“ONLY YOU, MY DARLING!”
Patty could scarcely conceal her joy that Reginald Hamilton should
invite her to accompany him to her cousin’s home and corroborate the
truth of her scandalous story.
She thought it was a grand triumph to ride by his side in his fine
carriage, secretly hoping to win him yet, since Eva had lost him
forever.
“What’s up now, Pat?” Miss Tabby had inquired meekly, for only that
morning she had been coolly told that Patty was going to ship her home
to-morrow, and have done with her forever.
“The matter is that I’m invited to Eva’s at last!”
“Oh, Patty, how kin you face the poor gal arter what you done last
night?” whimpered the spinster, who had read it in the papers with
silent disapprobation.
“I can face anybody!” Patty cried serenely, in her exuberant joy.
“Mayn’t I go along, Patty, to chapyrone you one more time?”
“No, you may not. I’m going with the grand Mr. Hamilton, that jilted
Eva, and I want a good chance alone with him to cut her out in his
heart. So go along to your room and stay there, you old idiot!”
Miss Tabby obeyed the rude command, going at once to her room, but
only staying long enough to don her false frizette and best clothes.
Arrayed in this splendor, she set forth at a rapid walk, all her green
plumes nodding wildly in the nipping wind, while she said to herself
mutinously:
“If I can’t ride in the carriage with her, I reckon I kin walk behind
it. I ain’t lost the use o’ my laigs yit. But if she’s a-going to Eva’s
house, I’m a-going, too, for I ain’t mistreated the chile as bad as she
done, anyway, an’ I got as good a right visitin’ with her as she has!”
Puffing like a steam engine, her feathers flying like an Indian’s in
a war dance, the old maid at last reached Mr. Somerville’s stately
residence, and sank exhausted on the white marble steps.
“Whew! I’m about blowed!” she panted, adding curiously:
“Two carriages waitin’ before the door, like a fun’ral, or a wedding!
There ain’t nobody dead, I reckon, and Pat has clar broke up the
wedding, the spiteful thing! ’Clar to goodness, I’m sorry now ’at I
ever went agin’ poor little Eva! Wonder if they is entertainin’ company
to-day? Maybe I’m sort o’ pushing myself, but I has as good right to an
invite as Patty, an’ I mean to stan’ my groun’ if the gent at the door
will let me go in!”
Apparently the “gent” was just a little flustrated, for he did not
oppose her entrance when she said to him humbly:
“Please, sir, do let me go in a while to see my Cousin Eva. I was
coming with Patty, but the carriage was too full, and I had to walk;
that’s why I am later than the rest of the company.”
This artful dodge sufficed to make the man admit her, respectfully
saying:
“The guests are assembled in the library madam,” indicating a door some
distance down the corridor.
Miss Tabby bridled, and answered mincingly.
“Oh, thank you, kind sir, but I’m not a madam yet, although I may take
a notion to change my name any time!”
And she sailed grandly down the splendid corridor between the potted
palms and gleaming white statues, pausing once to adjust her false
front with a view to the enslavement of Mr. Somerville’s heart.
“If I could only ketch him, I needn’t go back to the poky country to
scratch for a living!” she was thinking as she softly drew aside a fold
of the rich portière and peeped in at the assembled company.
What she saw after a brief scrutiny made her drop the curtain and start
back in amazement, muttering:
“Land sakes, if there ain’t Doctor Ludington an’ that there Dan Ellis
that runned away arter that Hallowe’en trag’dy! Where did he fall from,
and what on yearth is he doing of here? Is Mr. Somerville gwine to hire
him for a chore boy? I didn’t know they had any cows to milk an’ pigs
to feed up in New York. I s’pose Doc Ludington’s giving him a ricommend
to the fambly! My, how uppish Pat looks, setting by Hamilton’s side!
An’ sakes alive, there’s a West Virginny gal on the sofy by Eva, that
Miss Winton, up to Weston. What’s she doing here, too? How solemn they
all look, from Mr. Somerville an’ his grand sister, even down to Dan!
Guess it’s a mighty dry company; no laffin’ and jokin’ yet. I better
slip in an’ not say nothin’ to no one at first, for fear they run me
out before I find out what they all come together for!”
As every one seemed to be paying great attention to a remark of Doctor
Ludington’s, she sidled in and sank down unperceived on the nearest
chair, half hidden by a large jardiniere of flowers.
“You all know the story of the tragedy in which Miss Somerville and
myself figured so prominently,” he said. “Miss Groves has chosen to
revive it in all its horror, but she has not been very accurate. She
has left out one link in the chain.”
Patty, who had been eyeing Dan all along with fear and trembling, now
attempted to speak and utter a defiant denial, but the man by her side
said to her sternly:
“Hush! Wait till he tells his story!”
Doctor Ludington continued:
“Through a hideous practical joke that Miss Groves and her sister
were too cowardly or too malicious to confess, the whole horrible
complication came about, causing one man’s death, and wrecking the
lives of others. Get up, Dan Ellis, and tell the company your part in
that hideous Hallowe’en tragedy!”
Dan shambled to his feet, looking almost manly in his eagerness to undo
his mistake. He saw beautiful Eva looking at him with eager, hopeful
eyes, and her glance encouraged him to speak out before the grand
company.
“’Twarn’t my fault; I never would a-done anythin’ to hurt you, little
Eva,” he said, looking straight into her wondering eyes. “But Patty
and Lydia, they said as how you was setting supper by your bed to try
your fortin’, that your intended husbin’ would come an’ sup with you at
midnight in a dream. Do you remember it, little Eva?”
They were all too much interested to smile even when he kept on
addressing her as if she were still a child and his social equal, but
looking at her as she murmured: “Yes, Dan,” they saw her glance quickly
and blushingly at Doctor Ludington, then her lashes drooped again.
Dan nodded and continued:
“Pat and Lyd said what a fine joke ’twould be for some horrid, ugly old
man to ’pear at the bedside, and they give me some money to go to old
Doctor Binks’ offis arter ’leven o’clock an’ tell him to come right
straight off to little Eva; she was a-chokin’ with a nawful bad cold.
I went and told him all right, but he was drunk as a biled owl, and
so he sent his assistant, Doc Ludington, in his place. And that’s how
the hull trouble come about. I could swar to it on a thousand Bibles!
Then, when thet trouble come in through Terry Groves’ makin’ a mistake
and shootin’ too soon, his sisters was ’shamed to own their part in
bringing the hull thing on. They kep’ mute as mice, and told me if I
confessed what I had done at their biddin’ I would be hung ackcessary
to the murder, and ’vised me to run away, which I done!”
“The fellow is lying!” Patty muttered, turning pale as the dead.
“Naw, he hain’t, nuther!” cried a loud, shrill voice, as Miss Tabby
started up like a Jack-in-a-box from her seat, wagging her head, her
frizette awry, her feathers flying, as she added:
“He has told the gospel truth, has Dan Ellis, for Lydia told me all
about it last year when she was so ill an’ feared she was a-goin’ to
die. She said it laid heavy on her conscience, the way she’d helped
to treat Eva, an’ if she died I was to tell the truth about it to
everybuddy, but if she got well she’d be ’shamed to have it known! But
I don’t feel as I had any call not to tell it now. I done parsecuted
poor little Eva long enough, an’ to no good, for that ongrateful Patty
has turned me off to go home an’ shift for myself, an’ I’m bound to git
my revenge on her before I go!”
She might have maundered on still further, but there came an
unexpected, startling interruption.
Reginald Hamilton, starting from his seat, his brilliant eyes dimmed
with tears, knelt like a supplicant at Eva’s feet, crying:
“My injured angel, how much you have endured from the malice of those
fiendish women! It breaks my heart to think of it, and to recall the
cruel part I took in it, without stopping for a moment to think that
your angel face was a testimony to your angelic purity! Oh, my wronged,
adored one, will you forgive me?”
Patty sneered contemptuously, but no one noticed her; they were
watching so eagerly for the reconciliation of the lovers.
Very sweetly and kindly Eva looked at him, and answered:
“I forgive you, Reggie!”
“God bless you, dear. I do not deserve it, but my devotion shall atone
for all. Will you try to love me again? May our wedding go on to-night?”
“Get up Reggie. You must not kneel to me; we are only friends
hereafter. I can never be your wife now!”
He staggered to his feet, staring at her blankly.
“But you said that you forgave me, dear Eva!”
Eva stood up, facing him, with pity and sympathy in her eyes.
“I do forgive you freely, Reggie, dear, and I want you always for my
friend. But I am going to free my mind and make a confession. I never
really loved you as a girl should love the man she is to marry. My
heart was desolated by a hopeless love for one I could never wed, and
I turned to you for solace. My family wished it, society expected
it, you urged it, and I yielded--and repented the moment after! I am
grateful for my freedom. I thank Heaven that it came in time. Forgive
my frankness, but it is best!”
She dropped back into her seat and hid her face on Ada’s shoulder.
Doctor Ludington started forward impetuously, but restrained himself.
Where was the use?
He realized with rapture that she loved him still, but he knew she
would never yield her prejudice, her blind following of what seemed her
duty to the dead.
But the unbidden guest, emboldened by feeling that she had done
something to redeem herself just now, came quickly forward to Eva’s
side, saying curiously:
“Maybe tain’t none o’ my business, Eva, chile, but I want to know
what’s your reasons for not marrying Doctor Ludington, who seems to be
a pretty likely man! Seems to me it’s time for the two famblies to stop
hating each other for nonsense past an’ gone!”
Eva lifted her white, tearful face wistfully, answering with a strong
shudder:
“It--it is not simply the old prejudice, Cousin Tabby, but my Cousin
Terry’s blood, flowing like a crimson river between our hearts!”
“Oh, it’s that way?” and a strange gleam came into the old woman’s eyes
as she added:
“Well, little Eva, s’posen the man he accidentally killed hadn’t a-been
your cousin a-tall, what then? Could you marry him then?”
Eva, with a furtive glance at the young doctor, faltered “Yes.”
Miss Tabby’s eyes beamed with triumphant joy. She beckoned the doctor
to her side, exclaiming:
“Good news for you, doctor! She’s yours! Terry Groves warn’t never no
kin to Eva!”
Every one cried out in wonder, and Patty fumed in impotent rage, but
the spinster went on joyfully:
“After gran’ther’s death, when the twins an’ me went over his papers
and the ones o’ their father’s, that they brung with ’em from Kansas,
we found out something they never dreamed, nor I don’t think gran’ther
ever suspected, either, by not reading over the papers in the little
black trunk. Well, Terry Groves was John Groves’ adopted son. His
mother and father both died of the fever, and the Groveses took the
leettle baby to raise for their own. Terry O’Kelly was his real name.
He had Irish blood--’twas that made him so quick an’ fiery. Now, Eva!”
She had put the girl’s hand into Doctor Ludington’s. She looked up at
him, whispering:
“Is it too late? Do you love Ada?”
“Only you, my darling,” he replied, and with a great sob of joy she
flung herself into the arms that closed round her and held her tight.
“Bless you, my children! The wedding shall go on to-night!” cried Mr.
Somerville between laughter and tears, touched to the heart by this
triumph of true love.
And seeing that all were crowding forward to congratulate the happy
pair, he added:
“One moment, my friends, before you begin to rejoice with Eva, for I
have a word for Miss Groves!”
Patty met his gaze with sullen fury as he said:
“In the early days of my marriage I took a mortgage on your
grandfather’s farm that was never paid, and it stands recorded in the
County Court of Harrison County. I intended never to foreclose it,
but to leave to you and your sister the inheritance of which, by your
persecutions, you defrauded my daughter. But I have changed my mind. I
shall send my lawyer to foreclose this mortgage next week, to punish
you for your malice as displayed in your last unsuccessful attempt to
break my daughter’s heart.”
She cried out in rage that she did not believe him; he was only trying
to frighten her; she would engage a lawyer to defend her case.
“It will not do you any good. I have the law on my side!” he returned,
and after events proved this to be true.
But looking at Miss Tabby, he added kindly:
“But this poor old woman who repented her cruelty, and made atonement
at last by securing Eva’s happiness, shall be rewarded by an ample
annuity for life!”
Patty could not bear the look of triumph Cousin Tabby turned on her
face. She rushed from the house, and returned thenceforth to the
poverty and obscurity from which she had temporarily emerged.
Dan Ellis was rewarded according to his service, and had the way paved
for him to return in safety to his beloved native State.
Eva’s marriage, that same night, was celebrated with as much éclat as
if she had married Reginald Hamilton, and she went forth next day on
her wedding journey with her adored and adoring husband, on a bridal
tour that was but the beginning of a lifetime of unalloyed happiness.
Her honor was vindicated, justice had triumphed, life was all sunshine.
It was a bitter blow to Reginald Hamilton, but time brought healing
on its wings. As Ada continued for some time his stepmother’s guest,
his sincere admiration for her beauty and charm merged into the deeper
feeling of love, and when Eva returned with her husband, six months
later, she had hastened her coming to be a guest at Reggie’s and Ada’s
wedding!
THE END.
No. 1079 of the NEW EAGLE SERIES, entitled “No Time for Penitence,” by
Wenona Gilman, is a story of true love and constancy, of intrigue and
treachery. This is a romance that will appeal to all who enjoy a real
love story.
BOOKS OF QUALITY
SELECT LIBRARY
_Big, Popular Standards_
Price, Fifteen Cents
This line is truly named. It is Select because each title in it
has been selected with great care from among hundreds of books by
well-known authors.
A glance over the following list will show the names of Mary J. Holmes,
Marie Corelli, Rider Haggard, “The Duchess,” R. D. Blackmore, and
translations of some of the more famous French authors like Victor
Hugo, and Alphonse Daudet.
If you are looking for books which will add to your knowledge of
literature, a complete set of the Select Library which is so reasonably
priced will do more for you than a like amount expended on ordinary
fiction between cloth covers.
_ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT_
1--Cousin Maude By Mary J. Holmes
2--Rosamond Leyton By Mary J. Holmes
6--Beulah By Augusta J. Evans
10--The Homestead on the Hillside By Mary J. Holmes
14--East Lynne By Mrs. Henry Wood
16--A Romance of Two Worlds By Marie Corelli
17--Cleopatra By H. Rider Haggard
18--Maggie Miller By Mary J. Holmes
27--Under Two Flags By “Ouida”
28--Dora Deane By Mary J. Holmes
29--Ardath. Vol. I By Marie Corelli
30--Ardath. Vol. II By Marie Corelli
31--The Light That Failed By Rudyard Kipling
32--Tempest and Sunshine By Mary J. Holmes
35--Inez By Augusta J. Evans
36--Phyllis By “The Duchess”
42--Vendetta By Marie Corelli
43--Sapho By Alphonse Daudet
44--Lena Rivers By Mary J. Holmes
48--Meadowbrook By Mary J. Holmes
50--Won by Waiting By Edna Lyall
51--Camille By Alexandre Dumas
53--Uncle Tom’s Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe
54--The English Orphans By Mary J. Holmes
57--Ethelyn’s Mistake By Mary J. Holmes
58--Treasure Island By Robert Louis Stevenson
59--Mildred Trevanion By “The Duchess”
60--Dead Man’s Rock By “Q.” (A. T. Quiller-Couch)
61--The Iron Pirate By Max Pemberton
62--Molly Bawn By “The Duchess”
63--Lorna Doone By R. D. Blackmore
66--Airy Fairy Lilian By “The Duchess”
67--The Cruise of the “Cachalot” By Frank T. Bullen
69--The Last Days of Pompeii By Sir Bulwer Lytton
71--The Duchess By “The Duchess”
72--Plain Tales From the Hills By Rudyard Kipling
75--She By H. Rider Haggard
76--Beatrice By H. Rider Haggard
77--Eric Brighteyes By H. Rider Haggard
78--Beyond the City By A. Conan Doyle
79--Rossmoyne By “The Duchess”
80--King Solomon’s Mines By H. Rider Haggard
81--She’s All the World to Me By Hall Caine
83--Kidnapped By Robert Louis Stevenson
84--Undercurrents By “The Duchess”
87--The House on the Marsh By Florence Warden
88--The Witch’s Head By H. Rider Haggard
89--A Perilous Secret By Charles Reade
93--Beauty’s Daughters By “The Duchess”
100--Led Astray By Octave Feuillet
102--Marvel By “The Duchess”
107--The Visits of Elizabeth By Elinor Glyn
108--Allan Quatermain By H. Rider Haggard
110--Soldiers Three By Rudyard Kipling
113--A Living Lie By Paul Bourget
114--Portia By “The Duchess”
117--John Halifax, Gentleman By Miss Mulock
118--The Tragedy in the Rue de la Paix By Adolphe Belot
119--A Princess of Thule By William Black
122--Doris By “The Duchess”
123--Carmen and Colomba By Prosper Merimee
125--The Master of Ballantrae By Robert Louis Stevenson
126--The Toilers of the Sea By Victor Hugo
127--Mrs. Geoffrey By “The Duchess”
128--Jack’s Courtship By W. Clark Russell
129--Love and Shipwreck By W. Clark Russell
130--Beautiful Jim By John Strange Winter
131--Lady Audley’s Secret By Miss M. E. Braddon
132--The Frozen Pirate By W. Clark Russell
133--Rory O’Moore By Samuel Lover
134--A Modern Circe By “The Duchess”
135--Foul Play By Charles Reade
137--I Have Lived and Loved By Mrs. Forrester
138--Elsie Venner By Oliver Wendell Holmes
139--Hans of Iceland By Victor Hugo
141--Lady Valworth’s Diamonds By “The Duchess”
143--John Holdsworth, Chief Mate By W. Clark Russell
145--Jess By H. Rider Haggard
146--The Honorable Mrs. Vereker By “The Duchess”
147--The Dead Secret By Wilkie Collins
148--Ships That Pass in the Night By Beatrice Harraden
149--The Suicide Club By Robert Louis Stevenson
150--A Mental Struggle By “The Duchess”
152--Colonel Quaritch, V.C. By H. Rider Haggard
153--The Way of a Siren By “The Duchess”
158--Lady Branksmere By “The Duchess”
159--A Marriage at Sea By W. Clark Russell
162--Dick’s Sweetheart By “The Duchess”
165--Faith and Unfaith By “The Duchess”
166--The Phantom Rickshaw By Rudyard Kipling
209--Rose Mather By Mary J. Holmes
210--At Mather House By Mary J. Holmes
211--Edith Trevor’s Secret By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
212--Cecil Rosse By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
213--Cecil’s Triumph By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
214--Guy Earlscourt’s Wife By May Agnes Fleming
215--The Leighton Homestead By Mary J. Holmes
216--Georgie’s Secret By Mary J. Holmes
217--Lady Kildare By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
218--Kathleen’s Strange Husband By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
219--Millbank By Mary J. Holmes
220--Magda’s Choice By Mary J. Holmes
221--Sundered Hearts By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
222--Bitter Sweet By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
223--Edith Lyle’s Secret By Mary J. Holmes
224--Edith’s Daughter By Mary J. Holmes
225--A Wonderful Woman By May Agnes Fleming
226--The Mystery of Bracken Hollow By May Agnes Fleming
227--The Haunted Husband By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
228--The White Life Endures By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
229--Darkness and Daylight By Mary J. Holmes
230--The Unloved Husband By Mary J. Holmes
231--Neva’s Three Lovers By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
232--Neva’s Choice By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
Have You Ever Read Mrs. Southworth’s Books?
If not, we would advise you to begin right now. Turn to the list on
page 37 of our catalog, and select any of the titles that you wish.
There is no possibility of your hitting upon a book which will not give
you full satisfaction--complete enjoyment.
Mrs. Southworth, without any question, was one of America’s best
writers. The fact that her books have ranked among the best selling for
so many years is sufficient proof of it.
If you like a good, clean-cut American story, the books in the
SOUTHWORTH LIBRARY will prove a real treat.
_Price, 15 Cents_
STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
79 Seventh Avenue New York City
The Dealer
who handles the STREET & SMITH NOVELS is a man worth patronizing. The
fact that he does handle our books proves that he has considered the
merits of paper-covered lines, and has decided that the STREET & SMITH
NOVELS are superior to all others.
He has looked into the question of the morality of the paper-covered
book, for instance, and feels that he is perfectly safe in handing one
of our novels to any one, because he has our assurance that nothing
except clean, wholesome literature finds its way into our lines.
Therefore, the STREET & SMITH NOVEL dealer is a careful and wise
tradesman, and it is fair to assume selects the other articles he
has for sale with the same degree of intelligence as he does his
paper-covered books.
Deal with the STREET & SMITH NOVEL dealer.
STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
79 Seventh Avenue New York City