Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller

“ Words are too weak to describe the feelings of Dallas Bain as he rushed with frenzied haste from the presence of the beautiful girl so lately worshiped as the queen of her sex, only to learn that she was the most heartless coquette in the world.
Never was there such a rapid transition from rapturous joy to the depths of misery—misery and anger, for how could any proud man bear with equanimity to be made a fool of, as Daisie Bell had just fooled him? ”

“ For it seemed to him that the young man’s affliction was more cruel than death.
To have all the best gifts of life at command—youth, health, wealth, love—and to be struck down like this at one fell blow into worse than nothingness, to be looking into heaven, yet always lying outside the beautiful gates. Ah, what refinement of cruelty, what living torture!
Of her—his lost love, his bonny Daisie—lured from him by a hideous cheat, kept away by her pity and her sense of duty, a pitiful sacrifice to a cruel plot, he scarce dared think. That way lay madness. ”

“ To him, Annette was a queen among women. What if Lord Werter’s heart wound should be healed by the glance of those saucy black eyes? What if he won her for his cherished bride?
The man’s heart stood still a moment in its agony.
Then pride and despair came to the rescue, gibing him:
“Hush! What is that to you? She was yours once, and you could not trust her true heart! You outraged her loving faith. Now she hates you. It is the part of some nobler man to make her happy.” ”

“ All this rushed over the mind of Dallas as he gazed at the pale, handsome face and the somber, dark eyes, where the fires of remorse and regret smoldered under the heavy lashes.
“You despise me!” exclaimed Ray Dering hoarsely. “Who can blame you? I, for one, do not. I am even glad I told you, for it made me restless, your kindness, when I knew I did not deserve it. I have sinned so deeply against you that your goodness has heaped coals of fire upon my head. I can only give you my miserable secrets, suspected by no one on earth before, except Annette, and thank you before we part.” ”

“ I dread a scene,” he muttered tremblingly.
“Pshaw! don’t be a coward, Royall. You know your rôle. Just stick to it like a man, and all will be well. Her fate is sealed, and their anger cannot change it, however they rage. Come;” and, drawing him with her, the crafty schemer confronted the happy lovers on the moonlit balcony.
Her low, grating laugh startled them from a happy dream, and they sprang apart in confusion as she cried:
“Daisie, we have been searching for you everywhere! And here you are hiding from us like this, forgetting that your flirting days are over now! Why—Mr. Bain!” ”

“ And, though the fever rose to its greatest height, and her delirious ravings made their hearts ache with the fear that she could not live, still the crisis had not come yet, and the letter was not sent.
There was no lack of skillful nursing, no lack of medical care, no lack of love, for Aunt Alice and Annette gave her all their time; but it almost seemed as if nothing could hold Daisie back from the land of shadows to which she was hastening. She had no hold on life, because she was weary of it. ”

“ She saw the dark form sitting in the shadow so silently, and as the hem of her white gown brushed against his knee, she faltered:
“Who wants me?”
Dallas half rose, holding out impassioned arms, whispering:
“I want you, Daisie, darling! I want you to forgive my folly and madness! I want you to be my little love still, as you promised that day before I left you! I want——”
But then his arms closed around her yielding form, and his last words were smothered in the kiss he pressed on the top of her shining head.
Ah! what joy for little Daisie, what sudden rapture! ”

“ It lifted something from his heart; but he took a whim not to undeceive her yet, not to own his identity, to masquerade under his new splendor.
So he danced with the gay little widow, but his eyes wandered often to Daisie, who was Major Mays’ partner, and danced divinely. It vexed him that she would not even look at him, though she might have done that much for the sake of the likeness to her old love.
“She is heartless. Prosperity has spoiled her,” he thought bitterly, as he leaned against the wall and watched the clear-cut, smiling face so fair and flowerlike. ”

“ And Aunt Alice kept coaxing and firing my ambition with your cousin’s riches, and he kept teasing and making himself agreeable—perhaps you know how a sore, aching heart may sometimes take comfort in the devotion of one it does not care for, and find in it some balm for wounded love and pride—so at last I consented, hoping I might learn to love him after, but stipulating that the engagement be kept secret a little while, for I feared that I might change, and, wish to break it, and did not want to make such a sensation public. ”

“ There was a moment’s blank pause; then Royall Sherwood bent the knee humbly before silent, stricken Daisie, crying out in pleading accents:
“She speaks truly; the plot was hers, unknown to me; but, Daisie, she read my heart aright, if not yours; for never had bride such a cordial welcome to a husband’s heart, and never would a loyal husband strive more patiently to win a wife’s love, if you will give yourself to me in truth, as you are mine already by to-night’s vow.” ”

“ Do you think it does not stab me to the heart to look on my accursed work? Do you think I am so vile I cannot repent and wish to expiate the deed by a life’s devotion? Yes, I am a changed man, Annette. My former madness would not be possible to me now. I am a crushed and broken man, sin-stricken, sorrowful, repentant. I wish to devote my life to Royall Sherwood, so as to alleviate as far as possible the sufferings I have caused. Could remorse and repentance further go? ”

“ Fleming, whose pride, crushed and broken by the death of the cousin she had truly loved, stooped now to crave forgiveness of her she had wronged.
Think kindly of his memory, now that he is gone; for indeed I am most to blame, and I feel that Heaven has punished me for my sin in taking him away, when we were always so fond of each other, having no nearer kin. I know you can never be real friends with me; but won’t you pretend to be friends, so that the world—Royall’s world and mine—need never know how that marriage came about? ”

“ The girl’s eyes dilated in anguish, for at that moment everything returned to her mind, and she remembered that the man she loved more than life—her handsome, blue-eyed Ray—had aimed a murderous bullet at her true heart. She almost wished that she had died, so cruel was the pain of knowing that he was unworthy.
Doctor Bowers saw the gleam of apprehension in her dark eyes, and asked quickly:
“Miss Annette, do you know who gave you this wound?” ”

“ It was my guilty hand that fired the shot that laid Royall Sherwood low—but I thought it was you, Dallas Bain. I had followed you to Sea View, but my brain was dulled with liquor, and I missed you somehow when you went away. Then I thought I saw you walking in the grounds with Annette, as I thought, and I fired recklessly, and escaped. Well, the man is not dead yet, but if he dies I am his murderer, and you may denounce me if you choose, for my life, by reason of my mistakes and crimes, has become almost too great a burden to be borne. ”

“ Ray Dering was a changed man—purged of his worst fault by sorrow and suffering, and humbly grateful to Heaven that had permitted him to atone for the evil he had wrought.
Lutie Fleming, too, was changed for the better.
She had conquered her love for Lord Werter, realizing at last its hopelessness.
And from hating Daisie Bell with the passion of a jealous rival, she had grown to love her as a sister. ”

“ It were wiser, better to keep her in the dark. ‘Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.’”
“You are a woman. You should know best,” said Lord Werter, with a mirthless smile of consent; and she exclaimed gladly:
“You consent—you promise?”
“Yes—for Daisie’s sake.”
The despair in his face and voice made her kind heart ache, and she murmured:
“Thank you, and may God bless you. I know you will never regret this promise.” ”

“ It was three weeks now since Daisie and Annette had come away from New York back to Maryland—three weeks since the morning when Daisie had stooped over Royall while he held her hands, and kissed him with cold, unresponsive lips, while she said:
“God help us both to bear this sorrow!”
She could not hate him, or be angry with him, because his love and his affliction made her generous heart very kind and pitiful, and she realized that the cross of suffering lay heavy on them both. ”

“ Half an hour of the keenest impatience and longing for him, of the most exquisite joy for Dallas and Daisie.
Between the two lovers there had been full explanations of everything, and renewed trust and confidence.
[Pg 102]
As they lingered there in the moonlight beneath the fragrant rose vine, with the voice of the sea blending in their ears with the lilt of merry music, their hands entwined, their hearts in unison, there came to them a foretaste of heaven, if ’tis true, as poets tell us, that——
Love is heaven, and heaven is love. ”

“ Oh, horrors! There lay the poor girl on the sands, beneath her wheel, still as death! And as Dallas sprang from the buggy the other girl jumped from her wheel in grief and reproach.
“Alas, alas! You have killed sweet Daisie Bell!”
He answered with a cry of anguish, for there at their feet lay the lovely girl, her sweet eyes closed, her golden curls trailing on the sands, while a thin stream of blood trickled down her cheek from a little cut on her temple. ”

“ May I? And, Daisie, will you please me by wearing black for him? It would please him if he could know. Of course you will marry Lord Werter after a while; it is only right you should. I have not a word to say. I loved him myself—perhaps Royall told you that—but Dallas cared only for you, and you two will be happy together at last, despite all my wicked scheming. It is the will of Heaven. Oh, if you could find it in your tender heart to pity and forgive me!
The next mail carried the repentant woman an envelope sealed in black, and one tear-blotted line:
I forgive—for Royall’s sake. ”

“ Letty Green was waiting with Cullen at the door to conduct them to the dying man, and as they went along the corridor Mrs. Fleming herself came to meet them, her eyes dim with tears, that made her festal robes look strangely out of place.
She took Daisie’s hand, and whispered:
“You will soon be free now. Poor Royall cannot live long. It is his love for you that has caused his death. That wretch killed him!” ”

“ But death cancels all resentments.
[Pg 153]
She wiped the dew from his cold brow with her soft and gentle hand. She stroked his fair curls softly, thinking how handsome he was in his fair style—only no one could approach her splendid lover, Dallas.
“I shall pray God to let you live,” she whispered; and a sudden hatred came to her for the fiend whose cowardly bullet had laid low this promising life.
“Wait till I tell you all,” he sighed remorsefully. “Ah, Daisie, I have done you a cruel wrong, but I cannot go down to death without confessing it, and then you will hate my very memory.” ”

“ What a contrast there was between them—the man crouching there in his low-wheeled chair, wasted and worn with illness and a tortured mind, a helpless paralytic, and the beautiful bride in the bloom of youth and health, gowned in white silk and lace, her golden hair an aureole about her graceful head, the fire of diamonds girding her round white throat, pale roses breathing out perfume against her breast.
“Gods! How beautiful you are, my Daisie!” breathed the man, with a gesture of despair. “How I envy the men who will dance with you at the ball to-night!” ”

“ But she shrank from his extended arms, with a cry of woe that made Dallas Bain soothe her with warning words:
“Do not let him frighten you, Daisie; for who knows but that he was in the plot which he disclaims so glibly? If you do not want him as a husband, do not take him; for the law will free you from this fraud that has been perpetrated on you. ”

“ But she soon found that wealth does not always confer happiness; for, day by day, Daisie drooped like a strangely blighted flower, until at last she found that the girl was threatened with a serious illness.
“I don’t like the look of you, Daisie. You’ve been failing steadily ever since you came here, ten days ago. I don’t believe you’ve ever smiled since you came, and you don’t eat as much as a bird. Now you don’t feel well enough to rise from your bed, your face is red and feverish, and your pulse fairly frightens me. I’m going to send for Doctor Burns, and write for your husband to come.” ”

“ Royall Sherwood, he betrayed a sudden interest.
“The most beautiful and winning girl society has seen in years,” she said. “But at first some would have liked to put her down, you know, because she was only a poor girl—a New York teacher—though she looks like she was born to the purple. But, of course, her marriage to a Sherwood changed all that. And, really, Lutie Fleming stood by her grandly, and directly made her the fashion. I never liked the little widow, I own; but she has the true Sherwood grit, and never gives up what she sets her mind on. ”

“ He would rather die than live without your love.”
There was a brief silence. The midnight hour was very still. They could hear the tide booming in upon the shore, the solemn, mysterious voice of the sea. To poor Daisie it seemed to murmur of despair.
“Do you see what I am trying to get at, Daisie? Do you understand me? In my regret for the terrible mistake I made in uniting your fate to Royall’s, in my sorrow for my poor boy, and my wish to secure his happiness, I am willing to make a bargain with you—the strangest bargain ever made—to shield a cruel murderer for the sake of his victim. ”

“ I would not give him such pain as to tell him the girl he loves is a cruel little coquette. Think better of it, Daisie Bell, and marry Royall, who is so rich, and can give you a palace for a home and diamonds a princess might envy. He is of a sweet, sunny disposition, too, and will make you far happier than Dallas Bain, who is sullen, violent, and jealous. Besides, he is gone away, and you will never see him again, so I will keep your secret of this morning, and Royall need never know it,” coaxed the little widow. ”

“ And why did he keep up a clandestine acquaintance with her, not permitting me to suspect it, while all the time he was courting her with such devotion? He must have been afraid of me, jealous somehow, though why I can’t guess, for men like him, with loads of money, have only to throw the handkerchief, and any girl he looks at will jump—only too glad of the chance. This Daisie Bell, with her rare beauty, will be only too glad to marry him, of course—even if she loved some poor man better. Bah! The whole business disgusts me. I’ll go away out of the whole mess before to-morrow. ”