The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1870-02-11
q seemed 70 h.rs l,.hed her on Ii

have explained myself, Amer believing In him as
hun By % say' after arssf dreaming Of him By night, he
wonders Why didn't charge him with his disgraee
the nrst time No met, MY tsdarllng. you are
q thief! Ny hero whom love and honor, you
and stole my Diamondr That Is what ought 10
have said. You villain. you mean, mean. mean
| villain, would have lost any Diamonds rather
took up my hat In mercy 10 her-yes, can
honestly say it-in mercy 70 her, turned away
without . word. and opened the door by which i
she followed and snatched the door out Of my
hand she closed II, and pointed back to the place
that had left
Nor she said. Not yet, 1t seems that owe
stay and hear L. or you shall stoop 10 the lowest
inhmy Of all. and force your way out'
TO hear % n T snsssres ss BY s .en"isHas % ali could
do-that submitted myself % her WILL
The crimson flush of anger began 10 iade out OF
her hee, as went back and took my ehs,t ~ ~
/ Ing was observable In her. Sho spoke without
looking at me. Her hands were fast clasped In
her lap, and her eyes were hned on the ground:
sors.. % Yoa :SsiI see Whether did Try 10 do You
Justice or not told you Just nov that ! never n
slept, and never returned 10 my bed ater you had
len my sittlng-room. It's useless 70 trouble you
by dwelling on what thOught-you wouldn't un-
derstand my thoughts-l will only tell you what
recover S,S % %ysalf rsirsIned from alarming the
house, and telling everybody what had happened
Las ought 10 have done In spite OF what had
seen was fond enough Of you TO sslle,s.no & mat
10 10 my own mind that you were deliberately q
thief I thought and thought and ended In
writing TO you.'
4 know you never received It. Walt listle. and
you shall hear why. Ny letter would have told
you nothing openly. IL would not have ruined
you for life, II u had iallen Into some other per-
sons hands II would only have said-in Q man
i ner which you yourself could not possibly have
mista kep-that had reason 10 know you were In
motner's experience OF you, that you were not
very discreet or very scrupulous about hew yon
got money when you wanted u: You would have
You would have known what 1 referred to. lfyou
had read on with some interest After that, you
would have come TO an offer had to make TO You
The offer, privately (not word, mind, to be said
openly about IL between us ~ OF the loan Of as
large . sum Of money a. could get And would
have got itr she exclaimed. her color beginning
TO rise again and her eye. loosin: Ip At s once
n could have got the money In no other wayI In
those words, wrote TO you. Walt! did more
than that. arranged with Penelope TO give you
the letter when nobody was near l planned to
shut myself into my bed room, and have the sit
ting-rOOm lett open and empty all the morning
And hOpsd-.i,h all my heart and soul hopei
the Diamond hack safely u the drawer.
| attempted 20 speak She lifted her hand imps-
tiently and stopped me. In tho rapid alterations
again. She got up FROM her chair and approached
me.
are SIS to s si Ss. SSa ,or.
up
/ 'kor the best OF reasons. I preferred tearing it
up 10 throwing Il away upon such q man as you ?
What was the hrst news that reached mo In the
morningi Just as my little plan vas complete
IN the house In fstching the police. You we're the
active man, you uere the leader, you were work
Ing harder than any OF them 10 recover tho jewel
You - ss,SS ~. ID
diamond which you yourself had stolen the dia
moud which was all this time IN your own hands !
After that proof OF your horrible falseness and
/ Gu nning tore mp my letter. But even then-even
when was maddened by the searching and ques-
tlOuiny OF the policemen, whom you had sent in
even thrn thern wss an infAtuAtiou In my mind
.eM IN. has played his vile farce before every
body else In the house Let me try II he can play
q before me- Somebody told me you were on the
terrace. torced myself 10 look at you l forced
myself to speak to you. Have you forgotten what
I might have answered that remembered every
word Of H. But what purpose. zt that moment,
would the answer have seryed'
How could I tell her that what she had said had
astonlshed me, had suggested 20 me that she was
N q
even reused a moments doubt In my mind whether
the loss OF the Diamond was as much mystery 10
her as the rest OF us-but had never once given me
50 much asa glimpse at the truth M,.noo, ns .ns
Innocence. how could persuade her that ! knew
no more than the verlest stranger could have
known OF what was really In her thoughts "hen
she spoke 70 me on the terracei
IL may suit your convenience 10 forget IL suits
my cOnVsnisncc to remsmbers she went on. Il
know what sid, Tor considered II with myself
before said 10. gave you one opportunity aiter
another OF owning the truth. len nothing unsAid
that could say, short OF actually telling you thai
I knew you had committed the thsft- Aud all the
return you made me was 10 look at me with your
vile pretence OF astooishmeut, and your alse faeo
OF lnnocence-just as you have looked at me to-day
lust as you are looking at mo now! len you that
for what you are-ss base a wretch as ever walked
ifyou hsd spoken ou, then you might have lsf.
me, Rashel. knou wing that you had cruelty wronged
an innocent man.
III had spoken out before other people, she TO
torted, with another burst OF indignation, you
out to no other but you're, you would have de-
MED u as you are denying 10 nowf Do you thlnk
I should have believed youi Would . man hesi.
tate at lie who had done what saw you DC, I,
who had behaved af,sr Il as saw you behaved 1
tell you again, shrAnk nom tbs horror OF hearing
you lie, afer the horror Of seeing you thieve. You
talk as " thl. Was misunderstanding which s,sw
standing is at an end. Is the thing set rsht' No,
the thing Is last where Il was. don't believe you
now! don't believe you found the nght-sown,
don't believe In Rosanna Spearmans letter, don't
believsA word you have said You stole II saw
you. You affected 70 help The police. saw YOU
You pledged the Diamond 70 the money-leaa,sL, in
OF your disgrace lthsnks TO my base siencel on an
innocent man. You ned the continent with your
plunder the next morning! Afsr all the yileness
could come here with last hlsehood on your lips
l-you could come mere and tell mo that have
vronged your
nIhsd stayed moment more, knov not what
words might have escaped me which should hare
remembered with vain repentance aud regret
psssed by her and opened the door for the second
Ter.ity OF q reused woman. she caught me by the
Let me 20, Rachel .aid 1t will se better for
The hy .,ericsl passion swsllsd In her bosom. her
lauieksned, eonyulsive breathing almost beat on
my isce. ss she held me hack at the door.
why did you come here she persisted, dsspe,
ratsly. ash you again. Why did you come here
Are you afraid shah expose you Nov you are
= rieh man. now you have got place IN the wofia,
no. ySr nay .ss .sS Is tss 2 .Sld, n uSIsh s have
never said yet 10 anybody but you'll can't say
the words! l can't expose youi 4 am worse. u
worse, can be. than you are yourself Sobs and
tears hurst from her. She struggled with them
Hereely. can't tear you out of my heart she
Sshi even now. You may trust In the shameful,
shameful weakness which can only struggle Against
threw up her hands and wrang them ffanticaly IN
the air. ANY other living woman would shrink
ffom the Disgrace Of touching him.' she exelAimed
'Oh, Gcd, I desplsc myself even moro heartily
than despise him.
The tears were forcing their way Into my, eye,
In spite of me-the horOr Of it Was 10 be endured
no longer.
you shall know that you have wrougcd me, yet
said. Or yoa shall never SEQ me asain.' viii
those words ! len her. She started mp rom tho
enaI on when sne had drOpPed the moment pelore
mo the outer roOu, with last merclful word
sfrankiin,' she aid. Il f6rgive you. On, Franklin
Franklin. We shAi never msst again. Say yVu for
turncd 80 ss 10 let my ce show her that was past
speAkins-i turned, and waved my hand, and saw
her dimly, ~ In q vision, through tho tears thai
hal conquered me At last.
Tho newt moment The worst bitterness of u va,
over. WAS out In the garden again. 1 saw her
and heard her, no moro.
CHATTER VIII.
Late that evening. I vas surprised al my iodginc
; hx n wi. fr.,.,.