OH! THE TORTURING AGONY OF LOVE BETRAYED!
Amber’s deep-laid scheme had succeeded beyond her wildest hopes.
Every detail had been carried out, with one exception.
She had hoped ardently to secure the opal ring, and to give it to Cecil
at this moment, saying, cruelly:
“Violet tore this ring from her finger in scorn, saying: ‘Give this to
Cecil Grant, and tell him I despise him, and am glad I have escaped a
life of poverty as his wife!’”
Violet had clung so faithfully to the ring that this master-stroke was
not possible to Amber, but, after all, it was not necessary, for Cecil
did not dream of doubting her plausible statements.
But oh, the torturing agony of love betrayed! The anguish of loss
and despair! the burning jealousy that filled his soul at Amber’s
disclosures, no words could tell!
She had craved revenge upon Cecil Grant, because he had turned from
her dazzling charms, to sun himself in the tender light of Violet’s
dark-blue eyes. She had full measure of revenge now in the deadly blow
she had struck at his loving heart.
A dagger in his heart would have been more welcome and less painful,
for the keen thrust would have soon been over, and then merciful
oblivion.
“’Twere better far
Never to love than love and lose again!
Better to have a sky without a star
Than for one setting weep in bitter pain!”
Amber’s gloating eyes did not lose one change of the pale, writhing
face of her victim as the poisoned blade of her keen revenge rankled in
his quivering heart.
He had uttered one terrible cry, and reeled in his saddle so that she
feared he was going to fall; then his strength returned, he sat erect
again, his handsome face ghastly pale in the moonlight, his eyes dark
with despair.
There was a moment’s blank silence, then Amber heard him murmur, in a
voice of bitter anguish:
“God have mercy on poor Violet and me!”
“I should think that you would curse her!” burst forth Amber,
indignantly.
With a sigh from the bottom of his heart, he cried:
“No, I cannot curse sweet Violet, for I can enter somewhat into her
feelings, and I know that villain taunted and tempted her, or she would
not have lost faith in me so quickly! Oh, Heaven, why could she not
trust my love a little longer?”
“It looked so strange--the delay you know--for we knew the train had
come in, and we could think of no reason for your absence,” reminded
Amber.
“No one could have thought of such a reason, no one could have
suspected such a fiendish deed!” he cried, warmly. “Oh, Amber, how it
will pain and grieve your gentle heart to hear this new proof of Judge
Camden’s wickedness!” he almost groaned.
“Oh, what has grandpapa done? Tell me quickly, for I cannot bear the
suspense!”
Her eager eyes scanned his face closely, taking in all its agony
without one throb of remorse at her hard heart. She even smiled to
herself at the accomplishment of all her plans, remembering that not
only had she secured her revenge on Cecil and Violet, but gained a
large sum of money for her treachery.
While she waited anxiously, he said:
“My horse is very restive. Suppose we ride on toward home, and I can
explain as we go. There is no need of lingering here,” sighing heavily,
“and my poor mother needs me by her side.”
He turned his horse’s head and cantered along by the side of the
phaeton, while Amber exclaimed:
“Your mother is not ill, I hope!”
“Yes, she is ill--of grief and worry, and that terrible malady, an
aching heart. She has received a terrible blow dealt by the pitiless
hand of that heartless old man, Judge Camden.”
“You astonish me, my dear Cecil! What under Heaven could my grandfather
do to distress your gentle mother?”
“He has done what no one could have dreamed of doing, for it was the
act of a fiend, and must have been put into his head by the Evil One
himself! Out of wrath and resentment against me, he has bought up the
mortgage upon Bonnycastle, and foreclosed it. We are ordered to vacate
the place in one week.”
“Good Heaven!”
Amber uttered that one cry and relapsed into silence, like one too
dazed for further speech.
How often she had rehearsed this scene, how often laughed to herself at
the tragic voice in which she would cry:
“Good Heaven!”
“I do not wonder at your horror!” exclaimed Cecil. “It was a
wicked--nay, an infernal deed! It will break my poor mother’s heart
to go from the home, to which she went a young and happy bride, and
where she had hoped to stay until death closed her eyes on the trials
of life! For myself, I could bear it all; but, Amber, I am heart-broken
for my mother’s sake!”
“Can nothing be done, can no one help you?” she cried, tenderly,
sympathetically.
“No, it cannot be helped. It is too large an amount of money for me to
raise. I could give no securities for such a sum. I have been barely
able to pay the interest on the debt,” the young man answered, gloomily
and hopelessly, for this burden of debt had weighed heavily on his
young manhood. He had borne it bravely for his mother’s sake, but he
had long ago resolved that at her death he would sacrifice everything,
let the old place go, and, forsaking the neighborhood, seek a new place
for himself in the wide world outside the simple country town.
Alas, the cruel, unexpected blow had fallen heavily on his poor
mother’s heart, and he could not avert it; he was helpless, hopeless!
Amber gazed at him with wide, dark eyes, full of tender pity.
“How much is the whole amount of the debt, Cecil?” she asked, gently.
“A trifle to your grandfather, Amber, but a fortune to me. It is twenty
thousand dollars!”
“Twenty thousand dollars! Only twenty thousand dollars, Cecil. Why,
then you shall not lose Bonnycastle! You shall pay off the mortgage and
keep the old home for your mother!” cried Amber, joyously.
“My dear friend, I do not comprehend you!” cried Cecil, in perplexity.
“I will explain, Cecil, for oh, I am so happy that I can help you.
Why, it is perfectly easy. I have some money of my own--more than
twenty thousand dollars--and I will give it to you to pay off the debt
and outwit that wicked old man who wants to vent his spite against you
by aiming a cruel blow at your gentle mother’s heart!” cried Amber,
eagerly.
He gazed at her in mournful surprise and gratitude as he replied:
“This is very generous and noble in you, dear Amber, as well as most
unexpected; but it would be very improper for me to accept your offer.
Still, I thank you from my heart, although I must decline!”
“But, Cecil, I will not permit you to decline! I insist on giving you
this money, which is entirely my own. It need not offend your pride,
for I can bestow this gift upon you, and no one shall ever know of it.
We will keep the secret in our own hearts,” urged Amber, tenderly and
anxiously, adding:
“Think of your mother and accept it for her sake!”
He was touched to the heart by her noble generosity. He felt that he
had never fully appreciated Amber Laurens at her best.
But he was resolute in his refusal.
“I thank you more than I can say, but I could never accept such a gift
from you, my noble friend,” he answered.
“Then, Cecil, let me lend you the money, to be repaid at your leisure!
You can at least accept this favor from one whom, next to Violet, you
have promised a place in your heart.”
“Do not speak to me of Violet. Let me forget her fatal mistake if I
can, in the distress of this other calamity!” he cried, feverishly.
“I will not breathe that false girl’s name to you again, my poor,
unhappy Cecil; but I insist upon lending you the money. I shall be
wounded if you refuse it,” persisted Amber.
But to all of her urgings, Cecil Grant returned a grateful refusal,
assuring her that the offer had placed him under as heavy obligations
to her as if he had accepted it.
“I shall not consider the matter settled to-night. Take time to think
it over, Cecil, and perhaps you will change your mind and accept
my offer. In the meantime, I shall scold grandpapa roundly for his
wicked revenge, and try to make him revoke the foreclosure. And now
good-night, my dear, dear friend; and remember that one heart aches for
your sorrow, and sympathizes with your distress,” cried treacherous
Amber, as they parted, he to return to his unhappy mother, she to
rejoice with her grandfather over their signal victory.