The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1888-09-08
VOL. XXIII.-NO. "A.

for her husband was as great as ever, and
that no one could supply his place. AT
any cost, Lord Undercroft's offer must be
refused. She bitterly repented her weak
ness in delaying the evil moment. That
afternoon she would write him note, tell
ing him that his hopes were vain.
At luncheon Fanny reused herself to
listen to Muriels chatter Then she sent
the child out with her nurse, and deter
mined to try and Danish her wretchedness
for an hour or two by devoting herself to
photography while the sun was still bright
Before writing her note she would take the
picture of the house which she had prom
ised to Lord Undercroft. He might de-
cline to accept it now; nevertheless, she
would fulfil her promise.
So she went through the conservatory
into the little clubhouse that served her for
a dark room, closed the door, and drew a
red curtain over it to keep out every crack
of light. The only remaining light in the
place came through a red blind fastened
over the little window.
II must have bolt put on this door,"
she said to herself, remembering that on
the previous day Saunders, the man-ser-
want, had come in to announce a visitor
while she was engaged in developing
photograph which, as she had informed
him, was consequently completely spoiled.
Then she recalled the events of the morn
ing, and her heart misgave her Perhaps
she would never care to take another pic
ture.
Having inserted two plates in her dark
slide and armed herself with all the neces-
sary paraphernalia for her task, she once
more passed through the conservatory,
where she saw Saunders pulling up the
blind of one of the drawing-room windows.
Saunders p she said. II am going
into the garden to take photograph, and
then shall finish it in my dark room.
Mind you, don't come in this time while l
am there, If you want anything call
through the door.
every good, Num-" said Saunders re-
spectfully.
Saunders had been in the service of
Mansell's father, and was loyalty devoted
to the family. He had ideas of his own
concerning Lord Undercrofts frequent
visits to his young mistress, and nourished
an antagonistic feeling toward the camera.
Fanny proceeded to the garden and
placed the offending apparatus on the lawn
in front of the house. As she stood fac
ing the old gabled building the sun was
behind her, but little to her right; close
to her, on her left, was thick clump of
rhododendrons She gave her whole at
tention to her work, quite as much for the
purpose of driving away melancholy
thoughts as of taking creditable photo
graph unaided. Having mounted the
camera on the stand and having gone
through the process of focusing, she care
fully pushed in the dark slide.
"Now, she thought, 'tI must be very
careful to give the right exposure. [
should think two seconds would be enough,
as the sun is so strong.
She drew forth her watch, which marked
the seconds, and took her picture. That
done she debated whether, after all, the
exposure had been sufficient. She had one
more plate with her. Perhaps it would be
wiser to take the same view once more, al
lowing three seconds instead of two.
Thereupon she drew outthe dark slide, re-
versed it, and replaced it. She now turned
round to note the position of the sun and
stood between the camera and the rhodo-
dendron bush, this time with her back to
the house. She then again consulted her
watch, and reaching out her left hand she |
removed the cap without looking at it.
Having counted fully three seconds she
put on the cap, replaced her watch, and
removed the dark side from the camera.
''One of these pictures ought to be sue
cessful, at any rate, she said to herself, as
she gathered her things together and re-
turned to the clubhouse to develop the |
negative.
The first plate proved to be trife un-
der-exposed. Her hopes were now center
ed on the second plate. She put it in the
tray, poured the solution over it, and
watched the result with considerable anx-
iety. Lord Undercroft and his offer were,
for the time being, completely forgotten.
Gradually the plate darkened. The out
line of the house became distinguishable. |
But what was this dark patch appearing
in the ceutre of the house and in the fore
ground? Could the plate have been
logged? She had taken great pains to
pour the solution over it evenly, and the |
edges of the picture were clear and well |
defined. She felt disappointed at her fail
ure after all her care. So long as the plate
was in the solution it was not easy to as
certain what had happened to it, but when
she took it out she dipped it in water and
held it up so that the red light from the
window shone through it.
Great Heavens What was this (?
For an instant Fanny stood motionless as
a statue, staring at the negative. The
blood in her veins seemed turned to ice;
her breath came fast; her brain reeled
The outline of the house formed frame |
round a portrait. She was gazing at her
husbands face.
She made one desperate effort at recov-
ering herself This must be some practical
joke of Lord Undercroft's, He had tam
pered with the plate. But no There
was no likeness of her husband in exis-
tepce, and even had it been possible no one |
would choose such subject as this for
practical joke. Besides, the portrait ap-
peared in front of the house and was quite
distinct and clear 1t could not have been
on the plate when she took her picture
that was certain.
Nol She had sinned She had been
unfaithful to the memory of her husband.
She had dared for one moment to enter
tain Lord Undercrofts offer. This was a
judgment on her for her wickedness. !
Heaven help her.
Overcome with remorse and terror, she |
uttered piercing shrek, turned faint, and
dropped the plate, which fell to the ground
and was broken into fragments.
Then she lost consciousness.
CHAPTER ".
When Fanny came to herself she was
lying on tie drawing-room sofa. Her
husband was bathing her forehead. Saun-
ders was assisting him, and the first words
she became dimly conscious of were in his
voice.