CHAPTER XI.
When Daisy Brooks opened her eyes, she found herself lying on a whitebed, and in a strange apartment which she never remembered having seenbefore. For one brief instant she quite imagined the terrible ordealthrough which she had passed was but a dream. Then it all came back toher with cruel distinctness.
"Where am I?" she cried, struggling up to a sitting posture, andputting back the tangled golden hair from her face. "How came I here?Who saved me from the terrible dark water?"
"I did," answered a young man, rising from his seat by the openwindow. "I saved your life at the risk of my own. Look up into myface, Daisy, and see if you do not remember me."
She lifted her blue eyes to the dark, handsome, smiling face beforeher. Yes, she had seen that face before, but she could not rememberwhere.
He laughed, disclosing his handsome white teeth.
"You can not guess, eh?" he said. "Then it is certainly evident I didnot make much of an impression upon you. I am disappointed. I will notkeep you in suspense, however. We met at Whitestone Hall, on the nightof the lawn fete, and my name is Lester Stanwick."
Ah, she _did_ remember him, standing beneath a waving palm-tree, hisbold, dark eyes following her every motion, while she was waltzingwith Rex.
He saw the flash of recognition in her eyes, and the blush thatmantled her fair, sweet face.
"I am very grateful to you, sir, for saving me. But won't you take mehome, please? I don't want to go back to Madame Whitney's."
"Of course not," he said, with a twinkle in his eyes, "when you leftit in such a remarkable manner as running away."
"How did you know I ran away?" asked Daisy, flushing hotly.
"Madame Whitney has advertised for you," he responded, promptly.
Although he well knew what he uttered was a deliberate falsehood, hemerely guessed the little wild bird had grown weary of the restraint,and had flown away.
"Did she do that?" asked Daisy, thoroughly alarmed, her great blueeyes dilating with fear. "Oh, Mr. Stanwick, what shall I do? I do notwant to go back. I would sooner die first."
"There is no occasion for you to do either," he replied. "You are ingood hands. Stay here until the storm blows over. In all probabilitythe madame has sent detectives out in all directions searching foryou."
Daisy was so young, so unsuspecting, so artless, and knew so little ofthe ways of the world or its intriguing people that she quite believedhis assertion.
"Oh, what shall I do?" she sobbed, covering her face with her hands."Oh, I _must_ go back to Uncle John, and--to--to--"
Stanwick had no idea she meant Rex. He took it for granted she meantJohn Brooks and Septima.
"It is quite uncertain when John Brooks returns to Allendale," hesaid; "and I suppose you are aware his sister has also left theplace--gone, no one knows whither--the Brookses' cottage on the browof the hill stands empty."
"Gone!" cried Daisy, catching her breath swift and hard, "did you say,sir? Aunt Septima has gone--no one lives in the cottage?" Poor Daisyquite believed she was losing her senses.
"Yes," said Stanwick, smothering a low, malicious laugh, "that is whatI said; but I am quite surprised that it is news to you. You are allalone in the world, you see. Of course you could not go back toAllendale. You can do no better than stay in your present quarters forat least a week or so, until you fully recover from your mad frolic onthe water and gain a little strength."
* * * * *
"Where am I?" asked Daisy, "and how did I get here? and who liveshere?"
"One question at a time, if you please," laughed Stanwick, gazingadmiringly at the beautiful, questioning, eager face.
"I suppose," he began, with provoking coolness, "you have been fillingthat little head of yours with romantic ideas of running away fromschool, and sailing far out to sea, and straight into the arms of somehandsome hero who would save you, and would carry you off to somecastle, and turn out to be a prince in disguise! That's the way theyusually turn out, isn't it? But you found the theory did not work verywell in real life, and your little romance came near costing you yourlife--eh, Miss Daisy? As for the second question, I rescued you, justin the nick of time, by jumping into the turbulent waves and bearingyou out of harm's way and keeping that little romantic head of yoursabove water until the barge could be stopped, and you were thenbrought on board. I recognized you at once," he continued; "and toprevent suspicion and inquiry, which would have been sure to follow, Iclaimed you--as my wife! Do not be alarmed," he said, as a sharp,horrified cry rose to the red lips. "I simply did that in order toprotect you from being returned at once in bitter disgrace to MadameWhitney's. Not knowing what else to do with you when the boat landed,I brought you here, and here you have been ever since, quiteunconscious up to date."
"Was it last night you brought me here?" asked Daisy.
"You are not good at guessing. You have been here two nights and twodays."
"But who lives here?" persisted Daisy. "Is this your house?"
"Oh, dear, no," laughed Stanwick. "Upon my honor, you are not verycomplimentary to my taste," he said, glancing around the meagerlyfurnished apartment. "As near as I can understand it, the house isoccupied by three grim old maids. Each looks to be the twin of theother. This was the first shelter I could find, and I had carried youall the way from the boat in my arms, and under the circumstances,after much consulting, they at last agreed to allow you to remainhere. Now you have the whole story in a nutshell."
"Why did they not send to Septima to come to me?" she askedpresently.
"Because they thought you were with your best protector--yourhusband."
"Did you tell them that here, too?" asked Daisy, growing white and illwith a dizzy horror. "Oh, Mr. Stanwick, send for them at once, andtell them it is not so, or I must!" she added, desperately.
"You must do nothing of the kind, you silly child. Do you suppose theywould have sheltered you for a single instant if they had not believedyou were my wife? You do not know the ways of the world. Believe me,it was the only course I could pursue, in that awkward dilemma,without bringing disgrace and detection upon you."
As if in answer to the question that was trembling upon Daisy's lips,he continued:
"I am stopping at a boarding-place some little distance from here.This is not Baltimore, but a little station some sixty miles fromthere. When you are well and strong you may go where you please,although I frankly own the situation is by no means an unpleasant onefor me. I would be willing to stay here always--with you."
"Sir!" cried Daisy, flushing as red as the climbing roses against thewindow, her blue eyes blazing up with sudden fire, "do you mean toinsult me?"
"By no means," responded Lester Stanwick, eagerly. "Indeed, I respectand honor you too much for that. Why, I risked my life to save yours,and shielded your honor with my name. Had I been your husband in verytruth I could not have done more."
Daisy covered her face with her hands.
"I thank you very much for saving me," she sobbed, "but won't youplease go away now and leave me to myself?"
_Roue_ and villain as Lester Stanwick was, he could not help feelingtouched by the innocence and beauty of little Daisy, and from thatinstant he loved her with a wild, absorbing, passionate love, and hemade a vow, then and there, that he would win her.
From their boyhood up Rex and Lester had been rivals. At college Rexhad carried off the honors with flying colors. Pluma Hurlhurst, thewealthy heiress, had chosen Rex in preference to himself. He stoodlittle chance with bright-eyed maidens compared with handsome,careless, winning Rex Lyon.
Quite unobserved, he had witnessed the meeting between Rex and Daisyat the fountain, and how tenderly he clasped her in his arms as theywaltzed together in the mellow light, to the delicious strains of the"Blue Danube," and knowing Rex as well as he did, he knew for thefirst time in life Rex's heart was touched.
"It would be a glorious revenge," Stanwick had muttered to himself,"if I could win her from him.
" Then a sordid motive of revenge aloneprompted him--now he was beginning to experience the sweet thrillingsof awakened love himself. Yes, he had learned to love Daisy for herown sweet self.
He smiled as he thought of the last words Pluma Hurlhurst had said tohim: "Revenge is sweet, Lester, when love is turned to bitter hatred.Help me to drag Rex Lyon's pride as low as he has this night draggedmine, and you shall have my hand as your reward. My father is aninvalid--he can not live much longer--then you will be master ofWhitestone Hall." As he had walked down the broad gravel path, runninghis eye over the vast plantation stretching afar on all sides, like afield of snow, as the moonlight fell upon the waving cotton, he ownedto himself it was a fair domain well worth the winning.
But as he stood there, gazing silently down upon little Daisy'sface--how strange it was--he would have given up twenty suchinheritances for the hope of making sweet little Daisy Brooks hiswife.
It was well for Daisy Brooks he little dreamed of the great barrierwhich lay between them, shutting him out completely from all thoughtsof love in Daisy's romantic heart.