will you be? Nothing—worse than nothing! The law cannot give you redress, for Blair believed her dead; but none the less you will be—an outcast!"
She writhed and tore at the pillows in a frenzy of despair.
"Oh, please!" he murmured, reproachfully. "Is this the same woman who bade me separate Blair and Margaret Hale at any cost?—at any cost? ”

“ Blair lifted his heavy eyes.
"Yes, I have been to Appleford," he said in a hollow voice. "I have seen the last——" he stopped, and his breath came and went in quick gasps. "Austin, while I live, my poor darling will be with me in my thoughts but—but never speak her name to me. Never! I—I could not bear it."
"Yes!" murmured Austin Ambrose, sympathetically. "I understand. You will fight your sorrow like a man Blair. Time—Time, the great healer—will close over even so great a wound as yours, and you will be able to speak of her, poor girl." ”

“ Why, how you've grown! Is this my little Margaret?—my little pale-faced Madge, who was no taller than the table, and all legs and wings?" and leading the girl into a bright little parlor, she sank into a chair, and holding her by the hands, looked her over with that loving admiration of which only a mother or a grandmother can be capable; and the old lady was justified, for the girl, as she stood, slightly leaning forward with a flush on her face and her eyes glowing with affection and emotion, presented a picture beautiful enough to melt the heart of an anchorite. ”

“ And Blair did not listen all the time, but sat looking at the fire, with his teacup in his hand, and marveling in a dreamy fashion at the faithfulness of women.
This girl—the most hunted heiress in London, pretty, accomplished, every way desirable, whom he had neglected, almost deserted—received him as if he had been most devoted and steadfast. It was wonderful!
His heart smote him, and he felt drawn toward her in a curious kind of way.
After all, it is to the women men go when trouble smites them. There is no heart so tender, no sympathy so sure as that of a woman. ”

“ Oh, Austin could keep his lips shut till he died!"
Margaret looked out to sea, and sighed.
"Now, what does that mean?" he demanded instantly. "Are you tired? Would you like to go in-doors? Are you—unhappy?"
She laughed slowly and softly.
"I think I am too happy!" she said in a low voice. "Blair, it seems to me sometimes as if there were something wicked in being so happy! We are told, you know, that there is no real happiness in this world, and that joy cannot last. If it is true, then—then——" she let her lovely eyes rest upon him doubtfully.
"Nonsense, my darling!" ”

“ Of one thing you may be convinced, Violet, and that is, that I will not speak one false word to you to-night. By truth, and truth alone, I will win you. Do not doubt any one thing I tell you, for I swear that it is true!"
"I—I believe you," she said, almost involuntarily. "I believe this marriage took place, but what of it? The girl is dead. I am Blair's wife, and the offer"—she shuddered again—"the vile offer you made he will protect me from."
"Blair is not your husband, for Margaret Hale, the Countess of Ferrers, is alive!" ”

“ Margaret looked up at him almost pleadingly, but he met her gaze steadily, and with a little sigh she rose and laid her fingers on his arm.
He led her through a doorway opening to a portion of the terrace, which was inclosed by glass and occupied by some palms and statuary. The moon shone through the brown leaves and fell in white gleams upon the marble figures. Through the thick curtains the sound of the voices and music in the salon came fitfully, but the prince and Margaret were as little likely to be intruded on as if they were in the midst of a forest. ”

“ Have I not lived in the same house with you, listened to your voice? A man blind to all else could not but see that you are worthy to be the wife of any one, be he whom he may."
"No," she murmured; "it cannot be. Let me go, prince. I will go away, far from Florence, from Italy——"
He stopped her with a sudden gesture, a glance of fear and dread.
"You—you are married?" he said.
Margaret started, then she shook her head.
"I am not married, prince; but there is a dark shadow in my life, a sorrow and a shame." ”

“ He and the Prince Rivani are to fight this morning. This morning! It is light now!"
"Blair—Lord Leyton; your—your husband!" said Margaret, holding on to the bed to support herself.
"My husband!" Lottie almost shrieked; then she laughed wildly and hysterically. "No! not my husband, but yours!"
"Mine!" said Margaret, her eyes fixed on the flushed face and desperate black eyes.
"Yes; yours, yours, yours!" cried Lottie. "Oh, can't you understand? No! You are so good and true, that you cannot believe there are such fiends in the world as me and Austin Ambrose!" ”

“ Blair started. For a second he had thought of Margaret, though he knew it was Violet Graham whom the earl meant.
"Poor girl! What fools men are!" Then his voice grew pathetic in its earnestness and entreaty. "Blair, is it too late? You owe me something, I think; I know you owe something to your name and all that belongs to it. Is it too late? Think! A woman's love, a good woman's heart is too priceless to be spurned with a light laugh. Blair, I, your kinsman, lying here dying, prefer one request. ”

“ Margaret sat and waited. How happy she had been! and yet if he only knew the cause of her happiness! If he could but guess that it was because she had won the love of his nephew, the Viscount Leyton.
She felt guilty and ill at ease, and when he returned, and approaching her with a smile, pressed some bank-notes into her hand, she began to tremble, and the tears rushed to her eyes.
"No thanks, my dear," he said. "Tut, tut! You must not wear your heart upon your sleeve, or daws will peck at it. You have no cause for gratitude; it is I who should and do feel grateful to you. ”

“ To be loved is a nice thing, a grand thing, a fact which gilds even the most prosaic life and makes it bright; but to be loved by such a man as Lord Blair—so handsome, so brave, so devoted, and so passionately and entirely hers! It passed all saying, as the Italians put it; and Margaret's days were full of sweetness and joy; for if he did not see her every day, he managed to come down three or four times a week, and they met in stolen interviews at the cascade, or in the deeper recesses of the woods. ”

“ Marry her, Blair, and at once!"
"I'd marry her to-morrow if she'd let me," said Blair hotly; then he relapsed into silence, and Austin Ambrose was content to let the seed he had dropped take root.
"Will you come to the club and dine with me?" he said, when they walked home. Lord Blair shook his head.
"No, thanks, old fellow," he said. "I want to be alone. Don't think me a bear."
"No, no, I understand," said Austin Ambrose, as he shook hands; "go and dream of Margaret, and remember what I say, my dear fellow. A prize like that is never too quickly secured." ”

“ Never perhaps had Violet looked handsomer. She had loved Blair Leyton for years with a passion of which, fortunately for the general peace, the fair sex alone is capable; and now she had got the desire of her heart, and he was her own. The fullness of her happiness almost frightened her, and as she found courage to glance up once at the pale, handsome face of the bridegroom, a sudden pang shot through her, the pang of a doubt and a dread which she strove to kill even as she felt them. ”

“ She looked up at him inquiringly, then, reading his meaning in his eyes, she took up a large brush, filled it with black paint, and in another minute the picture had disappeared.
Florence uttered an exclamation of dismay, but the prince inclined his head, and as Margaret turned and hid her face on Blair's breast, he said:
"That is what I wanted. Now, in deed and in truth, my friends, we may say that the past is blotted out; not even the shadow of it can mar the happiness of your future; a future made bright with a love that has been tried in the furnace and found not wanting." ”

“ Do you know that directly you left the salon everybody fell to talking about you, though they had done that while you were there under pretense of talking about your picture. They all talked about you as if you were something that had dropped out of the skies, and we Rivanis were lucky to own the particular spot of earth upon which your divinityship descended."
Margaret laughed softly. The girl's enthusiasm amused her, and yet it was honest enough.
"You may laugh, but let me tell you, you quiet little woman, that your name will be ringing all through Italy before the week is out!" ”