Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 81, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1906 — One Man’s Evil [ARTICLE]

One Man’s Evil

By EFFIE ROWLAND

"Gerald Tenby I she repeated in a Strangled sort of Way. “Are you telling me, Edward, that Gerald Tenby has proposed for Antonia?” A great sorrow came into Edward Mafchmont Is _eyes. ‘‘So I learn from my brother,” be answered. "Does this surprise yob, Betty?” -Betty Marchmont was white to the lips. She dared not let her husband see Bor face. She moved to the window and stood looking out into the street with eyes that saw nothing, so bitter and overwhelming was rhe mortification that STCwded her heart. “I told my brother," said her husband, slowly, “that though 1 know -practically nothing of Gerald Tenby. 1 thought it possible that yon would be able to enlightsn him thoroughly. However, there will be no need to discuss this matter, for An tonia has no intention of becoming Ger-_ aid Tenby’s wife." Lady .Betty quivered as if she had been ■truck. Though these words gave her relief in one sense, they stung her in another. ' - “One thing is very certain.” Lady Betty said, finally, “aHdAhat is Antonia cannot remain here." ‘’She has no intention of doing so,” ’replied Mr. Marchmont, very quietly. “Ln an hour’s time or so she will have gone; •nd to me, at least, her depart tire will-sig—-nify a great loss.”.——,——_—,— He walked, to the. door, and opened it for, his wife to pass out as-he said this, and T.ady Betty went with a laugh. When she outside, she did_ not laugh; site walked slowly tip the stairs, •nd her face was. convulsed with passion Even now she could hardly bring herself to believe that what her husband had told her could be true If she could have been sure of seeing Gerald she would have returned to his chambers; but she had no desire to come in contact with George Stanton a second time , She had reached her own room by this time, and she pulled down the blinds with • jerk, and threw herself into a chair to •It and weave out her 1« st way of b*r will. CUAI’TER XV.* Sylvia Castella took counsel with herself dinner with Stanton. She was at first disposed to regard his words in the light of impertinence. ' ' “1 shall have to see that money-Indore my eyes," Sylvia Castella mused, as she lay on her pillow, lazily opening her letters. “I shall have to be well assured there is no trick before 1 give away my freedom. I am not sure that I'm not a - fool to tie myself down at ail ; yet 1 have to..face the unpleasant truth that, despite the fact of my seeming youth, I am verging on that age which means the end of *11” She expected to have seen Stanton during the day that followed: but he did not come. In fact, she neither saw nor heard of him for three days. and, womanlike, Sylvia resented this. “Had she exacted too much?” she asked herself. This day. as she drove to some shops, her mind was dwelling on the question of George Stanton in a manner that was irritating to her. When she left the. shops she drove to the park. Here she descended from her carriage, sttd went to sit awhile on a chair under a shady tree. Many eyes were drawn to' her. and no one gave her purer admiration than a tall, slender, dark-eyed girl, who was walking oh tie gra.s, with two dogs nt her heels. On her part, Sylvia found this girl very pleasant to look upon. She admired the grace with which the girl moved; and the lines of the white linen gown, •nd when a turn of the head revealed Antonia’s face, she felt her admiration deepen. Sylvia Castella felt puzzled; and this feeling deepened vshen she saw the girl move forward eagerly and greet a middleaged man. who came across the grass —a man who looked as if he worked for a living. From under the shade of her parasol Sylvia Watched Antonia greet this man. She was near enough to catch their words, •nd after the first sentence Sylvia smiled. She thought she understood. This was only the emissary of love, not love itself. She listened intently. It was • long, long time since she had been so interested in anything. It was Antonia who spoke firsts “You have nothing to tell me. I can read it in your face." Ben sighed as he looked into Antonia’s •yes. "No news, miss—nothing : only the •ante awful fear, the same mystery.” ~~ “And last night I dreamed he was safe. I seemed to feel I should see him soon. That was why I asked you to come and meet me here. I wanted to be out in the •pen air to have the good news. Lady Charlotte wishes me to be out every morning; but thia is the first time I have had the heart to face the sunshine. It—it nocks me.” “Don’t, miss!” he said, pleadingly. “It cots me to the heart to see you give way. Be brave and patient. Something good •rill oome; it must come —soon.” Antonia threw back her head. “I can be brave, and |>atient, too: but, •h' this kind of trouble is so terrible. If" th* earth had opened and swallowed him. be could not have been lost more surely. Oh, Ben Coop! Ben Coop fwe must find |iim I" ► “If he Is on earth he shall be found, •nfa*/’ oaid Ben; and then they b?th looked round in atertled fashion, for the lady •rho was sitting near gave a low cry And ■prang to her feet. Antoni* gave her a faint amile, and ■■lied back the larger of the two dogs that accompanied her, and that she saw hod approached closely to. the lady's chair.

“I nm no unrrv’* g y, o onia • !*hnt he l« only friendly : he will not hurt any one.” Sylvia Castella smiled back in a forced w 'iy. ■ “He startled me,” she said, and then she bowed, and, turning, moved away. She walked in a mechanical fashion back to whore her carriage stood, and. once she paused and looked behind her. But Antonia and her companion were pacing on slowly together, and if they Had given any heed to her. she . was now forgotten. Silvia laughed bitterly. “This is evidently to be a day of surprise and remembrance,” she said. She drove away, bending -her. proudly to one or two men who recognized her, and she went back to her luxurious little home in a listless frame of mind. A letter was wart i.ng for her. It was in Stanton's handwriting. “I have what you desire. May I come to you- to-night?” he wrote. Sylvia Castella stood looking at the" words! She almost wished, they had not been written. How had he got the money? Sylvia shivered suddenly. She recalled his passionate words of that time they had been together—that fierce declaration that he would sink even to crime if by so doing ho could win her I Acting on a sudden impulse,'she sent him a telegram. • "Imjiossible to-night. Will see you tomorrow.”: And she felt as if she were respited for a time. But she was destined to be taught a new lesson, . As she left the theater that night, after having received her usual ovation', and drove homeward, alone, a hansom followed her carriage, hnd as she alighted at her gate a man's figure approached her, jand took off his hat. "A bargain is a bargain, Sylvia,” StanTon said, in a low voice, "and I could not wait till to-morrow." “You cannot come in now. It is too late,” she said, hurriedly. Stanton laughed as he held open the gate. “As, in a few days we shall be man and wife, I can be allowed certain privileges; Sylvia," he strid. “But if you fear to shock your servants, we can talk in the garden, The night is .lovely,. the air mild; it can do you no hurm.'\ _ Sylvia Castella paused an instant : Ahen, with a shrug-of-hcr-shotHdersrpass--ed up the path and entered the house. Yet she shivered as she heard his step behind her. She had the feeling upon ;h|r that he was a changed man- —-that for Ikt sake he had taken upon himself some dark burden; and she was much nearer the truth than she supi»sed.

CHAPTER XVI. Antonia had left Iter unele’s house without coming in contact with Lady Bet-'ty—-for she could not-but feel that her first instinct of doubt for Lady Betty would be proved a true one. It had cheered her to receive Lady Char lotto's ..ieuder_flail_ye.t..practicaLjsym:. patiiy ; nevertheless, it was not until shewas safely lodged in this friend'sm>me that Antonia fully grasped the magnitude of the step she had taken. It was the morning of the fifth day since Hubert had disappeared. As yet the search had lain only in Ben's hands, aided by one of the porters nt the hotel who had volunteered his services. Had Ben acted on his own responsibili’y he would have gone instantly to Gerald Tenby and have bluntly demanded if the cousins had met, but Antonia quickly objected to. this. "Xo. no.” she had said; "we must go on a different tack. Ben. You must go to MilTCrois Court, I understand, from the newspapers that Sir Gerald Tenby is still there. The papers are not always to be relied upon. Find out for me if he is there, and if he , has been there ever since the funeral.” As she crossed the drive and walked slowly toward one of the smaller paths, she became conscious that some one was following her. Acting on a sudden impulse. she turned and found herself face to face with Gerald Tenby. For an instant everything was'black before Antonia's eyes. She drew back. Had she yielded to the first instinct that pressed on her heart, she would have turned and left this man without even acknowledgment of his presence; but in the brain of most women there lurks a certain faculty which gives them knowledge how to act in the most supremely difficult moments.“You startled me. Sir Gerald,” she said. with a very faint smile;”have you been following me for a long time? 1 did not notice you till just now. What a strange sensar.on it is when one' realizes one is not quite alone I" jShe stretched out her handlas she spoke, and laid it in Gerald’s. "Why should I not get hint in my hands, work him as I will, and so learn the truth?" she thought. •*! want to ask you to listen to me, to try and forgive me it you can,” Gerald said. "I understand that you are separated from your father: that there has been a terrible quarrel between you, and that'you have left your uncle’s house." Antonia bent her head, but said nothing. She waited, and she had not long to wait. -■ ■ "All this is a grief to me." Gerald Tenby said. "Perhaps I ought not to broach the subject to you ; but 4to know from my own lips that I would soongr have sacrificed my own wishes all my life than ha ve been the causeof such a quarrel as this." Then it was that Antonia awakened from her dreams and looked at him. "I don't understand you. Sir Gerald.Y she said, coldly. "What have you to do with the quarrel between my father and myself?” ", “I fear' I am treaiing on delicate ground." he satd, "but 1 hope you will forgive ine. Were it cot lor my earneat

; desire to see you restored to yocir 1 father, i I would never venture to bringnup the subI jcid myself. I ipiew even when I spoke to Lord Marchmont that I was a fool; that though he might, as' be did, entertain my proposal, you' 'would never listen to | any declaration from me; yet we are not always strong or" wise.” . » ' “You are telling me something that I learn for the first Sme. Sir Gerald,” she said. "My father never spoke to me of the —the honor you have done me. We qitarr<-h-d -on-another- subject euti.'vly. in a trivial one.” Gerald Tenby’s heart beat so quick), fhat-for-a-HWnncnt .he--found it impossible. to speak. Before he had framed a. sentence Antonia had spoken again. "I’m afraid I must leave you, Sir Gerald. I am a little late ..already. Lady Charlotte Singleton will be expecting taft. She is good enough to let me stay with her for a little while. Will you call a hansom?” . “I thought she would have said some bitter words,” he said to himself, “but she seemed almost touched when she heard that I had made a proposal to her father. Were she any other woman, I should quickly set down her past treatment of me to cleverness ; but Antonia is honest; she meted out to me the treatment she <'ohsidef(xl’ I deserved. T\’haf' can have changed her I have not the slightest idea; but certainly she is changed. I cannot help feeling that she told me where she was staying in order.that we should meet again." , . ~ • For an instant a smile played on Gerald Tynby's lips. "If this .should be.” he said to himself, between his teeth, “if I should win An-lonm-for my wife, then all the rest might go. for that would be the real triumph.” He rose restlessly ' and walked from the park again'. " Sylvia Castella was a bold woman, and a strong one. She had laid the secret of her great success to the fact that she had never allbwed her heart to interfere with her head. She and Stanton stood together in the little drawing room, and the lamp light fell upon Sylvia almost ■ ruthlessly. She looked, as.she could not help looking, a most beautiful woman, but a woman of her years, a woman who could be* haggard as well as hard. • - “I have changed my mind,” she said To him, abruptly. “I don’t want your money; I only wish to remain free.” “That won’t do, Sylvia,” he said. “There must be no goftg back. I have fulfilled my . share of the bargain, and I sha 11 keep you to yours. - You said you would be my wife if I could give you a huiulred thousand pounds. H<‘fe is. the money.” Silvia Castella drew a deep breath. She recoiled suddenly from the large en-' velope held out to her —she, whose very god was money, shrunk from this vast sum as-t4iough-she was afraid of it. "Where does it come from?" she asked him, hoarsely. “What price have you paid for this?” . “Ask no questions,” he said, and his tone -was—strangely rough.—‘ ’Let it .be enough for you that the money you ask Is there.” “I will not have it,” Sylvia said, in a -clinked-sort of way. *T only joked with you. Take it away and leave me “Too late, Sylvia, my girl.” he said. “You should have reckoned with the cost when you joked with me. Mep like I am are not made to be joked with. You set a price upon yourself, you gave me your word, and there must be no going back. Take this money, and listen to what I have to-say +o you. It is my command that you leave flie stage. 1 do not wish mv wife to earn her bread, nor to let herself be gazed upon by any creature who can twy a-fe w shillings -for doing so. You have had a splendid success, you have tasted the delight of power to its fullest extent. You are no longer very young, Sylvia, but I love yon all the more for tliat. As a wife, I can give you a place in the world that you could never climl to by yourself.” (To be continued.)