Little dreaming of the purport of the story Ida had to tell, Royal
Ainsley drew near. For a moment, Ida May's great somber eyes looked
into his as though she would read his very soul.
"Tell me over again that you will forgive me, no matter what it is that
I have to tell you."
"I have already given you that promise over and over again," he
declared. "Surely you don't want me to take an oath to that effect?"
"Not if your solemn promise is strong enough to bind you."
"You forget that you are wasting time, Ida?" he said, good-humoredly.
"It will not take me long to tell my sad little story," she answered,
with a half sob; "and oh, what a world of comfort it will be for me to
know that you will care for me, no matter what the world may think.
When you hear my story you will understand the great temptation, and
will not judge me too cruelly.
"To begin with, my mother and I lived with a very wealthy family in
Dorchester. My mother was housekeeper, and I--well, I had no regular
position there, until, owing to the meager salary they paid my mother,
I was compelled to learn telegraphy, and found a position at the
station. To gain my mother's consent to do this was extremely hard.
"'They will not be pleased, Ida,' she said, piteously.
"'What do the Deerings care for you or me?' I answered, bitterly. 'Only
to make you toil year in and year out for a pittance so meager that it
scarcely keeps body and soul together!'
"'But they allow me to keep you with me, my dear child. That is
everything to a mother who is poor,' she sighed.
"'I am not a child any longer,' I cried. 'I am quite sixteen. I must be
making money now, if ever, to help you!'
"'But what can you do?' she asked.
"When I told her my plans, she looked at me dubiously.
"'Surely Mrs. Deering would not object,' I declared.
"But she did object. To my surprise she flew into a terrible rage when
I summoned courage enough to go to the morning-room the next day and
asked to speak to her.
"I unfolded to the cold, proud woman my plans to make a living. She did
not wait to hear me through, but flew into such a passion of rage that
I drew back in terror.
"'I have different plans for you entirely, Ida May,' she said. 'Go to
your mother. I told her my plans scarcely half an hour ago. She will
unfold them to you. Mind, they must be carried out by you, or your
mother and you will suffer. Your father owed us a sum of money before
he died, and during the past years your mother has worked to pay us
off. Over one-half yet remains to be paid. Your mother's name is signed
to your father's notes of indebtedness, and she is responsible for
them. If I pressed for payment and she could not pay, she could be
thrown into a debtor's prison.'
"I sobbed aloud in my terror: 'Oh, Mrs. Deering, if this indeed be
true, there is more need than ever for me to earn money to pay off my
mother's debts.'
"'There is another way in which you can pay them off,' she answered.
"'Oh, how?' I cried, falling on my knees and clasping my hands.
"The answer came like a crash of thunder from a clear sky.
"'By marrying my nephew,' she said, harshly.
"I sprung to my feet in terror. Marry any one! I, who was only a child!
"'My mother would not consent to anything like that, even----'
"'She will be forced to consent!' was the harsh reply. 'My nephew will
be here in a week.'
"I found my mother walking her room, wringing her hands and tearing her
hair. Her excitement was so great that for a moment I was terrified.
"'Has she told you all, Ida?' she asked, in terror.
"'Yes, mother,' I answered.
"'And did she tell you what this nephew of hers was like?'
"'No,' I replied, greatly puzzled by her manner.
"She shuddered as with a terrible chill.
"'Listen, Ida,' she said, in a strained, awful voice: 'Her nephew is
such a horrid creature, that to be hated he needs but to be seen. He is
a hunchback--and--an idiot--has a touch of insanity about him. Except
the first few years of his life, he has been confined in an asylum.
This nephew has a bachelor uncle, who has declared his intention
to make the young man his heir if he marries when he is twenty-one.
Otherwise the great fortune goes to another branch of the family. They
would make a victim of you, wreck your beautiful young life for their
own ambitious aims. It will be six months before he is of age. But the
marriage shall never be, my darling. Your young life shall never be
sacrificed by these inhuman Shylocks. When the hour comes, we will die
together.'
"One day my mother met me with a white, awful face.
"'Mrs. Deering's nephew has arrived with a valet!' she cried, under her
breath.
"'But the six months are not up, mother," I cried. 'It wants a
fortnight to that time.'
"'He has come to stay until you make your decision.'
"Oh, God! the horror of it! Death a thousand times over would have been
preferable to that.
"How could I stand at the altar and promise to obey a creature the very
sight of whom filled me with disgust and terror?
"I fled through the village, not daring to look behind me, and never
stopping until I reached the telegraph office.
"It was little wonder that I made strange mistakes during the hour that
followed.
"It was during this time that Mrs. May stepped up to the window and
called for a blank.
"Although her name was the same as mine, yet we were in no way related
to each other. They were wealthy people from Boston, I had heard, and
were summering in the village.
"Without waiting to see the message sent, the lady hurried out of the
office. A great sigh broke from my lips as I noted the well-filled
purse that she carried, the magnificent diamonds she wore on her hands,
and which swung sparkling from her ears. Any one of the gems she wore
would have been a fortune to a poor girl like me.
"As she crossed the railway track in the direction of the post office,
she must have seen the train bearing down upon her from around the
curve of the road.
"However, she fainted away from fright, and lay directly on the track.
I had seen it all from my window, and I sprung to her rescue and
dragged her by main force from the track just in time to save her from
destruction, as the ponderous locomotive just then thundered by. Mrs.
May's gratitude was great when she recovered consciousness.
"'How shall I ever reward you, my good girl?' she cried.
"'I need no reward,' I answered. 'I would have done that for any one!'
"'You must be rewarded,' she declared. 'My husband is coming from
Boston to-night, and he will insist upon doing handsomely by you.'
"I was living at home with my poor old mother, and when I went home
that evening and told her the story, she wept like a child.
"'You did a noble action, Ida,' she said; adding slowly: 'The Mays
are very rich. I should not be surprised if they made you a handsome
present. I once knew a gentleman who gave a lad twenty-five dollars for
saving his son from drowning. Perhaps they may do as well by you.'
"You see, we were very poor--mother and I--and twenty-five dollars
seemed a great deal to us.
"'How much good we could do with that sum,' my mother said. 'We could
get a little ahead in our rent, and spare enough out of it to get a new
dress for you.'
"I clasped my hands. A new dress! Oh, surely it would be madness to
hope for such a thing!
"That evening Mrs. May sent for me to come to the grand cottage where
she was stopping. Her husband, a very deaf old gentleman, sat at
the window as I entered. They both thanked me in the most eager and
grateful fashion.
"'We have been thinking the matter over,' said Mrs. May, 'and I have
come to the conclusion that I will do something handsome for you--give
you a pleasure such as you have never experienced in your young life.'"