For one terrible moment Xenie St. John and Howard Templeton remained
silently gazing at the excited old man, as if petrified with horror,
then:
"My God, my uncle is a madman!" broke hoarsely from the young man's
ashen lips, in tones of unutterable horror and grief.
Mrs. St. John rushed to the door, threw it wide open, and shrieked aloud
in frenzied accents for help.
The servants came rushing in and found their old master crouching in a
corner of the room, gibbering and mouthing like some terrible wild
beast, his bloodshot eyes rolling in their sockets, his lips all flecked
with foam, while Howard Templeton remained silent in the center of the
room, like a statue of horror.
"A doctor--bring a doctor!" shrieked Xenie, wildly.
It was not five minutes before a physician, living close by, was brought
in, but even as he crossed the threshold, the insane creature rolled
over upon the floor in the agonies of death.
One or two desperate struggles, a gasp, a quiver from head to foot and
the old millionaire lay dead before them.
The physician knelt down and felt his heart and his pulse.
"He is dead," he said, shaking his head slowly and sadly. "I apprehended
a fit the last time he consulted me, some three weeks ago. His mind and
body were both weakening fast. This mournful end was not unexpected by
me."
Mrs. St. John made a quick step forward.
She was about to say, "He did not die in a fit, doctor, he died of
poison," when a hand like steel gripped her wrist.
She looked up and met the stern, awful gaze of Howard Templeton.
"Hush!" he whispered, hurriedly and sternly. "Let the world accept the
physician's verdict. Say nothing of what you know. Do not brand his
memory with the terrible obloquy of insanity and self-murder!"
As he spoke he turned away, and crossed the room, and as he passed the
marble-topped table, it fell over, no one could have told how, and the
bottles and glasses were shivered upon the floor.
One of the servants removed the _debris_, and mopped up the spilled wine
from the floor, and no one thought anything more of it.
Yet, by that simple act, Howard Templeton saved his uncle's name and his
own from the shafts of malice and calumny that must have assailed them
if the terrible truth had come to light.
So the physician's hasty verdict of apoplexy was universally accepted by
the world, and the old millionaire was laid away in his costly tomb a
few days later, regretted by all his friends, and the secret of his
tragic death was locked in the breasts of two who kept that hideous
story sacred, although they were deadly foes.
Yes, deadly foes, and destined to hate each other more and more, for
when the old millionaire's papers were examined, the beautiful widow
found that she was foiled of her dearly-bought revenge at last.
For no will was found, although Xenie protested passionately that her
husband had made a will the very last day of his life.
The most careful and assiduous search failed to reveal the existence of
any legal document like a will, and the lawyers gravely assured Mrs. St.
John that she could claim only a third of her deceased husband's wealth,
the remainder falling to the next of kin, Howard Templeton.
"You see, madam," said the old lawyer, whom she was anxiously
questioning, "if Mr. St. John had left a child, you could claim the
whole estate as its lawful guardian, even without the existence of a
will. But there being no nearer kin than Mr. Templeton, it legally falls
to him, after you receive your widow's portion."
The young widow brooded over those words night and day.
She hated Howard Templeton more than ever.
She would have given the whole world, had it been hers, to wrest that
fortune from her enemy's grasp, and leave him poor and friendless to
fight his way through the hard world.
"Oh! if I only could find that will," she thought wildly. "Is it true
that Mr. St. John made it, or was he deceiving me? He was utterly
insane. Could one expect truth from a madman?"
Gradually, as weary weeks flew by, she began to believe that Mr. St.
John had deceived her.
She felt quite sure in her own mind, after a little while, that he had
never made the will.
He had fully meant for Howard Templeton to inherit his wealth.
Yet bitterly as she regretted its loss she could not bring herself to
hate the memory of the old man she had married, and who had loved her
for a little while with so fond and foolish a passion.
The memory of his dreadful death was too strong upon her.
She woke at night from dreadful dreams that recalled that last awful day
of her husband's life, and lay shuddering and weeping, and praying to
forget that fearful face, and blood-curdling, maniacal laugh that still
rung in her shocked hearing.
"You are growing thin and pale, Xenie," Mrs. Egerton said, when she came
to condole with her, more for the loss of the fortune than the loss of
her husband. "People are talking of your ill looks, and they say you
take Mr. St. John's death so hard, you must have cared for him more than
anyone believed. I let them talk, for, of course, it is very much to
your credit to have them think so, but as I know better myself, I cannot
help wondering at your paleness and trouble."
"It was all so sudden and terrible," murmured the young widow, as she
lay back in her easy-chair, looking very fragile and beautiful in her
deep mourning dress.
"Yes it was very bad his going off in a fit that way," said her aunt.
"Still, it was to be expected, Xenie. He was very old, and really
growing childish, I thought. His going off without a will was the worst
part of it. Of course it hurt you terribly for Templeton to have the
money!"
The sudden flash in Mrs. St. John's dark eyes told plainer than words
how much it had hurt her.
"However, Xenie, I would give over worrying about it," continued her
aunt, soothingly.
"But my revenge, Aunt Egerton. Think how much I sacrificed for it. I
married that foolish old man, and endured his caprices so long without a
murmur, allowed myself to be shut up in solitude like a bird in a cage,
and never murmured at his tiresome exactions. And all for what? Because
I expected to get his whole fortune, and be revenged on the coward who
broke my heart for the sake of it. And to be despoiled of my revenge
like this is too hard for endurance," she exclaimed, walking up and down
the room, and wringing her white hands in a perfect passion of despair
and regret.
"Oh! let the wretch go," said Mrs. Egerton, complacently rustling in her
silks and laces. "You have secured a large portion of the estate,
anyhow. And you are so young and beautiful still, Xenie, you may even
marry a greater fortune than that, when your year of mourning is
expired."
Xenie stopped still in her excited walk, and looked at her aunt.
"I shall never marry again--never," she said earnestly. "I have as much
money as I want, only--only I want to take that from Howard Templeton
because I want to humble him and wring his heart. And there is but one
way to do it, and that is to reduce him to poverty. Money is the only
god he worships!" she added bitterly.
"He treated you villainously and deserves to be punished," said Mrs.
Egerton, "but still I would try to forget it, Xenie. You will lose your
youth and prettiness brooding over this idea of revenge."
"I will never forget it," cried Mrs. St. John, wrathfully. "I will wait
and watch, and if ever I see a chance to punish Howard Templeton, I
shall strike swiftly and surely."
Her aunt arose, gathering her silken wrappings about her tall, elegant
form.
"Well, I must go now," she said. "I see it is of no use talking to you.
Come and see me when you feel better, Xenie."
"I am going to the country next week," said her niece, abruptly.
"Indeed? Has not your mother been up to see you in your trouble?"
inquired Mrs. Egerton, pausing in her graceful exit.
"No. I wrote to her, but she has neither come nor written. I fear
something has happened. She is usually very punctual. Anyway, I shall go
down next week and stay with them a week or two."
"I hope the change may improve your spirits, love," said her aunt,
kissing her and going out with an airy "_Au revoir_."