CHAPTER II. AT PIRATE BEACH.
CHAPTER III. "IT IS BETTER THAT YOU DIE."
CHAPTER IV. LIZETTE SAVES HER MISTRESS.
CHAPTER V. A PLOT TO WIN A LOVER.
CHAPTER VI. UNDER THE ROOF OF GRAY GABLES.
CHAPTER VII. FORGOT SHE WAS A WIFE.
CHAPTER VIII. IN DEADLY PERIL.
CHAPTER IX. THE SERPENT RING.
CHAPTER X. "WILL YOU NEVER FORGIVE?"
CHAPTER XI. "IT IS THE RING."
CHAPTER XII. ALL FOR A WOMAN'S SAKE.
CHAPTER XIII. SECRET PLANS.
CHAPTER XIV. TWO PISTOL SHOTS.
CHAPTER XV. A DUEL ON THE BEACH.
CHAPTER XVI. "WITH THIS RING I THEE WED."
CHAPTER XVII. "SHALL I NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN?"
CHAPTER XVIII. "HE WILL KILL MY HUSBAND."
CHAPTER XIX. TREACHERY.
CHAPTER XX. A GHOST ON BOARD SHIP.
CHAPTER XXI. DONALD KAYNE'S RETURN.
CHAPTER XXII. PEPITA!
CHAPTER XXIII. NITA AT GRAY GABLES AGAIN.
CHAPTER XXIV. THE MISER SENDS FOR HIS BRIDE.
CHAPTER XXV. "LET US DIE TOGETHER."
CHAPTER XXVI. "YOU SHALL KNOW THE SECRET."
CHAPTER XXVII. THE TENTH OF JUNE.
CHAPTER XXVIII. THE OTHER CLAIMANT.
CHAPTER XXIX. HER FATHER'S NAME AND GOLD.
CHAPTER XXX. DONALD KAYNE'S STORY.
CHAPTER XXXI. LIZETTE A PRISONER.
CHAPTER XXXII. ON TRIAL FOR HER LIFE.
CHAPTER XXXIII. THE PARRICIDE'S FATE.
NEW EAGLE SERIES No. 1198
THEY LOOKED
AND LOVED
BY
Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
[Illustration]
POPULAR COPYRIGHTS
New Eagle Series
Price, Fifteen Cents _Carefully Selected Love Stories_
There is such a profusion of good books in this list, that it is an
impossibility to urge you to select any particular title or author's
work. All that we can say is that any line that contains the complete
works of Mrs. Georgie Sheldon, Charles Garvice, Mrs. Harriet Lewis, May
Agnes Fleming, Wenona Gilman, Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller, and other
writers of the same type, is worthy of your attention, especially when
the price has been set at 15 cents the volume.
_ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT_
1--Queen Bess By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
2--Ruby's Reward By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
7--Two Keys By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
9--The Virginia Heiress By May Agnes Fleming
12--Edrie's Legacy By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
17--Leslie's Loyalty By Charles Garvice
22--Elaine By Charles Garvice
24--A Wasted Love By Charles Garvice
41--Her Heart's Desire By Charles Garvice
44--That Dowdy By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
50--Her Ransom By Charles Garvice
55--Thrice Wedded By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
66--Witch Hazel By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
70--Sydney By Charles Garvice
73--The Marquis By Charles Garvice
77--Tina By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
79--Out of the Past By Charles Garvice
84--Imogene By Charles Garvice
85--Lorrie; or, Hollow Gold By Charles Garvice
88--Virgie's Inheritance By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
95--A Wilful Maid By Charles Garvice
98--Claire By Charles Garvice
99--Audrey's Recompense By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
102--Sweet Cymbeline By Charles Garvice
109--Signa's Sweetheart By Charles Garvice
111--Faithful Shirley By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
117--She Loved Him By Charles Garvice
119--'Twixt Smile and Tear By Charles Garvice
122--Grazia's Mistake By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
130--A Passion Flower By Charles Garvice
133--Max By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
136--The Unseen Bridegroom By May Agnes Fleming
138--A Fatal Wooing By Laura Jean Libbey
141--Lady Evelyn By May Agnes Fleming
144--Dorothy's Jewels By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
146--Magdalen's Vow By May Agnes Fleming
151--The Heiress of Glen Gower By May Agnes Fleming
155--Nameless Dell By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
157--Who Wins By May Agnes Fleming
166--The Masked Bridal By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
168--Thrice Lost, Thrice Won By May Agnes Fleming
174--His Guardian Angel By Charles Garvice
177--A True Aristocrat By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
181--The Baronet's Bride By May Agnes Fleming
188--Dorothy Arnold's Escape By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
199--Geoffrey's Victory By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
203--Only One Love By Charles Garvice
210--Wild Oats By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
213--The Heiress of Egremont By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
215--Only a Girl's Love By Charles Garvice
219--Lost: A Pearle By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
222--The Lily of Mordaunt By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
223--Leola Dale's Fortune By Charles Garvice
231--The Earl's Heir By Charles Garvice
233--Nora By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
236--Her Humble Lover By Charles Garvice
242--A Wounded Heart By Charles Garvice
244--A Hoiden's Conquest By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
250--A Woman's Soul By Charles Garvice
255--The Little Marplot By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
257--A Martyred Love By Charles Garvice
266--The Welfleet Mystery By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
267--Jeanne By Charles Garvice
268--Olivia; or, It Was for Her Sake By Charles Garvice
272--So Fair, So False By Charles Garvice
276--So Nearly Lost By Charles Garvice
277--Brownie's Triumph By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
280--Love's Dilemma By Charles Garvice
282--The Forsaken Bride By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
283--My Lady Pride By Charles Garvice
287--The Lady of Darracourt By Charles Garvice
288--Sibyl's Influence By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
291--A Mysterious Wedding King By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
292--For Her Only By Charles Garvice
296--The Heir of Vering By Charles Garvice
299--Little Miss Whirlwind By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
300--The Spider and the Fly By Charles Garvice
303--The Queen of the Isle By May Agnes Fleming
304--Stanch as a Woman By Charles Garvice
305--Led by Love By Charles Garvice
309--The Heiress of Castle Cliffs By May Agnes Fleming
312--Woven on Fate's Loom, and The Snowdrift By Charles Garvice
315--The Dark Secret By May Agnes Fleming
317--Ione By Laura Jean Libbey
318--Stanch of Heart By Charles Garvice
322--Mildred By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
326--Parted by Fate By Laura Jean Libbey
327--He Loves Me By Charles Garvice
328--He Loves Me Not By Charles Garvice
330--Aikenside By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
333--Stella's Fortune By Charles Garvice
334--Miss McDonald By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
339--His Heart's Queen By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
340--Bad Hugh. Vol. I. By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
341--Bad Hugh. Vol. II. By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
344--Tresillian Court By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
345--The Scorned Wife By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
346--Guy Tresillian's Fate By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
347--The Eyes of Love By Charles Garvice
348--The Hearts of Youth By Charles Garvice
351--The Churchyard Betrothal By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
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
360--The Ashes of Love By Charles Garvice
361--A Heart Triumphant By Charles Garvice
362--Stella Rosevelt By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
367--The Pride of Her Life By Charles Garvice
368--Won By Love's Valor By Charles Garvice
372--A Girl in a Thousand By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
373--A Thorn Among Roses.
Sequel to "A Girl in a Thousand" By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
380--Her Double Life By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
381--The Sunshine of Love.
Sequel to "Her Double Life" By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
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
440--Edna's Secret Marriage By Charles Garvice
449--The Bailiff's Scheme By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
450--Rosamond's Love.
Sequel to "The Bailiff's Scheme" By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
451--Helen's Victory By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
456--A Vixen's Treachery By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
457--Adrift in the World.
Sequel to "A Vixen's Treachery" By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
458--When Love Meets Love By Charles Garvice
464--The Old Life's Shadows By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
465--Outside Her Eden.
Sequel to "The Old Life's Shadows" By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
474--The Belle of the Season By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
475--Love Before Pride.
Sequel to "The Belle of the Season" By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
481--Wedded, Yet No Wife By May Agnes Fleming
489--Lucy Harding By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
495--Norine's Revenge By May Agnes Fleming
511--The Golden Key By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
512--A Heritage of Love.
Sequel to "The Golden Key" By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
519--The Magic Cameo By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
520--The Heatherford Fortune.
Sequel to "The Magic Cameo" By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
531--Better Than Life 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
557--In Cupid's Chains By Charles Garvice
630--The Verdict of the Heart By Charles Garvice
635--A Coronet of Shame By Charles Garvice
640--A Girl of Spirit By Charles Garvice
645--A Jest of Fate By Charles Garvice
648--Gertrude Elliott's Crucible By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
650--Diana's Destiny By Charles Garvice
655--Linked by Fate By Charles Garvice
663--Creatures of Destiny By Charles Garvice
671--When Love Is Young By Charles Garvice
676--My Lady Beth By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
679--Gold in the Gutter By Charles Garvice
712--Love and a Lie By Charles Garvice
721--A Girl from the South By Charles Garvice
730--John Hungerford's Redemption By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
741--The Fatal Ruby By Charles Garvice
749--The Heart of a Maid By Charles Garvice
758--The Woman in It By Charles Garvice
774--Love in a Snare By Charles Garvice
775--My Love Kitty By Charles Garvice
776--That Strange Girl By Charles Garvice
777--Nellie By Charles Garvice
778--Miss Estcourt; or Olive By Charles Garvice
818--The Girl Who Was True By Charles Garvice
826--The Irony of Love By Charles Garvice
896--A Terrible Secret By May Agnes Fleming
897--When To-morrow Came By May Agnes Fleming
904--A Mad Marriage By May Agnes Fleming
905--A Woman Without Mercy By May Agnes Fleming
912--One Night's Mystery By May Agnes Fleming
913--The Cost of A Lie By May Agnes Fleming
920--Silent and True By May Agnes Fleming
921--A Treasure Lost By May Agnes Fleming
925--Forrest House By Mary J. Holmes
926--He Loved Her Once By Mary J. Holmes
930--Kate Danton By May Agnes Fleming
931--Proud as a Queen By May Agnes Fleming
935--Queenie Hetherton By Mary J. Holmes
936--Mightier Than Pride By Mary J. Holmes
940--The Heir of Charlton By May Agnes Fleming
941--While Love Stood Waiting By May Agnes Fleming
945--Gretchen By Mary J. Holmes
946--Beauty That Faded By Mary J. Holmes
950--Carried by Storm By May Agnes Fleming
951--Love's Dazzling Glitter By May Agnes Fleming
954--Marguerite By Mary J. Holmes
955--When Love Spurs Onward By Mary J. Holmes
960--Lost for a Woman By May Agnes Fleming
961--His to Love or Hate By May Agnes Fleming
964--Paul Ralston's First Love By Mary J. Holmes
965--Where Love's Shadows Lie Deep By Mary J. Holmes
968--The Tracy Diamonds By Mary J. Holmes
969--She Loved Another By Mary J. Holmes
972--The Cromptons By Mary J. Holmes
973--Her Husband Was a Scamp By Mary J. Holmes
975--The Merivale Banks By Mary J. Holmes
978--The One Girl in the World By Charles Garvice
979--His Priceless Jewel By Charles Garvice
982--The Millionaire's Daughter and Other Stories. By Chas. Garvice
983--Doctor Hathern's Daughters By Mary J. Holmes
984--The Colonel's Bride By Mary J. Holmes
988--Her Ladyship's Diamonds, and Other Stories. By Chas. Garvice
998--Sharing Her Crime By May Agnes Fleming
999--The Heiress of Sunset Hall By May Agnes Fleming
1004--Maude Percy's Secret By May Agnes Fleming
1005--The Adopted Daughter By May Agnes Fleming
1010--The Sisters of Torwood By May Agnes Fleming
1015--A Changed Heart By May Agnes Fleming
1016--Enchanted By May Agnes Fleming
1025--A Wife's Tragedy By May Agnes Fleming
1026--Brought to Reckoning By May Agnes Fleming
1027--A Madcap Sweetheart By Emma Garrison Jones
1028--An Unhappy Bargain By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1029--Only a Working Girl By Geraldine Fleming
1030--The Unbidden Guest By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1031--The Man and His Millions By Ida Reade Allen
1032--Mabel's Sacrifice By Charlotte M. Stanley
1033--Was He Worth It? By Geraldine Fleming
1034--Her Two Suitors By Wenona Gilman
1035--Edith Percival By May Agnes Fleming
1036--Caught in the Snare By May Agnes Fleming
1037--A Love Concealed By Emma Garrison Jones
1038--The Price of Happiness By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1039--The Lucky Man By Geraldine Fleming
1040--A Forced Promise By Ida Reade Allen
1041--The Crime of Love By Barbara Howard
1042--The Bride's Opals By Emma Garrison Jones
1043--Love That Was Cursed By Geraldine Fleming
1044--Thorns of Regret By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1045--Love Will Find the Way By Wenona Gilman
1046--Bitterly Atoned By Mrs E. Burke Collins
1047--Told in the Twilight By Ida Reade Allen
1048--A Little Barbarian By Charlotte Kingsley
1049--Love's Golden Spell By Geraldine Fleming
1050--Married in Error By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1051--If It Were True By Wenona Gilman
1052--Vivian's Love Story By Mrs. E. Burke Collins
1053--From Tears to Smiles By Ida Reade Allen
1054--When Love Dawns By Adelaide Stirling
1055--Love's Earnest Prayer By Geraldine Fleming
1056--The Strength of Love By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1057--A Lost Love By Wenona Gilman
1058--The Stronger Passion By Lillian R. Drayton
1059--What Love Can Cost By Evelyn Malcolm
1060--At Another's Bidding By Ida Reade Allen
1061--Above All Things By Adelaide Stirling
1062--The Curse of Beauty By Geraldine Fleming
1063--Her Sister's Secret By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1064--Married in Haste By Wenona Gilman
1065--Fair Maid Marian By Emma Garrison Jones
1066--No Man's Wife By Ida Reade Allen
1067--A Sacrifice to Love By Adelaide Stirling
1068--Her Fatal Gift By Geraldine Fleming
1069--Her Life's Burden By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1070--Evelyn, the Actress By Wenona Gilman
1071--Married for Money By Lucy Randall Comfort
1072--A Lost Sweetheart By Ida Reade Allen
1073--A Golden Sorrow By Charlotte M. Stanley
1074--Her Heart's Challenge By Barbara Howard
1075--His Willing Slave By Lillian R. Drayton
1076--A Freak of Fate By Emma Garrison Jones
1077--Her Punishment By Laura Jean Libbey
1078--The Shadow Between Them By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
1079--No Time for Penitence By Wenona Gilman
1080--Norma's Black Fortune By Ida Reade Allen
1081--A Wilful Girl By Lucy Randall Comfort
1082--Love's First Kiss By Emma Garrison Jones
1083--Lola Dunbar's Crime By Barbara Howard
1084--Ethel's Secret By Charlotte M. Stanley
1085--Lynette's Wedding By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1086--A Fair Enchantress By Ida Reade Allen
1087--The Tide of Fate By Wenona Gilman
1088--Her Husband's Other Wife By Emma Garrison Jones
1089--Hearts of Stone By Geraldine Fleming
1090--In Love's Springtime By Laura Jean Libbey
1091--Love at the Loom By Geraldine Fleming
1092--What Was She to Him? By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1093--For Another's Fault By Charlotte M. Stanley
1094--Hearts and Dollars By Ida Reade Allen
1095--A Wife's Triumph By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1096--A Bachelor Girl By Lucy May Russell
1097--Love and Spite By Adelaide Stirling
1098--Leola's Heart By Charlotte M. Stanley
1099--The Power of Love By Geraldine Fleming
1100--An Angel of Evil By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1101--True to His Bride By Emma Garrison Jones
1102--The Lady of Beaufort Park By Wenona Gilman
1103--A Daughter of Darkness By Ida Reade Allen
1104--My Pretty Maid By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1105--Master of Her Fate By Geraldine Fleming
1106--A Shadowed Happiness By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1107--John Elliott's Flirtation By Lucy May Russell
1108--A Forgotten Love By Adelaide Stirling
1109--Sylvia, The Forsaken By Charlotte M. Stanley
1110--Her Dearest Love By Geraldine Fleming
1111--Love's Greatest Gift By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1112--Mischievous Maid Faynie By Laura Jean Libbey
1113--In Love's Name By Emma Garrison Jones
1114--Love's Clouded Dawn By Wenona Gilman
1115--A Blue Grass Heroine By Ida Reade Allen
1116--Only a Kiss By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1117--Virgie Talcott's Mission By Lucy May Russell
1118--Her Evil Genius By Adelaide Stirling
1119--In Love's Paradise By Charlotte M. Stanley
1120--Sold for Gold By Geraldine Fleming
1121--Andrew Leicester's Love By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1122--Taken by Storm By Emma Garrison Jones
1123--The Mills of the Gods By Wenona Gilman
1124--The Breath of Slander By Ida Reade Allen
1125--Loyal Unto Death By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1126--A Spurned Proposal By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1127--Daredevil Betty By Evelyn Malcolm
1128--Her Life's Dark Cloud By Lillian R. Drayton
1129--True Love Endures By Ida Reade Allen
1130--The Battle of Hearts By Geraldine Fleming
1131--Better Than Riches By Wenona Gilman
1132--Tempted By Love By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1133--Between Good and Evil By Charlotte M. Stanley
1134--A Southern Princess By Emma Garrison Jones
1135--The Thorns of Love By Evelyn Malcolm
1136--A Married Flirt By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1137--Her Priceless Love By Geraldine Fleming
1138--My Own Sweetheart By Wenona Gilman
1139--Love's Harvest By Adelaide Fox Robinson
1140--His Two Loves By Ida Reade Allen
1141--The Love He Sought By Lillian R. Drayton
1142--A Fateful Promise By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1143--Love Surely Triumphs By Charlotte May Kingsley
1144--The Haunting Past By Evelyn Malcolm
1145--Sorely Tried By Emma Garrison Jones
1146--Falsely Accused By Geraldine Fleming
1147--Love Given in Vain By Adelaide Fox Robinson
1148--No One to Help Her By Ida Reade Allen
1149--Her Golden Secret By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1150--Saved From Herself By Adelaide Stirling
1151--The Gypsy's Warning By Emma Garrison Jones
1152--Caught in Love's Net By Ida Reade Allen
1153--The Pride of My Heart By Laura Jean Libbey
1154--A Vagabond Heiress By Charlotte May Kingsley
1155--That Terrible Tomboy By Geraldine Fleming
They Looked and Loved
OR,
WON BY FAITH
BY
MRS. ALEX McVEIGH MILLER
Author of "When We Two Parted," "All for Love," "Love
Conquers Pride," "The Man She Hated," etc.
[Illustration]
STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
PUBLISHERS
79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York
Copyright, 1892
By NORMAN L. MUNRO
Renewal Granted to Mrs. Alex
McVeigh Miller, 1920
They Looked and Loved
(Printed in the United States of America)
THEY LOOKED AND LOVED.
CHAPTER I.
A WEB OF FATE.
"I would sell my soul to Satan for a chest of gold!" cried a despairing
voice.
It was a young girl who uttered the words. She was standing under a tree
in Central Park, watching the equipages that rolled past in a constant
stream. A handsome victoria, in which sat a golden-haired beauty, one of
the famed Four Hundred of New York, had just whirled past, and the dust
from the wheels had blown into the speaker's face, drawing those
reckless words from her lips:
"I would sell my soul to Satan for a chest of gold!"
Of a truth, the girl was fair enough to have exchanged places with the
regal woman in the carriage, for her face and form had been shaped in
beauty's fairest mold, though the cheek was wan and pale from the pangs
of grief and hunger, and the peerless form was draped in worn and shabby
garments.
But the fires of pride and ambition burned brightly in the large
Spanish-looking dark eyes, as the girl clasped her small ungloved hands
together.
"Would you marry me?" asked a low, sneering voice in her ear.
She turned with a start of terror, and it appeared to her as if her
reckless words had summoned the arch-fiend himself to her side.
The person who had addressed her was a horribly ugly and
grotesque-looking old man.
He was at least sixty-five years of age, bent and stoop-shouldered, with
features that were homely to the point of grotesqueness. His nose was
large, his mouth wide, his small malevolent gray eyes peered beneath
bushy red eyebrows supplemented by grizzled hair and whiskers of the
same lurid color. His clothing was scrupulously neat, but well-worn and
of cheap material.
"Would you marry me?" repeated this old man, and the beautiful girl gave
a start of surprise not unmixed with fear.
"You--you--why, you are as poor as I am!" she gasped, her eyes roving
over his shabby attire.
"Appearances are often deceitful, young lady. I look like a beggar, I
know, and, truth to tell, I live like one, but I am rich enough to give
you your heart's desire--a chest of gold. Did you ever hear of Charles
Farnham, the miser?"
"Yes."
"I am Farnham, the miser, young lady, and for once I have a generous
impulse. You are young, beautiful, and poor. I am old, ugly, and rich.
In the world of fashion such marriages are not uncommon. Will you marry
me?"
She gazed into his repulsive features, and shuddered.
"No, no, no!"
"You are very independent," he sneered. "What is your name? Where do you
live?"
"My name is no concern of yours. My home will soon be--in--the--river!"
"What mean you, girl?"
"What I have just told you, sir. I am a poor and honest girl, out of
work, penniless, and friendless, turned into the streets to-day to
starve. Before nightfall I shall end my sorrows in the river."
"A girl with that beautiful face and form need never starve," returned
the old miser, with a significant leer.
The pale, young face flushed to a burning crimson, and the large, dark
eyes flashed angrily.
"I have been told that many times, sir, but I am an honest girl. I can
die, but I cannot do wrong."
"It is too beautiful a day to die," returned the old miser, looking
around him at the green grass and flowers and golden sunshine.
The park was crowded. There were throngs on foot, throngs in carriages.
Beautiful women were plenty, but none of them could compare with the
young girl standing there in the dust of their carriage-wheels talking
to the old miser.
"Look at those handsome creatures in their magnificent carriages with
liveried servants--look at their silks and jewels. Do you not envy
them?" demanded Farnham. "You are more beautiful than they are. It is
very foolish of you to drown yourself for lack of bread when I offer
you wealth and splendor as my wife."
"But I could not love you. You are old--hideous--and I could not marry
any one I did not love; I would rather die."
A fierce gleam came into the old man's eyes.
"You are the proudest pauper I ever saw, yet your very scorn makes you
seem more desirable in my eyes," he exclaimed. "Come, give your consent
to marry me, and you shall have one of the finest homes in New
York--carriages, jewels, Paris dresses, opera-boxes, and an adoring
husband. Would you not like all this?"
"All but the husband!" answered the girl frankly and sadly. "Oh, forgive
me, sir, but your wealth would not make me happy if I had to live by
your side."
"Yet you said just now that you would sell your soul to Satan for a
chest of gold."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"I--I spoke thoughtlessly, sir. I did not think that Satan would hear
me," she murmured in an undertone.
The miser saw in her eyes a girlish scorn that maddened him; yet,
strange to say, it made him more eager to possess this luring though
scornful beauty. He stood gazing covetously at her, and suddenly she
added archly:
"I have read stories about people who sold themselves to the devil; but
you see they had a little respite first, and rather enjoyed life before
he claimed them, but if I married you I should be signed, sealed, and
delivered over at once to the enemy," and she laughed, a mocking,
mirthless laugh, for, in truth, she was desperate with despair and
misery.
"You are very complimentary," said her strange suitor, with a contortion
of the lip that was a cross between a grin and a sneer. He had an angry
longing to strike the beautiful face that looked at him with such
defiant scorn, for the girl was as proud as she was poor, and she had
her treasured love-dreams like all other young girls--dreams of a rich
and handsome lover who might some day woo her for his bride.
Miser Farnham, with a frightful grimace, withdrew from her side, but
remained close by, watching the lonely, desolate creature with keen,
calculating gray eyes.
Something more than an hour went by, and as the brilliant pageant of
wealth and fashion began to fade, the girl drew a long, shuddering sigh,
and turned to leave the park. A jibing voice sounded in her ear:
"Are you going to the river now?"
The dark eyes, heavy now with despair, turned upon the face of the old
man.
"Yes; I am going to the river," she replied, in a dull, dreary tone.
"Will you wait one moment, please?"
She stopped and looked at him in dull wonder, her face so pallid, her
eyes so despairing, that he shuddered to meet them.
"You said just now that Satan always gave a respite to those whose souls
he bought; I have pondered deeply over those words, and here is the
result: I will give you a respite, if you will marry me. No, don't turn
away so recklessly. I mean it, young lady. Marry me to-day, and I will
not see you again for a whole year. In the meantime you shall reign a
queen in a palace; your life shall be a dream of delight. In my hand is
the wand of the magician--gold--yellow gold--and I can accomplish all
that I promise, and more! Think! A whole year of luxury, of pleasure,
and in that time not one sight of my face. Can you turn from this to the
dark, cold river? Surely, then, you must be mad!"
The girl stood like one rooted to the spot, her eyes dark, burning,
eager. What was it he was offering? Wealth, ease, happiness--and she was
homeless and starving. Her brain reeled; she trembled with excitement.
"A year," repeated old Farnham temptingly, "and in all that time I will
not come near you. Only speak the word, and we will go now to a lawyer,
I will have a marriage contract drawn, waiving all rights for one year
from the date of marriage. Then we will be married. I will secure a
chaperon and maid for you, and, leaving you in a home of luxury, take my
departure until the months of your respite are over. Perhaps by then
your gratitude to me will lead you to look on me with favor--if not,
there is still the river"--leering wickedly.
Surely a stranger offer had never been made to a fair and homeless girl.
It was romantic in some of its aspects, and it was tempting to the
forlorn young creature. A gleam of piteous hope came into the large, sad
eyes. A year or more of life, of ease, of comfort.
"No poor girl ever had such a chance before. Surely, you consent,"
continued the wily tempter.
"Yes, I consent," answered the girl, with stiff lips and unsmiling eyes.
"Good," uttered the miser, with a chuckle of satisfaction. He caught her
small ungloved hand and pressed it with awkward gallantry. It was cold
as a lump of ice, and fell stiffly from his clasp. Then she looked at
him and spoke again, briefly and coldly:
"I am trusting fully in your promises," she said. "Remember, you must
not play me false, or weak girl as I am, I shall know how to punish
you."
"You can trust me, for I love you," he answered, in wheedling tones.
"Come now, let us go at once to a lawyer. We can get a cab at the park
gates."
She followed him away from the park, and when seated in the cab on their
way to the lawyer's, he said:
"When the contract is drawn up, and we are married, the first thing will
be to get you some clothing and jewels suitable for a beautiful young
heiress. The next thing will be a chaperon. Well, I know an aristocratic
woman, widowed and reduced to poverty, who will gladly take charge of
you for the splendid salary and privileges she will get. She has one
daughter, who will be a fitting companion for you. These two will make
it possible for you to enter at once into the best society. You will be
introduced to them as my ward, not as my wife. Then, with your chest of
gold, you will enter upon a dazzling career. Your wealth and your
beauty, and the prestige your chaperon will confer upon you, will enable
you to dazzle the world of society and fashion. Does the picture please
you?"
"I must be dreaming," answered the girl, passing her hand across her
eyes in a bewildered fashion.
But the rest of the day seemed but a continuation of her dream. They
went at once to a lawyer, who drew up the strange marriage-contract;
then to a minister, who united them in matrimonial bonds. Next the old
miser took his bride to a large store, where he gave orders that she
should be supplied with an outfit of clothing suitable to her needs as a
young heiress. Obsequious clerks flew to do his bidding; then, drawing
her aside, he said:
"I shall leave you here several hours while I go to see the lady who
will be your chaperon during the one year that you will pass as my rich
ward instead of my wife."
He paused a moment, then added, with an air of hesitancy:
"I have decided that your home shall be for the first few weeks at a
seaside residence I own in New Jersey. I will arrange for you to go this
evening, as it is but a short distance from New York. Be all ready in
your traveling-dress when I call for you with the lady and your maid at
six o'clock."