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.”
“It looks like it, Ada, when he has called on you and taken you out
every day since you came.”
“That is only ten days, dear.”
“I know it; but if it were fifty it would have been the same. He is
madly in love with you, Ada, and has forgotten that he ever loved poor
little me!” cried Eva, in a voice that betrayed all the bitterness of a
wounded heart.
And as Ada hesitated for an answer, she continued in a different tone:
“But I will show him that I do not care, that I can love another as
well as he! Reggie is a better match, anyway. I will be married to him
directly and go away to Europe on my bridal tour. We have planned it
all out this evening, since I reconsidered my rejection and told him
I would try to love him as dearly as he loves me. Oh, Ada, you cannot
think how happy I have made the dear boy by my promise. After all, he
is very lovable!”
“He is perfectly charming! Indeed, I envy you, darling,” exclaimed Ada
frankly, while Eva responded with sudden recklessness:
“And I envy you, Ada, and wish we could make a fair exchange of lovers!
Oh, what nonsense I am talking! Reggie is the dearest old darling in
the world, and I want you to tell Doctor Ludington you heard me say so.
Tell him, too, that I felt I never really loved before. Will you, Ada?”
“If you wish me to, dear. But I am afraid that it is not the truth,
although to my mind Mr. Hamilton is actually adorable!”
“Oh, yes, he is all that is charming, I know; and he has been in love
with me for years--for years, Ada; ever since papa first brought me
home, a shy little country girl, ignorant of city ways and untrained in
everything. But I have improved, haven’t I, dear?”
“You were always adorable, dear Eva. Then you were like the sweet, wild
rose; now you are like the cultivated flower. But tell me now when the
wedding is to be.”
“Reggie has coaxed for a short engagement--to get ready in three weeks
and sail with a delightful party of our friends who are going at that
time. Not that I want to shorten your visit, darling Ada. You are to
accompany me as my guest, if you will, and we both wish it. Reggie
admires you very much, you see. Will you accept our invitation, Ada?”
“I--I don’t know just yet, Eva. Give me time to think it over. This is
so very sudden, you see,” the beautiful brunette answered with paling
cheeks and a throbbing heart.
She spoke truly when she assured her friend that she envied her, for
the first sight of Reginald Hamilton had inspired in her that sweet
emotion known as love at first sight.
If she had ever cherished for Doctor Ludington the secret tenderness
that Eva jealously suspected, she forgot it when she met Eva’s lover,
the handsome young man of the world, with his society airs and graces
all brought into play for the entertainment of his sweetheart’s pretty
friend from the country.
Ada lost her heart in secret to the fascinating young millionaire and
wondered how Eva could remain so cold to her grand lover.
Doctor Ludington was all very well, grand and handsome, and would be
very rich from his oil wells in time. But Ada had known him so long
that he lacked the charm of novelty. Besides, she was convinced, in
spite of his show of indifference, that his heart would never really
stray from Eva, its idol.
She dared not cherish any hope of winning Hamilton, yet it came as a
great shock to her when Eva announced her engagement to him.
Her very lips whitened with emotion, and she added gaspingly:
“I--I--am sorry that I ever came to New York. It has only brought
sorrow to us all!”
Poor Eva, distressed beyond measure, faltered:
“Oh, Ada, and we have all tried in our poor way to make you happy! I am
surprised at you. If I were free, like you, to marry Doctor Ludington I
would not envy the very angels in heaven!”
“Eva, you have no right to marry Reggie if you cannot give him your
heart!” Ada cried out, almost harshly in her jealous pain.
“But, Ada, I am really fond of him in a way. We have always been quite
good comrades, and they all say I will love him dearly when we are
married. And I am willing to try it, for I need something to change
the tenor of my thoughts, to take me quite out of myself. We shall be
happy, I’m sure, Reggie and I together, and I want you to make Doctor
Ludington think so, too,” Eva answered eagerly.
“It almost seems to me, dear, that you are marrying another just to
spite Doctor Ludington, and that would be very wrong,” protested Ada.
Eva’s pale lips parted in a mocking laugh.
“What queer fancies you have, Ada! It is nothing of the kind. I am
marrying to please papa, auntie, Reggie, and, of course, myself! Think
how grand I shall be. I shall have the Hamilton diamonds, the finest
in New York. Good night, dear,” and with a burning kiss on Ada’s cheek
she flitted from the room.
Ada threw herself down weeping in a paroxysm of the bitterest despair,
sobbing:
“I must have it all out with myself now, and that must be the last of
it. He belongs to another, and I must forget him!”
Hot, burning tears flowed down her cheeks, and she did not restrain
them. She said to herself that it was the funeral of hopes she had
dared to vaguely cherish, she had scarcely understood why.
He had been kind to her, very kind, every time they met, that was true,
but then, of course, it was only because she was Eva’s friend. No doubt
Eva had asked him to do so.
But believing that Eva never intended to marry him, she had let some
romantic fancies creep into her mind along with admiration for his
sparkling black eyes, broad shoulders, and musical voice.
When the tempest of grief and disappointment was over she sat up and
scolded herself.
“Ada Winton, you have been a silly goose!” she cried, wiping her eyes.
“Whatever made you even hope he could look twice at you, you little
country mouse? Even if Eva hadn’t married him, he would have turned to
some others of his set, rich and fashionable girls, not you, who have
no wealth, but a pretty face and true heart. Now, don’t waste another
tender hope on him, but put self aside, and try to teach Eva to love
him as he deserves to be loved, not with the poor half-hearted fancy
she is giving for his genuine passion.”
The next morning she was calm and composed, and deceived every one with
her superb acting.
Mrs. Hamilton, who already thought her a charming girl, was more
pleased than ever, and condescended to say graciously:
“Really, all the West Virginia girls I have seen are beautiful and
charming. It is no wonder my fastidious brother loved and married one.”
She was anxious that the girl should accept Eva’s invitation to
accompany her abroad, and wondered at her gentle refusal that she could
not be coaxed into reconsidering.
“She does not wish to go away from Doctor Ludington,” Eva said, with
bitterness she could not repress.
Ada did not try to defend herself, and the lady looked curiously from
one to the other. The tone of bitterness in Eva’s voice reminded her of
the angry accusations of Patty Groves the morning of her memorable call.
Eva had promised to explain everything, with her father’s permission,
but the truth was that he had sternly refused his consent.
He did not know whether his sister could be brought to believe in
Eva’s innocence as he did. He knew that circumstances looked very dark
against her, and he preferred not to run the risk of telling Mrs.
Hamilton, and have her betray everything to her stepson, and perhaps
arouse a prejudice against Eva that would destroy all chances of the
match on which he had set his heart.
The day came when he bitterly repented his reticence, but now he was
immovable to Eva’s entreaties. It was much better his sister should not
learn the truth, he said.
When he learned of the engagement and approaching speedy marriage he
was delighted, and applauded himself for the reticence with which he
had kept the secrets of Eva’s shadowed past.
He did not believe that they could ever rise like unquiet ghosts to vex
her brilliant future. Had he known of the presence of her cousins in
New York he might have felt a little uneasy, but neither Eva nor her
aunt had spoken to him of their visit. They did not even know whether
they were still in New York.
Without a thought of future disaster, he lent himself with eagerness to
the preparations for Eva’s marriage.
As she was his only child and heiress, everything must be on a grand
scale befitting his daughter and the fine match she was making.
The trousseau was ordered, putting to work an army of dressmakers, and
invitations were sent out two weeks ahead of the date. Society was all
agog over the expected event.
And Eva became the centre of a little whirlwind of joyous bustle and
confusion that left her little time for grief or retrospection.
There was one comfort in it all, Doctor Ludington did not come so much.
Not that he had ever taken up any of Eva’s time. His visits had been to
Ada alone, and they had never met by accident again as on the evening
in the conservatory, when they had so cruelly wounded each other in the
efforts to appear mutually indifferent.
But when he was in the house Eva was always subtly conscious of the
fact, always a prey to restlessness and suspense.
Not dreaming of the pain he gave her, he continued his attentions to
Ada, with the sole purpose of showing Eva he did not care, that his
heart was very likely engaged by another.
In her turn, Eva sent him wedding cards. It was a stunning blow. He had
believed her betrothed to Hamilton, but never realized the nearness of
the wedding day.
In his bitter pride he had never even shown his heart to Ada, never
asked her any questions of his old love. And she, dreading that the
subject might be distasteful to him, had volunteered no information.
So the blow came without warning. With her own fair hands Eva had
addressed her wedding cards to her old lover.
“He shall see me wedded to another,” she said bitterly. “Perhaps then
he will feel a pang at his own inconstancy.”
Doctor Ludington received the cards, and for some days he did not call
in Fifth Avenue again. He had some difficulty holding his feelings in
check, now that he realized Eva was lost to him forever.
He realized now that always, up to the present moment, there had been
a little spark of hope glowing warmly in his heart that some day Eva
might repent the prejudice that had parted their lives and call him
back again.
The die was cast, the hope was dead. He remained away a while to bury
the corpse. Then he called on Ada again, but, quite fortunately for
Eva, she was at the opera with her father and her lover, and did not
have to bear the pain of knowing he was in the house.
He forced himself to speak calmly of the coming event, yet the clever
girl heard the pain in his voice, and saw the ravages that grief had
wrought in his looks the last few days. Her generous heart ached for
him--for Eva, too, and for Reggie, who was going to get so poor a sham
of love in return for his devotion.
She knew it would pain her visitor to praise his rival, so she only
said:
“The family are well pleased with the match, and Eva believes she will
be very happy with him.”
“Oh, no doubt,” sarcastically.
“And yet,” with gentle sympathy, “I believe she might have been happier
still with her first love, had not a cruel fate forced you apart.”
“She was wrong; she had no right to throw me over so coldly and
unforgivingly. All my fault was love of her, and even the law acquitted
me of blood guiltiness in her cousin’s death. As for that foolish
vendetta between our families, it were best that we had ended it
by marriage. Oh, how it all comes back to me--our love, the broken
marriage! I must not dwell on it; that way madness lies,” the poor
fellow cried, giving way to passionate vehemence long repressed.
“You do not know how I feel for you,” she sighed from the depths of her
own kindred pain. “Can you bear to come to the wedding?”
He laughed bitterly.
“I shall not fail to be there. She has bidden me come to the sacrifice,
honored me by writing the address with her own fair hand. She wishes
it. I will come. I shall even send her a wedding gift. Will you come
with me to select it to-morrow?”
“With pleasure.”
“Thank you.”
When he went away she wept for him in his proud despair. She was
reading his heart by the light of her own.
“He loves her with the most constant love in the world, and she does
not deserve it,” she thought. “As for her, love is all merged in pride,
and pique, and despair. She is jealous of me. She would have him love
no one else, though she will not take him herself. Will she learn to
love her splendid husband at last, or find out too late that she has
made a terrible mistake? Oh, how strange is a woman’s heart!”
The next morning she said to Eva:
“Doctor Ludington called last evening, and I am to go out with him this
morning.”
Eva gave a strange little laugh.
“Reggie and I had a lovely time at the opera last night,” was her only
answer.