The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-03-31 00:00:00


SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1888,

CHAPTER XVIII.
THE EMBARRASSING QUESTION.

FROM the night of the party at the Stuckup's, Mrs.
Danvers seemed to have made up her mind to annoy
her husband and his family in every possible manner.
Her caprices, her irritable temper kept the house in
constant commotion, and the health of Mr. Danvers
visibly failed under this new and trying phase of
existence to one of his tastes and habits. Mrs. Ander-
son was one of those quiet, self-sustained women who
manage everything under their control without trouble
or confusion, and the elegant repose which had grown
to be the habit of her father's life was necessary to
his happiness. This the turbulent and uncontrollable
daughter-in-law was resolute to destroy, because in
doing so she rendered the whole family miserable.
Day by day Mrs. Danvers watched the shadows
deepening upon the brow of her husband with a
feeling of vindictive triumph. She exulted in the
thought that she possessed the power to render him
so wretched; since she could not make him happy,
she would fulfill her threat and become the torment of
his weary existence. If she could have read the
remorseful struggles of his heart, she would have
known that his sufferings were great enough with-
out the daily annoyances she inflicted upon him.
Cherishing a passionate fondness for children,
Danvers never saw an attractive child that he did
not yearn with feminine tenderness to take it in his
arms and caress it, and the agonising thought
ceaselessly haunted him that his own—his son--that
should have been the joy of his life, actually lay
perishing in some den in that vast Babylon—perish-
ing of want, while he revelled in luxury !
He could not find a clue to the retreat of the
hapless Madeline. Day after day he visited
the office of Drew and Co., but no appli-
cation had been made there in answer to
his advertisement, and he turned with loathing from
the costly viands daily spread before him, with the
agonising thought that the deadly pangs of hunger
were probably endured by those he would have given
his heart's blood to be able to succour.
Harold Danvers was not a bad man; he was only a
weak and self-indulgent one, and he could not thrust
away the hideous phantoms that came to him both
waking and sleeping. That pale wasted face, with
its wild eyes and imploring manner, haunted him
without a moment's repose. He would start from his
fitful broken slumbers bathed in perspiration, with
arms stretched forth to grasp the flitting form of a
worn woman who held towards him the emaciated
form of a dying boy—and then with a mocking cry
would Chide his frantic efforts to pursue her.
Danvers broke through the deep reserve of his
nature, and entreated his sister to make every effort
to discover the abode of Madeline. Mrs. Anderson
also enlisted the sympathies of Mrs. Chard, but both
had hitherto signally failed in their efforts to gain a
clue to her whereabouts.
His family saw with sorrow that from day to day
his health became more feeble, and they had almost
given up the hope that his native air would prove
efficacious in restoring to him any portion of his early
vigour. .
' It Was morning, and a singular scene was passing in
his apartment. Danvers lay upon a sofa drawn near the
fire, in a fitful half slumber, and his wife stood beside
him looking down upon him with a rapidly varying
expression upon her face. At moments she looked
almost like the picture in the library, for a soft and
loving expression lighted up her common-place
features; some bitterly painful recollections would
sweep this away, and in its plarAl came rage, jealousy,
and despair, to efface the flitting charm with which'
softened feelings had invested her.
She suddenly put forth her hand, and grasped a small
dagger that lay upon a table close at hand. "I could
kill him as he sleeps," was the savage thought that
came as a temptation to her; "I could stab him with
his own weapon as he lies so utterly at my mercy!
Yet I dare not—neither do I really wish it, even if I
could escape the consequences of the act. Sweeter
will it be to destroy him by slow torture. Like the cat
which suffers her prey to fancy it may escape her
deadly clutches, only to spring upon and secure it
again, I will stealthily snap the springs of life in the
heart which cherishes the image of another, while I am
only a wife in name. Oh, bitter doom! to cling to
that which loathes and would spurn me if it dared!
The hand, though won by stratagem, is at least mine,
and it shall never be claimed by another. Who was
that woman who stood in our path the other night?
What's the tie between them? Oh! I would—l would
that I could fathom it !"
She bent forward, and the sleeper stirred uneasily,
as if conscious of the baneful glance that rested upon
him. Presently he unclosed his eyes, and seemed
startled by the near approach of her face to his own.
She still held the dagger clasped in her hand, and sud-
denly raising himself up he asked with scornful
bitterness :
"Are you meditating the crime of murder, Mrs.
Danvers, or only that of suicide ?"
"Perhaps I thought of committing both," she coolly
replied. "I could not, of course, outlive a model hus-
band like yourself; our domestic happiness is so per-
fect that life must be worthless to me except in
your companionship, either in life or death."
, Danvers regarded her with grave sadness.
" Adelina, it seems to me that you could lead a
peaceful life here if it were in your nature to do so. I
have given you all that you could have expected from
our ill-omed union—position, fortune, a home that
was at least the abode of contentment till you entered
it. What more do you require of me ?"
She passionately replied:
"Don't taunt me with the poor worldly advantages
you have bestowed upon me, when that is withheld
that can alone give them any value—your heart re-
coils from me. Every glance Of your eye betrays the
repulsion which you dare not otherwise express."
He sadly asked:
"Did you expect any other result from our most
unsuitable union? The marriage:bond made me your
husband, but a mere legal form cannot blend tyvo an-
tagonistic souls into one. Priestcraft can never' accom-
plish a miracle like that.

a Yet the minister said, whom God hath joined to-
gether.' A union sanctioned by Heaven should have
tome truth for its foundation. Tell me, Harold
Danvers, were you free to make the pledge that gave
your loveless hand to me ? Before you saw me, was
there not another who in the sight of God was your
wife ? Is there a barrier between us' ?"
A fearful convulsion passed over his face, and he
covered it with his hands to shut out the burning gaze
that seemed to penetrate his shrinking soul, but no
reply to this demand came.
She frigidly said—
"l am answered. That woman we so strangely
met a few nights ago is the true wife. Who was
mhe ? Where does she conceal herself from my ven-
geance ? Were you ever legally wedded to her, and
is the tie that unites us but a rope of sand that can
be severed at any moment ? Is there a barrier
between us, I ask again ? If so, it shall be repented
unto death !"

Danvers arose in a paroxysm of intense passion.
" Woman ! who gave you the right to question me
thus? to inpute such infamy to me as this? That
wretched woman was a friend of my early days—her
parents were kind to me, and the claims of herself
and her child are sacred to me. Let this suffice, and
do not seek to invade every corner of my miserable
heart with your prying spirit of curiosity. I warn
you that I will not bear it."
"1 only seek to learn that which is of vital
importance to me," she defiantly replied. "Am I the
legal possessor of your name, or am I not."
Danvers regained his self-control, aid sinking back,
he feebly asked—
"ls this a new device to torture me, Adelina ? Your
ingenuity must be at fault when you seek so absurd
a ground of quarrel as this. I shall reply to no such
query."
"Because you dare not," she triumphantly said.
"I hold the clue in my hand, and I shall surely follow
it up until I find the secret of your renunciation of Amy
Cunningham. I suspect it now, and if I gain its
confirmation, but one thing will withhold me
from disgracing you before the world. I would
be glad to abase the pride of those who look down
on me as an inferior, by showing them, and those
whose respect they prize, how low the idol of their
pride has fallen."
He sternly asked—
"l doubt not your will to do so, Adelina, if you
possessed the power—but you have it not. • Besides
self-interest is all powerful with you, and you would
lose everything by such a expose,.
"That is true," was the cool rejoinder. " I suppose
that I must bear with you and your indifference, to
insure the magnificent reward I have in view. Your
father cannot live much longer, and it will be grateful
to me to be queen in this house, where I have been
looked on as an upstart and a nobody. You are his
heir, and when you claim your own, I know ono
woman who will have to seek another shelter."

"Why should you speak of me as my father's solo
heir? He has another child."

"oh, Mrs. Anderson is only a daughter, and there-
fore will not come into more than a few thousand
pounds. You, as the eldest and only son, will of course
take the paternal mansion and family estate. I will
reign in state, then, and your sister may seek another
home. There will be no room for her in mine."

Danvers regarded her with a mingled expression of
disgust and surprise, as he asked
"Are you really so ignorant of our usages as to
imagine that I shall inherit my father's estate to the
exclusion of my sister ? My father will probably
leave me only an equal portion with Madge, and if
this house ever becomes mine, it will be by an
arrangement to that effect between my sister and my-
self. I shall probably permit her to remain its
mistress, for she loves every stone in its walls, while
I have been a wanderer until I care very little about
claiming it as my own."
"Are you really telling me the truth ?" asked Mrs.
Danvers with an expression of dismay. "Can I never
turn that hateful woman out ?"
"It is so very true, that my father can disinherit
me, if he chooses to do so, and leave the, whole of his
property to Mrs. Anderson. If he should survive me,
you could legally claim nothing more than he might
choose to give you.
"And am I to be defrauded of fortune as well as
love ?" she passionately asked.
"No intentional fraud was practised on you, Mrs.
Danvers," was the pointed reply. "A question of
fortune was the last I supposed in your mind when—
when " _ _ _

Danvers paused as if struggling with some bitterly
painful feeling, and his wife sarcastically completed
his unfinished sentence:
"When you conferred the high honour on me of
giving me your imperial hand, which it seems after
all, only weds me to poverty, if the old man should
beat you in the race you are both running toward the
grave."
Bold and reckless as she was, there was something
in the expression of her husband's eyes that made
her recoil. He slowly said;
"I trust the old man of whom you speak so ir-
reverently will long survive his hapless son, to enjoy
what belongs to him. For me, all joy in life is
gone—self-respect is buried in the grave of my past
misdeeds; ambition has flitted before me as an un-
stable shadow; remorse darkens my life, and I am
ready to lie down in my grave, a wretched failure.
Upon my tomb shall be inscribed, Unstable as
water,' for my own weakness has made me what I
am. You, madam, will be sufficiently provided for;
you have borne the name of his only son, and my
father will be liberal to you for my sake." chap 18
She proudly tossed her head as she said:
"I shall seek and find other means to loosen his
purse-strings. /do not choose to remain dependent
on the caprices of an old man almost in his dotage,
who would be entirely under the influence of a woman
that hates me."
"I am at a loss to conjecture what those means can
be, and I am very sure that Madge has no such hostile
feeling toward you. She forbears towards you every
" Yes—l dare say—l hate her for that insolent
superiority she habitually assumes. If she would lose
her temper and retort on me, I should like her better;
but to be treated like a petulant child is enough to make
me angry every hour of my life."
"Oh, well, I am weary of this discussion, and
there comes an opportune knock upon the door to end
it."
Mrs. Anderson came in, carrying a glass of jelly in
her hand. She said to her brother—
"You took no breakfast, Harold, and I have made
this for you, myself. I beg that you will try and eat
a portion of it."
"I wish other people wouldn't take the trouble to
wait on my husband," rudely said Mrs. Danvers. "I
regard that as my right; but in this house I'm not
considered as having any rights."
Mrs. Anderson flushed deeply, but she regarded her
sister-in-law calmly as she replied—
"l should be sorry to invade your privileges, Adelina,
but a sister also has strong claims upon an only
brother. I hope that, on my part, nothing has been
said or done, which would lead you to imagine me
willing to infringe the sacred duties of a wife towards
her husband. Can we not come to a better under-
standing, Adelina, than has lately existed between
us, and become sisters in something more than the
na.m#?"