THE DEATH TRUST 
 
 A NOVEL 
 
 BY 
 
 ADA L HALSTEAD ^ 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 
 Author of THE SERPENT BRACELET 
 
 BY THK AUTHOR 
 
 BOSTON AND SAN FRANCISCO 
 1889 
 
ELEOTROTYPED AND PRINTED BY 
 
 CASHMAX KEATING & Co 597 WASHINGTON ST 
 
 BOSTON IVIASS 
 
Bancroft Library 
 
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 b TO 
 
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 " MY LOVING HUSBAND 
 
 fcj 
 
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 Or 
 
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COPYRIGHT SECURED 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 1 EVELYN WELDON " 1 
 
 3 SHADOWS AND SUNBEAMS 9 
 
 3 THE ARRIVAL 21 
 
 4 LADY OF THE LAKE 31 
 
 5 SNAPPING UP TRIFLES 42 
 
 6 BENEATH THE PINES 51 
 
 7 BETRAYAL 60 
 
 8 THE MAGICIAN 71 
 
 9 THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER 81 
 
 10 WILFORD'S SORROW 88 
 
 11 A PROMISE 100 
 
 13 ADIEUX 112 
 
 13 A TELEGRAM i .' 116 
 
 14 ORPHANED 120 
 
 15 ALONE 137 
 
 16 WEDDED IN DEATH 143 
 
 17 SIXTEEN YEARS AGO 148 
 
 18 TROUBLED FACES . 157 
 
19 DARKSOME DEEDS 167 
 
 20 A SISTER'S LEGACY 180 
 
 21 A FRIEND IN NEED 187 
 
 23 PARTING WAYS 198 
 
 23 AVE MARIA 208 
 
 24 FATE GOETH FIRST ....:.. 221 
 
 25 HOPE REVIVED 227 
 
 26 FACE TO FACE 235 
 
 27 THE FALLEN PORTRAIT 240 
 
 28 GATHERING MISTS 246 
 
 29 DOUBTS 250 
 
 30 RESOLVES . . 256 
 
 31 WAITING 262 
 
 33 THE TEST 266 
 
 33 AUBREY'S TRIAL ..... 271 
 
 34 FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH 277 
 
 35 RETROSPECTIVE AND PROSl'lX 'H YE ... 285 
 30 DEVERELL HALL 292 
 
 37 THE WEDDING EVENING 302 
 
 38 LIGHT THROUGH NIGHT 309 
 
THE DEATH TRUST 
 
HARK to the hurried question of despair! 
 Where is my ehm , An echo 
 
 BRIDE OF ABVDOS. 
 
THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EVELYN WELDON. 
 
 LOVE and hay are thick-sown, 
 And come up full of thistles. 
 
 SHE had dawned upon the fashionable world of 
 New Orleans with a splendor that made her 
 at once the envy of half a score of ambitious 
 belles, and the despair of as many designing 
 mothers, who had planned for their eligible 
 daughters the very success Evelyn had made, 
 with no apparent effort on her own part, ere the 
 season was at its height. 
 
 She was dark, almost, as a Creole ; and beneath 
 the velvet smoothness of her cheeks, the warm 
 Southern blood surged, usually tingeing them with 
 that rich but dainty hue of red we ofttimes see in 
 mother-of-pearl, but at times firing them up to the 
 hottest glow of scarlet. Her features, of the small 
 type, were faultlessly moulded, save in a curve of 
 the red lips, whicli inclined upward with an abrupt- 
 ness that gave them a mocking, almost disdainful 
 
 (1) 
 
2 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 expression. This, be it said, became most apparent 
 to those who coveted her place, and were, conse- 
 quently, ever ready and willing to dissect her. 
 
 Her eyes, however, were her grand weapons, 
 wherewith to slay or charm at will. Splendidly 
 black and mysteriously deep they were, and in 
 them reposed a soft and passive languor, which 
 occasion could awaken into brilliancy outrivalling 
 her dazzling diamonds, or transfuse with hauteur 
 coldly severe. Beautiful in face, tall and symmet- 
 rical in form, carrying herself with elegance which 
 might well win her a position in any royal court, 
 she became at once the centre of attraction in the 
 ball, drawing-room, or opera-box. She was toasted 
 at every feast and named at every club, as Queen 
 of Hearts. 
 
 Yet among the many who adored Evelyn 
 Weldon, who lived in a delirium of bliss over one 
 smile, Monsieur Aubrey Deverell a Frenchman, 
 young, handsome as Apollo alone received her 
 obvious approval. Miss Weldon was present at 
 all prominent social events, and Aubrey was her 
 inevitable shadow. He danced with her; he 
 enticed her away into dim conservatories, where 
 they might share mystical tdte-ti-tetes. He sang 
 and read to her by the hour, without apparent 
 fatigue. They walked, they drove, they occupied 
 Monsieur Deverell' s box at the opera. 
 
 The season had not passed its meridian, when it 
 was rumored that the ensuing spring would find 
 
EVELYN WELDON. 3 
 
 the beautiful flower of Florida installed as mistress 
 at Deverell Hall, one of the oldest estates of 
 the South, whose windows overlooked the waters 
 of the Mississippi, just beyond the domes of the 
 Crescent City ; but this rumor, blown from lip to 
 ear with such assurance, proved an air-bubble. 
 
 The pomp and revelry of the season were over. 
 The earth began once more to gleam in emerald 
 attire. New Orleans heard no more the deafening 
 roar of the Mississippi, as it plunged in white fury 
 toward its eternity, the expanding gulf. As the 
 watery thunder subsided, so did the noisy cymbals 
 of society. As the tufted grass burst from the 
 esplanades and carpeted the lawns, and the spring 
 buds expanded their petals to the kisses of dew 
 and sunbeam, Evelyn Weldon declared her inten- 
 tion of returning to her home, whence she had 
 come for the winter's visit to her mother's sister. 
 
 It was the evening preceding the day set apart 
 for her leave-taking, and Evelyn strolled with 
 Aubrey Deverell through the garden at Seymour 
 Heights. The night was perfect. A delicious 
 warmth mingled with the odor of new-blown 
 flowers. Fair Isis sailed majestically in the 
 heavens, making the firmament glad with silvery 
 smiles, while countless stars twinkled in the quiver 
 of the lake. 
 
 Myrtle Seymour, aged fifteen years, was in the 
 drawing-room at the piano, interpreting one of her 
 favorite Beethoven sonatas. The music floated 
 
4 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 through the open window, and mingled with the 
 redolence of the blossoms. Deverell and his fail- 
 companion walked together in that dreamy night, 
 an Elysium which evokes the voice of love, where 
 love exists ; yet they walked in silence. 
 
 Presently the young Frenchman said, in his 
 seductive tones : " Why can you not prolong your 
 stay with us, mademoiselle ? I can not realize 
 indeed, I do not want to realize that you leave 
 New Orleans on the morrow. It seems forgive 
 me ! unkind of you to run away, just when the 
 drives are becoming so perfect and the opera is in 
 full sway. In another fortnight the gardens at 
 the Hall will be at their gayest. I should be 
 much pleased to drive with you then, and show 
 you my collection of roses, which is said to be the 
 choicest in the State. Stay yet another month 
 with us ! " 
 
 He looked into her face with pleading eyes, which 
 Evelyn dared not trust herself to meet, as she 
 answered : " It is generous of you, monsieur, but 
 I can not disappoint my parents again. Already 
 have I named three dates for my departure. I 
 must redeem my word, in this instance. Yet I 
 should like to stay on forever ! I adore life in a 
 great city. After six months of it I hardly see 
 how I can bring myself to endure our stupid and 
 tasteless existence at Weldon Grange." 
 
 How the clear notes of the mocking-bird, hidden 
 in a distant magnolia-tree, jarred upon her ear, as 
 
EVELYN WELDON. 5 
 
 she waited for his answer ; but she waited in vain. 
 A weight seemed pressing upon her heart ! How 
 pale her cheeks and lips, as she listened for the 
 words which she had repeatedly told herself must 
 come from his lips that night ! Alas, they came 
 not ! 
 
 At length the hour arrived for Farewell to be 
 said. Aubrey then asked for a Cloth of Gold rose, 
 which nestled, half-blown, against the purple-black 
 bands of her hair. Evelyn silently inclined her 
 proud head, as a sign for him to disengage it with 
 his own fingers. When she felt the soft touch 
 upon her cheek and hair, every fibre in /her being 
 thrilled with the power of love ; yet he spoke not 
 the words which would have made her one of the 
 happiest, perhaps the noblest of her sex ! 
 
 He only pressed his lips reverently on the half- 
 withered rose, saying tremulously : " I will treasure 
 this forever, mademoiselle, as the dearest of all my 
 possessions." Then, bending over her cold hand, 
 he kissed it with the same profound respect, and 
 whispered, with low-toned fervor : " Adieu, cMre 
 mine! Adieu! I shall long remember the past 
 winter as the happiest of my life ! " 
 
 She was gone. He watched the door as it 
 closed between them, scarcely knowing his own 
 heart, and little dreaming what an icy grip had 
 suddenly seized Evelyn Weldon's ; yet her white 
 lips really trembled with keen disappointment. 
 
 When the morning came, after a wakeful night, 
 
6 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Evelyn no longer felt disappointed merely, but 
 chagrined, deeply chagrined, at what she had 
 brought herself to look upon as only Monsieur 
 Aubrey's imperturbable deliberation. 
 
 " He loves me ! " she told herself. " His eyes 
 have too often betrayed this truth, for his lips to 
 belie it by their silence ; and, though they suppress 
 their story now, time will, must, bring it forth. 
 I will return to Florida, and keep this love-affair 
 secret, trusting the future for its happier sequel." 
 
 With a heart thus rendered less heavy by its 
 new-born hope, Evelyn went back to Weldon 
 Grange, only to learn, however, that old, old lesson, 
 that hope deferred maketh the heart sick. 
 
 Months passed, and not one word did she receive 
 from the knight of her dreams. Only the Spirit 
 of the Past told her of his existence. From morn 
 till night, from night till morn, she was haunted 
 by a pair of brown eyes, so loving, so true, as 
 they gazed into her own. She was haunted by a 
 voice, coming back from that beautiful past, which 
 thrilled through her like an electric current. 
 
 With the incoming of summer every spark of 
 hope had died out of her heart. One evening, as 
 she stood at her chamber window, listlessly watch- 
 ing the amber cloud-wreaths mass their flame into 
 a seething sea of fire, she shed the last bitter tear 
 over her shattered idol, telling herself that Aubrey 
 Deverell either ignored their past acquaintance, or 
 what was still worse looked upon it as but a 
 
EVELYN WELDON. 7 
 
 frivolous chapter in his book of social triumphs. 
 Doubtless lie had flung away the withered flower 
 he had taken from her hair, promising to treasure 
 it as the dearest of all possessions ; or perhaps he 
 had consigned it to some relic-box, where dwelt 
 fifty other love-mementos, each with an individual 
 history as romantic as the tale of her Cloth of Gold 
 rose. 
 
 Now was the fire of vengeance kindled within 
 her bosom. " He is as false as Mephisto ! " she 
 cried within herself, " but I shall make him boast 
 of one conquest less than his record shows. I 
 will at once accept Wilford Hylton; and the 
 coming winter will find me queening the beau 
 monde of New Orleans, just as I did last season. 
 Wilford's prospects as a barrister would be most 
 brilliant in the city, and he will readily accept any 
 change to obtain me, after these many years. He 
 will be aij easily managed husband ! Oh unsuspect- 
 ing Wilford ! I shall have my Evenings at Home ; 
 I shall dance ; I shall flirt ; in fact I shall no longer 
 be the ice-flower you have been pleased to call 
 me. You shall never surmise that my heart is not 
 wholly your own. I believe I love you less than 
 any of my wooers, but I can manage you better. 
 Oh innocent Wilford !" 
 
 Evelyn danced away, bent upon making herself 
 as charming as possible. She knew the young 
 barrister would be at the Grange that evening ; for 
 Thursday had been his regular calling-night during 
 
8 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 the past three years. He came ostensibly for 
 social chat with the family, but really that he 
 might be near the chosen of his heart, the ice- 
 flower whose unfolding he had watched from its 
 budding until its maturity, a flower all the more 
 beautiful because of its austerity. 
 
 Wilford went home from Weldon Grange that 
 night with his brain in a delirium of joy, for his 
 lovely ice-flower had smiled upon him more than 
 once, and with such benignity! She had played 
 selections from his favorite composers, and even 
 sung the songs she knew he liked best, sung them 
 with such pathos as to send his senses whirling 
 round and round, and make his heart beat like a 
 muffled drum. 
 
 The following fortnight the young barrister 
 lived in Paradise. There were moonlight drives, 
 and walks through quiet paths. There were long 
 and delightful evenings in the vine-clad verandas, 
 and afternoons on the tennis-lawn. There were 
 low conversations under the shady arbors, all 
 with Evelyn, who was, by the end of that time, his 
 affianced bride. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 SHADOWS AND SUNBEAMS. 
 
 THE sky is changed, and such a change ! BYRON. 
 WOULD'ST let a serpent sting thee twice ? SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 THE loud clamor of the gong sounded for the 
 third time, summoning the Weldon family 
 to breakfast. Its sharp clang was significant of 
 impatient servants, and of a breakfast spoiling, 
 which should have been served half an hour before. 
 As the last vibration died away, Evelyn, clad in 
 pale cashmere, appeared at the head of the stairs 
 and slowly descended. She did not enter the 
 breakfast-room as she reached the landing below ; 
 but, sweeping like a princess down the wide hall, 
 she opened the low French window looking into the 
 garden. Stepping lightly from the casement into 
 this Eden retreat, she took a leisurely survey of its 
 treasures, debating what flowers she should choose 
 to adorn her corsage ; for she was a veritable flower- 
 worshipper, and never considered her toilet com- 
 plete without radiant blossoms. She soon decided 
 upon a cluster of rare roses. Hastening to the 
 trellis, where this plant crept in wealthy confusion, 
 she plucked a few of its delicate pink and dew- 
 pearled beauties, and half buried them amidst the 
 cascade of lace flowing over her bosom. Then, 
 
 (9) 
 
10 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 humming a few low notes of perfect satisfaction 
 with the effect, which was, indeed, charming, the 
 dainty pink contrasting with the cream of her gown, 
 and also with her dark type of loveliness, she was 
 about to re-enter the window, when suddenly, from 
 behind the corner of the conservatory, a young girl 
 of about fifteen summers appeared, followed closely 
 by a huge Saint Bernard dog, barking and bounding 
 about in the very height of the ecstacy which a 
 romp with his young mistress had inspired. 
 
 " Down, Bijou, down ! No more play this morn- 
 ing," cried Hazel Verne, as she shook back the 
 gold-brown tresses straying roguishly about her 
 forehead, shading the dark-blue eyes which glowed 
 with the fire of youthful animation. 
 
 Bijou was not to be easily subdued. In vain 
 did Hazel caressingly stroke his glossy black hair, 
 and talk to him in persuasive tones. He dashed 
 forward again, with loud barks challenging her 
 to follow. Wishing to elude him gently, Hazel 
 glanced about her in search of some loophole of 
 escape. Espying the open window, through which 
 Miss Weldon had passed, Hazel gained the aperture 
 with a sudden bound, just in time to plant her foot 
 upon the edge of that young lady's train, as it 
 swept over the threshold. R-r-r-r-ip ! went the 
 folds thereof ! 
 
 " Oh you stupid ! " snapped Evelyn, turning 
 abruptly, her eyes and cheeks aflame with sup- 
 pressed anger. " You disgraceful tomboy ! " she 
 
SHADOWS AND SUNBEAMS. 11 
 
 continued, slowly surveying the culprit from head 
 to foot with scorching gaze. " I 've a mind to box 
 your ears well for this ! " 
 Hood was right : 
 
 Alas for the rarity 
 Of Christian charity ! 
 Under the sun. 
 
 She was about to suit the action to the words, 
 when Hazel lifted tearful eyes to Evelyn's face, 
 and said tremulously: "Cousin Evelyn, forgive 
 me ! I did n't, indeed I did n't mean to so offend 
 you. I was only trying to get away from Bijou," 
 
 " Oh, spare your apologies ! " Evelyn returned 
 with contempt. " You have low manners, or else 
 you would be in the schoolroom preparing your 
 French lesson, instead of romping about the grounds 
 with that dog. Your conduct is beyond endurance. 
 It is insufferable ! " 
 
 " But Cousin Evelyn," she said, with brimming 
 eyes still fixed appealingly upon her cousin's dark 
 and passionate face, " you know aunty objects to 
 my studying before breakfast, and, and I delight 
 in being down by the lake, these beautiful summer 
 mornings, the water is so clear and still, and the 
 birds sing so sweetly. Bijou and I like to search 
 for their nests! Bijou is my only companion ! " 
 
 Here the sensitive mouth quivered piteously ; 
 but Miss Weldon, regardless of her cousin's agita- 
 tion, was about to make some sneering rejoinder, 
 when the colored butler came hurriedly along the 
 hall. 
 
12 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 11 Fore de Lo'd," he muttered audibly, " I nebber 
 see sich a bad reg'lated fam'ly as dis yah ! I 's done 
 ring dat gong free times, 'n de breakfas done git 
 cole ! Missy Eb'lyn, missus done be in de breakfas- 
 room a'waitin' foh you 'n Missy Hazel." With an 
 impatient flourish from one shoulder to the other of 
 the towel he carried, he retraced his steps, leaving 
 the two girls to follow. 
 
 Evelyn did not again turn her glance toward the 
 face which looked at her so pathetically. Shaking 
 off the entreating hand laid upon her arm, she 
 entered the morning-room, and greeted somewhat 
 affectionately her mother, a sweet-faced, gray-eyed, 
 little lady, who sat at the head of the table. Then 
 she turned her attention to a letter which lay 
 beside her plate, awaiting perusal. 
 
 As Hazel stooped to imprint the usual morning 
 kiss upon her aunt's cheek, she could not conceal 
 the tears which threatened an overflow. Being 
 questioned as to the occasion of her grief, she 
 no longer restrained it, but burst into convulsive 
 sobbing, explaining her trouble somewhat inco- 
 herently. "Oh aunty," she concluded, "Evelyn 
 hates me so ! I am sure she hates me ; else she 
 would forgive me ! " 
 
 Mrs. Weldon pushed back the locks of sunny 
 hair, and gazed with compassionate eyes upon the 
 clouded face of her darling, secretly wondering, as 
 she had done many times before, at her Evelyn's 
 implacable dislike of her foster-sister, the child 
 
SHADOWS AND SUNBEAMS. 13 
 
 whom Mrs. Weldon had brought from her brother's 
 deathbed four years previous, promising to love 
 and cherish Hazel forever, as her very own. 
 
 Truly Hazel had been a continuous sunbeam 
 at Weldon Grange, from the day when she first 
 passed its doorway. What could have led to Eve- 
 lyn's dislike of her mother's protegee? On the 
 very day when Hazel came to the Grange, a 
 tiny, black-robed figure, fresh from her father's 
 new-made grave, and innocent of all that pertained 
 to the world's inhumanity, that dislike asserted 
 itself. It was then that the child had heard the 
 first stabbing taunt about dependence; and it came 
 from the lips of one who she had eagerly hoped 
 would take her to her bosom, with something of a 
 sister's affection. 
 
 Alas for Hazel's hopes ! They melted like frost- 
 work in the morning ray. She had not been alone 
 with the daughter of the Grange fifteen minutes, 
 before the child learned how vain was her heart's 
 dearest wish; for Evelyn had said, in a tone so 
 lofty that Hazel could never forget its bitterness : 
 " Hazel, since you are to make your future home 
 at the Grange, I presume you must needs address 
 me as cousin; but I trust you will constantly 
 bear in mind our different positions, and never 
 forget to look upon me as your superior." 
 
 What a burden those unfeeling words added to 
 the bereaved girl's sad heart ! Despite this, how- 
 ever, the barrier which rose between the cousins 
 
14 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 from that moment had never seemed insuperable 
 to Hazel. In her simplicity she believed that 
 gentle perseverance on her part would, in time, 
 win her the coveted place in her frigid cousin's 
 favor ; but that monarch of our lives, commonly 
 termed Fate, thwarted Hazel's one ambition. Each 
 day increased, rather than diminished, the wall of 
 division. Try as Hazel might, to elicit, by her 
 loving ways, a smile of approval from her cousin, 
 she. always received a frown or a sneer. The 
 choicest flower, proffered by Hazel's hand, was 
 declined with a politeness which was irony itself ; 
 while petty caresses were ignored with a resolute- 
 ness which chilled, though it failed to subdue 
 the younger girl. 
 
 This morning the strife had arisen most unex- 
 pectedly, when, fresh from sunshine and dew, 
 Hazel felt as free and happy as the delicate-winged 
 butterflies she and Bijou had been chasing. Little 
 dreamed she of the cloud threatening to drench 
 the joy of her heart; but now the cloud burst, 
 and tears rained in great floods down the fair 
 young face, leaving not a trace of sunshine. 
 
 "Why did you wound her so, Evelyn?" at 
 length questioned Mrs. Weldon, looking at her 
 daughter over the bowl of new-cut flowers gracing 
 the centre of the table ; and in the mild eyes there 
 was a look of reproach. 
 
 Evelyn was at that moment so deeply engrossed 
 in the contents of her letter, that she failed to 
 
SHADOWS AND SUNBEAMS. 15 
 
 hear, or else to mark her mother's words. Why 
 did her cheeks grow so pale, and then flush into 
 crimson? Why did her hand so tremble, as she 
 refolded the sheet of tinted paper, and looked up 
 when Mrs. Weldon repeated her name? 
 
 "What were you saying, mamma mine?" she 
 queried, in a voice wherein a sense of rapture w r as 
 poorly suppressed. Evelyn's bosom rose and fell 
 tumultuously ; but Mrs. Weldon failed to note this 
 emotion, so deep was her sympathy with the niece 
 crouching beside her. 
 
 " I asked," repeated the mother, " how you 
 could have been cruel to Hazel, over what you 
 well knew to be the purest accident ? You have 
 wounded her sorely." 
 
 "But mamma, the child is insufferably awk- 
 ward ! She is forever getting herself into disgrace. 
 My new dress, too ! It was quite enough to pro- 
 voke a saint. However," - this with a softening 
 glance toward her foster-sister, who had quietly 
 slipped into her place at table, " Phebe's adroit 
 fingers will repair the injury, and Hazel may 
 consider the offence as condoned, provided she 
 will be more on her guard in future." 
 
 Hazel said nothing, but her grateful heart flut- 
 tered, and her eyes said : " I will, oh I will, indeed, 
 Cousin Evelyn!" and, with a face fairly aglow 
 with happiness, caught from the kind look which 
 accompanied Evelyn's words, rather than from 
 the words themselves, she sipped her coffee in 
 silence. 
 
16 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 What could have caused this softening toward 
 the object of Evelyn Weldon's wonted contempt, 
 and even aversion? Ah, what indeed? That 
 white -winged messenger, still trembling in her 
 hand! Her heart was now at peace with all 
 things under the blue canopy, for this messenger 
 hailed from the Crescent City, and from Aubrey 
 Deverell ! It breathed to Evelyn the sweet assur- 
 ance that she was not forgotten, even more, 
 that he would soon be with her. 
 
 " Mamma," said the young lady, when they had 
 finished breakfast, and Hazel had gone to the study- 
 room, leaving the two alone, " let me read you my 
 letter. It is from Monsieur Deverell, of New 
 Orleans. Aunt Lydia has doubtless named him in 
 her letters to you." Mrs. Weldon assented. 
 
 DEVERELL HALL, June 7, 
 
 MA CHERE MADEMOISELLE EVELYN : As I have in pros- 
 pect a trip to the Land of Flowers, I have determined, if 
 agreeable to yourself, upon making a brief visit to "Weldon 
 Grange. I shall leave New Orleans on or about the 15th 
 inst., and will telegraph you, immediately upon reaching 
 Tallahassee, the exact hour I will be at your station. So, if 
 the distance be material between Jasper and the Grange, I 
 trust it will not be presuming too far on your hospitality to 
 beg you to meet me at the former place, as I am somewhat 
 wanting in courage, and should positively dread walking 
 alone one mile on unfamiliar soil. Trusting therefore you 
 will take pity on me, and yield me your most excellent 
 protection, mademoiselle, trusting, also, that you will 
 look x somewhat kindly upon my advent, I await your' 
 
 reply. 
 
 Obediently your servant, 
 
 AUBREY LEIGH DEVERELL. 
 
SHADOWS AND SUNBEAMS. 17 
 
 Evelyn refolded the letter, and consigned it to 
 her pocket, convinced that she had. .misinterpreted 
 Deverell's protracted silence, and with her recent 
 bitterness toward him fully exorcised. Presently 
 she looked up, and encountered her mother's 
 questioning gaze. The unwonted color of her 
 daughter's cheek, the happy light in her eye, were 
 now noticed by Mrs. Weldon ; and Evelyn felt her 
 face burn still hotter. Her eyes' drooped under 
 the earnest look. 
 
 " You and Monsieur Deverell are strangers, I 
 know, mamma ; but as he is one of Aunt Lydia's 
 intimate acquaintances, and my friend, I am 
 certain you will welcome him." 
 
 '"I believe he is the young Frenchman who paid 
 you such constant and as Sister Lydia wrote 
 significant attention in New Orleans last winter?" 
 said Mrs. Weldon evasively. 
 
 " True, Monsieur Deverell was courteous to me 
 while I was there," returned Evelyn ; and she spoke 
 almost curtly. 
 
 Mrs. Weldon, feeling more perturbed through 
 this curtness, continued, gently : "Owing to papa's 
 absence from home, your friend's sojourn here 
 will prove somewhat dull, I fear, for want of 
 the customary hunting and fishing. Monsieur 
 Deverell will certainly be welcome. But Evelyn," 
 she added with growing anxiety, "let me entreat 
 you, do not let his stay lead you to neglect your 
 duty toward Wilford Hylton." 
 
18 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 " Wilford Hylton ! " echoed the daughter, every 
 drop of color forsaking cheek and lip. Then, with 
 a futile attempt to regain composure, she said with 
 a forced laugh : " Why, you dear silly mamma ! 
 You take a very sentimental view of Wilford' s 
 addresses to me. This has been no love-affair, 
 at least, not on my part ! Reassure yourself ! " 
 
 She would have laughed again, had not Mrs. 
 Weldon arrested her by a tone of unwonted 
 severity. 
 
 " Evelyn ! " she cried, and her eyes were pained 
 as they rested on her child's face. "Evelyn, it 
 can not be that you have been trifling with this 
 man ! Your father went to Memphis last week, 
 believing his heart's dearest wish had been realized, 
 believing you were Wilford's promised wife. It 
 can not be that you have heartlessly deceived one 
 so good, so noble, so true as Wilford Hylton ! It 
 can not be that you have been thus false to us all !" 
 
 " I was weary of this monotonous life, with being 
 exiled from the world. It was with this desperate 
 craving for change, that I promised Wilford my 
 hand ; but I have bitterly repented my folly more 
 than once, during the short weeks of our engage- 
 ment. Wilford bores me inexpressibly ! I believe 
 I actually like him less than any other gentleman 
 of my acquaintance. With visions of a gay and 
 fashionable life in New Orleans, however, wherein 
 was centred my ambition, I believed I could be 
 happy, even witji him, after a fashion, happy with 
 
SHADOWS AND SUNBEAMS. 19 
 
 an insipid blond constantly in my train. I detest 
 blond men ! They are sentimental, prosy, every- 
 thing but agreeable to me, and I shall never marry 
 one!" 
 
 " You have cancelled your engagement with him, 
 then ?" Mrs. Weldon questioned, or rather sobbed. 
 
 " No ; but we are to take a canter over to Fair- 
 acre this morning, audit will be a good opportunity," 
 returned the other, with almost stolid indifference. 
 
 " Poor Wilf ord ! poor, poor boy ! " sobbed Mrs. 
 Weldon ; and her head sank lower and lower until 
 it rested sorrowfully on the table. 
 
 " I should think," pursued Evelyn, with a grow- 
 ing sense of vexation over her mother 's depression, 
 "you would consider my happiness before Wil- 
 ford's." 
 
 " But, daughter, after all these years of what he 
 considered vain worship, you at least gave him 
 encouragement. More, you gave him a happiness 
 he never dared dream of. Now you would delib- 
 erately nip that new-budded happiness, and thus 
 despoil a life that would otherwise be fruitful in 
 all that is bright and worthy. You would trample 
 on a true heart, only that your own may be again 
 put to the test of disappointment." 
 
 Evelyn started at these words, but her mother 
 went on in the same wounded tone : " Lydia has 
 insinuated that Monsieur Deverell is considered 
 somewhat of a flirt, an admirer of the ladies in 
 general. Though his proposed visit may be incited 
 
20 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 by friendship only, it is this visit, evidently, which 
 prompts you to a revocation of your engagement 
 with the best young man in our circle." 
 
 Evelyn flushed and paled under these true-aimed 
 words. Had her mother then read the secret she 
 had tried to guard from all the world ! Her tone 
 certainly signified as much. 
 
 The girl felt her position to be very trying. She 
 saw that to prolong the subject would be awkward 
 as well as impolitic. She wished her mother would 
 leave the room, or that something would occur to 
 break the awkward silence which ensued, She did 
 not care, just at that moment, how terrible that 
 something might be, if it would only offer her an 
 opportunity to run away to her own room, where 
 she might be alone with her unutterable joy, the 
 joy which was convulsive from long suffocation. 
 
 The minutes seemed hours; but at length foot- 
 steps were heard along the hallway outside the 
 breakfast-room. Another moment, and the door 
 was thrown open by the butler, who announced : 
 " Massa Hylton ! Missy Eb'lyn, Alcides am saddled 
 at de block." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ARRIVAL. 
 
 I HATE the crowded town ; 
 I can not breathe shut up within its walls. 
 Air, I want air, and sunshine, and blue sky ! 
 
 LONGFELLOW. 
 
 WELDON GRANGE, one of the oldest and 
 richest estates in Florida, stood pictur- 
 esquely in the midst of vast orange-groves, which, 
 in this summer month, gleamed with richest dark- 
 green foliage, the yellow globes thick-hanging in 
 delicious contrast. 
 
 Almost castle-like appeared the massive stone 
 structure, with its stately wings jutting abruptly 
 toward the north, east, and west. Its many oriel 
 windows and gabled roofs were parched and 
 blackened by the suns of at least five decades, 
 and guarded by several silvern spires, reared like 
 sentinels against the vaulted sky. Quaint carvings 
 about the eaves, and surmounting the pillars which 
 supported the verandas, frowned savagely down 
 upon a lawn smooth as velvet. This lawn swept 
 along to the wide driveway on one side ; while on 
 the other it engirdled artistic flower-beds, and 
 formed a striking background to the bevy of mar- 
 ble cherubs around the fountain, and to the fair 
 Naiad who peered gracefully through the veil of 
 (21) 
 
22 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 water. This fountain was the chief feature of the 
 grounds, the water being thrown up from a mam- 
 moth seashell, supported by the nymph. Rising 
 into the air in divided and scintillant columns, to 
 the height of many feet, the water was abruptly 
 shivered into a myriad of gem-like drops, and 
 then fell musically back into the basin-lake below, 
 which contained a multitude of goldfish, and where 
 floated the large-leafed Ethiopian lily, and other 
 aquatic plants. A thick and even-clipped hedge of 
 cedar skirted the orchards, except at the southern 
 extremity, where a lake gleamed through a high 
 and tangled wall of weeping-willow and cypress- 
 pine. 
 
 Outside this hedge, look in whatever direction 
 one might, naught but an endless stretch of forest 
 met the eye, with occasional sunny openings, 
 through which the white road could be discerned, 
 as it trailed along beneath interlaced branches of 
 hemlock, pine, and cypress, making its way, like 
 a huge serpent, toward Jasper, the neighboring 
 town, in one direction, toward Cypress Dell, the 
 Weldon burying-ground, in another direction ; and 
 in yet another, toward the gentle Suwanee, near 
 whose banks was situated Gerald Weldon's vast 
 rice plantation, known as Fairacre. 
 
 How far removed seemed the Grange and its 
 beautiful surroundings from the noisy world, 
 how remote, indeed, from the tinkling cymbals for 
 which Evelyn's heart so languished ! The Grange 
 
THE ARRIVAL. 23 
 
 seemed like a little world distinct unto itself this 
 evening, with the blue-arched dome above, the air 
 so hushed, with no voice of a living or breathing 
 thing, no sigh of leaflet, no whisper from the furred 
 pines, lifting their dark arms high against the sky. 
 
 It was almost sunset. Already the flake- white 
 clouds above were tinged with amethyst and gold, 
 and flowers were breathing out their sweetest 
 incense. Magnolia blossoms made the atmosphere 
 almost stifling with their fragrance, so oppressive, 
 indeed, that Hazel Verne who was sauntering 
 along the avenue beneath their cloistering arms, 
 and had reached up a rounded arm to take one 
 of the waxen chalices concluded suddenly that 
 she did not want it, and plucked a bright green 
 leaf instead. 
 
 Then away she tripped down the avenue, with 
 Bijou at her side, her heart so full of happiness 
 that low, sweet notes burst from her lips, despite 
 her desire to repress them, so sacred did she hold 
 the quiet which reigned throughout. It seemed to 
 her like silent evening prayer, in which even the 
 birds had united; and what was her song but 
 prayer, the prayer which the guileless of heart 
 all sing, in which even the angels join ! The 
 murmured song died away gradually, as the young 
 girl came deeper and deeper into the orchard ; 
 and when it had ceased altogether, the air was the 
 more solemnly still. Toward an aperture in the 
 high hedgerow Hazel made her way, and then 
 
24 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 stood, with hands clasped absently behind her, her 
 fair hair kissed by the gentlest breeze, and her 
 eyes fixed, expectantly, upon a certain clearing in 
 the forest, through which a glimpse of the road to 
 Jasper, six miles distant, was visible. 
 
 She was watching for Evelyn's return, the latter 
 having driven to the station to meet her expected 
 friend and guest, from whom she had received a 
 despatch that morning, stating that he would reach 
 Jasper by the evening train. 
 
 At length Hazel perceived a thick cloud of 
 dust curling upward, which signaled the vehicle's 
 approach. When this cleared away she saw that 
 two persons were seated in the wagon. Fully con- 
 vinced that her cousin had not been disappointed, 
 she called to Bijou, who had been sitting near, 
 his soft black eyes fixed upon her face, with that 
 expression of affection so peculiar to his breed. 
 Linking her hand lovingly within his collar, they 
 went together beyond the hedge in search of wood- 
 violets, which, at this season of the year, grew 
 luxuriantly in shady nooks throughout the forest. 
 It was some time before the cart, drawn by Alci- 
 des, Evelyn's riding pony, a beautiful iron-gray, 
 with sweeping, jet-black tail and mane, advanced 
 through the gate into the driveway. Here Evetyn 
 gave the reins into the hands of the hostler, sug- 
 gesting to her companion that they walk through 
 the grounds to the house. 
 
 Monsieur Deverell was somewhat above the 
 
THE ARRIVAL. 25 
 
 medium height, finely proportioned, with broad 
 shoulders and a knightly bearing, which made his 
 presence commanding. From beneath somewhat 
 heavy but perfectly-arched brows, a pair of dark- 
 brown eyes looked out, clear and steadfast. In 
 their depths the spirit of wit reposed, which spoke 
 volumes, even when the lips were mute beneath 
 the shadow of the drooping brown mustache. 
 
 His hair, of a shade darker brown, was worn 
 close-clipped, thus defining a high, olive brow, 
 his noblest feature, indicative, like his eyes, of 
 intellectuality, befitting the forehead of some olden 
 bard. His hands were decidedly masculine in 
 shape, but white and soft, unmistakably, hands 
 whose touch could speak eloquently enough to 
 excite woman's love. His voice was never monoto- 
 nous ; and every syllable was a note suggestive of 
 its rich tenor. What a voice ! What power to 
 thrill a sensitive heart! There was rapture in 
 listening to it, even in ordinary conversation. 
 
 As Evelyn and her visitor sauntered on, he sur- 
 veyed, with a true connoisseur's eye, the magnificent 
 picture which the Grange presented in the twilight, 
 with the oriel windows ablaze in the sun's parting 
 rays, and the spires, like fairy-wands, gleaming 
 against the sky, a sky where sprites might dwell 
 in love, a home where happiness should reign 
 supreme ; and so thought Deverell, as he gazed 
 silently, almost breathlessly, upon the picture. 
 
 "What, a perfect background!" he at length 
 
26 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 remarked to Evelyn, who had been watching, with 
 eyes full of a pleased light, his charmed contem- 
 plation of her home ; for she was proud of Weldon 
 Grange. f 
 
 " The lake glistening yonder through the dark 
 foliage, together with this gorgeous sunset, confer 
 such a magic effect that I am inclined to believe all 
 this to be but a scene of enchantment, and shall 
 expect, presently, to see water-nymphs take full 
 possession. Truly dear mademoiselle," he added 
 seriously, "you should be content and happy, 
 beyond a desire, in such a home. It is heavenly ! " 
 
 " Happy ! " and Evelyn challenged him with a 
 coquettish glance from beneath her long lashes. 
 "Ah yes!" with a sigh, which (in justice to her, 
 let it be said ) was not feigned. " I know I should 
 be happy here ; but, monsieur, even Paradise itself 
 would in time grow tedious if, day after day, the 
 same humdrum routine beset you. My conception 
 of true happiness involves life in town, where one 
 is offered constant diversion. I am not idyllic 
 enough to circumscribe my existence within orange- 
 groves and rice-fields." 
 
 Aubrey laughed. "Ah, Mademoiselle Evelyn, 
 how our opinions differ ! To me the air is stifling 
 in the crowded town. I would never become bored 
 with such joy as could be extracted from a home 
 like this. With all this pure, sweet air to breathe, 
 these endless forests to explore, I should find 
 continual diversion. And you have a companion," 
 
THE ARRIVAL. 27 
 
 he added. " Mrs. Seymour has mentioned to me 
 a foster-sister, your cousin, I believe." 
 
 " Oh, Hazel is but a mere child. Being under 
 the tuition of a governess, of course she proves a 
 very poor companion for me," returned Evelyn; 
 "but come, monsieur," she continued, discom- 
 fited, she knew not why, at this inadvertent, 
 though direct reference to Hazel Verne, " what a 
 neglectful hostess you must think me, for suffering 
 you to loiter here, when I should remember your 
 fatigue, and that you are almost starved. Come ! 
 I see mamma is waiting, on the veranda, to be 
 presented." 
 
 Introductions being over, and a few compliments 
 exchanged between Mrs. Weldon and her daugh- 
 ter's visitor, he was conducted to his apartment, 
 and Evelyn hurried away to dress for dinner. 
 
 As she reached the head of the stairs she came 
 abruptly face to face with her foster-sister. Hazel 
 was dressed in white lawn, her bright curls caught 
 into a careless cluster at the back of her shapely 
 head, and there confined by a knot of pale-blue 
 ribbon. Lovely and pure she appeared, like the 
 tiny bunch of wood- violets which she held in one 
 hand ; but the smile which lingered ' about her 
 sensitive mouth lost something of its brightness as 
 she met her frowning cousin thus suddenly, and her 
 eyes fell beneath the glance which always expressed 
 so much disapprobation when fixed upon her; 
 yet she asked, half-hesitatingly : "Will I do, 
 Cousin Evelyn?" 
 
28 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 "Will you do for what?" Miss Weldon let 
 her eyes wander from the bronze hair to the fault- 
 lessly clad feet of the younger girl, and a palpable 
 change crossed her features. 
 
 " To be presented to your friend, Monsieur 
 Deverell," replied Hazel confused, and then deeply 
 flushing under this close inspection. 
 
 "I presume you are presentable," returned 
 Evelyn at length ; " but," added she loftily, " you 
 could well have spared your toilet this unusual 
 consideration, as Monsieur Deverell will probably 
 not give you a second glance. What are you going 
 to do with those violets ? " she asked abruptly, as 
 her eyes fell upon the delicate petals in Hazel's 
 hand. 
 
 " I have brought them from the dell, and thought 
 to wear them at my throat," said Hazel. 
 
 " Give them to me ! " said the other imperatively. 
 " You are much too young for superfluous adorn- 
 ment! Such a thought means vanity; and vanity 
 in a child is more than absurd, it is ridiculous ! 
 Besides, plain and neat attire, without embellish- 
 ments of any sort, would be more befitting a girl in 
 your position." 
 
 Thus speaking she took the flowers from the 
 hesitating hand. Paying no heed to the tear-laden 
 eyes she continued: "And I must enjoin you, 
 Hazel, do not make yourself conspicuous tonight in 
 the drawing-room, as you generally manage to do 
 before strangers, by introducing your book of 
 
THE ARRIVAL. 29 
 
 sketches ; and do not tell monsieur that you delight 
 in rowing, and will take him for a sail on the lake 
 sometime. All this is child's play and bores one 
 exceedingly, as I have before told you. Monsieur 
 Deverell is my guest, remember, and his entertain- 
 ment rests with me alone." 
 
 With these words she turned and swept down 
 the corridor toward her room, leaving Hazel to 
 descend the stairs slowly, with lips quivering and 
 eyes suffused with tears, tears so often forced 
 from their secret wells by the stinging tongue of her 
 cousin. 
 
 In the hall below Hazel encountered her aunt, 
 who was on her way to the dining-room. Impul- 
 sively she threw her arms about Mrs. Weldon's 
 waist, crying as she did so : " Aunty, I would like 
 to take my dinner with Arline tonight! Mayn't 
 I ? Do please say I may ! " 
 
 Wondering at the girl's vehement manner, Mrs. 
 Weldon gently disengaged the clinging hands, and 
 drew her pet around in front of her. 
 
 " Why this new caprice, my darling ? " asked 
 she tenderly; and then the troubled face was 
 uplifted to her own. 
 
 "Because because oh aunty, I had rather 
 I had rather not." Here she faltered, sobbing 
 softly. 
 
 " Why, what can have happened to you, child ? 
 But an hour ago I looked into the garden, and saw 
 you with a face as glad as the flowers," said her 
 
30 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 aunt in alarm ; " but there, there ! " she added, 
 stooping to imprint a hasty kiss upon the bright 
 hair, as she suddenly remembered that her daugh- 
 ter had gone upstairs just before, and was perhaps 
 accountable for Hazel's grief, " you may go to 
 Arline's room if you prefer. I will see that Sarah 
 sends up a cosy dinner which you may enjoy 
 together. I shall miss you at table, darling; but 
 go, if you would be happier away." 
 
 "Not happier away from you, dear aunty," 
 whispered Hazel. Then with a grateful kiss she 
 bounded upstairs, and away to the governess's 
 room, where, upon Arline's kindly bosom, she 
 sobbed away her grief, and was soon all sunshine 
 again. 
 
T 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 SWEET is the breath of morn ; her rising sweet 
 With charm of earliest birds. MILTON. 
 
 HE following morning, when, as the poet sings, 
 
 Earliest day 
 Dappled with gold the eastern ray, 
 
 Hazel arose. She was Nature's true offspring, and 
 in her bosom throbbed the power of sentimentality. 
 Hence, during the season of perfume and roses, 
 she could never think of allowing Baby Morn to 
 glide away, without lingering with her awhile in 
 some favorite resort. 
 
 To Hazel the flowers smelled far sweeter when 
 empearled with dew, and the wild birds' earliest 
 song-notes were rife with clearer melody than 
 when the day had grown older. Then, too, at 
 sunrise the butterflies came, in great families, 
 wearing their most gorgeous colors, to enjoy, with 
 her, the sweets of the garden. They seemed more 
 numerous than ever this morning, as Hazel entered 
 their fragrant retreat, looking a queen among 
 them, as she hovered over a tea-rosebush, drinking 
 in the fresh aroma of the flowers. 
 
 She presented a picture of youthful loveliness, 
 (31) 
 
32 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 to which, if portrayed on canvas, a Titian might 
 have given pre-eminence in his studies. A spir- 
 ituelle face was hers, with a skin whose texture 
 corresponded with the delicate heart of the rose 
 she had plucked, and which she now devoured 
 with azure eyes, brimful of thoughtful pathos. 
 Her lips, slightly parted, glowed a rich carmine, 
 over teeth as perfect as pearls. Crowning all was 
 her glorious hair, the sort that artists rave over, 
 now pure gold, now a true chestnut or bronze, as 
 the lights and shadows played upon it. 
 
 She wore a light-blue merino dress this morning, 
 of the Mother Hubbard design, destitute of all 
 trimming, save for narrow frills of white lace at 
 throat and wrist. This modern - antique frock, 
 falling in loose folds from the breast, kept one in 
 ignorance as to her form ; yet, if her contour was 
 undefined, her every movement was toned with 
 unconscious grace, which the very naivete of her 
 dress made the more irresistible ; and the large 
 rustic hat, which she* suffered to hang carelessly 
 over her shoulders, rather than rest on her head, 
 was, like her other apparel, en rapport with her 
 youthful loveliness. 
 
 Our young heroine had not long to tarry in the 
 garden this morning ; as, before leaving her room, 
 she had resolved upon going down to the lake, 
 from one point of which she desired to sketch a 
 patch of water-lilies, whose development she had 
 been watching for several days past. In her eyes 
 
LADY OF THE LAKE. 33 
 
 they had now attained the height of perfection, 
 and rocked on the clear breast of waters, a beau- 
 teous commingling of buds and blossoms, their 
 hues, of the daintiest pink mingled with waxen- 
 white, their whole effect softened by a background 
 of dark, broad, heart-shaped leaves. 
 
 Under one arm Hazel carried her sketchbook; 
 and soon, with a last wistful look at the garden, 
 she hastened away, taking her course, with the 
 floetness of a fawn, through a narrow path which 
 divided the orchard, leading down to the willows. 
 
 The happiest hours Hazel could remember since 
 her advent at Weldon Grange had been passed on 
 the placid bosom of the lake. Here she was wont 
 to sit or lie by the hour in her little boat, reading, 
 drawing, or idly dreaming, and allowing the gentle 
 current to drift her hither and thither at will. 
 
 Sometimes she would not loosen the boat from 
 its fastening, but would lie therein, beneath the 
 sheltering willows. Rocked by the motion of the 
 water, and charmed by the notes of some wild bird 
 overhead, she would fall asleep, and dream, her 
 head pillowed upon Bijou, her one inseparable 
 companion. 
 
 This morning, on gaining the margin of the 
 water, Hazel untied her boat. Calling the dog, 
 who had found the scent and followed in pursuit 
 of his mistress, they both jumped aboard, and 
 IFa/.d took the paddles and rowed out, making a 
 circuit around her tuft of lilies. There was hardly 
 
34 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 a dimple on the lake, and not enough breeze 
 astir to render the boat unsteady. So, having 
 chosen a favorable point of view, she abandoned 
 the oars, opened her .sketchbook, and commenced 
 tracing delicate lines therein. Deftly her white 
 fingers strayed over the leaf, as with rapid glances 
 she interpreted the living flowers before her. So 
 absorbed did she become in her work, that a 
 sudden sharp growl from the dog caused her to 
 start with such violence as nearly to upset the 
 boat. 
 
 The pencil fell from her hand as she directed 
 her glance toward the bank, whereon Bijou's eyes 
 were fixed with such savage interest, while he 
 growled continuously. What Hazel saw on the 
 edge of the water was nothing to arouse the dog's 
 protective instincts. It was only a tall young 
 man, apparently on the sunny side of thirty, with 
 deep-hazel eyes, half-laughingly and half -seriously 
 bent upon her, and a white hand indolently twist- 
 ing the corners of a heavy, brown mustache, while 
 he leaned in graceful abandonment against a 
 sapling. 
 
 As Hazel met his steady gaze, across the short 
 distance intervening, she acknowledged his defer- 
 ential, if unduly confident bow, with the slightest 
 inclination of her head. The next moment, how- 
 ever, she felt the hot blood rush into her face 
 and throat ; for she suddenly remembered the 
 indiscretion involved in speaking to a perfect 
 
LADY OF THE LAKE. 55 
 
 stranger. Thereupon she averted her face, and at 
 once resumed pencil and sketchbook ; but all was 
 now confusion. She had forgotten where she had 
 left off drawing, and could not direct her eyes 
 toward her study with any deliberation, being 
 conscious, the while, of the fixed gaze of those 
 masculine eyes. To sit idly in the boat would, she 
 knew, be extremely awkward ; so putting aside her 
 portfolio, she resumed her oars, with the thought 
 of rowing toward the opposite embankment. 
 
 " There," she resolved, " I will secure my boat, 
 and take a quiet ramble with Bijou in search of 
 wild flowers." With this thought she glided 
 onward, with the adroitness of one who had long 
 been used to the water, and was rapidly widening 
 the distance between them, when there came an 
 abrupt shout from the bank behind her. 
 
 " Mademoiselle ! Mademoiselle ! " called the 
 voice ; and, fully confident of its being directed 
 toward herself, Hazel cast a quick glance over her 
 shoulder, to see the strange gentleman gesticulat- 
 ing, and beckoning her to return. 
 
 More confused than surprised, and more vexed 
 than pleased at this new freak of familiarity, 
 she rested on her oars irresolutely, watching the 
 crystalline beads drip from their blades. Should 
 she return ? She debated this question hurriedly in 
 her mind for a moment. Until now she had not 
 given the gentleman's identity a thought ; but 
 suddenly it flashed upon her that he must be 
 
36 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Evelyn's visitor from New Orleans ; whereupon 
 she deemed it her duty to at least pay him due 
 respect. At once she turned her graceful head 
 and looked at him again, this time with a faint 
 smile beaming from her eyes, rather than lips. 
 
 " You were calling me, monsieur ? " she cried 
 out half-timidly ; and her voice floated like a 
 silvery lute to Aubrey Deverell for he it indeed 
 was across the tranquil water, breaking in upon 
 the birdsong over his head, like a silvery lute. 
 
 " I merely desired to express sincere regrets 
 to mademoiselle for having disturbed her at her 
 drawing. Pray resume it, and I- will leave forth- 
 with." Saying this, Aubrey touched his hat and 
 bowed with profound reverence, as Hazel began 
 rowing toward him. 
 
 "Oh, I dare say the lilies will remain unmo- 
 lested until tomorrow morning, when I shall finish 
 sketching them," she returned laughingly; and 
 then she added half-shyly, as she drew very near the 
 embankment where he stood : "I presume you 
 are Monsieur Deverell, my cousin's guest, who 
 arrived yesterday from New Orleans ? " 
 
 " I have that honor, mademoiselle," he assented, 
 again bowing low, with one hand upon his breast ; 
 " and in return I must ask," he added, "-who may 
 be this fay in fairyland?" He bent his handsome 
 eyes upon her with a look of deep admiration as he 
 spoke, a look which sent the crimson into her 
 cheeks, and caused the long lashes to veil a pair of 
 
LADY OF THE LAKE. 37 
 
 eyes which monsieur thought the loveliest he had 
 ever beheld. 
 
 " Oh, I supposed you knew, monsieur ! I am only 
 Hazel," she replied, trying to dispel her unwonted 
 diffidence. She had now touched the shore, and 
 was on the point of following Bijou, who had 
 bounded from the boat and was sniffing suspiciously 
 around monsieur's heels ; but suddenly thinking 
 that her new-formed acquaintance might enjoy a 
 short sail, as it was still quite early, instead of 
 accepting the hand proffered to assist her out she 
 asked : " Do you enjoy rowing, Monsieur Dev- 
 erell ? If so, I will take you over and show you 
 my beautiful water-lilies." 
 
 The words had no sooner been spoken than he 
 was beside her with one light bound. " And will 
 mademoiselle permit me ? " asked he, placing his 
 white hands upon the oars, and mentally remarking 
 upon the rare loveliness of this wee Lady of the 
 Lake, who freely surrendered them to him, and her 
 seat also, herself taking the place in front. 
 
 " Now," resumed Monsieur Aubrey, as, with two 
 deep strokes, he cleared the bank by a dozen yards, 
 " you tell me you are Hazel ; but is not this a little 
 vague ? Will you not say Hazel who ? " 
 
 His companion was laughing gayly, her amuse- 
 ment being provoked by Bijou, whom they had 
 left on the bank, but who had plunged in after 
 them, and was now making frantic efforts to gain 
 the side of the boat. Being questioned thus, her 
 
38 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 countenance instantly lost its mirth. As she 
 looked into his face, he saw the deep-blue eyes 
 were full of hurt surprise and disappointment. 
 
 " Why ! " she exclaimed, " has neither my aunt 
 nor my cousin mentioned me in your presence ? I 
 am Hazel Verne ! Mrs. Weldon is my aunty." 
 
 Her heart grew heavy at the thought that 
 her foster-mother could have so far forgotten her 
 existence as not to name her to Evelyn's guest. 
 " After all, what does it signify?" she continued. 
 "A mere child like myself can be of little interest 
 to you. Doubtless they had more important things 
 to talk about." 
 
 " A mere child ! " repeated Aubrey, amused at 
 her words. " I beg to venture," he added, " that 
 mademoiselle has seen her fourteenth summer." 
 
 " I was fifteen last March," returned the young 
 girl. " Cousin Evelyn, though, looks upon me as 
 an infant." 
 
 " But," continued the young Frenchman, with a 
 merry twinkle in his eye, " infants do not sketch, 
 and row themselves about on the water, except in 
 fairy tales. Your cousin's idea of infancy is truly 
 inconsistent." At this they both laughed heartily. 
 
 " But do not allow yourself to think for a 
 moment, my wee Lady of the Lake, may I so 
 call you ? " he added playfully, " that Madame 
 Weldon has been so unmindful of you. She 
 mentioned her little niece to me several times last 
 evening, a niece who, I believe, excused herself 
 
LADY OF THE LAKE. 39 
 
 from dinner through some caprice, but to whom I 
 should be presented today. I have heard of this 
 same niece through others also ; but, strange to 
 say, I never heard her name, in full, until within 
 the past twenty minutes. Now, you see, we have 
 escaped the formality of an introduction, and thus 
 stolen a march on Madame Weldon and your 
 cou " 
 
 " Monsieur Deverell ! Monsieur Deverell ! " 
 called a voice from an unknown quarter, in not 
 altogether placid accents. Looking toward the 
 bank, they both saw a white-clad form standing 
 amidst the tufted growth of ferns and grass 
 bordering the water. 
 
 "Ah Mademoiselle Evelyn, bonjour!" exclaimed 
 Deverell, gaily. " You see," continued he, " I have 
 made myself quite a hero this morning, in fact a 
 second Knight of Snowdoun ; " and he laughingly 
 turned to his fair companion, though failing to 
 note the change which had come over her face, 
 giving it a half-terrified look. 
 
 Not until this moment had Hazel recalled Eve- 
 lyn's words to her on the previous evening : " Do 
 not invite Monsieur Deverell for a sail on the 
 lake ! " These words now were blazoned in 
 memory with letters of flame. The startled look 
 deepened in her eyes, while her heart suddenly 
 grew numb. Hers was not the grayish pallor 
 which had settled upon Miss Weldon's counte- 
 nance, as she encountered the pretty picture on 
 
40 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 the lake; for Evelyn clenched her hands in the 
 fury that seized her, and the feeling of antipathy 
 toward her foster-sister deepened into scalding 
 gall, which seemed to rise in her throat and 
 strangle her. She grew dizzy, and mistily heard 
 Deverell's jocular words, as she would have heard 
 them in a dream. 
 
 She soon mastered her outward perturbation, 
 however. She had exerted all her skill, this 
 morning, to render herself doubly fascinating in 
 the eyes of her visitor, and she would not suffer a 
 mere chit, like Hazel, to undo her artistic work ; 
 for she was fully conscious of her own success at 
 the toilet. Evelyn wore a close-fitting robe of 
 pearl-white texture, graced with endless falls of 
 foamy lace, with white satin bows interspersed. 
 A cluster of white rosebuds were half-buried in 
 the jabot of lace at her throat, while a single bud 
 nestled amid the luxuriant meshes of her hair. 
 She looked a very goddess of purity, but in truth 
 she was like the flower which bears a gnawing 
 canker at its heart, threatening its destruction. 
 
 By the time Aubrey and Hazel had come ashore, 
 Evelyn appeared an utter stranger to anger. She 
 extended a lily hand to the gentleman, with one of 
 her most benignant smiles, and with just enough 
 color in her cheeks to render her perfect, in 
 attractiveness. 
 
 " Breakfast is served, monsieur, and I have 
 been scouring the premises in search of you," said 
 
LADY OF THE LAKE. 41 
 
 she, as he deliberately secured the boat to a willow 
 bough. " We will go to the house at once, as 
 mamma is waiting." Then, as she accepted his 
 proffered arm, she laughingly added : " So you 
 have proven a second James Fitz- James ! " 
 
 " And my little Lady of the Lake, how fair a 
 fay is she ! " returned Aubrey, in a tone which, 
 despite its playfulness, had a shade of seriousness 
 in it. He failed to see the sidelong glance directed 
 from the accusing black eyes toward Hazel, a 
 glance which flustered the young girl's heart, and 
 buried itself therein like a poisoned arrow. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 SNAPPING UP TRIFLES. 
 
 THINK naught a trifle, though it small appear ; 
 Small sands, the mountain ; moments make the year ; 
 And trifles, life. YOUNG. 
 
 WELDON GRANGE boasted of many apart- 
 ments ; but few were so bright and alluring 
 as the spacious morning-room, with its lofty ceiling 
 of polished oak, and its elaborately carved wainscot, 
 with alternate oak and walnut panelling. Abroad 
 and deep-set oriel window at the east end admitted 
 golden floods of sunlight, while another, its vis-a- 
 vis, overlooked the garden, and the tennis-lawn 
 beyond. 
 
 The appointments of this room were very 
 tasteful. The furniture was of carved walnut, 
 upholstered with vermilion and gold damask, and 
 the graceful window drapings bore the same warm 
 colors. Through the plate-glass doors of a massive 
 sideboard an endless array of crystal, silver, and 
 Sevres china glittered and flashed; and all the 
 minor details, the pictures and bricabrac, were in 
 keeping with the luxury which reigned throughout 
 the room. 
 
 Breakfast was served. Buttered toast, fried 
 (42) 
 
SNAPPING UP TRIFLES. 43 
 
 chicken, steaming coffee, were sending forth an 
 aroma so delicious as to tempt the palate of an 
 epicure. 
 
 " Though I have already trespassed upon your 
 orchard this morning, Madame Weldon," said 
 Deverell, falling a ready victim to the charms of 
 snowy damask, and leisurely peeling an orange, " I 
 can yet enjoy another of these delightful Navals. 
 They are unparalleled in flavor." 
 
 As neither of the ladies offered to join him, he 
 added : " I fear you natives of this floral land 
 fail to fully appreciate the luxuries about you. 
 Ah ! Ma petite Ellen Douglas will have one, 
 surely," he continued to Hazel, who murmured a 
 low, " Thanks, yes, monsieur ; " and then she 
 turned alternately white and red, as he prepared 
 the fruit, for she was conscious, the while, of her 
 cousin's burning eyes fixed upon her, and secretly 
 wondering if she had been guilty of another mis- 
 demeanor, in accepting this little attention. 
 
 Mrs. Weldon's smile reassured her, however, and 
 the orange lost none of its sweet flavor because of 
 that acrid glance. 
 
 Breakfast passed off merrily. At its conclusion 
 Evelyn proposed a horseback ride, to which 
 Monsieur Aubrey, being a modern centaur, readily 
 assented. 
 
 " We will take a canter over to Fairacre," 
 continued Miss Weldon. "That is papa's rice 
 plantation, and lies about six miles northward in 
 
44 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 the river valley. The road leads through alternate 
 woods and dells, and is considered one of the 
 prettiest in the country. You shall ride Don 
 Carlos, monsieur. He is a spirited stepper, and 
 father's pet. He has not been saddled since his 
 master went away, but you will find him docile 
 and manageable." 
 
 The proper order was forthwith despatched to 
 Noel, the hostler, to saddle Alcides and Don Carlos 
 with all possible speed. 
 
 " The morning is simply perfect, and should be 
 made the most of, you know," Evelyn added, with 
 one of her most alluring smiles, as they arose from 
 table. " You may take a turn about the grounds, 
 monsieur, while I don my habit ; or, if you would 
 prefer reading, you will find the late Tallahassee 
 and Jacksonville papers in the library." 
 
 Waving him a temporary adieu with her jewelled 
 hand, as they turned into the wide hall, she said 
 something softly to her mother, and the two 
 ascended the stairs together, Mrs. Weldon first 
 stopping to take leave of Hazel, before the girl 
 went to the schoolroom for her daily studies. 
 
 As Mrs. Weldon followed to her daughter's 
 room, she was full of secret wonder as to what 
 Evelyn might wish to say to her so privately. She 
 was not kept long in suspense. No sooner had the 
 door closed behind them than Evelyn abruptly 
 faced her mother, and said, with the fierceness of 
 one who has long restrained her anger : " Why 
 
SNAPPING UP TRIFLES. 45 
 
 do you permit that girl to stray about the grounds 
 so early in the morning, without her governess ? " 
 
 Mrs. Weldon stood utterly confounded. She 
 suffered her daughter to talk on with no attempt 
 at stopping her tongue. 
 
 " You are blind to her insolence and cunning ! 
 She was up at daybreak this morning, and went 
 down to the lake, under pretence of sketching. 
 Really her design was to risk a romantic meeting 
 with Monsieur Devercll. It was only last night 
 that I charged her not to invite my guest to row. 
 She did not even wait for an opportunity to defy 
 me, but deliberately sought one. How successfully 
 her mischievous scheme has resulted, you can see 
 for yourself!" She paused, panting, her angry 
 eyes riveted on her mother' s face, which was 
 undergoing a convulsion of pain. 
 
 " My daughter, Evelyn dear ! " she faltered at 
 length, " I fear you are a snapper up of unconsid- 
 ered trifles, as the poet puts it." 
 
 " Trifles indeed ! This is no trine ! " retorted 
 the daughter, her temper increasing with every 
 word. " On the contrary, it is a matter of material 
 concern to me. That child shall be made to 
 answer for her impertinent conduct. The little 
 wretch ! " Evelyn ended her speech with an 
 emphatic stamp of her foot upon the carpet, 
 
 It was something extraordinary for even this 
 arrogant girl to give vent to such violent words, 
 and Mrs. Weldon heard this epithet applied to her 
 
46 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 beloved foster-child with wounded surprise, which 
 revealed itself in every line of her countenance- 
 She winced with inward pain, and compressed her 
 lips in order to stay the severe rebuke which rose in 
 her thoughts ; for she believed calm reasoning to 
 be best. 
 
 Presently she said, at the same time passing one 
 gentle arm about her daughter 's waist : " Dear 
 one, you do Hazel great injustice. I am confident 
 her meeting with Monsieur Deverell was purely 
 accidental. It is her custom to be out these 
 fine mornings, running about the grounds before 
 the rest of us are awake. From such innocent 
 pleasures I would be the very last to restrain her ; 
 for in her sentimental appreciation of the gifts of 
 Nature she but inherits the healthful constitution 
 of the Vernes. I remember the golden days of my 
 own youth, when Sister Lydia and myself were 
 happy in roaming the dewy pastures, ere the sun 
 had warmed the sleeping flowers into life. We 
 tried to outshine each other in the number of 
 butterflies we could count, fluttering in the space 
 about us, or balancing themselves to sip the sweet 
 drops from the blossoms. I heartily wish that 
 you, my daughter, had been endowed w T ith a sunny 
 nature similiar to that which made my own child- 
 hood and girlhood so golden. Then there would 
 be the link of harmony between yourself and your 
 orphaned cousin, which is now sadly lacking." 
 
 There was no softening in the impassioned face 
 
sxsti'r/\f; n> TRIFLE*. 47 
 
 turned toward the open window, through which 
 stole the gentle morning breeze, fanning the soft 
 lace curtains, and breathing sweet odors from the 
 garden below. 
 
 During a few moments of silence Evelyn tugged 
 nervously at one of the satin bows on her dress, 
 until finally the little ornament became detached 
 from its resting-place amidst the lace, and fell to 
 the floor. She looked at it, and then planted her 
 foot upon it contemptuously, for all the world 
 as if it had been one of those fragile insects referred 
 to by her mother, which she would gladly crush 
 in wanton cruelty, because she must have some- 
 thing to vent her spite upon. 
 
 " Am I to be held responsible for my disposition, 
 which, doubtless, is to be deplored for its barbaric 
 common-sense ? " Evelyn asked abruptly, and with 
 strong irony. She added, a bitter smile curving 
 her lips, " Had I inherited your romantic and per- 
 fect characteristics, thus gratifying your motherly 
 ambition, even then I might have found it difficult 
 to consort daily with one who has usurped my 
 place in my father 's affections, an impostor ! " 
 
 Evelyn articulated the last words with malicious 
 emphasis. Mrs. Weldon's face blanched, and her 
 lips were purple with the intensity of the pain she 
 suffered, as she dropped into the nearest chair. 
 
 "Evelyn," she wailed piteously, as tears filled 
 her eyes, " this is merciless in you ! It is disre- 
 spectful to me, and cruelly unjust to your absent 
 
48 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 father, who loves you completely, unselfishly. 
 Such viciousness amounts almost to crime toward 
 an innocent and defenceless child ! I used to think, 
 Evy," she sobbed brokenly, " I used to think, when 
 you were a little girl on my knee, that naught but 
 the noblest of traits were wrapped up in the heart 
 of my loving and tender rosebud-idol. I watched 
 that bud expand from day to day, guarding it, 
 dwelling upon its perfectness, as only a mother can 
 dote upon her only child; but beneath my very 
 eyes, the flower of my bosom has developed a 
 moral cancer. In some mysterious way my treasure 
 has been transformed into a rude cactus, prickly 
 toward the parent who gave her birth, ready to crush 
 the hearts which love and trust her implicitly, 
 ready to defile her own lips with odious sentences ! 
 Oh God, I am so disappointed in my child! " 
 
 Her frame shook tumultuously. Her face was 
 in her hands. Through the fingers tears rained 
 thick and fast, falling upon the light fabric of her 
 dress, and moistening it. 
 
 The cause of this sorrow stood by with mute 
 lips, her "tall form erect in statuesque severity. 
 She stood thus for some time ; but at length, as if 
 her stony pride were gradually overruled by better 
 feeling, a new flush overspread her fair skin, while 
 the angry and defiant look in her eyes gave place 
 to a softening moisture. Her proud lips quivered 
 perceptibly, as she took first one step and then 
 another toward her weeping parent. 
 
SNAPPING UP TRIFLES. 49 
 
 " Mother ! " she whispered, falling softly upon 
 her knees beside the bent form, and twining 
 repentant arms about her mother's neck. " Forgive 
 me, dear! I did not mean, I have never been 
 intentionally cruel to you, darling. I love you 
 devotedly. There, there, do n't weep ! " 
 
 Evelyn took her own handkerchief, a tiny square 
 of filmy lace, and dried the wet cheeks and lashes 
 with tendered care. Then pressing a kiss upon 
 the nervous lips, a lingering kiss, teeming with 
 the warmth of filial affection, she continued, as 
 she laid her head upon the heaving bosom, in 
 which a new happiness was kindling : " If you 
 have been disappointed in me, mamma, if I have 
 fallen short of your parental ambitions, pray do 
 not hold me altogether responsible for my short- 
 comings, which are legion ; I know, dear, and you 
 know, we do not have the shaping of our own 
 characters or lives. They are the work of Des- 
 tiny, at least in part." 
 
 How many years had intervened since that 
 queenly head had been laid in love's abandonment 
 upon the maternal bosom, as it now lay? How 
 many years since heart had thus been pressed to 
 heart ? It seemed a century to Mrs. Weldon, as 
 her tears of happy thanksgiving fell upon the 
 bands of dark hair which she smoothed so ten- 
 derly, whispering: "My darling, my only love! 
 You are dearer to me than the whole world 
 beside ! " 
 
50 
 
 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 The interval had seemed long ; but in truth it 
 was only four years. The day which brought 
 Hazel Verne to the Grange had marked the change 
 in Evelyn. It was then that the evil had been 
 born in the heart of the flower, the flower in 
 which centred so many parental hopes and 
 prayers. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BENEATH THE PINES. 
 
 SONGS shall be heard as long as fields are green, 
 And skies are blue, and woman's face is fair. 
 
 SMITH. 
 
 AS Aubrey paced slowly down the magnolia 
 avenue, mounted upon the beautiful black 
 steed, Don Carlos, Evelyn tripped jauntily down 
 the front steps, equipped for her morning canter. 
 The long folds of her olive-green skirt were 
 thrown with careless grace over one arm; and a 
 perfect-fitting basque of rich velvet, a shade or 
 two darker than the skirt, outlined her exquisite 
 figure ; while a pearl-handled whip completed the 
 outfit, and gave her a Di Vernon air, which her 
 mirror had told her would prove irresistible to her 
 waiting knight. A long ostrich plume, corre- 
 sponding in shade with her habit, caught up her 
 wide-brimmed hat on the left side, curled back- 
 ward over the heavy coils of her hair, and then 
 gave a capricious sweep downward to the shoulder, 
 thus lending to Evelyn's face a sort of gypsy 
 beauty, which rendered her doubly fascinating. 
 
 As Deverell paced up to the mounting-block she 
 saw the look of undeniable admiration in his eyes, 
 and her heart beat with a thrill of triumph. He 
 (51) 
 
52 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 alighted in order to assist her to the saddle, pay- 
 ing her a softly spoken compliment as he did so, 
 to which Evelyn replied blushing, not with 
 diffidence, but with increase of joy: "Thanks, 
 monsieur ! I am so glad you are pleased." 
 
 The folds of her skirt being properly adjusted 
 Aubrey remounted Don Carlos, and away the 
 handsome pair rode, each happy, as only the 
 spirit of youth can be, which has known naught of 
 the world's deeper sorrows. 
 
 Evelyn had forgotten her recent annoyance, 
 had forgotten even that moment of confidence 
 with her mother. For this seeming callousness let 
 no one censure her too severely, insomuch as some 
 day, in the dim, dim past, a day perhaps forgotten, 
 the reader may have had one thought, one joyful 
 anticipation, which shut out all others from the 
 heart, as the picture of a golden day, spent in the 
 society of this young Frenchman, barred Evelyn's 
 memory to all else on earth. 
 
 She mastered her peerless Alcides with such 
 adroitness as to win repeated compliments from 
 her companion ; and Monsieur Deverell well knew 
 how to frame a pretty compliment, albeit he had 
 no flattering tongue, and owed his manner of 
 doing homage to the fair sex wholly to heredity. 
 
 With him Evelyn manifested no likeness to the 
 ice-plant. On the contrary, she was one perpetual 
 torrent of life and animation. Though his admir- 
 ing speeches acted like wine upon her, making the 
 
BENEATH THE PINES, 53 
 
 blood come into her cheeks and rapture sparkle in 
 her eye, though they thrilled her inmost soul with 
 ecstacy unspeakable, she neither grew sentimental 
 nor stupidly serious, as the lovelorn are apt to do, 
 but almost matched Aubrey himself in brilliancy of 
 repartee. 
 
 It was indeed a perfect morning. The sky was 
 "deeply, darkly, exquisitely blue," without the 
 faintest cloud-drift visible. The air was sweet 
 with the elixir of ripening fruit, and vibrated with 
 the wild bird's joyous notes. There was just 
 enough breeze afloat to fan Evelyn's plumes into 
 coquettish play, and make the horses move with its 
 exhilaration. 
 
 Leaving the estate, and entering the open country 
 road, the animals broke away into a spirited gallop, 
 as they emerged abruptly from a shady amphitheatre 
 into an open and sunlit glade. Evelyn indicated 
 the different points of interest as they rode on, but 
 secretly wondered if her companion would never 
 take up the thread of their acquaintance where it 
 had been dropped in New Orleans, a few months 
 before, and tell her how he had treasured the rose- 
 bud he had taken from her hair ; but the rosebud 
 was not destined that day to be resurrected by 
 Aubrey from the grave of the past. The briefly 
 happy winter they had passed together in the 
 Crescent City, though once or twice alluded to by 
 monsieur, was mentioned casually, and in tones 
 strangely at variance with a lover's. 
 
54 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Once, after they had gained the river-valley, 
 and were trotting leisurely through a section of 
 pine-land, the young Frenchman drew his rein 
 abruptly, and looked up at the bough-entangled 
 roof above, so dense that only a golden lance of 
 sunlight shot through it here and there. What a 
 secluded home of Nature was this ! Here fair 
 Flora smiled apace, and Evelyn's heart throbbed 
 jubilantly. At their feet grew ox-eyed daisies, 
 pale forget-me-nots, and wood-violets in luxuri- 
 ance, amid thick-tufted green. Massive clusters 
 of fern nestled against sturdy pine-trunks, while 
 graceful bluebells stood guard, and nodded glee- 
 fully at each other. In another spot flourished the 
 frail maideaa-hair, and within the embrasure of its 
 delicate shadow the gentle anemone looked coyly 
 up, and breatheli sweet incense on the air ; while 
 overhead unceasingly warbled the birds, as if 
 especially engaged by Flora to furnish music for 
 her festival. 
 
 Into monsieur's brown eyes there crept a light 
 of reverence ; and his heart beat appreciatively, as 
 he gazed speechless upon this celestial scene. 
 Those who knew Aubrey best assured him that he 
 was designed for an artist. If so, he had evaded 
 his calling; not wholly, however, for, though he 
 could not have delineated the simplest leaf or bud 
 upon canvas, his heart vibrated with boundless love 
 for every tribute of Nature's hand. lie could see 
 character in the flowers, poetry in the cloven sea 
 
BENEATH THE PINES. 55 
 
 of foliage ; and he could have fallen devoutly to 
 his knees then and there, worshipping the great 
 Creator in a song of praise. 
 
 All the gladness of Aubrey's being found voice 
 in music. His whole soul was the sleeping-place 
 of mystic chords, which lay ready to awaken at a 
 moment's bidding. They awoke now. On the 
 fragrant air his voice rose trembling, first in low, 
 sweet strains, as if deft fingers were straying over 
 invisible harp-strings. Then the sound increased, 
 swelling into clarion tones, which woke the distant 
 hills into a grand chorus of echoes. Presently 
 his voice fell again, and finally died into a whisper, 
 like the murmuring wind. 
 
 This was not the first time his singing had 
 electrified the soul of Evelyn Weldon ; and 
 now she sat like one spellbound, with a face on 
 which was written a whole page of adoration for 
 the man beside her. 
 
 Monsieur had chosen an air from Schubert, 
 and the words were an offering to the Queen of 
 Nature. The composer could not have felt more 
 keenly in writing than did Deverell in singing 
 these strains, which echoed his heart's truest 
 sentiment ; and when he had finished the song 
 there were tears in his eyes. 
 
 With a smile, born of the unutterable happiness 
 he experienced, he bent a look upon his compan- 
 ion, and noticed that her eyes also were dim 
 with tears. Evelyn averted her face. With a 
 
56 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 quick and impulsive gesture she brushed the 
 drops away, as if ashamed of such weakness. 
 
 The air was now solemnly hushed and still. 
 Even the birdnotes had ceased at the warning of 
 that new voice. 
 
 " Monsieur," said Evelyn presently, " you have 
 even put the birds to shame. Truly you ought to 
 prize such power ! You could move the hardest 
 heart, I believe ! " 
 
 Aubrey slightly bowed his head, with the defer- 
 ence due to this plain-spoken praise ; but the voice 
 of praise having been so long familiar to his ear, 
 he did not feel flattered, and replied, with that 
 quiet gravity which became him so well : " If 
 mademoiselle appreciates my song, it is enough. 
 My heart would burst, it seems to me at times, 
 could I not breathe out in song some of the 
 sentiment which pulsates within. Such beautiful 
 scenes as the one now stretching out before us 
 never fail to snatch me into the lyric mood. How 
 lovely are those wood- violets ! " he added abruptly. 
 They remind me of your Cousin Hazel's eyes! 
 What a sweet, sunny character is hers ! As they 
 commenced to ride on again at a slow pace, lie 
 quoted those words from Longfellow's poem on 
 
 Maidenhood : 
 
 Standing with reluctant feet, 
 Where the brook and river meet. 
 
 Miss Weldon gave her bridle a sudden and im- 
 petuous jerk, causing Alcides to prick up his ears 
 
BENEATH THE PINES. 57 
 
 and quicken his trot to a canter. Aubrey, hardly 
 remarking her silence, or her action, small in 
 itself, yet eloquent of secret disquiet, continued, 
 in the same subdued but ardent tone : " She 
 reminds me, not a little, of your mother. Indeed, 
 I would sooner take her for madame's daughter 
 than yourself." 
 
 With the inward conflict waxing stronger, yet 
 with a successful attempt at outward calm, Evelyn 
 rejoined : " It is singular that people should fancy 
 a likeness between mamma and her foster-child, 
 when, in truth, there is no family " She 
 abruptly checked herself, biting her lips until the 
 blood almost started from them. Aubrey gazed at 
 her in silent winder ; arid Evelyn, feeling this, 
 flushed and paled beneath his glance ; while at the 
 same moment a nefarious resolve formed itself in 
 her bosom. 
 
 At length she turned towards him. Meeting his 
 gaze boldly she said, in tones wherein there was no 
 shrinking : What I was about to say, monsieur, 
 is strictly confidential." 
 
 The young Frenchman bowed assent, as a look 
 of deepening interest settled on his handsome 
 face. 
 
 " Hazel Verne," continued his companion, " is 
 only mamma's niece by adoption." A flutter of 
 suppressed triumph pervaded her words ; but this 
 monsieur failed to notice. "A niece by adop- 
 tion ! " he ejaculated. " Mademoiselle, I think, I 
 hardly understand, " 
 
58 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 " It is easily explained," remarked the other, with 
 a laugh which sounded like an evil omen under 
 that green canopy, and in contrast with the sweet 
 perfume of blossoms and the happy song of birds 
 about them, a laugh which struck undefined 
 dread to the Frenchman's soul. " What does that 
 laugh portend?" was his unspoken query. 
 
 This laugh was followed by these words, uttered 
 in the same half-exultant tone : " Hazel was my 
 Uncle Henry Verne's adopted child. As a dying 
 charge he gave her into the keeping of my 
 mother." 
 
 A deep frown knit itself in Aubrey's brows. 
 "Has this young girl been kept in ignorance as 
 to her birth?" he questioned gravely. "If so, it 
 has been a grievous wrong toward her, which is 
 certain to end in bitterness." 
 
 " Your question calls for a lengthy story, Mon- 
 sieur Deverell, which I had rather not narrate, 
 when there is so much pleasant diversion for us." 
 
 This she said with feigned regret, for thus to 
 relate Hazel Verne's history had become all at once 
 a fixed resolve ; yet in doing this, how unconscious 
 was Evelyn that she was deliberately setting fire to 
 the sweetest air-castle woman's fancy ever builded ! 
 Little did she know that she was about to seal her 
 own bitter doom ! Thus it was ; though with no 
 forecast of the fatal result she went on desperately : 
 " You shall hear the story, under a pledge of 
 secrecy however, as, outside our immediate family, 
 
BENEATH THE PINES. 59 
 
 you are the first to whom the truth has been 
 confided. Even Aunt Lydia Seymour is ignorant 
 of it." 
 
 " Then I must insist," began the gentleman 
 deprecatingly, for the Deverell sense of honor 
 was genuine, and Aubrey recoiled from words not 
 designed for his ear ; yet at Evelyn's imperative 
 words, " Yes, monsieur, I have already unveiled 
 the main truth ; and now you shall hear the 
 related facts," he sat like one under a spell, and 
 hearkened to the story. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BETEAYAL. 
 
 EVERY true woman's Ibreast yearns for the caress of baby- 
 fingers, just as surely as the true woman's heart holds the 
 priceless jewel of* mother-love. 
 
 (( "T^OUR years ago," began Miss Weldon, 
 1 " mamma received a telegram from her only 
 brother, Henry Verne, summoning her to his 
 deathbed, in Memphis, Tennessee. The startling 
 news nearly cost dear mamma her own life, as 
 she was devotedly attached to her brother; and 
 though several years had passed since she had 
 received special news of him, she was totally 
 unprepared for the shock. 
 
 " She rallied, however, and went North imme- 
 diately, to Memphis, reaching there only in time 
 to hear a dying statement from Uncle Henry's 
 lips. 
 
 " He was not, strictly speaking, an affectionate 
 
 brother. Hence the protracted silence which he 
 
 had maintained towards his sister. Meanwhile 
 
 he had married a young Memphis lady, heiress 
 
 .to nothing but a beautiful face. Being a successful 
 
 financier, uncle did not allow her want of dower 
 
 to interfere with their domestic felicity, which 
 
 was complete, until the lapse of several years 
 
 (60) 
 
BETRAYAL. 61 
 
 found them still childless. Then the young wife 
 fell into a decline, rendering change of climate 
 necessary. They travelled extensively, visiting all 
 parts of Europe and America, but without gain 
 to Mrs. Verne's health. Despairingly my uncle 
 returned to Memphis, with his slowly but surely 
 dying wife. 
 
 " It was about midnight, on the evening of their 
 return, when they were both startled from sleep by 
 a strange cry, repeated again and again. Going 
 to the front part of the house, whence the noise 
 seemed to come, Uncle Henry opened the door 
 and looked out. 
 
 " It was a wild winter 's night, and snow lay 
 thickly on the steps ; but there, against the 
 gleaming white, he saw something dark, which 
 proved to be a bundle. This he lifted and carried 
 to his wife. Imagine her surprise when, putting 
 back the thick folds of a shawl, a baby-girl 
 opened its blue eyes into her face and smiled. 
 
 " The craving of her mother-heart was at last 
 satisfied. Pressing the infant to her bosom in 
 grateful thanksgiving, she doubtless believed she 
 might live to nurture it. Indeed she did recover 
 strength at once ; but it was only artificial strength, 
 poor thing ! After a few days of strained excite- 
 ment, her old symptoms reasserted themselves, 
 and she grew rapidly worse. 
 
 " The babe, which she had learned to love with 
 all the fondness of parental affection, had to be 
 
62 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 surrendered entirely to a nurse ; and on her dying 
 bed my aunty gave the child as a sacred legacy 
 to her husband, begging that he would love and 
 rear it as she would have done, had life been spared 
 her, begging that Hazel should never know that 
 he was not her own father. Uncle promised all 
 that his wife asked. Through bankruptcy and 
 poverty he remained true to his trust, and grew to 
 love his foster-daughter as though she were 
 indeed his own flesh and blood. 
 
 " But then came a tidal wave of affliction. He 
 was struck with paralysis, and, while suffering 
 this infirmity, his very roof was sold, by assignees, 
 over his head. This proved to be his deathblow. 
 Knowing this he telegraphed for mamma, as I 
 have before said, wishing to transfer his sacred 
 legacy into her keeping. 
 
 " Hazel was then eleven years old. Mamma 
 accepted the charge ; but she urged, in justice to 
 my father, that to him also should be confided the 
 secret of the child's birth. Uncle readily assented 
 to this. Immediately after the funeral mother 
 returned home, bringing her foster-child with her. 
 
 "Monsieur, this is Hazel Verne's mysterious 
 history. It was never intended that I should be 
 informed of it ; but on the morning of their arrival 
 mamma entered the library, accompanied by papa, 
 and as I chanced to be standing at the window 
 behind the curtains, which concealed me entirely 
 from view, I overheard every word that passed 
 between them. 
 
BETRAYAL. 63 
 
 " Father, though at first ill-pleased with the 
 idea of fostering a child whose pedigree was 
 shrouded in mystery, finally put aside prejudice, 
 and promised, should Hazel prove herself worthy, 
 to make her joint heiress with me to the Weldon 
 estates." 
 
 Here Evelyn paused. Her heart beat tumult- 
 uously, while her eyes and cheeks glowed with 
 volcanic fire. 
 
 "Monsieur," she resumed presently, "imagine 
 yourself in my place at that moment, listening to 
 a father, as he planned such a division of his wealth, 
 between his only and beloved child and another, 
 who may have been born in the slums of Memphis, 
 for aught he knew, for aught he knows unto 
 this day!" 
 
 Monsieur Deverell sat, while Evelyn was speak- 
 ing, with his eyes fixed upon Don Carlos's jetty 
 mane ; but now, as he lifted them to her face, she 
 saw in them a look of profound pity, mingled with 
 another look she could not so well interpret, but 
 in which there seemed to be little of the sympathy 
 she had anticipated. 
 
 At last he said : " The child's history is sin- 
 gularly sad and interesting, a history which 
 doubtless would have led me to agree with those 
 interested in her behalf, had I accidently overheard 
 their opinions." 
 
 Overwhelming indignation arose within Evelyn 
 at his words. Had she then fallen so short of 
 
64 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 her mark ? Had she, in confiding to him a secret 
 her parents guarded so religiously, a secret 
 which, for four long years, had embittered her 
 very existence, in doing this had she awakened 
 sympathy in Deverell's bosom for this nameless 
 foundling, instead of for herself? After these 
 many years of suppressed torture, had she cried 
 aloud, only to have redoubled misery heaped upon 
 her, instead of the condolence she had so trust 
 ingly believed would be forthcoming from the lips 
 of him whom she loved better than the whole 
 world beside, and who had given her encourage- 
 ment to believe that love fully returned ? 
 
 With such thoughts Evelyn looked again at 
 the young Frenchman, and with ashen lips said 
 bitterly : " Believe me, monsieur, the consciousness 
 of being wronged by my parents overruled every 
 other feeling, or else pity for this young girl might 
 have prompted me to affection." 
 
 " But Monsieur Weldon has ample fortune for 
 you both, mademoiselle! His estate is reckoned 
 among the very wealthiest in the South," said 
 Aubrey, feeling himself by no means equal to the 
 occasion. 
 
 Evelyn grated her teeth in contempt of his 
 words. Then, forcing a little laugh, she said, with 
 a futile attempt to dissipate further thoughts about 
 Hazel from the mind of her guest : " Oh well, the 
 subject is certainly not worth the loitering away 
 of a whole forenoon ! Come, monsieur, we have 
 
BETRAYAL. 65 
 
 actually squandered half of it already. A race, 
 ;md a new whip if Alcides wins ! " With this she 
 dashed ahead, challenging him with another peal 
 of painful laughter, which jarred upon our hero's 
 ear; but he spurred his horse, and in a moment 
 had gained on Alcides by several yards. 
 
 "The whip is mine ! " cried he, facing about and 
 waiting for Evelyn to come up ; but while his voice 
 sounded cheerful enough, there was a weight upon 
 his heart which would not lift itself. He saw in 
 his mind's eye a little blue-robed form, with hair of 
 mingled gold and bronze ; and a pair of pathetic 
 blue eyes looked up into his own, while a sweet 
 voice said, " I am only Hazel." Only Hazel ! Only 
 Hazel ! he kept repeating to himself. Hazel who ? 
 It seemed to Aubrey that he would willingly 
 surrender ten years of his life, if by so doing he 
 could purchase the right to ferret out the mystery 
 surrounding this orphan, whose image had so 
 recently entered his life. 
 
 On the return ride these two, whose spirits had so 
 recently been bubbling over with youthful gayety, 
 whose clear voices had rung out on the July air, 
 making the woods reverberate with joyous laughter 
 and song, felt very little like lovers. Though 
 the conversation seldom flagged between them, 
 there were no more pretty compliments, no more 
 answering blushes, none of these fond glances 
 which had constituted Evelyn's heaven. Aubrey 
 scarcely glanced toward her; or if by chance 
 
66 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 he looked at her, it was in a manner utterly 
 devoid of the tenderness Evelyn had so often seen 
 in his telltale eyes, glances which had conveyed a 
 world of promise to her heart. The very absence 
 of these silent speeches threw Evelyn into a 
 despairing mood. 
 
 Only the night before which now seemed to 
 her an age ago she had sought her room, after 
 bidding her guest good-night in the hall, where 
 repeated hand-pressures, and passionate looks from 
 his dark orbs, made her very happy ; and as she 
 beheld her own beautiful lovelit face in the mirror, 
 she felt, beyond the shadow of doubt, that she was 
 destined to become Madame Deverell. Now a 
 change came o'er the spirit of her dream, and she 
 told herself that Hazel Verne was the evil genius 
 who wrought the transformation. 
 
 " Is it not enough that she should come into my 
 life and infringe my rights, without dooming me 
 to utter misery ? " 
 
 They were turning an abrupt curve in the road, 
 as she questioned herself thus bitterly, when all 
 at once she became conscious of an advancing 
 horseman. She needed only one look to recognize 
 in the rider none other than the young barrister to 
 whom she had given a claim upon her hand, a 
 claim she now saw fit to revoke, believing the 
 future held for her a far happier fate. 
 
 It was not however the remembrance of that 
 promise, neither was it the remembrance of her 
 
BETRAYAL. 67 
 
 recent coldly written revocation of that promise, 
 which caused her hand to close convulsively over 
 the handle of her riding- whip, and her face to turn 
 from white to red. Her disquiet was prompted 
 by the belief that she discerned unmistakable 
 evidence of intoxication in the bearing of her old 
 suitor, whose horse was bearing directly upon 
 them. What should she do, recognize him in 
 such a disgraceful condition ? Never ! 
 
 Only a few rods now intervened between herself 
 and the unsteady horseman, and Evelyn abruptly 
 commenced a very animated historical sketch of an 
 ancient mill, near which they were passing, and 
 to which were attached several blood-curdling 
 legends ; the substance of one being, that the rusty 
 machinery was known to revolve on certain mid- 
 nights during the year, its blazing furnace tended 
 by ghostly and grotesque skeletons, who danced 
 around it, as witches waltz about their caldrons, 
 chanting weird dirges, to which the rattle of their 
 bones kept time. 
 
 Evelyn plunged into a rapid narration of this 
 absurd story, hoping thus to avoid any acknowledg- 
 ment of Wilford Hylton's presence. Imagine her 
 astonishment at hearing a sudden exclamation 
 from her companion, in the very midst of her tale : 
 " Hylton ! Well, by all that 's righteous, it 's the 
 old boy himself ! " 
 
 Did she hear the words in a dream ? No, there 
 was certainly nothing more real than those two 
 
68 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 riders meeting, and engaging in a prolonged and 
 jubilant hand-wringing. Seeing that matters had 
 now developed into so dramatic a situation, and that 
 some action on her part was inevitable, Evelyn 
 rode slowly forward. As Wilford lifted his hat 
 she saw immediately that her conclusion as to the 
 young barrister's condition had been erroneous. 
 No sign of dissipation was apparent in the lines of 
 that noble countenance. No red demon looked out 
 from those clear blue eyes. There was no stain on 
 the fair mustache, nor did the pale lips falter in 
 their speech. Though all these signs of intoxi- 
 cation were happily absent, there was that in his 
 shrunken and pale face, and in his unsteadiness in 
 the saddle, which spoke plainly of protracted 
 illness, such illness as seldom comes to a man 
 A broken heart ! Alas, who can describe the pain 
 thereof, save one who has endured it ? 
 
 Evelyn extended an icy hand to Wilford, saying 
 briefly, and with her old reserve : " Good-day, Mr. 
 Hylton ! " 
 
 What more was there to say ? How could she 
 meet those honest eyes, filled with mute reproach 
 and living misery, and say, "I am glad to see 
 you, my friend." No wonder she averted her face 
 to conceal a burning flush roused by consciousness 
 of her cruelty. 
 
 She experienced unspeakable relief when Aubrey 
 explained presently : " We were at the university 
 together, mademoiselle, Mr. Hylton and I. This 
 
BETRAYAL. 69 
 
 sudden and unexpected meeting is a pleasure one 
 does not often experience in a lifetime. I believed 
 him in Jacksonville, and fully intended hunting him 
 up before I left the country." 
 
 Other remarks followed ; but Wilford was burn- 
 ing to free himself from the presence of a woman 
 whose heartlessness had wellnigh given him a 
 deathblow, and so he took advantage of the first 
 opportunity to say : " I am stopping with an 
 uncle, half-a-mile north, on the left of the road, 
 Deverell, you can 't miss the gothic house of gray 
 stone, with two vicious lions guarding the entrance. 
 Come and dine with me on Monday, and we will 
 chat over our old college days. Adieu until then, 
 old boy, and fail me at your peril. I shall expect 
 you at five, sharp." Then away the fair-haired 
 fellow galloped, more miserable than ever. 
 
 Tired and disappointed with the world in general, 
 Evelyn hurried to her rooms, after her return to 
 the house. Throwing herself upon a divan, she 
 gave herself up to abusing the fates which had 
 ushered into her sphere of existence two such super- 
 fluities as Hazel Verne and Wilford Hylton. 
 
 What would be the sequel of this meeting 
 between her guest and the barrister? The more 
 she debated this question in her mind, the more 
 convinced she became that nothing would ever 
 reach Aubrey's ear from Wilford, regarding their 
 past affaire. Her knowledge of the barrister's 
 noble nature was in itself proof positive that he 
 
70 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 would never allow one syllable to pass his lips in 
 condemnation of her. At last, with all her present 
 doubts set at rest, her old ambition reasserted 
 itself ; and with reviving hope came Phebe, to assist 
 her in dressing for dinner. 
 
 "Get out my pale-mauve silk, with the lace 
 drapery," she said to the mulatto maid, "and 
 arrange my hair in high puffs, with the sapphire 
 dagger ornament. Now Phebe, do your very best. 
 I rely on you as an expert, you know." 
 
 " An' it 's berry little sprusin' up as you acquire 
 to look hansome as a prince, Missy Eb' lyn," 
 returned Phebe, much elated by her mistress's 
 flattery. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 Music can noble hints impart, 
 Engender fury, kindle love. ADDISON. 
 
 A KLINE,!' said Hazel the next day, after 
 study-hours, " Who was the Lady of the 
 Lake ? Was she some noted heroine ?" 
 
 The French governess, wondering at her pupil's 
 question, looked down smilingly into the pathetic 
 eyes. 
 
 " Why, ma chdre" she replied, " she was Ellen 
 Douglas, the heroine of Sir Walter Scott's beauti- 
 ful poem, Lady of the Lake. Have you never 
 read it ? No? And have you not seen the portrait 
 of the Douglas's Daughter, which hangs in my 
 room? Allans, I will show you." 
 
 Hazel pressed one of the woman's hands to her 
 lips with unwonted fervor. " Oh my Arline," she 
 exclaimed, " I know of nothing that would give 
 me more pleasure than to see the portrait of Ellen 
 Douglas ! " 
 
 Puzzled more and more, though refraining from 
 further questions, Arline led the way to her own 
 private apartment, which was located in a retired 
 part of the house, adjoining the study-room. Here 
 she opened the shutters to admit more light, and 
 then led Hazel up to the hearth. Pointing above 
 (71) 
 
72 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 the mantel, where hung a small frame of ancient 
 workmanship, she said : " That is the Lady of the 
 Lake. I brought the picture with me from France, 
 and prize it much, as it once hung in the studio of 
 my grandfather. It is strange mademoiselle has 
 never taken notice of it before, having so often 
 been in my room. " , 
 
 " Oh yes, Arline," said Hazel quickly, " I have 
 noticed the picture before, but never thought to 
 ask the subject. And this is Ellen Douglas!" 
 
 With red lips slightly apart, and hands clasped 
 loosely before her, Hazel stood long in a rapt 
 posture, suffering her eyes to dwell upon the classic 
 features of the Douglas's Daughter, who stood 
 leaning upon one frail oar in her little shallop, 
 
 With head upraised and look intent, 
 And eye and ear attentive bent. 
 
 Ellen's supple figure was clad in clinging plaid. 
 Jetty ringlets rippled from beneath a silken snood, 
 and covered her shoulders like a mantle. Each 
 feature of the little painting charmed Hazel, as 
 nothing of the kind had ever done before. Almost 
 unconsciously she murmured, so very softly that 
 Arline, who had already busied herself with a piece 
 of needlework, did not catch the sound of the girl's 
 voice : " Beautiful, beautiful Ellen Douglas ! I 
 wonder if James Fitz-James was your lover ! " 
 
 She turned at length with a suppressed sigh, 
 and slowly approached her governess. 
 
 the character not beautiful, ma ch&re?" 
 
THE MAGICIAN. 73 
 
 asked the Frenchwoman, looking up from her 
 work as Hazel drew near. 
 
 11 Beautiful ! " echoed the young girl passionately. 
 " I have never seen so lovely a face as hers in my 
 life ; but Arline," pausing with clasped hands, and 
 eyes full of thoughtful pathos, " I wish I knew 
 something about her, about the poem. Will you 
 not some day tell it me ? " 
 
 " Perhaps mademoiselle would like to read for 
 herself. I have all Scott's poetical works, and 
 there are other poems among them of equal inter- 
 est. You may take them to your roomyif you 
 like, and read to your heart's content." 
 
 Going to her bookcase Arline took therefrom a 
 handsome green and gold volume, which she 
 handed to Hazel. "Madame also has Scott's 
 poems in the library downstairs," she resumed, 
 " but they are in one large volume, complete, with 
 illustrations, which would not be as convenient for 
 you to handle. In my set every poem is separately 
 bound. When you have finished Lady of the Lake 
 I will give you Marmion, or the Lay of the Last 
 Minstrel." 
 
 Hazel could find no words to express her delight, 
 lut she lifted herself on tiptoe and imprinted a 
 warm kiss upon either cheek of the kind French- 
 woman, whispering as she did so : " Bear Arline, 
 you are always doing something to make me 
 happy, and I do so love you ! " 
 
 Then Hazel ran out of the room, her young 
 
74 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 heart fluttering with gladness at the thought that 
 she was to learn all about Ellen Douglas, and 
 perhaps James Fitz-James; for the two names 
 had been uppermost in her mind since yestermorn. 
 With the dainty green and gold volume pressed 
 tight to her breast she^ sped along the corridor to 
 her own pretty chamber, and locked herself in to 
 read. 
 
 Dinner over, Evelyn threw a zephyr shawl about 
 her shoulders, and went, in company with her 
 guest, for a stroll about the grounds. They 
 lingered in the garden till the dew began to fall, 
 and spangled scarfs were spread aloft in the sky. 
 Then Deverell suggested re-entering the house, 
 because of the gathering dampness. 
 
 " It seems like a penalty to be compelled to 
 spend so lovely an evening indoors," said Evelyn 
 ruefully ; " but mamma is so anxious to hear you 
 sing! You certainly," pressing his arm faintly, 
 and speaking in a persuasive tone, " will be kinder 
 to us than you were last evening." 
 
 On the occasion referred to our hero had politely 
 declined to exercise his vocal powers, but to his 
 companion's entreaty he now replied : " What a 
 pity there is no moon ! We might then spend the 
 evening on the lake, and I would tire you out with 
 singing. To me there is something unspeakably 
 delightful in music on the moonlit water. As we 
 are denied the ruling of the firmament, however, 
 
THE MAGICIAN. 75 
 
 I shall with pleasure contribute to mademoiselle's 
 entertainment in the drawing-room. Hazel, your 
 cousin, does she enjoy music? Does she sing?" 
 
 Hitherto he had been speaking with an absent- 
 mindedness which wellnigh maddened the maiden 
 at his side ; but as he questioned her thus, his 
 handsome face was lighted with a sudden anima- 
 tion, which Evelyn noted with the acute eye of 
 jealousy, despite the deepening gloom. 
 
 With her accustomed self-possession, however" 
 she replied briefly : " Hazel, I dare say, enjoys 
 music in a childish fashion. She is little more 
 than a child, you know. As for singing, her talent 
 that way is, like my own, grievously at fault." 
 
 Evelyn did not trust her eyes to meet his as 
 she spoke ; but the basilisk lurking in their depths 
 would no longer have perplexed Deverell. He had 
 guessed that little affection existed in Evelyn's 
 heart toward the young girl whose life was so 
 tangled in a web of mystery, and who aroused 
 such a different feeling within his own bosom. 
 
 Five months earlier Aubrey believed he had 
 seen Evelyn Weldon in every phase of her charac- 
 ter, and she had seemed to him the embodiment 
 of purity and generosity. Now he had detected 
 flaws in this queenly being, of whom he had 
 brought himself to think as the probable mistress 
 of the home of his ancestors, believing she would 
 sustain and grace the position creditably to those 
 who had formerly reigned there flaws that must 
 never be found in a Lady of Deverell Hall. 
 
76 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Deceit, disloyalty ! These were defects which 
 made woman, however fascinating otherwise, a 
 disfigured gem. Though a hundred beautiful 
 traits might shine in her character, they could not 
 redeem this blur. 
 
 How little did Evelyn Weldon imagine that 
 morning when narrating Hazel's history, under the 
 cloistered pines, that she was wilfully shattering 
 her dream-castle, on the very eve of its assuming 
 substantial reality. All that now remained of the 
 castle was an unsightly ruin. She had wantonly 
 betrayed her dead uncle's trust ; nor was it alone 
 a death-trust broken, for the living had been 
 impiously deceived. 
 
 Monsieur was not a little disappointed and cha- 
 grined at the untoward turn taken by an affaire 
 which he had deemed the most important of his 
 life ; yet he inwardly congratulated himself, inas- 
 much as he had been brought face to face with 
 the perilous truth, ere the fatal leap had been 
 taken. Better awake from a happy dream in time 
 to save himself from impending flames ! 
 
 Though he had turned a reluctant ear to the 
 story of the interesting foundling, though he had 
 felt himself almost a traitor as the words fell from 
 Evelyn's lips and buried themselves like lead in 
 his bosom, yet he nourished them there. Appeal- 
 ing blue eyes and sunny hair, above a frock that 
 matched the eyes in hue and clung about a slender 
 and immature form, were elements of a picture 
 
THE MAGICIAN. 77 
 
 graven upon his heart, a picture which haunted 
 him every hour, and would not fade away. 
 
 " Hazel, Hazel ! but Hazel who ? " This was 
 the revolving question. If he appeared preoccu- 
 pied this evening, it was little wonder. 
 
 Evelyn ushered him along the shadowy veranda, 
 through the long French window, into the spacious 
 parlor, and conducted him at once to the open 
 piano. " I remember, monsieur," said she archly, 
 "that you always prefer playing your own accom- 
 paniments ; so pray be seated, and do not think of 
 abandoning this stool until that mysterious warbler 
 in your throat has quite exhausted himself. Here 
 is a portfolio containing songs by many composers. 
 Doubtless your favorites are among them." But 
 Monsieur Deverell sang altogether from memory, 
 and left the handsome brown and silvern music- 
 case unopened. 
 
 Evelyn ensconced herself in the corner of a 
 luxurious armchair, near the piano, while Mrs. 
 Weldon sat, busy with some delicate needlework, 
 by a small inlaid stand, where the light from a 
 rose-tinted shade fell upon her countenance, flood- 
 ing it with holy loveliness. 
 
 With masterful power our hero's fingers touched 
 the keys, awakening a seductive prelude. His 
 chest expanded, his lips parted, and out poured a 
 strain from Donizetti's Lucia, a strain subdued 
 and searching, which throbbed through the house. 
 Measure after measure rose and fell, floating 
 
78 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 through the halls, reaching even the kitchen, where 
 it broke in upon an animated negro chorus. 
 
 One by one the sable dependents stole out and 
 moved stealthily down the side veranda, toward 
 the drawing-room windows, which were open to 
 admit the fragrant atmosphere from the garden; 
 and soon the silhouettes which revealed themselves 
 in the deep frames would have been sufficient to 
 encourage any singer, had he chanced to glance 
 that way. 
 
 Through one window could be seen Aunt Sally, 
 the cook, with a bright yellow bandanna twisted 
 about her head, while in each of her strong bare 
 arms was held a spellbound pickanniny, whose big 
 black eyes glistened like emeralds in ebony settings. 
 At another point stood Phebe, together with the 
 butler, their heads bent close together as they 
 whispered with hushed voices, and now and then 
 suffered their eyes to meet in glances eloquent 
 with more than musical appreciation. In a third 
 aperture, unopened, from which the heavy portieres 
 were looped aside, there were other visages, each 
 aglow with pleasure at this unusual treat. 
 
 Meanwhile where was Hazel Verne? Let us 
 steal to her window and glance in upon her, as 
 she bends with flushed cheeks and thirsty eyes 
 over her poem, The Lady of the Lake. Not once 
 had she stirred from her chair since dinner. Her 
 rapt posture, the light that came and went in her 
 beautiful face, the smiles and tears which by turns 
 
THE MAGICIAN. 79 
 
 took possession of her eyes, the sighs that fluttered 
 half-smothered from her lips, all declared that Ellen 
 Douglas's joys and sorrows had become Hazel's 
 own. So completely lost was the child to all her 
 surroundings, that even when she came to these 
 words of the minstrel to the Douglas's Daughter, 
 
 Yet, oh loved maid, thy mirth refrain, 
 Thy hand is on a lion's mane ! 
 
 and the music from below, like notes from a silver 
 flute, fell round about her, she did not come fully 
 to herself, for the song resounded much like music 
 she had oft heard in her dreams. Thus she read 
 her poem, line after line, and the song-notes 
 lingered, until it seemed as if sob after sob were 
 poured from a broken heart into her ear. 
 
 Suddenly the book fell from her hands to the 
 carpet. With bated breath she sprang to her feet, 
 each nerve strained to listen. The room was now 
 alive with those magic strains, and words from 
 The Bohemian Girl ( Deverell was singing " When 
 other lips and other hearts") thrilled her soul. 
 She had once been taken to Tallahassee to hear 
 this tuneful opera, and had been so affected by the 
 tribulations of the abducted Arline, that her violent 
 weeping had been a source of direst mortification 
 to her arrogant foster-sister ; and she had often 
 recalled certain passages of the plot, and renewed 
 her sympathetic tears. 
 
 Mechanically Hazel approached the door, and 
 glided like one enchanted down the hall. As she 
 
80 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 approached the foot of the staircase, and turned 
 toward the drawing-room, whose doors were wide 
 open, someone grasped her arm tightly, and 
 whispered : " Ah Mademoiselle Hazel, what music, 
 what grand music! It is monsieur, my country- 
 man, who sings ! " 
 
 " Yes, Arline," returned the young girl in a low 
 voice, " it is he. Did you ever hear anything half 
 so beautiful ? But I must go in, I must be nearer ! 
 Won't you come too ? " 
 
 The governess shook her head dissentingly. " I 
 prefer to remain here," she added; whereupon 
 Hazel moved toward the drawing-room alone. 
 
 No-one observed the white-robed figure, standing 
 with clasped hands upon the threshold, her head 
 bent forward, and her eyes, with ineffable sadness 
 and longing in them, riveted upon the singer. No- 
 one noticed her as she glided noiselessly over the 
 soft carpet toward the piano, where she mutely 
 stood, close behind Evelyn . Nobody observed her 
 until the singer paused and, glancing up suddenly, 
 cried joyously, " Hazel ! " 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER. 
 
 OH stay, oh stay ! 
 Joy so seldom weaves a chain 
 Like this tonight, that oh, 't is pain 
 To break its links so soon. MOORE. 
 
 IF there was not something akin to joy in 
 Aubrey's tones as he uttered this name, there 
 was certainly something which prompted Evelyn 
 to start as if she had been stung. She let her eyes 
 range several times up and down the form near 
 her, taking in every detail, from the excited 
 posture to the vivid crimson that had mantled the 
 face, as Hazel found herself thus suddenly awakened 
 from the spell which had bound her. 
 
 Instead of sadness, there was now a startled 
 expression in her eyes, as she slowly raised them 
 to the Frenchman's countenance, and murmured 
 brokenly, as she put back the hair nervously from 
 her temples : " Oh monsieur, I pray you will 
 pardon me ! I was sitting in my room, reading, 
 when I heard your voice, and and I came ! I 
 wished to be nearer. I love music dearly, and 
 have heard that opera once in my life, and so I 
 recognized your song. It was heavenly." 
 
 Monsieur's eyes glanced from Hazel's face to 
 (81) 
 
82 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Miss Weldon's, and he could not help noting 
 Evelyn's pallor, though her fierce anger was 
 cautiously hidden beneath the heavy lashes, as she 
 bent her gaze upon a spray of delicate orchids, 
 which had fallen from her belt into her lap. With 
 this she toyed nervously, as she felt his eyes upon 
 her, while her bosom was aglow with perturbation. 
 
 "Is this a child's appreciation of music?" 
 Aubrey questioned within himself, as Evelyn's 
 words came back to him. " This little maid 
 enjoys music in no childish fashion ! " 
 
 " You are not going to run away so soon ! " he 
 exclaimed, as Haze] began a retreat from the 
 piano. 
 
 She felt aggrieved. She wondered at his silence, 
 and tried to convince herself that he, as well as 
 Evelyn, was displeased at her coming ; but she 
 paused, with a glad light in her visage, as monsieur 
 continued, in earnest tones : " Stay Hazel ! I will 
 sing for you until midnight, if you enjoy hearing 
 me." 
 
 " Yes, darling," interposed Mrs. Weldon, " by 
 all means stay. I would have called you before, 
 but I knew you were reading, and did not like to 
 disturb you." 
 
 Thereupon Hazel nestled into a large chair 
 beside her foster-mother, forgetting all save the 
 one thought that she was to hear more of that 
 wonderful voice. Yes, even the memory of Ellen 
 Douglas was banished for the time, as once more 
 
THE QREEN-EYED MONSTER. 83 
 
 Monsieur Deverell held his listeners spellbound, 
 all save Evelyn, who never allowed her glance to 
 wander from the illumined face of her foster-sister. 
 
 At length, as the singer lost himself in his chosen 
 melodies, Evelyn arose, and noiselessly crossed the 
 room to her mother. " Tell monsieur," said she, 
 bending over the elder lady's chair and whispering 
 hurriedly, " to please accept my compliments, and 
 excuse me for the rest of the evening. One of 
 those odious headaches has seized me suddenly, 
 and I must retire at once. I must be where there 
 is quiet." 
 
 " I will go with you, dear, and see that you are 
 made comfortable," returned Mrs. Weldon, rising 
 anxiously from her chair. 
 
 " No,* no, I shall not permit it ! " said her 
 daughter with a deprecating gesture. " Phebe can 
 do all that is required." 
 
 The proud beauty swept down the wide apart- 
 ment ; but on gaining the doorway she paused long 
 enough to cast one backward and reproachful look 
 at Hazel, whose gaze followed her unconsciously. 
 The dart must have hit its mark, for Hazel trembled 
 visibly. Her face was pained and bloodless, but 
 still turned toward her cousin. 
 
 Afterward, when Evelyn had disappeared, Hazel 
 sat with great orbs riveted upon the floor, in a half- 
 bewildered, half-frightened way, with only the 
 memory of that unkind look before her mind's eye. 
 She tried, oh how vainly ! to find some interpreta- 
 
84 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 tion of Evelyn's behavior. Even the sound of 
 Aubrey's voice, which had charmed her soul into 
 ecstacy, was now drowned in the one supplicating 
 cry of her heart : " What could Evelyn mean by 
 such a look ? " 
 
 Reaching her apartment Evelyn tore from her 
 throat a necklace of rubies and sapphires, which 
 had suddenly become unbearably tight. Flinging 
 the gems rudely upon her dressing-table she com- 
 menced a feverish pace up and down the room, 
 her desperate thoughts finding vent in hot, rustling 
 words. 
 
 "Dared I but breathe a word or two in that 
 girl's ear, she would be glad enough to court 
 obscurity in the future ! Oh, but I dare not ! To 
 do this would be to condemn myself fore"ver in 
 his eyes. Then where would be my triumph ? 
 Levelled to the dust ! And she ? No, no ! I 
 must needs choke back the words that rush so 
 often to my lips, and go on in silence, letting a 
 child of infamy eat out my heart's sweetest hope. 
 Oh the nameless torture that has filled my life 
 since yestermorn ! Jealousy ? Jealous of a child 
 whom he knows to be branded with mystery and 
 sh&me ? Bah ! I must be mad ! Yet, why does n't 
 Aubrey broach the subject of the subject that 
 fills my heart to suffocation ? He has palpably 
 changed since his arrival at the Grange. That 
 evening his every word, every glance, was eloquent 
 with his purpose in coming; but now he is 
 
THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER. 85 
 
 almost cold toward me. It may be this preoccu- 
 pation is but the forerunner of a proposal ! Yes, 
 for much is involved in such a step. I shall try to 
 bide my time patiently, till he sees fit to speak, 
 which may be even tomorrow ! Ah yes, even by 
 another sunset I may be able to recall my wretch- 
 edness of tonight with secret amusement." 
 
 With this hopeful yet subdued thought the girl 
 began to consider the impropriety of her sudden 
 disappearance from the drawing-room ; and poor 
 Hazel's innocent head became the target of cen- 
 sure for this breach of hospitality on Evelyn's 
 part. Why did that girl make her cousin 
 yes, she must still say cousin feel so terribly ? 
 Would my lord suspect the true cause of Evelyn's 
 absence? She believed this impossible. Never- 
 theless, after a moment's debate, she resolved upon 
 the advisability of a speedy return. She applied 
 a light wash of French enamel to her face, that 
 it might appear paler, in accordance with her 
 pretence of sick-headache. Then she saturated 
 her handkerchief with cologne, took a vinaigrette, 
 and was ready to appear before monsieur in the 
 role of invalid. 
 
 As she softly opened the door, voices came 
 echoing up the staircase, in an exchange of good- 
 nights ; and by this she concluded that the little 
 party had disbanded. She inwardly congratulated 
 herself that her going down would yet be in season 
 to bid her guest goodnight. She would doubtless 
 find him alone in the hall. Oh sweet thought ! 
 
86 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 She heard her mother going about the house, on 
 her usual nightly missions. Now, fully assured 
 that she should find monsieur alone, Evelyn glided 
 down the corridor, whispering to her heart that 
 even tonight all doubts might be exiled forever by 
 the coveted confession. At least she would hear 
 from him sympathetic words, which alone would 
 be as balm to her restless soul. 
 
 She reached the heavy oaken balustrade, and 
 was on the point of descending, when a subdued 
 murmur of voices floated upward, like the hum of 
 night. With palpitating breath she paused, one 
 jewelled hand resting on the railing, the other 
 pressed close against her heart. Her now anxious 
 face was bent eagerly forward. 
 
 " Tell me, little one, are you happy here ? " 
 
 These words came to Evelyn in the familiar 
 voice, whose tones had such power to rouse each 
 fibre of her being. 
 
 " Yes, oh yes, monsieur. I am happy, quite 
 happy, since I heard your singing." 
 
 "It is not that! I do not mean that! Tell 
 me ! Is your life, your home, a happy one ? Do 
 not be afraid to trust me, Hazel. I wish to be 
 your true friend." 
 
 This time the Frenchman's suppressed yet 
 agitated voice was met by the reply : " Oh 
 monsieur, never could one be blessed with a 
 happier home than mine. I have all one could 
 wish." 
 
THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER. 87 
 
 The listener peered over the banister, but with 
 a deathly face, her eyes glittering with a greenish 
 hue. She drew herself back the next instant ; for 
 there, just beneath her gaze, under the vivid glare 
 of the chandelier, stood Deverell, bending over 
 one of Hazel Verne's little hands, even touching 
 it with his lips, and murmuring : " Goodnight, 
 my little friend ! Be thine the fairest dreams that 
 angels bestow upon the pure, and be thy future 
 life ever as thou sayest it is at the present, very 
 happy ! Goodnight, child, and God bless thee ! " 
 
 Like a restless spirit Evelyn sought her chamber 
 again. Flinging herself upon a divan, she re- 
 mained there through long hours of the night, 
 striving with the nettle which had crept into her 
 life. Not once did the thought come to her that, 
 as she had brewed her own bitter cup, she must 
 perforce drink it. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 HE gave to misery ( all he had ) a tear. 
 He gained from Heaven ( 't was all he wished ) a friend. 
 
 GRAY. 
 
 A UBREY, with his quick perceptions, was 
 J\ keenly alive to the fact that his old and 
 endeared college-friend, Wilford Hylton, was the 
 victim of some serious trouble, bodily or mental. 
 Often, since their recent meeting, he had recalled 
 the young barrister's woe-begone visage with 
 painful regret, wondering what could have wrought 
 so deplorable a change in the hopeful and viva- 
 cious youth of college-days. Possibly his ambition 
 had been thwarted by unkind Fate ! 
 
 At the university Wilford and the young 
 Frenchman had been close friends ; but during 
 an interval of years the chain of communication 
 between them had been severed by the drift of 
 circumstances. After a limited vacation Wilford 
 had entered the office of his uncle, a prominent 
 lawyer in Jacksonville ; while Deverell had trav- 
 elled extensively, abroad and at home, thus 
 rendering his address too uncertain for continuous 
 correspondence. 
 
 More than three years had elapsed since either 
 (88) 
 
WILFORD' S SORROW. 89 
 
 had received definite news of the other. Naturally 
 the thought suggested itself to Deverell, that 
 Wilford's impaired health must be due to business 
 reverses. Riding alone and at an idle pace 
 through the forest, on his way to Hylton's abode, 
 our hero recalled his friend's beautiful character, 
 as it was associated with bygone days, his un- 
 selfish nature, the almost womanly tenderness of 
 his affection, the rich cadence of his voice, as it 
 resounded in eloquent debate, the fair hair, brushed 
 back from a noble brow, the luminous eyes, so true 
 and expressive. Aubrey remembered the tall and 
 well-built form, with its manly bearing and its 
 graceful movement. 
 
 He could not forbear a smile, as he called to 
 mind a certain occasion when, as the twa were 
 walking, with interlocked arms, about the recrea- 
 tion-ground, Deverell declared, that if the Fates 
 had only created his companion of the opposite sex, 
 his heart would have been laid at his or rather 
 at her feet. 
 
 How Hylton laughed as he retorted : " In such 
 a case, mon ami, college discipline would prove an 
 insurmountable barrier between us." 
 
 Arriving at the specified brown house, with its 
 ferocious stone lions, Deverell saw Wilford seated 
 within the embrasure of a bay-window, apparently 
 on the lookout for his visitor. 
 
 "My suspense had wellnigh reached madness," 
 exclaimed Wilford, bounding down the steps. 
 
90 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 t 
 
 " You might have spared yourself undue anxiety, 
 bon ami ! " returned monsieur, with a warm hand- 
 pressure. "I would not miss this meeting for a 
 fortune." 
 
 It seemed to Wilford at that moment that the 
 sun had risen again over his benighted world 
 the sun which he believed had set forevermorc. 
 Under the firm pressure of that true hand, with 
 a soul's steadfast friendship beaming from those 
 eloquent eyes, how could he doubt the fidelity of 
 man. Surely it was good to feel the sunlight 
 beating upon the frozen heart, after these days of 
 wintry desolation ! 
 
 For a whole fortnight Wilford had walked, 
 drank, ate, and slept like one under the spell of 
 somnambulism. The sun had shone and warmed 
 the earth into a flood of glory, but not for him. 
 Roses had bloomed and intoxicated the air with 
 their aroma. Birds had vainly sung and fountains 
 had vainly sprayed in the garden, where each day 
 had found him walking with hanging head and 
 sluggish step, oblivious to everything save the 
 thought that the one woman of his heart had 
 proved herself a traitress. 
 
 Evelyn had proffered him the ecstatic cup of 
 love. In the bottom he found poison ; but he 
 found it too late ! The cup had been drained, and 
 Wilford was a doomed man. 
 
 It must have been full sixty seconds that the 
 two men stood gazing straight at each other. Each 
 
WILFORD'S SORROW. 91 
 
 silently wondered what the other's experiences had 
 been during the years of separation. At length, 
 as if he had interpreted something of Deverell's 
 mind, Wilford spoke : " We both have our stories, 
 old boy ; but these we must reserve until after we 
 have dined. Uncle Allan and his wife have gone 
 to the city. Concluding the dining-room would 
 seem barn-like, with only us two, I have ordered 
 dinner in my sanctum, where I am sure we shall 
 be more cosy." 
 
 " Good ! " exclaimed the other. " It will seem 
 like the old days, when we us(*l to smuggle cham- 
 pagne and goodies into our dens, and thus manage 
 our private feasts." 
 
 Deverell laughed, slapping his companion's shoul- 
 der. Encouraged by seeing the pale face brighten 
 at this reference to past escapades, Aubrey followed 
 his host upstairs. 
 
 'JThe sanctum was a spacious room, and presented 
 a most inviting appearance, with its gray carpet 
 and substantial furniture, not to mention the 
 luxuries which make up a man's comfort, as well 
 as the superfluities which show a woman's taste 
 and (despite their utter uselessness) delight the eye 
 of refinement. The most attractive feature of the 
 room was the neatly laid table, with its array of 
 crystal and china, and its promise of Epicurean 
 delights. 
 
 When all was in readiness the man-servant 
 assumed a statuesque attitude near the door, with 
 
92 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 the good-natured expression of "At your service, 
 gentlemen," on his face ; but this look was ex- 
 changed for one of amazement as the young host 
 said kindly: "You may go now, Peter. I shall 
 ring when you are wanted." 
 
 " De champagne, Mars Wi'f ord ! Sha' n't I open 
 it af o' I goes ? " asked the colored boy, hesitating, 
 but with his hand on the door-knob. 
 
 " All right ! " assented Wilf ord ; whereupon a 
 little popping act followed. Then the friends 
 were left to themselves. 
 
 Deverell was determined to cheer the spirit of 
 his host, if such a thing were possible; and his 
 incessant flow of humor certainly had the desired 
 effect. As the ghosts of old college jokes were 
 resurrected one by one, "Wilf ord' s cheeks began to 
 flush with new animation, while through his smiles 
 shone the illumined soul. 
 
 Genuine mirth burst from his lips ; and such a 
 marked transformation was wrought, that when 
 our ebony Mend Peter reappeared, to arrange the 
 cloth for dessert, he could do nothing for a moment 
 but stand looking at his young master's face. 
 
 With the termination of dinner, however, their 
 wit seemed nearly spent. Each young man tilted 
 back his chair, after lighting a cigar, conscious that 
 more serious matters than strawberries and wine 
 were next in order. Heretofore not one syllable 
 had been uttered between them about the personal, 
 matters which had filled the years of separation. 
 
WILFORD'S SORROW. 93 
 
 For some moments a strained silence reigned 
 between them, such as many have experienced, 
 when brought upon the " anxious seat" for grave 
 confession. Neither sought the other's glance, 
 but rather avoided it. As Deverell puffed dainty 
 whiffs from his Havana, watching the delicate 
 blue smoke curl upward, Hylton sat motionless, 
 gazing steadfastly through the window, and rest- 
 lessly twisting his smouldering cigar. 
 
 To all things there is an end. At length this 
 constraint was broken by Wilford. Turning 
 slowly from the window, he remarked : " I hoped 
 to run across you two years ago, when I was abroad. 
 In Paris one day I followed a young Frenchman into 
 a cafe, mistaking him for yourself. I was not con- 
 vinced of my error until I spoke to him. This 
 was in October. Were you in Europe at that 
 time?" 
 
 After a moment's reflection the other replied : 
 " At the time you mention, two years ago, I was 
 visiting my sister in Genoa. A month later I was 
 in Paris ! And you ? " 
 
 " In Vienna, where my business was concen- 
 trated. I remained in that city two months. 
 The time was consumed in the discussion of my 
 case. At its conclusion I returned home." 
 
 " And your mission abroad ? I trust it proved 
 fruitful ? " said monsieur interrogatively. 
 
 It was with no small degree of suspense that 
 he awaited Hylton's response ; for, as he covertly 
 
94 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 studied the pale face opposite, he believed he saw 
 the unmistakable stamp of financial disappoint- 
 ment written thereon. 
 
 This was a false interpretation, however. After 
 a moment's pause Wilford looked up. Meeting 
 his friend's anxious gaze he began, in a voice which 
 conveyed little triumph, but much bitter irony: 
 "Yes, after protracted argument. I established 
 our client's title, against a Hungarian competitor, to 
 an inheritance of fifteen-hundred-thousand florins, 
 and returned home with flying colors. It was the 
 first important case in which I had figured, having 
 been admitted to the bar only a few months before. 
 Since then I have advised effectually in many 
 noted cases in our own State, and my professional 
 career has been one of marked success. I remained 
 for two years junior partner with Uncle Allan. 
 Failing in health, he concluded to retire from 
 business to his country-seat here. I desired to 
 keep up the firm in Jacksonville ; but uncle is 
 childish in his enfeebled state, and urged me to 
 establish an office in Jasper, where I can be near, 
 to act as his private adviser, as well as to share 
 the comforts of his home. At the same time, he 
 felt sure of my success in these parts. His was a 
 correct prophecy. Fortune has followed me. I 
 have been continually fighting and conquering, 
 and for the wealthiest people in this section." 
 
 " But," continued Wilford with a sarcastic air, 
 as he tossed his neglected cigar through the 
 
WILFORD'S SORROW. 95 
 
 window, " after all, where is my triumph ? What 
 is one ambition fulfilled, if in a far sweeter way 
 we are exalted to Heaven, only to be hurled 
 mercilessly down? What is victory? Through 
 eloquence we win laurels. We think to win roses 
 of love, through months of prayerful perseverance, 
 only to have them abruptly transformed into 
 thorns that sting like adders ? What is Fame, if 
 Fortune guides us to the topmost rung of the 
 ladder only to mock us, to open our eyes to the 
 terrible conviction that there is no such thing as 
 truth?" 
 
 Wilford's voice became husky. Every muscle 
 of his face twitched with agitation, while his blue 
 eyes remained fixed upon Deverell, whose own 
 eyes now were dim. 
 
 Aubrey remained silent. His heart prompted 
 no fit response to an utterance so unexpected as 
 this. Indeed, Wilford's words were somewhat 
 enigmatical, and Aubrey could only revolve them 
 in his mind, trying to define them. In this state 
 of mental perturbation the young barrister left 
 Aubrey for some moments, and commenced a 
 restless pace to-and-fro, with his hands clasped 
 behind him. 
 
 When he at length resumed his seat his voice 
 betrayed less agitation, but was still tremulous. 
 
 " Do not put too hasty a meaning on my words, 
 my friend. I spoke madly! At sight of your 
 countenance, some of my lost faith in human honor 
 
96 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 was roused. A few days ago all became darkness 
 to me. I had forgotten your very existence, and 
 was too utterly cast down to care for it. Now the 
 sky has changed. I glory once more in the light 
 of a friendly face ! " 
 
 " Mon Dieu ! What great sorrow is this of 
 yours, Hylton ? Confide in me ! " exclaimed the 
 young Frenchman, deeply moved. 
 
 " Why should I suffer my wound to bleed 
 afresh ? " said the other sadly. 
 
 After a brief silence he added : " Yet to you I 
 loill confide this much, I have loved, loved 
 with a fool's mad devotion ! In return I have been 
 betrayed, ruthlessly, heartlessly " betrayed, by an 
 enchantress, an accomplished deceiver. This is 
 the skeleton in my closet! What now is your 
 prescription ? I am stifled with this air, and long 
 for new fields and pastures green." 
 
 Moved by some impulse ( we may guess what ! ) 
 Deverell moved abruptly forward. Grasping one 
 of Wilford's hands he pressed it convulsively, as 
 he exclaimed fervently : " Come with me, Hylton ! 
 I am about to make a trip West, and you shall be 
 my companion. Afterward, but no matter! 
 Let the future care for itself. Remember the 
 proverb : Wisely improve the present ; it is thine. 
 Oh my friend, look not mournfully into the past ! 
 Let those who have sown woeful seed reap their 
 own bitter harvest. For you there is a noble life 
 ahead. Live that life ! " 
 
WILFORD' S SORROW. 97 
 
 We shall think none the less of our fair-haired 
 barrister that a big tear stole slowly down his 
 cheek, as he silently heeded that exhortation; 
 though he walked toward the window ashamed of 
 such weakness, for this was the first tear he had 
 ever given to this misery. 
 
 " And your story ! What has been your expe- 
 rience during these years?" Wilford asked, when 
 they were both calmer. 
 
 " I have never realized the insignificance of my 
 experience so acutely as now, when one so noble 
 portrays to me his own. My life has been one 
 continuous dolce far niente. I have been one of 
 Byron's wanderers. My bark has drifted down the 
 winding Rhine, sped over the blue Mediterranean, 
 and plowed the waters of two oceans. I have 
 viewed the wondrous land of my ancestors, travelled 
 from the Pyrenees to the Ural Mountains on that 
 side, from the Alleghanies to the Rockies on the 
 other ; yet I am restless as a schoolboy, and feel 
 that I should have been thrice happier with five- m 
 hundred a year, a fixed purpose in life, and the 
 conviction that I had furthered someone's welfare 
 in the world besides my own." 
 
 " But you will marry ? You have a splendid 
 estate, and in your home will be centred the 
 sweetest ambitions of life," ventured Wilford. He 
 dared not look up, and waited with palpitating 
 heart for Deverell's response, in which he felt 
 much would be involved. The blood mantled his 
 
98 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 brow. Something swelled in his throat, and 
 seemed to choke him, when at length that answer 
 came. 
 
 " It may be years before Deverell Hall sees a 
 new mistress. As yet I have but vague plans in 
 that direction." 
 
 His words contained electric power, which 
 brought every drop of blood in Hylton's veins to a 
 standstill. For a moment the latter's heart almost 
 ceased beating. Then it thumped madly. It 
 seemed to him that Deverell must certainly hear the 
 impatient thuds, and unconsciously he thrust one 
 hand beneath his waistcoat and clutched it over 
 his heart, as if to muffle the sound. 
 
 By a supreme effort Hylton spoke, with an ill- 
 assumed smile : "I thought it not unlikely that 
 the dark-eyed Siren at the Grange, that, 
 that our Land of Flowers offered you some strong 
 attraction." He forced a light laugh as he thus 
 concluded. 
 
 , "The relation between Mademoiselle Weldon 
 and myself is by no means serious, be assured. 
 We met in New Orleans last winter; and as I was 
 an old and favored acquaintance of Madame Sey- 
 mour, the young lady's aunt, we l,ook a friendly 
 interest in each other, that is all." 
 
 He spoke hurriedly ; and this precipitance was 
 sufficient proof to Wilford that much within his 
 friend's bosom was left unsaid. 
 
 Soon after, Deverell took his leave, with a 
 
WILFOHD'S SORUOW. 
 
 99 
 
 promise to call once more before he left the 
 neighborhood ; then they would discuss arrange- 
 ments for their Western tour. 
 
 " He does not suspect the truth ! " said Wilford, 
 returning alone to his room. " He dreams not of 
 her treachery, and I pray Heaven he never may! 
 If she reap bitter fruit from her own nefarious 
 planting, mine shall not be the tongue to sting her, 
 nor mine the hand to slay that happiness which she 
 would fain purchase at the price of truth." 
 
 iS'./f 
 
/ CHAPTER XI. 
 
 A PROMISE. 
 
 IF there should come a time, as well there might, 
 When sudden tribulation smite thine heart, 
 And thou dost come to me for help and stay, 
 Fear not ! Thy trial-hour shall be 
 The dearest bond between my heart and thee. 
 
 WORDS THAT BURN. 
 
 OVER a week had elapsed since Deverell's 
 advent at Weldon, and since the night on 
 which he spoke those few hurried words to Hazel 
 in the hallway, which Evelyn overheard, he had 
 never caught a glimpse of the child, except at 
 table, when she usually occupied her accustomed 
 place. 
 
 Yes, once he had seen her, walking with her 
 governess along the forest-road, close by a large 
 gateway, through which Evelyn and he passed in 
 the pony phaeton ; but then he could only exchange 
 a bow and friendly smile with Hazel, much as he 
 longed to speak. Did this lonely orphan purposely 
 avoid him? and wherefore? These questions 
 oppressed him. 
 
 The end of his visit was approaching. He felt 
 
 that taking his departure without having again 
 
 spoken to the young girl would be like going away 
 
 with the fiercest craving of his heart unsatisfied. 
 
 (100) 
 
A PROMISE. 101 
 
 Perhaps it was a blessed craving, actuated as it 
 was by undefined dread for her future, and a wish 
 to assure her of his undying friendship, which she 
 might claim in time of need. 
 
 A month ago nay, only a week Aubrey 
 would have laughed to scorn the very idea of 
 suffering the image of a child of fifteen summers 
 to take such complete possession of his thoughts, 
 he, the observed of all observers, free to woo 
 among the wealth and beauty of the land ! 
 
 Perhaps he had imagined himself in love more 
 than threescore times ; for he was of true French 
 blood, never contented when away from the light 
 of woman's eyes. He had basked in that light 
 many seasons and in various climes ; yet to the 
 charge of trifling, which some of the fair ones 
 entered against him, he could reply, Not guilty ! 
 His integrity had always drawn a line between 
 frivolous gallantry and reverence for woman. Not 
 once had he overstepped that line. 
 
 His recent infatuation for Miss Weldon had 
 never been put into words; yet if his eyes had 
 betrayed passionate sentiments, if his hand-clasps 
 had been eloquent of more than friendship, what 
 then ? Truly the long months of his silence toward 
 Evelyn had been months of severe contest between 
 heart and reason. His visit to the Grange had 
 been impelled by the resolution to ask her hand, a 
 proof of the. profoundest devotion his heart had 
 ever known. 
 
102 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Alas ! Of this devotion, nothing now remained. 
 His idol was shattered. With the assurance of Eve- 
 lyn's falseness of character, her outward charms, 
 previously so seductive, faded into nothingness. 
 There was naught but deception in the face where 
 he once saw incarnate beauty and purity. 
 
 Monsieur Deverell now viewed as in the " hol- 
 low mirror of remorse " his coming thither. He 
 marked the sad change which had come over 
 Evelyn, with a pain which made him suffer some- 
 what as she did. 
 
 Her face was now wan, and dark semicircles lay 
 beneath the eyes which had shone with the lustre 
 of woman's pent-up love. Formerly her bosom 
 was in tumult when he was near, and her hand 
 became tremulous when his own came into acci- 
 dental contact with it. This change he noted 
 with heartfelt dismay, and he pitied, oh how he 
 pitied her ! Well he knew that her strongest love 
 had been dedicated to himself ; and conscience 
 told him he had deliberately encouraged that love, 
 by seeking her companionship in her own home. 
 
 Giant shadows of self-reproach haunted him 
 through the day. With Evelyn's sad features 
 rising before him in the dead of night, banishing 
 sleep from his pillow, he wondered if it were not 
 best to sacrifice his own happiness for the protec- 
 tion of hers, if it would not be best to speak 
 words that would make him her liege forever; 
 but with a new day his self-interested reason would 
 
A PROMISE. 103 
 
 return. He told himself that if a woman were 
 capable of betraying the parents, the treason 
 within her must be hard to overcome, and she 
 might be faithless to him. He remembered Bra- 
 bantio's words to Othello : 
 
 Look to her, Moor ! Have a quick eye to see ! 
 She has deceived her father, and may thee I 
 
 This fatal germ might spread within her nature, 
 until she became a very demon ! 
 
 Meanwhile Evelyn's mind became less tranquil 
 with each passing hour. Night after night she lay 
 with arid eyes riveted on the impenetrable gloom, 
 her misplaced faith creating sprites who whispered : 
 " On the morrow he will speak ! Be comforted ! 
 Yes, on the morrow ! " 
 
 As day succeeded day, and Aubrey's visit 
 lengthened into almost another week, a week 
 which seemed a year in Evelyn's life, and still 
 he was silent, she began to relinquish her trust in 
 the nameless phantoms which hovered about her 
 pillow, and to accept the truth in its bare horror. 
 
 " He does not love me ! " Despite her mad 
 desire to crush this thought, it raged like a crested 
 reptile from morn till night, from night till morn 
 again, until at length Evelyn found herself crouch- 
 ing before this disappointment like a leopardess at 
 bay. 
 
 How endlessly the, years stretched out before 
 her, as she began to look the future in the face, 
 and to imagine some other woman in Deverell 
 
104 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Hall ! Now it was that the beautiful face of her 
 foster-sister rose in jealous thought, as if to incite 
 Evelyn to mental wickedness, amounting almost to 
 crime ; for she believed that in that pretty face 
 alone lay the barrier between herself and supreme 
 happiness. 
 
 It was Friday evening. The following day 
 Aubrey had fixed for leave-taking. He was to 
 join his friend Hylton in Tallahassee on Sunday, 
 whence they would go to New Orleans, there 
 to perfect arrangements for their travels on the 
 Pacific Coast. 
 
 These plans were really of recent contemplation 
 with Aubrey; for on leaving New Orleans, less 
 than a month before, his mind had pictured scenes 
 in which only a lovely bride and ardent groom 
 figured ; but these scenes had vanished into thin 
 air. Instead of the same aspiring young French- 
 man, he was now as grave and preoccupied as 
 some savant, who has become such an enigma to 
 himself, as to wonder if it would not be well for 
 him to enter some disciplinary convent. 
 
 It was seeing his college friend so cast down, 
 that brought the first idea of going West to 
 Aubrey ; but the proposal having grown into a 
 rooted project between them, he hoped the diver- 
 sion would prove a means of reviving their depressed 
 spirits, so that both would gradually forget their 
 respective heart-affairs, so very closely related, 
 
A PROMISE. 105 
 
 though neither of the two friends knew the main- 
 spring of the other's story. 
 
 A warm rain had been falling in intermittent 
 showers since morning. On this Friday Evelyn 
 and her guest had therefore been confined indoors 
 all day ; but as evening came on, the rain abated, 
 and only a few silver-faced clouds remained. 
 Fleet-winged birds scurried home to their mates, 
 and the day died with a sunset startling in its 
 grandeur. Such a rainbow as is only seen in 
 southern skies had spanned the horizon ; but the 
 clouds were transformed into mingled amethyst and 
 gold, spreading themselves over the western border, 
 and gradually absorbing that beautiful scarf of 
 promise, until it seemed as if the Judgment Day 
 was harbingered by a sea of fire. 
 
 Deverell had been standing alone on the front 
 veranda, watching this gorgeous spectacle with 
 breathless delight. He liked to watch the vivid 
 coloring fade, even as he had liked to watch its 
 beginning ; and it was only when a few opal flecks 
 alone remained that, with a deep-drawn sigh, he 
 descended the steps, and sauntered slowly up and 
 down the garden walk. 
 
 Having lit a cigar he clasped his hands absently 
 behind him, and gave himself up to meditation 
 about his journey. In less than twenty-four hours 
 he must say adieu to little Hazel! Would this 
 be a final farewell between them? Would the 
 mystery surrounding her young life ever be solved ? 
 If so, by whom ? 
 
106 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Was there a person in existence who could or 
 would assume the right to fathom her past, and 
 bring the secret of her origin to light ? Oh, that 
 he himself might claim so gracious a mission ! 
 But to do so would be to forfeit that which he 
 held dearer than life itself, his honor ! This was 
 involved in his pledge of silence to Evelyn. If 
 some day Hazel should be brought to give up the 
 worthy friends she enjoyed in the Weldons, what 
 then? Would her foster-sister then tell her all, 
 and in so doing condemn her own soul to torment ? 
 
 With this thought a vague terror seized the 
 thinker ; and this was accompanied by the fierce 
 craving to see and speak with Hazel, to beseech 
 her to rely upon him in any time of tribulation. 
 
 So overmastering wasthis desire that his pulse 
 began to flutter passionately, and he could distinctly 
 hear his own heartthrobs. Could his surmise be a 
 forecast of some disastrous cloud drifting close 
 upon Weld on Grange ? 
 
 Where was Hazel ? In what direction could he 
 turn to find her ? Was it in answer to this cry 
 of his inmost soul that, as he passed beneath a 
 window, he heard the sob of someone in distress ? 
 
 Involuntarily he paused. Above these half- 
 stifled throes he heard another voice, speaking in 
 hot impassioned tones : " So you have suddenly 
 developed a liking for poetry ! " Something like 
 a hiss followed. " I would to God the waters of 
 that pool yonder had closed over you forever. 
 
A PROMISE. 107 
 
 before that fatal morning ! Impostor ! Snake ! 
 There ! How I . should love to serve you like 
 that!" 
 
 Something came whirring through the open 
 window, beneath which Aubrey stood, a book 
 in dainty green and gold, which fell upon the wet 
 grass almost at his feet. He caught it up and 
 pressed his lips passionately upon the cover, 
 whereon his quick eye saw the title, Lady of the 
 Lake. 
 
 " Hazel has been reading this ! " The thought 
 sent a glad thrill through him. Placing the vol- 
 ume in his breast-pocket he once more inclined his 
 ear to listen, feeling no twinge of conscience as he 
 did so, but telling himself rather that some good 
 angel must have guided his footsteps. 
 
 The voice, which he of course recognized as 
 Evelyn's, could be heard no longer ; but the pite- 
 ous sobs grew louder and more convulsive, as did 
 also the tumult of his Gallic heart. How he longed 
 to leap through that window, and avow himself to 
 Hazel Verne as her sworn defender ! 
 
 Scarce had this longing been formed, when sud- 
 denly a face appeared at the window, Hazel's ! 
 She retreated swiftly on seeing him, for according 
 to the maxim, " the heart waits not the guidance 
 of the senses." Aubrey, instead of moving out of 
 her sight, stood looking up now with sympathetic 
 eyes. 
 
 Hazel was in deshabille, having just begun her 
 
108 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 toilet for dinner when Evelyn entered her room, 
 and this cruel scene followed. Her gold-brown 
 hair was unbound, and rippled about her shoulders 
 like a halo, and she wore a loose dressing-gown of 
 palish-tinted blue. She stood with her small 
 hands clasped appealingly, her sweet lips quivering 
 slightly apart, while unspeakable anguish and fear 
 shone through her tears. 
 
 Never until this moment had Deverell cherished 
 an unmanly feeling toward womankind. If in his 
 inmost heart he cursed the woman who had in- 
 flicted such pain upon a young innocent, who 
 can censure him? 
 
 Taking a quick step forward he climbed the 
 strong trellis to the low piazza-roof, laid one hand 
 upon the window-ledge, and whispered as he saw 
 her shrink away : " Do . not turn from me, Hazel ! 
 I have heard all. I have been listening, though 
 I did not mean it, believe me ! Oh petite amie, I 
 entreat you, do not let such words grieve you ! 
 They are unworthy your tears. They were un- 
 womanly, cruel, unjust ; but she did not mean 
 them, I am sure she did not ! So dry your tears 
 and come nearer me." 
 
 "That is right," he added, as the girl obeyed 
 him, with something of the confidence of a startled 
 fawn. "Now tell me, little one," he continued, 
 " where you have been hiding all these days ? " 
 He spoke hurriedly, hoping to divert her thoughts 
 from her present grief; and this he did for a 
 moment. 
 
A PROMISE. 109 
 
 " Hiding ? " repeated Hazel, as a faint smile 
 broke through her tears, like the sun through a 
 mist- veil. " Why, monsieur, I have not been hid- 
 ing ! Arline, my governess, will go to the seashore 
 next month, to take her summer's vacation, and I 
 have been busy preparing my French review ; but 
 monsieur, please, my hair, I had just begun 
 my toilet, 
 
 " I like to see you like this," he interrupted 
 quickly, noting her swift discomfiture and vivid 
 blush, as she raised one half-bared arm to her 
 head, where, amidst the meshes of bronze, a white 
 comb clung caressingly. " You remind me now of 
 a picture that hangs in the gallery at Deverell 
 Hall. It is called the Sunshine of Saint Eulalie. 
 Some day you shall see it. 
 
 " But see ! " he added abruptly, " I saved your 
 book from being ruined utterly. It fell upon the 
 damp grass, but it is damaged very little." Smil- 
 ingly he handed the volume toward her. 
 
 " Oh monsieur, how shall I thank you ! The 
 book is Arline's, and I feared it would be hurt," 
 cried Hazel, gladly extending her hand to grasp 
 the treasure. 
 
 Before relinquishing it Aubrey caught her hand, 
 clasping it within both his own, he did not know 
 how closely. He felt that the time had come 
 when he might speak the words he so longed to 
 speak. Conscious how the precious moments were 
 flying he began, with a voice wherein agitation 
 revealed itself all too plainly. 
 
110 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 " Hazel, I have wished for this moment ! To- 
 morrow I must say adieu to you ; but before 
 going I want to win a little promise from your 
 lips, so little, indeed, that I know you can not 
 refuse to grant it. You are so young, Hazel, and 
 without parental love. You have kind and loving 
 friends in your aunt and uncle ; but, little one, the 
 future is so uncertain ! These fond relatives may 
 be snatched from you. Should such a thing 
 happen, there will be need of other friends to take 
 their places. Then will you think of me, Hazel? 
 Will you turn to me as to a brother, who would 
 serve you, even at the peril of his life ? " 
 
 Hazel hesitated, trembling perceptibly, as a 
 terrified look crept into her face. 
 
 " Aunty and uncle taken from me ! Oh mon- 
 sieur ! " she cried huskily ; whereupon Monsieur 
 Aubrey released her hand, filled with grief at 
 having caused her a moment's sorrow. 
 
 Realizing that the import of his words was too 
 weighty for a mind so inexperienced, he hastened 
 to modify them, saying with gentle ardor : " For- 
 give me if I have distressed you ! Do not think 
 again of my words. I do not think there is a likeli- 
 hood of your ever having to sacrifice those whom 
 you love so dearly. I wish merely to impress you 
 with the warmth of my interest in your future 
 welfare. Now," seeing the tear-stained face begin 
 to brighten again, " will you not repeat after me 
 these words, simple in themselves, yet significant 
 
A PROMISE. Ill 
 
 of much, will you not say, I will trust you^ 
 mon ami ? " 
 
 " Oh mon c/ier ami ! You are all that is noble 
 and good ! I feel that you are, and I cfo, I shall 
 always trust you ! " 
 
 Her face was bright with the fervor of her 
 words, and her eyes met his with filial confidence. 
 
 He held them with his glance for one brief 
 moment. Then he bowed low over her little hand 
 outstretched to him, merely touching the delicate 
 finger-tips with his lips, and murmuring: "God 
 bless you!" after which he turned and walked 
 quickly away, to hide the emotion which her words 
 had called forth. He had gained far more than he 
 had hoped for ! 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ADIEUX. 
 
 HE shall find no fiend in hell can match the fury 
 
 of a disappointed woman ! 
 
 Scorned! slighted! .dismissed without a parting pang! 
 
 GIBBER. 
 
 BEAUTIFUL as a siren looked Evelyn Weldon 
 as she drove her guest to the station on 
 Saturday afternoon. Her perfect-fitting dTess of 
 gray camel's-hair was enlivened by a huge cluster 
 of scarlet poppies, worn at the belt; while her 
 large Gainsborough, also gray, was trimmed with 
 ostrich plumes, which swept over her shoulder, 
 lending a soft radiance to her face, otherwise 
 colorless as ivory. 
 
 No spark of the old lovelight shone from Au- 
 brey's eyes, as he turned them passively upon her, 
 saying that he had passed a most enjoyable week, 
 and was deeply indebted to mademoiselle and 
 madame for their hospitality, that sometime in 
 the future he hoped to reciprocate by entertaining 
 them in New Orleans, while Deverell Hall was 
 open to them at any time they might choose to 
 make themselves his guests. 
 
 He meant no cruel thrust. His feeling was one 
 of contempt, not cruelty. His visit to the Grange 
 (112) 
 
ADIEU X. 113 
 
 had been most informal. He had even presumed 
 to offer himself as a guest, after a protracted 
 silence between himself and the daughter of the 
 house, the only inmate thereof whom he had 
 ever met. What then, seeing that his past atten- 
 tions had been suggestive of something deeper 
 than friendship, could this visit have portended to 
 Evelyn, if not a continuation, perhaps a culmina- 
 tion, of their tenderness ? 
 
 He now felt that he had virtually proven him- 
 self a craven in Evelyn's eyes ; and that in this 
 clumsy attempt to extricate himself from a dilemma 
 so embarrassing to both, he must appear a double 
 deceiver. 
 
 How could he be so sacrilegious as to invite her 
 to Deverell Hall, after what had transpired! It 
 was as though a mighty chasm yawned between 
 them, he safe-footed on one side, she unsteady 
 on the other, looking to him for succor which he 
 refused to grant, while with folded arms he dared 
 her to leap the abyss, though well aware that she 
 would die rather than attempt it. 
 
 Truly Evelyn was to be pitied. She lowered 
 her head, in order to hide the misery aroused by 
 his words, and her soul writhed in bitterness. 
 
 " He has deliberately sought my heart as a toy, 
 to be picked up and discarded at his pleasure ! " 
 This thought compelled an audible groan as they 
 came in sight of the railway. 
 
 Monsieur Deverell saw her hands tremble, like 
 
114 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 the fibres of her plumes, as she tightened her 
 hold upon the reins, and guided Alcides around 
 the last corner. In after years he never forgot 
 the agony depicted on her countenance, when the 
 moment came for their exchange of farewells. 
 Taking her hand, whose coldness he felt even 
 through its thick gauntlet, he saw her lips tremble, 
 as they faltered, " Adieu monsieur ! " 
 
 For a moment remorse and compassion nearly 
 overmastered him. His hand closed convulsively 
 around hers. Rapidly he formed a fierce resolu- 
 tion, a sacrificial determination. The irrevocable 
 question was on the verge of utterance : " Evelyn, 
 will you become my wife ? " when, like a flash, a 
 face with tearful eyes rose between them, making 
 him exclaim aloud in his agitation, " Man Dieu!" 
 The blue veins about his temples swelled almost 
 to bursting, and drops of perspiration started from 
 his brow, as once again he heard the cruel words 
 Evelyn had used toward poor Hazel : " I would 
 the waters* of that pool yonder had closed over 
 you forever ! " 
 
 At this instant there was a scream from the 
 locomotive, and the cry of All aboard! 
 
 " Adieu, adieu, Mademoiselle Evelyn ! " he said 
 huskily, as with another spasmodic hand-pressure 
 he hurried forward, and swung himself upon the 
 last platform of the moving train. 
 
 Then he glanced back, waving his hand toward 
 her; but she made no answering gesture. She 
 
ADIEUX. 115 
 
 might have been a carved statue sitting upright in 
 the phaeton, though her face was turned toward 
 him, and her eyes glittered vindictively. 
 
 When Aubrey was seated in the smoking-car he 
 threw open the window and looked back over the 
 road, hoping to catch a last glimpse of Evelyn, 
 that he might wave yet another signal of farewell. 
 No trace of phaeton or driver was at first visible ; 
 yet, as he continued to gaze, suddenly, through an 
 abrupt opening in the woods, he saw Alcides 
 flying over the dusty road, urged to this speed by 
 frequent applications of the lash. Deverell gazed 
 spellbound, until all sight of Alcides was lost, and 
 also of the red plumes of his mistress. 
 
 Settling into his seat, Aubrey bought a late 
 Tallahassee Journal ; and he opened it, but not to 
 read, His eyes rested vacantly upon the same 
 unread paragraph until the sun had set. Twilight, 
 so brief in southern skies, closed in, and at length 
 the brakeman passed through to light the lamps ; 
 but Aubrey remained oblivious of all save his 
 thoughts of the "child of mystery." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A TELEGRAM. 
 
 FATE leads us blindfold at nightfall to the edge of the 
 abyss of the morrow, and we know not what one step may 
 bring to pass. 
 
 POOR Alcides ! Rarely before had this beau- 
 tiful creature known a sting of the lash, and 
 his gentle flesh quivered under cruel blows, which 
 left welts on his silvery coat, with here and there a 
 bloodstain. Foamy flakes issued from his nostrils, 
 and fell behind to mingle with the dust. 
 
 On, on, madly on, Evelyn urged him, seemingly 
 to inevitable death. Pardon this inhumanity ! 
 She was mad, drunk with the fury of disappoint- 
 ment, and hardly responsible for her deed. For 
 years she had fondled and humored Alcides, as 
 she might a child, and would have fought with 
 one who dared maltreat him; but now a wicked 
 determination was kindled within her, whose fierce- 
 ness involved moral blindness. Not until she 
 reached the Grange did Evelyn take note of her 
 horse's deplorable condition. 
 
 She was then met by Noel. Attracted by the 
 
 sound of rapidly approaching wheels he came from 
 
 the stable yard to see who it might be, little 
 
 dreaming his young mistress was returning so 
 
 (116) 
 
A TELEGRAM. 117 
 
 soon. With a loud exclamation of astonishment 
 he opened the gate ; and as Evelyn drove through, 
 a cry of horror escaped him. " Lo'd o' my soul, 
 Missy Eb'lyn, dat ah hoss done ben his las' trip ! 
 Yeheahsme?" 
 
 As his young lady mechanically handed him 
 whip and reins, and jumped out unassisted, he 
 resumed, with growing anger : " Chile, has n't yer 
 got no feelin', 't yer lashes a poo' animole, un' 
 makes him sweat un' foam un' breed at de mouf, 
 like as him 's made o' wood ? Un' yer alluz makes 
 fight as when I currys him down a leetle too rough 
 like ! Now look ee yah, if dat would 'n bring de 
 teahs to Marsa Wel'on's eyes, den dis yah coon 
 don't know wat's brack nor wat's wite, dat's 
 all ! " 
 
 If this semi-insolence had been provoked by any 
 other incentive, Evelyn would have loftily checked 
 the hostler's words, and perhaps ordered some 
 severe punishment for the bold negro ; but when 
 she saw her beloved horse panting, foaming, 
 bleeding at the mouth, where the bit had made 
 ugly gashes, she was mute with remorse. Per- 
 haps she had killed her favorite ! 
 
 " Into the stables, Noel, and attend him well," 
 she said anxiously, as he took Alcides from the 
 shafts. " Be sure and attend him well ! " she 
 repeated, " and you shall receive extra silver this 
 month." 
 
 " If 'tendin' '11 do any good ! " returned the man 
 
118 ' THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 dubiously ; " but if you ain't had yo' las' ride on 
 Alcides, den I 's missed my reckin', dat's all." He 
 spoke doggedly, realizing his present importance, 
 and quick to take advantage of it ; but Evelyn did 
 not heed his last remark, for she was on her way 
 into the house. 
 
 She at once went to the family sitting-room, 
 where her mother was almost sure to be found at 
 this hour. Mrs. Weldon looked up in amazement 
 as her daughter entered. " Why dear, back so 
 soon? You have scarce been gone two hours. 
 You must have driven fast." 
 
 " The roads are in fine order, and I enjoy swift 
 driving," said Evelyn evasively ; and not until she 
 removed her large hat did her mother observe the 
 paleness of her face. " Why Evelyn," she then 
 cried, " are you ill ? " 
 
 Evelyn tossed aside her gauntlets, dropped 
 languidly into a chair near Mrs. Weldon, and 
 repeated sarcastically, " Am I ill ! " Her words 
 were followed by a laugh so wild as to evoke an 
 involuntary gasp from the anxious mother, who 
 gazed for a moment into the hard face before her, 
 ere she could bring herself to speak again. 
 
 " Evelyn, my dear, you are disappointed ! " she 
 at last ventured to say, in a sympathetic voice. 
 " Oh," she went on tremulously, " I am so grieved 
 to see you thus ! I warned you ! " 
 
 Although these last words were spoken in that 
 tone of gentle reasoning which only comes from 
 
A TELEGRAM. 119 
 
 a true mother, they called a quick flush to Evelyn's 
 face. 
 
 " You are prejudiced, mamma, and have been, 
 from the first. I shall not listen! You warned 
 me ? Yes, you warned me, through your biased 
 views of Aubrey's past attentions to me ; but of 
 these you were absolutely ignorant ! You really 
 know nothing about our past relations. Your ideas 
 are gleaned from Aunt Lydia's letters, and she 
 merely stated her conclusions, not the facts. To 
 me Monsieur Deverell's recent visit to Weldon 
 Grange bore but one interpretation, which was 
 palpable enough on the evening of his arrival ; and 
 this purpose would have been carried out, but for 
 a little episode down by the lake the next morning. 
 Hazel Verne's face in an instant divided our lives, 
 his and mine. If you failed to see the change in 
 him from that hour, you must have been blind. 
 Perhaps you closed your eyes to the pathetic 
 picture of your foster-child on a certain night, 
 when she crept so stealthily into the parlor as 
 monsieur was singing ; or, if you saw it, you would 
 doubtless explain her emotion by her great love of 
 music ! I claim, on the other hand, that this very 
 emotion was conjured up, as a silent but eloquent 
 appeal to his heart. Oh, her scheme succeeded, 
 how well it succeeded ! " 
 
 Another hard laugh followed, as Evelyn recalled 
 the little scene she had witnessed in the hall 
 between Aubrey and Hazel. 
 
120 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 " Evelyn, you are mad ! Such intrigue would 
 be inconsistent with the child's years ! She is 
 little more than a child, and has no thought of 
 such a sentiment ! You are heartlessly unfair in 
 your censure ! " 
 
 Mrs. Weldon spoke with quiet severity, but she 
 felt a dull pain at her heart, and compressed her 
 lips firmly, to suppress the rising sobs. 
 
 " So you contend that Hazel's trip to the lake 
 that morning was devoid of any motive inconsistent 
 with her age," went on the other remorselessly; 
 " but I am doubly convinced of your error. Won- 
 dering why Hazel kept her room so closely after 
 study-hours, I questioned Arline, and learned that 
 her pupil had suddenly become very much absorbed 
 in Scott's poems. I went straight to Hazel's room. 
 As I expected, I found her pouring over The Lady 
 of the Lake, which seems to have received an 
 irresistible charm since her first meeting with 
 Aubrey, when he applied to her the very romantic 
 title of Ma petite Lady of the Lake! Very 
 charming, I admit. So you see, mamma, it is 
 useless asking me to agree with you about your 
 guileless foster-child. She is a precocious actress, 
 one peculiarly well qualified to execute the role 
 of enchantress ! " 
 
 " Evelyn, I implore you, 
 
 " She has wilfully undermined my happiness, 
 the one ambition of my heart. But for this I 
 might have brought myself at last to tolerate her. 
 
A TELEGRAM. 121 
 
 Now, even to live under the same roof with her 
 will be unbearable. My chief motive in speaking 
 now is to say that either she or I must leave the 
 Grange, and at once." 
 
 " Dear Heaven, that it should come to this ! " 
 wailed the mother, pressing one hand against her 
 heart, while the other was uplifted beseechingly. 
 
 Mrs. Weldon would have said more, had not 
 Evelyn interposed : " Spare yourself undue pain, 
 mother! My own is enough. It is deeper than 
 you will ever know. I love Aubrey Deverell I 
 Only Heaven knows the fulness of my love for 
 him! Long ago I gave him my heart. After a 
 secret struggle, when I believed my love unre- 
 quited, I succeeded in living it down. I called 
 myself a fool, for nurturing so deep a regard 
 toward one whom I had known but a brief season, 
 and finally I conquered myself. I brought myself 
 to see the world almost as I had seen it before I 
 ever met Aubrey. Then came his letter, to raise 
 again my buried hopes ! You know what followed, 
 mother. Aubrey came next day; and on the 
 evening of his arrival he told me, in all but words, 
 that mine had been the correct interpretation of 
 his coming, that he loved me ! My eyes would 
 not close themselves that night, for the joy this 
 confession brought to me. The darkness was alive 
 with glowing pictures of happiness in store for 
 me. The morrow was scarcely born when the 
 wrecker came, the mermaid with blue eyes and 
 
122 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 fair hair, the Lorelei of my destruction. From 
 the hour he looked into Hazel's face, Aubrey 
 was changed. He began treating me with studied 
 politeness, and then with a coldness that almost 
 killed me." 
 
 Here Evelyn stifled a sob, and then added : 
 " Now, mamma, I have uncovered my heart to 
 you, and I am done. My soul's bitterness towards 
 that girl, no words can fathom. Let your own 
 heart decide which of us shall go. You might 
 place her in a convent until she comes of age." 
 
 Mrs. Weldon was weeping, weeping unrestrain- 
 edly, partly through compassion for her wayward 
 daughter, partly from love for her foster-child. 
 She could not for a moment believe to be true the 
 words applied to Hazel. She knew they were the 
 imagery of a jealous brain. This thought soon 
 became a vigorous protest. 
 
 The tears were dried in Mrs. Weldon's eyes at 
 length, and she looked up, saying with a new 
 sternness : " Evelyn, your love has been defeated, 
 and consequently you think you must blame some- 
 body besides yourself. Your feelings toward my 
 niece are wicked. They grow from such trifles 
 as create in me no distrust of Hazel. I can not 
 consider seriously your wish for a separation. 
 Yours is a wild proposition, and redounds to your 
 discredit. How could you imagine me capable 
 of conceding so much to your demand? Your 
 wish to have me send Hazel from the Grange is a 
 direct insult to me." 
 
A TELEGRAM. 123 
 
 " Your concession will signify little after another 
 month," returned Evelyn, grasping the rod more 
 firmly at her mother's words. "On the twenty- 
 fifth of July I shall attain my twenty-first birthday, 
 and then I shall no longer be amenable to parental 
 discipline, nor doomed to a life of seclusion. I can 
 choose my own pathway ! " 
 
 " Your reasoning is just, Evelyn. Nevertheless, 
 parental authority must be respected, or else a 
 child is liable to the penalty of a worse exile than 
 you name. Your father has been a true parent; 
 but his heart, if once hardened, would be as unfor- 
 giving towards disloyalty, as it is now tender 
 towards the only living issue of our marriage." 
 
 Mrs. Weldon was pained; for speaking such 
 words to her beloved child was like a distressing 
 dream. 
 
 The agony in the mother's heart was growing 
 unbearable, yet Evelyn persisted : " Beggary would 
 be preferable to daily contact with one I loathe, a 
 reptile. I had rather work for bread, than eat at 
 the same table with her day after day. My father 
 will doubtless give her half his fortune ! Why 
 not make her his sole heiress, and let me take 
 what ought to be her place in the world, what 
 would be, but for charity ! walking the streets, 
 a nameless, homeless, hungry girl. The object of 
 your benevolence has found a warmer place in my 
 father's heart than I ever held there, and I am 
 certain what election he would make between us." 
 
124 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 She paused, her gaze fixed on the grief-blanched 
 face before her, a face which suffering seemed 
 to have furrowed deeper during the last half -hour. 
 
 Did this poor mother hear aright ? Were the 
 words nameless, homeless, hungry heard in a 
 dream ? No, no ! They were real ; but surely 
 they were spoken at random. They were merely 
 the outburst of a fevered brain, like all Evelyn's 
 speeches that day. How could it be otherwise ? 
 How could Evelyn know aught concerning the 
 doubtfulness of Hazel's birth ? This was the 
 religious secret of Mrs. Weldon and her dear 
 husband. During four long years they had 
 guarded in their bosoms the death-trust of Henry 
 Verne. Not once had they debated that trust 
 between them. Even when alone in their chamber 
 they rarely alluded to it ; for they held it as too 
 sacred for careless reference. 
 
 Thus Mrs. Weldon argued with herself amidst 
 the strained silence which ensued, and she half- 
 resolved to let Evelyn's words pass unnoticed. 
 
 But those later words : " The object of your 
 benevolence has found a warmer place in my 
 father's heart than any I ever held there." 
 
 Ah ! Mrs. Weldon felt doubly assured as to her 
 daughter's delirium, and the mother's wonted 
 sweetness returned. No harshness revealed itself 
 in her voice, as she slipped down upon her knees 
 beside Evelyn, whose features were rigid while her 
 hands were firmly clasped. 
 
A TELEGRAM. 125 
 
 With a mother's gentleness Mrs. Weldon placed 
 her arms about the slender waist of her daughter, 
 and said : " Evelyn, be calm, my dear. Do not 
 use such words again, I beseech you. They pierce 
 my heart to its core. You wrong your gray-haired 
 father in his absence. You must know, my 
 darling, his unselfish love. You have been 
 cold and restrained toward him. Perhaps you 
 have spurned the first place in his bosom ; but it 
 has been yours always. True, my brother's orphan 
 girl holds a dear place there ; but his big heart has 
 room for you both, though you, his very own, have 
 always been first." 
 
 "If brought to the test he would send Hazel 
 away, rather than see me go ? " persisted the girl, 
 a hopeful gleam in her look. 
 
 " Oh my child, why will you persevere in this 
 folly ? Every such word is a sharp dagger in my 
 heart ! " Hereupon Mrs. Weldon burst again into 
 convulsive sobbing, letting her head fall hopelessly 
 upon Evelyn's lap. 
 
 For some moments nothing was heard save the 
 measured ticking of the clock, broken by half- 
 smothered sobs from the distressed mother ; but 
 presently there came the sound of light footsteps 
 speeding through the corridor. The door was 
 opened, and Hazel crossed the threshold, bearing 
 in her hand a sealed envelop. 
 
 It was now twilight, and the new-comer did not 
 at first notice Evelyn, half-concealed behind a 
 
126 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Japanese screen ; but Mrs. Weldon, hastily arising, 
 advanced toward Hazel, as the latter cried excited- 
 ly : " Aunty, a telegram for you ! The boy rode 
 over with it from Jasper. He said it required 
 immediate attention." 
 
 Mrs. Weldon grasped the envelop wonderingly, 
 while Evelyn pressed forward, possessed with a 
 lingering hope that here was a message from 
 Deverell. 
 
 Again and again Mrs. Weldon turned the buff 
 cover about in her hands, ere she could bring her- 
 self to open it. In her younger days this method 
 of correspondence was seldom used, except in 
 times of calamity ; and as she had received several 
 such despatches during her life, her extreme agita- 
 tion was natural. 
 
 Bijou, the large Saint Bernard dog, had followed 
 Hazel, and thrown himself on a huge bearskin rug. 
 With noble head erect he abruptly set up a dismal 
 howl, like the ill-omened moan of the north wind. 
 The sound was unlike any that they had ever 
 heard from Bijou before, and for a moment they 
 looked at each other, and at the dog, with anxious 
 faces. 
 
 "Put Bijou out, Hazel! Oh, do put him out! 
 What can such actions mean? Has he some 
 instinctive knowledge of coming trouble?" said 
 Mrs. Weldon in awestruck tones. 
 
 By no persuasion could Bijou be induced to stir 
 from his position ; though as if comprehending the 
 
A TELEGRAM. 127 
 
 annoyance of his demonstration, he gave one deep 
 sigh, rested his head against Hazel's skirts, and 
 riveted his knowing eyes upon Mrs. Weldon, now 
 and then beating his shaggy tail against the floor, 
 as was his wont when impatient. 
 
 " Do n't close about me so, girls ! Heaven bless 
 my Gerald ! I trust he is safe ! " added Mrs. 
 Weldon, almost inaudibly. Then, as the words 
 recurred to her, It requires immediate attention, 
 she impulsively thrust the message into Evelyn's 
 hands, almost gasping as she did so : " Read it for 
 me, daughter ! I do not think I have the courage. 
 Hurry ! " she added breathlessly, as she nervously 
 thrust her hand inside her bosom, clutching it 
 tightly over her heart. 
 
 As Evelyn tore open the envelop the mother 
 impulsively walked to the open window. The 
 next instant she was arrested by the agonized 
 exclamation : " Father, oh my father ! " There 
 was a faint echo, of father, father. How heartless 
 seemed this mimicry ! How it turned a heart- wail 
 into sport. 
 
 With unnatural calm Mrs. Weldon gently 
 unclasped her daughter's fingers from the paper, 
 and these words danced before her in flaming 
 letters : 
 
 To Mrs. Julia Weldon, at Jasper : 
 
 Disastrous wreck near Eufala; ain one of its victims, 
 wounded unto death. Come immediately. 
 
 GERALD WELDON. 
 
128 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 There was no shriek, only a low, broken cry of 
 " Gerald ! Oh, my best-beloved, I am coming ! " 
 Like a lily no longer young, yet with the essence 
 of loveliness and purity still enshrining it, Julia 
 Weldon fell prostrate, white and still as marble. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ORPHANED. 
 
 So softly death succeeded life in her, 
 She did but dream of Heaven, and she was there. 
 
 DRYDEN'S Leonora. 
 
 TELL me, my soul, can this be death? POPE. 
 
 IN" a moment Evelyn and Hazel, the latter having 
 divined the purport of the telegram,, were 
 on their knees beside the stricken wife. Loud 
 were the lamentations of both girls, as they chafed 
 the cold hands, and bathed the rigid features, the 
 mask of death. Was ever death itself more 
 ghastly ? 
 
 The servants gently forced the girls away, and 
 then bore the form of their beloved mistress to the 
 sofa, where they unloosed her garments. What 
 was the terror which stole over their dusky faces, 
 when fifteen minutes elapsed, and their efforts to 
 recall her to life proved futile ? 
 
 Evelyn sat looking on, half-stunned but dry- 
 eyed, the natural tears scorched away by the 
 unutterable suspense of her soul; but when she 
 saw Chrissie, the housekeeper, and the other 
 attendants, pause in their vigorous work, Evelyn 
 rose abruptly, and threw herself upon her knees 
 beside the couch. 
 
 (129) 
 
130 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 " Mamma, oh mamma darling ! " she almost 
 shrieked, " why do n't you open your eyes ? Why 
 don't you speak to me, your Evelyn? Oh my 
 darling, speak ! This silence will kill me ! " 
 
 Snatching one of the slender hands, she covered 
 it with kisses. Finding it cold as ice, she held it 
 in her bosom, hoping to bring it back to life and 
 warmth. A smile, with the peace of Heaven in it, 
 seemed to enliven the blue lips which Evelyn 
 kissed so often, and each moment seemed an hour, 
 as this perverse daughter knelt by her mother's 
 side. 
 
 Why the terrible stillness of the room ? Why 
 was not everyone stirring, and helping to awaken 
 her loved one? Evelyn looked searchingly into 
 each face. Why were the servants wearing such 
 tearful countenances? Had they heard of her 
 father's dread condition? Where had Hazel 
 gone ? Had she abandoned her benefactress in this 
 trying hour? 
 
 Presently Evelyn became conscious of someone 
 sobbing bitterly at the foot of the couch. Looking 
 around she saw Hazel crouching there, her head 
 bent low in grief. " Go to your room, Hazel ! " 
 said Evelyn, almost gruffly. " Go to your room ! 
 Your agitation will excite mamma all the more, 
 when she awakes from her swoon." 
 
 " Oh Evelyn, do n't, please do n't send me away 
 frofti her ! I could n't, indeed I could n't bear to 
 go ! " sobbed Hazel piteously. 
 
ORPHANED. 131 
 
 "Well, move farther off, then. You mustn't 
 stay near her, crying in such a way. Chrissie," 
 turning to the housekeeper, as Hazel moved slowly 
 apart, " get more hot mustard- water ! No, stay ! 
 Lay your hand over her heart for a moment! 
 Is n't there a faint fluttering ? Surely there is ! " 
 
 Chrissie thrust her hand beneath the clothes, 
 pressing it close against the silent heart, where 
 Evelyn's had been lying. 
 
 " Do n't you detect the slightest just the 
 slightest fluttering, Chrissie ? " repeated eagerly 
 the unsuspecting daughter. 
 
 The housekeeper suffered her hand to remain 
 there long enough to make " assurance doubly 
 sure " that no pulsation, however faint, made itself 
 known. Slowly withdrawing it she shook her 
 head deprecatingly, while great tears dropped from 
 her lashes, wetting the satin cushion upon which 
 Mrs. Weldon's head rested. 
 
 Noting this, Evelyn began to experience a terri- 
 ble fear. She essayed to speak, but the question 
 which involuntarily rose to her lips froze there. 
 For one moment she stood with stony face turned 
 toward the housekeeper, but a mist slowly 
 gathered before her eyes. Then she began to 
 sway like a wind-tossed reed ; and the next 
 moment she would have "fallen, but for the timely 
 aid of Arline, who had just returned from an 
 accustomed walk, and hurried to the sitting-rftom 
 to learn the cause of the evident commotion, and see 
 
132 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 if anything was seriously amiss. She had hardly 
 learned the true state of affairs when she caught 
 the fainting girl in her arms, and, with the assist- 
 ance of Chrissie, bore her to a chamber. 
 
 Here Evelyn recovered consciousness, after the 
 application of a restorative. " Arline, Chrissie, 
 what has happened ? Tell me the truth ! Is she 
 is she no, no! it cannot be! Tell me that I 
 have been dreaming ! Tell me that I have been 
 the victim of a horrible illusion, or else I shall go 
 mad." 
 
 At first she raved wildly, but soon spoke more 
 quietly. " Only arouse me from this faintness, 
 and let me go back to poor mamma. Ah, bless 
 her ! I left her weeping. I was so cruel ; but 
 she that girl goaded me to wickedness. My 
 darling said that my words were like daggers ! I 
 must go to her and beg forgiveness ! I must, I 
 
 MUST ! " 
 
 She sprang toward the door, but Arline detained 
 her before her hand touched the knob. " No, no, 
 mademoiselle! You can not -go now, not yet, 
 ma chdre, but presently, when you are better, 
 and able to see your mamma, I will lead you to 
 her. Soon the doctor will come, and do what he 
 can for her." 
 
 " Then she is sick, but not dead ? " whispered 
 Evelyn huskily. " I knew it was only a wretched 
 dream. I remember now, it was that awful news 
 of my father which crushed her to the floor. 
 
ORPHANED. 133 
 
 Arline," grasping the governess's arm appealingly, 
 " only think ! My own dear father is dying, 
 dying alone, away off in Alabama ! What can be 
 done, Arline ? Mamma can not go to him, nor can 
 I leave her." 
 
 Arline looked about her hopelessly. The house- 
 keeper had returned to her mistress's bedside, for 
 by this time they had taken the lifeless form to 
 Mrs. Weldon's chamber, so there was nobody to 
 corroborate Evelyn's words. 
 
 * Mademoiselle's mind is not quite right as 
 yet," she observed mentally ; and then added 
 aloud, with gentle confidence : " It can not be, 
 chere amie! Monsieur Weldon is in Memphis, 
 and certainly well." 
 
 Evelyn gazed at Arline mutely, a momentary 
 gladness dawning upon her thoughts. " In Mem- 
 phis, and well?" she repeated slowly; but this 
 was followed by a deprecatory shake of the head, 
 and a return to hopeless misery of face and voice. 
 
 " You do not know, you do not understand, 
 Arline ! It was that which caused my mother to 
 fall. My father was on his journey home. The 
 train was wrecked near Eufala, and he was left a 
 hapless victim. He is dying now! Only think, 
 how terrible ! He who left us less than three 
 weeks ago, the very picture of health, is lying 
 alone, wounded unto death. Perhaps he is dead ! 
 Merciful Heaven ! " 
 
 Evelyn was almost screaming now, and wringing 
 
134 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 her hands like one bereft of reason. " I never 
 knew until now, when too late, the depth of my 
 love for him! Oh father, my best of fathers, 
 come back to me ! " As she threw herself pros- 
 trate across the bed, sobbing as though her form 
 would be rent in twain, Arline turned away to 
 weep in sympathy. 
 
 " Can this be true ? " she whispered. " Oh mon 
 Dieu, have pity, 'have pity ! " and she raised her 
 eyes to Heaven in tearful supplication, before 
 softly stealing from the room. 
 
 Seven o'clock! The moon's silvery light was 
 bathing the white road, over which two horsemen 
 rode on their way to the Grange. One was the 
 bearer of a second message. The other was 
 Doctor Weaver, the family physician. He rode 
 in advance ; but the messenger, spurring his horse 
 hotly, gained rapidly on the doctor. Two or three 
 mad dashes, and the riders were neck and neck. 
 
 "Doctor Weaver," said the breathless messen- 
 ger, "I made quite sure it was nobody else, for 
 your saddlebags were quite visible in the moon- 
 light. To the Grange?" The doctor nodded 
 assent. 
 
 " A sudden affliction this in the family ? " 
 
 Doctor Weaver looked puzzled. " Ah, you have 
 heard, then ? " he rejoined presently, naturally 
 concluding that his companion referred to Mrs. 
 Weldon's illness. '"I trust, however, it is not 
 serious." 
 
ORPHANED. 135 
 
 " I carry news of its fatality, sir ! " 
 
 " What do you mean, man ? I I do n't follow 
 you," exclaimed the other, with some touch of 
 impatience. 
 
 " You know about the accident, the wreck ? 
 Weldon is dead." 
 
 " My God ! " groaned the other, as he checked 
 his horse with a sudden jerk. "Wreck? What 
 wreck? Who did you say was dead? " 
 
 Gerald Weldon ! " 
 
 " Impossible ! " 
 
 " Your pardon, doctor. We have just received 
 news direct from Eufala, the scene of the disaster. 
 The Squire was returning from Memphis, and was 
 one of the victims." 
 
 " If this be true," said the doctor strongly 
 agitated, and touching his companion's arm as he 
 spoke, " then I implore you, in the name of Heaven, 
 keep the news to yourself until I have ascertained 
 the condition of my patient, Mrs. Weldon. She 
 has heart-trouble, and such a shock might prove 
 fatal, especially if thrust upon her without warning." 
 
 " But she was apprised of the accident this 
 afternoon, and also of her husband's dangerous 
 condition." 
 
 " Then I fear the worst ! Poor woman ! 
 However, you will gratify me by waiting in the 
 yard until I give you a signal." 
 
 By this time they had passed through the gate, 
 to the graveled sweep. Doctor Weaver took oft' 
 
136 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 his saddlebags, and was hurrying on, when, much 
 to his annoyance, the messenger called after him : 
 "I say, Doc, would you mind delivering the tele- 
 gram yourself? There is no answer, and my work 
 won't let me idle away much time." 
 
 The doctor grasped the despatch, thrust it into 
 his vest pocket, and strode rapidly toward the 
 house, where he found Chrissie awaiting him on 
 the front veranda. 
 
 " She 'm dead. You too late, Marsa Doctah ! 
 My good deah mist'is am done ben dead two 
 hours ! " sobbed the faithful colored woman. 
 
 Solemnly they entered the sad death-chamber 
 together. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ALONE. 
 
 LEAVES have their time to fall, 
 And flowers to wither at the north wind's hreath, 
 
 And stars to set; hut all, 
 Thou hast all seasons for thine own, oh Death ! 
 
 HEMANS. 
 
 THE dead leaves fall. We love them in their 
 verdure, as sweet diversions from our daily 
 cares ; but we watch them flutter in beauty to the 
 ground, and we trample upon their ashes, oh how 
 ruthlessly ! 
 
 We pluck a half-blown rose, with which to 
 adorn the bosom. We prize and love it, in its 
 fresh, pure beauty, when its petals breathe sweet 
 incense. For a little time we are the flower's glad 
 possessor and friend ; but when its brief life begins 
 to wane, when its head droops low on the stem's 
 exhausted strength, and the fragrant breath is 
 gone forever, then we snatch the rose from its 
 resting-place, and fling it to the winds, thus 
 proving our ingratitude. Yet if thankless, we are 
 often unconsciously so. 
 
 We pursue our separate paths through life, 
 
 thoughtless of our Heaven-sent joys, regardless of 
 
 the great Destroyer's presence, until he rises 
 
 (137) 
 
138 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 to assert his claim upon our own dear flesh and 
 blood, until he creeps stealthily in and breaks 
 the golden links which bind the household band. 
 Then we are brought to realize all that death's 
 sphinxlike presence involves ! We are no longer 
 selfish. As we look upon the impassive forms of 
 our loved ones, his prey, the tenderness in 
 our erring natures awakens. 
 
 Goaded by the remembrance of our coldness to 
 the dear ones when in life and health, we fall upon 
 our knees, and lavish contrite tears and kisses 
 upon marble hands and lips, squandering love upon 
 ears that are deaf to it forever ! When dust has 
 been consigned to dust, we wrap ourselves in sable 
 robes, and hide us away from the world for a 
 season. We weep, we wrestle with our hearts, 
 because they remind us so inopportunely of the 
 debts we owed to those who have left us. 
 
 Thus was it with Evelyn Weldon. A week ago, 
 and she was calmly happy in the possession of 
 both father and mother. Today she is desolate, in 
 the thought that not to her will come again the 
 touch of father's hand, the sound of mother's 
 voice. 
 
 Evelyn was at first stunned, and then wild, with 
 grief over her double bereavement. The two lives 
 most dear to her had gone out almost simultan- 
 eously, leaving her an orphan. She crept softly 
 from the chamber where Arline left her, and 
 ^ntered the sitting-room unobserved, but just in 
 
ALONE. 139 
 
 time to hear Doctor Weaver pronounce the sentence 
 which seemed her own doom: "She has been 
 dead for quite two hours ! " 
 
 Drop the curtain of silence over the terrible 
 scene which ensued. We read of a Greek statue 
 which immortalized sorrow. They called it Veiled 
 Grief. It represented*^ father about to sacrifice 
 his child, his face shrouded in a mantle. No 
 mantle could shroud the grief which reigned 
 throughout the beautiful home of the Weldons on 
 this memorable summer night. Never did death 
 render silence more sacred. 
 
 Evelyn and Hazel knelt, or rather crouched, all 
 night beside the bed whereon rested what was 
 yesterday the hopeful mistress of the Grange. 
 The girls did not exchange a single word. The 
 first rays which peeped through the shutters 
 mocking the feeble light of the candles, burning 
 low in their sconces fell athwart the snowy sheet, 
 above which both heads were bowed, mute as the 
 dead. 
 
 Evelyn's grief was no longer audible. Her 
 lamentations had spent themselves at midnight, 
 and only an occasional quiver betokened that she 
 was still alive to her sorrow. At intervals Hazel 
 wailed aloud for the dead to return, and her sobs 
 were frequent. 
 
 The cuckoo lifted himself from the roof of his 
 ormolu home, and proclaimed in shrill accents, 
 which seemed to deride the holy quiet, that it was 4 
 
140 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 six o'clock. As his last note was sounded, Hazel 
 arose from her kneeling posture, and went to the 
 opposite side of the bed. All night her stricken 
 heart had been crying, but so silently that only 
 angels might hear : " Evelyn, let me love you ! 
 Let me love you, or I too nmst die ! " 
 
 Now Hazel stood for a moment beside her 
 cousin's bent form, ere she could bring her lips to 
 frame the words. Suddenly Evelyn felt an arm 
 steal softly about hei neck. She looked up 
 listlessly, but let her head fall heavily upon her 
 arm again, when she saw who stood beside her. 
 
 Nevertheless she could not deafen her ear to the 
 mournful words : " They are both gone from me, 
 Evelyn, and I have none left but you ! Oh Evelyn, 
 Cousin Evelyn, let me love you now ! " Her arm 
 tightened its clasp about the neck of her foster- 
 sister, while tears fell upon the bands of dark hair. 
 
 Evelyn disengaged the clinging arm and arose 
 hastily. "Hazel, this is no fit place for a scene,"' 
 she said coolly. " We will speak of ourselves 
 when all this trouble is over. I am desolate, oh 
 God, how desolate ! " Thereupon she covered her 
 face with both hands and groaned miserably ; but 
 after a moment she added : " I can think of 
 nothing now but my cruel bereavement. You have 
 Arline ! Go to her ! " 
 
 " But," faltered the other, " Arline, though so 
 kind and good, can not comfort me now, Evelyn ; 
 but you are of my own flesh and bl ' 
 
ALONE. 141 
 
 She was abruptly checked. The secret rose 
 again treacherously to Evelyn's lips, even in this 
 awful hour. " You are not," she began, as a sud- 
 den fire leaped into her eyes ; but her tongue clave 
 to the roof of her mouth, and she found herself 
 powerless to proceed with the unholy words. 
 There came a face before her, a face with gray 
 eyes full of wounded reproach, her mother's 
 eyes! 
 
 With an effort Evelyn averted her eyes from 
 the child's pathetic face, and turned them slowly 
 toward the dead ; and now that wicked light died 
 out of them, and the hard lines disappeared from 
 her mouth. " Go ! Leave me alone with my dead 
 darling ! " she cried, with a wild gesture, but 
 without turning again toward Hazel. " They will 
 bring my father home and and place him 
 beside her. I must be left alone with them ! 
 They are my dead, mine only ! Leave me to my 
 bitterness ! Has not every heart its own ? " 
 
 Slowly and silently Hazel quitted the room. 
 " Yes, they are her dead, not mine," she whispered 
 to herself. J* I have no claim upon them ; but oh, 
 how they loved me ! They both loved me, as I 
 loved them. Oh Evelyn, if you knew how my 
 heart is breaking, you could not send me away! 
 I am so utterly alone ! " 
 
 Hazel stumbled through the wide halls and out 
 of doors, her tears falling like rain. She took no 
 heed of the flowers, as fragrant and bright-hued 
 
142 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 today as yesterday. The birds skimmed the air in 
 sweet freedom, flinging their joyous notes at each 
 other as they did yestermorn ; yet Hazel took 
 small note of them, as with dilatory step she wan- 
 dered, she knew not, cared not, whither. 
 
 Mechanically she followed the garden path, 
 reached the wicket, lifted the latch, and continued 
 on through the orange grove, toward the lake. 
 Suddenly, as she reached the skirt of willows, she 
 noticed a sound of labored breathing close behind 
 her, and saw Bijou in full chase. With a glad cry 
 she waited for him, and then knelt beside him, 
 clasping her arms about his neck. 
 
 " Bijou, dear old friend ! I still have you ! " As 
 she felt his sympathetic tongue lapping her face, 
 her grief became so vehement that the dog also 
 moaned piteously ; but presently she arose, linked 
 her hand within his collar, and together they passed 
 through the willows down to the edge of the 
 water, where her boat was tied. 
 
 Two hours later Aiiine, worried by the long 
 absence of her charge, went down to the lake, 
 which she knew was Hazel's favorite resort ; and 
 there she found her, fast asleep in the hollow of 
 the boat, her head pillowed upon Bijou's neck. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 WEDDED IN DEATH. 
 
 * 
 
 MY love, my blessing while on earth ; 
 Then over the river we two shall go, 
 And stand in the light of God's great smile ; 
 In life, in death, arid in after-death, 
 My love, my blessing, all the while. 
 
 THE day appointed for the funeral was ushered 
 in clear and cool, with only the low rustle of 
 zephyrs to disturb the quiet which brooded over 
 the Weldon home. Scarlet geraniums flamed 
 beneath the windows of the death-sanctuary ; but 
 just above this bold flower the pale jessamine 
 trailed, its meek eyes open toward heaven, yet with 
 here and there a filmy veil, as if cast by some con- 
 dolent spirit-hand. 
 
 There was no visible sign of life about the 
 Grange. The shutters were closed. Even the 
 shades in the servants' quarters were closely drawn . 
 Long streamers of crape on the door-knobs 
 prophesied the dreary months which must elapse 
 ere happiness would again pervade that stately 
 home. 
 
 Was ever such sorrow known before ? In the 
 same lofty and magnificently appointed parlors 
 where, thirty years before, Julia Weldon had stood 
 (143) 
 
144 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 decked in bridal white, a happy and trustful girl- 
 wife, she now rested in her funeral casket, beside 
 the form of her husband. Wedded in death ! As 
 loyal to each other as when they knelt at God's 
 altar, and took the solemn vows of wedlock, they 
 now stood before their King on his great white 
 throne, blessed forever, through almighty love, with 
 happiness immortal. Such is fidelity's reward ! 
 
 The two caskets were wreathed in jessamine, for 
 that delicate flower falls to the ground in the full 
 beauty of life, and is therefore the fittest emblem 
 of sudden death. 
 
 Mrs. Seymour, accompanied by her only daughter, 
 Myrtle, a beautiful girl of about Hazel's age, 
 arrived from New Orleans the preceding evening ; 
 while other relatives, including a younger brother 
 of Mr. Weldon, with his family, came from Jack- 
 sonville, Tallahassee, and other parts of Florida. 
 
 Together with many other sympathetic friends, 
 the visitors were congregated in the parlors to listen 
 to the solemn rites of burial. Mrs. Seymour stood 
 at the head of the casket which held the form of 
 her dear twin-sister, and gazed upon that beautiful 
 countenance, bright with the halo of Heaven. 
 
 By her side stood Myrtle, oiie arm consolingly 
 encircling her mother's waist. Her dark eyes were 
 fixed pityingly, not upon either dead face, but upon 
 Hazel, who stood with her slender hands clasped, 
 while her white face gleamed through the sable 
 veil which fell over it. Myrtle's heart went out in 
 
WEDDED IN DEATH. 145 
 
 sympathy toward this frail girl ! How she longed 
 to entwine comforting arms about her neck, and 
 whisper the deep love of her heart ! 
 
 Myrtle had been told that Hazel regarded her 
 aunt and uncle with deep and filial love, and that 
 this affection was returned tenfold by the foster- 
 parents ; and Myrtle wondered who would now 
 take their place toward this lone child. Would 
 Evelyn love and care for her? Myrtle's eyes 
 turned from Hazel's face to Evelyn's, who also 
 stood on the opposite side, leaning heavily upon 
 the arm of her uncle. 
 
 The New Orleans girl had noticed that no 
 open sympathy had been exchanged between the 
 cousins, though heretofore she had given the mat- 
 ter no reflection. She marvelled now why Hazel 
 was left standing alone ; why Evelyn did not 
 encircle her with a comforting arm, as she herself 
 yearned to do ; why they did not weep together, 
 like sisters. 
 
 Suddenly Myrtle burst into passionate weeping. 
 Though she had moaned continuously, her grief 
 had heretofore been subdued ; but now her lamen- 
 tations, breaking thus abruptly upon the ears of 
 the other mourners, caused them all to look on in 
 surprise. Mrs. Seymour drew her darling closer 
 to her side, and pressed her there tenderly. 
 
 " Do n't, my love ! Do n't weep like that ! 
 Aunty is happy. See how peacefully she is rest- 
 ing beside dear uncle. Oh Julia, Julia ! It 
 
146 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 seems as if part of my own life had gone out 
 with yours ! " 
 
 "But mamma," whispered Myrtle, "it it 
 is n't alone for aunty and uncle that I cry ; it is 
 for her my Cousin Hazel. She looks so lonely 
 over there, and I love her so ! Oh mamma, I love 
 her more than I can tell. There is a feeling here " 
 pressing one hand close to her heart "I can 
 not describe, but it is full of longing for her ! " 
 
 Incoherent as were these words, they were in- 
 telligible to Mrs. Seymour, and each syllable went 
 direct to her heart. She directed her troubled 
 eyes toward Hazel, and a moan escaped her. Then 
 she leaned heavily upon the arm of her husband, 
 and Mr. Seymour bent his head to catch the words 
 she whispered in a choked voice : " Papa, take 
 Myrtle around to Hazel. She stands there all 
 alone, and our darling wishes to go to her." 
 
 Mr. Seymour gravely did his wife's bidding, to 
 Myrtle's almost irrepressible satisfaction. As he 
 resumed his place beside his wife, and gently 
 placed her hand within his own, he was startled 
 at its coldness, and looked down anxiously into her 
 face, believing she might be ill. He would have 
 asked her, but the expression in her face held him 
 spellbound. Her eyes were fastened upon the two 
 young girls, and instinctively his own followed 
 them. Strong though he was, he felt his breath 
 quicken, and he drew his wife closer to his side, 
 keenly alive to the feelings that nearly overcame 
 her. 
 
WEDDED IN DEATH. 147 
 
 The two young girls were of the same height. 
 Both were slight and supple, both were fair. One 
 had golden-brown hair, and eyes like sapphires; 
 the other had tresses bright as the purest topaz, 
 and her brown eyes were large and liquid, with a 
 soft and tender expression, such as we see in the 
 eyes of a fallow deer. They stood with entwined 
 arms. Their heads were bent together, and to- 
 gether their tears fell. There was a likeness 
 between them, nay, it was almost startling. 
 
 During these occurrences the service had been 
 delayed, in expectation of the arrival of a few 
 distant relatives ; but now the folding doors were 
 swung wide open, and the minister moved toward 
 the casket. 
 
 " I am the resurrection and the life, saith the 
 Lord." 
 
 In a beautiful spot in Cypress Dell we leave 
 Evelyn's parents, at rest in the family cemetery. 
 Over them the plumed trees whisper their low 
 requiems, while jessamines lovingly entwine the 
 monument, which bears the simple inscription : 
 
 SACRED TO THE MEMORY 
 OF 
 
 GERALD AND JULIA WELDON 
 
 WEDDED IN DEATH. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 SIXTEEN YEARS AGO, 
 ALONE, yet I am not alone. JESUS. 
 
 ENTL'UM t' see Missy Eb'lyn ! " 
 
 Evelyn and Mrs. Seymour were closeted 
 in the younger lady's boudoir, and engaged in 
 earnest conversation when this announcement was 
 made by a servant. 
 
 Weeks had passed since the funeral, but Mrs. 
 Seymour still remained with her bereaved niece. 
 
 Evelyn took the card nervously from the silver 
 tray, while a sudden hopeful color leaped into her 
 worn face ; but this died out, leaving it paler than 
 before, as she read the name, J. O^es^y, .Efcy., 
 with these words hastily pencilled below : " Solici- 
 tor to the late Gerald Weldon." 
 
 Evelyn arose languidly. " It is papa's lawyer," 
 she explained to her aunt. " I will go down and 
 learn his errand. I hope he does not come to 
 discuss my legal affairs. I do n't feel equal to the 
 ordeal. There are times," she added, moving list- 
 lessly toward the mirror to adjust a black lace 
 mantle about her shoulders, " when I almost wish I 
 had been left penniless. I can hardly hope for a 
 moment's peace in future, with these properties 
 (148) 
 
SIXTEEN TEAKS AGO. 149 
 
 all staring me in the face. They are added 
 burdens ! " 
 
 " Ah, dear child, you have yet to learn the true 
 value of riches," returned her aunt quietly. " The 
 day will come when you will bear proudly your 
 title of the wealthiest woman in the State." 
 
 " "Wealth, wealth ! A future gilded with such a 
 reputation, yet devoid of happiness ! " sighed the 
 young lady. " Aunt," she added, turning wearily 
 from the mirror, " those words of Shakespeare so 
 often recur to me of late : 
 
 How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable, 
 Seem to me all the uses of this world ! " 
 
 " Poor dear ! " sighed Mrs Seymour, as the doo*r 
 closed behind her niece. " She is right ! All the 
 gold and jewels in the land can not gild a bitter 
 sorrow, or render it an ounce lighter ; but I fear 
 there is some deeper grief than loss of her 
 parents ! How she started at the sight of that 
 card ! Can Aubrey Deverell have anything to do 
 with her misery ? Did his visit bring bitterness ? 
 How significant were her words about wealth and 
 happiness ! " 
 
 The elder lady was still meditating thus when 
 the younger returned. "It is as I anticipated, 
 aunty ! Mr. Oglesby called about papa's will ! " 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " He has one in his possession, drawn up six or 
 eight years ago. He says, however, that another 
 will was drawn up, not long before poor papa's 
 
150 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 departure for Memphis. He thinks this last one 
 must be in papa's secretary, together with other 
 private papers. If you will come with me, we will 
 look through the desk together." 
 
 Mrs. Seymour arose at once, and they went 
 downstairs. After a patient search Evelyn found 
 the document in question ; and Mrs. Seymour's 
 countenance underwent an expression of unspeak- 
 able pleasure, as she read the clearly written lines 
 with her niece, and saw that the vast rice-plantation , 
 called Fairacre, was bequeathed to Hazel Verne, 
 his own and his wife's adopted child. 
 
 With this exception the whole of Gerald 
 Weldon's property was willed to his beloved wife, 
 with a large yearly income reserved for their 
 " only lawful issue, Evelyn Stanhope Weldon." 
 After Mrs. Weldon's death, the whole estate was 
 to descend to Evelyn, Fairacre only excepted. Of 
 course when Mr. Weldon made this will he did not 
 dream that his wife would precede himself by a 
 few hours into the undiscovered country of 
 shadows, or that his own earthly career would 
 meet so untimely an end. 
 
 Evelyn at length replaced this precious paper in 
 its pigeonhole. "You see, aunt," said she, and 
 with a bitter curl of the lip, " my father has left 
 this charity child independently rich ! Some waifs 
 are truly fortunate ! " 
 
 Her sarcasm seldom missed its mark, and Mrs. 
 Seymour was plainly wounded. She could not 
 
SIXTEEN YEARS AGO. 151 
 
 find it in her heart to resent Evelyn's words ; but 
 she replied proudly, though in her usual gentle 
 tones : " Hazel is a most worthy object for his 
 generosity. That he has shown deep affection for 
 her does not surprise me." 
 
 Evelyn vouchsafed no reply, but looked with a 
 marble face out of the window, into the autumn 
 sunlight. 
 
 Stung to the quick by what she believed extreme 
 selfishness in her niece, Mrs. Seymour adopted a 
 line of quiet reasoning. 
 
 " My dear niece," motioning toward the beautiful 
 view commanded by the library window, " this 
 estate alone will net you a revenue adequate to 
 the maintenance of a handsome establishment in 
 town, to say nothing of your other property, 
 your grazing-land, stock, houses, bonds. Surely 
 you can not grudge my dead brother's orphan the 
 comparatively small share allotted her ! Had your 
 father omitted this provision, how freely would I 
 have taken Hazel to my heart and home ; and in 
 the end I would have treated her as my own 
 daughter. To have her with Myrtle always, 
 would make it seem as if God had given me back 
 
 my " She could say no more, for choking 
 
 tears forbade. 
 
 Something in this grief touched a chord of 
 sympathy in the unforgiving Evelyn. She moved 
 restlessly in her chair, and presently ventured to 
 lay her hand upon her aunt's arm. 
 
152 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 "Aunt Lydia," with a touch of real tenderness 
 in her voice, " try and forget the past ! Have we 
 not enough present grief, without calling back that 
 of so many years ago ? " 
 
 " Oh girl, girl ! " cried Mrs. Seymour passion- 
 ately, leaving her seat and pacing the room, " can I 
 forget the sorrow which haunts me every waking 
 hour, making me often a stranger to sleep, and 
 besetting me with unreasonable anticipations every 
 day ? With hoping, I have grown old and gray, 
 hoping, hoping, hoping for sixteen weary years ! 
 Not one day but a mother's supplication has gone 
 up to Heaven, that the lost might be found ; but 
 no answer has been granted ! At last, with 
 despair closing about me, and with my burden of 
 grief made heavier by the loss of my only sister, I 
 find my soul crying out for a release from its 
 torture, even by death." 
 
 She paused nervously and then faltered : " Eve- 
 lyn, my dear, I am faint ! " and groped her way 
 to the nearest chair. 
 
 In a moment Evelyn had brought a glass of 
 wine, which she held to the bloodless lips. 
 
 Presently her aunt spoke again : " I should 
 repress my feelings. To give way to them, as I 
 did just now, is sure to make me ill; but oil 
 Evelyn, pity -me! Sympathize with me as your 
 mother did, and give your Cousin Hazel some of 
 the affection you would have bestowed upon 
 .upon Myrtle's little sister. The feeling has often 
 
SIXTEEN YEARS AGO. 153 
 
 come to me of late, that this poor orphan might 
 have been given to our branch of the family to fill 
 the vacancy left by my lost darling. Julia wrote 
 me once that this thought came to her also. Won't 
 you try and find room for Hazel in your heart, 
 Evelyn ? Oh try to love her, for the sake of her 
 dead parents ! " 
 
 She paused, awaiting some reply; but as none 
 came, she went on eagerly : " I have feared that 
 you and Hazel are not quite happy together ! 
 Last winter, while you were with me in New 
 Orleans, I hoped, day after day, to hear you speak 
 of her ; but the name scarcely passed your lips, 
 and so I was led to believe that you were not in 
 friendly relations with her. I see that mine was a 
 correct reading of your heart ; but now that you 
 are brought to realize her position in the world, as 
 doubly orphaned, you will surely be more lenient. 
 Not only by ties of blood are you near of kin, but 
 you are sisters in grief. Promise me, Evelyn ! 
 What is it, dear ? Are you ill ? " 
 
 She asked this question, as her niece turned her 
 ghastly face from the window, and clutched at her 
 throat, as if suffocated. 
 
 "It is nothing, nothing but the closeness of 
 the room ! " Evelyn faltered huskily ; but after a 
 moment she went on more calmly : " Aunt Lydia, 
 I wish you would talk no more of Hazel. I can 
 never bring myself to regard that girl with any- 
 thing like affection. I have my reasons for this, 
 
154 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 reasons which I can not impart even to you, whom 
 I love dearly, and would confide in above all 
 others." 
 
 The determination of Evelyn's utterance baffled 
 Mrs. Seymour. She tried to fathom the meaning 
 of such bitter words; but the more she thought 
 about Evelyn's dislike of the young girl, who, in 
 Mrs. Seymour's eyes, seemed the embodiment of 
 the pure and lovable, the more she wondered 
 what could be its unrevealed cause." 
 
 Suddenly a happy thought occurred to her, and 
 she voiced it eagerly: "Then, dear, if you think 
 you can not soften your heart toward my brother 
 Henry's child, I shall deem it a privilege, a sweet 
 privilege, to take her home with us. She and 
 Myrtle can find happiness in one another's com- 
 panionship. Myrtle pleads in every letter for me 
 to bring her little cousin with me ; but never until 
 now have I ventured to speak to you on the sub- 
 ject, for I feared you would regard the proposal as 
 selfish. I did not for a moment think you would 
 care to part with Hazel indefinitely. She and 
 Myrtle have made about equal progress in their 
 studies, and 
 
 " Impossible ! I will not suffer my mother's 
 orphan to quit Weldon Grange under any circum- 
 stances," said Evelyn abruptly, obstinacy revealing 
 itself both in face and voice. "It would be an 
 injustice to the dead. In another year, perhaps," 
 she went ou with forced calmness, for the very 
 
SIXTEEN YEARS AGO. 155 
 
 thought of Hazel Verne's going to New Orleans 
 roused the devil within her, " after she has com- 
 pleted her studies, Hazel may make Myrtle a 
 visit ; but she will certainly continue to make this 
 her home, until she attains her majority. After 
 that she will be mistress of her own actions, and 
 can choose for herself." 
 
 "Meanwhile, what will life be to her here at 
 Weldon Grange, without the presence of love to 
 brighten it?" asked the other, the ready tears 
 again filling her eyes. " Promise me that you will 
 not try to make Hazel unhappy! You will at 
 least promise me this, Evelyn ! " 
 
 " I shall see but little of Hazel during the next 
 year," returned her niece, still unmoved. " She will 
 be continuously under the charge of her governess ; 
 but if my promise will give you any satisfaction, 
 you have it ! I will not seek to make the girl 
 more miserable than she is." 
 
 There was that in Evelyn's tone which restrained 
 the words of gratitude on Mrs. Seymour's lips. 
 She sadly left the room, after touching her niece's 
 brow with a formal kiss. 
 
 "What, take her to New Orleans, where she 
 would be in daily contact with him? Never! 
 Sooner would I place her behind the walls of a 
 nunnery ! " This Evelyn muttered to herself when 
 alone. 
 
 For more than an hour she sat buried in thought. 
 Almost unnoticed the afternoon waned, and every 
 
156 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 object in the library took upon itself a shadowy 
 form. 
 
 At length the girl lifted her head from the 
 cushion on which it rested, and looked about her. 
 Why was it that two girlish faces seemed to stare 
 from every pedestal, every frame, from every nook 
 and corner of the room, Hazel's and Myrtle's? 
 Here she would encounter sapphire eyes, and there 
 a pair of brown ones. Two bisque images on the 
 India cabinet suddenly assumed the features of 
 these two girls. How like, yet how unlike each 
 other ! 
 
 It can not be ! The thought is absurd, when 
 Memphis and New Orleans are so far apart ! Yet, 
 oh God, the thought haunts me like a demon ! " 
 Shudderingly Evelyn arose, and then hastily fled 
 upstairs. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 TROUBLED FACES. 
 
 BUT thou art here. Thou filPst 
 The solitude. Thou art in the soft winds 
 That run along the summit of these trees 
 In music. Thou art in the cooler breath 
 That, from the inmost darkness of the place, 
 Comes, scarcely felt. BRYANT. 
 
 A LTHOUGH the day was wellnigh spent, Eve- 
 f\ lyn had yet to make her accustomed visit to 
 Cypress Dell. She preferred to make these visits 
 to the dead unattended, though the distance was 
 more than a mile, and the unfrequented road ran 
 through a dense wood. Indeed she courted rather 
 than feared this solitude. 
 
 This evening her step was slow and careless. 
 The birds and squirrels, which hastened into 
 ambush at her approach, afforded all the society 
 she desired. In this aromatic forest she felt that 
 sense of freedom which seldom came to her at 
 the Grange, where the rooms, though bright and 
 lofty, seemed like prison cells, and the atmosphere, 
 though pure, and fragrant with the breath of 
 flowers, was often stifling and unbearable. 
 
 There was always a weight upon her mind. It 
 made her restless, and a stranger to the peaceful 
 (157) 
 
158 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 comfort which pervaded her home, and which she 
 so much enjoyed in the old days. 
 
 Her grief over her double bereavement was 
 deep and heartfelt ; but even such affliction must 
 in time reach a reconciliation with the inevitable. 
 Outward lamentations must sooner or later cease, 
 giving place to calm endurance. 
 
 This change had come to Evelyn. She began 
 to look her position in the face, and to accept 
 it as right, as well as unavoidable. She seldom 
 reflected upon her great possessions, however. 
 What was wealth? Could it replace what she 
 had loved and lost irrevocably? Could it purchase 
 back her parents ? Could it redeem her alienated 
 lover? 
 
 Awhile ago Evelyn was ambitious and gay, with 
 joy in each today, and a longing for the "golden 
 dawn-glow" of each tomorrow. Now she was a 
 miserable and disappointed woman, looking hope- 
 lessly forward to the grim future, and wondering 
 how many years of desolation she must needs 
 endure. 
 
 Her thoughts this evening, as she walked toward 
 Cypress Dell, were centred upon one whom she 
 regarded as lost to her, Aubrey Deverell. She 
 told herself that if he should return to her and 
 say: "Evelyn, I am beggared! I am worse, 
 lost to every sense of honor ! Will you accept me 
 in my degradation ? Will you relinquish Weldon 
 Grange, and your vast possessions, for a wretch so 
 
TROUBLED FACES. 159 
 
 unworthy ? " she would cry out, from the depths 
 of her idolatrous heart. " Yes, Aubrey, my love ! 
 Every farthing will I renounce for you ! Without 
 you, the world is but an empty void. Beside you, 
 even in beggary, I should be tenfold happy ! " 
 
 Such was Evelyn Weldon's devotion. Uncon- 
 sciously she spoke her thought aloud, and the 
 passionate words echoed down the vine-tangled 
 ravine below : Happy, tenfold ! Terrified she 
 stood still, for the sentence sounded like fiendish 
 mockery. 
 
 " Happy ! " she cried again, with hands upraised 
 in defiance. Then, as the tears coursed down her 
 cheeks : " Merciful Heaven ! Is there no light for 
 me ? Am I always to be thus miserable ? " 
 
 Miserable! murmured the pines. Miserable! 
 came the weird and dismal echo from the hollow. 
 
 Evelyn looked timidly about her. " Surely the 
 evil spirit is in pursuit of me! Who else could 
 mock me thus cruelly?" 
 
 With a suppressed cry she involuntarily quick- 
 ened her steps, experiencing for the first time an 
 unspeakable dread of the dark woods. Soon the 
 white monuments in the cemetery came into view. 
 With a feeling of relief she hurried forward, and 
 commenced to twine fresh jessamine about the 
 stone which marked the resting-place of her 
 parents. She had strewn the mound with fresh 
 flowers, and stooped to rearrange a vase toppling 
 under a weight of white roses, when she heard a 
 faint rustle behind her. 
 
160 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 She glanced around, the forest terror reviving, 
 and making her pulse beat fiercely. Nothing was 
 visible, however ; so she attributed the noise to 
 some bird or squirrel, and renewed her pious 
 attention to the graves. 
 
 When all was in order she sat down on a rustic 
 bench, and surrendered herself to memories of the 
 departed, remembering all their good and generous 
 traits only, and recalling the selfish thoughts she 
 had cherished and the cruel words she too oft had 
 spoken. 
 
 Then her mind wandered, from those with whom 
 she had forever closed all earthly accounts, to the 
 living, whose image was ever uppermost. She 
 recalled Aubrey as he had once been, and as he 
 was and must be, forever be, estranged from 
 herself. 
 
 With this came creeping back her bitter feeling 
 toward Hazel, an emotion which had lain partially 
 dormant during her recent trouble. 
 
 Once she had been nearly overmastered by it, 
 that morning in the chamber of death, when 
 she would have betrayed her mother's trust, but 
 for the memory of her whose spirit had taken 
 flight, yet whose influence lingered to shield the 
 child of mystery from such pain as would have 
 been born of the words Evelyn was tempted to 
 utter, tempted by the beautiful face which 
 Evelyn believed to be the evil genius of her life. 
 
 She saw it now, with the stamp of suffering 
 
TROUBLED PACES. 161 
 
 thereon, the eyes swollen with weeping, the lips 
 quivering, the cheeks hot and tear-stained. She 
 saw the slight form and the clasped hands. She 
 heard again the plaintive cry, that would have 
 softened a heart of adamant : " Evelyn, let me 
 love you ! " Nay, she laughed bitterly at the 
 memory of Hazel's words. 
 
 " Let her love me, me, from whose lips she has 
 snatched the sweetest nectar! The pale-faced 
 sorceress ! I will live to be revenged on her ! I 
 will make her suffer a hundredfold for every pang. 
 She has cursed my life, and I hate her ! " 
 
 When Evelyn was ready to return home, it was 
 close upon sunset. Kneeling she pressed her lips 
 to the sacred dust which held her parents' ashes, 
 and then walked hurriedly down the knoll, out 
 through the wicket, into the open road. 
 
 Already the sky had assumed faint tints of rosy 
 gold. Shadows had lengthened beneath the pines, 
 until only an occasional streak of light signified 
 that it was still day. Evelyn had never been alone 
 in the forest so late. Though by nature intrepid, 
 she now looked forward to her homeward walk 
 with a feeling of undefined solicitude. 
 
 Little did she dream, as she hastened onward, 
 that a pair of glittering black eyes, set in a pinched 
 and yellow visage, were watching her through a 
 clump of cypress shrubs, which grew a few feet 
 from the roadside. 
 
 When she had gone some distance from the spot, 
 
162 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 a mulatto woman, bent with infirmity, emerged 
 cautiously from her hiding-place, and followed 
 Evelyn with catlike tread. 
 
 At length reaching that section of the forest she 
 most dreaded, Evelyn paused and peered anxiously 
 about her, as if to reassure herself of safety. 
 Imagine her terror ! A short distance behind she 
 saw a dusky object shrink suddenly into the 
 shadows of a pinetree, as if to avoid discovery. 
 For a moment the girl stood like one paralyzed. 
 The next instant she would have shrieked aloud in 
 sheer fright, had not her better reason forbade. 
 
 What should she do, run, walk on as though 
 nothing extraordinary had happened, or go bravely 
 back and confront her foe, if foe indeed it 
 was? 
 
 Presently the thought occurred to her that her 
 aunt, becoming anxious at her prolonged absence, 
 had sent out one of the servants to escort her 
 safely home. Stimulated by this thought she 
 resolved to make assurance doubly sure by investi- 
 gation, and began retracing her steps toward the 
 dark form, which she still saw crouching among the 
 shadows. 
 
 She had almost gained the spot, when suddenly 
 she recoiled with a cry. In that figure she recog- 
 nized nothing familiar, but saw a shrunken face, 
 with eyes which flashed ominously in the twilight. 
 The hair, which might once have been a slavegirl's 
 pride, was now unkempt, and straggled about her 
 
TROUBLED FACES. 163 
 
 face and neck in coarse uneven wisps, giving her a 
 witchlike appearance. 
 
 " Who are you ? What do you want ? Why 
 are you dogging my footsteps ? " gasped Evelyn in 
 one breath, as she strove against the awful fear 
 that possessed her. Then, encouraged by the 
 sound of her own voice, she repeated : " Why are 
 you following me, I say ? Speak ! " 
 
 The mysterious creature, frightened by her 
 assailant's threatening attitude, rather than her 
 words, gradually drew herself up to her full height, 
 and asked, in a voice quavering and indistinct : 
 "You lib at de great house yondah?" pointing 
 toward the Grange with a motion of her long, bony 
 hand. 
 
 " Yes," said Evelyn haughtily, " but what of it ? 
 How does that concern you ? " 
 
 For a moment the woman maintained silence ; 
 but she clutched nervously at her threadbare shawl, 
 and breathed with apparent effort. At length she 
 placed her hand over her chest, from whence issued 
 a rattling sound, suggestive of consumption, and 
 articulated brokenly : " De chile, oh missy, de 
 chile, Hazel ! How am de bressed lamb ? " 
 
 " The child Hazel ! " repeated Evelyn excitedly. 
 Then, struck with a sudden idea, she grasped one 
 of the mulatto's arms fiercely, and said, in that 
 imperative tone which she knew so well how to 
 command: "Tell me why you ask about Hazel 
 Verne ! What do you know about her ? " 
 
164 THE DEATH TliUHT. 
 
 For answer the mulatto groaned miserably, as 
 she lifted guilty eyes to Evelyn's searching looks. 
 
 " You are silent," continued the girl. " I charge 
 you, speak at once, or it will be the worse for 
 you ! " As she spoke Evelyn drew a tiny metallic 
 tube from her pocket, placed it to her lips, and 
 sent a shrill whistle reverberating through the 
 forest. 
 
 The woman's obstinate silence maddened her. 
 Though knowing that the whistle could not be 
 heard at the Grange, she believed it might startle 
 the witch into communicativeness, and so repeated 
 the sound three or four times. 
 
 "Ah," cried Evelyn exultingly, for the old 
 woman trembled until her teeth chattered audibly, 
 " that frightens you, I see ! Well, it need not, as 
 I did not call loud enough to be heard at the 
 house ; but, if I have occasion, I can summon every 
 one of my servants. Shall I do this, or will you 
 speak? Why do you prowl about the premises 
 at nightfall ? Why do you ask for my, for 
 Hazel?" 
 
 The mulatto dropped upon her knees and bent 
 her head, so that her straggling wisps of hair 
 mingled with the dust at Evelyn's feet. Then she 
 commenced an incoherent muttering, of which 
 Evelyn could distinguish only the words, " My 
 poo' brack soul," and, " I 's a sinnah, wat de good 
 Lawd '11 soon call to de jedgment-seat." 
 
 A suspicion was slowly awakening in Evelyn, 
 
TROUBLED FACES. 165 
 
 a suspicion which transfixed her. She waited 
 for the woman's babble to cease, scarcely allow- 
 ing herself to breathe, lest the spell should be 
 broken. 
 
 The mulatto was silent at length, but she re- 
 tained her contrite posture at Evelyn's feet till 
 the silence was insupportable. Then Evelyn said, 
 with less severity : " Come, get up ! I am patiently 
 waiting your confession." A slight motion in the 
 bent, form was the only indication that these words 
 were heard. 
 
 A sound suddenly broke the stillness, a sound 
 which caused Evelyn herself to start as if shot, 
 the sound of approaching footsteps. 
 
 She stooped, and almost shrieked in the mulatto's 
 ear : " I have been heard ! Hark ! Someone is 
 coming! You have not another moment to lose, 
 if you wish to escape. Tell me if I have guessed 
 the truth ! That red scar, below your eye, leads 
 me to believe you the woman who stole JVlyrine 
 Seymour from her cradle sixteen years ago, 
 Philias Ward ! " 
 
 At these words, and with the agility peculiar to 
 her blood, the woman sprang to her feet. "Oh 
 massy, have massy, miss ! " she entreated wildly. 
 " I is dat wicked wretch ! I come all de way f om 
 Memphis t' make de 'knowledgment, for I 's gwine 
 soon t' die, and couldn't go afo' de good Lawd 
 wid such a load o' sin. See ! " reaching under 
 her worn shawl, and bringing from thence a small 
 
166 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 bundle, tightly wrapped in oilskin. " Dar 's de 
 bressed gal's close, as she wored 'em wen I carr'd 
 her away f om her fam'ly. My honey chile ! Fo' 
 more 'n dese fibteen yeah I 's done kep' track ob 
 her, an' now I knowed my days was so nigh done 
 for, I come way down heah to Floridy t' make dis 
 'fession, an' t' see de lamb resto'ed to de bosom 
 ob her fam'ly. Oh p'omise me, miss, p'omise 
 me " 
 
 " To the forest yonder ! Hide yourself ! " cried 
 Evelyn, thrusting the other's trembling hand aside 
 violently, as she extended it in a gesture of entreaty. 
 "Trust all to me, and fly! My aunt, Mrs. Sey- 
 mour, is coming ! I hear her voice ! She will 
 recognize you ! " 
 
 A startled cry rang out upon the calm air, 
 and the next moment the mulatto darted into the 
 woods with the speed of an adder. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 DARKSOME DEEDS. 
 
 'T WAS strange, 't was passing strange ; 
 'T was pitiful, 't was wondrous pitiful. 
 
 OTHELLO. 
 
 ALONE stood Evelyn, like one awakened 
 suddenly from a dream. The deathlike 
 solitude about her was interrupted ever and anon 
 by the plaintive murmuring of the pines, and by 
 the sound of those steadily approaching footsteps. 
 The tall sentinels of the forest gradually shaped 
 themselves into form as the moon arose, gilding 
 their dark tops and peopling the ground beneath 
 with a thousand spectral shadows. 
 
 Beneath the light mantle which Evelyn wore 
 she thrust the bundle given her by the mulatto. 
 Whichever way she glanced, she seemed to 
 encounter that repellent, yellow face, with its wild 
 eyes and straggling hair. It glared at her from 
 behind each tree, and rose, goblinlike, from the 
 shadows in the white road. This shadow terrified 
 her almost to the verge of insanity. At her right 
 the deep ravine, previously referred to, divided the 
 even ground, and yawned in channel-like chaos ; 
 while from its mysterious pits there issued the 
 lonesome chirrup of myriads of insects. It was on 
 (167) 
 
168 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 this very spot the evil spirit had seemed to mock 
 Evelyn an hour previous. Suddenly remembering 
 this she essayed to glide forward, but found herself 
 held footfast, like one possessed with nightmare. 
 Again she seemed to hear that fiendish spirit : 
 "Misery, misery!" The atmosphere was astir 
 with that one word, and she pressed her clammy 
 ^alms hard against her throbbing temples, as if to 
 assure herself that she was awake. 
 
 " I am surely going mad ! " she cried aloud ; and 
 the sound of her voice was certainly like some 
 demented creature's. What awful information was 
 this, written upon her brain in letters of flame ? 
 " Hazel Verne and Myrine Seymour ! " Uncon- 
 sciously she repeated the two names aloud ; but 
 the next moment she checked herself, and glanced 
 shuddering about, as if to be sure that she had 
 not been overheard. 
 
 At this moment two dark figures came into view, 
 past an abrupt turn in the road, and with a glad 
 cry she pressed forward to meet them. " Aunt ! " 
 she cried tremulously. " I heard your voice, and 
 have been waiting for you here. I have had a 
 fright, and could n't go another step alone." 
 
 " Hazel and I were alarmed at your long 
 absence, and we started out to meet you," returned 
 her aunt, as she placed an arm about Evelyn 
 reassuringly. " We were on the road this side of 
 the large gate," she continued, " when we were 
 startled by a whistle, which Hazel recognized as 
 
DARKSOME 'DEEDS. 169 
 
 one which you use to call your deer in the park. 
 We were afraid you were in peril, and hurried on 
 as fast as possible. Oh, my dear! You gave us a 
 great fright. My breath is nearly gone ! But 
 there ! I am selfish ; for I see you are pale and 
 excited. What has happened to alarm you ? " 
 
 "Am I pale, really?" asked Evelyn with a 
 forced laugh. " Why, it was nothing, after all, 
 nothing but an old negress, whom I saw as I looked 
 back over the road behind me. I fancied she was 
 following me with ill-will. More for amusement 
 than otherwise I sounded this little whistle, which 
 for years I have used to summon my pets, when 
 they stray too far away. Oh aunt, you should 
 have seen the creature run ! You would have 
 laughed. At my sudden alarm she darted into the 
 forest like an antelope." Evelyn concluded her 
 distorted narrative with nervous laughter. 
 
 Marvelling much at her niece's want of dignity, 
 Mrs. Seymour said reprovingly : " You did wrong, 
 Evelyn, to frighten the poor woman. She may 
 have belonged to the Grange." 
 
 " No," replied Evelyn positively, " I saw her 
 face plainly, and it was strange to me." 
 
 " What then could have been her business in 
 this lonely place ? Why did you not question 
 her ? " continued her aunt seriously. 
 
 " I thought such a step uncalled for, as it was 
 clear to me that she was malicious, stealing catlike 
 about our premises after dark ; but come, aunt, 
 
170 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 why are we standing here ? After all, no harm has 
 been done. I am chilled, and anxious to get 
 home." So the three, Mrs. Seymour with one arm 
 about each niece, turned backward toward the 
 house. 
 
 Evelyn still trembled, despite her effort at 
 calmness, and her aunt, misinterpreting her tremor, 
 presently said: "You were very imprudent to 
 remain out so late, with so thin a cloak. These 
 September evenings are sometimes sharp and 
 frosty. You have not been quite well, and should 
 have more regard for your health." 
 
 "I sat beside the graves deep in thought, uncon- 
 scious of the cold and the lapse of time, till I was 
 suddenly aware that the sun had set. Then I 
 came away hurriedly, thinking I could still reach 
 home before nightfall; but our twilights are so 
 brief ! I had walked but a short distance before 
 dusk closed in. I was not in darkness long, how- 
 ever, for presently the moon rose ; and then the 
 darkened amphitheatre, as by some trick of 
 enchantment, was abruptly transformed into a 
 grandly illumined dome, still as death, but 
 populated by such fantastic shapes that I paused, 
 glad to be there. I love these deep woods, 
 especially when bathed in silver. By the way, 
 Aunt Lydia, did you ever see the moon so splendid 
 as tonight ? Look ! " 
 
 As Evelyn' concluded, Hazel lifted her eyes 
 toward the Queen of Night, sailing in majestic 
 
DARKSOME DEEDS. 171 
 
 splendor; but Mrs. Seymour, instead of following 
 her gaze, looked with new solicitude into Evelyn's 
 countenance, which, like Hazel's, was lifted sky- 
 ward. Evelyn had spoken precipitately, and her 
 words had been partially incoherent. As her aunt 
 secretly watched the pale face, she believed she 
 saw in the dark eyes a look of wildness peculiar to 
 the victims of fever. " Poor, dear girl ! " she 
 thought. "I fear her mind is overburdened by 
 sorrow ! " 
 
 Mrs. Seymour sighed audibly; and Evelyn 
 mistaking this for a sigh of ecstacy over the beauty 
 of the scene, cried again : 9 l Is n't she superb, 
 Aunt Lydia?" 
 
 " Who ? Oh, the moon ! Certainly, my dear ! " 
 stammered Mrs. Seymour, confused at her own 
 distraction. " I think I have never seen a more 
 perfect night," she added. 
 
 When they reached the Grange, dinner was 
 waiting; but Evelyn hurried to her chamber, to 
 leave her gloves and hat, and the bundle wrapped 
 in oilskin. 
 
 During the dinner Mrs. Seymour watched her 
 niece covertly, feeling certain that she saw beneath 
 the calm exterior unmistakable signs of abnormal 
 excitement. Now and then she would see Evelyn's 
 cadaverous cheeks flush suddenly, and the same 
 wild look, noticeable in the moonlit forest, would 
 again leap into the brown eyes, making them glare 
 with a light not pleasant to behold. Twice Evelyn 
 
172 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 had her glass refilled with the ruby elixir that 
 warms the blood, and often inveigles men into 
 deeds from which they would turn with abhorrence, 
 if not under its influence. By the time the dessert 
 was served, a hectic glow tinted both cheeks, and 
 the girl became so jovial that her companions 
 could do nothing but exchange questioning glances. 
 Both Mrs. Seymour and Hazel were filled with 
 amazement at the conduct of this changed woman, 
 who usually looked upon claret with disgust, and 
 scorned a jest, unless peculiarly Srilliant. 
 
 " You are not welL dear niece ! " her aunt could 
 not resist saying, as^ney arose from table. 
 
 " I ? " retorted Evelyn laughingly. " Why, dear 
 aunt, you mistake ! I was never in more perfect 
 health and spirits." 
 
 " But," remonstrated her aunt, despite the 
 ringing laugh, "your cheeks and eyes denote 
 feverishness. Come with me to the cool veranda, 
 and confide in me, if there is anything troubling 
 you ! Come, darling ! " and she placed her caress- 
 ing arms about the young girl's waist ; while Hazel 
 passed down the hall towards her own room, as 
 Evelyn pressed a hot kiss upon her aunt's cheek. 
 
 " Why, best of aunts, you are needlessly con- 
 cerned. I assure you I am perfectly well. I must 
 beg you to excuse me tonight from remaining 
 downstairs, however. I have several important 
 letters to write, and have told Phebe to build a 
 fire in my room. So now goodnight, dear ; and 
 remember, do riot worry about me." 
 
DARKSOME DEEDS. 173 
 
 Another impulsive caress, and then the young 
 lady ran upstairs quickly. " At last I shall be alone 
 with my secret ! " she whispered exultantly, as she 
 glided along the dim upper corridor. 
 
 Having locked and bolted the door, she ap- 
 proached the chandelier, turning up the blaze to 
 such a glare that not a recess in the apartment was 
 left in shadow. Standing underneath the shim- 
 mering crystal pendants, she looked as Lady 
 Macbeth might have looked, contemplating the 
 sleeping Duncan. With an expression of ill intent 
 her eyes sought the silk-draped bed in the alcove, 
 and her bosom rose and fell tumultuously as she 
 breathed the inaudible words : " It is there ! It 
 is there ! ! " 
 
 Next she took a full survey of the room, as if 
 to make sure she was alone. The result was 
 evidently unsatisfactory, for going to the window 
 she pulled aside the heavy hangings, that she might 
 have a clear view of the deep recess behind. Then 
 she went to the closet, and peered searchingly 
 within. Finally she crossed over to the alcove, 
 and made a circuit around the bed, to convince 
 herself that no-one was lurking behind those 
 crimson draperies, to spy upon her deeds. This 
 investigation ended, she gave a sigh of relief. 
 
 " I have no witnesses ! " she said in a portentous 
 whisper. " Walls are said to have ears ; but for- 
 tunately they are blind and mute." The flush had 
 heightened on Evelyn's cheeks, and her eyes 
 
174 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 glowed like coals of fire behind their raven fringes. 
 Indeed she looked like a beautiful fiend, as she 
 lifted one of the lace- trimmed pillows, and took 
 from beneath the sheets the oilskin bundle which 
 lay there concealed. 
 
 Seating herself on a hassock she untied the cord, 
 though her fingers shook almost beyond control. 
 At length the clumsy wrapper revealed something 
 which once was white as the driven snow, but now 
 bore the sallow tinge which time and exclusion 
 from the light bring to linen. 
 
 For a moment Evelyn hesitated, ere she could 
 touch it. " This once caressed the flesh of sweet 
 infancy. It is too pure even to be fanned by my 
 breath," she said to herself; but this thought 
 haunted her but momentarily. She laughed at her 
 own weakness. Lifting the topmost garment she 
 shook out its long and soft folds. The delicate 
 odor of some rare perfume still pervaded the linen, 
 whose texture was elaborately inwrought with 
 needlework; while on each shoulder was a tiny 
 knot of faded blue ribbon. 
 
 Evelyn examined the baby-robe narrowly, in 
 quest of some initial or mark which might corro- 
 borate the mulatto's story. Presently a low cry 
 burst involuntarily from her lips. Written on the 
 lining of the belt, with indelible ink, was the 
 name, Myrine. "Her dress! " she said under her 
 breath; and the color vanished from cheek and 
 lip, making them the ghastly companions of the 
 linen. 
 
f 
 
 DARKSOME DEEDS. 175 
 
 After awhile she went on, as in a dream, exam- 
 ining, one by one, the tiny garments, finding in 
 each the same carefully wrought needlework and 
 the same delicate scroll, wherein she read that 
 name, in bold letters, Myrine. 
 
 Evelyn inspected and refolded the last piece. 
 Then, inspired by that name, which seemed re- 
 peated by a hundred invisible spirits, and haunted 
 by the memory of the cry she had heard from her 
 aunt that day, " Can I forget the sorrow that has 
 haunted me for sixteen years ! "- she went to the 
 window, and flung open the broad sash to the cool 
 night air, thinking it might overcome the faintness 
 which seized her; as it did in a degree. Long 
 she remained behind the curtains, before she could 
 bring herself again to look at that little pile of 
 baby-garments. 
 
 At length she left the window. An awful look 
 gleamed in her eyes. Her lips were rigidly set, as 
 with a mighty resolve. As she once more drew 
 near the hassock she paused abruptly, arrested by 
 the sight of a folded paper, which had lain unno- 
 ticed on the carpet. 
 
 " What can this be ? " she wondered. She was 
 not long in suspense. On the paper she read the 
 address, in crooked chirography : 
 
 Mistis Weldon or to hoc somedever opens this 
 bundel. 
 
 Divining, of course, that this note belonged with 
 
176 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 the linen, but had slipped from the folds unseen, 
 Evelyn opened it, and by dint of long perseverance, 
 deciphered the crude negro expressions, which 
 were meant to read thus : 
 
 MEMPHIS, July 3. 
 
 HEAR the confession of a dying woman, and grant her 
 prayer ! 
 
 On the nineteenth of January, 18 , I was dismissed for 
 theft from the employ of my mistress, Mrs. Lydia Seymour, 
 of New Orleans. I was angry, and resolved to be revenged 
 on the woman who had turned me out of the shelter that 
 had been mine from infancy. So when night came on, I 
 crept to the nursery, where her twin-babies, Myrtle and 
 Myrine, were sleeping in their cradle, and I took Myrine, 
 aged two mouths, and wrapped her in a woollen shawl, and 
 stole with her out into the night. 
 
 I walked to the ferry, and took a steamer the same night 
 for Memphis ; and one stormy night, about a week follow- 
 ing, I placed the babe on the doorstep of Mr. Henry Verne, 
 of 146 June Street, into whose service I entered as nurse 
 three days afterward. I wished to be near the child, little 
 Myrine, whom, despite my wickedness, I loved with all my 
 soul. Mrs. Verne, her foster-mother, was an invalid, and 
 died a few weeks after adopting the little babe; but Mr. 
 Verne loved Myrine, and no one believed that she was not 
 his own flesh and blood. None suspected me of bringing 
 her to his door, and for nearly twelve years I remained 
 with him as nurse to his adopted daughter. 
 
 They called her Hazel; but sometimes, when I was 
 alone with my beautiful darling, I could not help calling 
 her Myrifie, the name was so pretty, and seemed to suit 
 her so well, with her large blue eyes and golden hair. 
 
 One day Mr. Verne was taken sick. He was paralyzed ; 
 and when he could no longer pay his bills, they came and 
 sold the roof over his head, my poor, kind master! He 
 was good to me, and I loved him! He knew that he would 
 soon die, and one day he asked me to take a despatch to 
 
DARKSOME DEEDS. 177 
 
 the office. It was for his sister, Mrs. Gerald Weldon, who 
 lived near the town of Jasper, in Florida. He told me 
 afterward that he was going to ask her to take his little 
 Hazel, and raise her to womanhood. I said nothing ; but I 
 ran away, for I did not want to see the lady who was 
 coming to take away my darling. 
 
 That was four years ago. Consumption has been feeding 
 upon me these years, and has about finished its work. 
 Soon nothing will be left of me but a mass of dust. So I, 
 Philias Ward, Myrine Seymour's wicked nurse, have made 
 this statement, to take with me to Florida, where I am 
 going to seek Mrs Weldon, and give this, together with 
 Myriue's b^,by-clothes, into her hands, or into those of some 
 of her household. I shall then run away and hide myself, 
 to die somewhere. 
 
 Do not try to find me. My guilty, black soul has pun- 
 ished me enough for my sin. It has eaten my life away, 
 and there is nothing left for the law to feed upon. So pity 
 me and grant my prayer. It is this: Do not tell Myrine 
 that the mulatto nurse Dosia, she called her who 
 watched over her faithfully for twelve years, was the 
 wicked wretch who stole her from her mother's bosom. 
 She loved me well. Do not let her love turn into a hate 
 that would find me in my grave. 
 
 Ask my kind old mistress to forgive me. She will, I 
 know, when her beautiful daughter is given back to her, 
 and she knows I am sorry for my sin. Oh, if I could see 
 the two sisters together once, I should die happy! but I 
 can not bear to look my mistress in the face again. That is 
 why I am going to Florida, and not to New Orleans. Mrs. 
 Seymour lives in New Orleans. 
 
 This is the dying confession of 
 
 PHILIAS WARD. 
 
 Evelyn spelled out this letter twice. Then she 
 deposited it in a private drawer in her desk, under 
 lock and key, and sat down to think. 
 
 A mockingbird sang in the tree outside her 
 
178 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 window; but she remained unconscious of its notes. 
 The bird sang on, as if to divert her thoughts from 
 the dangerous path into which they had strayed, 
 but she remained like a statue, her head thrown 
 back against the cushions of her chair, her eyes 
 closed ; yet no slumber came to Evelyn that night. 
 She courted it not, but went on building mental 
 barriers between Hazel arid the truth, a truth 
 securely hidden from all save herself, and 
 God, who could not smile upon the wicked, or 
 sanction their dark deeds. 
 
 When Evelyn at last unclosed her eyes, the 
 silver clock was striking four. She went to the 
 window. The moon still held its vigil, but was 
 behind a dark cloud, and near its setting. 
 
 Noting the gloom a sudden determination seized 
 her. She hurried to the closet, and took therefrom 
 a long waterproof, in which she wrapped herself 
 closely. Carefully replacing the little garments in 
 the oilskin, she was ready to venture forth ; but, 
 as if a new thought had occurred to her, she said 
 aloud: "I can not trust the weight of a chance 
 stone, but must have something heavy enough to 
 keep my secret down." 
 
 Going again to her desk she counted out twenty 
 dollars in silver coin, placed them in a strong 
 leathern purse, which she concealed inside the 
 bundle. Lifting this, and apparently satisfied with 
 the weight, she darkened her room and then went 
 noiselessly down the narrow back staircase, and 
 
DARKSOME DEEDS. 179 
 
 was soon speeding along the magnolia avenue, 
 toward the orange orchard. 
 
 The sinking moon struggled behind a fretwork 
 of clouds, so that Evelyn was in almost total dark- 
 ness ; but this was favorable. Knowing well her 
 path she continued her way through the garden 
 gate, and then over the path running through the 
 orchard toward the lake. As she gained the 
 willow skirting a faint light began to gleam over 
 the quiet surface. 
 
 " All is favorable to me," she told herself. ' " I 
 need a little light to select a good spot." 
 
 She stood on the brink of the shadowed waters, 
 watching them grow brighter and brighter. 
 Toward a tuft of lilypads she directed her eyes, as 
 if calculating the intervening distance. 
 
 Presently there was a whir-r-r^ a thud, a splash, 
 followed by a sudden sparkling in the water, as 
 though some magician had wrought a sudden 
 transformation. There were widening circles near 
 the lily-tuft, as if some object had broken into its 
 placid surface. 
 
 The next instant Evelyn became conscious of a 
 breathing presence near. She suppressed the cry 
 which rose to her lips, and looked anxiously around. 
 A moving object met her gaze. Bijou ! First 
 he fixed his eloquent eyes upon her face. Then 
 he looked out upon the water, and howled. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 No compunctious visitings of nature shall 
 Shake my fell purpose. MACBETH. 
 
 AT the close of another fortnight came Mrs. 
 Ormsby, a middle-aged Creole of genteel 
 address, to act as chaperon to Evelyn. When 
 she was duly installed, Mrs. Seymour announced 
 her own early departure, as Myrtle had written 
 that the Heights were no longer bearable without 
 her mother's presence. Vainly did Evelyn entreat 
 her aunt to protract her stay for at least another 
 fortnight. 
 
 " I can not bear to look forward to the lonely 
 days that must follow your leave-taking, Aunt 
 Lydia," she saicfc, with genuine tears in her eyes, 
 as they stood, one chilly evening, before the 
 library grate, wherein the cannel coal crackled 
 cheerfully. 
 
 If there was any real affection left in this 
 revengeful woman, it was centred upon her 
 mother's sister. Though guilty of the crime of 
 concealment towards her aunt, this was not because 
 she loved Mrs. Seymour less, but that she loved 
 self more ; for jealousy outstripped the purer 
 sentiment. 
 
 (180) 
 
A SISTER'S LEGACY. 181 
 
 Evelyn felt the hypocrisy of her words, even 
 while she uttered them, and the soft caress which 
 fell upon her cheek became hateful to her. She 
 averted her face from her aunt's glance, to conceal 
 the flush of shame which she felt glowing within. 
 The flesh seemed to burn, as though caustic had 
 touched the spot where Mrs. Seymour's kiss had 
 rested. 
 
 Noting Evelyn's trouble, and mistaking it for 
 grief, Mrs. Seymour discreetly went to the window, 
 partly to dry her own eyes. 
 
 " I have been thinking, Evelyn," said she, 
 presently returning to the hearth-rug, " what I 
 might ask of you in the way of a keepsake from 
 Julia's jewel-case. The stone-cameo set she used 
 to wear so much, do you think you could part 
 with that ? " 
 
 " Certainly, Aunt Lydia ! The cameos shall be 
 yours without the asking, for they descended from 
 your grandmother," returned Evelyn calmly. " I 
 have thought several times of bringing out 
 mamma's casket of treasures, that you might select 
 some other relic besides the cameos. I will fetch 
 it." 
 
 The side corridor which led to Mrs. Weldon's 
 special apartments had been seldom trodden since 
 her death, for the door which opened into them 
 was usually locked. No one wished to enter 
 rooms rendered sacred by death's presence. As 
 Evelyn turned the key, and noiselessly crossed the 
 
182 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 threshold, she was struck with nameless awe, and 
 felt herself in an accusing presence. 
 
 She alone could realize what had occurred since 
 that gentle presence was called to Heaven. She 
 had sinned ; and the awful insight of condemnation 
 was hers. She shrunk from the gloomy silence of 
 the room. With clasped hands she uttered this 
 wish in remorseful tones : " Oh God, had mother 
 lived ! " 
 
 Then she pondered silently, yet without altering 
 her position : " Had my mother lived, what then ? 
 How many hearts might have been throbbing 
 tonight with joy unutterable? Then Aubrey 
 Deverell would have exulted over a different 
 union, leaving me to drink my cup of bitterness 
 alone. Mine would have been the misery, but 
 not not this guilty conscience ! Oh, this darkness 
 is unbearable ! Mother, mother ! Do not look at 
 me so ! I can not bear your accusing eyes." 
 
 She almost groped her way across the room to 
 the window, and hastily pushed aside the shutters. 
 A flood of light from the setting sun poured itself 
 across the bright carpet, and brought each piece of 
 furniture into plain relief. It put to flight some of 
 Evelyn's dread ; and she breathed more freely, as 
 she suffered her eyes to wander about the familiar 
 apartment. The tears gathered, as she saw the 
 wicker basket, with its bit of needlework, folded 
 neatly, lying on the top. 
 
 " Poor, poor mamma ! " she murmured, touching 
 
A SIS TEE'S LEG A C Y. 1 83 
 
 the delicate fabric reverently, as though it was an 
 altar-cloth. " I would kiss your work, but my lips 
 are unworthy ! They would stain the flowers your 
 pure fingers were so patiently tracing." 
 
 Faster and faster fell the tears, and Evelyn cried 
 out half-coherently : " If you had lived, this 
 terrible temptation would not have come to me ; 
 but you were snatched away, and when it came, I 
 fell. Oh mother, mother! If you are looking 
 down upon me now, pity, oh pity, and do not 
 censure me wholly ! I yielded to sin, because of my 
 love for him. I loved him so ! I loved him so ! 
 She robbed me, and I have sought revenge ! " 
 
 For some moments her melting' mood lasted, but 
 no contrition hallowed it. No ministering angel 
 came to warn Evelyn that there was yet time to 
 repent of her wickedness, that by one brief word 
 she could weld the broken links of a home-circle, 
 win to herself heartfelt gratitude, make herself a 
 very goddess of salvation in the eyes of him whose 
 name she worshipped. No ! Heaven's 'appealing 
 spirit came not to Evelyn's heart. 
 
 Gradually the tears dried upon her cheek, as 
 vengeful thoughts outweighed her sorrow, and she 
 moved toward the India cabinet, where her 
 mother's jewels had always been kept. The 
 cabinet was locked; but Evelyn found in the 
 bunch it was her mother's wont to carry a small 
 key, of peculiar workmanship, which she recognized 
 as belonging to the box. 
 
184 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 She had no difficulty in finding the casket of 
 gems ; but, instead of taking it from the cabinet, 
 she set, about examining certain papers in the 
 drawer near it. They seemed to contain nothing 
 of special importance to her. There was however 
 a packet of letters, yellow with age and tied with 
 a blue ribbon. Evelyn recognized the handwriting 
 as her father's ; and there were a few old bank 
 checks, which she listlessly tossed aside. 
 
 Presently, in a compartment all by itself, she 
 espied something which attracted her keenest 
 interest, an envelop bearing a red seal, and this 
 inscription : 
 
 Sacred to my dear Sister, 
 
 Mrs. Lydia Verne Seymour. 
 
 The tempter, once more sovereign in Evelyn's 
 nature, needed but a moment to convince her that 
 it would be wise to unravel the mystery of this 
 sealed document. Held by a power she could 
 not resist,' she tore open the letter with steady 
 fingers, and read the lines, never designed for other 
 eyes than those of Mrs. Weldon's twin-sister. 
 
 WELL aware, my dear Lydia, that the dread malady, 
 heart-disease, which through generations has been our 
 family doom, will claim me as one of its heirs, and well 
 knowing how unexpectedly it calls upon its subjects to 
 relinquish earthly claims, I herein make an avowal to you 
 which must ever remain a secret between you and your 
 God. 
 
 Three years ago, when our brother Henry died, leaving 
 little Hazel as a sacred charge to me, he also told me a 
 
A SIS TEK S LEGACY. 185 
 
 secret attending her birth, which had never before passed 
 beyond the knowledge of himself, his wife, and of one other 
 person unknown. 
 
 It was this : Hazel was not his child by birthright but 
 only by adoption. They reared her in ignorance of the truth ; 
 and brother's dying prayer was, that this ignorance should 
 remain with Hazel until her life's end. I have been true to 
 his trust. Through three long years I have guarded my 
 vow religiously. But you are part of me, Lydia, and I feel 
 that in case of my sudden demise, ere Hazel attains 
 majority, you will accept her as our departed brother 
 bequeathed her to me as a child whose origin is sacredly 
 consecrated unto mystery, and must ever so remain. 
 
 Accept my legacy, dear sister, in memory of the dead; 
 and look upon my sunny-haired darling, whose nature 
 corresponds in every way with the beauty of her face, as 
 one God-given, to fill the vacancy of her whom you have 
 long mourned. This is the will of 
 
 your affectionate sister, 
 
 JULIA VERNE WELDON. 
 Written, May 12, 18. 
 
 The appealing voice had come at last to Evelyn. 
 The duskiness had deepened, so that every object 
 in the room now assumed a ghastly shape, and the 
 close air seemed filled with the presence of the 
 archangel. 
 
 Evelyn had stood by the window in order to 
 decipher the small chirography of the hand now 
 stilled forever. As she finished, and turned her 
 face again toward the grayish gloom, her face 
 shone like marble. She shrank from the solitude 
 back into the window's recess, pulling the curtains 
 together, to shut out the scene. 
 
 " Regard your dead mother's most holy wish ! " 
 
186 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 a voice seemed to counsel. She groaned aloud in 
 her anguish : " I can not ! It is too late ! I can 
 not ! " "I can not ! I CAN NOT ! " seemed to echo 
 back to her from the silent chamber. 
 
 Faintness was overcoming Evelyn. She forced 
 herself to come from behind the draperies and go 
 to the cabinet. Thrusting the letter inside the 
 little drawer, where she had found it, she securely 
 locked the desk and turned to fly from the room. 
 She had almost reached the door when, involun- 
 tarily glancing above the fireplace, she met her 
 mother's solemn eyes, looking down upon her from 
 a massive gold frame. In the gloaming they had 
 a beseeching expression. 
 
 One low shriek Evelyn uttered. Then she tore 
 herself from the apartment, and ran downstairs to 
 the library, there to fall swooning to the floor, 
 while flashing about her lay the scattered contents 
 of the jewel-casket. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 A FRIEND IN NEED. 
 
 So lonely 't was, that God himself 
 Scarce seemed there to be. 
 
 COLERIDGE. 
 
 THE day of Mrs. Seymour's departure had 
 arrived. It was early in the afternoon, and 
 she sat alone in the library, her eyes directed 
 wistfully towards the door, through which she 
 momentarily expected Hazel to enter. 
 
 The elder lady had sent word to the dear girl 
 that she wished to take a private farewell of her. 
 All day long her heart had throbbed with an 
 unutterable longing for this niece, whom she had 
 begun to love with an affection almost as profound 
 as that which she bore for her own Myrtle. 
 
 The thought of parting with Hazel for an in- 
 definite time filled Mrs. Seymour with pain, but 
 she strove bravely to repress the tears which 
 veiled her eyes, for she wished to render the 
 leave-taking less painful to Hazel. 
 
 At length she heard soft footsteps along the 
 
 hallway. The door opened, and Hazel crossed 
 
 the room, her hands clasped before her, in a 
 
 manner peculiar to the girl when under strong 
 
 (187) 
 
188 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 emotion. Her eyelids were red with weeping ; 
 her look was bent upon the floor. 
 
 " You sent for me, Aunt Lydia ! I am come ! " 
 
 " Have you been all day in your room, my love ? 
 I have not seen you since breakfast," said Mrs. 
 Seymour, drawing Hazel gently toward her, and 
 pressing a lingering kiss upon the tear-stained 
 dieek. 
 
 " No, aunt, I have been down to the lake. I 
 always go there when I am lonely." She lifted 
 her beautiful eyes to Mrs. Seymour, and they 
 were filled with a longing which reached to the 
 heart. 
 
 " Myrtle shall come to Florida during her next 
 summer vacation, and make you a long visit," 
 pursued the lady, trying to throw cheerfulness 
 into her tone. "When I am gone you must let 
 the thought of her future coming serve as a barrier 
 against loneliness." 
 
 At these words part of the sorrow in Hazel's 
 face disappeared, like a cloud before a ray of 
 sunshine. 
 
 " Oh dear Aunt Lydia, if you would indeed let 
 Myrtle come ! I think I could bear almost any 
 degree of misery, if I were sure of seeing her 
 again." 
 
 " Misery, child ? Misery f Why should you 
 utter that word? What do you know of misery?" 
 cried Mrs Seymour, drawing the girl impulsively 
 to her breast. " What is there of misery in your 
 young life, my pet?" she entreated. 
 
A FRIEND IN NEED. 189 
 
 " It often makes me wretched to know that 
 Cousin Evelyn dislikes me. Sometimes it seems 
 as if my heart must break under her contempt. I 
 so long for her love, Aunt Lydia ! I pray, every 
 night, for God to change her heart toward me." 
 
 Mrs. Seymour caressed the gold-touched hair, 
 upon which her tears were now falling. 
 
 "You must not be discouraged, dear one. Per- 
 severe in your endeavors, and some day the light 
 of your character will find its way into Evelyn's 
 regard," she faltered, when she could trust herself 
 to speak. 
 
 " No, no ! " sobbed the girl bitterly. " Some- 
 thing tells me that she will never soften toward 
 me. The days will be forlorn when you are gone. 
 Oh Aunt Lydia, do n't go out of my life. I can 't 
 bear the thought. Take me with you ! " 
 
 Mrs. Seymour could find no answer to this 
 appeal. She only pressed the clinging form closer, 
 and yielded secretly to her own grief as the other 
 continued : " There is something in my heart that 
 makes me yearn to be with you and Myrtle always ! 
 That is what I can not express in words, but it 
 seems a part of me." 
 
 A moment of poignant silence followed. Mrs. 
 Seymour was recalling her own child's words, 
 spoken over the dead form of Mrs. Weldon, on 
 the day of the funeral : " There is something in 
 rny heart that makes me yearn for Hazel,"*feut I 
 can not describe it in words." 
 
190 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 These utterances of the two girls were almost 
 alike, and Mrs. Seymour felt the same strange 
 feeling again overcoming her which she had ex- 
 perienced that day. 
 
 " Show us the light, oh God," she whispered. 
 Hazel heard this supplication, and felt scalding 
 drops on her brow. 
 
 " Why are you crying, Aunt Lydia ? " she whis- 
 pered ; but she only felt herself held tighter to 
 that heaving bosom. 
 
 The two were still locked in close embrace 
 when Evelyn entered the library abruptly. "Aunt 
 Lydia," said she, striving to hide the annoyance 
 this scene roused in her guilty soul, " the carriage 
 is waiting. We have but little over an hour for 
 our drive to the station." 
 
 Mrs. Seymour thereupon unclasped the clinging 
 arms from her neck, whispering as she did so : 
 " May Heaven forever bless you, darling ! " Then 
 she hurriedly crossed the room ; but at the door 
 she paused, and said interrogatively : " You will of 
 course drive to the station with us, Hazel ? " 
 
 "I have ordered the pony phaeton," Evelyn 
 interposed quickly. "There is scarcely room in 
 it for three ! " Then she hastily closed the door 
 behind them, leaving Hazel alone in the library, 
 with a hopeless expression in her countenance. 
 
 In truth the girl felt that the last ray of happi- 
 ness was nickering in its socket, and she crouched 
 upon the floor, inwardly crying out to God to let 
 
A FRIEND TN NEED. 191 
 
 her die. She had a faint remembrance of her 
 aunt's afterward returning to the room to take 
 a final farewell ; but she must have been dazed, 
 for she did not follow her out to the carriage, but 
 remained where Mrs. Seymour left her, her face 
 pressed against a cushion, and her bright hair fall- 
 ing about her like a halo, that hair upon which 
 her aunt's tears had glistened like diamonds. 
 
 Suddenly the rattle of carriage wheels awoke her 
 to the conviction that her aunt was really gone. 
 With a cry like that of some wounded creature she 
 sprang to her feet, and rushed out of the house. 
 
 " Dey 's done gone out o' sight, Missy Hazel," 
 said the hostler, as she breathlessly reached the 
 big gate, and questioned -him in choking tones. 
 " Dey 's done been gone fibe minutes. Dey 's done 
 gone out o' sight, honey," he repeated with genuine 
 feeling, as he regarded the grief-stained face, in its 
 frame of tangled hair. 
 
 Hazel scarce waited to catch his words, but sped 
 fleet-footed through the orchard, towards an open- 
 ing in the hedge, which commanded a glimpse of 
 the road over which the vehicle must pass. As 
 she reached the spot, the fast-flying horses came 
 for an instant into sight, and then were hidden by 
 a cloud of dust. 
 
 " Aunty, aunty, come back to me ! " wailed her 
 isolated heart. " It is cruel of you to go out of 
 my life, when I love you so ! It is cruel of you to 
 leave me so utterly alone. Oh Aunt Lydia, come 
 
192 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 back to me ! Come back, COME BACK ! " She 
 fell down on the soft grass, crying wretchedly. 
 
 Arline was away on her vacation ; and so Hazel 
 could not go to the kindly Frenchwoman, and be 
 comforted by her sympathetic words. She could 
 only go back to the desolate house, and bury her- 
 self in her own little room, weeping her heart 
 sorer than it was already. Even Bijou had 
 deserted her. 
 
 Suddenly it flashed upon Hazel that she had not 
 seen her dog for two days. With this thought she 
 hurriedly pressed back the tears with her wet 
 handkerchief : " What has become of my dear 
 old friend?" she cried aloud. The next moment 
 she was bounding away to the kitchen, where she 
 asked breathlessly, of Aunt Sarah the cook : 
 "'Black Mammy, what has become of Bijou? I 
 have n't seen him for two whole days." 
 
 " Fore de Lawd, honey chile, now 's ye ax Brack 
 Mammy 'bout dat ar dog, I reckons I has ter 
 tell ye as how he eenamos' kill hisse'f Sabbaday 
 ebenin'," replied the negress, pausing to roll some 
 flaky dough from her hands. 
 
 " Bijou hurt ! Plow ? Oh Black Mammy, how 
 did it happen ? " cried the girl, as she clutched old 
 Sarah's dress excitedly. 
 
 The woman rolled the whites of her eyes about 
 in a startling manner, and said evasively : " Run 
 out to de stable, honey, 'n ax Nole 'bout de facks. 
 He done 'tendin' de dog out dar, 'long wid de 
 
A FRIEND IN NEED. 193 
 
 bosses. Nole am a right down good-soul brack 
 un, 'n aint a gwine to let anythin' suffah wat 
 'longed to Marsa Wel'on. Sho 's ye bawn, honey 
 chile, ole marsa set heaps o' conf'rence on my 
 Nole ; 'n now marsa 's gone, seems he 'specks dat 
 conf'rence heaps. Yes he do, chile, sho ! " 
 
 Filled with solicitude for her noble Saint 
 Bernard, Hazel hastened to the barnyard. In her 
 precipitation she almost stumbled over Noel, who 
 was mending a halter near the gate. 
 
 " I came to see Bijou, Noel. Black Mammy says 
 my poor dog is hurt. Where is he ? How did he 
 come to be hurt ? " 
 
 " I done 'structed mammy ter keep mum 'bout 
 dat yah dog," returned the hostler, as he looked 
 angrily up from his work ; but when his eyes fell 
 upon Hazel's sad face, he added more gently, 
 doffing his cap deferentially : " Ye sees, Missy 
 Hazel, I done tole mammy, 'n all de culled folks at 
 de house, not ter say as how Bijou 's hurt, case I 
 knowed you'd take it bad like." 
 
 " Is he wounded ? Is he suffering much ? Oh 
 Noel, will he die ? " cried the girl, and she covered 
 her face with both hands, and wept anew at the 
 very thought of losing her boon companion, her 
 one remaining friend. 
 
 Just then a prolonged whine came to her from 
 the loft ; and before Noel could prevent, she was 
 bounding up the crazy stairs. The hostler fol- 
 lowed, but paused on the topmost step, delighted 
 
194 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 at the picture that met his gaze. Hazel had 
 thrown herself on her knees beside her dog, and 
 was talking to him in terms of endearment, such 
 as a mother might use to her child, while she 
 received his frantic kisses upon her hands, her 
 face, her hair. 
 
 "Bress my soul, Missy Hazel, dat dog am de 
 biggest possum out ! " Noel shouted. After a 
 convulsion of laughter he added : " He done lay 
 like stone-dead all dis bressed day, 'n I could n't 
 'suade him ter budge or t' eat a mou'ful. 
 Wait ! " 
 
 Noel was off like a shot, but returned speedily, 
 with a piece of cooked meat. " HoP out dis t' him, 
 Missy Hazel. Ye see will he take it out you 
 han'." 
 
 Hazel took the meat ; and her whole face beamed 
 when the dog seized and swallowed it hungrily, 
 and then begged for more. Louder and louder 
 became the negro's merriment, but he ceased 
 laughing as his companion said: "You see 
 what a successful nurse I am, Noel. I shall come 
 every day to attend my poor dog. Now tell me 
 how he came to be sick. I see no wound about 
 him." 
 
 "Well, yer sees, little missy, 'twas like dis," 
 replied the hostler, as he perched himself on a bale 
 of hay near by, and swung his feet awkwardly. 
 "Fo' de las' two weeks, Bijou, he come in de 
 barnyard ebery day shiverin', cole and wet as 
 
A FRIEND IN NEED. 195 
 
 sop. Well, one day I says to myse'f, ' Now,' says 
 I, ' it 's bad business, dat dog gwine in de watah so 
 much, 'n de wedah comin' on so termendeous cole. 
 It's bad business,' says I. 'De rumatiz '11 settle 
 in his bones, sho.' Well, t' other ebenin', 's I 's 
 comin' home from de ma'sh, whah I 'd ben shootin' 
 teal, as I 's comin' along side de lake, I heah a loud 
 yulp. Now, wen I heah dat yulp, I says t' myse'f^ 
 1 Now,' says I, * dat fool dog am in de watah agin, 
 an' can 't git out.' Well, den I runs like desperit 
 fro' dem willows, an' 'long side de lake, till I come 
 in sight ob dat dog ; 'un jis as I specked, dah he 
 wuz in de watah, tangled up in a lot o' lily roots. 
 Well, I offn wid my close, 'n I jumps in dat lake. 
 Phoo-o-o-o ! It makes my brood freeze now ter 
 t'ink how like ice dat watah wuz ! Wall, I cuts de 
 tough roots from bout his feet 'n neck, un brung 
 him out plum friz stiff, poo' fellah ! I toted him 
 home on my back, un he 's done been sick ebber 
 sence. The rheumatiz settled in his bones, jis 
 'zactly as I profthesied." 
 
 As Noel concluded his story Hazel sprang to 
 her feet ; and the next instant she was beside 
 him, with one of his rough hands pressed to her 
 lips. " Oh Noel," cried she, " how can I ever 
 compensate you ? You saved my dear Bijou from 
 drowning ! " 
 
 " I mought a' sabed de dog, missy ; but I do n't 
 want no pay, I do n't want no copesate for doin' a 
 good turn for you. I 'd risk my brack neck to 
 
196 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 serbe you, Missy Hazel, jes shuah's yer bawn, I 
 would ; " and the negro's black orbs beamed with 
 pleasure at this demonstration of gratitude from 
 Hazel, who presently said : " I can not imagine 
 why Bijou should persist in his mad plunges. He 
 has always hated the water in cold weather ; but 
 he will recover, of course he will recover ? " she 
 added, looking at Noel with troubled questioning 
 in her aspect. 
 
 Noel's hopes in this direction having revived 
 since she showed her wonderful influence over the 
 dog, he replied, as he flung himself nimbly from 
 his elevated seat on the hay : " Dat he will, 
 missy, or dis coon 's done missed his reck'non." 
 
 " And I shall come every day to attend you, my 
 darling," said Hazel, her face all aglow, as she 
 stooped to arrange Bijou's pallet, and bestow 
 upon him a parting pat ; but she was compelled to 
 muffle her ears against his piteous whine, as she 
 descended from the loft. 
 
 As she closed the gate, an uncontrollable desire 
 came over her to see the place where her pet had 
 nearly lost his life ; so she went back to question 
 Noel as to the exact spot, and then ran down to 
 the lake. 
 
 She had no difficulty in recognizing the tuft of 
 lilypads wherewith Bijou had been entangled, for 
 they still floated on the bosom of the waters, a 
 wreck of former beauty. The pink and white 
 leaves had floated away, but she could see the 
 
A FRIEND IN NEED. 197 
 
 disturbed roots and broken stems; though little 
 she dreamed that under the dark water, and re- 
 moved from human sight, lay a bundle of clothes 
 marked Myrine, which Evelyn Weldon had thrown 
 into the pool two weeks before. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 PARTING WAYS. 
 
 HOPE tells a flattering tale, 
 
 Delusive, vain, and hollow ; 
 Ah, let not hope prevail, 
 
 Lest disappointment follow. WBOTHEE. 
 
 NEVER did time drag so wearily as during the 
 next few weeks at Weldon Grange. Day 
 after day found Evelyn at the library window, 
 some open book lying idly in her lap. The pages 
 she seldom turned, but suffered her glance to dwell 
 listlessly on the clear autumnal landscape, or rest 
 now and then upon the variegated foliage of 
 magnolias and poplars. 
 
 In some remote corner of the same apartment 
 Hazel was usually sitting, employed with light 
 needlework or French lessons, in which she wished 
 to be prepared against Arline's near return. 
 
 It was a dull October afternoon. A bright fire 
 blazed on the hearth, and the room was filled with 
 the odor of the wood. Yellow chrysanthemums, 
 mingled with fine sprays of princess-pine, were 
 tastefully arranged in the Dresden vases on the 
 shelf, and gave cheerfulness to the room. 
 
 The pendulum swung lazily to and fro in the 
 solid cathedral clock, and its monotonous tick-tack 
 (198) 
 
PARTING WAYS. 199 
 
 was the only sound intruding* upon the silence 
 which for hours had reigned there, and almost 
 made the Parian busts of Shakespeare, Byron, and 
 Dickens frown morosely from their gilded pedestals. 
 In the fitful firelight they fairly blinked, and 
 imagination could fancy that they even lifted up 
 their heads and did address themselves to motion, 
 like as they would speak, after the manner of the 
 Ghost in Hamlet. 
 
 Evelyn sat in her accustomed place, in the deep 
 embrasure of the window, and today a piece of 
 embroidery lay neglected in her lap. She and 
 Hazel, who poured intently over her French, 
 might have been total strangers to each other, 
 so far as was indicated by conversation. One 
 may see people from opposite ends of the world 
 sit together for hours in a public parlor without 
 exchanging a word, yet there are glances of 
 human interest now and \then between them ; but 
 here was not a word or glance in unison. 
 
 Hazel occasionally glanced wistfully at the frigid 
 woman sitting by the window, whose impassive face 
 was always turned away, as Hazel supposed, but 
 was often turned full upon the girl when Hazel 
 was not looking ; and those eyes were cruelly 
 cold, expressing the thoughts of Evelyn's soul, - 
 thoughts which would have affrighted Hazel's 
 gentle spirit, could she have interpreted them 
 aright. 
 
 Seeing the younger girl in deep mourning, with 
 
200 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 all her golden hah* drawn into a loose coil in her 
 neck, and her eyes so pensive, '$ne would scarcely 
 have recognized her as the gay butterfly-chaser 
 of a half-year ago. She was not the same Hazel. 
 Her mouth, then like a bud, bursting into dimples, 
 had now settled into grave thoughtfulness. Though 
 the smile lingered, it was restrained, while the 
 dimples merely dinted the cheeks, being too shy 
 to venture deeper. 
 
 The vivacious child, with little thought beyond 
 Bijou and the birds, had been transformed into 
 the premature woman, as a strong blast, sweeping 
 through the garden, will suddenly hasten a half- 
 open bud into untimely maturity ; but the change 
 had added to Hazel's charms. With sunny smiles 
 and dimples, rosy cheeks and changeful eyes, she 
 had been winsome ; but now, with her shell-like 
 complexion, thoughtful lips, and lustrous eyes, 
 revealing a soul's subtle sorrow, Hazel was doubly 
 attractive. 
 
 At length her lessons were learned. She closed 
 her book, and arose to get her needlework, when 
 Evelyn called imperatively : " Hazel, come here ! 
 Bring your book with you ! " 
 
 The younger girl crossed the floor obediently. 
 The thought of a few words with Evelyn, a thing 
 of rare occurrence between them, made her heart 
 leap with gladness. Was this the harbinger of 
 reconciliation between them ? The very thought 
 caused a joyous flush, and she trembled visibly, 
 
PARTING WAYS. 201 
 
 with hopeful anticipation, as she stood before her 
 foster-sister. 
 
 Poor, craving heart ! How cruel to rouse such 
 futile hopes! Mute and wondering she suffered 
 Evelyn to take the volume from her hand, and 
 then watched the dark face eagerly, as Evelyn 
 rustled the leaves with her jewelled fingers. So 
 intent was Hazel on her happy reflections, that she 
 started like a frightened doe when Evelyn sud- 
 denly closed the book with an emphatic snap. 
 
 Raising her head, in her old arrogant fashion, 
 the elder cousin said k " Why have you confined 
 yourself exclusively to French this vacation ? Are 
 you so proficient in your other studies?" 
 
 The rebuke in her tone turned Hazel's short- 
 lived hope into despair, and bore down her heart 
 like lead. 
 
 " No, I am not, Evelyn ; but Arline says my 
 French accent is defective, and she told me to 
 apply myself particularly to this study during her 
 absence ; but I have not obeyed her till recently. 
 I thought " 
 
 " No doubt you have thought much of perfecting 
 yourself in this particular language ! It is most 
 fascinating. To appear really attractive to French 
 people one should be able to converse fluently in 
 their own tongue," interrupted Evelyn ironically ; 
 and she supplemented her words with a laugh 
 which corresponded well with their metallic ring. 
 
 Hazel met her cousin's searching glance steadily. 
 
202 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 She had not detected the hidden meaning of the 
 words, though the unfeeling laugh seemed out of 
 place, and wounded her to the quick. Those 
 'penetrating eyes seemed to burn into her childlike 
 soul. Tears gathered in her gentle eyes, and her 
 lips twitched painfully as she faltered : " You are 
 mocking me, Evelyn ! " 
 
 Another peal of hollow laughter broke from the 
 darkling face. " Mocking you, indeed ! " Evelyn 
 returned, when her mirth had spent itself. " Am 
 I far out of the way, when I say that, to appear 
 doubly fascinating in the eyes of a French admirer, 
 one must be qualified to speak his native tongue ? " 
 
 " But why do you look at me so, Evelyn ? Your 
 eyes frighten me ! " 
 
 " Actress ! With what bewitching art you sus- 
 tain your part ! Now hear me, Hazel Verne ! 
 You can't mislead me by your crocodile tears 
 and affected innocence. I understand you. I see 
 through your mask ! " 
 
 From the speaker's eyes gleamed a look so terri- 
 ble as to cause the listener to draw back a step ; 
 for it was the lurid fire of jealousy, excited nearly 
 to madness, which Hazel saw and felt, but was 
 unable to understand. 
 
 Involuntarily she retreated further from the 
 panting creature. "I I do n't understand you ! 
 I an actress? I wear a mask?" gasped the child. 
 
 " Yes, an actress, of the most cowardly type ! ' 
 hissed her cousin. 
 
PARTING WAYS. 203 
 
 All at once an idea flashed across Hazel's dizzy 
 brain. Surely Evelyn was delirious! She had 
 worried herself too much, and this was the result. 
 With this thought Hazel impulsively stepped for- 
 ward, and laid an entreating hand upon the arm 
 of her foster-sister. 
 
 "Evelyn, dear, I fear you aren't quite well 
 today," she said, trying to assume a tone of quiet 
 reasoning. " Let me help you to your room, 
 where you can lie down and be made comfortable. 
 I will be such a patient nurse, if you will only let 
 me. Come ! " 
 
 Evelyn's lips curled in scorn, but the light died 
 out of her eyes ; and her old hauteur returned, as 
 she leaned back in her chair, agitated still, but 
 otherwise outwardly calm. Perhaps it was more 
 than hatred which made her shrink from Hazel's 
 caress. 
 
 " Reassure yourself, please ! I am quite well ! " 
 she vouchsafed to say. " As for nursing me, I do 
 not want you. I could n't bring myself to tolerate 
 a show of affection from one who has doomed me 
 to despair. Our ways must lie apart ; but bear in 
 mind that you are entirely subject to my will until 
 you come of age. After that you will be at liberty 
 to choose your own way. Your future is well pro- 
 vided for by my father, and you can make it what 
 you choose." 
 
 Keen surprise dried the tears from Hazel's eyes. 
 She breathed intermittently, and she fluttered like 
 
204 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 a wounded dove, as she faltered : " I did not quite 
 understand what you were saying, Evelyn. Do 
 you mean that I have spoiled your life, that I 
 have caused you misery ? Oh Evelyn, you could n't 
 mean anything so untrue ? " 
 
 " I mean just that ! But for you I should be 
 the happiest woman living ! Perhaps oh God ! 
 who knows ? I might be one of the best ! As it 
 is, I am steeped in wretchedness." 
 
 " Won't you tell me what I have done ? Once 
 before you accused me of wrecking your life. 
 Your words have tormented me ever since. I 
 could not understand them. Sometimes I think 
 you despise me for living here. If so, Evelyn, I 
 will go away. Aunt Lydia loves me, Aunt 
 Lydia and Myrtle. I could go to them. Oh 
 Evelyn, let me go to them, and then we shall both 
 be happier ! " 
 
 " You shall never go to New Orleans ! " was the 
 answer to this beseeching cry; and the speaker's 
 face was like stone, while she clinched her hands 
 in her lap, to repress the demon which threatened 
 her with another mad paroxysm. "I will bury 
 you in a convent first ! " 
 
 A stifled sob fell from Hazel at this threat, a 
 sob from a broken heart, and she quitted the 
 room. 
 
 As the gray twilight stole into her pretty bed- 
 room it found Hazel seated at the window, her 
 aching head bowed on the ledge, weeping as only 
 the wronged can weep. 
 
PARTING WAYS. 205 
 
 "What have I ever done to warrant such unkind 
 feelings ? Oh that cruel accusation ! What did 
 she mean?" 
 
 JJazel carefully reviewed the past four years of 
 her life, wherein she had tried so untiringly to win 
 some generous feeling from her proud foster-sister, 
 in return for which Hazel would so freely have 
 lavished her own heart's warmest love ; but how 
 completely had she failed ! To what a hopeless 
 height the barriers now towered between herself 
 and Evelyn ! 
 
 When Hazel lifted her head from the window- 
 ledge the evening had become so beautiful as to 
 make her wonder if she had not been asleep, with 
 a horrible dream. Away off in the east a broad 
 halo of light heralded the moonlight, and the 
 azure vault was ablaze with " the forget-me-nots 
 of the angels." Through the wall of cypress and 
 willow, at the southern extremity of the orchard, 
 she could see the lake, glimmeringly reflecting the 
 glory of God's firmament in its mirrored depths. 
 
 Suddenly fair Cynthia showed her red-barred 
 face over the distant hilltops ; and simultaneously, 
 as if that glorious satellite had brought a message 
 direct from the land of mystery, Monsieur Aubrey's 
 last words came swiftly back : " If the time should 
 come when you may need a friend, then will you 
 turn to me as to one who would serve you at the 
 peril of his own life ? " 
 
 Oh if she could but see him now, this moment, 
 
206 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 and ask him to explain Evelyn's cruel words. She 
 wondered if he knew what they had suffered at the 
 Grange since his visit. She wondered if he would 
 come to her, if he knew how much v she stood in 
 need of a true friend ! 
 
 The night promised to be as bright as day. As 
 our child-heroine continued at the window she 
 thought of the dear ones departed, and an unut- 
 terable longing came over her to go to their graves 
 and pray. Perhaps there she could find some 
 comfort in her unhappiness. " Yes," she thought, 
 "I will go to Cypress Dell ! No harm will come 
 of it ! It will be bright as day, and I shall fear 
 nothing." . 
 
 She was aroused from her revery by the entrance 
 of Mrs. Ormsby, who was bringing her a tray of 
 tea and toast. " I bring you a light supper, dear 
 Miss Hazel," said the kind Creole. " You did not 
 appear at table, and I feared you were not well. 
 All in the dark ? Well, well ! This won't do, my 
 child. I will strike a light." 
 
 Hazel protested gently against this proposal. 
 "Please let me remain here at the window, Mrs. 
 Ormsby. I shall enjoy my tea better with only 
 the moonlight. Thanks ! You are very kind ! " 
 She received the tray with averted face, lest her 
 condition should reveal itself to this new friend. 
 
 " Is there anything else I can do for you ? I 
 would gladly help you, dear Miss Hazel," said 
 the companion, as she was about to withdraw. 
 
PARTING WAYS. 207 
 
 Motherly instinct had from the first drawn her to 
 this sad-faced orphan. She knew, from the tremor 
 in Hazel's voice, that she had been weeping, and 
 longed to draw the girl to her sympathizing heart ; 
 but she went out, and closed the door softly behind 
 her, as Hazel said : " There is nothing, thank you, 
 but you are very kind ! " 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 AVE MARIA. 
 
 How shall I bring the sunshine to thy face, 
 And dry thy tears, in bitter woe s despite ? 
 Love, my love, teaches me a certain way. 
 
 ALL, THE YEAR ROUND. 
 
 IT was past ten when Hazel, warmly clad for 
 her solitary walk to the Dell, left the house. 
 As she passed through the large gate, opening 
 from the town road into the one leading to the 
 cemetery, she did not notice a saddled horse, 
 hitched within the shadow of a wide-spreading 
 poplar, a few yards away. She walked along 
 beneath the arching pines, the soft moonbeams 
 glinting through, rendering her pathway bright 
 before her, and constituting a silver background 
 for the embossed patterns of fern and late wild- 
 flowers, which bestrewed the place. 
 
 Once, as she entered the shadow of a gigantic 
 pine, the screech of a bird made her pause ; but as 
 she perceived the gray-feathered creature, perched 
 on a low-protruding branch, a few yards off, and 
 staring at her with eyes which looked as large as 
 saucers in the moonlight, she waved her hand 
 toward him, softly saying : " Pretty owl, I would 
 not harm you ! " 
 
 (208) 
 
A VE MARIA. 209 
 
 Then she resumed her walk, as fearless as be- 
 fore, some of her recent unhappiness absorbed in 
 the peerless beauty of the night. 
 
 A few field daisies still grew by the wayside. 
 These she gathered, to mingle with some fresh 
 chrysanthemums she had plucked from the garden, 
 a tribute to the dead. She had stooped to cull 
 a knot of maidenhair, to complete her bouquet, 
 when a sudden burst of melody wakened the still 
 night, like a chord from floating seraphim. 
 
 Hazel stood transfixed. Her face was upturned 
 to the moonlight, her lips were parted, her hands 
 were clasped in rapture, as she turned her ear to 
 catch the dying cadence of that heavenly strain. 
 
 Ave Maria, now we implore thee ! 
 Show us thy favor, grant us thy blessing! 
 Amen, Amen ! 
 
 Like a zephyr the last note died away ; yet to 
 Hazel the air still vibrated with the penetration of 
 that voice. Ave Maria! Ave Maria! Every- 
 where the holy name seemed floating. It filled 
 the night. It moved her as nothing before had 
 done. Whose throat had sent forth such music, 
 and at such an hour, in such a place ? 
 
 Surely it sounded like Deverell's singing. She 
 had heard the same voice often in her dreams 
 since he went away, but it always sounded far-off. 
 Now it was near and real. 
 
 " Yes ! It sounded as though he were very 
 near me, very near," she repeated to herself. 
 
210 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 " I think I am half afraid, not with the 
 fear of something awful, but with fear which tells 
 my heart to be glad. I think I will not go on to 
 the graves. I will return to the house." 
 
 With an effort she retraced a few steps ; but 
 presently she paused again. 
 
 " Perhaps I am foolishly nervous," she told her- 
 self. "It might, after all, be only imagination. 
 I have been thinking much of him tonight, and 
 fancy may have brought back his voice, singing 
 Ave Maria. It would be foolish to go home, now 
 I am more than halfway to the Dell. Of course 
 it was fancy, for he is far away, perhaps on the 
 other side of the Rocky Mountains." 
 
 Thus reassured she again turned her face toward 
 the burying-ground ; yet she involuntarily quick- 
 ened her steps, until her little feet almost flew 
 over the white road. Not until she had passed 
 through the wicket did she pause to breathe. 
 
 As she neared the stone which marked the 
 resting-place of a certain Weldon ancestor, who 
 had lain in Cypress Dell for over a century, 
 another owl perched on the head of a marble 
 cherub, and beguiling the night with his weird 
 foo-whoo scurried away to another refuge, in 
 the branches of the cypress which shaded the 
 double grave Hazel was seeking. She watched 
 him alight there, and then inadvertently glanced 
 beneath the shadow of the tree ; but she recoiled 
 instantly, with a low cry, for on a rustic bench, 
 
A VE MARIA. 211 
 
 near the grave, she saw a man reclining, his eyes 
 intent upon the monumental inscription. 
 
 Hearing the girl's cry he leaped to his feet, and 
 the moonbeams revealed the features of Monsieur 
 Aubrey. 
 
 This sudden apparition caused her to reel like a 
 wind-tossed flower. She would have fallen, had 
 not strong arms encircled her. " Hazel, my little 
 love ! " She heard this passionate cry faintly, as 
 in a dream. 
 
 A moment's silence ensued. Hazel did not 
 speak, because she lacked strength ; but she lay 
 trembling, with her head on Aubrey's bosom. He 
 did not speak, because joy and amazement con- 
 tended within him for the mastery. His lips 
 sought hers, but were instantly withdrawn, at the 
 dictation of a sense of honor. However, he pressed 
 her to his heart, and stroked her hair. 
 
 As Hazel's strength returned she realized vaguely 
 what had happened, and struggled gently in the 
 arms which held her so firmly. Then Aubrey 
 released her, and led her to the seat he had 
 vacated. 
 
 Seating himself beside her he took her fluttering 
 hands, pressed them reassuringly, and said: "If 
 you feel strong enough now, little one, tell me 
 what actuated you to come hither at this strange 
 hour." 
 
 His voice, low-toned and earnest, as she had 
 heard it in the past, thrilled her. "I was lonely, 
 
212 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 monsieur," she faltered, "and the night was so 
 like the day that I had no fear." 
 
 "You are safer than ever now, child. There, 
 there, do not weep ! " entreated he, as she sobbed 
 violently. " You do not fear me, petite ?" he 
 added with tender reproach. 
 
 "No, no, monsieur, it is not that. I have no 
 fear of you," she said, closing her fingers over his 
 confidingly and almost involuntarily. " You must 
 forgive me if I cry. I I oh, you know it was 
 so sudden, my seeing you here, and every- 
 thing! I heard you singing Ave Maria, but I 
 tried to believe it was only my imagination. I am 
 so nervous. It seemed more like an angel singing. 
 Oh monsieur, I am so glad it was you, yoijr very 
 self ! Were you singing over our dear graves ? " 
 
 " Yes ! The place seemed sacredly quiet, and 
 filled me with reverence. I did not know I sang 
 so loud!" 
 
 "You didn't sing too loud. It was the wind 
 which bore your voice to me. It was sweet, 
 and, oh monsieur, I can not express it, but it 
 sounded like a strain from an angel's harp ! " cried 
 Hazel. Then she added: "I prayed tonight for 
 God to send me some true friend, and He has 
 answered my prayer. You are She hesi- 
 tated, and Aubrey saw that she was blushing. 
 
 "What is it my little Hazel would say?" he 
 asked, lowering his handsome face until it almost 
 touched hers. " Tell me, my sweet one ! " he 
 
AVE MARIA. 213 
 
 added ; and in his ardor he crushed her little 
 hand, he did not know how painfully. 
 
 Hazel answered not. Lower and lower fell her 
 veiling lashes; though, unknown to herself, her 
 eyes were full of undefined love. She was con- 
 scious of a new sensation, but this she could not 
 rightly interpret. She did not know the meaning 
 of the flush in her cheek and the fluttering of her 
 heart. She did not know why the pressure of his 
 hand should move her so much. She did not 
 know why an unutterable longing possessed her to 
 be near this man always, to feel his strength 
 every day, to hear his voice saying, " My sweet 
 one ! " What a refuge such a friend would be. 
 
 At length Aubrey spoke again. Mistaking her 
 silence for childish timidity he said gravely : " I 
 too have been praying, Hazel. I prayed that you 
 might be delivered from all unhappiness. I believe 
 this meeting was preordained of Heaven ! You 
 speak as if suffering, as though you needed 
 friends. If this be true, then surely I have been 
 guided to you by the Supreme Power. Can you 
 doubt it?" 
 
 " But monsieur, I expected to see you least of 
 anybody," returned the girl, without looking up. 
 " I believed you to be in California, or in some 
 place far West. It seems like dreaming to see 
 you here, and to hear your voice. Cousin Evelyn 
 will be much surprised when she learns 
 
 "Mademoiselle Weldon must not know of our 
 
214 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 meeting," interrupted the lover hastily. "That 
 is, she must not know of our meeting tonight." 
 
 He modulated his voice to almost a whisper as 
 he continued : " I have been West. The news of 
 your sad loss did not reach me until I had been in 
 San Francisco a fortnight, as I did not read the 
 papers regularly, and had a pleasant travelling- 
 companion ; but one day, as Hylton and I were 
 dining at a French restaurant, I happened to scan 
 the columns of a New Orleans paper, when my 
 eyes fell upon a notice of your, of Monsieur and 
 Madame Weldon's sudden death. Ah, Mademoiselle 
 Hazel, I shall not undertake to describe my great 
 sorrow and surprise. My first thought was of 
 you, little one. I remembered that your very 
 best friends were now lying here, no longer able 
 to guard you." 
 
 " Do not sob so, little one ! Your grief hurts 
 me ! " This he added, as her sighs lent a sad 
 accompaniment to his voice. 
 
 " I wondered who would supply their place," 
 he resumed when she had grown calmer. * " This 
 thought haunted me. I longed to return at once ; 
 but my friend was in poor health, and seemed to 
 grow worse, and I felt in duty bound to stay 
 longer on the Pacific Slope, at least a few 
 weeks longer. I went from place to place with 
 him, like one in a maze. My thoughts were always 
 with you. I wondered, hourly, how your life was 
 getting on, whether you had one friend to shield 
 
AVE MARIA. 215 
 
 you from from that woman, whom I knew to be 
 
 not your friend, yet whom you would be with 
 daily. I lay awake, night after night, with this 
 one thought. I could picture for you a happy 
 future only from one standpoint. In one light 
 only would yom- life present itself as blessed with 
 love and tender care. In all other lights you 
 seemed to frown upon me from a fretwork of 
 sombreness, oh such gloom. This framework 
 was so unfit for a gentle nature like my little 
 friend's!" 
 
 He paused, overcome by emotion. Then with 
 one hand pressed over his eyes, the other still 
 clasping Hazel's closely, he sat awhile without 
 speaking. 
 
 She longed to speak some comforting word, but 
 she could not bring herself to break the hushed 
 stillness. So she sat quietly, wondering what 
 might be the one bright view he had taken of her 
 future. To her it seemed as if she had left joy 
 and sunshine forever in the beautiful past of her 
 childhood, and that she must go forth with an 
 aching heart into the vista of years to come, with 
 a hunger which threatened to endure till life's end, 
 
 hunger for love, which, to a warm and respon- 
 sive nature like hers, is as essential as air to the 
 birds or sunlight to the flowers. 
 
 She lost herself in thoughts of those happy and 
 careless d:iys, when she had roamed with Bijou 
 through the dells, or skimmed the lake in her little 
 boat, in quest of a certain pink lily. 
 
216 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Then the sound of Aubrey's voice interrupted 
 the retrospect : " I have no right to describe to my 
 little friend the roseate vision in which I saw her 
 life as it should be, in which I saw it gleaming 
 in felicity. I have no right, Hazel; yet have I 
 travelled thousands of miles impelled by this one 
 purpose. I arrived in Jasper this evening. Be- 
 lieving it would be useless to seek communication 
 with you before tomorrow, I resolved, as the night 
 was so perfect, to ride over to Cypress Dell, where 
 I could at least be near those who had been so 
 dear to you. Little did I think this very spot was 
 our Heaven-appointed place of meeting ; but so it 
 has proved. I wrote a note, which I hoped to 
 convey to you through some safe medium. I 
 asked you to appoint a place where I could see 
 you alone. I wished our meeting unknown. You 
 are fortunately spared this clandestine step, which 
 I did not like to propose ; and now I must beg you 
 to listen to what my heart aches to say, here in 
 this holy field of the dead. Will you hear and 
 try to understand me, Hazel darling ? " 
 
 Hazel felt his quick breathing, and was half- 
 frightened at his passionate pressure of her hand ; 
 yet she answered quietly: "I am listening, mon- 
 sieur. I am sure I can understand what you wish 
 to say, for you speak so earnestly, as though your 
 heart was talking." 
 
 She' lifted her trustful eyes, but they quickly 
 fell, as again she saw the ardor in his expression. 
 
AVE MARIA. 217 
 
 "You are left absolutely alone in the world," 
 said Aubrey presently. " Your Mademoiselle 
 Evelyn will never make your life what her parents 
 desired. Ah, little one, you shiver, because 
 you know the truth ! Your lives would be better 
 apart. Yours should be transplanted beyond the 
 reach of her blighting presence. A delicate flower 
 can not survive in the dank shadows of a cellar. 
 A lily droops and dies, when bruised by ruthless 
 hands." 
 
 " I have made some good friends since aunt and 
 uncle died," began Hazel as the Frenchman paused, 
 " oh, such dear friends ! They are Aunt Lydia, 
 Cousin Myrtle, and Uncle Seymour. They were 
 here at the funeral, and Aunt Lydia stayed with 
 us nearly two months afterward. I love her so! 
 She seems like an own dear mother to me ! It 
 was like tearing a piece of my heart out when she 
 went away. Then there is Myrtle ! I could n't 
 begin to tell you how we love each other. If I 
 could be with her always, I should want no greater 
 happiness; but of course that can never be. I 
 must always go on living here, and she is away 
 over the Gulf." 
 
 The girl's words came upon Aubrey's secret 
 thoughts like a bombshell. For a moment he was 
 hardly master of himself, and his next sentence 
 cost him an inward struggle. " Why must it be 
 thus? Why can you not go to New Orleans, and 
 live with those you love ? " 
 
218 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 " It was only this afternoon that I begged 
 Evelyn to grant me this happiness ; but she would 
 not! She said she said such cruel things to 
 me ! I wanted to die." 
 
 "What cruel things? Tell me what mademoi- 
 selle said to make you so miserable ! " rejoined 
 Aubrey, unconscious of the strong resentment in 
 his tones. 
 
 " She said she would bury me in a convent, 
 sooner than let me live in New Orleans. She 
 looked so white and terrible when she said it! 
 My heart stopped beating with fear. Then she 
 accused me of something so dreadful ! She sard 
 I had doomed her to a life of despair ! Those 
 words will always stand out before me, they were 
 so cruel ; but I can not understand them. I would 
 die sooner than bring misery to anybody ! That 
 is why I begged Evelyn to let me go to Aunt 
 Lydia. I thought I had made her hate me by 
 living at the Grange ; for ever since I came she 
 has repulsed me. I am sure she despises me for 
 something besides my coming into her f am " 
 
 Here Hazel found herself suddenly caught and 
 held in Aubrey's arms, as by a vice. 
 
 "My darling, my pure one," he ejaculated, "give 
 me the right to protect you from the woman who 
 makes you suffer ! Take my name, and let it be 
 a safeguard against such misery. The inhuman 
 wickedness of this world makes me shudder for 
 your innocence ! I am unworthy to receive a 
 
AVE MARIA. 219 
 
 flower so guileless; yet, oh Hazel, I love you, 
 darling! I have loved you sinCe that evening I 
 found you crying at the window, wounded by 
 Evelyn's sneers. Even before that I believe I 
 loved you, yes, from the very first ! Only trust 
 me, little one, that is enough! I am satisfied 
 with taking your simple confidence in exchange 
 for the great love I bear you. I will trust to the 
 future for a sweeter reward. Will you believe 
 me, Hazel ? Will you be my wife ? " 
 
 " Your wife, your wife f " faltered the white 
 lips so near his own. " Why I I Do you 
 wish to marry me ? Do you wish to take me away 
 from the Grange ? " 
 
 " I would take you to my own beautiful home 
 on the Mississippi," said Aubrey, smiling, despite 
 himself, at the young girl's guileless surprise. 
 
 " Once installed at Deverell Hall you could see 
 your aunt every day, and have Myrtle with you 
 constantly, if you liked. Then I should always be 
 near to protect you." 
 
 " But a wife ! It seems so strange to think of 
 myself as a wife, when I am scarcely sixteen ! " 
 and Hazel concluded with a little deprecatory 
 laugh. 
 
 She seemed to be lifted from the ground, and 
 scarcely breathed. She could see the white monu- 
 ments and the dark cypresses. She could see his 
 love-lighted face. She could hear his soft voice ; 
 but it was as if she saw and heard in a vision. 
 
220 THH, DEATH TRUST. 
 
 " I have read of girls in the Orient being wedded 
 at ten and twelve," he was saying ; " but I will 
 not urge your answer tonight, sweetheart. Come 
 to me tomorrow night at eleven o'clock, down by 
 the Jake where I first saw you, and give me your 
 answer there. Oh my little love, let your answer 
 be this, I ivill be your wife. The next day I will 
 come and claim you, in the presence of Mademoi- 
 selle Weldon, as my promised bride, of whom no 
 earthly power can rob me. Will you promise ? " 
 
 " I do not yet understand what such a promise 
 would involve, monsieur. To come to you at 
 that hour of the night would seem treacherous, 
 unjust to Evelyn. It would be deceit ! " 
 
 " I promise you that no word of censure shall 
 fall on your dear head. Come to me, and I will 
 face the results. Not for worlds must you allow a 
 syllable to escape your lips as to what has passed 
 between us tonight." 
 
 A few happy moments followed, after which 
 they placed Hazel's forgotten flowers by the 
 graves. Then, at her request, Aubrey repeated 
 the low sweet measures, as they both knelt there : 
 
 Ave Maria, now we implore thee, 
 Show us thy favor, grant us thy blessing! 
 Let us more love thee, thy love possessing ! 
 Guide us, protect us, we are thy children. 
 Amen, Amen! 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 FATE GOETH FIRST. 
 
 How canst thou tell how far from thee 
 Fate or caprice may lead his steps, 
 
 ere that tomorrow comes ? 
 Men have been known lightly to turn 
 
 the corner of a street ; 
 And days have grown to months, 
 And months to lagging years, ere they 
 Have looked in loving eyes again. 
 
 COVENTRY PATMORE. 
 
 HAZEL slept little that night. How could 
 she close her eyes in stolid slumber, with 
 that beautiful picture filling the darkness of her 
 bedroom ? His words possessed her : " Take my 
 name, and let it be a safeguard against the misery 
 that may await you. Be my wife ! " 
 
 She could not define the rapture roused by this 
 memory. She only knew that she was unspeakably 
 happy ; and she regretted when morning came, lest 
 it should bring the knowledge that she had only 
 been straying in delicious dreamland. 
 
 When the first streak of sunlight kissed her 
 
 pillow, and found her with eyes wide open, she 
 
 was convinced that all was dear reality. She 
 
 could yet hear that fervent voice. Indeed, the 
 
 221 
 
222 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 thought of his heart-throbs almost frightened her, 
 as she remembered how he had embraced her 
 within his manly arms. 
 
 " It was not a dream ! " she whispered with 
 delirious joy, and tucked her head beneath the 
 coverlet, as if to hide her maidenly blushes from 
 the light. "I have seen him my king! He 
 knelt by the graves, there in the beautiful moon- 
 light, and sang Ave Maria. I have promised to 
 meet him again tonight, this very night." 
 
 Hazel arose ; but, before dressing herself, she 
 knelt beside her little bed, and prayed long and 
 earnestly, looking like some suppliant angel, in 
 her snow-white robe ; for her glorious hair was 
 unbound, and rippled almost to the floor in waves 
 of golden glory, the slanting sunbeams touching 
 it here and there, causing it to fairly blaze. She 
 prayed that God would direct her mind aright 
 through the day, and prepare her heart with an 
 answer to him who professed to love her, and 
 wished her for his wife. 
 
 Often during that day she stole away to her 
 room, to reflect for a moment, to ask her soul if 
 she had sinned in confiding so implicitly in Aubrey 
 Deverell, the man who seemed a very king amongst 
 men. The answer was always: "No, you have 
 not sinned in trusting completely in him." Yet 
 something seemed to tell her that she could have 
 him only as a friend. She must not promise what 
 he had asked. She could not be his wife. He 
 
FATE GOETH FIRST. 223 
 
 could only be her friend, her very dearest, 
 noblest friend. 
 
 Then would come to her a vague realization 
 that there was not enough in friendship to satisfy 
 her heart, upon which the impression of a sweeter 
 word had now been stamped; yet she would go 
 on trying to accustom herself to the thought that 
 she must go to him that night, and say : " I will 
 continue living at Weldon Grange. I must stay 
 here for years, perhaps, trying, as I have done, 
 to win my cousin's favor. By-and-by, perhaps 
 in four or five years, when I am of age, I shall go 
 out into the world." 
 
 The words were dictated by her conscience ; but 
 they seemed bitter as she repeated them, even 
 though she felt them to be the outcome of truth 
 and honor. She would not shrink. Integrity had 
 always been a golden word. She felt that to steal 
 away in the dead of night, to pledge herself in 
 betrothal to this man, would be hateful and low, 
 and would confirm Evelyn's words, that Hazel was 
 a stealthy actress. 
 
 Sometimes Hazel's weaker spirit would rise 
 uppermost, remembering Aubrey, as he stood in 
 the moonlight, tall, noble, princely. Then she 
 found herself wishing to be always near him. It 
 seemed last night, with him beside her, that 
 nothing could do her harm. She felt so safe, so 
 happy. But now oh now everything looked 
 dark and foreboding, darker than before his 
 coming ! 
 
224 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Her sense of duty and the joy of her love con- 
 flicting, her cheek was pale and her eyes downcast. 
 
 Daylight waned at last, and evening came on 
 apace. Hazel saw little of Evelyn except at table, 
 when scarce a word or glance was exchanged 
 between them. The only time when their eyes 
 met Hazel believed she saw beneath the severity 
 of Evelyn's a look full of despair, a look which 
 troubled Hazel all the afternoon, and increased her 
 pity for her cousin ; for it smote her with remorse 
 at having cherished a deceptive thought. 
 
 Could our innocent have rightly interpreted 
 that look, she would have recoiled from the very 
 memory of her recent meeting with Aubrey ; but 
 no knowledge came to her of the envy which was 
 petrifying Evelyn's life, and Hazel went on looking 
 forward to the time when she would see him again, 
 unconscious that she was treading on the coils of 
 a serpent, and that soon the viper would raise its 
 fearful crest against her. By degrees an unna- 
 tural brilliancy crept into Hazel's look. The very 
 thought of once again beholding her Icing ^ as she 
 secretly called Aubrey, filled her with bliss. 
 
 After dinner, when she had sought her room as 
 usual, Hazel put on her plainest mourning dress, 
 adjusted a creamy fichu about her neck, arranged 
 her bright hair into a diadem, and leaned toward 
 the mirror, until her soft warm lips met those 
 of the reflection therein. It was a childish action ; 
 but one that must appeal to any heart realizing 
 
FATE GOETH FIRST. 225 
 
 the girl's loneliness, her desire for something to 
 love, something to caress. 
 
 A smile curled her coral lips as she did so. 
 Then she exclaimed with amazement: "Why, how- 
 like Myrtle I look ! " Once more she kissed the 
 reflection. "I will make believe it is you, Myrtle 
 darling ! Oh, I love you ! " 
 
 The face smiled back, and she seemed to hear 
 Myrtle's voice saying : " I love you too ! I love 
 you, I love you ! " From the distance that voice 
 seemed borne to her; and long she stood there, 
 gazing devotedly into her own face, but seeing, 
 instead of blue eyes and gold-brown hair, orbs of 
 soft brown and a crown of topaz. 
 
 The time now passed tediously. Almost for the 
 first time in her life, Hazel began to experience 
 the gnawing of suspense. She watched unceas- 
 ingly the dial of the clock on the dressing-table. 
 With every breath she wondered if ever minutes 
 so loitered before. 
 
 As to all things else, there came an end to 
 Hazel's probation. The hands pointed to a quar- 
 ter of eleven. It would certainly require fifteen 
 minutes to reach the trysting-place ; so, putting on 
 a warm circular, and tossing a scarf over her head, 
 she noiselessly glided from her room. 
 
 She had only to pass down the back hallway, 
 open a window looking into the garden, and she 
 was outside. Her feet once safely on the ground, 
 and the sweet breath of flowers about her, she 
 
226 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 hastily plucked a cluster of chrysanthemums, and 
 bestowed them amid the lace covering her bosom. 
 Then she sped across the lawn, down the magnolia 
 avenue, keeping well within the shadows. ' 
 
 At length she reached the wide driveway and 
 gate. She felt free from discovery, and was in 
 the act of drawing the heavy bolt, when, Hark ! 
 Was that the sound of footsteps, falling suddenly 
 upon the tranquil air? Yes! Faster and faster, 
 nearer and nearer they came. 
 
 Hazel's first impulse was to lift the hook, rush 
 out into the forest, and conceal herself behind the 
 trunk of some great tree ; for she felt a presenti- 
 ment that Evelyn was in pursuit; but her feet 
 were as heavy as though "to the soil they had 
 taken root," and she stood helpless, as fixed as one 
 of the statues in the shrubbery. 
 
 One hand was on the gate. Her eyes were 
 directed towards an abrupt bend in the driveway, 
 around which she knew her follower must soon 
 appear. How soon indeed ! The next instant a 
 woman's figure dashed into sight, and the moon- 
 beams fell upon a beautiful face disfigured with 
 anger. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 HOPE REVIVED. 
 LOVE can hope, where reason would despair. 
 
 BULWER. 
 
 ON returning from her usual horseback ride 
 that evening, the only recreation in which 
 Evelyn now indulged, she lingered in the stable- 
 yard to give Noel some instructions about the 
 removal of a span of horses to Fairacre the next 
 day. She had finished her orders, when the hostler 
 said abruptly: "Missy Eb'lyn, I see de gem'lin 
 t'day wot stop at de Grange afo marsa and missus 
 die." 
 
 His young mistress turned upon him, a mad 
 hope kindling in her eyes and deluging her cheek. 
 " Whom do yon mean ? " she managed to say. 
 
 Vainly she strove to crowd back the image of 
 Aubrey. The bare idea of his being the visitor 
 rendered her, for a moment, scarcely mistress of 
 herself. 
 
 The boy's next words brought with them a 
 bewildering sensation. "I means de gem'lin wot 
 was call Marsa Deberall." 
 
 " You 're mistaken ! Do you hear me ? I say 
 you are mistaken! It is incredible. He is hun- 
 dreds of miles away." 
 
 (227) 
 
228 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 " Fo' de Lawd, Missy Ebelyn, I seed him," 
 persisted Noel. 
 
 Then he added, with a peculiar jerk of the head : 
 " I seed Mounsour Deberall, shuah 's my name 's 
 Noel Johnsing. I seed him a sittin' on de hotel 
 poach in Jaspah, smokin' a segah ; un' I says to 
 myself, 'Now,' says I, <dat am de berry gem'lin, 
 as was at de Grange las' summah.' I says ter 
 myself, says I, ' Him '11 be gwine ober to de Grange 
 dis ebenin', fo' ter see Missy Eb'ly ; ' un' if he 
 do n't now, chile, I 's miss my reck'non, dat 's 
 Gimminy ! Missy Eb'lyn, wot ails ye ? " 
 
 He stepped forward to support her, for she 
 seemed about to faint ; but, suddenly collecting 
 herself, she motioned him back with a nervous 
 gesture. "A nothing is the matter with me ! " 
 Flashing an angry look upon him she added, 
 " You 're an idiot ! " and then hurried from the 
 barnyard. 
 
 " Gimminy ! Dat am a she-tigr ! " soliloquized 
 Noel, when she was well beyond earshot. " Guess 
 her 's in lub wid dat gem'lin, dat Mounsour Deb- 
 erall. Bet my las' coppah he 'd nebber marry dat 
 gal if he knowed what dis yah niggah do. I 
 knows her ! Yes, I does ! Reckon I 's got two 
 eyes for to see de teahs in Missy Hazel mos' eb'ry 
 day since old marsa and missus die. How de 
 bressed chile am change since den ! Her use ter 
 be playful-like, as a kitten. Up in de mo'nin', afo 
 de sun riz, chasin' de butterflies, along wid de dog, 
 
HOPE REVIVED. 229 
 
 rompin', singin'. Um golly! How dat pooty 
 froat did make de air ring ! Happy as de birds ! 
 Now her goes about wid dem eyes full o' teahs, 
 'n wid de roses all gone f om her pooty face. Oh, 
 it a'mos' breaks my heart, fo' ter see how pale 
 and sad-like she looks ! Un' who 'm 'sponsible fo' 
 all dis yah ? Dat she-tiger ! Bah ! Her aint fit 
 t' tie my honey's shoes ! " In no amiable mood 
 the darkey tossed the saddle roughly aside, and 
 led Alcides to his stall. 
 
 Aubrey Deverell in Jasper ! Impossible ! Yet 
 how positive that boy was. Dear Heaven, if she 
 could be convinced his words were true ! If she 
 could feel assured he were near. "My darling, 
 would that you were coming to me ! " "\Pft6 the cry 
 of Evelyn's heart. 
 
 Sinking into an armchair, she did not leave her 
 room until darkness closed about her. At one 
 moment she strove to put Noel's words from her 
 as idle chatter. The next she yielded herself to 
 feverish imaginations, born of faith in the boy's 
 report. 
 
 If Aubrey were in Jasper he was surely on his 
 way to the Grange ! Yet why had he loitered a 
 whole afternoon in that drowsy village, when he 
 might easily procure a horse and ride over in an 
 hour? How could he be in Florida and in Cali- 
 fornia at the same time? Had he not told her 
 that his trip West would be extended far into the 
 
230 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 winter, possibly into spring? Had he heard of 
 her affliction, and therefore altered his plans? 
 Perhaps he had written to apprise her of his 
 coming, and the letter might have miscarried. 
 Perhaps he had been awaiting some word from 
 her in Jasper. She would send a messenger im- 
 mediately to town to make inquiries at the hotel, 
 "and deliver a note, should he indeed be there. 
 
 Finally she roused herself from her revery, 
 resolved to act at once upon this impulse ; but 
 when she realized that it was already evening, 
 she also perceived the foolishness of her plan, 
 prompted by naught save a servant's gossip. She 
 was foolish to give Noel's speeches a moment's 
 consideration, yes, very foolish. 
 
 With tjiis conclusion she went across the room 
 to strike a light ; but her feet became entangled 
 in her riding-habit, which, in her distraction, she 
 had forgotten to remove. She laughed at her 
 stupidity; but her laugh was unnatural, as she 
 tore her habit off in the uncertain light, and flung 
 it from her. 
 
 After she had lighted the chandelier she moved 
 towards the mirror, to smooth her hair ; but she 
 recoiled upon beholding the reflection of her im- 
 age, and exclaimed : " Great Heavens ! Can that 
 demented-looking thing be Evelyn Weldon ? " 
 
 The transformation was truly marked. Her 
 cheeks, which had grown so cadaverous since the 
 death of her parents, were now glowing. Her 
 
HOPE REVIVED, 231 
 
 dark eyes shone like diamonds in their deep set- 
 ting. In the mirror she could see the bits of rich 
 bricabrac on the mantle, and the clock whose 
 hands pointed exactly to seven. 
 
 " Seven o'clock ! " she exclaimed ; and as hope 
 revived the inward conflict she added : " He may 
 be on his way at this very moment." 
 
 A sudden rap at the door made her heart stand 
 still with expectation ; but it was only her maid, 
 who came to inquire if she would not come down 
 to dinner. " Bofe bells done rung, an Mist'is 
 Ormsby an' Missy Hazel am a'waitin'." 
 
 Evelyn had not heard either bell. "I won't 
 come down tonight, Phebe," she responded, sink- 
 ing languidly upon the sofa ; " but you may bring 
 me a strong cup of tea. Stay ! " she exclaimed, 
 as the maid was about to withdraw, " bring me 1 a 
 glass of sherry, instead. My ride has quite upset 
 me. I may want some tea later." 
 
 After drinking the wine thirstily, she dismissed 
 Phebe for the night, locked her door, and began 
 a superb toilet, selecting from her wardrobe a rich 
 lavender satin, over which were filmy folds of 
 black lace. "If he should come," she said to 
 herself, " I must be looking my best." 
 
 Oh that invincible if. How often suspense 
 would give place to joy if we could bridge this 
 little gulf ! How often do we battle against grim 
 despair with this one word burning in our bosoms, 
 inciting us to hope for what reason forbids. If, 
 
232 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 if, IF, goes on the alluring spirit- voice within us ; 
 and we hearken to the muffled cry, half -doubting, 
 half-believing. With strained pulse we anticipate, 
 and yet dread, the instant which must bring us 
 face to face with the inevitable. 
 
 Thus was it with Evelyn. Her heart had long 
 been a stranger to the hope that she could ever 
 again be to Aubrey Deverell what once she was. 
 She had moreover schooled herself to the belief 
 that they would never cross each other's paths 
 again. Yet here she was, a struggling victim 
 to that unattainable if, trying now to thrust the 
 negro's statement aside, and anon catching his 
 words on the rebound, and hugging them to her 
 breast, in breathless readiness to believe ; for the 
 wish is ever " father to the thought." 
 
 At length, completely mastered by this delusive 
 influence, she seated herself at the open window, 
 her eyes directed toward the magnolia avenue, 
 along which she hoped against hope to see 
 her idol pass. 
 
 Little she dreamed that not far away sat Hazel 
 in her chamber, her heart also astir with anxiety, 
 born of the hours which depicted the same image. 
 
 Yes, before them each was the same face ; but 
 while one looked with strained eyes from the 
 window, feeling her heart gradually settle back 
 into the darkness from which it had been rudely 
 summoned, as the hours dragged on, and Aubrey 
 came not, the other's blue eyes were fixed upon 
 
HOPE REVIVED. 233 
 
 the face of the clock, noting each moment with a 
 heart-throb, and sure that each brought her king 
 a step nearer. 
 
 Queen Constance, who looked down upon Eve- 
 lyn with solemn eyes from her silvered frame, 
 seemed no more lifeless than Evelyn. 
 
 The indescribable beauty of the night was un- 
 marked. Softly the moonbeams fell on each flower 
 and shrub in the garden below. Brightly they 
 glanced athwart the fountain, and turned the jets 
 into pearly spray. The green sward and the blue 
 ether were alike resplendent with scintillating 
 gems; while the white-winged cherubim and the 
 Naiad Queen, smiling and flinging kisses to the 
 stars, made the garden a fairyland. 
 
 A flood of silver came streaming through the 
 window where Evelyn sat, and turned the cur- 
 tains into folds of frostwork, putting to shame the 
 glaring light of the chandelier ; but the moonlight 
 softened not the human visage, framed in its coronal 
 of cruel hair. Like a statue she sat, her queenly 
 head defined against the glistening gauze, her 
 shapely hands, folded listlessly in her lap, gleaming 
 like carved ivory, against meshes of dead-black' 
 lace. 
 
 Surely painter never chose a better model for 
 Despair. Ever since half-past nine had she re- 
 mained thus statuesquely posed, her eyes gazing 
 out into the night, whose stars she saw not, 
 whose beauty was ugliness to her ; and now it was 
 nearly eleven. 
 
234 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Suddenly a dark-clad figure glided along the 
 avenue, beneath her casement. The incident 
 would ordinarily have passed unnoticed ; but there 
 was something about the movement which recalled 
 Evelyn to herself, and caused her to rub her 
 eyes, like one awakening from unpleasant slumber. 
 Then she looked after that retreating form, but 
 only for a moment. The next she bounded to her 
 feet. With an exclamation of frenzy she rushed 
 from the room, and ran down the stairway like 
 one bewitched. Out of the front door and across 
 the lawn she dashed, a goblin driven by a blast 
 of fury. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 FACE TO FACE. 
 THAT it should come to this. 
 
 HAMLET. 
 
 FULL a moment elapsed ere the painful silence 
 which followed Evelyn's apparition in the 
 pathway was broken. She was the first to speak. 
 
 " Well, what is the motive of this midnight 
 adventure, Hazel ? I demand an explanation ! " 
 In her voice were blended triumph and menace. 
 
 For one moment Hazel looked appealingly into 
 the cruel face before her; but seeing no mercy 
 there she began brokenly: "I Evelyn I 
 
 The pale lips refused to speak further. She 
 could not bring them to form a falsehood. She had 
 never acquired the tricks of diplomacy. Had her 
 life depended upon it, she could not have given 
 utterance to deceit. 
 
 She tried to meet Evelyn's eyes unflinchingly, 
 but her own fell before them, and she shuddered 
 as she beheld their unholy glitter. 
 
 " Why do you stand there trembling like some 
 impostor ? Speak ! Where are you going at this 
 unseemly hour ? " 
 
 "Going?" echoed the other in a dazed way. "I 
 was going " 
 
 (235) 
 
236 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Suddenly she seemed to realize her helplessness, 
 and tried to arouse herself to the necessity ot 
 making an effort in her own defence. " Oh Eve- 
 lyn, trust me ! Only believe in me ! " 
 
 Her very attitude seemed to develop Evelyn's 
 suspicion into certainty. She moved spasmodi- 
 cally. Her eyes were almost green in the 
 moonlight. Her white lips twitched, as she 
 grasped one of Hazel's wrists and hissed: "You 
 wretch! Tell me what has taken you from my 
 house this night, or I swear I will measure your 
 punishment by my aversion." 
 
 Her grip was so tight on Hazel's wrist that the 
 younger girl suffered acutely from the cutting 
 nails ; but she did not flinch nor cry out ; she only 
 said, with forced calmness: "Evelyn, I entreat 
 you, have pity! You do not know the injustice 
 you do me. I have done nothing wrong, I swear 
 it!" 
 
 " You swear ! " repeated Evelyn with a Satanic 
 laugh. A mockingbird, who had been filling the 
 night with melody, now hushed his rich notes, as 
 if in fear of that strange voice. 
 
 "Oaths coming from lips false as yours, Hazel 
 Verne, pollute the very air," she continued. " You 
 have stolen from your room tonight to hold a clan- 
 destine meeting with Aubrey Deverell. Though 
 you should summon an angel from Heaven to deny 
 this, I would not hold you innocent." 
 
 She pushed the fainting girl violently from her. 
 
FACE TO FACE. 237 
 
 After a moment's burning surveillance she was 
 about to speak again, when, as if aided by some 
 unseen influence, Hazel lifted her head proudly, 
 and said, in a voice strangely subdued : " Evelyn, 
 if in the past you had shown the slightest friend- 
 ship for me, the least tender sentiment of any 
 kind, there would be no cause for your lack of 
 confidence now. When I entered your father's 
 home four years ago, a lonely and inexperienced 
 child', I cherished a conviction that you would 
 receive me with something of a cousin's affection ; 
 but my disappointment was greater than words 
 can express." 
 
 She went on hurriedly, anxious to pour out her 
 heart's pent-up misery : " You were cold toward 
 me, cruelly cold, from the very first moment 
 we met. Though your treatment wounded me 
 deeply, it did not discourage my ambition to 
 make you my friend. In this I persisted from 
 day to day, to the time when aunt and uncle 
 died ; but I never succeeded in winning a really 
 kind word or glance. Often have I wept my 
 heart sore, because of your utter contempt. My 
 life seemed sometimes unbearable ; but at other 
 times I forgot all else, and was happy in the 
 love of my dear aunt and uncle. They died ! If 
 you were cruel and cold before, you were utterly 
 heartless afterward. You seem to forget that I 
 am of your own flesh and blood. You seem in 
 nowise to appreciate my lonely position in the 
 
238 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 world; though your own is much the same, and 
 should prompt you to some sense of sympathy. 
 From day to day you show your hatred for me. 
 If you deign to notice me at all, it is to brand 
 me with unjust accusations." 
 
 Here Hazel paused, and the glistening tears 
 declared that her short-lived spirit of independence 
 had spent itself. 
 
 A few moments of silence followed, when only 
 Evelyn's labored breathing and Hazel's quavering 
 sobs could be heard. Did " compunctious visit- 
 ings" silence the former? Whatever the cause, 
 Hazel was suffered to proceed awhile longer, as 
 she spoke with visible effort. 
 
 "I have found generous friends, with whom I 
 am offered a home, friends before whom I could 
 kneel, so deeply do I reverence them ; but I have 
 pleaded with you in vain to let me go to them. 
 You say you will send me to a convent, rather 
 than see me attain the happiness I feel to be 
 rightfully mine, offered me, as it is, by my dead 
 father's sister, who has seemed, since the first time 
 I saw her, like my own mother 
 
 Evelyn started spasmodically at that word 
 mother ) and a low cry escaped her lips. She 
 recovered herself immediately, however, and said 
 sneeringly, as she bent her dark face nearer, that 
 she might look straight into those true eyes before 
 her: "You grow sensational! Pray let me im- 
 press you with the fact that this is no time for 
 
FACE TO FACE. 239 
 
 dramatics. You have wandered far from our 
 subject, so I will recall it. You owe me some 
 explanation of your midnight wanderings. I say 
 you have an assignation with Aubrey Deverell, 
 and are on your way to the trysting-place. I 
 happen to know he is in the neighborhood, so any 
 attempt to mislead me will be useless. Confess ! " 
 
 'Evelyn, my lips are sealed," began Hazel; but 
 the next instant she reeled under a stinging blow. 
 
 " Shameless coward ! Not alone have you en- 
 ticed my lover from me, but you have stooped to 
 infamy. Oh, I thank God my parents have been 
 spared the knowledge of their foster-child's char- 
 acter ! Better they should die, than live to be 
 disgraced by one they delivered from beggary and 
 the slums. Go back to the house, you ingrate ! " 
 
 Hazel did not move, but lifted her eyes to the 
 distorted face. The poor child was choking, and 
 nervously unclasped the mantle from about her 
 throat. Then all was darkness. That messenger 
 of mercy, unconsciousness, came to alleviate her 
 sufferings for a time ; but her awakening was 
 terrible, for she felt herself dragged towards the 
 house, with the words ringing in her ear : " Your 
 home shall henceforth be the Magdalen Asylum ! " 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE FALLEN PORTRAIT. 
 
 LOOK here upon this picture. 
 
 HAMLET. 
 
 AFTER thrusting Hazel within the governess's 
 room, which Evelyn concluded would be 
 the safest place, because situated in the less- 
 frequented part of the house, and at present 
 vacant, she locked the door on the outside. 
 Then she tottered, sick and half-fainting, to her 
 own apartments. 
 
 She went toward the grate, in which a few Bright 
 coals still glowed, feeling a tremor in every limb, 
 a tremor not caused by the temperature of the 
 night, but by the shattered condition of her nerves, 
 and then gave vent to a cry which vibrated with 
 agony. 
 
 Then she sank into a chair, with both hands 
 pressed to her face. In appearance she had aged 
 years within an hour. Let us not attempt to 
 describe the thoughts which thronged her aching 
 brain as she thus sat, hugged in the arms of misery 
 worse than death. Words are inadequate to the 
 portrayal of such sufferings as hers. 
 
 She was in a stupor. Before her eyes a mist 
 gathered, as she let them wander aimlessly about 
 (240) 
 
THE FALLEN PORTRAIT. 241 
 
 the room. A smile, in which there was something 
 indescribably pitiable, wreathed the lips, which 
 moved continuously, though nothing audible es- 
 caped them. Once or twice she attempted to 
 rouse herself ; but she was like an inebriate, who 
 bestirs his paralyzed faculties for one instant, only 
 to let them sink deeper into oblivion. 
 
 Slowly the night dragged on. At length dawn 
 gleamed into the open window, bringing with it a 
 current of chilly air. Every spark of fire had 
 been long exhausted on the hearth, but Evelyn no 
 longer felt the cold. The sun rose. The early 
 birds flew by the window, some of them alighting 
 on the ledge, and peeping in upon that silent 
 figure, sitting where the light fell upon her stony 
 face. 
 
 The bell in the barn-tower struck the hour 
 of six, the signal for all the servants about the 
 premises to be up and doing. Dreamlike sounded 
 each clamorous peal. As the last echo died away, 
 Evelyn slowly turned her eyes toward the window, 
 as if vaguely realizing that a new day had begun. 
 At the same time she became conscious of a living 
 figure in the room. She walked toward it, and 
 saw only her own image reflected in an opposite 
 mirror. This insane-looking creature, with dark 
 hair falling in tangled masses about her shoulders, 
 had a weird fascination, though she scarcely 
 recognized it as herself. 
 
 Walking gradually toward the mirror, with arms 
 
242 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 outstretched, a piteous smile still lurking about 
 her lips, she spoke as one might to a beggar : 
 " Poor thing ! Poor suffering woman ! What 
 do you wish ? Food, drink ? I will give you any- 
 thing. See ! " 
 
 Mechanically her fingers wandered to her ears, 
 disengaging the priceless diamonds therefrom. 
 " Take these," she cried, " and these," stripping 
 two rings from her fingers, and holding the 
 glittering cluster toward the image, whose hands 
 were also outstretched, seemingly to grasp the 
 offering. 
 
 Just as Evelyn's hand came into contact with 
 the cold surface of the glass, there was a fearful 
 crash behind her. She turned with a terrified 
 shriek. Her mother's portrait, which for years 
 had hung above the mantel, lay on the floor, 
 together with rare curios carried along by the 
 heavy frame in its fall, broken into a hundred 
 pieces. 
 
 The portrait had fallen face upward. From 
 beneath the thin glass, shivered into innumerable 
 fragments, a pair of gray eyes looked straight into 
 Evelyn's, looked up reproachfully, yet with holy 
 tenderness, as if her mother's heart were speaking 
 from their depths : " Thou hast wounded a spirit 
 that loved thee! Thy wicked words have come 
 to me in Heaven ! Thou hast sinned against the 
 dead ! Thou hast outraged the living ! " 
 
 For a moment Evelyn met this painted gaze 
 
THE FALLEN PORTRAIT. 243 
 
 with returning reason. Then, with extended arms 
 and a low cry of mother ', mother! she fell forward 
 upon her face, and lay there motionless beside the 
 fallen portrait. 
 
 Monsieur Deverell, having waited until past 
 midnight for Hazel at the appointed place, turned 
 his horse back toward Jasper with a keen sense of 
 disappointment. Convinced that something un- 
 foreseen had detained Hazel at the Grange, he 
 resolved to convey to her a secret message in the 
 morning. 
 
 Fortune favored him in this. After breakfast 
 he sauntered out to the esplanade, to indulge in a 
 cigar. Glancing casually up the narrow street he 
 saw a negro on horseback, whom he recognized as 
 the hostler from the Grange, galloping hurriedly 
 in the direction of the hotel. Recognizing Mon- 
 sieur Aubrey as he came nearer, Noel doffed his 
 hat politely. At Aubrey's signal he drew rein. 
 
 " You are from Weldon Grange ? " 
 
 I is ! Yes-sah ! " 
 
 " And you go back this morning ? " 
 
 " Yes-sah ! I 's gwine back d'rectly, sah." 
 
 " Can I trust you with a note to Miss Verne, to 
 be delivered to her privately ? " 
 
 " Missy Berne ? Oh, yes-sah ! but has yer got 
 de note ready writ, marsa? Yer sees, I's in a 
 termendious hurry dis mo'nin'." 
 
 Hereupon he would have made known his errand 
 
244 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 to town, which was to summon the family physician 
 to Evelyn's bedside, but he was interrupted by 
 Aubrey: "Well, I won't detain you; but if you 
 are passing back this way, say in twenty minutes, 
 I will have the note ready, and trust to you for 
 its safety." 
 
 " Yes-sah ! " said Noel ; and, touching his hat 
 again, he added that he would return within half 
 an hour. Then he was off like the wind, for he 
 was astride of Don Carlos. 
 
 The young Frenchman hastened at once to his 
 room in the hotel, and wrote to Hazel hastily : 
 
 I AWAITED you at the appointed place until after mid- 
 night. That some impediment prevented your coming as 
 you promised is clear enough ; for I know you trust me 
 wholly, little one, and would not wilfully disappoint me. 
 Would I could make you realize the strength of my love 
 for you ! It would lead me to defy the world to place any 
 barrier between us that I could not surmount. "Will you 
 let me prove this ? Will you let me come to Weldon Grange 
 today, and claim you before the household as my bride ? 
 Should you bid me come, your pure heart may be wounded 
 by revenge, sharp as a serpent's tooth ; but should its sting 
 be yours to endure, remember, little one, that I will be 
 there to shield you with my love, and the pain will only 
 endure for a time, only for a little time, when I will 
 carry you far from the enemy, where you will forget that 
 unhappiness ever existed. 
 
 Doubtless some of my words will puzzle you. In your 
 ignorance of the world's inhumanity you will be little able 
 to interpret that bitter word revenge ; nor would I seek to 
 instill into your heart such impure knowledge ; but in my 
 experience I have learned that a vengeful thirst is much 
 like intemperance. It waits not the guidance of reason. It 
 is impulsive, unjust, and can smite to bleeding a guileless 
 heart, even as a wind-blast can smite a lily to the earth. 
 
THE FALLEN PORTRAIT. 245 
 
 I pray you, my pure one, bear this in mind, and be brave 
 when I come to you. I can not doubt that you will bid me 
 come. Remember, Hazel, this is the most earnest appeal 
 of a lifetime. Refusing to grant it, you may be submitting 
 yourself to an experience more bitter than death. Once 
 more I charge you, be brave, darling, and surrender your 
 future, without fear or hesitation, to one who loves you 
 unselfishly, and would sacrifice all else to gain you for his 
 own. 
 
 I will await your reply at noon, today, down at the lake. 
 Either come, or send some word to me. 
 
 AUBREY DEVERELL. 
 
 Having sealed and addressed the letter Aubrey 
 descended to the veranda to await Noel's return ; 
 but he was surprised to find the boy already 
 there. Urging him to great precaution in the 
 delivery of the letter, Aubrey thrust a five-dollar 
 bill into the yellow palm, at the same time declining 
 any thanks, with an expressive sweep of his hand. 
 Then he watched the rider out of sight before 
 ordering a horse to be saddled for his own im- 
 mediate use. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 GATHERING MISTS. 
 
 THE child of misery, baptized in tears. 
 
 LANGHORN. 
 
 AND our heroine ? Daylight found her lying 
 on Arline's bed, as she lay when the door 
 was closed and locked behind her a few hours 
 earlier. She might be dead, so still did she lie, 
 her face buried in the pillows, and her unbound 
 hair streaming over their whiteness ; but Hazel 
 was not lifeless, though she wondered, with almost 
 every breath, why the death-angel did not reach 
 her before life was reduced to such chaos. The 
 knell of her happiness had been tolled in those 
 words : " You have enticed my lover from me. 
 You have stooped to infamy. Your home shall 
 henceforth be the Magdalen Asylum ! " 
 
 Oh, if she could find herself once more in her 
 own little bedroom, with the conviction that she 
 heard such dreadful words in a trance ! Poor 
 bruised heart ! 
 
 The bell in the tower tolled six, the same sound 
 which had roused Evelyn to half-consciousness. 
 Like her persecutor, Hazel stirred as the discord- 
 ant clang jarred upon her. She lifted her fevered 
 (246) 
 
GATHERING MISTS. 247 
 
 face from the pillow. As through a mist she 
 dimly observed the various objects in the room, 
 the good old-fashioned furniture, a bureau with 
 mediaeval carvings, the mahogany bookcase with 
 well-filled shelves, and the spotted muslin curtains, 
 unlike any others in the house. 
 
 " Arline, dear Arline ! If you were only here 
 to comfort me ! " came from Hazel's dry lips, as 
 she realized that she was indeed in the governess's 
 room. Then her tearless eyes wandered to the 
 fireplace. Above it still hung the picture of Ellen 
 Douglas, beautiful Ellen, poised in her little 
 shallop, where the water touched the strand. The 
 eyes, with solemn sadness, seemed fixed upon 
 Hazel in mute sympathy. Hazel gazed at the 
 picture a moment, and then resumed her old 
 position on the bed, once more sobbing in the 
 gray solitude. 
 
 Presently two golden arrows came swiftly 
 through the window, as if shot by angel-hands. 
 They touched the rippling waves of the child's 
 hair, and began a game of hide-and-seek amid its 
 meshes, glad to find so fair a playground ; but 
 they were selfish "sunbeams, for no thought gave 
 they to the lacerated heart. All regardless of 
 Hazel's misery the sunshine danced merrily away. 
 
 " Oh Evelyn, Evelyn ! " she sobbed. " How have 
 I wronged you ! How have I blindly robbed you 
 of what you held dearer than life ! I have doomed 
 you to misery ! I see it all now, Heaven help 
 
248 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 me, I see it all; but it is too late. I see the 
 bitter meaning of your words. Like you, I wish 
 the dark pool had engulfed me before I first saw 
 Monsieur Deverell ! " 
 
 How far away that happy morning seemed ! 
 How completely the intervening time had been 
 given over to infelicity ! How Evelyn must have 
 suffered ! 
 
 Hazel recalled many incidents connected with 
 Aubrey's visit. She remembered how Evelyn had 
 looked at her that morning, down by the lake, 
 when she had been rowing with their guest. She 
 recollected Evelyn's glance in the evening, when 
 Hazel stole into the parlor to hear the stranger 
 sing. She thought of the suddenness of Evelyn's 
 exit from the room. Now she could interpret the 
 meaning of it all ! Evelyn loved Aubrey, and 
 was jealous of every syllable and glance bestowed 
 upon the little cousin, whom she hated for being 
 at the Grange while he was there, and whom she 
 suspected of secret wiles. These thoughts probed 
 Hazel to the quick. 
 
 " How could I have been so blind as not to see 
 that she worshipped him! Yet what was I, a 
 child, to know of love's ways ? I wonder if they 
 were engaged. Monsieur must have thought much 
 of Evelyn ; else, why had he travelled all the way 
 from New Orleans to see her? Yes, they must 
 have been betrothed ! He would have married 
 her, had he not seen me, had he not seen me ! 
 What is it, beneath all my sorrow for Evelyn, that 
 
GATHERING MISTS. 249 
 
 makes me glad of knowing him ? I try to make 
 myself believe I would rather die, than be a blight 
 to anyone ; yet I find myself back in Cypress Dell, 
 listening to his voice. I feel again that strange 
 sensation, when I recall his words, his pressure of 
 my hand. This is all wrong. I must put such 
 thoughts from me forever ! To cherish a look of 
 his would be wicked ! I will try oh how hard 
 will I try to forget him, my king. I will 
 remember only Evelyn's misery, and that her love 
 has been wrecked through me. I will pray God 
 to restore him to her. After all that has passed, 
 what if I should be the medium of reuniting these 
 two hearts? Surely, if Aubrey loves me as he 
 says, he will be willing to make any sacrifice for 
 my happiness. Surely 
 
 Her meditations were suddenly interrupted by a 
 clinking sound, as of a key turning in the door. 
 Filled with terror Hazel pressed her face deeper 
 among the pillows, for she believed Evelyn was 
 returning to chide her victim afresh. 
 
 Her heart stood still with this dread anticipa- 
 tion, and the seconds were as hours, before she 
 heard the rustle of clothing and the approach of 
 footsteps. Then, oh merciful tenderness, whose 
 hand was laid upon her hair, with gentleness that 
 might have been a mother's? Surely not Evelyn's ! 
 And that voice, so low and sweet : " Chere Hazel ! 
 Chere petite am fc ! " 
 
 "Arline, Arline, is it you?" went up Hazel's 
 glad cry, as she sprang into the governess's arms. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 DOUBTS. 
 So when a raging fever burns. 
 
 A HALF-HOUR later, when Phebe came to 
 perform her usual morning duties, she found 
 Evelyn prostrate beside her mother's portrait. The 
 alarm was given that something had befallen their 
 } r oung mistress, and the servants speedily lifted 
 the powerless form to the bed. It took but a 
 moment to remove the silk dress, bedraggled with 
 dust and soiled with dew. Then they applied 
 restoratives and chafed the lifeless hands. 
 
 Soon nature began to reassert itself, and at 
 length Evelyn opened her bloodshot eyes. There 
 was no intelligence in their stare, only an awful 
 vacancy, which caused the attendants to exchange 
 gruesome looks. Life had returned, but all was 
 confusion with poor Evelyn. Her face seemed 
 fanned by stifling air, as from a furnace. Her 
 cheeks flamed brighter and brighter, till their hue 
 matched the tapestries about her bed. Then her 
 lips moved in incoherent phrases. At times she 
 would clinch her hands savagely, brandishing them 
 at her attendants, and forbidding them to touch 
 her. 
 
 (250) 
 
DOUBTS. 251 
 
 " You have dressed that infamous girl in 
 wedding-robes, and put orange-blossoms in her 
 hair ! You have made her a marvel of loveliness, 
 for his eyes to rest upon. You pierce me all over 
 with thorns, you minxes, you worms ! I will 
 poison you. I will tie silver round your necks, 
 and sink you into the lake ! Ha, ha ! Nobody 
 can find you there! The money will hold you 
 down. The lilies will swim above you! You 
 will lie there and rot till the Judgment Day ! 
 Not even the dog will miss you." 
 
 Again she would break wildly forth : " Look ! 
 That hideous face with the red scar ! It is hiding 
 there behind the tree, leering at me! See! 
 TJgh, how horrible ! The forest is full of goblins 
 and witches. They will not let me pass. They 
 are coming toward me, all of them ! They will 
 take it from me the bundle. Help, help ! One 
 of them has wrenched it from my bosom, that 
 one there, with a face like Aunt Lydia's ! She 
 will see the name and read the letter, and then 
 they will tie me to a stake and burn me for for 
 throwing Myrine in the lake ! ' 
 
 The startling intelligence soon ran over the 
 estate that the young mistress was dangerously 
 ill, mad ; and as soon as Noel could saddle Don 
 Carlos, he was off to Jasper after Doctor Weaver. 
 
 As Aubrey rode at an even pace along the lane 
 toward the Grange, the doctor passed him. The 
 
252 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 young Frenchman noted, with vague apprehen- 
 sions, the old-time saddlebags. Knowing the lane 
 led direct towards the Grange, he inferred that 
 this must be the doctor's destination, and wondered 
 why Noel had not told him of any sickness there. 
 His remembrance of the colored man's haste 
 corroborated his forebodings. 
 
 Upon further reflection, however, he decided 
 that the doctor's mission could concern neither of 
 the young ladies of the house. Doubtless one of 
 the servants had been taken ill. 
 
 With a mind more at ease, Aubrey continued 
 leisurely on his way, soon losing sight of the other 
 horse and rider, as they trotted around a sudden 
 bend. 
 
 A few minutes later, as Aubrey was about to 
 double the same bend, his horse suddenly made a 
 violent plunge into the air, almost unseating the 
 rider. Looking around for the cause of this alarm 
 he saw an aged mulatto woman, crouching among 
 the rank weeds near the fence. 
 
 Mistaking her for a beggar, with his ever-ready 
 desire to alleviate suffering Aubrey took a half- 
 dollar from his pocket, and tossed it toward the 
 creature, saying as he did so : " You look needy. 
 Take this money ! " 
 
 He did not wait for a word of thanks, but rode 
 forward, not even looking to see if the woman 
 picked up the money. A sudden thought made 
 him check his horse, and look searchingly back 
 
DOUBTS. 253 
 
 at the tawny face, still half-concealed among the 
 weeds. The woman also looked up, meeting his 
 penetrating eyes ; but the next instant she averted 
 her face, and he saw her sink backward, while a 
 sickening aspect settled on her features. 
 
 " By what thread does that repulsive face 
 connect itself with my past life?" he repeated 
 to himself over and over again. " I can not be 
 mistaken ! Somewhere I have seen it before." 
 
 Presently, as guided by some magic wand, he 
 was again in his boyhood, accompanying his 
 mother on a round of friendly visits. Why should 
 that yellow and red-scarred countenance link itself 
 with those visits ? More and more enigmatical 
 became the question. 
 
 Aubrey had not removed his glance from the 
 woman's face ; but so unconscious was his look, he 
 did not observe she had straightened herself, and 
 was retreating gradually! 
 
 A sudden attack of coughing led him to watch 
 her movements. There was something in that 
 rattling cough to evoke pity, for it betokened a 
 fatal disease. 
 
 Her rags were the mouthpieces of stringent 
 poverty. Her coarse black hair lay in wisps over 
 a threadbare shawl. A frock, of some rusty- 
 black cotton stuff, was rudely patched, while bare 
 toes betrayed themselves through mismated shoes, 
 and she was without head-covering. As she ceased 
 coughing, and staggered on at a quicker pace, 
 Aubrey called after her : " Here, woman ! " 
 
254 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 She hesitated, and then reluctantly looked at 
 him once more, with timid eyes. 
 
 " Come nearer ! " 
 
 She slowly approached, until she stood within a 
 few yards of her questioner. 
 
 "Have you ever lived in New Orleans?" he 
 asked, almost gruffly. 
 
 She did not reply, but turned her bare head 
 first this way and then that, like a haunted crea- 
 ture eluding her pursuer. 
 
 " Have you ever lived in New Orleans ? " he 
 repeated more gently ; for a conviction dawned 
 upon him that the woman was demented. 
 
 Still she was silent. The fearsome look deep- 
 ened, while she quaked with cold. 
 
 " I am a brute ! I have frightened her ! " thought 
 he, as sympathy overruled his curiosity. " There 
 is your money, lying in the dust ! Pick it up, and 
 put this with it." Thereupon he tossed her a 
 second half-dollar. 
 
 " Go to the village, and get yourself food and 
 clothing. Here are five dollars for it ! " This he 
 added, as he observed how ragged she was. 
 
 She accepted the note, picked up the silver from 
 the dust, and then sank upon her knees, crying: 
 " Oh bress yer, bress yer, marsa ! You 's got a 
 angel's heart, 'n dis po' soul '11 bress yer till her 
 dyin' day ! " 
 
 She might as well have blessed the sentinel 
 pines by the roadside, or the dust upon which 
 
DOUBTS. 255 
 
 her tears were falling; for when she looked up, 
 her benefactor was no longer in sight. He had 
 spurred away as she stooped for the money, trying 
 to assure himself that only his overwrought brain 
 led him to behold anything familiar in the woman's 
 face ; but his attempts to waive his remembrance 
 of her proved useless. 
 
 He rode on beneath the interlaced foliage, feeling 
 a pang of remorse for having loitered so long, 
 when Hazel's answer was probably awaiting him 
 at that very moment. 
 
 He felt not a little annoyed at the indelible 
 impression that red-scarred visage had left on his 
 mind. 
 
 Would that he could have seen the mulatto 
 when, finding herself alone, she cried aloud, in 
 such tones as only guilt can awaken : " Oh my 
 brack soul, my brack soul ! Dey 's on my track ! 
 I '11 hide ! I '11 hide away yondah, in de great 
 city ! " meaning Tallahassee ; yet she gripped 
 the money in her yellow palm, as she repeated 
 triumphantly : " I '11 hide in de great city ! " 
 
 Then she plodded along the road toward Jasper, 
 which she reached by noon, and there purchased a 
 ticket for Tallahassee. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 RESOLVES. 
 
 I KNEW, I knew it could not last ; 
 
 'T was bright, 'twas heavenly, but 'tis past. 
 
 MOORE. 
 
 " TJAZEL, what has happened? Why do I 
 11 find you like this, locked in my room, 
 and so troubled? You have been crying, little 
 friend. What has happened in my absence, to 
 make you so changed?" Thus asked Arline, when 
 Hazel became more subdued. 
 
 As yet the girl could not bring herself to dis- 
 close the facts. She only clasped her arms around 
 the governess's neck, and said : " I can 't tell you 
 now. Wait till I 'm stronger. It is enough for 
 me to know that you are beside me, with your 
 kind heart. Let me rest my aching head upon it. 
 Heaven has been merciful in sending back my 
 friend!" 
 
 The girl looked into the Frenchwoman's face, 
 which showed supreme anxiety. "Arline," she 
 cried, "promise me that you will never give up 
 your faith in me, even though you should hear 
 terrible things about me. Believe me, never in 
 my life have I knowingly done wrong ! " 
 (256) 
 
RESOLVES. 257 
 
 " Dear love, I know your guileless heart too 
 well to let censure enter mine," said the governess, 
 wiping the tears from the sweet face. Then with 
 a kiss she continued : " I had my doubts that all 
 was not going well with you, and I decided to 
 come at once, without advising Mademoiselle Eve- 
 lyn of my intention. It was some divine influence, 
 warning me of trouble and sickness." 
 
 " Sickness, Arline ? " 
 
 " I make reference to Mademoiselle Evelyn's 
 illness. Surely you know of it ! " 
 
 " Evelyn sick ? No, no, Arline, I know nothing ! 
 I have been here all night, without seeing even a 
 servant. This is terrible ! You do not mean that 
 she is really ill confined to her bed ! " 
 
 Arline had secretly believed that a scene had 
 taken place between her charge and the proud 
 daughter of the Grange ; but now Hazel's igno- 
 rance of Evelyn's condition was mysterious, and 
 the governess's eyes dilated with astonishment. 
 She stated how very ill they considered Evelyn, 
 and noted how that look of anguish deepened in 
 Hazel's eyes. 
 
 " Arline, Arline ! " she wailed, as the governess 
 paused, " I have been the cause of it all. I have 
 perhaps killed her ! Merciful Heaven, what shall 
 I do ? Why, oh why was I ever born ? My birth 
 was ill-starred ! " 
 
 Speechless alarm ai'ose in the Frenchwoman's 
 heart, as Hazel fell writhing to the floor. Man 
 
258 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Dieu" thought she, " the child's mind is amiss ! " 
 Kneeling she took the sufferer's head in her lap, 
 and caressed the curls as she whispered : " You 
 are not well, my wee lamb. Come, lie down again 
 on my bed, and let me bathe your head and bind 
 your hair. That will soothe you." 
 
 Hazel lifted her hand deprecatingly. " No, 
 no ! " she moaned, " you mistake my sufferings. I 
 am not ill in body. It is my conscience. You 
 would despise me if you knew all; but believe 
 me, it has all come from blindness. You shall 
 judge my heart some day. If your faith remains 
 unshaken I will go away with you somewhere, and 
 devote my life to your happiness. If you condemn 
 me, then, oh then, I shudder for myself ! " 
 
 Marvelling more and more at Hazel's words, yet 
 steadfast in believing that the brain was over- 
 strained, Arline continued to reason quietly : " Ma 
 chdre need not be distressed as to her cousin's 
 illness. She will recover. If a fracas has been 
 between you, there will be reconciliation. Your 
 sensitive nature may make you 'blame yourself as 
 most in the wrong ; the good and generous always 
 do.; but you are not in the least guilty, certainly 
 not ! You fancy that mademoiselle's illness had 
 its cause in this dissension ; but you mistake ! It 
 is the result of an affaire <T amour" 
 
 " You know this ! " cried Hazel. 
 
 " Oui, ma petite ! I have known it many months. 
 Mademoiselle Evelyn was enamored of my country- 
 
RESOLVES. 259 
 
 man, Monsieur Deverell, who was here last summer. 
 I watched them often from my window, as they 
 strolled in the garden below. I guessed her secret, 
 and had a conviction that her feelings were not 
 reciprocated. I could not help pitying her, when 
 her face grew thinner every day." 
 
 " Arline, you knew all this, yet said not one word 
 to warn me, to save me from bringing her such 
 misery ? " 
 
 " Ah, but listen ! Mademoiselle Evelyn will be 
 duly compensated for what she suffers through her 
 love, for he is very near. Nay, he may be with her 
 at this moment. While I was waiting in the salon 
 at Jasper, waiting for the carriage, a gentleman, 
 whom I at once recognized as Monsieur Deverell, 
 ordered a horse to be saddled. Without a doubt 
 it was to ride here ! He has heard of mademoiselle's 
 misfortune, and sympathy impelled his return." 
 
 Hazel was walking toward the window. 
 
 Arline understood this action as arising from 
 eagerness to see if there was any sign of an 
 arrival. She placed herself immediately behind 
 Hazel, and could see Noel in the garden. He was 
 looking up, and gesticulating unintelligibly, but 
 evidently trying to catch Hazel's eye. 
 
 " He wishes to make me understand something. 
 I will go down and see what it is." With this 
 Hazel ran down the short corridor which led to 
 the back stairs. 
 
 Another moment and she stood in the garden 
 
260 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 below. Here she was met by Noel, who noted 
 her disappearance from the window above, antici- 
 pated her coming down by the back way, and so 
 reached the side gate just in time to meet her. 
 Finding the coast clear for the delivery of Dever- 
 ell's letter, the boy slipped the white missive 
 through the wicket into her hand. 
 
 " Do n't let nobody see ye read it, Missy Hazel ! " 
 Having given this advice in a stealthy undertone, 
 the negro went away awkwardly on tiptoe, with a 
 gait that would have been in itself sufficient to 
 convict him of misdemeanor, had there been an 
 inquisitive onlooker. 
 
 Hurrying to her own room with the letter, her 
 heart all of a flutter, Hazel locked herself safely 
 against intrusion, and read the loving lines. She 
 longed to see him ; but this longing she restrained, 
 whispering to herself : " It can not, it must not be ! 
 Evelyn's love must be restored to her. I have no 
 right to think of him, except as a friend, my 
 king of friends. How true are his words ! How 
 deeply the shaft of jealousy has been thrust into 
 my heart he shall never know. I will go to him, 
 and say that I can never, never be his wife ; but 
 that, if he loves me, he must save Cousin Evelyn 
 by going at once to her. He is noble, generous. 
 Surely he will do this, when I tell him it will 
 make me happy. I have read how women test 
 their lovers' hearts. I will weigh my king's heart 
 of gold." 
 
RESOL VES. 261 
 
 Awhile she prayed. Then she questioned her 
 heart. Would the self-abnegation be mostly hers 
 or his? for at last she knew that she loved him 
 with all her soul. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 WAITING. 
 
 SWKET whispered the breeze, but it whispered of woe ; 
 And bitterness flowed in the soft-gliding stream. 
 
 AUBREY paced up and down the margin of 
 the lake, close by the spot where Hazel's 
 little boat was moored. His face was pale and 
 anxious, his step quick and impatient. Momen- 
 tarily he expected Hazel, or some message from 
 her. More and more unsupportable became his 
 suspense. At length he leaped into the boat, and 
 tried to cool his temples by laving them with the 
 cool water. Somewhat pacified he found himself 
 able to reflect more calmly. 
 
 "More than likely Hazel was detained by her 
 cousin, who perhaps forced the dear child to 
 confess everything. In such a case, what rash act 
 might not that woman commit ! " 
 
 He glanced at the placid water, and suddenly 
 recalled the words he had overheard Evelyn use 
 on one memorable occasion : " I wish the lake had 
 covered you forever, before that fatal morning 
 when first he saw you." 
 
 He could not believe Evelyn as criminal in deed 
 as she was vengeful in thought ; but the longer he 
 (262) 
 
WAITING. 263 
 
 dwelt upon her utterances, the more apprehensive 
 he became. 
 
 The sun sailed higher and higher over a sea of 
 celestial blue, and golden fire rained through the 
 foliage over Aubrey's head. Did those bright 
 beams come as good omens? 
 
 A loud splash attracted his attention. He saw 
 Bijou swimming rapidly toward a mass of lily-roots. 
 A horrible thought took possession . of Aubrey. 
 He pictured the cold form of his love beneath the 
 water, her white face upturned, her hair entangled 
 in the undergrowth, dead, drowned ! It was an 
 awful moment. He sat powerless, in presence of 
 the image thus conjured up in his mind's eye. 
 
 How the dog panted in his heroic efforts to 
 fight his way through the cold pathway to the 
 aquatic plants. His respiration grew hoarser till, 
 in apparent exhaustion, he disappeared beneath the 
 surface. This roused Aubrey's power of speech, 
 and he cried out in consternation: "Bijou, Bijou, 
 old fellow!" 
 
 A moment after, and the creature reappeared. 
 He turned his large eyes toward the man in the 
 boat ; and then, as if encouraged by a human 
 presence, he resumed his struggle, plunging and 
 winning. At length the dog reached the lilies, and 
 with one loud bark disappeared the second time. 
 Aubrey cut the boat adrift, and rowed rapidly 
 toward the spot. When within a few yards of it 
 he saw a black object rise to view, floating lifeless 
 
264 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 on the water. Another instant, and the canine 
 hero would have sunk forever, but with a sweep of 
 the oars Aubrey was beside the poor fellow. He 
 held him afloat with one strong hand, while with 
 the other he steadied the boat, in order to pull the 
 dog aboard. 
 
 Five minutes later Bijou was lying on the sunny 
 embankment, rapidly coming to himself. 
 
 " Had a cold bath, and not much the worse for 
 it, eh, my good fellow ? " said his rescuer, as he 
 rubbed the dog vigorously with a piece of burlap, 
 which he luckily found in the boat. The dog could 
 only make dumb signs of gratitude, looking 
 yearningly into Aubrey's face, and occasionally 
 lapping his hand, as it came within reach. 
 
 The young Frenchman never paused in his gentle 
 ministrations, until he was rewarded by seeing 
 Bijou on all fours, shaking himself vigorously. 
 Presently the dog walked slowly away, not, 
 however, without casting a wistful look toward the 
 spot which had twice been his bane. 
 
 Despite this unexpected rescue Deverell had by 
 no means forgotten Hazel. Her name was his 
 underlying thought, and he could hardly endure 
 her delay. Again he paced feverishly up and 
 down the lakeside, with hands clasped behind him, 
 his lips compressed. 
 
 Occasionally he consulted his watch. When it 
 indicated a quarter after one he grew desperate, 
 and walked toward the aperture in the willows, 
 
WAITING. 265 
 
 goaded by an impulse to rush into the house, and 
 demand a sight of her whom he loved so sacredly. 
 
 A shout of joy burst from him as he gained the 
 opening, for in a moment Hazel was clasped in his 
 arms. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 THE TEST. 
 
 GIVE sorrow words ! The grief that can not speak 
 Whispers the o'erfraught heart, and bids it break. 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 it be you, my love, my love?" cried 
 Aubrey rapturously. Holding the girl at 
 arm's length he scanned her face with worshipful 
 eyes ; but when he saw how changed she was, he 
 snatched her to his heart again. 
 
 " Great God ! What has happened to you, 
 darling? Tell me everything!" 
 
 It was many minutes before Hazel could bring 
 herself to speak. Then she gently extricated her- 
 self from his arms, and said tremulously : "I have 
 been troubled. I did not come to you last night 
 as I promised, because because trouble kept 
 me away. Cousin Evelyn has suddenly been taken 
 ill. Oh Monsieur Deverell, already her fever has 
 reached such a height that serious fears are 
 entertained, lest she has not strength to battle 
 with it." 
 
 In her emotion Hazel slowly raised her troubled 
 eyes till they rested upon her companion's coun- 
 tenance. He was silent; but she could read deep 
 consternation in his face, as he waited for her to 
 proceed. 
 
 (266) 
 
THE TEST. 267 
 
 "The doctor has been here all the morning. 
 He is over her constantly. It requires all his 
 strength to quiet Evelyn's ravings. If you could 
 but see her! I looked into the sick-room just 
 before coming to you. I saw her glaring eyes 
 and heard her shrieks. One name was constantly 
 repeated." 
 
 Again Hazel paused. Still Aubrey spoke not, 
 but his heart rose and fell again with her words. 
 She watched his face, filled with mingled love and 
 pity, and abruptly placed one hand upon his arm, 
 as she asked pleadingly : " Monsieur, can you not 
 guess whose name ? " 
 
 "Yes ! I can not pretend to misunderstand you, 
 petite. Mon Diei<, that it should come to this, 
 just when I was on the eve of attaining my 
 sweetest ambition ! " He put her from him almost 
 roughly, and turned away. One hand was on his 
 aching brow, and the other lifted in a hopeless 
 gesture. 
 
 Presently his manhood returned and he said 
 huskily : " Forgive me, my pure one, if I have 
 scared you ! I was mad to so far forget myself. 
 Go on ! I will listen ! " 
 
 " You know then that that she loved you, 
 that she has loved you all the while ! " cried the 
 girl, and poignant disappointment was in her 
 voice. 
 
 He saw her eyes fill with tears, and her lips 
 tremble uncontrollably, and again his manhood 
 
268 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 was forgotten. He took an impulsive step for- 
 ward, and snatched her to himself, whispering : 
 "Oh darling, even if I did know, what does it 
 signify! I might in a small degree have appre- 
 ciated her affection, had not your face dawned 
 upon me. You are my fate. Why should aught 
 but death come between us and happiness, aught 
 but death ? You love me, darling ! Your true 
 eyes tell me so ! Do not send me from you, when 
 I have won your heart ! " 
 
 By main force Hazel detached herself from his 
 clasp. She looked at him, her slender form drawn 
 up to its full height, her face flushing, her eyes 
 flashing with indignation. 
 
 " Monsieur Deverell, I have misjudged you. I 
 believed in you, as one whose integrity was beyond 
 reproach, as the stars are beyond sin. I am 
 grieved to learn my mistake, that your estimate 
 of me is so much at fault. In one breath you 
 proclaim me angelic ; the next you seek to ensnare 
 me by words such as no true woman should listen 
 to without shame. I will take an oath, that no 
 suspicion of Evelyn's feelings ever entered my 
 heart until last night. As my conscience is now 
 alive to what she suffers, I am filled with speech- 
 less guilt, for being the innocent cause of her 
 misery. If in your bosom there lives a compas- 
 sionate feeling for womankind, reflect upon the 
 untold pain my cousin has endured since you went 
 away last summer, endured through you ! Her 
 
THE TEST. 269 
 
 love has slowly eaten her life away. She lien 
 at death's threshold, calling for you. I would 
 sacrifice my life to restore her happiness. Mon- 
 sieur, do you remember the day when you made a 
 declaration of eternal friendship for me ? Do you 
 remember how you begged me to look to you, if 
 ever I found myself in need of a true friend ? " 
 
 " Let me prove my remembrance. Ask any- 
 thing of me, "came reverently from the Frenchman, 
 as he bowed before her with uncovered head ; 
 though he believed her next words would sound 
 the death-knell of his joyful hopes. 
 
 " That day has come. I am standing alone in a 
 forest of despair, from which you alone can lead 
 me ; but you can do it with a single brave effort. 
 Be my true benefactor! Rescue me from a life 
 threatened with endless darkness ! One glimpse of 
 your face will stay the madness that consumes 
 Evelyn's life. Will you save Aer, and make me 
 happy ? " 
 
 Aubrey suppressed a groan. Trembling in every 
 limb he rubbed his hands across his forehead, 
 as if to smooth out the wrinkles of his brain, and 
 answered : " Angel of purity, what you ask me T 
 will grant, though it tear out my heart." 
 
 Lifting her hand to his lips he kissed it once, 
 twice, thrice, and added : " Show me the way. I 
 will walk in it, though the pathway lead to 
 martyrdom. Come, I am your slave ! Lead me in 
 the right direction." 
 
270 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 She smiled and blessed him, as she said : " No, 
 not my slave, my savior ! " 
 
 With bent head and dilatory step he followed 
 her to the house. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 AUBREY'S TRIAL. 
 
 THE past is past. I see the future stretch 
 All dark and barren, as a rainy sea. 
 
 ALEXANDER. 
 
 NO light was permitted in the chamber ; but the 
 red-tongued flames, holding revelry in the 
 grate, sent a ghastly glimmer over the invalid's face. 
 Evelyn's restless hands twisted the sheet. They 
 clutched imaginary objects, which she wrung 
 hatefully. When these demonstrations ceased, she 
 sank back into the bed, crying out for Aubrey, 
 as a wailing child cries for its mother. 
 
 Sometimes she called in frenzied accents : 
 " Aubrey, Aubrey ! Do not abandon me for that 
 designing girl ! Tear off her bridal dress. Deck 
 me in her stead. See," touching her black locks 
 proudly, " orange-blossoms will better grace my 
 dark beauty. On her tawny hair they lose their 
 loveliness ; they droop under her breath. She 
 will poison you, when your lips meet ! " 
 
 Evelyn was in the midst of one of these out- 
 breaks when the door opened softly, and a slight 
 figure moved cautiously across the room toward 
 the window, where the doctor was meditating. 
 (271) 
 
272 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Hazel walked carefully around the room, so as to 
 avoid the sick woman's glance ; but as by some 
 intuition Evelyn shrieked out in painful accents : 
 " It is she! I tell you, it is Myrine Seymour /" 
 
 Hazel paused a short distance from the doctor, 
 and by the fitful firelight he could see a puzzled 
 expression come over her face. 
 
 " I tell you it is Myrine Seymour ! She has 
 come to give me up to justice ! " raved the 
 demented woman. 
 
 The look of bewilderment deepened on Hazel's 
 face. She went to Doctor Weaver and whispered : 
 " Whom does she mean ? " 
 
 " I can not tell you, my little girl. Perhaps she 
 refers to one of her friends. Do n't you know 
 anyone of that name ? " 
 
 " I know a Myrtle Seymour ; but Myrine 
 Myrine," dwelling upon the beautiful name as 
 though she loved to repeat it, "I never knew 
 anyone by that name. I never heard it but once 
 or twice in my life, and then then my old nurse 
 applied it to me ! " 
 
 After a moment's silence Hazel spoke again : 
 " Doctor ! " Her expression changed, and it was 
 plain to Doctor Weaver that she wished to say 
 something important. 
 
 " Well ? " he asked encouragingly. 
 
 " I was forgetting ! I came in to say that a 
 gentleman wants to speak with you in the entry, 
 just there, outside the door, Monsieur Aubrey 
 Deverell ! " 
 
AUBREY'S TRIAL. 273 
 
 " Aubrey ? " repeated the doctor in an astonished 
 whisper. "Can it be the Aubrey for whom my 
 patient calls so often ? " 
 
 " It is the same," returned the girl calmly. 
 
 ' This is a godsend ! " she heard the physician 
 exclaim, as he abruptly left her side. 
 
 Hazel herself did not tarry in the chamber, but 
 went out through Evelyn's dressing-room, for her 
 cousin's ravings were unbearable ; yet a smile 
 transfigured Hazel's expression into one of saint- 
 liness, when she pictured to herself the scene that 
 must ensue when Evelyn awoke to the conscious- 
 ness of her lover's presence. 
 
 " What will her thoughts be of me ? " she 
 wondered. "Will her prejudice vanish, or will 
 her happiness make her forget me altogether? If 
 there is any womanly sentiment in her she will 
 repent her misunderstanding. To see her smile, 
 to hear her say, ' I have wronged you, Hazel, and 
 I am sorry,' would be enough ! I might then look 
 for some compensation for all I have suffered. In 
 the light of her confidence, I may forget my heart's 
 sacrifice, its lost hope. A deeper joy may find 
 its way into my life, which seems so barren without 
 Mm." 
 
 " Aubrey ! Aubrey ! " 
 
 " I am here, Mademoiselle Evelyn. Have 
 courage ! " 
 
 He stood beside the bed, looking down upon the 
 
274 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 delirious woman in pity blended with rigor; yet 
 on his brow was the peace of resignation. 
 
 His voice had its old magic effect upon the 
 invalid. She raised herself' on one elbow, and 
 gazed upon him. During a brief and unbroken 
 silence her eyes never left his face, but rested now 
 upon his dark mustache, now upon his white brow. 
 She then looked at the hand which clasped hers 
 gently, as it lay listlessly outside the coverlet. 
 
 " Have courage, mademoiselle. I shall stay 
 with you till you are strong again. Be troubled 
 not, but rest sleep ! " 
 
 " Bend down ! " commanded the sick woman, in 
 a voice strangely subdued . " Is it really Aubrey, 
 in the flesh ? I have stayed here at the window 
 hours, waiting for you. Noel said he had seen 
 you with Hazel, that you were married ? Is it 
 true? Is it true?" 
 
 She stared at him, and drove her nails into his 
 palm so that he felt the pain. He bent down, 
 however, until he felt her breath upon his face. 
 Then her fingers twined in his hair, and a hot 
 touch was on his head. He scarcely dared trust 
 himself to meet her glance again, lest his courage 
 forsake him. 
 
 Presently she spoke : " Kiss me ! I shall riot be 
 satisfied until you have kissed me, Aubrey ! Ah, 
 you hesitate ! Now I am convinced ! I am the 
 victim of a sham ! " 
 
 Her voice ended in a scream. She thrust him 
 
AUBREY'S TRIAL. 275 
 
 from her with both hands, and tore the counter- 
 pane wildly. Seeing the folly of weakness he 
 again approached her. " Evelyn, for your own 
 sake, try to calm yourself." 
 
 " Calm myself ! Calm myself ! What, in this 
 prison, doomed to death by her hand? They 
 have hunted me down; they have 
 
 Suddenly her mood changed. "Come nearer, 
 warden ! " she whispered. " I have a secret to tell 
 you." 
 
 Yielding to this new caprice Aubrey drew a 
 chair to the bedside, and bent his ear close to 
 her lips. He waited for Evelyn to speak again. 
 Wondering at her continued silence he at first 
 moved his head in mute interrogation, and then 
 sprang to his feet in consternation. She lay with 
 head thrown back and arms outstretched, in death- 
 like stillness. He hastily called Doctor Weaver, 
 who was waiting in the hall. 
 
 The swoon was long, but at the doctor's request 
 Aubrey remained within hearing. It was well he 
 did so, for no sooner did Evelyn open her eyes 
 than her lips again formed the one name : "Au- 
 brey, I want Aubrey ! " 
 
 The doctor again gave place to the Frenchman, 
 who came hurriedly to the bedside. She looked 
 rationally into his face ; but the hand she tried to 
 reach out to him fell listlessly. Tears gathered in 
 her eyes, the first since her illness, nay, since a 
 long time before. Aubrey tried to soothe her, and 
 finally succeeded. 
 
276 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 " I thought you had gone out of my life forever," 
 she said. " How comes it you are here ? " 
 
 " Because of your illness. Now I bid you rest. 
 Rest is essential to your recovery ; and recover you 
 must, for my sake ! " 
 
 These three words cost him a mighty effort ; but 
 they were said, and their effect was magical. The 
 sick girl's fingers closed over his; and presently, 
 with one blissful sigh, she passed into slumberland. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 >s 
 FAITHFUL UXTO DEATH. 
 
 We have been friends together, 
 In sunshine and in shade. 
 
 C. E. S. N. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the fever had been 
 checked in its earliest stages, November 
 was waning before Evelyn was pronounced suffi- 
 ciently convalescent to leave her apartments ; but 
 she gave little heed to the lapse of time. Whether 
 a day, a week, or a month had passed, since she 
 basked once more in the light of Aubrey's smiles, 
 was immaterial to her. Her knight was there to 
 prove her visions real. 
 
 She had consented to drive with him one morn- 
 ing, in accordance with the doctor's advice, and 
 advanced to greet her betrothed when he crossed 
 the threshold. As he pressed -one of her hands 
 lightly to his lips, her worn face was transfigured 
 with a lovelight which made it indeed beautiful. 
 No trace of the old hardness was visible in the 
 countenance uplifted in gratitude for the bunch of 
 exquisite flowers he had brought from a Jasper 
 conservatory. 
 
 Aubrey could not help wondering how treason 
 (277) 
 
278 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 could ever dwell where now righteousness only 
 seemed to abide. He found himself wishing to 
 erase his knowledge of her evil-mindedness, and 
 undividedly consecrate himself to her happiness; 
 but this could never be. What had been was 
 written indelibly on the pages of memory. As he 
 helped her on with her wraps he compressed his 
 lips into a hard smile, saying to himself: "The 
 past is moulded. That invincible priest called Prov- 
 idence has decreed this faulty piece of humanity to 
 be mine, and I must bow in self-abnegation." 
 
 " I hope you are dressed warm enough," he said 
 aloud, as he lifted her into the carriage. " Even 
 here, in this tropical clime, one must be prepared 
 for frosty snaps." 
 
 The beautiful grays pranced gaily away, and were 
 soon dashing along the open country road, toward 
 Fairacre. The last time Evelyn had driven with 
 him, over this same quiet highway, her hopes were 
 levelled with the dust. Now they were exalted to 
 the skies, for she was the promised wife of the man 
 who sat beside her. What a world of meaning in 
 those three words, his promised wife. They gave 
 the world a new garb, such as she had never believed 
 could exist outside of Paradise. 
 
 " I have been born again," Evelyn told herself, 
 as they traversed the white road through the forest. 
 " My heart beats with devout love for all nature. 
 Why have I never before been so impressed with 
 the stateliness of these pines, and their varied 
 
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. 279 
 
 wood-coloring? Why are the notes of the birds 
 so sweet? It is the magic of love! Love has 
 transformed these monotonous fields into a verit- 
 able Eden ! " 
 
 What of him who sat beside her ? Where were 
 the hopes which had made his life so golden? 
 His youth, his vivacity, his reverence for the in- 
 exhaustible beauties of nature, how had they 
 vanished so abruptly? Where was his aspiration, 
 his ambition? Alas, he now lived in listless 
 unconcern for the future. Providence had torn 
 from his heart the image graven there. Aubrey 
 had waked from a dream of bliss, to find himself 
 ensnared in trammels he had regarded with 
 abhorrence. 
 
 Honor bound him to Evelyn, bound him to her 
 indissolubly ; and his heart cried out in rebellion. 
 Thus he pondered : " Oh the unpardonable cruelty 
 of Fate ! How could it smite one who loves with 
 such devotion as mine ! " 
 
 Did Evelyn surmise aught of this despair ? Nay! 
 It was enough that he came into her presence daily, 
 that he read to her, that he brought her flowers, 
 that he kissed her hand, that he inquired solicit- 
 ously after her welfare. She saw him through 
 worshipful eyes. She believed he had come back 
 into her life of his own accord; and this was 
 enough. 
 
 She seldom thought of the unknown medium of 
 this reunion. If in a moment of contrition her 
 
280 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 mind turned to Hazel, she decided to seek an 
 early interview, when they might be reconciled. 
 Thereupon would follow a mental conflict between 
 pride and remorse ; and Evelyn would swerve from 
 her good purpose, which must involve a forfeiture 
 of her dignity. Then she resolved to compromise 
 the matter, and make amends by kinder treatment 
 of her foster-sister. 
 
 The tragic scene between herself and Hazel was 
 completely obliterated from her recollection by the 
 fever. She recalled nothing of her frantic pursuit 
 of her cousin, nor of the painful interview which 
 followed. 
 
 One day, while looking over her wardrobe, 
 Evelyn suddenly came across her lavender silk. 
 The lace was torn and the train was soiled. For 
 a moment she was puzzled. Then she peremptorily 
 summoned Phebe. 
 
 "Can you account for this?" questioned the 
 mistress, as she held the injured dress before the 
 surprised girl. 
 
 " No, Missy Eb'lyn," rejoined Phebe, retreating 
 before her mistress's accusing demeanor. 
 
 " Do n't prevaricate ! You must know how my 
 dress come to be ruined. Look ! " Evelyn held 
 the folds of her ill-fated finery nearer, so that the 
 girl could get a better view. " Tell me the truth, 
 Phebe. How did this mud come on my train ? 
 How was this lace torn ? " 
 
 " 'Deed, Missy Eb'lyn, I can 't say, honey ! 
 
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. 281 
 
 I can 't say's I know how all dat dirt come on de 
 bottom, 'n how cle lace got tored. 'T war in dat ar 
 condistion de mo'nin' I found ye in a heap, heah 
 on de flo'. I 's done puzzle my topknot more'n 
 a little 'bout de way you come all dress up, un' 
 lyin' like stone dead, wid you' hah all down, un' 
 you close in such a way 
 
 "Don't try to shield your cunning with my 
 illness. I understand I was found in my own 
 room, in an unconscious condition ; but in this 
 dress ? Preposterous ! Do n't seek to mislead 
 me, Phebe ! You have evidently taken advantage 
 of my sickness, to wear this dress at some of your 
 darkey frolics. You may as well confess ! " 
 
 The girl drew back in scorn, the indignant blood 
 surging beneath her tawny skin. Seeing the 
 defiant look Evelyn became more deliberate. 
 She had certainly never known the young mulatto 
 guilty of such impertinence. It dawned upon 
 Evelyn that she might give her servant the benefit 
 of the doubt, inasmuch as her own memory of that 
 night was a blank. 
 
 Suddenly that scene came rushing back to her 
 brain, like a lightning flash. In a dazed way she 
 put her hand to her eyes, as if to think. Again 
 she saw that vision of herself in the mirror, arrayed 
 in lavender, with the diamonds in her ears and on 
 her fingers. 
 
 Presently she said?to the maid : " I have been 
 hasty, Phebe. I remember putting on this dress 
 
282 THE DEA TH TR US T. 
 
 now. It was the night before I was taken ill. 
 The occurrence is faint, almost indistinct to me, 
 and I do not remember what followed. I may 
 have wandered into the garden, under the spell of 
 coming delirium. You can never know how 
 troubled and miserable I was." 
 
 To conceal her embarrassment she burst out 
 laughing, and then added, by way of atonement : 
 "I only meant to tease you a little! You have 
 always been an obedient girl, never giving cause 
 for fault-finding. I will make you a present of 
 this dress. Take it, and let your best beau see 
 how you can grace the next ball. Now go, and 
 return to me at two o'clock. I shall want you to 
 arrange my hair." 
 
 Phebe would have lingered to speak her 
 gratitude, but her mistress turned away, so the 
 girl straightway left the room; but once in the 
 hall, beyond observation, she made all sorts of 
 grimaces over her new frock, which she declared, 
 in a stage whisper, would " fairly stan' alone, and 
 make Dixy Sloane turn green with jealous." 
 
 It was late in the forenoon when the young 
 couple returned from their drive. As they walked 
 through the gate, it was plain that something 
 unusual had occurred during their absence. On 
 the lawn the servants were assembled, with 
 troubled countenances ; while beyond stood Mrs. 
 Ormsby, close beside Hazel, who was in a kneeling 
 
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. 283 
 
 posture, her head bowed over something dark 
 stretched on the grass. 
 
 "Aubrey, what can be the meaning of this 
 excitement among the servants ? There are Hazel 
 and Mrs. Ormsby ! Pardon me, dearest, if I run 
 and see." 
 
 Evelyn hastened on, leaving her companion to 
 follow. As he drew nearer he could hear Hazel 
 weeping bitterly. A spasm of pain passed over his 
 face when he noted the cause of her sorrow. 
 There, on the green sward, he saw her beautiful 
 Bijou, dead. His black coat was wet. In the 
 silvered clasp of his collar was entangled a limp 
 water-leaf. 
 
 Evelyn turned toward her lover as he approached, 
 and said, in an undertone : " Only think, Aubrey, 
 how dreadful! Bijou, Hazel's great Saint 
 Bernard, is dead, drowned in the lake, it seems." 
 
 He noticed that her face was ghastly, while a 
 hunted look came into her eyes. She could not 
 bear his questioning gaze, but turned quickly away, 
 ostensibly to console the mourner. 
 
 " Come Hazel," she said entreatingly, " come 
 with me into the house. We all sympathize with 
 you, but grief can 't recall the poor fellow." 
 
 A smothered sob was at first the only response. 
 At last Hazel said: "I can't give him up, my 
 one faithful friend ! We have loved each other 
 so ! We were always together. In happiness and 
 in trouble he was my companion ! " 
 
284 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 With unsteady fingers Evelyn disengaged the 
 leaf from the dog's collar. It seemed to mock 
 her ! Crushing it in her hand she threw it away. 
 Then she whispered to her foster-sister, so that no 
 one else distinguished the words: "I will love you 
 now ! Let me love you now, Hazel ! Let all the 
 past be forgotten from this moment ! Let us try 
 to be happy in each other's friendship." 
 
 The next second Hazel was on her feet, with 
 arms outstretched. " Evelyn, oh Evelyn ! Surely 
 you can not be in earnest ! " cried she incredu- 
 lously, yet with a countenance beaming like the 
 sun through a veil of mist. "It is what I have 
 been hoping, praying for ; yet it can not be true ! 
 You can 't wish to give me your love ! " 
 
 For an answer Evelyn pressed her lips lightly 
 upon the girl's wet cheek, and placed a comforting 
 arm about her waist. Aubrey looked on spell- 
 bound, while the servants went slowly away, 
 wondering. 
 
CPIAPTER XXXV. 
 
 RETROSPECTIVE AND PROSPECTIVE. 
 
 AND my soul from out the shadow 
 Shall be lifted nevermore. 
 
 FOB. 
 
 OH heart, count not too high thy summer days. 
 
 " TTAZEL, I will go with you to your room. I 
 
 li want to tell you about my plans," said 
 Evelyn the following morning. 
 
 " Before we enter upon other topics," she 
 continued, when they were comfortably seated 
 together, "tell me all about poor Bijou. I have 
 heard no particulars. How did he meet his death, 
 and by water, too ? " 
 
 Evelyn toyed restlessly with the silken tassel of 
 her gown as she spoke, yet she looked anxiously 
 at Hazel. It was a moment before the little 
 cousin could bring herself to speak of her loss; 
 but at last she turned her head towards the 
 garden, to hide her emotion, and told the story. 
 
 " 1 had to go down to the lake yesterday. I had 
 accidently left a book there, and wanted to get it. 
 It was Owen Meredith's Lucile. Bijou followed 
 me as usual. Just before we reached the willows 
 he bounded ahead. The next moment, to my 
 (285) 
 
286 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 astonishment, I saw him plunge into the cold 
 water, and swim toward a lily-patch. I watched 
 him closely, for Noel had told me that the dear 
 fellow had a recent mania for these plunges, and 
 would invariably make his way to this particular 
 spot. It is only a month ago since Noel one 
 day rescued him from drowning, when he became 
 entangled in the roots. Well, suddenly I saw him 
 disappear. It must have been full sixty seconds 
 before he came up. Then he looked at me, barked 
 three or four times, and dived once more. The 
 minutes passed, and I saw nothing more of my 
 darling Bijou, only a violent commotion of the 
 water, which indicated a struggle below. I tried 
 to call for assistance, but I do n't think a sound 
 escaped me. I don't know how long I stood 
 there, but all at once I saw a dark mass floating 
 toward me. Nearer and nearer it came, till I 
 had only to stretch out my arm and touch it. 
 Then I must have screamed aloud. Bijou was 
 drowned ! His once beautiful eyes were devoid 
 of expression, and stared at me in an awful way. 
 It was a sight to remain in memory always." 
 
 She paused, quite overcome, and laid her head 
 upon the window-sill. Had she seen her cousin's 
 face at that moment Hazel would have been 
 thoroughly perplexed. Evelyn was grateful for 
 the child's grief, as it afforded a refuge for her 
 own feelings. While Hazel sobbed, Evelyn's hands 
 lay interlaced tightly in her lap, for the suspense 
 was almost intolerable. 
 
RETROSPECTIVE AND PROSPECTIVE. 287 
 
 " Well, Hazel, I am listening," she muttered. 
 
 " There is nothing more to relate, except that 1 
 dragged the poor fellow from the water, placed 
 him on the grass, and ran to the house for help." 
 
 " And those mysterious plunges, their motive ? 
 Have you any idea about that ? " 
 
 " Not the slightest. I heard Noel say he meant 
 to drag that part of the lake. He thinks there 
 must be something buried there. Dogs have such 
 an instinct about such things, you know." 
 
 Hearing a low gasp from her foster-sister Hazel 
 looked up quickly. " Evelyn, what is it ? You are 
 ill again! You have exerted yourself too much." 
 
 " It is nothing," said Evelyn faintly, " nothing 
 but a sharp pain here," indicating her heart. " I 
 have had such a pain frequently since since 
 since they died." 
 
 To herself she added : " I shall keep a sharp 
 lookout that the lake is not meddled with." 
 
 Hazel said that Noel would dig a grave beneath 
 the willows, whore the dog and she had passed so 
 many hours together ; and then the conversation 
 drifted from the past to the future. 
 
 " In my new prospects," said Evelyn, " I have 
 seen my past life in what a poet calls the hollow 
 mirror of remorse. My conscience has not been an 
 affable companion during the past few weeks. My 
 pride might have stood its ground, but for yester- 
 day's catastrophe. I know I have wronged you 
 in my thoughts, Hazel. I can never make due 
 
288 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 reparation for the taunts with which I have 
 humiliated you. Pride has been the household 
 foe of our Weldon race ; and I should perhaps 
 have followed in the footsteps of my ancestors, 
 and let it change me into gall, but for this chance. 
 Yes, chance has led me blindfold to the altar of 
 contrition. Full well I know the generous nature 
 to which I appeal. I was not surprised at the joy 
 in your face, dear Hazel, when I asked you to 
 forget the past ; yet do not think I can take 
 advantage of your forgiving spirit, and consider 
 the breach entirely healed, for this can never be. 
 I have wronged you irrevocably, and shall always 
 be pricked by accusing conscience in your presence. 
 I must look up to you, as a sinful woman must look 
 up to one beyond reproach." 
 
 She broke off with a dry sob, which roused new 
 compassion in Hazel, who flung herself upon her 
 knees before Evelyn. 
 
 " Why do you accuse yourself of having sinned 
 beyond redemption ? Is it not enough that I have 
 forgiven you, forgiven you tenfold ? That we 
 might be bound together in friendship has been 
 my constant prayer. Now that this prayer is 
 granted, why should we not both be above regret ? 
 You have Monsieur Aubrey, a king amongst 
 noble men. I have you, you and your love! 
 Is not this enough ? " 
 
 " That I have Aubrey is bliss indeed ; but," he 
 added, with a sensibility new to Hazel, " there is a 
 
RETROSPECTIVE AS D PROSPECTIVE. 289 
 
 shadow on my soul which will not be lifted ! 
 Child, child, rise! Don't kneel! I can't bear 
 it!" 
 
 Hazel arose. She was filled with fear lest 
 Evelyn was threatened with a relapse of the fever ; 
 but she was reassured when her foster-sister bade 
 her be seated, and listen while she spoke of the 
 future. 
 
 " My marriage has been arranged for the twenty- 
 fifth of next month, Christmas," she resumed, 
 growing animated, as thoughts of coming happi- 
 ness revived. " I have made Aunt Lydia and Uncle 
 Seymour acquainted with my plans, and expect 
 them, with Myrtle, by the fifteenth, if not earlier. 
 You are pleased ? Yes, I knew you would be. You 
 and Myrtle will be nice companions. I intend 
 to have you both for bridemaids. My wedding will 
 be without display, on account of our mourning ; I 
 shall send no invitations, except to immediate rela- 
 tives ; yet, as the date will mark three events in 
 one, I shall expect it to be a memorable and happy 
 time. I say three events in one, because on Christ- 
 mas night Uncle Elmer Weldon will be installed 
 as future master of the Grange. This was a re- 
 quest of my father to his lawyer. He did not 
 wish the home of his ancestors to pass into strange 
 hands, should I ever leave it I shall feel no regret 
 in resigning our beautiful place to a master so 
 worthy as Uncle Elmer, for he and his two sons 
 will maintain it creditably. Fairacre, by papa's 
 
290 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 will, will come to you at your majority. Till then 
 Uncle Elmer will be your guardian; so it is for 
 your interest, as well as for mine, to have him 
 established here, as he will see your estate well 
 cared for, at least till you marry, or come of age. 
 Meanwhile, you can make it your home with Aunt 
 Lydia, as you wish." 
 
 " Oh Evelyn ! " interrupted Hazel, unable to 
 listen composedly a moment longer. "Heaven 
 itself seems suddenly to open before me. You 
 have set the bright gates ajar with your own hands, 
 and that is more than I can realize ! " 
 
 "Myrtle's governess has returned recently to 
 England," added Evelyn, disturbed by Hazel's 
 words, though outwardly calm. "Ah," thought 
 she, " if Hazel dreamed how much nearer Heaven 
 I could place her ! " 
 
 Then she continued: "Myrtle's governess has 
 returned to England, and I have been thinking 
 how pleasant it would be for both you girls to 
 have Arline in New Orleans. Your personal at- 
 tachment to her would of course make you regret 
 a separation. I have referred the matter to Aunt 
 Lydia. I am sure she will highly commend 
 the arrangement. Almost ten o'clock ? I am 
 expecting Aubrey at ten, so I must get ready for 
 our drive, the last for some time, as he goes 
 to New Orleans tomorrow. Come to me on our 
 return, and you and I will discuss your dress 
 for the wedding." 
 
RETROSPECTIVE AND PROSPECTIVE. 291 
 
 Touching Hazel's pure brow with her lips Evelyn 
 sailed from the room, leaving the girl silent with 
 new-found pleasure. Long she remained by the 
 window after Evelyn and her betrothed had driven 
 away. How intently did this womanly child listen 
 to the song in her heart : " Myrtle is coming ! 
 Myrtle is coming! We two as Evelyn's bride- 
 maids ! Myrtle and I to be inseparable ! " 
 
 The day set in triumphal flashes, dispelling all 
 fears of the brooding storm. Like a benediction, 
 soft-tinted shadows fell athwart the graves at 
 Cypress Dell, and over the golden hair of a maiden 
 who had gone thither to whisper to her departed 
 loved ones her new joy. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 DEVERELL HALL. 
 
 THERE is occasion and cause, why and wherefore, 
 in all things. 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 THROUGH the day the cold rain had been 
 falling in New Orleans; but toward night- 
 fall the down-pour ceased, giving place to a cutting 
 wind, which froze the sodden roadway and inter- 
 fered with the flickering duty of the street lamps. 
 
 About the steamer - landing the prospect was 
 forbidding enough. Shrill steam - whistles and 
 the lusty cry of five-and-twenty hotel-drummers 
 mingled in deafening chorus. In conjunction with 
 the impenetrable gloom and the angry roar of the 
 waters, this noise might well dishearten the tired 
 and shivering passengers who thronged the dock. 
 
 Among these was Aubrey, who found himself 
 drifting with a stream of miscellaneous humanity, 
 now jostled against a burly negro, now treading 
 on some demoiselle's toes, and almost grating his 
 teeth over her exclamations. He fairly wished 
 himself in Jericho when a young Creole begged 
 him to have regard for her babe, which he was 
 heartlessly squeezing. 
 
 Monsieur might as well look for the King of 
 (292) 
 
DEVERELL HALL. 293 
 
 Mardigras in that crowd, as for his coachman, 
 whom he had telegraphed to meet him ; and the 
 young master- felt out of temper, as he wondered 
 what transit he could find for Deverell Hall, in 
 case Joice was not on hand. 
 
 Once clear of the crowd Aubrey stood looking 
 about him, when a hand fell heavily upon his 
 shoulder and he felt his portmanteau snatched 
 rudely from his grasp. " The Laclede Hotel ? 
 Right this way ! Follow me ! The only first- 
 class Holy Saints ! w 
 
 The tooter had mistaken his man for once. 
 At least he so concluded, when his parrot speech 
 was abruptly snapped by a smart blow from the 
 Frenchman's fist, causing the man to drop his prey 
 in a twinkling, and stagger backward to recover 
 his breath. 
 
 " Ruffian ! Mind you make no such attacks in 
 future, lest you be dealt with as you deserve," 
 exclaimed Deverell, as he repossessed himself of 
 his valise. 
 
 " Pardon, monsieur ! " returned the fellow dog- 
 gedly, as he managed to lose himself in the crowd, 
 none the wiser for his recent defeat, however. 
 
 Having regained his self-possession Aubrey 
 moved on, bent upon finding a cab, if one was to 
 be had at any price ; but he had gone only a few 
 steps when again he was arrested, this time by a 
 familiar voice, with a strong cockney accent : 
 " Mounseer Deverhall, I thought ye 'ad n't harrived 
 
294 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 has wuz expected. I wuz jest hon the point hof 
 drivin' back to the 'All, when hall on a suddint 
 I seed ye from the kerridge-box. This way, 
 mounseer ! " 
 
 " Good ! I thought you had missed my tele- 
 gram, Joice. It is so thundering dark one can't 
 see a foot ahead. Yes, I 'm all right. Take 
 the shortest cuts and drive fast ! I 'm hungry and 
 chilled ! " Aubrey closed the door with a bang, 
 drew the silk shades, to shut out the dismal air 
 and prospect, and settled himself for a tedious 
 drive, over miles of rough roads. 
 
 Notwithstanding Joice took the shortest way, 
 it seemed hours before the carriage finally halted. 
 Bright lights shone from many a window, and 
 cheered Aubrey with their welcoming rays; but 
 before ascending to the front door he glanced 
 toward a certain suite of rooms in the east wing, 
 as if to ascertain whether they were occupied. A 
 light answered his look in the affirmative, and he 
 mounted the steps with a pleased exclamation. 
 
 Having duly greeted his housekeeper, an aged 
 Creole of aristocratic bearing, who had served the 
 Deverells through three generations, he mounted 
 to the second floor, where were situated the rooms 
 just alluded to. 
 
 He entered without warning, and saw, at a table 
 strewn with miscellaneous reading-matter, a young 
 man, whose fair hair and frank eyes may be recog- 
 nized as belonging to Wilford Hylton. 
 
DEVERELL HALL. 295 
 
 " Well Hylton, old boy," exclaimed Aubrey 
 cheerily, "I am glad to find you still domiciled 
 at the Hall shut up, as Shakespeare says, in 
 measureless content ; yet I confess it is a pleasure 
 I hardly dared anticipate, after my cavalier treat- 
 ment of you." 
 
 It may be well here to explain that, on returning 
 from the West, Deverell had insisted that his 
 companion should take up his quarters at the Hall 
 for a time ; and then Aubrey had immediately 
 departed for Florida, simply saying that private 
 matters necessitated his absence. 
 
 "Another twenty-four hours would have shaken 
 my faith," rejoined Hilton, as he grasped his host's 
 hand. " Candidly," he went on more gravely, 
 " the servants have all come to regard me in 
 the light of an impostor. Madame Housekeeper 
 scarcely tolerates me. I verily believe your pro- 
 tracted absence led her to suspect foul play, I 
 posing as the villain ! Faith, I 'm not jesting! " 
 
 Deverell laughed. " If you are not jesting, 
 you have grown morbid and fanciful, my friend ! 
 Madame Corrilla assures me she has not worried 
 in the least. You see your injustice. Absence 
 has long been regarded by the servants here as 
 one of my idiosyncrasies. But come, we will dine, 
 and then discuss affairs in general." 
 
 " Firstly," resumed the young host, when they 
 again sought Wilf ord's cheerful quarters, " I pre- 
 sume you wish to know my recent movements, 
 
296 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 where I have been, what doing ? Well, to condense 
 a long chapter, I have been over to Florida, 
 to Weldon Grange, and, well, I have become 
 engaged to the daughter of that house." 
 
 " To Ev to to Miss Weldon ! " gasped 
 Wilford, stirred by the shock ; but suddenly 
 collecting himself, and feigning unconcern, he 
 added, "I wonder! " 
 
 " You wonder ? " laughed Aubrey with a shrug. 
 " Now soberly, what is your candid opinion of my 
 venture ? Remember, as somebody says, that a 
 generous friend no cool medium knows." 
 
 "Your engagement, was it one you had long 
 premeditated?" 
 
 " On the contrary ! When I took leave of you, 
 three weeks ago, I had no thought, however 
 vague, of asking Mademoiselle Weldon's hand; 
 but I am a victim of circumstances." 
 
 "I am to conclude that, seeing the lady's mis- 
 fortunes, you have been more in pity than in love 
 with her," said Wilford, looking searchingly at his 
 friend, whose uneasiness he could not choose but 
 note. 
 
 " There is a why and wherefore in all things, as 
 the immortal bard has said," returned Aubrey 
 presently. " It is an affair of honor. All I ask 
 of you is this : Do you not think my fiancee will 
 bear her prospective title with dignity?." 
 
 " With such grace, such undeniable beauty and 
 accomplishments as Miss Weldon possesses, she 
 
DEVER&LL HALL. 297 
 
 would do honor to a queen's drawing-room," 
 declared Hylton earnestly; and his face grew a 
 shade paler as he thus referred to the woman 
 whose image he had been striving to efface. 
 
 " Good ! Now will you grace the nuptials by 
 acting as best man ? " continued Aubrey, little 
 knowing that he was adding fuel to a smothered 
 flame. 
 
 "For what date is your marriage appointed?" 
 
 For Christmas." 
 
 " Business will keep me away, I regret to say." 
 
 " Of a pressing nature ? " 
 
 " The most pressing. The past three weeks have 
 not been altogether a season of idleness. I have 
 stumbled upon an old friend of my uncle, one who 
 will soon be a kinsman of yours, the Honorable 
 Franklin Seymour, who desires me to enter his 
 office." 
 
 " And you have accepted the proposal ? " 
 
 " Yes, the compact is sealed. I shall enter my 
 official duties the first of the month." 
 
 Deverell puffed away at his cigar in silence 
 for a moment, and then said, in a tone of keen 
 disappointment : " I had hoped for a different turn 
 of affairs. I had planned to appoint you my 
 private adviser." 
 
 "You are always generous and considerate, 
 Deverell." 
 
 " And you, to balance the compliment, are devil- 
 ishly hot-headed ; else you would have waited for 
 my return, before closing this business." 
 
298 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 " I am grieved at your displeasure, but I gain a 
 footing that points to future prosperity." 
 
 Aubrey softened visibly, and mentally branded 
 himself an unmitigated and selfish ass, for wishing 
 to consign his friend to the narrow sphere of a 
 private secretaryship. 
 
 "At anyrate, we won't quarrel. Let us com- 
 promise the matter by having you keep your 
 quarters here. It will be preferable to a bachelor 
 den. With a Madame Deverell at the head of 
 the establishment we can promise you endless 
 social pastimes, which will of themselves aid 
 your profession." 
 
 What excuse could Hylton make for declining 
 this generous offer? Yet could he accede to an 
 arrangement which would bring him into daily 
 contact with the woman who had so ruthlessly 
 discarded him? Never! For Evelyn's sake, if 
 not for his own, they could not live under the 
 same roof. 
 
 " You hesitate," said Aubrey, annoyed at 
 Wilford's reluctance. " Perhaps you desire to 
 shake me off altogether." 
 
 " No, no ! It is not that, believe me, my dear 
 friend ! How could you judge me so ungrateful, 
 after your unselfish interest ? You do not under- 
 stand, you can never understand, my motive in 
 declining your hospitality. I can not explain 
 myself ! This I beg of you, Deverell : in the name 
 of God, believe anything of me, think me wanting 
 
DEVERELL HALL. 299 
 
 in anything but gratitude, if I say I can not live 
 at Deverell Hall." 
 
 Their eyes met. Instantaneously divining the 
 truth Aubrey covered his face with both hands, 
 groaned aloud, and bowed his head upon the table. 
 
 Thus Wilford left him, and stepped out upon 
 the piazza, where he bared his hot temples to the 
 damp air. Halcyon promises the future held for 
 him, fame, and perhaps a wife with a jewel-heart, 
 to whom he would consecrate a holier love than 
 the mad infatuation he had bestowed upon 
 Evelyn . 
 
 She was waiting for him, Myrtle, with soft 
 eyes and wavy hair. Already his spirit-voice was 
 going out to her in the silence, " Coming, my love, 
 coming." 
 
 Though the Deverells were loyal Americans, 
 intermarriage and preference had so perpetuated 
 the stamp of a transatlantic origin, both upon 
 their collective life and personal habits, as to make 
 them seem like French people. Indeed Aubrey 
 was so Gallic in temperament that he was con- 
 stantly called the young Frenchman, as he has 
 been designated in this narrative ; yet it was several 
 generations since the family had paid allegiance to 
 any power outside their adopted nation. Their 
 estate was called by a good English name, the 
 Hall ; yet when the young master's expectations 
 were known, the household felt as if the bridal 
 
300 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 was to be the bringing home of a grande dame to 
 the chateau of a seigneur of the old regime. 
 
 Lively scenes ensued. Despite the inclement 
 weather, every door and window was thrown open. 
 Upholsterers, painters, and carpenters, were on 
 duty. 
 
 Nearly a half-century had elapsed since the old 
 place had been surrendered to decorators ; and 
 since the death of Aubrey's mother there had 
 been little social life in these lofty apartments, 
 where once the beauty, wealth, and chivalry of 
 the Crescent City danced and sang. For twenty 
 years these rooms had been the abode of silence. 
 The servants, when they entered the old parlors, 
 walked on tiptoe; for the older ones reverenced 
 the memory of a gentle presence that had been 
 the light of the place. 
 
 The crisp air fanned each apartment, as it 
 assumed some new aspect. Faded tapestry gave 
 place to India silk and Turkish damask. Heavy 
 mahogany chairs and sofas disappeared, with their 
 dark cushions and grotesque carvings, and ham- 
 mered brass and polished ebony usurped stations 
 so long guarded by their clumsier predecessors. 
 There was one object left untouched, the square 
 piano, over whose keys Madame Claudine's fingers 
 had so often wandered, her sweet contralto voice 
 charming many a listener. This remained in the 
 back parlor, unmolested. 
 
 " Monsieur," suggested a French artist, who had 
 
DEVERELL HALL. 301 
 
 been engaged to give the finishing touches, "I 
 vould zay, you put vun upright in place of ze 
 square piano, vitch do look exceedingly ungrace- 
 ful in ze drawing-room, wiz all zis moderne 
 furniture." 
 
 " That piano shall remain where it is," said 
 monsieur with brief emphasis, as he looked at it 
 with reverence. " It was my mother's ! " 
 
 Finally the curtains were lowered, and the rooms 
 left once more to dark silence, awaiting the advent 
 of a new mistress. 
 
 Aubrey, however, had yet much to accomplish 
 before Christmas. His business agent urged his 
 attention to certain buildings that needed im- 
 provement. In overseeing the repairs of the old, 
 and planning the construction of new tenements, 
 he was inevitably detained in New Orleans far 
 into December. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 THE WEDDING EVENING. 
 THUS grief still treads upon the heels of pleasure. 
 
 CHRISTMAS night at last! At Weldon 
 \^s Grange were assembled the favored guests, 
 all relatives of the happy pair. 
 
 Despite the well-filled parlors, the quietness 
 which brooded over the house was singularly at 
 variance with such festivities. Richly dressed 
 ladies conversed together with hushed voices, or 
 promenaded the spacious rooms, pausing to admire 
 some exquisite floral decoration or bridal gift. 
 There were fair maids and handsome lads, who 
 would fain have engaged in holiday frolics, had 
 not the disapproving glances from their elders 
 prevented. 
 
 " Children, do you forget ? Children, remember, 
 sorrow has reigned in these very rooms ! " So 
 said the fathers and mothers. 
 
 But is not sorrow akin to pleasure? Where 
 yesterday rested the burial-casket, and mourners 
 bowed in grief, today kneel the bride and groom, 
 to accept the marriage trust. 
 
 Upstairs in her bright boudoir stood Evelyn, 
 a marvel of loveliness, as her fair attendants 
 
 declared. 
 
 (302) 
 
THE WEDDING EVENING. 303 
 
 We have seen Hazel and Myrtle as they stood 
 over Mrs. Weldon's coffin in their mourning robes. 
 Now they were decked in pure white. No dis- 
 tinction had been made in their simple attire, 
 except that in the folds of Hazel's dress lay 
 delicate sprays of lily-of-the valley ; while Myrtle's 
 gauzy drapery was caught here and there with 
 clustering Stephen otis. Evelyn had at first chosen 
 lilies-of-the- valley for both ; but some artistic 
 prompting led her to make this floral variation. 
 
 Hazel's hair fell in a glory of ripples to her 
 waist, and in its bronze meshes lay a circlet of 
 pearls, Evelyn's bridal gift, and her arms and 
 throat were also encircled with pearly strands. 
 
 Myrtle's topaz tresses were similarly arranged, 
 and pearls were her ornaments also. What an elf 
 she appeared, her dancing eyes and glowing cheeks 
 full of happy expectancy! 
 
 " Now Evy," cried Myrtle, when every detail of 
 the bride's toilet was complete, " take a parade 
 on the floor, to satisfy us that nothing is lacking." 
 
 Evelyn did her sweet cousin's bidding, and could 
 not suppress a smile of vanity at their admiration. 
 
 "Beautiful as a dream!" cried Hazel; while 
 Myrtle, in her girlish romance, called the bride a 
 veritable Cleopatra. 
 
 " Now," continued Myrtle, " Hazel and I have 
 exhausted our compliments ; so pray tell us how 
 we look. I have been dying for your opinion about 
 my hair. Mamma thought my pearl brooch would 
 
304 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 serve as a clasp to confine it, but I wanted my hair 
 exactly like Hazel's, so she finally consented. What 
 do you think now, honestly ? " 
 
 Evelyn let her eyes wander from Myrtle to 
 Hazel, and back again. By degrees the flush of 
 excitement died out, leaving her face almost as 
 white as the orange-blossoms. At last she said 
 nervously : " Candidly, Myrtle, I do not like your 
 hair flowing. It does not suit your face. Take 
 my advice ! Let Phebe arrange it in a coronet, 
 with the pearls clasping it at the top." 
 
 Myrtle pursed her pretty lips and said, " And 
 Hazel's too ? " willing to submit to any change, 
 could her hair only be like her companion's. 
 
 " No, Hazel's shall remain as it is. I oh yes, 
 there is yet another change ! I want red roses in 
 your drapery, in place of those faded flowers. 
 Some exquisite roses were sent me today. Phebe, 
 go and bring them. They are on the table in my 
 sitting-room. Quick ! " 
 
 Myrtle suppressed a tear of vexation, but at 
 Evelyn's imperturbable look she surrendered herself 
 to the maid's dexterous hands. 
 
 The sole child of indulgent parents, Myrtle had 
 been much petted. She was wont to consult her 
 own pleasure in all things. This change was no 
 small disappointment, for she and Hazel had talked 
 of little else but their twin toilets. No wonder she 
 thought Evelyn harsh, and mentally called her a 
 capricious tyrant, not at all artistic in this new 
 
THE WEDDING EVENING. 305 
 
 choice of flowers for a bridemaid. "Red roses! 
 How horrid and awkward ! I wish mamma would 
 come in directly and interfere, I do! Mamma 
 thought me just perfect as I was. Why don't 
 she" 
 
 At that instant the door opened and Mrs. 
 Seymour entered. She looked at her daughter in 
 surprise: "Why these changes in your toilet, 
 Myrtle ? " she asked abruptly. 
 
 " Cousin Evelyn suggested them," returned the 
 girl pettishly ; whereupon the mother turned 
 toward Evelyn, who feigned unconcern, and busied 
 herself with retying the ribbons of her bouquet. 
 "I thought the pale and starry stephenotis per- 
 fectly suited to Myrtle! And her hair! Why 
 Evelyn, are you quite certain it looks better in a 
 coronet ? " 
 
 Seeing that diplomacy was unavoidable, Evelyn 
 whispered, so that neither of the bridemaids 
 overheard her words : " It was for your sake, 
 dear auntie. They looked so like each other, I 
 feared " 
 
 Mrs. Seymour was touched. " You were very 
 considerate, my dear ! I have dreaded seeing 
 Myrtle and Hazel together tonight, dressed so 
 much alike. I saw them in black at sister's 
 funeral, and was completely unnerved by the 
 resemblance." 
 
 "Mamma, I believe you are conspiring with 
 Cousin Evelyn after all ! " As Phebe adjusted 
 
30G THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 the last rose in the drapery Myrtle flounced across 
 the room, and stood before her mother rebelliously. 
 "Look at me now! How horrid, in comparison 
 with what I was before ! " 
 
 " Oh Myrtle, you look a very Goddess of Love 
 in those red roses ! " chimed in Hazel, who had 
 been a silent but sisterly sympathizer with 
 Myrtle's disappointment. 
 
 " I agree with Hazel ! Your hair is done beau- 
 tifully, my pet," said Mrs. Seymour ; then, seeing 
 that her daughter's displeasure was modified by 
 her words, she added, as she turned again to her 
 niece : " We must go down at once ! They are 
 already playing the Wedding March." 
 
 They kissed the bride, and wished her god- 
 speed ; and then the four met the gentlemen, 
 already waiting in the hall, Mr. Elmer Wei don, 
 who was to give away the bride ; his two hand- 
 some sons, who were to be groomsmen ; and the 
 Honorable Franklin Seymour. 
 
 A few moments more, and Aubrey Deverell 
 had accepted Evelyn Weldon as his wife, promising 
 to love and honor her until death. Then they 
 received congratulations, but it was mockery to 
 Aubrey. 
 
 Mockery ! Pity the bridegroom whose heart 
 thus cries out ere the breath of wedding vows is 
 cold ! Pity the man and pity the woman ! 
 
 Evelyn leaned heavily on her husband's arm, 
 
THE WEDDING EVENING. 307 
 
 for her joy was overpowering. He felt her hand 
 tremble, and its cold touch might be felt through 
 her glove. " You are not quite well, I fear," he 
 whispered solicitously. 
 
 She answered his look with one of triumph. " It 
 is the close rooms," her lips managed to say ; but 
 presently she cried earnestly : " Aubrey, Aubrey ! 
 Take rffe into the air ! " 
 
 He led her along the hall' to a low window, 
 looking into the garden. Throwing open the sash 
 he bade her lean out, so that she could drink in 
 the breeze. 
 
 " There, I am already better, much better, 
 Aub My God ! What was that ? " She broke 
 from him suddenly, with a fear-stricken face. 
 
 She had heard a rustling among the dead leaves, 
 thickly strewn below the window. 
 
 " Someone is hiding outside ! Aubrey, oh 
 Aubrey ! " 
 
 " Come away ! You are nervous ! You need 
 rest," returned her new-made husband, gently 
 placing his arm about her. 
 
 As if she heard him not she again leaned forth 
 into the darkness, scanning it narrowly; for she 
 was impressed with the idea that a human being 
 was lurking near. Yes, distinctly she heard labored 
 breathing ! What was that gleaming out of the 
 darkness like two steel points ? A pair of piercing 
 eyes ? Once before she had seen them, once, 
 before, as she came home from Cypress Dell ! 
 
308 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Aubrey heard her timid cry, and saw her white 
 hand hesitatingly seek the window-ledge. " You 
 are fainting, Evelyn, my wife ! " 
 
 She did not answer, but fell back into his arms. 
 The guests were surprised, though not seriously 
 alarmed, when the word went about that Mrs. 
 Deverell was ill, and had retired unceremoniously 
 to her own room ; and they were reassured, half- 
 an-hour later, when the bridegroom rejoined them, 
 with the tidings that his wife was sleeping 
 peacefully, after a slight swoon. They therefore 
 repaired to the banquet-room, the groom and Mrs. 
 Seymour leading the way, though regret at the 
 bride's absence hung over them like a pall. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 LIGHT THROUGH NIGHT. 
 
 THE thorns which I have reaped are of the tree 
 I planted ; they have torn me, and I bleed ; 
 I should have known what fruit would spring 
 from such a seed. 
 
 CHILDB HAROLD. 
 
 "QLEEPING peacefully!" Aubrey was the 
 O victim of deceit when he went from his 
 wife's couch with those words on his lips. He 
 did not see the long lashes lift themselves slightly. 
 He did not see the cunning look as he bade Phebe 
 sit near her mistress, and call him if she became 
 restless. 
 
 Scarcely had the door closed when Evelyn opened 
 her eyes with feigned surprise. 
 
 " Phebe, that light annoys me ! I can not sleep, 
 with it shining so bright. Why are you here ? I 
 sha' n't need you again till morning. Turn the 
 light very low, and then leave me alone." 
 
 " I 's afeard to leabe y' alone, Missy Eb'lyn. I '11 
 jis' lay down on de flo', heah by de fiah, so 's ye 
 can call me, honey, if ye wants me." 
 
 " Will you obey me, and go ? " 
 
 " Yes 'm ! I is ; but marsa done toP me, " 
 (309) 
 
310 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 " How dare you parry words, when you know I 
 am dying for sleep ? " 
 
 The girl went away crestfallen. 
 
 No sooner was she gone than her mistress locked 
 the door, hurriedly dressed herself in plain attire, 
 drew a waterproof close about her face, and then 
 stole forth into the night. 
 
 The cold light of the stars guided her to the spot 
 where she had encountered those eyes. In dread 
 uncertainty she turned her gaze in every direction, 
 meeting naught but darkness, which seemed sent on 
 purpose to baffle her. 
 
 From the house came the suppressed hum of 
 voices, but there was none of the merry-making 
 which characterizes a wedding party. No music 
 and laughter cheered the midnight air. 
 
 Only the youngest guests had done justice to the 
 tempting viands. The disappointed servants, who 
 had spent days of toil over the feast, carried the 
 meats, salads, pastries, and ices, all back to the 
 kitchen. 
 
 " Dah 'm de bridecake, what took me a bressed 
 day ter stir and bake, not teched ! Dah it am, 
 wi' de reef ob flow's 'bout it, zackly like it went on 
 de table. . Fo' de Lawd, chillum, I 's bressed if I 
 ebber see sich doin's, 'fo' or since the 'mancipa- 
 tion. It do seem more nor a funeral as a weddin'. 
 Bridecake not cut f oh de ring ! Dat am bad luck. 
 Now ye heahs me, brack uns, it am bad luck, sho's 
 you bo'n ! " 
 
LIGHT THROUGH NIGHT. 311 
 
 So spake old Aunt Sarah, as she deposited on 
 the dresser the snowy pyramid in question, with its 
 garland of smilax and hyacinths. 
 
 The bridecake uncut! It must indeed have 
 been a sad wedding supper ! The ruby wine was 
 still in the crystal decanters, and no toasts had 
 been proposed in honor of the bride ! 
 
 At midnight the guests began to retire to their 
 respective apartments. By one o'clock the parlors 
 were empty, only Mrs. Seymour and the house- 
 keeper remaining below. 
 
 "I have been to Evelyn's door, Aubrey," said 
 the aunt, as he returned from bidding the last 
 guest farewell. " I found her room perfectly 
 quiet, so I did n't go in. Phebe says she does n't 
 wish to be disturbed." 
 
 Aubrey said he would go out for a walk before 
 retiring, as he had a wretched headache, and a 
 few breaths of fresh air might do him good. 
 
 Really he wanted to be alone in his misery. 
 The bondage galled him, in which he had been so 
 suddenly ensnared. He felt the iron in his heart, 
 and could have cried aloud in his agony. He had 
 spoken to Ha/el but once that evening, and then 
 his brief words were : <* Are you happy now, little 
 
 one , ? " BaacwftLibwy 
 
 She had tried to throw gladness into her words : 
 
 " I am happy for her sake ; " but her voice faltered, 
 and she turned away quickly, lest he discover what 
 she now knew to be true. 
 
312 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 Meanwhile Evelyn was grouping her way hither 
 and thither in the darkness, a despairing cry going 
 up from her heart : " Merciful Heaven, guide me 
 to her, lest my new life be ruined ere it begin ! " 
 
 At length a suppressed cough broke the fate- 
 ful stillness. 
 
 " She is here ; thank God ! " Evelyn exclaimed 
 aloud, as she parted the shrubberies whence the 
 sound seemed to issue. 
 
 Suddenly her foot came in contact with someone 
 crouching in the darkness. 
 
 Philias Ward ? " called Evelyn hoarsely. 
 
 Another spell of coughing came on, and then a 
 response, half-defiant : " Yes, I 's Philias Ward. 
 I's come here to die, miss." 
 
 "You do not know your peril," panted Mrs. 
 Deverell, laying an imperious hand upon the 
 mulatto. 
 
 "What matter if I is found out?" asked the 
 woman in a dogged tone. I can 't live but a day 
 longer. For tree days I's been draggin' myself 
 heah to see you, an' be tol' she Hazel had ben 
 resto'ed to her own home. You' p'omise! Hab 
 you gib Mis' Seymour ? " 
 
 " Hush ! There are those within hearing who 
 would kill you if they knew you were here. 
 Philias Ward, beware ! A terrible punishment 
 will follow, if you expose yourself to my kinsmen. 
 A score of them are here tonight, in this house ; 
 for this is my wedding night." 
 
LIGHT THROUGH NIGHT. 313 
 
 " You' weddin' ! " echoed the other, still un- 
 daunted, " you' weddin' ! Is dey here, Hazel, 
 Myrine, wid her mudder 'n little Myrtle ? I 
 looked in de hall windah, and saw many ladies 
 and some young gals, but not Myrine, not Myrtle. 
 Oh, I 'd know 'em, even after dese many yeahs ! 
 How lubly dey mus' look togeder, de twin 
 sisters ! " 
 
 " I saw you outside the window, and have come 
 to warn you of your danger." 
 
 "Danger? I ain't afeard. I'd face my deah 
 old mistus, if I knowed she was at de weddin', 
 along wid Myrine an' Myrtle. I 'd rush in dar, 'n 
 fall oil my knees, un' I 'd let my old mistus know 
 how sorrow I is for my 'havior." 
 
 "My God ! " groaned Evelyn. 
 
 " Hain't you' aunt come from New Orleans to 
 de weddin' ? " the mulatto asked, grasping Evelyn's 
 cloak as she spoke. 
 
 "No," returned Evelyn, and the lie choked 
 her, " they are not here ; and it is well for you ! 
 Come with me. I will make you comfortable 
 till morning. I will give you food and drink." 
 Mentally she added : " It would be no great sin 
 should I give her a draught that would put her to 
 sleep forever. She is already at death's door. 
 She must go ! " 
 
 " I can sleep here, and I aint hung'y," said the 
 mulatto obdurately. 
 
 " Sleep here, to be trampled upon ? No, you 
 must come with me." 
 
314 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 " Wait ! It 's a comin' on agin, de cough. 
 It'll soon tab me to pieces. One or two 
 more sick spells '11 finish 
 
 A struggle ensued. When the cough subsided 
 both women were startled by the sound of some- 
 one raising a sash, and Evelyn could see her aunt 
 leaning from a back window, to close the outside 
 shutters. 
 
 Philias also saw Mrs. Seymour, and staggered 
 to her feet, gasping: "My mistus, my mistus ! " 
 Like a maniac she wrenched her hand from Eve- 
 lyn's grasp, and rushed through the shrubbery, 
 toward that wide stream of light, wherein her old 
 mistress's face was distinctly outlined. 
 
 Evelyn stood transfixed, her heart crying piti- 
 fully : " I am lost, lost, lost, LOST ! " 
 
 She saw the mulatto fall forward, her head 
 striking against the casement, and heard Mrs. 
 Seymour's cry of alarm ! " It is Philias Ward ! 
 Merciful God ! " No answer came in response to 
 her cry. 
 
 Unconsciously Evelyn pressed forward a few 
 steps, repeating the words audibly : " God grant 
 she is dead! Grant that her lips are closed for- 
 ever ! Then I shall be saved, saved for him ! " 
 
 " And your wickedness would endure until 
 nothing remained of your humanity. No, by the 
 Eternal ! If Philias Ward dies, her sec rot 1111- 
 revealed, I shall deliver to Mrs. Seymour her 
 long-lost child ! " These words, spoken, with the 
 
LIGHT THROUGH NIGHT. 315 
 
 vengeance of Gallic- blood, made Evelyn reel as 
 though struck by a bullet. 
 
 " You here ! You know all ! " 
 
 " Everything ! Would to Heaven I had died, 
 rather than live to bestow my father's name upon 
 such a woman. You have robbed an innocent 
 child of her birthright T a mother of her child ! " 
 
 There was a gasp and a fall. For humanity's 
 sake Aubrey lifted his wife from the ground, but 
 without a single heart-pang learned the truth. She 
 had fallen at death's door, though not quite across 
 the threshold. 
 
 All the next day his bride heard a voice calling 
 to her from the valley of shadows ; but just before 
 answering to that call she opened her eyes, and 
 whispered her husband's name. 
 
 He approached the bedside, his face almost as 
 white as hers, and looked down upon her ; but he 
 could not speak. What words of kind farewell 
 could his betrayed heart utter to this guilty and 
 dying woman ? 
 
 " I have been wicked, Aubrey, but it was all, 
 all, through my disappointed heart ! I thought 
 you loved her. I sought revenge ! When you came 
 again I would have acknowledged my sin ; but it 
 was too late ! Rather than lose you I would have 
 carried my treason to the grave! I might have 
 known what fruit must spring from the seed of my 
 bitter sowing ! " 
 
 She closed her eyes, her face was distorted with 
 
316 THE DEATH Til U ST. 
 
 the pain which was so soon to close her account 
 with the world. 
 
 The agony passed, and she spoke again : " Aubrey, 
 I can 't ask forgiveness ; but darling, do n't judge 
 me wholly wicked. I am not so false as I seem, 
 as I know you think me. As your wife, I would 
 have outlived every taint of evil." 
 
 Another spasm, and then she said : " My aunt, 
 Hazel, Myrtle ! I want them. Quick, or it will 
 be too late." 
 
 They came speedily, and then she said : " Come 
 near, very near, all of you ! " 
 
 Mrs. Seymour pressed one of her niece's hands 
 forgivingly within her own, and bent to kiss her, 
 but Evelyn pushed her back. 
 
 " No, no ! Do n't touch me until you have heard. 
 Perhaps you have heard ! Perhaps she the 
 Philias " 
 
 " Does Evelyn know Philias is here ? " asked Mrs. 
 Seymour in bewilderment. 
 
 Aubrey bowed assent. " Hear what your niece 
 has to say, Madame Seymour. She has revived 
 from this last attack." 
 
 The aunt leaned over, that she might hear more 
 distinctly. 
 
 " Philias Ward ! You saw her last night ? " 
 
 " Yes ; she came to the window, just as I was 
 closing the shutters. She called my name, and 
 then fell to the ground. Before I could go to her 
 assistance she was dead, with hemorrhage." 
 
LIGHT THROUGH NIGHT. 317 
 
 " She died before confessing ? " 
 
 " Yes ! I am deeper in the dark than ever about 
 my lost babe, my little Myrine ! " said Mrs. Seymour 
 hopelessly. 
 
 Evelyn rose with an effort to a sitting posture, 
 and beckoned to her two young cousins, who 
 wept at the foot of the bed. At this signal they 
 came to her side. 
 
 " Look, Aunt Lydia, look ! You always thought 
 them so like ! Hear the truth from my lips ! 
 Hazel is your long-lost daughter, your Myrine ! 
 Look ! In my desk look there, and find a rose- 
 wood box and two letters. One is from from 
 my dead mother, to you. The other is in Philias 
 Ward's crabbed hand her confession, the 
 abduction of of of Hazel. Read, you will 
 be convinced. The bundle of baby-clothes, in 
 the letter I threw The dog saw me, Bijou, 
 and strove to bring my crime to" light. Do n't cen- 
 sure me after I am gone. Let my contrite blessing 
 abide with you all now and for ever ! " 
 
 Another struggle and Evelyn Weldon Deverell 
 had passed the unseen gates. 
 
 In Cypress Dell, beside her parents, Aubrey laid 
 his bride of a day. It was not in cruelty, it was 
 not in triumph, that he turned from her tomb, and 
 breathed more freely. 
 
 A year later, when he led the beautiful Myrine 
 Seymour to the altar, his hair was prematurely 
 
818 THE DEATH TRUST. 
 
 gray. In his furrowed face was the shadow of a 
 bitter sorrow ; but this did not lessen his love for 
 Myrine, when he conducted her through the por- 
 tals of Deverell Hall, bared his noble brow, lifted 
 her bridal veil, and placed upon her true lips the 
 first kiss of wedlock. 
 
 From their terrace windows they could look 
 down the avenue and see a picturesque little 
 villa, destined to be the home of Wilford Hylton 
 and his bride-elect, Myrtle Seymour. 
 
 One night, as they stood in the gloaming together, 
 Aubrey with his arm about his young wife, her 
 head resting trustingly on his shoulder, Hazel 
 whispered : " Tomorrow will be my sister's wed- 
 ding day. Tomorrow Myrtle also will be very 
 happy. Aubrey, see how the moon smiles upon 
 their pretty home, a benediction ! " 
 
 He drew her closer to him, and silently prayed 
 that the coming union might be as blessed as their 
 own.