NEW EAGLE SERIES No. 739 15 CENTS
THE STRENGTH OF LOVE
[Illustration]
_By_
MRS. ALEX.
M^cVEIGH
MILLER
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
STREET & SMITH
PUBLISHERS,
NEW YORK.
_Copyright Fiction by the Best Authors_
=NEW EAGLE SERIES=
Price, 15 Cents - Issued Weekly
(Trade supplied exclusively by the American News Company and its
branches.)
The books in this line comprise an unrivaled collection of copyrighted
novels by authors who have won fame wherever the English language is
spoken. Foremost among these is Mrs. Georgie Sheldon, whose works
are contained in this line exclusively. Every book in the New Eagle
Series is of generous length, of attractive appearance, and of
undoubted merit. No better literature can be had at any price. Beware
of imitations of the S. & S. novels, which are sold cheap because
their publishers were put to no expense in the matter of purchasing
manuscripts and making plates.
ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT
NOTICE:--If these books are sent by mail, four cents must be added to
the price of each copy to cover postage.
1--Queen Bess By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
2--Ruby’s Reward By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
7--Two Keys By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
12--Edrie’s Legacy By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
44--That Dowdy By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
55--Thrice Wedded By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
66--Witch Hazel By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
77--Tina By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
88--Virgie’s Inheritance By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
99--Audrey’s Recompense By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
111--Faithful Shirley By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
122--Grazia’s Mistake By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
133--Max By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
144--Dorothy’s Jewels By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
155--Nameless Dell By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
166--The Masked Bridal By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
177--A True Aristocrat By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
188--Dorothy Arnold’s Escape By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
199--Geoffrey’s Victory By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
210--Wild Oats By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
219--Lost, A Pearle By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
222--The Lily of Mordaunt By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
233--Nora By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
244--A Hoiden’s Conquest By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
255--The Little Marplot By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
266--The Welfleet Mystery By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
277--Brownie’s Triumph By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
282--The Forsaken Bride By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
288--Sibyl’s Influence By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
291--A Mysterious Wedding Ring By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
299--Little Miss Whirlwind By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
311--Wedded by Fate By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
339--His Heart’s Queen By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
351--The Churchyard Betrothal By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
362--Stella Rosevelt By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
372--A Girl in a Thousand By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
373--A Thorn Among Roses By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
Sequel to “A Girl in a Thousand”
382--Mona By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
391--Marguerite’s Heritage By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
399--Betsey’s Transformation By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
407--Esther, the Fright By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
415--Trixy By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
419--The Other Woman By Charles Garvice
433--Winifred’s Sacrifice By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
440--Edna’s Secret Marriage By Charles Garvice
451--Helen’s Victory By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
458--When Love Meets Love By Charles Garvice
476--Earle Wayne’s Nobility By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
511--The Golden Key By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
512--A Heritage of Love By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
Sequel to “The Golden Key”
519--The Magic Cameo By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
520--The Heatherford Fortune By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
Sequel to “The Magic Cameo”
531--Better Than Life By Charles Garvice
537--A Life’s Mistake By Charles Garvice
542--Once in a Life By Charles Garvice
548--’Twas Love’s Fault By Charles Garvice
553--Queen Kate By Charles Garvice
554--Step by Step By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
555--Put to the Test By Ida Reade Allen
556--With Love’s Aid By Wenona Gilman
557--In Cupid’s Chains By Charles Garvice
558--A Plunge Into the Unknown By Richard Marsh
559--The Love That Was Cursed By Geraldine Fleming
560--The Thorns of Regret By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
561--The Outcast of the Family By Charles Garvice
562--A Forced Promise By Ida Reade Allen
563--The Old Homestead By Denman Thompson
564--Love’s First Kiss By Emma Garrison Jones
565--Just a Girl By Charles Garvice
566--In Love’s Springtime By Laura Jean Libbey
567--Trixie’s Honor By Geraldine Fleming
568--Hearts and Dollars By Ida Reade Allen
569--By Devious Ways By Charles Garvice
570--Her Heart’s Unbidden Guest By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
571--Two Wild Girls By Mrs. Charlotte May Kingsley
572--Amid Scarlet Roses By Emma Garrison Jones
573--Heart for Heart By Charles Garvice
574--The Fugitive Bride By Mary E. Bryan
575--A Blue Grass Heroine By Ida Reade Allen
576--The Yellow Face By Fred M. White
577--The Story of a Passion By Charles Garvice
578--A Lovely Impostor By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
579--The Curse of Beauty By Geraldine Fleming
580--The Great Awakening By E. Phillips Oppenheim
581--A Modern Juliet By Charles Garvice
582--Virgie Talcott’s Mission By Lucy M. Russell
583--His Greatest Sacrifice; or, Manch By Mary E. Bryan
584--Mabel’s Fate By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
585--The Ape and the Diamond By Richard Marsh
586--Nell, of Shorne Mills By Charles Garvice
587--Katherine’s Two Suitors By Geraldine Fleming
588--The Crime of Love By Barbara Howard
589--His Father’s Crime By E. Phillips Oppenheim
590--What Was She to Him? By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
591--A Heritage of Hate By Charles Garvice
592--Ida Chaloner’s Heart By Lucy Randall Comfort
593--Love Will Find the Way By Wenona Gilman
594--A Case of Identity By Richard Marsh
595--The Shadow of Her Life By Charles Garvice
596--Slighted Love By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
597--Her Fatal Gift By Geraldine Fleming
598--His Wife’s Friend By Mary E. Bryan
599--At Love’s Cost By Charles Garvice
600--St. Elmo By Augusta J. Evans
601--The Fate of the Plotter By Louis Tracy
602--Married in Error By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
603--Love and Jealousy By Lucy Randall Comfort
604--Only a Working Girl By Geraldine Fleming
605--Love, the Tyrant By Charles Garvice
606--Mabel’s Sacrifice By Charlotte M. Stanley
607--Sybilla, the Siren By Ida Reade Allen
608--Love is Love Forevermore By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
609--John Elliott’s Flirtation By Lucy May Russell
610--With All Her Heart By Charles Garvice
611--Is Love Worth While? By Geraldine Fleming
612--Her Husband’s Other Wife By Emma Garrison Jones
613--Philip Bennion’s Death By Richard Marsh
614--Little Phillis’ Lover By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
615--Maida By Charles Garvice
616--Strangers to the Grave By Ida Reade Allen
617--As a Man Lives By E. Phillips Oppenheim
618--The Tide of Fate By Wenona Gilman
619--The Cardinal Moth By Fred M. White
620--Marcia Drayton By Charles Garvice
621--Lynette’s Wedding By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
622--His Madcap Sweetheart By Emma Garrison Jones
623--Love at the Loom By Geraldine Fleming
624--A Bachelor Girl By Lucy May Russell
625--Kyra’s Fate By Charles Garvice
626--The Joss By Richard Marsh
627--My Little Love By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
628--A Daughter of the Marionis By E. Phillips Oppenheim
629--The Lady of Beaufort Park By Wenona Gilman
630--The Verdict of the Heart By Charles Garvice
631--A Love Concealed By Emma Garrison Jones
632--Cruelly Divided By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
633--The Strange Disappearance of Lady Delia By Louis Tracy
634--Love’s Golden Spell By Geraldine Fleming
635--A Coronet of Shame By Charles Garvice
636--Sinned Against By Mary E. Bryan
637--If It Were True! By Wenona Gilman
638--A Golden Barrier By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
639--A Hateful Bondage By Barbara Howard
640--A Girl of Spirit By Charles Garvice
641--Master of Men By E. Phillips Oppenheim
642--A Fair Enchantress By Ida Reade Allen
643--The Power of Love By Geraldine Fleming
644--No Time for Penitence By Wenona Gilman
645--A Jest of Fate By Charles Garvice
646--Her Sister’s Secret By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
647--Bitterly Atoned By Mrs. E. Burke Collins
648--Gertrude Elliott’s Crucible By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
649--The Corner House By Fred M. White
650--Diana’s Destiny By Charles Garvice
651--Love’s Clouded Dawn By Wenona Gilman
652--Little Vixen By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
653--Her Heart’s Challenge By Barbara Howard
654--Vivian’s Love Story By Mrs. E. Burke Collins
655--Linked by Fate By Charles Garvice
656--Hearts of Stone By Geraldine Fleming
657--In the Service of Love By Richard Marsh
658--Love’s Devious Course By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
659--Told in the Twilight By Ida Reade Allen
660--The Mills of the Gods By Wenona Gilman
661--The Man of the Hour By Sir William Magnay
662--A Little Barbarian By Charlotte Kingsley
663--Creatures of Destiny By Charles Garvice
664--A Southern Princess By Emma Garrison Jones
665--Where Love Dwelt By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
666--A Fateful Promise By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
667--The Goddess--A Demon By Richard Marsh
668--From Tears to Smiles By Ida Reade Allen
669--Tempted by Gold By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
670--Better Than Riches By Wenona Gilman
671--When Love Is Young By Charles Garvice
672--Craven Fortune By Fred M. White
673--Her Life’s Burden By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
674--The Heart of Hetta By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
675--The Breath of Slander By Ida Reade Allen
676--My Lady Beth By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
677--The Wooing of Esther Gray By Louis Tracy
678--The Shadow Between Them By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
679--Gold in the Gutter By Charles Garvice
680--Master of Her Fate By Geraldine Fleming
681--In Full Cry By Richard Marsh
682--My Pretty Maid By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
683--An Unhappy Bargain By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
684--True Love Endures By Ida Reade Allen
685--India’s Punishment By Laura Jean Libbey
686--The Castle of the Shadows By Mrs. C. N. Williamson
687--My Own Sweetheart By Wenona Gilman
688--Only a Kiss By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
689--Lola Dunbar’s Crime By Barbara Howard
690--Ruth, the Outcast By Mrs. Mary E. Bryan
691--Her Dearest Love By Geraldine Fleming
692--The Man of Millions By Ida Reade Allen
693--For Another’s Fault By Charlotte M. Stanley
694--The Belle of Saratoga By Lucy Randall Comfort
695--The Mystery of the Unicorn By Sir William Magnay
696--The Bride’s Opals By Emma Garrison Jones
697--One of Life’s Roses By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
698--The Battle of Hearts By Geraldine Fleming
699--Sworn to Silence By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
700--In Wolf’s Clothing By Charles Garvice
701--A Lost Sweetheart By Ida Reade Allen
702--The Stronger Passion By Mrs. Lillian R. Drayton
703--Mr. Marx’s Secret By E. Phillips Oppenheim
704--Had She Loved Him Less! By Laura Jean Libbey
705--The Adventure of Princess Sylvia Mrs. C. N. Williamson
706--In Love’s Paradise By Charlotte M. Stanley
707--At Another’s Bidding By Ida Reade Allen
708--Sold for Gold By Geraldine Fleming
709--Lady Gay’s Pride By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
To Be Published During January, 1911.
710--Ridgeway of Montana By William MacLeod Raine
711--Taken by Storm By Emma Garrison Jones
712--Love and a Lie By Charles Garvice
713--Barriers of Stone By Wenona Gilman
To Be Published During February, 1911.
714--Ethel’s Secret By Charlotte M. Stanley
715--Amber, the Adopted By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
716--No Man’s Wife By Ida Reade Allen
717--Wild and Willful By Lucy Randall Comfort
To Be Published During March, 1911.
718--When We Two Parted By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
719--Love’s Earnest Prayer By Geraldine Fleming
720--The Price of a Kiss By Laura Jean Libbey
721--A Girl from the South By Charles Garvice
722--A Freak of Fate By Emma Garrison Jones
To Be Published During April, 1911.
723--A Golden Sorrow By Charlotte M. Stanley
724--Norna’s Black Fortune By Ida Reade Allen
725--The Thoroughbred By Edith MacVane
726--Diana’s Peril By Dorothy Hall
To Be Published During May, 1911.
727--His Willing Slave By Lillian R. Drayton
728--Her Share of Sorrow By Wenona Gilman
729--Loved at Last By Geraldine Fleming
730--John Hungerford’s Redemption By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
731--His Two Loves By Ida Reade Allen
To Be Published During June, 1911.
732--Eric Braddon’s Love By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
733--Garrison’s Finish By W. B. M. Ferguson
734--Sylvia, the Forsaken By Charlotte M. Stanley
735--Married for Money By Lucy Randall Comfort
In order that there may be no confusion, we desire to say that the
books listed above will be issued, during the respective months, in New
York City and vicinity. They may not reach the readers, at a distance,
promptly, on account of delays in transportation.
THE EAGLE SERIES
Principally Copyrights Elegant Colored Covers
PRICE, TEN CENTS
(Trade supplied exclusively by the American News Company and its
branches.)
While the books in the New Eagle Series are undoubtedly better value,
being bigger books, the stories offered to the public in this line
must not be underestimated. There are over four hundred copyrighted
books by famous authors, which cannot be had in any other line. No
other publisher in the world has a line that contains so many different
titles, nor can any publisher ever hope to secure books that will match
those in the Eagle Series in quality.
This is the pioneer line of copyrighted ten-cent novels, and that it
has struck popular fancy just right is proven by the fact that for
ten years it has been the first choice of American readers. The only
reason that we can afford to give such excellent reading at ten cents
per copy, is that our unlimited capital and great organization enable
us to manufacture books more cheaply and to sell more of them without
expensive advertising, than any other publisher.
ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT
NOTICE:--If these books are sent by mail, four cents must be
added to the price of each copy to cover postage.
3--The Love of Violet Lee By Julia Edwards
4--For a Woman’s Honor By Bertha M. Clay
5--The Senator’s Favorite By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
6--The Midnight Marriage By A. M. Douglas
8--Beautiful But Poor By Julia Edwards
9--The Virginia Heiress By May Agnes Fleming
10--Little Sunshine By Francis S. Smith
11--The Gipsy’s Daughter By Bertha M. Clay
13--The Little Widow By Julia Edwards
14--Violet Lisle By Bertha M. Clay
15--Dr. Jack By St. George Rathborne
16--The Fatal Card By Haddon Chambers and B. C. Stephenson
17--Leslie’s Loyalty By Charles Garvice
(His Love So True)
18--Dr. Jack’s Wife By St. George Rathborne
19--Mr. Lake of Chicago By Harry DuBois Milman
20--The Senator’s Bride By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
21--A Heart’s Idol By Bertha M. Clay
22--Elaine By Charles Garvice
23--Miss Pauline of New York By St. George Rathborne
24--A Wasted Love By Charles Garvice
(On Love’s Altar)
25--Little Southern Beauty By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
26--Captain Tom By St. George Rathborne
27--Estelle’s Millionaire Lover By Julia Edwards
28--Miss Caprice By St. George Rathborne
29--Theodora By Victorien Sardou
30--Baron Sam By St. George Rathborne
31--A Siren’s Love By Robert Lee Tyler
32--The Blockade Runner By J. Perkins Tracy
33--Mrs. Bob By St. George Rathborne
34--Pretty Geraldine By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
35--The Great Mogul By St. George Rathborne
36--Fedora By Victorien Sardou
37--The Heart of Virginia By J. Perkins Tracy
38--The Nabob of Singapore By St. George Rathborne
39--The Colonel’s Wife By Warren Edwards
40--Monsieur Bob By St. George Rathborne
41--Her Heart’s Desire By Charles Garvice
(An Innocent Girl)
42--Another Woman’s Husband By Bertha M. Clay
43--Little Coquette Bonnie By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
45--A Yale Man By Robert Lee Tyler
46--Off with the Old Love By Mrs. M. V. Victor
47--The Colonel by Brevet By St. George Rathborne
48--Another Man’s Wife By Bertha M. Clay
49--None But the Brave By Robert Lee Tyler
50--Her Ransom By Charles Garvice
(Paid For)
51--The Price He Paid By E. Werner
52--Woman Against Woman By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
54--Cleopatra By Victorien Sardou
56--The Dispatch Bearer By Warren Edwards
57--Rosamond By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
58--Major Matterson of Kentucky By St. George Rathborne
59--Gladys Greye By Bertha M. Clay
61--La Tosca By Victorien Sardou
62--Stella Stirling By Julia Edwards
63--Lawyer Bell from Boston By Robert Lee Tyler
64--Dora Tenney By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
65--Won by the Sword By J. Perkins Tracy
67--Gismonda By Victorien Sardou
68--The Little Cuban Rebel By Edna Winfield
69--His Perfect Trust By Bertha M. Clay
70--Sydney By Charles Garvice
(A Wilful Young Woman)
71--The Spider’s Web By St. George Rathborne
72--Wilful Winnie By Harriet Sherburne
73--The Marquis By Charles Garvice
74--The Cotton King By Sutton Vane
75--Under Fire By T. P. James
76--Mavourneen From the celebrated play
78--The Yankee Champion By Sylvanus Cobb, Jr.
79--Out of the Past By Charles Garvice
(Marjorie)
80--The Fair Maid of Fez By St. George Rathborne
81--Wedded for an Hour By Emma Garrison Jones
82--Captain Impudence By Edwin Milton Royle
83--The Locksmith of Lyons By Prof. Wm. Henry Peck
84--Imogene By Charles Garvice
(Dumaresq’s Temptation)
85--Lorrie; or, Hollow Gold By Charles Garvice
86--A Widowed Bride By Lucy Randall Comfort
87--Shenandoah By J. Perkins Tracy
89--A Gentleman from Gascony By Bicknell Dudley
90--For Fair Virginia By Russ Whytal
91--Sweet Violet By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
92--Humanity By Sutton Vane
93--A Queen of Treachery By Ida Reade Allen
94--Darkest Russia By H. Grattan Donnelly
95--A Wilful Maid By Charles Garvice
(Philippa)
96--The Little Minister By J. M. Barrie
97--The War Reporter By Warren Edwards
98--Claire By Charles Garvice
(The Mistress of Court Regna)
100--Alice Blake By Francis S. Smith
101--A Goddess of Africa By St. George Rathborne
102--Sweet Cymbeline By Charles Garvice
(Bellmaire)
103--The Span of Life By Sutton Vane
104--A Proud Dishonor By Genie Holzmeyer
105--When London Sleeps By Chas. Darrell
106--Lillian, My Lillian By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
107--Carla; or, Married at Sight By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
108--A Son of Mars By St. George Rathborne
109--Signa’s Sweetheart By Charles Garvice
(Lord Delamere’s Bride)
110--Whose Wife is She? By Annie Lisle
112--The Cattle King By A. D. Hall
113--A Crushed Lily By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
114--Half a Truth By Dora Delmar
115--A Fair Revolutionist By St. George Rathborne
116--The Daughter of the Regiment By Mary A. Denison
117--She Loved Him By Charles Garvice
118--Saved from the Sea By Richard Duffy
119--’Twixt Smile and Tear By Charles Garvice
(Dulcie)
120--The White Squadron By T. C. Harbaugh
121--Cecile’s Marriage By Lucy Randall Comfort
123--Northern Lights By A. D. Hall
124--Prettiest of All By Julia Edwards
125--Devil’s Island By A. D. Hall
126--The Girl from Hong Kong By St. George Rathborne
127--Nobody’s Daughter By Clara Augusta
128--The Scent of the Roses By Dora Delmar
129--In Sight of St. Paul’s By Sutton Vane
130--A Passion Flower By Charles Garvice
(Madge)
131--Nerine’s Second Choice By Adelaide Stirling
132--Whose Was the Crime? By Gertrude Warden
134--Squire John By St. George Rathborne
135--Cast Up by the Tide By Dora Delmar
136--The Unseen Bridegroom By May Agnes Fleming
137--A Wedded Widow By Ida Reade Allen
138--A Fatal Wooing By Laura Jean Libbey
139--Little Lady Charles By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
140--That Girl of Johnson’s By Jean Kate Ludlum
141--Lady Evelyn By May Agnes Fleming
142--Her Rescue from the Turks By St. George Rathborne
143--A Charity Girl By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
145--Country Lanes and City Pavements By Maurice M. Minton
146--Magdalen’s Vow By May Agnes Fleming
147--Under Egyptian Skies By St. George Rathborne
148--Will She Win? By Emma Garrison Jones
149--The Man She Loved By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
150--Sunset Pass By General Charles King
151--The Heiress of Glen Gower By May Agnes Fleming
152--A Mute Confessor By Will N. Harben
153--Her Son’s Wife By Hazel Wood
154--Husband and Foe By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
156--A Soldier Lover By Edward S. Brooks
157--Who Wins? By May Agnes Fleming
158--Stella, the Star By Wenona Gilman
159--Out of Eden By Dora Russell
160--His Way and Her Will By Frances Aymar Mathews
161--Miss Fairfax of Virginia By St. George Rathborne
162--A Man of the Name of John By Florence King
163--A Splendid Egotist By Mrs. J. H. Walworth
164--Couldn’t Say No By John Habberton
165--The Road of the Rough By Maurice M. Minton
167--The Manhattaners By Edward S. Van Zile
168--Thrice Lost, Thrice Won By May Agnes Fleming
169--The Trials of an Actress By Wenona Gilman
170--A Little Radical By Mrs. J. H. Walworth
171--That Dakota Girl By Stella Gilman
172--A King and a Coward By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
173--A Bar Sinister By St. George Rathborne
174--His Guardian Angel By Charles Garvice
175--For Honor’s Sake By Laura C. Ford
176--Jack Gordon, Knight Errant By Barclay North
178--A Slave of Circumstances By Ernest De Lancey Pierson
179--One Man’s Evil By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
180--A Lazy Man’s Work By Frances Campbell Sparhawk
181--The Baronet’s Bride By May Agnes Fleming
182--A Legal Wreck By William Gillette
183--Quo Vadis By Henryk Sienkiewicz
184--Sunlight and Gloom By Geraldine Fleming
185--The Adventures of Miss Volney By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
186--Beneath a Spell By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
187--The Black Ball By Ernest De Lancey Pierson
189--Berris By Katharine S. MacQuoid
190--A Captain of the Kaiser By St. George Rathborne
191--A Harvest of Thorns By Mrs. H. C. Hoffman
192--An Old Man’s Darling and Jacquelina By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
193--A Vagabond’s Honor By Ernest De Lancey Pierson
194--A Sinless Crime By Geraldine Fleming
195--Her Faithful Knight By Gertrude Warden
196--A Sailor’s Sweetheart By St. George Rathborne
197--A Woman Scorned By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
198--Guy Kenmore’s Wife, and the Rose
and the Lily By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
200--In God’s Country By D. Higbee
201--Blind Elsie’s Crime By Mary Grace Halpine
202--Marjorie By Katharine S. MacQuoid
203--Only One Love By Charles Garvice
204--With Heart So True By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
205--If Love Be Love By D. Cecil Gibbs
206--A Daughter of Maryland By G. Waldo Browne
207--Little Golden’s Daughter By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
208--A Chase for a Bride By St. George Rathborne
209--She Loved But Left Him By Julia Edwards
211--As We Forgive By Lurana W. Sheldon
212--Doubly Wronged By Adah M. Howard
213--The Heiress of Egremont By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
214--Olga’s Crime By Frank Barrett
215--Only a Girl’s Love By Charles Garvice
216--The Lost Bride By Clara Augusta
217--His Noble Wife By George Manville Fenn
218--A Life for a Love By Mrs. L. T. Meade
220--A Fatal Past By Dora Russell
221--The Honorable Jane By Annie Thomas
223--Leola Dale’s Fortune By Charles Garvice
224--A Sister’s Sacrifice By Geraldine Fleming
225--A Miserable Woman By Mrs. H. C. Hoffman
226--The Roll of Honor By Annie Thomas
227--For Love and Honor By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
228--His Brother’s Widow By Mary Grace Halpine
229--For the Sake of the Family By May Crommelin
230--A Woman’s Atonement, and A Mother’s Mistake By Adah M. Howard
231--The Earl’s Heir By Charles Garvice
(Lady Norah)
232--A Debt of Honor By Mabel Collins
234--His Mother’s Sin By Adeline Sergeant
235--Gratia’s Trials By Lucy Randall Comfort
236--Her Humble Lover By Charles Garvice
(The Usurper; or, The Gipsy Peer)
237--Woman or Witch? By Dora Delmar
238--That Other Woman By Annie Thomas
239--Don Cæsar De Bazan By Victor Hugo
240--Saved by the Sword By St. George Rathborne
241--Her Love and Trust By Adeline Sergeant
242--A Wounded Heart By Charles Garvice
(Sweet as a Rose)
243--His Double Self By Scott Campbell
245--A Modern Marriage By Clara Lanza
246--True to Herself By Mrs. J. H. Walworth
247--Within Love’s Portals By Frank Barrett
248--Jeanne, Countess Du Barry By H. L. Williams
249--What Love Will Do By Geraldine Fleming
250--A Woman’s Soul By Charles Garvice
(Doris; or, Behind the Footlights)
251--When Love is True By Mabel Collins
252--A Handsome Sinner By Dora Delmar
253--A Fashionable Marriage By Mrs. Alex Frazer
254--Little Miss Millions By St. George Rathborne
256--Thy Name is Woman By F. H. Howe
257--A Martyred Love By Charles Garvice
(Iris; or, Under the Shadow)
258--An Amazing Marriage By Mrs. Sumner Hayden
259--By a Golden Cord By Dora Delmar
260--At a Girl’s Mercy By Jean Kate Ludlum
261--A Siren’s Heart By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
262--A Woman’s Faith By Henry Wallace
263--An American Nabob By St. George Rathborne
264--For Gold or Soul By Lurana W. Sheldon
265--First Love is Best By S. K. Hocking
267--Jeanne By Charles Garvice
(Barriers Between)
268--Olivia; or, It Was for Her Sake By Charles Garvice
269--Brunette and Blonde By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
270--Had She Foreseen By Dora Delmar
271--With Love’s Laurel Crowned By W. C. Stiles
272--So Fair, So False By Charles Garvice
(The Beauty of the Season)
273--At Sword’s Points By St. George Rathborne
274--A Romantic Girl By Evelyn E. Green
275--Love’s Cruel Whim By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
276--So Nearly Lost By Charles Garvice
(The Springtime of Love)
278--Laura Brayton By Julia Edwards
279--Nina’s Peril By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
280--Love’s Dilemma By Charles Garvice
(For an Earldom)
281--For Love Alone By Wenona Gilman
283--My Lady Pride By Charles Garvice
(Floris)
284--Dr. Jack’s Widow By St. George Rathborne
285--Born to Betray By Mrs. M. V. Victor
286--A Debt of Vengeance By Mrs. E. Burke Collins
287--The Lady of Darracourt By Charles Garvice
289--Married in Mask By Mansfield T. Walworth
290--A Change of Heart By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
292--For Her Only By Charles Garvice
(Diana)
294--A Warrior Bold By St. George Rathborne
295--A Terrible Secret and Countess Isabel By Geraldine Fleming
296--The Heir of Vering By Charles Garvice
297--That Girl from Texas By Mrs. J. H. Walworth
298--Should She Have Left Him? By Barclay North
300--The Spider and the Fly By Charles Garvice
(Violet)
301--The False and the True By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
302--When Man’s Love Fades By Hazel Wood
303--The Queen of the Isle By May Agnes Fleming
304--Stanch as a Woman By Charles Garvice
(A Maiden’s Sacrifice)
305--Led by Love By Charles Garvice
Sequel to “Stanch as a Woman”
306--Love’s Golden Rule By Geraldine Fleming
307--The Winning of Isolde By St. George Rathborne
308--Lady Ryhope’s Lover By Emma Garrison Jones
309--The Heiress of Castle Cliffe By May Agnes Fleming
310--A Late Repentance By Mary A. Denison
312--Woven on Fate’s Loom and The Snowdrift By Charles Garvice
313--A Kinsman’s Sin By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
314--A Maid’s Fatal Love By Helen Corwin Pierce
315--The Dark Secret By May Agnes Fleming
316--Edith Lyle’s Secret By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
317--Ione By Laura Jean Libbey
318--Stanch of Heart By Charles Garvice
(Adrien Le Roy)
319--Millbank By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
320--Mynheer Joe By St. George Rathborne
321--Neva’s Three Lovers By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
322--Mildred By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
323--The Little Countess By S. E. Boggs
324--A Love Match By Sylvanus Cobb, Jr.
325--The Leighton Homestead By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
326--Parted by Fate By Laura Jean Libbey
327--Was She Wife or Widow? By Malcolm Bell
328--He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not By Charles Garvice
(Valeria)
329--My Hildegarde By St. George Rathborne
330--Aikenside By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
331--Christine By Adeline Sergeant
332--Darkness and Daylight By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
333--Stella’s Fortune By Charles Garvice
(The Sculptor’s Wooing)
334--Miss McDonald By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
335--We Parted at the Altar By Laura Jean Libbey
336--Rose Mather By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
337--Dear Elsie By Mary J. Safford
338--A Daughter of Russia By St. George Rathborne
340--Bad Hugh. Vol. I. By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
341--Bad Hugh. Vol. II. By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
342--Her Little Highness By Nataly Von Eschstruth
343--Little Sunshine By Adah M. Howard
344--Leah’s Mistake By Mrs. H. C. Hoffman
345--Tresillian Court By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
346--Guy Tresillian’s Fate By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
Sequel to “Tresillian Court”
347--The Eyes of Love By Charles Garvice
348--My Florida Sweetheart By St. George Rathborne
349--Marion Grey By Mary J. Holmes
350--A Wronged Wife By Mary Grace Halpine
352--Family Pride. Vol. I. By Mary J. Holmes
353--Family Pride. Vol. II. By Mary J. Holmes
354--A Love Comedy By Charles Garvice
355--Wife and Woman By Mary J. Safford
356--Little Kit By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
357--Montezuma’s Mines By St. George Rathborne
358--Beryl’s Husband By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
359--The Spectre’s Secret By Sylvanus Cobb, Jr.
360--An Only Daughter By Hazel Wood
361--The Ashes of Love By Charles Garvice
363--The Opposite House By Nataly Von Eschstruth
364--A Fool’s Paradise By Mary Grace Halpine
365--Under a Cloud By Jean Kate Ludlum
366--Comrades in Exile By St. George Rathborne
367--Hearts and Coronets By Jane G. Fuller
368--The Pride of Her Life By Charles Garvice
369--At a Great Cost By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
370--Edith Trevor’s Secret By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
371--Cecil Rosse By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
Sequel to “Edith Trevor’s Secret”
374--True Daughter of Hartenstein By Mary J. Safford
375--Transgressing the Law By Capt. Fred’k Whittaker
376--The Red Slipper By St. George Rathborne
377--Forever True By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
378--John Winthrop’s Defeat By Jean Kate Ludlum
379--Blinded by Love By Nataly Von Eschstruth
380--Her Double Life By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
381--The Sunshine of Love By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
Sequel to “Her Double Life”
383--A Lover from Across the Sea By Mary J. Safford
384--Yet She Loved Him By Mrs. Kate Vaughn
385--A Woman Against Her By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
386--Teddy’s Enchantress By St. George Rathborne
387--A Heroine’s Plot By Katherine S. MacQuoid
388--Two Wives By Hazel Wood
389--Sundered Hearts By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
390--A Mutual Vow By Harold Payne
392--A Resurrected Love By Seward W. Hopkins
393--On the Wings of Fate By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
394--A Drama of a Life By Jean Kate Ludlum
395--Wooing a Widow By E. A. King
396--Back to Old Kentucky By St. George Rathborne
397--A Gilded Promise By Walter Bloomfield
398--Cupid’s Disguise By Fanny Lewald
400--For Another’s Wrong By W. Heimburg
401--The Woman Who Came Between By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
402--A Silent Heroine By Mrs. D. M. Lowrey
403--The Rival Suitors By J. H. Connelly
404--The Captive Bride By Capt. Fred’k Whittaker
405--The Haunted Husband By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
406--Felipe’s Pretty Sister By St. George Rathborne
408--On a False Charge By Seward W. Hopkins
409--A Girl’s Kingdom By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
410--Miss Mischief By W. Heimburg
411--Fettered and Freed By Eugene Charvette
412--The Love that Lives By Capt. Fred’k Whittaker
413--Were They Married? By Hazel Wood
414--A Girl’s First Love By Elizabeth C. Winter
416--Down in Dixie By St. George Rathborne
417--Brave Barbara By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
418--An Insignificant Woman By W. Heimburg
420--A Sweet Little Lady By Gertrude Warden
421--Her Sweet Reward By Barbara Kent
422--Lady Kildare By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
423--A Woman’s Way By Capt. Frederick Whittaker
424--A Splendid Man By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
425--A College Widow By Frank H. Howe
426--The Bride of the Tomb and Queenie’s
Terrible Secret By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
427--A Wizard of the Moors By St. George Rathborne
428--A Tramp’s Daughter By Hazel Wood
429--A Fair Fraud By Emily Lovett Cameron
430--The Honor of a Heart By Mary J. Safford
431--Her Husband and Her Love By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
432--Breta’s Double By Helen V. Greyson
434--The Guardian’s Trust By Mary A. Denison
435--Under Oath By Jean Kate Ludlum
436--The Rival Toreadors By St. George Rathborne
437--The Breach of Custom By Mrs. D. M. Lowrey
438--So Like a Man By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
439--Little Nan By Mary A. Denison
441--A Princess of the Stage By Nataly Von Eschstruth
442--Love Before Duty By Mrs. L. T. Meade
443--In Spite of Proof By Gertrude Warden
444--Love’s Trials By Alfred R. Calhoun
445--An Angel of Evil By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
446--Bound with Love’s Fetters By Mary Grace Halpine
447--A Favorite of Fortune By St. George Rathborne
448--When Love Dawns By Adelaide Stirling
449--The Bailiff’s Scheme By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
450--Rosamond’s Love By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
Sequel to “The Bailiff’s Scheme”
452--The Last of the Van Slacks By Edward S. Van Zile
453--A Poor Girl’s Passion By Gertrude Warden
454--Love’s Probation By Elizabeth Olmis
455--Love’s Greatest Gift By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
456--A Vixen’s Treachery By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
457--Adrift in the World By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
Sequel to “A Vixen’s Treachery”
459--A Golden Mask By Charlotte M. Stanley
460--Dr. Jack’s Talisman By St. George Rathborne
461--Above All Things By Adelaide Stirling
462--A Stormy Wedding By Mary E. Bryan
463--A Wife’s Triumph By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
464--The Old Life’s Shadows By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
465--Outside Her Eden By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
Sequel to “The Old Life’s Shadows”
466--Love, the Victor By a Popular Southern Author
467--Zina’s Awaking By Mrs. J. K. Spender
468--The Wooing of a Fairy By Gertrude Warden
469--A Soldier and a Gentleman By J. M. Cobban
470--A Strange Wedding By Mary Hartwell Catherwood
471--A Shadowed Happiness By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
472--Dr. Jack and Company By St. George Rathborne
473--A Sacrifice to Love By Adelaide Stirling
474--The Belle of the Season By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
475--Love Before Pride By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
Sequel to “The Belle of the Season”
477--The Siberian Exiles By Col. Thomas Knox
478--For Love of Sigrid By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
479--Mysterious Mr. Sabin By E. Phillips Oppenheim
480--A Perfect Fool By Florence Warden
481--Wedded, Yet No Wife By May Agnes Fleming
482--A Little Worldling By L. C. Ellsworth
483--Miss Marston’s Heart By L. H. Bickford
484--The Whistle of Fate By Richard Marsh
485--The End Crowns All By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
486--Divided Lives By Edgar Fawcett
487--A Wonderful Woman By May Agnes Fleming
488--The French Witch By Gertrude Warden
489--Lucy Harding By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
490--The Price of Jealousy By Maud Howe
491--My Lady of Dreadwood By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
492--A Speedy Wooing By the Author of “As Common Mortals”
493--The Girl He Loved By Adelaide Stirling
494--Voyagers of Fortune By St. George Rathborne
The Strength of Love;
OR,
LOVE IS LORD OF ALL
BY
MRS. ALEX. McVEIGH MILLER
AUTHOR OF
“When We Two Parted,” “Lady Gay’s Pride,” “Sworn to Silence,”
“Eric Braddon’s Love,” and many other romances of American
life published exclusively in the EAGLE and NEW EAGLE
SERIES, each of which is of the most intense interest.
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS
79-89 SEVENTH AVENUE
Copyright, 1896
By George Munro’s Sons
The Strength of Love
Of the things which man can do or make here below, by far the
most momentous, wonderful, and worthy, are the things we call
Books.
--_Carlyle._
All of which is very true. The most momentous, wonderful and worthy
of all books are the S. & S. novels. Before their advent, students of
literature were obliged to pay ten times their prices for books not
nearly so good. The S. & S. book lines at ten and fifteen cents have
been instrumental in placing before the reading public of America,
first-class, full-size novels, by popular authors, at a price that even
the most modest purse can afford.
The S. & S. novel performs a fine mission--it educates and entertains.
Educates, by publishing hundreds of standard books by standard authors,
and entertains by publishing clean, up-to-date stories of adventure,
mystery and love.
Send for a complete catalogue. You will find it the most valuable index
to current literature that ever fell into your hands. All of our books
have tasteful, attractive colored covers, are printed from good clear
type, and in every way are equal to the $1.50 kind, except that they
are not bound between cloth covers.
10,000,000 Copies Sold
Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
is justly famous as a writer of American love stories of quality.
Her books are to be found in a million homes of the rich and poor
alike, for this appeal to the heart knows no class--it’s universal.
Folks have said:--“I wonder what makes the Georgie Sheldon books
so popular?” If you have never read any of her splendid novels,
just select one at random. After reading it, you won’t ask any
questions--you’ll know why ten million copies have been sold.
Send for catalogue of the S. & S. novels, arranged by author, which
contains Mrs. Sheldon’s complete works. =PRICE 15c. PER COPY.=
Street & Smith, Publishers
NEW YORK
* * * * *
THE STRENGTH OF LOVE.
CHAPTER I.
RIVALS IN LOVE.
When Dallas Bain and Royall Sherwood, with the dashing young widow,
Mrs. Fleming, drove down the village street in their fine landau that
summer afternoon, Daisie Bell stood on the steps of her aunt’s cottage,
plucking the purple wistaria blooms from the vines above her head, and
the picture she made in her youth and grace stayed in both the men’s
hearts till they died.
Just a slip of a girl--perhaps seventeen or eighteen--gowned very
simply, in white, with lavender ribbons at throat and waist; but her
figure was grace and symmetry itself; and her face--well, men have died
for faces less fair than hers, with its dusk-violet eyes, blue in the
light, black in the shade, under the fringed curtain of jetty lashes
that contrasted so vividly with the living gold of her hair as it swept
in loose waves over her shoulders.
Both the young men gazed at this charming vision in frank delight, and
as the unknown beauty and the gay little widow exchanged formal bows,
exclaimed simultaneously:
“Who is that beautiful girl?”
Mrs. Fleming frowned jealously, bit her red lips, and answered, with
some asperity:
“What geese men are! Always caught by theatricals! Couldn’t you both
see that the bold thing was just posing for your benefit?”
“How exceedingly kind of her, to be sure! We certainly enjoyed the
tableau very much,” lisped Royall Sherwood, a rich young man of the
_genus_ dude, who was Mrs. Fleming’s cousin, and visiting her at her
summer home in Maryland, having brought with him Dallas Bain, a new
friend he had made on the return trip from Europe, a month ago.
“I don’t know a thing about him, except that he’s clever and handsome,
and seems to have plenty of money; but I like him immensely, so I
brought him here with me, and if you’re not pleased you can just ship
us both when you get tired,” Royall said coolly to his cousin, who
answered gayly:
“I’ll never get tired, I assure you; the dear boy is too charming.”
That was ten days ago, and as time went by she found him more charming
than ever, though there was about him a careless insouciance, a cynical
indifference to her wiles, that piqued her into deeper earnestness, so
that by the end of the first week she was passionately in love, and
using every feminine art to bring him to her feet.
And, never having loved before, despite several pronounced flirtations,
she was desperately in earnest.
At only twenty-five, she was the widow of an old man whom she had
married for his money when she was only nineteen years old. Three years
later he obligingly died, and left her the mistress of half a million,
which she was enjoying in royal fashion. A selfish, careless little
beauty, she had never felt the great passion of life till she met
Dallas Bain, whose large, dark, flashing eyes had pierced her heart in
a moment with love’s keen arrow.
She set herself to win him without a thought of defeat, for she was
very pretty in a doll-like fashion, petite, with turquoise-blue eyes,
and crinkly flaxen hair always in the most picturesque disorder. Not
a fear of rivalry crossed her mind, for although she had several young
girls as guests, she had been careful to invite only those who were
plain-looking enough to serve as a foil to her own beauty. To Daisie
Bell she had never given a thought till this moment, when, on their
drive, the coachman had turned into Temple Street just to vary the
route, and her visitors had seen the young girl in her wondrous beauty,
that, once seen, could never be forgotten.
What a careless encounter it seemed, yet one fraught with fate!
“Couldn’t you both see that the bold thing was just posing for your
benefit?” she exclaimed, in jealous alarm; and Royall had answered as
above recorded, winking significantly at his friend; but Dallas said
not a word, but gazed, with his heart in his eyes, at the beauty till
she was out of sight.
Then he drew a long breath that was mingled delight and pain, and cried
eagerly:
“But who is she, Mrs. Fleming?”
“Yes, who is she, and why haven’t we met her at your receptions,
Lutie?” added Royall.
Tossing her head and curling a scornful lip, the lady returned
maliciously:
“Oh, she isn’t in our set at all--only a poor relation of some people
here; a teacher, or shop girl from New York, who comes here every
summer to visit her kin and rest from work. And they’re all poor, as
you can see from the back street and the five-roomed cottage.”
She thought that this explanation ought to settle the subject forever;
but Royall persisted:
“Lutie, why don’t you tell us her name?”
“Well, then,” snappishly, “it is Daisie Bell.”
“Well, she is a daisy, and no mistake, and a belle, too--the rarest
beauty I ever saw; and I’m bound to know her soon. I’m in love at first
sight.”
His cousin frowned, and cried sharply:
“Royall, you shan’t turn that simple girl’s head with your flatteries.”
“I tell you, Lutie, I’m in dead earnest!”
“Nonsense!”
Dallas Bain said nothing, but his deep eyes gleamed with a subtle
fire, and he resolved that he, too, would make the acquaintance of the
lovely girl whose single earnest glance had thrilled him so deeply
that it seemed to him already that she must be his fate.
It was strange how much business the two young men had on Temple Street
the next few days, either riding or walking, and always watching
eagerly for another glimpse of the fair face that had charmed them so.
Once they saw her again on the porch, and twice at the upper window,
and finally they met her coming out of her gate, apparently going for a
morning call.
She blushed brightly at their admiring glances, and stepped briskly in
front of them, walking along for about two blocks, setting them wild
with her graceful carriage, like a young princess, then stopped and
went into a house whose occupants they knew as acquaintances of Mrs.
Fleming.
They nudged each other, and Royall exclaimed eagerly:
“Let us go in and call on that pretty little Miss Janowitz. Then she
will introduce us to the beauty.”
But Dallas Bain hesitated, though his heart was following the girl
inside.
He said tentatively:
“It does not look quite fair to force an acquaintance. Let us try for
an introduction in a more proper way.”
“A fig for the proprieties! I’m bound to get up a flirtation with that
beautiful creature,” vowed Royall recklessly, opening the gate and
going in while nodding a gay farewell to his friend, who turned away
with a jealous pang at his heart, though muttering to himself:
“If she would flirt with him, she is not worth my winning.”
Royall Sherwood was cordially welcomed by Miss Annette Janowitz, a
charming little brunette, as brilliant and restless as a humming bird.
“I have seen you passing several times this week, and I wondered if you
were looking for me,” she said gayly. “But let me introduce you to my
friend, Miss Bell.”
They bowed to each other, Royall with _empressement_, Daisie with
reserve; for, having seen him in the vicinity of her home so much
lately, she rather suspected the conquest she had made, but resented
this way of forcing an acquaintance.
“The impudence!” she thought resentfully, while Annette continued to
chatter gayly, flashing her dangerous black eyes at him.
“I saw Mr. Bain leaving you at the gate. Why didn’t he come in, also?”
“Dallas Bain? Oh, I asked him to come in, but he refused, and went back
to Sea View alone. Fact is, he has no eyes for any woman but my cousin,
Lutie Fleming. Most absorbing flirtation I ever saw, really,” returned
Royall, trying thus early to make a clever move in the game of love,
and checkmate Dallas, whom he knew might prove a dangerous rival for
Daisie’s heart.
Miss Bell was very quiet. She sat with downcast eyes, playing with a
rose in her belt, the seashell glow coming and going on her cheeks
with some secret excitement. Royall wondered if it were emotion at his
presence or pique that Dallas had not cared for her society. He decided
that it must be the latter, for she soon brought her call to an end
without having spoken a dozen words to him, and he did not dare offer
to walk home with her, as he longed to do.
He felt a jealous certainty that she was vexed at Dallas, and decided
that it would take some scheming to divert her thoughts from his
handsome friend.
“But I’ll do it, for my heart’s gone, and I’m almost tempted to ask her
to marry me already, even if she is poor and not in our set, as Lutie
says. But, Jove! She’s the grandest beauty in the world! And wouldn’t
she make a sensation as my bride, covered with diamonds! Yes, I’ll win
her if I can, and I must manage to keep Dallas out of the running, for
she could not help showing disappointment when I said that about his
flirting with Lutie; but I’ll make her forget him directly, and all the
better for her, too, since I’m the better match of the two,” cogitated
Royall, who, though he knew that his effeminate blond beauty, so like
his cousin’s, could not compare with the dark splendor of tall and
striking Dallas Bain, still considered that his golden charms more than
counterbalanced the difference.
“All is fair in love or war,” he said coolly; and, pursuant of his
scheme to keep Dallas away from Daisie, he said to him that evening:
“Just as well that you didn’t go in to see Miss Bell to-day. She
is disappointing, really. Pretty as a picture, of course, but so
bread-and-butterish and schoolgirly, you know. Always posing for
effect, as my cousin said, but not much to her, after all, but simpers
and giggles.”
Dallas felt a keen thrill of disappointment and disgust, for Daisie’s
face had haunted him for many days, and it gave him a shock to think
that she was like what Royall said--simpering and giggling like a
silly schoolgirl. The young widow had treated him to enough of that,
trying to pose as girlish, despite her three years of wifehood and two
of widowhood, and he decided that he did not care to know Daisie now,
since even the careless Royall was no longer interested.