NEW EAGLE SERIES No.682
15 CENTS
My Pretty Maid
By
Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
[Illustration]
_STREET & SMITH
PUBLISHERS,
NEW YORK._
MY PRETTY MAID;
OR
LIANE LESTER
BY
MRS. ALEX. MCVEIGH MILLER
AUTHOR OF
"Sweet Violet," "The Pearl and the Ruby," "The Senator's Bride,"
"The Senator's Favorite," "Lillian, My Lillian," and numerous
other excellent romances published exclusively in the
EAGLE and NEW EAGLE SERIES.
[Illustration: S AND S
NOVELS]
NEW YORK
STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS
79-89 SEVENTH AVENUE
Copyright, 1898 and 1899
By Norman L. Munro
My Pretty Maid
Publisher's Note
Notwithstanding the fact that the sales of magazines have increased
tremendously during the past five or six years, the popularity of a
good paper-covered novel, printed in attractive and convenient form,
remains undiminished.
There are thousands of readers who do not care for magazines because
the stories in them, as a rule, are short and just about the time they
become interested in it, it ends and they are obliged to readjust their
thoughts to a set of entirely different characters.
The S. & S. novel is long and complete and enables the reader to spend
many hours of thorough enjoyment without doing any mental gymnastics.
Our paper-covered books stand pre-eminent among up-to-date fiction.
Every day sees a new copyrighted title added to the S. & S. lines, each
one making them stronger, better and more invincible.
STREET & SMITH, Publishers
79-89 SEVENTH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY
MY PRETTY MAID.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. A DESPERATE CHANCE.
CHAPTER II. FATE IS ABOVE US ALL.
CHAPTER III. "MY PRETTY MAID."
CHAPTER IV. SECRET LOVE.
CHAPTER V. ROMA'S LOVERS.
CHAPTER VI. AFTER THE CRIME.
CHAPTER VII. GRANNY'S REVENGE.
CHAPTER VIII. THE BROKEN ENGAGEMENT.
CHAPTER IX. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.
CHAPTER X. ROMA SEEKS A NEW MAID.
CHAPTER XI. THE BEAUTY SHOW.
CHAPTER XII. "THE QUEEN ROSE."
CHAPTER XIII. EDMUND CLARKE'S SUSPICION.
CHAPTER XIV. ROMA FINDS AN ALLY.
CHAPTER XV. "A DYING MOTHER."
CHAPTER XVI. A LOVE LETTER.
CHAPTER XVII. A CRUEL FORGERY.
CHAPTER XVIII. LIANE'S FLEETING LOVE DREAM.
CHAPTER XIX. WHAT DOLLY TOLD.
CHAPTER XX. "AS ONE ADMIRES A STATUE."
CHAPTER XXI. A HARVEST OF WOE.
CHAPTER XXII. AT A FIEND'S MERCY.
CHAPTER XXIII. A MURDEROUS FURY.
CHAPTER XXIV. A STRAND OF RUDDY HAIR.
CHAPTER XXV. A TRUE FRIEND.
CHAPTER XXVI. TREMBLING HOPES.
CHAPTER XXVII. WHEN HAPPINESS SEEMED NEAR!
CHAPTER XXVIII. A SWORD THRUST IN HIS HEART.
CHAPTER XXIX. THE BRIDAL.
CHAPTER XXX. BEFORE THE DAWN.
CHAPTER XXXI. WHEN THE CLOUDS ROLLED BY.
CHAPTER I.
A DESPERATE CHANCE.
"How fast the river flows! How it roars in my ears and drowns the sound
of your voice, my dearest! It is bearing me away! Oh, save me! save me!"
The river was the stream of Death, and the lone voyager floating out on
its rushing tide was a loved and loving young wife.
The frail white hands clung fondly to her husband's as she rested with
her head upon his breast, and the faint voice murmured deliriously on:
"How it rushes on--the wild river! How it rocks me on its broad breast!
It is not so noisy now; it is deeper and swifter, and its voice has a
lulling tone that soothes me to sleep. Hold me tight--keep me awake,
dear, lest it sweep me away to the sea!"
Ah, he would have given the world to hold her back, his darling, the
dearest of his heart, but the rushing torrent was too strong. It was
sweeping her away.
Several days ago a beautiful daughter--her first-born after five years'
wifehood--had been laid in her yearning arms.
But, alas! the first night of its birth, during a temporary absence of
the old nurse from the room, the little treasure had been stolen from
its mother.
Panic seized the whole household, and rigorous search was at once begun
and kept up for days, but all to no avail.
The father was frantic, but, though he would have given his fortune
for the return of the child, he was powerless; and now, as a sequel to
this tragedy of loss and pain, his dear young wife lay dying in his
arms--dying of heartbreak for the lost babe--poor bereaved young mother!
Tears rained from his eyes down on her pallid face as he strained her
to his breast, his precious one, going away from him so fast to death,
while outside, heedless of his despair, the golden sun was shining on
the green grass, and the fragrant flowers, and the little birds singing
in the trees as if there were nothing but joy in the world.
The old family physician came in softly, with an anxious, sympathetic
face, and whispered startling words in his ear.
A look of aversion crossed the young husband's face, and he groaned:
"Doctor Jay, I cannot bear the thought!"
"I feared you would feel so, Mr. Clarke, but all my medical colleagues
agree with me that nothing but the restoration of her child can save my
patient's life. It is the desperate chance we take when we feel that
all hope is lost."
"Then I must consent!"
"You are wise," the old doctor answered, tiptoeing from the room, only
to reappear a little later, followed by the nurse with a little white
bundle in her arms.
The low voice of the delirious woman went babbling on.
"Darling," murmured her husband, pressing his lips to her pale brow.
"Yes, yes, dear, I'm going away from you. Hark!"
The sudden wail of an infant had caught her hearing.
Her dull eyes brightened with returning intelligence, she moved
restlessly, and the nurse laid a wailing infant against her breast.
"Dear mistress, can you hear me? Here is your baby back again."
They had taken a desperate chance when all hope seemed lost.
By the advice of the consulting physicians, another child had been
substituted for the stolen one, and, at its helpless cry, hope crept
back to the mother's breaking heart; the rushing waves ceased to moan
in her ears, silenced by that little piping voice, and the sinking life
was rallied.
She lived, and the babe grew and throve in its luxurious surroundings,
and the mother worshiped it. No one ever dared tell her the truth--that
it was not her own infant that had been restored to her arms, but a
little foundling. No other child ever came to rival it in Mrs. Clarke's
love, and it was this fact alone that sealed her husband's lips to the
cruel secret that ached at his heart. He feared the effect of the truth
on his delicate wife, taking every precaution to keep her in ignorance,
even to moving away from his own home, and settling in a distant place.
Though he never relaxed his efforts to find his lost child, the years
slipped away in a hopeless quest, and Roma, the adopted girl, grew
eighteen years old, and her beauty and her prospects brought her many
suitors.
In his heart Mr. Clarke hoped the girl would make an early marriage,
for he was tired of living a lie, pretending to love her as a daughter
to deceive his wife, while an aching void in his own heart was always
yearning for his own lost darling.