Royal Ainsley was not a man to be trusted when under the influence of drink. As the minutes went by, and Ida did not come, he was beside himself with rage.
"What does she mean by keeping me waiting in this manner?" he roared. "By the Lord Harry, I'll make her pay for this!"
Then, like Eugene Mallard, who was watching but a few feet from him, he saw the light go out in Ida's room.
"That must beherroom. She is coming at last," he murmured.
He braced himself against the trunk of a tree, for by this time his limbs were none too steady under him.
When the door opened, and he saw Ida approach, an exclamation of satisfaction broke from his lips.
He sat down upon the mossy rock and watched the slim figure as it moved slowly over the greensward.
"She is certainly in no hurry to see me," he muttered, with a grim smile. "But I'll change all that."
Meanwhile, Ida had stopped short, and was standing motionless in the path.
Putting her hand into the pocket of her dress, the girl found, to her great amazement, that she had comeaway without the roll of bills she had intended to bring with her. In her excitement she had left the money on the table.
What should she do? There was no course to pursue but go back for it.
Then a superstitious terror for which she could not account seemed to seize her.
"It will surely be a bad omen to return to the house." she told herself; "and yet I dare not meet Royal Ainsley without the money. He will say that my story about forgetting the money is only an excuse."
As Ida paused for a moment, wondering what course would be best to pursue, she concluded that her only course would be to return to the house for the money.
She had scarcely turned, before a piercing cry sounded through the grounds, coming from the direction of the brook.
Ida, terrified, stood for a moment rooted to the spot. She tried to fly, but if her life had depended upon it, she could not have stirred hand or foot.
She distinctly heard the sound of voices. Still, all power to fly seemed to have left her.
What could it be? Had some of the servants discovered Royal Ainsley's presence?
She tried to think, but she was powerless. Every sound seemed confusing.
Guided by the light, Nora had dashed quickly down toward the brook. But ere she could reach the figure pacing up and down so impatiently, she was seized from behind by a pair of strong arms, a white angry face bent over her, and a voice, which she instantly recognized as her master's, cried harshly:
"Let me understand what this means!"
The girl was too frightened to speak.
"This is why you would not come to the ball, is it?" he cried, excitedly, dragging her toward the spot where her lover stood. "Come, you and I will confront the lover whom you stayed away from the ball to meet here!"
Royal Ainsley took in the situation at once. He recognized Eugene's voice.
"He has discovered Ida Mallard's appointment with me in some way," he thought. And the knowledge terrified him, coward as he was.
He turned and beat a hasty retreat, dodging directly into the arms of old Joe.
"Ha! I've caught youthistime!" cried the old servitor.
With an oath, Royal Ainsley flung Joe from him.
"Out of my way!" he cried, fiercely, "or I'll kill you!"
The voice, as well as the words, startled old Joe, and threw him entirely off his guard for an instant. In that instant a heavy blow was dealt him which caused him to loosen his hold on the intruder.
Then Royal Ainsley sped like a deer through the grounds, every foot of which he knew well, and was quickly lost to sight in the darkness.
After that first sharp cry, Nora regained something of her natural bravado.
In less time than it takes to tell it, her master had dragged her toward the house and under the full light of the swinging lamp.
"Oh, master!" she cried, gaining her breath at last "It's I, Nora, the maid!"
Eugene Mallard's tightly clinched hands fell from her; he stared aghast at the girl.
"You, Nora!" he cried, in the greatest amazement, with a world of relief and thankfulness blended in his voice.
"Pray for—forgive me, Mr. Mallard," sobbed the girl. "I—I did not do any intentional wrong. I was only going down to the old south gate to meet my lover, sir. I—I did not think for a moment that any one would mind. My lady did not need me for an hour or more. Oh, please forgive me if my action has displeased you!"
"It was your lover that you were going to meet?" repeated Eugene Mallard, as if to satisfy himself that he had heard aright.
He drew back and looked at Nora with fixed intentness, the color that had left his face surging back to it again.
Eugene Mallard now walked to his library, and flung himself down to think over the situation.
He felt grateful beyond words that matters were no worse. He was ashamed of the thought that for a moment had found lodgment in his brain against the wife whom he had wedded.
Then it came to him—his love for Ida, whom he knew now that he worshipped with all the passionate love of his heart. How different it was from the love he had borne Hildegarde Cramer!
He wondered that he had been so blind as not to have noticed his love for her sooner. He could scarcely wait until the day dawned, that he might go to her and tell her of the great love for her that was consuming his soul.
He said to himself that it was only her innate modesty that caused her to hold aloof from him of late, and to make her hesitate about giving him her answer.
He looked shudderingly backward over the past for the last time. Yes, he would urge her to give him his answer on the morrow. It never once occurred to him but that her answer would be "Yes."
When Royal Ainsley shook himself free from old Joe's detaining grasp, his first impulse was to get as far away from the place as possible.
With second thoughts, however, came another decision. No; he must learn all that was taking place.
Quickly circling the grounds, he soon gained a vantage-place behind a group of bushes not far from the house. There he could easily see and hear all that transpired without being seen himself.
He saw Eugene Mallard as he drew the girl beneath the swinging lamp in the hall, and heard the conversation that passed between them.
"So!" he muttered, grinding his white teeth savagely,"the girl is my lady's maid, eh? I dare say, she sent her with some message to me when she was intercepted by Eugene Mallard. But Ida will find that this will not work with me. See her I shall, if I have to stay in these grounds till broad daylight."
He watched and waited until he saw even old Joe relax his vigilance and go into the house.
Royal Ainsley waited there until the old mansion was wrapped in gloom and darkness, then he slipped from his hiding-place, passed noiselessly over the graveled walk, and stood beneath Ida's window.
Stooping, he caught up a handful of pebbles. One by one he flung them up against the window-pane. Just as he had expected, he saw a white, terrified face appear at the window, and two white hands threw up the sash.
He saw at once that it was Ida. He moved out from the shadow of the trees. She saw him at once, and recognized him.
"Is ityou?" she cried, in the greatest alarm. "What in Heaven's name are you doing there, pray?"
"Your common sense ought to tell youthat;" he retorted, harshly. "Come down here at once, I tell you, and be sure to bring that money with you!"
"Oh, no! no! I can not!" she answered him, piteously.
"Why?" he demanded, with something very much like an imprecation upon his lips.
"I dropped the money in the dining-room as I was passing through it to get out into the grounds. The room is locked; I can not get it until to-morrow morning. Old Joe always carries the key with him."
"It is a lie!" he cried, fiercely.
"No! no! On my life, it is true!" she answered, with a piteous quiver in her voice; adding: "I was hurryingthrough the room, and there I must have dropped it. I searched for it in every other place."
"Then hear what I say," he retorted, with an oath, "in these very grounds I shall stay until you come to me. I know well that old Joe is astir at dawn. You must be up then, find the money which you say you dropped, and bring it out to me. I will be waiting for you at the same place."
Before she could utter a word of protest, he had turned and disappeared in the darkness.
All night long Ida Mallard paced the floor of her room, scarcely heeding the hours that dragged their slow lengths by. Dawn came before she realized it. She was startled from her reverie by hearing old Joe throwing open the shutters about the house. That recalled her to a realization of passing events.
Joe had unlocked the door of the dining-room at last, but his sight was so poor that he could not espy a small roll of bills lying on the floor.
Ida, gliding into the room as soon as his footsteps echoed down the corridor, found the package.
She stole to the door as soon as it was unlocked.
Ah! how sweet and fragrant was the early morning. How cool and green the grass looked, wet with the morning dew! Little she dreamed that ere the day waned that same grass would be dyed with a human being's blood.
She shivered as she stepped forth into the grounds. With hurried steps she crossed the lawn, and went into the rose-garden beyond. There she saw Royal Ainsley. He was pacing the little path by the brook, his face white, his eyes angry-looking, downcast and sullen.
"So you have come at last, eh?" he exclaimed, angrily.
"I am here," she responded, tremulously.
"I was just about to go and wake up the household," he cried, his rage increasing.
"Now, that I am here, you will not have to do that," she answered, wearily.
"Where is the money?" he asked, abruptly.
She held it in her hand, but clutched it more tightly.
"I have it with me," she responded; "but it is not yours until you carry out your promises!"
He looked at her with a cunning gleam in his eyes.
"To be sure I will carry out my agreement," he said.
"But I must have proof that you will do so before I part with so much money," she said. "You must give me your written word that you will never trouble me again. You must also tell me where I can find my child, for I see that you have not kept your word about bringing her with you!"
He laughed aloud—a harsh, mocking laugh.
"I am not surprised at hearing a remark like that from your lips. A woman who could abandon her child as easily asyoudid, without so much as knowing its fate, and who is content to live here as Eugene Mallard's wife, whenever he is ready to take you to his heart, is capable of doing anything. I do not wonder that you supposed the little one was here in the grounds all night long awaiting your fancy to appear!"
She recoiled at the words as though he had struck her a blow.
"Let me tell you where your child is," he said, hoarsely. "You shall know its fate!"
As he spoke, he seized the hand that held the money, and tore the bills from her grasp.
Ida sunk on her knees before him.
"Come," he said; "you must go quietly with me."
"Inhuman monster!" moaned Ida.
"Come. This is no time to exchange compliments," he said. "We have parleyed here too long already."
His grasp tightened on the slender wrist, but she did not seem to heed the pain of it.
"I can not, I will not go with you!" she panted.
A taunting laugh answered her. He was dragging her by main force down the path, when the figure of a man suddenly sprung before him.
"You!" cried Royal Ainsley, furiously.
"Yes, it is I!" returned Eugene Mallard, sternly. "I am just in time, it appears, to save my—this lady from you."
At the sight of Eugene, Ida flung up her hands with a wild cry, and sunk at his feet unconscious. Royal Ainsley sprung forward to catch her in his arms, but Eugene dashed up to him.
"Lay one hand on her at your peril!" he commanded.
"And who shall prevent me, when she is my wife?" sneered Royal Ainsley.
"She isnotyour wife!" cried Eugene Mallard, his face darkening; "and here and now, I propose to avenge the wrongs you have done her. There will be a duel to the death between us! I have two pistols in my pocket, you shall take one and defend yourself, I will use the other."
Royal Ainsley sprung forward. Quick as a flash he drew something from his vest-pocket. It was a sharp steel dagger which he always carried.
He made a lunge forward, but his foot slipped, and he fell to the earth in mortal pain. The dagger he had intended to plunge into the body of his cousin had been the cause of his own death.
In an instant Eugene was bending over him.
"It is too late!" gasped the miserable man—"it is all over with me now. I am about to pass in my checks. Don't you think so?"
"Yes," said Eugene; "you are mortally wounded, I can see that. Heaven forgive you for the sins you have committed!"
Eugene carried Ida to her own room, thanking Heaven that he had met no one. No one would know of her presence in the grounds.
Then he quickly summoned the servants.
Royal Ainsley, lying there with his face upturned to the sunlight and his hand clutching the fatal dagger, told its own story.
As soon as Ida was able to see him Eugene sent for her to come to the library.
When she received the summons, the poor soul, white as death, fell upon her knees.
"He is going to denounce me for my sin, and for not telling him when I found it out," she said.
Could she face him, now that he knew all?
As she knelt there she caught a glimpse of herself in the great mirror opposite.
Again the girl knocked at the door.
"Tell your master that I will see him to-morrow," shewhispered in a strained, strange voice; and the girl went away.
Strange fancies seemed to throng through her brain.
Royal Ainsley was dead, she had heard them say; and she fancied that her child was dead, too.
And now the man she loved had sent for her to turn her from the house, and she would never see him again.
Then she thought of the brook, so deep, so wide, that struggled on to meet the sea.
Yes, she would go there where some of the happiest, ay, and some of the most sorrowful moments of her life had been spent. The deep waters would carry her away on their bosom.
At intervals the girl came to the door to inquire if she wanted anything. The answer was always the same—"No."
She never knew how the long hours passed; she was like one in a dream.
At last night came. She waited until the house was dark and still. There was silence in the hall. All the lights were out, every one was asleep, and the troubles of the day were blotted out.
She raised the long French window that opened out onto the lawn and stepped out into the garden.
As she passed the room in which Eugene Mallard was quietly sleeping, she knelt and laid her cold white lips on the threshold his feet would press.
How cruelly Heaven had punished her, because in those other days she had longed to be a lady, like the heroines she had read of in the great world of beauty and fashion.
She reached the brook and knelt down beside it. The moon threw a silvery light upon it, and in its song sheseemed to hear Eugene's voice mingled with that of the little child she had lost.
"I am coming to you, little baby!" she muttered below her breath. Then aloud, she said: "Good-bye, Eugene—good-bye forever!"
Suddenly a pair of strong arms clasped her, and Eugene's voice whispered:
"Not good-bye, my darling!"
Only the stars and the moonlight and the rippling waters of the brook heard what he said—how he pleaded with her to live only for him and her little child.
Ida could not believe the great happiness that had suddenly fallen upon her like a mantle from God's hands.
They talked by the brook-side for long hours. The next day the master and mistress of the great mansion went away.
When they reached New York, another ceremony was performed, which made Ida Eugene Mallard's wife until death should part them.
Then they quietly went and obtained the little child, whom both idolized, and went abroad, where they remained for years.
No one learned the strange romance of the fair young girl whom Eugene Mallard worshipped so fondly.
When they returned to their home, years after, with a lovely, dark-eyed little girl and a sturdy, blue-eyed boy, no one guessed but that they were Eugene Mallard's children.
While they had been abroad they read of the marriage of Hildegarde Cramer to Philip Ravenswood, the noble young man who had loved her ever since they had first met on the Newport sands.
The same paper also brought the intelligence of theengagement of Arthur Hollis and pretty Dora Staples, and the sad ending, in a railroad accident, of beautiful, hapless Vivian Deane and her maid Nora.
Eugene passed the paper to his wife, and Ida read it, making no comments. But after awhile, as though the subject weighed heavily on her mind, she went up to Eugene, and laid her soft white arms round his neck, and whispered:
"Does the knowledge of Hildegarde's marriage bring you any regrets, Eugene?"
"No, my darling!" he cried, clasping her in his strong arms. "For all the love of my heart is yours now, and—and—our children's."
"I have often wanted to ask you, Eugene," she murmured, with her face hidden on his breast, "if the story of my past were known, how would people judge me? Would the world say, 'Ida May had sinned'?"
Let us hope all our readers will join heartily in his answer—"No."
THE END.
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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Otherwise, the author's original spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been left intact.The cover image was restored by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Otherwise, the author's original spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been left intact.
The cover image was restored by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.