Weekly Trinity journal., 1872-08-24

has stolen my heart, and am not by any
means anxious to recover the stolen prop
erty." And so he ratified on till he safely
left her at her hotel.
And in her home feeling Of deadly
hate toward her rival took possession of
her with overwhelming force-she felt as
only woman who has in her heart built
up hopes which are suddenly crushed by
one OF her own sex, can feel.
1t is only justice to Charles Chalcot to
say he was perfectly insensible to the
feelings he had created in the bosom of
Miss Dupre-it was, in truth, one of those
unforeseen mistakes of life not unfre-
quently made. He had, however, fully
made up his mind to make Miss Manton
his wife, and on the night following the
one he had escorted Eveline home he re-
solved to ask her consent.
On that evening Miss Dupre, the vic
tim of ungovernable jealousy, was at the
theatre, standing in the wings, intently
watching the movements of Charles and
Rose. The former was "behind the
scenes," and was lavish of his praise to
Rose in fact it seemed TO be the sole OBJ
ject of his life to pay her every adulation.
There was long pause in the comedy
for Rose to be absent from the stage.
This opportunity Chalcot availed himself
of to ask her consent (tor she had recip-
rocated his aifecitons) to their marriage,
As they conversed in an undertono near
the wings, only tho frail canvas of
clouded scene stood between them and
Eveline Dupre.
" can place you in aflluencc and re-
move you from the tolls of professional
life. BE then my own darling wife. You
are the only woman l have ever truly
loved, and the devotion of life shall re-
pay you"
She overheard those words, and the
consent Of her rival. Professional feel
ing had nothing to do with that Of re-
venge that struck deep in her heart. She
knew the blow was unconsciously given,
but she suffered not the less acutely. The
manager informed Miss Dupre the season
would close two nights following, and
she would be announced to play Camille,
her closing acting Of the season.
Before she left tho theater that night,
with the applause Of n delighted audience
ringing in her ears, and while Charles
Chacot was waiting with his carriage to
escort the ladies home, she sought the
dressing-room Of the comedy queen.
Miss Manton, | have favor to ask
Of you, which you must not de,,y. That
is, you meet me here tomorrow morning
atone, or of this meeting you speak no
word to anyone"
The this Rose Manton readily assented,
concluding it was on some professional
business.
The following day large picnic was
given by the manager to all the employees
and subordinates Of the theater. There
with the exception Of the doorkeeper, the
building was deserted. About eleven
o'clock two women met in the green
room Of the theater, one bright and smil
ing, full Of happy anticipations, the 9th
er full of dark feelings of deadly revenge.
"And now, dear Evclne, what is the
object of this mysterious meeting ?" said
Miss Manton, smiling.
I" 1t is to tell you that you have forever
blasted my hopes of happiness you have
dashed the cup Of joy from my lips, and
made my life, which appeared till yom
came bright and sunny, now bleak and
dreary."
Really" replied Rose, in a surprised
tone, "this is some mistake-some-"
NO." answered Eveline, firmly, and
with all the air Of firm. resolve, "here
there is no misunderstanding. l loved,
fondly and truly, the man who will to-
morrow lead you to the altar. 1t was
the one hope of my life. You have rob
bed me not Of the empty bauble of theat-
rical fame, but Of that for which / would
have staked all earthly hopes. If you
leave here NTH life-for will either pre-
vent your being his wife, or myself lay
here n corpse-may your path to the holy
temple be that Of the grave, or your fu-
ture life as bitter, as you have made
mine"
Rosa Manton found herself in the pres
ence Of desperate ,Oomdn, lost TO all
sense Of reason, with two deadly weapons
in her grasp. No aid was at hand, for
the old doorkeeper had been sent on some
imaginary or trifling errand. 1t was to
be deadly conflict for life between two
women, within the confines Of a narrow
room. Rose, partly-almost unconscious
to the terrible words that greeted her
ears, found weapon placed in her hands
and at random fired at the same moment.
Another shot was discharged, and Eve
line sank back in large easy-chair,
wounded. Her first impulse was to fly
for assistance, but she was checked by
the wounded woman.
"Stay," she said. "To-morrow night
II / LiUe aI then, play my last part.
Let what has passed between us remain
secret. Breath it TO Charles Chalcot
before your marriage, tomorrow, and
you render him wretched, perhaps for ev-
er. My feelings of hate, prompted by
the demon Jealousy, overreached them
selves. shall say nothing Of this while
the sense of life can control the pain OF
the wound. / have one work-to see
him before die ~
The next day the town was busy III
discussing the marriage Of Charles Chal-