With trembling hands, this hapless girl, who had taken such a terrible
resolve, opened the door of her room, and glided softly down the long
corridor and out of the hotel.
Ida May had scarcely gained the street before a carriage drove up, and
Eugene Mallard sprung from it. He was surprised at seeing Ida advancing
to meet him. She drew back with a cry.
"Are you ready?" he asked; but before she could answer, he went on:
"You do not wear your traveling-dress. Was there anything amiss with
it?"
She tried to keep back the sobs from her lips; but almost before she
was aware of it, she had confessed to him that she was about to flee
from him.
Standing there, very gently and patiently, he went over the ground
with her, insisting upon her following out their original plan;
and the upshot of it all was, she returned to her room, donned her
traveling-dress, joined him again, and took a seat beside him in the
carriage.
A little later the railway station was reached, and they were soon
whirling away toward the mysteries of the future.
"We will reach our destination a little before midnight," Eugene said,
seating himself opposite her. "There will be a number of old friends
at the station to give my bride a welcome home," he added in a voice
that was husky, despite his efforts at self-control; and Ida knew that
he was thinking of that _other_ bride whom he had intended to bring to
them, and she felt most wretched at the effort he was making to look
the present difficulty in the face and bear up under it.
How he must loathe her! Her very presence must be hateful to him! The
thought of that made her shrink still further from Eugene Mallard.
She felt like opening the car window and springing from it out into the
blackness of the night. Then he would be free to marry Hildegarde. On
and on through the darkness rushed the express.
"The next station will be ours," he said at length. Ida looked up in
apprehension. There would be a party of friends awaiting Eugene's
home-coming; but, ah! what would they say when they saw that it was not
Hildegarde whom he had wedded? Had he a mother--had he sisters?
Perhaps he divined her thoughts, for quite as soon as they had flashed
through her brain he turned to her, and said, abruptly:
"I have told you nothing of my home life. It was an oversight on
my part, possibly because the idea did not occur to me. I have no
relatives upon the face of the earth, except the scape grace cousin
you know of. From my uncle I inherited the Virginia home to which
I am taking you. It is presided over by Mrs. Rice, an old lady who
has served in the capacity of housekeeper for twenty years. All the
servants have been in the household quite as long a time. They are
good and faithful to me. They will receive you warmly. Your word shall
be their law. No one outside the household will know of our strained
relationship. The secret will be kept faithfully from the world by the
members of my household."
"I do not deserve so much consideration at your hands," murmured the
girl.
Before he had time to reply, their station was reached. There were few
people at the station owing to the lateness of the hour.
An old-fashioned carry-all was waiting at the rear. Peering out from it
was the face of old Black Joe.
"Welcome, marse! welcome!" he cried. "An' a thousand welcomes to the
lovely young missus, your bride! There's a great company at the house,
sir, awaiting you both."
Eugene Mallard thanked the old colored servant for his kind wishes for
himself and bride, as he helped Ida into the vehicle.
There was a long ride over a rough mountain road, during which time,
much to old Black Joe's surprise, scarcely a word was exchanged between
the bride and groom, and it puzzled the good old man.
Was the lady ill? So great was his concern over it, that he was tempted
to ask his master the question a dozen times. But prudence restrained
him.
At length, in turning an abrupt curve in the road, a gray stone
mansion, fairly ablaze with lights from cellar to dome, loomed in
sight--lights that twinkled like glow-worms in the distance. They could
hear the strains of music, and as they approached they could even hear
the sound of voices.
Still no word was uttered by either of them.