Mildred Keith - Complete 7 Book Collection. Finley Martha
the clump of evergreens at its farther end.
A biting north wind swept the hard, frozen ground, and rustled the dry leaves at her feet, as she stood leaning against a tree in an intensely listening attitude. It seemed to pierce to her very vitals, and shuddering and trembling with the cold, and nervous dread, she drew the shawl more closely about her, while straining her eyes through the gloom to catch a glimpse of him whom she had come to meet; for there was no light save that shining in the winter sky.
She had waited but a moment, when a stealthy step drew near, and a tall form wrapped in a cloak, stood before her.
"Here first?" he said in a cautious whisper.
"Yes," she answered, in the same low key, and with a sudden catching of her breath, "Oh, why are you here?"
"For my own advantage," he answered half defiantly, "and," in a threatening tone, "you'd better have a care how you betray me."
"I have no desire to do so," she returned, with a weary sigh, "but you must go, and at once; you will ruin me if you stay; you must see that."
"Pooh. I see no such thing. And must is a word you have no right to use to me. Keep your mouth shut, and all will go well."
"What is your object in coming here?"
"Plain enough, I should think," he answered with a sneer.
"You are deceiving that silly girl, and intend to marry her, simply for her money?"
"Exactly. Who needs money more than I?"
"And how long will it take you to squander it?"
"Depends upon how much there is," he returned with a sardonic laugh.
"And your luck at the gaming table, I presume," she said bitterly. "You are acting most dishonorably toward the girl. She would not look at you if she knew—"
"That I am an American born citizen, eh? Well, am I any the worse for that?"
"Not for that—not in my esteem; but you know, you know that is not all, nor the worst by a great deal!" she cried in a tone of suppressed agony. "And you ask me to stand by and see you deceive this girl to her ruin, never stretching out a finger for her help! I cannot do it. I will not! Go! go! you must! you must never show your face here again!"
"Be quiet!" he said angrily; for in her excitement she had raised her voice to a dangerously high pitch. "And look at home," he went on: "remember that you are partly responsible for my ruin, and that you, too, are sailing under false colors."
"But not to the injury of any one; not with any evil intent," she answered, clasping her hands beseechingly. "And if you drive me from here, Harry, you will be taking the bread out of our mother's mouth. It is surely enough that you do nothing for her support yourself."
"I'll help with that when I have secured this girl and her money," he said with an evil laugh. "Just you keep quiet and all will go well. Keep my secret, and I'll keep yours."
She leaned back wearily against the tree, clasping her hands more tightly over her throbbing heart; tears sprang to her eyes, her lips trembled, but no sound came from them.
"Well?" he cried impatiently.
"Harry," she said, very low and tremulously, "I have been reading a good deal lately in an old book—one whose teachings we used to respect in our innocent childhood—and it tells me that 'the way of transgressors is hard;' that though 'hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished'; that there is such a thing as sinning away your day of grace; and it says, 'Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.' O, Harry, turn from your wicked ways before it is forever too late. There is mercy even for you, if you will turn now."
Spell-bound with astonishment, he had heard her thus far in absolute silence; but now he interrupted her with a savage oath.
"I didn't know you'd turned pious," he sneered. "And I didn't come here to be preached to. If you know what's for your good you'll keep quiet; that's all I have to say. And now I'm off. I can't stand here catching my death of cold."
He was turning away, but she grasped a fold of his cloak.
"Harry," she said in a choking voice, "we used to be fond of each other: I was very proud of my handsome brother; and—and we've been parted for five years!"
"That's true, Gerty," he said in a softened tone, turning back and throwing an arm about her waist; "let's kiss and be friends."
"Harry," she whispered, clinging to him, "do you know anything of—of him?"
"No; and don't want to!" he answered savagely. "You're not fool enough to care for him now?"
"Women are fools," was all she said in reply.
And they parted; he disappearing in the direction of the road, she creeping back to the house, and regaining the shelter of her room; fortunately without meeting any one on the way.
She was tired, oh, so tired! her strength scarcely sufficient to bring her to the desired haven; but even there she could not rest. She did not undress or lie down, but crouched beside the fire, her hands clasped about her knees, her head bowed upon her breast, while the monotonous ticking of the clock told off the weary seconds, and the smouldering embers burned out leaving nothing but the cold ashes on the hearth.
Chapter Thirteenth.
"In desert wilds, in midnight gloom,
In grateful joy, in trying pain,
In laughing youth, or nigh the tomb,
Ah! when is prayer unheard or vain?"
Eliza Cook.
The cold, grey dawn of the winter morning was stealing in at the windows as at last, sighing heavily, the governess lifted her head with a returning consciousness of her surroundings.
How dreary it all looked, in the dim, uncertain light! the disordered room, the fireless hearth—fit emblem, as it seemed, of the cold, almost dead heart within her.
Life was like a desert at that moment, a rough, weary road where thorns and briars constantly pierced her tired feet. Why should she stay? Why not lie down and rest in a quiet grave?
She rose slowly, stiff from the constrained posture, and dragged herself across the room. Opening her wardrobe door, she took from the shelf a vial labelled "laudanum." She held it a moment in her hand.
"It is only to go to sleep," she said, half aloud, "to go to sleep, and never wake again. Never? ah! if I could be sure, sure of that!"
"'And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever.' 'Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.'"
With a shudder, she put it hastily back, locked the door, and threw herself upon the bed.
"Oh, God, forgive me!" she cried, "keep me, keep me, or I shall do it yet! And then—forever and ever! No space for repentance, no coming back!"
At length tired nature found temporary relief in the heavy, dreamless slumber of utter exhaustion.
Hours passed, and still she slept on, hearing not, nor heeding the sounds of returning life in the household.
They were very late after their long night of revelry; breakfast was not on the table till ten o'clock, and even then no one answered the summons but the master of the house and Mildred.
The children had taken their morning meal two hours before.
"An unexpected pleasure, this, Milly, my dear," was Mr. Dinsmore's greeting.
"What, uncle, you did not surely expect me to be still in bed!"
"Well no; but I thought you would be looking fagged and worn; instead of which, your face is fresh and fair as a rose just