Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller

“ I am a lonely man with no one to love me.”
“You have a wife and children,” she reminded him, so cuttingly that he withdrew with a muttered imprecation, and Eva flew at the door, slammed and locked it in a fury, and sank sobbing into a chair.
“The wretch! Surely he meant to insult me! There was more than fatherly kindness in his eyes. There was wickedness! Oh, I hate him—I will not stay here! I will go away to-morrow!” she sobbed in a passion of anger and misery, wondering where under heaven she could go unless it were back to kind old Goody Brown. ”

“ What a moment for Reginald Hamilton! Doubt changed to certainty, sorrow to joy, despair to hope.
“If she will only forgive me!” he cried hopefully, but Doctor Ludington could not tell him what to expect. He only said:
“If I have any influence I will use it for you. But go now and beguile Patty Groves some way to Fifth Avenue, and I will meet you there with Dan. Justice shall be done at last, and little Eva’s fair name righted before the world, while the shame of the falsehood that marred her life shall fall on Patty Groves, where it belongs!” ”

“ Lydia cheered her on:
“Read it aloud, while I hold her down, and we’ll soon know all about that boasted lover!”
Little Eva was like wax in the grasp of her stronger cousin. She wriggled and twisted, but escape was impossible, so, at length, she drooped her head with a dejected sob, while Gran’ther Groves looked on benignly, thinking it was all just a girlish frolic between the girls. His honest mind never suspected their secret malignity toward his pet.
“Why, it’s poetry! What weak rot! It makes me feel sick!” ejaculated Patty. ”

“ Had an angel from heaven pointed out the way to Eva’s heart, her mysterious lover could not have known more surely how to win the little beauty’s love.
She was intensely romantic, like the most of pretty young girls. She loved poetry and flowers, and she loved love for its own dear sake. Incidentally she doted on bonbons, and her unknown lover had catered to all these passions, adding to them the delicious flavor of a romantic mystery.
What a lover must he be who risked his life climbing to a two-story window at midnight to leave tokens of his love on her casement! ”

“ He thought of the beautiful little Eva he had met on the train; the piteous, frightened creature, so ignorant of life outside her rustic neighborhood that she thought she could ride on the train, and pay her fare afterward. He had not had the heart to laugh at her mistake like the other passengers, because she had pierced his heart with her subtle likeness to one long dead—the fair young wife who had wearied of him and the luxurious home he gave her, and fled from him back to her old home and her rustic surroundings to die. ”

“ She continued wildly:
“Oh, Ada, do you keep thinking of that other night as I do? Is it Reggie who will really be my bridegroom and not Rupert? Somehow I cannot realize it, now that it comes so terribly near. My brain is all in a whirl, my thoughts are confused; I am not happy and expectant, as on that other bridal eve. My heart feels heavy as lead in my breast! Do you—do you think anything can happen to prevent it this time?”
“What could happen, my darling? You are nervous and fanciful. There is nothing going to happen to mar your happiness this time. ”

“ I am so wretched I am almost tempted to take my father’s and aunt’s advice and marry Reggie, just for something to make me forget!” cried Eva so piteously that it made Ada’s heart ache. “Oh, Ada, do you believe that they are right? That the best remedy for my trouble is to marry another?”
“I do not know; I am sure I should not wish to try it in my own case,” declared Ada frankly. “But when I have seen this Mr. Hamilton I can judge better whether he could make you happy.” ”

“ Not a touch of pity stirred their hearts for Eva, thus cruelly banished from the only home she had ever known, to seek refuge with an unknown father, from whom her very existence had heretofore been carefully concealed. They remembered nothing but their spiteful jealousy because she had always been her grandfather’s pet, and because of her aversion to Terry that she had but vainly tried to conquer or conceal. They thought they were only paying off old scores by the terrible silence that was staining with dishonor both the living and the dead. ”

“ The young lady smiled with pleasure and answered:
“Then you also agree with me, as do many others here at the asylum. It is indeed hard for any one to look at that lovely, pure-faced girl and credit her guilty. Eva,” she called softly to the young girl, who sat motionless at a window, paying no attention to them.
The big dark eyes came back from their contemplation of the dreary January landscape with a vacant stare.
“Eva, this is a new doctor, dear, who is going to help us cure you, so that you will laugh and be happy again. Shake hands, dear, with Doctor Rupert.” ”

“ Unheeding her words, he went on fiercely:
“I renounce you, Eva Somerville, and disown and disinherit you. Terry Groves branded you with shame in his dying moment, and dying lips dare not speak falsely. You are no longer my granddaughter, and this roof can never shelter you more. I have told you of your father, from whom you must have inherited this vile streak in your blood. Go, now, and seek him in New York; tell him who you are, and that your future home must be with him!”
He flung a well-filled purse into her lap, adding furiously:
“Begone at once! There is money for your journey! ”

“ Coming back to New York with her father to his palatial Fifth Avenue home, Eva had been introduced to fashionable society by the widowed sister of Mr. Somerville, who presided over his stately home. His proud mother and elder sister, whose cruel scheming had deceived his young wife, and driven her from home in despair, were both dead, and the younger sister being in boarding school at the time, and now a childless widow, knew just enough of the tragedy to welcome Eva as one who had been wronged, and to whom she owed infinite love and care, in atonement for the errors of the dead. ”

“ Heedless of her little bare feet and her white night robe, she leaped from the bed and clutched Terry’s coat, trying with all her feeble strength to drag him off his victim, crying:
“Let him go! Let him go! He is innocent! You are a coward to shoot an unarmed man!”
Angrily, viciously, as if she had been a feather, Terry shook off her light hold so that she fell to the floor before gran’ther’s feet, who, aroused by the disturbance and Eva’s shrieks, now came stumping into the room, leaning heavily on his cane. ”

“ For years he had been a slave to beauty’s spell, with a dream of love in his heart. All was over now, the hopes, the fears, and the longings. He said to himself [Pg 205] over and over that he must never look again upon the fatally fair face that had wrought his undoing. He must thrust her from his heart, he must forget.
He knew that Eva’s father had claimed her and taken her away to a new life of ease and luxury, where her wonderful beauty would find its appropriate setting, and he was generously glad that it was so. For him, too, life had altered in many ways. ”

“ You are weary and unnerved by what has occurred to-night. Now, try to forget the last unpleasant hour, and remember only that you have won a noble lover who will fill your whole future life with happiness. Try to get some sleep now, and in the morning I will take you over to my aunt in town, where you will be sure of a safe retreat until you are married.”
“Oh, Ada, how good you are to me! May Heaven grant me the power to repay you some day. I will pray that God will send you a lover as noble and handsome as mine,” cried Eva, embracing her with girlish fervor in a fond good night. ”

“ In the primitive society in which she had been raised, no young girl ever thought of marrying for any other reason but love. And Eva was true to the pure instincts of her nature. Her heart must go with her hand.
But she dreaded Reggie’s pain and auntie’s and papa’s disappointment when she had refused her suitor. She hoped they would not scold her, or sulk, as auntie sometimes did when things did not go to her liking.
With these rueful thoughts in her mind Eva was helped into the sleigh that went flying over the smooth crust of snow to Central Park, that was already filled with a joyful throng. ”

“ She must have some one to love and care for her in a dear little home of her own. Now, good night, my little darling. You must dream of me, as I shall of you,” kissing her fondly in the shadows before they parted outside the door.
He remained outside to smoke a cigar and revel in his happiness, while Eva hurried along the dim corridor to her own little room.
Doctor St. Clair’s office door opened and he intercepted her, saying in a low, imperative tone:
“I have been waiting for you. Come in; I must speak to you a moment. You need not hesitate. There is no harm coming in my office. ”

“ Fortunately Doctor Bertrand had not left the house, and her vigorous dosing soon put the wretched girl out of danger, though her bitter reproaches were heart-rending.
“You should have let me die! Life is too cruel!”
They could not scold her. They could only pity her for the awful shock she had sustained.
Only once had any one dared to name the lover who had deceived her so fatally.
“Can you not forgive him? He loved you so, and you seemed to be made for each other!” said Ada Winton gently. ”

“ After that, as they were tired and sleepy, all went to bed, and left Grandfather Groves to his raving, that grew worse, because Eva’s long-continued screams and the rattling of her doorknob blended in with his delirious fancies.
They would not call a doctor, as Eva had begged them—no, indeed! Physics couldn’t help him how, and his bedridden life was a weariness even to himself. Let him slip away as soon as nature willed to death. ”

“ I wish little Eva had her spirit and liked me as well. She is only acting the prude, of course. The heroine of so awful a scandal cannot be hard to win. She is worth an effort, the proud little beauty, and I will not give her up, though I will act distant and offended till I throw her off her guard. Ah, those pouting red lips! A kiss were well worth half my year’s salary, would she but sell it at that price!”
He let Eva severely alone for a week, and she faithfully performed her duties, silently looking and hoping every day for a sight of Doctor Rupert again. ”

“ His eyes must surely betray the love in his heart, and then I should know him for my heart’s choice, for I love him, whoever he is, and I am not ashamed to own it. I will never marry any one but my poet-lover!” declared Eva, with a willful toss of her bright curly head.
“You are a silly little love-sick goose!” commented the spinster, with frank disapprobation. ”

“ Mrs. Hamilton wondered suddenly if that “other” could be the handsome Doctor Ludington, and she quickly decided that this was the case. It explained things that were otherwise inexplicable. But aloud she said, in her calm, gentle way:
“But you told me your love was hopeless, Eva!”
“Yes, quite hopeless!” sighed the girl, stifling a sob that seemed to rend her very heart in twain.
“Then you will have to put that love away from you, and try to forget. The easiest way to do it would be to become interested in another and marry him. ”

“ We will go on a little bridal tour to Parkersburg the next day, and do all the shopping you like,” he answered, kissing the pearly tears from the beautiful dark eyes, and thanking her over and over for her sweet consent.
He was like a man drunken with bliss. The desire of his heart was going to be granted to him. He had loved her so long, so faithfully, without hope, that he could scarcely realize fate’s kindness, now that, overleaping all adverse barriers, it was going to give him bonnie, golden-haired Eva for his own. ”

“ Eva answered, breaking down suddenly and sobbing in an abandonment of grief over her cruel fate.
It all rushed over her freshly again—the tragedy that had blighted her fair name with an indelible stain and exiled her from home, driving her mad with despair.
[Pg 160]
“Oh,” she cried, through raining tears, “I would almost rather die than go through such sorrows again.”
“Let us pray Heaven that you will not be called upon to endure any further trials,” her friend said encouragingly. “Now that you have won such a handsome, noble lover, your future life must be bright and sunny. ”

“ Jealous rage fired Terry’s heart also, for Eva, even as a child, had felt for him a subtle aversion she could never overcome, and that was only increased in the past year by some lover-like advances he had imprudently made.
“Poor Terry, how strange the instinct that draws him to me, while I, in my turn, recoil from him. He is not such a bad fellow, truly,” she had thought more than once, in girlish pity. ”

“ The pleading eyes, the trembling lips, might have moved a heart of stone, but Patty only went on talking glibly to the attendant:
“I positively will not have her longer in the house! We are all in terror of our lives! She has been breaking the window glass, and throwing things out upon our heads, and screaming and disturbing gran’ther’s last hours in her senseless malice! Indeed, I believe her return and the fright she gave him has caused his death. The house is mine and Sister Lydia’s now, and we will not permit her to stay longer. ”

“ But you do not realize that Reggie has made you a target for the world’s scorn.”
“I can outlive it, cannot I, papa? But it is hard for you, dear, you had such pride in me! Oh, let me creep away and die somewhere, and never trouble you more, darling.”
“That is nonsense, my child. Life has been hard and cruel to you, but you were not to blame. As for Patty Groves, I shall know how to punish her for her sin.” ”

“ CHAPTER XXXIII. EVA ACCEPTS REGGIE.
“Congratulate me, Ada. I have concluded to try auntie’s and papa’s remedy for a misplaced love. I have promised to marry Reggie!”
Ada threw down her novel, and, springing up, caught her friend to her heart.
“I wish you joy, Eva! You will have a splendid husband. I almost envy you,” she declared, with a stifled sigh.
“You need not envy a queen. You will have Doctor Ludington,” Eva cried, with bitter emphasis.
“Nonsense! He cares nothing about me, Eva.” ”