It was more than Elaine could bear to read the dying confession of the
wicked old man who had blighted her life and branded her daughter's
young life with shame.
It almost killed her to look at it and to feel that through it her kind,
noble old father had lost his life.
"Better, far better, if old Clarence Stuart had died with the secret of
his villainy untold!" she cried. "Better that I should have borne the
brand of shame forever than you to have died by the assassin's hand, my
father, oh, my father!"
Yet she knew, even while she bewailed him, that her father would have
given his life twice over to purchase honor and happiness for her, his
best-loved child.
"Irene must never know," she said to Mr. Kenmore. "She loved my father
so dearly, and she is so passionate and impetuous that it would break
her heart. We must spare mamma and Bertha, too. That wicked woman is
dead now, and earthly vengeance cannot reach her, so for her husband's
sake we will shield her memory."
He agreed with her that it was best so, and she gave him the confession
to read for her, telling him frankly that she could not bear to hold it
in her hand. Yet her heart burned and her cheek glowed as she heard the
story of the deep-laid scheme by which she and her adoring young husband
had been separated.
"Irene must read that--and mamma and Bertha," she said, wistfully, and
Guy Kenmore understood then how bitterly the woman's pure heart had
shrunk under the lash of scorn they had laid upon her shoulders.
"It is almost impossible to imagine anyone so heartless as that old
man," he said. "With what devilish art he laid his plans. To you he told
the story of the fraudulent marriage ceremony, and your husband's second
marriage. To his son he presented your fraudulent letter of
renunciation, and later on the false notice of your death abroad. No
wonder the wings of his soul were clogged in dying by the weight of his
terrible sins."
He told her the story of Irene's rescue from death, and how he had
subsequently met her at Mr. Stuart's villa on the Arno.
"Does it not seem like some strange recompense of Providence that she
should have been saved from death by her father?" he said, thoughtfully.
She agreed with him, and then he saw a wistful look stealing into her
gentle eyes.
"You are longing for your child?" he asked.
"My heart aches to clasp her again," she answered.
"Be patient. In a few hours I will bring her to you," he answered.
"And you?" she asked, slowly. "Are you glad or sorry that the waves gave
her back to us?"
"I love her," he answered, simply, and with that she was content.
He went away on his mission to restore the child to her mother's arms,
and Elaine waited with eager impatience for his return.
"He has a brave, true heart," she said. "Irene will have a noble
husband. After all, the mistake of that dreadful night may prove a
providence to them both."
For it seemed to her that they could not help from loving each other. It
seemed like a match made in Heaven. He was so handsome, so noble, so
kind. Irene was so lovely, so tender, and her mother knew that beneath
her pretty, wilful ways, that were but as the foam on the sea, she had a
heart of gold.
So Elaine was well content with her son-in-law for her daughter's sake,
though when she looked into her mirror it seemed almost ridiculous to
reflect that she was a mother-in-law. Time had touched her very lightly
in its flight, and she was as beautiful as her daughter. Indeed,
Clarence Stuart pronounced her lovelier. Sorrow had brought such soul
and expression into her face, even as "night brings out the stars."
When several hours had passed and she heard footsteps in the hall
outside her door, the glad tears rose to her eyes and the rapturous
beats of her heart were almost painful.
"Irene, my love, my darling," she murmured, longingly.
The door unclosed and Guy Kenmore entered--alone!
Elaine looked past him--her face paled, her eyes filled.
"Oh, do not tell me she would not come," she cried.
Then she saw the shadow of heavy trouble brooding over his face.
"Not dead!" she wailed.
He took her hands in his firm, strong clasp.
"Be brave," he said. "She is not dead. It is not so bad as that. But
last night while we were away at the concert, Irene fled from the villa,
and her absence was not discovered until late this morning. She left
this note for Mrs. Leslie, and she has sent it to you."
He drew the dainty white envelope from his breast and laid it in her
hand.