CHAPTER XIX.
A MADMAN'S DEED.
When he came back to life presently, with a strangling gasp of pain, hemet the anxious gaze of Doctor Platt, who was kneeling beside him.
"Good! You are better! Let me help you to rise," said the old man,aiding him to a sofa. Taking a chair by him, he continued: "You havebeen unconscious for ten minutes, and we have read your letter from MissChase, which I believe to be a cussed forgery!"
"You are right," declared Love, sitting upright, deathly pale andtrembling; while he added, sternly: "Dainty never went away of her ownfree will. It is a case of kidnaping!"
"Yes; for there lies her poor mother in a drugged sleep that will mostlikely last several hours longer. I have examined the dregs left intheir pitcher of ice-water last night, and found a potent drug in it. Imay also tell you that the overhead wire connecting this room with thebell in yours has been cut, thus making the bell powerless to ring ifMiss Chase had wished to summon you to her assistance. There is evidencethat the malice of Miss Chase's enemies has triumphed at last,"sorrowfully replied the old doctor, who had in his heart been a true andstanch friend to the lovers.
A groan of anguish passed Love's pallid lips.
"Oh, my dearest, what have they done to you, my treasure, the ruthlessenemies who hated you!"
At that moment a stately figure in rustling silk crossed the threshold,and a haughty voice exclaimed:
"Doctor Platt and Mr. Chilton, will you kindly withdraw for a fewmoments? I wish to speak privately with my step-son."
She closed the door on their retreating forms, glanced scornfully at thesilent, sleeping face of Mrs. Chase, and exclaimed, eagerly:
"What strange story is this that is being whispered around, Love, thatDainty has deserted you and eloped with a more favored lover?"
"There is the note I found on her pillow. You are welcome to read it,"he replied, coldly.
She took it up from the table, glanced quickly over the contents, andgroaned:
"What a wicked girl to throw you over at the eleventh hour like this!How will you bear the shame of it, my poor boy, jilted like this, at thevery altar, by the poor nobody whom you had stooped to raise to yourside?"
Love answered not one word. He simply rested his head on his elbow, andstared curiously into Mrs. Ellsworth's eager, excited face with hisdark, penetrating eyes as she continued:
"I am pained for you, my dear Love, but not at all surprised. I fearedsomething like this, for I knew that Vernon Ashley was Dainty's lover,not Ela's, and I believed that love would triumph in the end over thegreed for gold. Poor Dainty! she must have loved him well to sacrificeall her ambitions for a poor man's love. But she will be happier withhim than she could have been with you. The hand without the heart doesnot promise well for wedded bliss."
Still without a word, he listened to the fluent tide of her speech, astrange, mocking light in his eyes, whose portent she could not fathom.
She continued, insinuatingly:
"But Dainty Chase has done you a cruel injustice, Love, for, besidesdepriving you of a bride to-day, she has cheated you out of yourinheritance. Remember, unless you are married to-day, your fortunereverts to me!"
He bowed in silence, and Mrs. Ellsworth added, nervously:
"No wonder you are stricken dumb by the magnitude of your misfortune,losing everything that made life worth living, as it were. But cheer up,my dear boy, for I am not so selfish as to wish to deprive you of yourfortune; and as soon as I heard that Dainty had eloped with another, Ibegan to plan to help you, and I soon saw that there was a way out ofyour difficulty."
"Yes?" Love said, inquiringly, and his pale lips curled with a sneerwhose subtle meaning she could not understand; but taking it forencouragement, she blurted out, boldly:
"The preacher is here, the people are here, and the wedding-breakfastwaits. You can vanquish fate if you will. Though Dainty is gone, I havetwo other nieces."
Again that cold, scornful smile as she added, desperately:
"I see that Dainty advises you here to marry either Olive or Ela. Well,you can have either one for the asking."
His pale, writhing lips unclosed to ask, curtly:
"Are you speaking with their permission?"
"Yes," she replied, eagerly and hopefully, feeling sure that he mustcapitulate now and yield to her wishes. It was better to marry thewrong girl than lose such a princely fortune. It was impossible that heshould hesitate over such a question.
She waited, almost confident of his answer, only wondering which hewould choose--Olive, who was her secret preference, or the equallypretty Ela.
But he was slow in making his choice. Suddenly sitting upright, he gazedcuriously at her excited face several minutes without replying, untilthe silence grew irksome, and she cried, with veiled impatience:
"I do not wish to hurry you, Love, but you must see for yourself howimportant it is that you should make a speedy decision. The bishop andthe guests are waiting for the wedding, and unless it comes off soon thebreakfast will be spoiled."
Slowly Love got upon his feet, and steadying his trembling frame by ahand on the back of a chair, startled her with the mocking words:
"You have plotted cleverly, madame, but you have lost the game. NeitherOlive nor Ela will ever be bride of mine!"
Her eyes flashed in her pale face, and she said, insolently:
"Very well, then; I am the mistress of Ellsworth, and you a pauper!"
"Not so fast; you have not heard all," he answered coolly. "I understandthe little game you have been playing, madame, you and your two clevernieces. You have plotted to frighten Dainty to death, but foiled inthat, you kidnaped her at the eleventh hour, hoping to frighten me intomarrying one of your nieces by the threat of disinheritance; but yourmalicious scheme has failed. There exists an insuperable objection tomy marriage with Olive or Ela."
"Insuperable?" she muttered, incredulously.
"Yes; I am a married man already."
A bolt of lightning would not have startled her as much as those calmlyspoken words.
It was her turn now to stare speechlessly, while Love continued,earnestly:
"You are detected in your hellish plotting, madame. The proof of it isin that letter there. A base forgery, since Dainty Chase could notpossibly have written it--Dainty Ellsworth, I should say rather, for shehas been my wife two weeks."
"Your wife?" she faltered, wildly.
"Yes; there was a secret marriage two weeks ago, designed to preventjust what has happened now--some treachery on the part of the threewomen who hated Dainty and were trying to work her ill. Yes, Iunderstand your game; as I said just now, Dainty was kidnaped, and youknow where she is, but your malice can not undo the fact that she is mywife, and my inheritance safe. I go now to break the truth to thewedding guests, and their indignation will compel you to restore me mybride!"
He rushed from the room, heedless of her shrieks for him to stay, andsought the thronged parlor, where the disappointed guests waited for anexplanation.
Within the door he paused, raised his hand, and began:
"My dear friends, I--"
The sentence stopped abruptly, for through the window near by hurtled abullet, sent by a madman's brutal hand. It crashed through his head, andhe fell senseless and bleeding to the floor.