Miles away from the Ocean House, and she in those white kid slippers!How in the name of Heaven was she to get back? Jay Gardiner would returnon the midnight train, and when he found she was not there, he wouldinstitute a search for her, and some one of the scouting party wouldfind her in that broken-down coach by the road-side, with Victor Lamontas her companion.
She dared not think what would happen then. Perhaps there would be aduel; perhaps, in his anger, Jay Gardiner might turn his weapon uponherself. And she sobbed out in still wilder affright as she pictured thescene in her mind.
"There is but one thing to be done. You will have to ride one of yourhorses back to Newport, and bring out a team to fetch us back," declaredVictor Lamont, with well-simulated impatience and anger.
"That I could do, sir," replied the man, "and you and the lady couldmake yourselves as comfortable as possible in the coach."
"Bring back some vehicle to get us into Newport before midnight, andI'll give you the price of your horse," cried Victor Lamont in anapparently eager voice.
"All right, sir," replied the driver. "I'll do my best."
And in a trice he was off, as Sally supposed, on his mission. She hadlistened, with chattering teeth, to all that had been said.
"Oh, goodness gracious! Mr. Lamont," she asked, "why are you peering outof the coach window? Do you see--or hear--anybody?"
He did not attempt to take her hand or talk sentimental nonsense to hernow. That was not part of the business he had before him.
"Do not be unnecessarily frightened," he murmured; "but I fancied--mind,I only say fancied--that I heard cautious footsteps creeping over thefallen leaves. Perhaps it was a rabbit, you know--a stray dog, ormischievous squirrel."
Sally was clutching at his arm in wild affright.
"I--I heard the same noise, too!" she cried, with bated breath, "and,oh! Mr. Lamont, it _did_ sound like a footstep creeping cautiouslytoward us! I was just about to speak to you of it."
Five, ten minutes passed in utter silence. Victor Lamont made no effortto talk to her. This was one of the times when talking sentiment wouldnot have been diplomatic.
"Oh, Mr. Lamont!" cried Sally, clinging to him in the greatest terror, "Iam sure we both could not have been mistaken. There _is_ some one skulkingabout under the shadow of those trees--one--two--three--persons; I seethem distinctly."
"You are right," he whispered, catching her trembling, death-cold handsin his, and adding, with a groan of despair: "Heaven help us! what canwe do? Without a weapon of any kind, I am no match for a trio ofdesperadoes!"
Young Mrs. Gardiner was too terrified to reply. She could not haveuttered a word if her life had depended upon it.
At that instant the vehicle was surrounded by three masked figures. Thelight from a bull's-eye lantern was flashed in Sally's face as the doorwas thrown violently back, and a harsh voice cried out, as a rough handgrasped her:
"Just hand over those jewels, lady, and be nimble, too, or we'll tear'em off you! Egg, you relieve the gent of his money and valuables."
"Help! help! help!" cried Sally, struggling frantically; but the man whohad hold of her arm only laughed, declaring she had a good pair oflungs.
Victor Lamont made a pretense of making a valiant struggle to come toher rescue. But what could he do, with two revolvers held close to hishead, but stand and deliver.
Then the magnificent Gardiner diamonds, with their slender goldenfastenings, were torn from her, and were soon pocketed by the desperado,who had turned a revolver upon her.
"Thanks, and good-bye, fair lady," laughed the trio, retreating.
But Sally had not heard. She had fallen back on the seat of the coach ina dead faint.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Seeing that his victim had lost consciousness, the man paused in hiswork, and turned around to Lamont with a loud laugh.
"A capital night's work," he declared. "You ought to have made good yourtime by having three or four simpletons like this one, who wearsexpensive jewels, fall in love with you."
It was fully an hour after Victor Lamont's accomplices--for such theywere--had retreated, that Sally opened her eyes to consciousness.
For a moment she was dazed. Where was she? This was certainly not herroom at the Ocean House.
In an instant all the terrible scenes she had passed through recurred toher. She was in the cab--_alone_! With a spasmodic gesture, she caughtat her neck. Ah, Heaven! the diamond necklace, all her jewels, wereindeed gone!
With a cry that was like nothing human, she sprung to her feet, and atthat moment she heard a deep groan outside, and she realized that itmust be Victor Lamont. Perhaps they had hurt him; perhaps he was dying.
"Oh, Mr. Lamont," she cried out in agony, "where are you?" and waitedbreathlessly for his response.
"Here," he groaned; "bound fast hand and foot to the wheel of the cab.Can you come to my aid?"
With feet that trembled under her, and hands shaking like aspen leaves,she made her way to him, crying out that her diamonds were gone.
"How shall I ever forgive myself for this night's work!" he cried. "Oh,Mrs. Gardiner--Sally--why don't you abuse me? Why don't you fling itinto my face that it was all my fault, persuading you to take this ridethat has ended so fatally? For myself I care not, though I am ruined.They have taken every penny I had with me. But it is for you I grieve."
Sally listened, but made no reply. What could she say?
She tried her utmost to undo the great cords which apparently bound hercompanion; but it was quite useless. They were too much for her slenderfingers.
"Never mind," he said, speaking faintly. "I have borne the torture ofthese ropes cutting into my flesh so many hours now, that I can stand ituntil that cabman returns. I bribed him to return within an hour; buthis horse is so lame, that will be almost impossible."
"How dark it is!" moaned Sally. "Oh, I am fairly quaking with terror!"
"It is the darkness which precedes the dawn," he remarked; and as heuttered the words, he coughed twice.
A moment later, Sally cried out, joyfully:
"Oh, I hear the sound of carriage wheels! That cabman is returning atlast, thank the fates."
Yes, it was the cabman, who seemed almost overwhelmed with terror whenhe saw the condition of the two passengers, and heard of the robberywhich had taken place.
"I'll get you back to Newport by daylight, sir," he cried, turning toVictor Lamont, "and we can drive direct to the police-station, where youcan report your great loss."
"No, no, no!" cried Sally, clinging to Lamont's arm, as she imaginedherself standing before a police magistrate, and trying to tell him thestory.
"I understand your feelings perfectly," whispered Lamont, pressing herarm reassuringly. "The story of our losses must not get out. No, we_dare not_ ask the police to help us recover your diamonds and my money,because of the consequences."
Wretched Sally was obliged to agree with this line of thinking.
Neither spoke much on that homeward ride. Sally was wondering if shewould be able to evade suspicion, and gain her rooms unrecognized; andLamont was wondering if the beautiful married flirt realized howcompletely she was in his power.
He had concocted a brilliant scheme, and he meant to put it intoexecution with as little delay as possible.
Jay Gardiner was lavish in giving money to his young wife, andhe--Lamont--meant to have some of that cash--ay, the most of it. He hadthought of a clever scheme to obtain it.
The driver was as good as his word this time. He landed them as near tothe hotel as possible, and that, too, when the early dawn was justbreaking through the eastern horizon.
With cloak pulled closely about her, and veil drawn close over her face,Sally accompanied the driver of the coach to the servants' entrance.
It was not without some shame and confusion that she heard the ignorantcoachman pass her off as his sweetheart, and ask his brother, thenight-watchman, to admit her on the sly, as she was one of the girlsemployed in the house.
&nb
sp; She fairly flew past them and up the broad stairway, and never pauseduntil she reached her own room, threw, open the door, and sprung intoit, quaking with terror.
Antoinette, her French maid, lay dozing en a velvet couch. She hopedthat she would be able to slip past her without awakening her; but thiswas destined not to be.
Antoinette heard the door creak, and she was on her feet like a flash.
"Oh, my lady, it is you!" she whispered, marveling much where hermistress got such a queer bonnet and cloak. "Let me help you take offyour wrap. You look pale as death. Are you ill?"
"No, no, Antoinette," replied Mrs. Gardiner, flushing hotly, annoyedwith herself, the inquisitive maid, and the world in general. But shefelt that she must make some kind of an excuse, say something. "Yes, I'mtired out," she replied, quickly. "I was called away to see a sickfriend, and had to go just as I was, as there was not a moment to lose."
"You were very prudent, my lady, to remove your magnificent jewels.Shall I not take them from your pocket, and replace them in theircaskets, and lock them safely away?"
"I will attend to them myself, Antoinette," she panted, hoarsely. "Helpme off with this--this ball-dress, and get me to bed. I am fagged outfor want of sleep. I do not want any breakfast; do not awake me."
Looking at her mistress keenly from beneath her long lashes, Antoinettesaw that she was terribly agitated.
Long after the inner door had closed on her, Antoinette sat thinking,and muttered, thoughtfully:
"I shall find out where my lady was last night. Trust me to learn hersecret, and then she will be in my power!"
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Victor Lamont had been quite correct in his surmise. Jay Gardiner hadreached Newport several hours later than he had calculated, and had gonedirectly to his own apartments.
He was so tired with his long trip that he would have thrown himself onhis couch just as he was, had not a letter, addressed to himself,staring at him from the mantel, caught his eye, and on the lowerleft-hand corner he observed the words: "Important. Deliver at once."
Mechanically he took it down and tore the envelope. The superscriptionseemed familiar--he had seen that handwriting before.
He looked down at the bottom of the last page, to learn who hiscorrespondent was, and saw, with surprise, and not a little annoyance,that it was signed "Anonymous."
He was about to crush it in his hand and toss it into the waste-paperbasket, when it occurred to him that he might as well learn itscontents.
There were but two pages, and they read as follows:
"To DOCTOR JAY GARDINER, ESQ., Ocean House, Newport.
"_Dear Sir_--I know the utter contempt in which any warning given by an anonymous writer is held, but, notwithstanding this, I feel compelled to communicate by this means, that which has become the gossip of Newport--though you appear to be strangely deaf and blind to it.
"To be as brief as possible, I refer to the conduct of your wife's flirtations, flagrant and above board, with Victor Lamont, the English lord, or duke, or count, or whatever he is. I warn you to open your eyes and look about, and listen a bit, too.
"When your wife, in defiance of all the proprieties, is seen riding alone with this Lamont at midnight, when you are known to be away, it is time for a stranger to attempt to inform the husband.
"Yours with respect,
"AN ANONYMOUS FRIEND."
For some moments after he had finished reading that letter, Jay Gardinersat like one stunned; then slowly he read it again, as though to take inmore clearly its awful meaning.
"Great God!" he cried out; "can this indeed be true?"
If it was, he wondered that he had not noticed it. Then he recollected,with a start of dismay, that since they had been domiciled at the OceanHouse he had not spent one hour of his time with Sally that could bespent elsewhere. He had scarcely noticed her; he had not spoken to hermore than half a dozen times. He had not only shut her out from hisheart, but from himself.
He had told himself over and over again that he would have to shun hiswife or he would hate her.
She had seemed satisfied with this so long as she was supplied withmoney, horses and carriages, laces and diamonds.
Was there any truth in what this anonymous letter stated--that she hadso far forgotten the proprieties as to ride with this stranger.
He springs from his seat and paces furiously up and down the length ofthe room, the veins standing out on his forehead like whip-cords. Heforgets that it is almost morning, forgets that he is tired.
He goes straight to his wife's room. He turns the knob, but he can notenter for the door is locked. He knocks, but receives no answer, andturning away, he enters his own apartment again, to wait another hour.Up and down the floor he walks.
Can what he has read be true? Has the girl whom he has married, againsthis will, as it were, made a laughing-stock of him in the eyes of everyman and woman in Newport? _Dared_ she do it?
He goes out into the hall once more, and is just in time to see hiswife's French maid returning from breakfast. He pushes past the girl,and strides into the inner apartment.
Sally is sitting by the window in a pale-blue silk wrapper wonderfullytrimmed with billows of rare lace, baby blue ribbons and jeweledbuckles, her yellow hair falling down over her shoulders in a ripplingmass of tangled curls.
Jay Gardiner does not stop to admire the pretty picture she makes, butsteps across the floor to where she sits.
"Mrs. Gardiner," he cries, hoarsely, "if you have the time to listen tome, I should like a few words with you here and now."
Sally's guilty heart leaps up into her throat.
How much has he discovered of what happened last night? Does he knowall?
He is standing before her with flushed face and flashing eyes. Shecowers from him, and if guilt was ever stamped on a woman's face, it isstamped on hers at that instant. If her life had depended upon it, shecould not have uttered a word.
"Read that!" he cried, thrusting the open letter into her hand--"readthat, and answer me, are those charges false or true?"
For an instant her face had blanched white as death, but in the next shehad recovered something of her usual bravado and daring. That heavyhand upon her shoulder seemed to give her new life.
She took in the contents of the letter at a single glance, and then shesprung from her seat and faced him defiantly. Oh, how terribly white andstern his face had grown since he had entered that room.
"Did you hear the question I put to you, Mrs. Gardiner?" he cried,hoarsely, his temper and his suspicions fairly aroused at Sally'sexpression.
The truth of the words in the anonymous letter is slowly forcing itselfupon him.
If ever a woman looked guilty, _she_ did at that moment. She standstrembling before him, her eyes fixed upon the floor, her figuredrooping, her hands tightly clasped.
"Well?" he says, sharply; and she realizes that there is no mercy inthat tone; he will be pitiless, hard as marble.
"It ought never to have been," she said, as if speaking to herself. "Iwish I could undo it."
"You wish you could undo what?" asked her husband, sternly.
"Our marriage. It was all a mistake--all a mistake," she faltered.
She must say something, and those are the first words that come acrossher mind. While he is answering them, she will have an instant of timeto think what she will say about the contents of the letter.
Deny it she will with her latest breath. Let him _prove_ that she wentriding with Victor Lamont--_if he can!_
Jay Gardiner's face turns livid, and in a voice which he in vain triesto make steady, he says:
"How long have you thought so?"
"Since yesterday," she answered, her eyes still fixed on the floor.
"Since yesterday"--Jay Gardiner is almost choking with anger as herepeats her words--"since you, another man's wife, took that midnightride which this letter refers to?"
The sarca
sm which pervades the last words makes her flush to the rootsof her yellow hair.
"But that I am too much amused, I should be tempted to be angry with youfor believing a story from such a ridiculous source," she declared,raising her face defiantly to his.
"Then you deny it?" he cried, grasping her white arm. "You say there isno truth in the report?"
"Not one word," she answered. "I left the ball-room early, because itwas lonely for me there _without you_, and came directly to my room.Antoinette could have told you that had you taken the pains to inquireof her."
"It would ill become me to make such an inquiry of a servant in myemploy," he replied. "You are the one to answer me."
"If the ridiculous story _had_ been true, you could not have wondered atit much," she declared, with a hard glitter in her eye, and a stillharder laugh on her red lips. "When a man neglects his wife, is it anywonder that she turns to some one else for amusement and--and comfort?"
"Call your maid at once to pack up your trunks. We leave the Ocean Housewithin an hour."
With these words, he strode out of the room, banging the door after him.
"God! how I hate that man!" hissed Sally. "I think his death will lay atmy door yet."
CHAPTER XL.
Leave Newport when the season was at its height! The very thought ofsuch a thing was bitterness itself to Sally Gardiner, this butterfly offashion, who loved the whirl of society as dearly as the breath of life.