Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1874-11-19
THE ELOPEMENT.

: THE ELOPEMENT.
Five years had elapsed since LYDIA
/ disappearance. But she looked olde
, even than that. The agony Of that day
| the horrible fight afterwards, the con
J slant fear of discovery, and lastly, tn,
!, struggle for bread combined with tn,
} never-ending heart ache, Lad begun I,
cut wrinkles in her still fair face.
In all this time she had never heari
of her husband. nosf1 her eaxly hene
II y Stafve 6rs9 She 6ftenf eaiG
clenching her hands.
Whether Leonard was alive or dead
whether he had remained in Italy ol
had gone home, she did not know
Sometimes she said to herself, moaning
on her pillow at night, He is with
Mrs. Dorchester and the thought
went through her heart with actual
physical pain, like the stab of knife
She and her faithful Dorcas were set
tied in Paris now, in an obscure corner,
as the least likely place to be discovered
She earned scanty living, and it was
ofthe scantiest. by coloring photographs.
Into the more fashionable parts Of Paris
she never vertured, except when she
had to 60 to the shops to sell her
sketches, or to get orders. On one of
those occasions, at the head of the Reu
de Ia Paix, she came suddenly face to
face with Mrs. Dorchester. She turned
ard fed Immediately, regardless of her
ri Il Il 10 S{r
alleys; fled across the Seine, and only
stopped to breathe when she had reached
her humble lodging, in one of the Lux.
embourg quarter. But hardly had she
closed the door, hardly had begun to
tell Dorcas that they must fly from Pa
ris, when Mrs. Dorchester, unainoun-
ced, forced herself into the room.
Il have followed you said the latter,
uncer.moniously, Us Lydia rose, angri-
ly. i will speak, Mrs. Drake.
Have the goodness to leave my
room, answered Lydia, tot.ering to
her feet Il DO not know you nor the
name by which yoa have addressed me.
You have been mad long enough,
sterl.ly exclaimed her visitor, sitting
down. Try to come back to your SEN
ses. will not GO until l have ex-
planned. A few words will do it. Your
husband and i, instead of being what
you thought were trying to keep a
great misfortune from you, or if that
could not be done, to break it to you
carefully
There was an air of truth about the
speaker, that staggered Lydia. She
sank ncrvcless into the chair.
i must tell the whole story in order
to exculiate ourselves, said Mrs. Dor
chester. Your father got ioto difficult
ties, forged MY husbands name to a
large amount, ard was on the point of
exposure when Mr. Dorchester died
The affairs then came into my hands
to settle.
Lydia sat leaning both her elbows on
the table before her, her face supper
ted on her hands listening and looking
as if at her doomster.
! i could have prosecuted your father,
but it would have sent him to die in
gaol.' continued Mrs. Dorchester, and
would have publicly disgraced all his
family. You knew by name, as the
wife of nv cousin, with whom / had
been brought up in the country as a
child, AID whom loved as brother
as brother, nothing more, she added,
emphatically. Besides, l was wo-
man, and hope not a cruel one. So
refused to prosecute, suffered the
loss of the money, and hushed the
matter up
| A groan burst from Lydia.
! Mrs Dorchester went on: Then l
came abroad. At Lausanne met your
husband unexpectedly. He had re-
and insisted on knowing the truth
He then said YOU ought to be told. But
l replied that il would only pain you
needlessly; if you continued to live
abroad You might never hear the story.
! He answered that it would come to
your cars, sooner or later. This is why
YOU saw us talking so much together,
and why on several occasions he sought
private interviews with me. One even-
ing he nearly won my consent. But
hardly had he gone, before reperted-
shrank from it, YOU see, as O woman
and l wrote to him, telling him he must
still keep our secret. That letter, it
seems, or a portion OF it, you found
He was tearing it up, when You came
into the room, and he put what was
! left of it hastily into book that Law
nigh. as he afterwards remembered.-
As soon Us he could. he hurried to con-
suit ME. You were. he said. getting
jealous; vou evidently misunderstood
us: and he must tell the whole story
now in justice to himself. was en-
gagged with a party to Vevay, and the
room was full so he joined me in or
der to have an opportunity TO say all
this. Of course in this crisis INV scru-
pies gave way. Ny reward is that YOU
have believed NE vile woman. There,
that's the whole. I've told my story,
perhaps in hard way; I'm sorry FOL
YOU ell the same. Thank God, I've
found you"
She had risen while speaking. and
caught Lydia's gaze, which ut first had
been fixed on her so angrily, had faller
before her, she had buried her face IL
her hands. and now. as Mrs. Dorches
ter ceased. the wretched listener sani
senseless 60 the floor.
When Lydia revived, Mrs Dorehes
ter finished. Leonard Drake had spen
three years in searching for his wife
and had subsequently emiga.ed {.
America, believing her dead. The las
time Mrs. Dorchester heard from hin