The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1888-07-11

my honor, if hadsnot been obliged TO do
it, l should have let you believe l was
dead still 1t was not me you saw die, it
was not me you saw dead; it was my twin
sister, Josephine, and no one could ever
tell the difference between US"
'Your twin-sister?" repeated Biddulph
hoarsely, still staring at her face. 81 never
heard OF twin-sister-of any sister"
The woman shrugged her shoulders.
"No, we did not mention the name OF
poor Josephine in the family circle. The
truth is, James, that my twin-sister Jose
phine made a sad fool of herself in her
youth, some years before l saw you, and
ran away with a married man, and went
down, down, don't know where-very
low, at any rate, and my mother would
never hear her name mentioned. She
was supposed to be dead, in fact, but,
strange to relate, she cast up last year,
when l was at Monte Carlo, before l came
down here to see you, you know, alter
you got your money; but naturally said
nothing about her to you"
"And you mean to tell me-" said Bid
dulph, forcing himself to speak, and then
pausing. overcome by the horror OF the
position in which he found himself-"you
mean to tell me-that you are
81 am Natalie Biddulph, if every one
had their dues. But declare l am sorry
for you. did not know until got here
tonight that tomorrow was to be your
second wedding day. You have been
pretty quick about it, you know, James,
for despairing widower;" and again she
laughed.
This misplaced mirth reused Biddulph
to sudden fury.
-. L -. 80 l., ;a1
/ believe you are fiend-some fiend in
that woman's shape [ saw you dead.
Go! don't speak another word, for you are
dead to meP'
But the woman did not finch.
"It's all very fine talking like that" she
said; "but Pm not dead, and I'm forced to
come down here and tell you the whole
story, because l am so hard up. There
don't swear, but that's the truth. I've
had frightful run of i'll luck at Monte
Carlo, and could only scrape enough money
together to get back to England, and come
down here-indeed, l had to borrow it
and l must have some, James. And, If you
like, if you will pay me well for it, I'll
pretend to be dead still"
No word came from James Biddulph's
writhing lips. He covered his face with
his hand; intense anguish overwhelmed
his soul.
"Come, you need not break your heart
about it. / admit it's rough on you, but
can't help myself. And it was not my
scheme, but poor Josephine's that made
her come to such an awful end. You re-
member the letter you wrote me, telling
me that it had got blown about here that
| was really your wife2 Well, when got
that letter was in great rage, because
you said in it you would put me back on
my old allowance, If the story of our mar
riage came out. Josephine was with me
in town then, and she urged me to go
down to Scotland again, and get more
money out of you, as, she said, you evi-
IDENTIFY would pay any amount to keep the
marriage a secret. But / was i'll at the
time, and, as l told her, our interviews
were never over-pleasant. Then she pro-
posed to personate me, and declared you
would never find out the difference"
Biddulph put his hand down, and again
began staring at the womans face with
stern, searching look in his eyes.
eve are the living imagecf each other,
that's the truth, even to the little brown
mole on my cheek. You remember the
little mole, don't your"
Biddulph shuddered, spoke no word, but
kept his eyes steadily on her face.
"Poor Josephine had little or no money,
and wanted some to try her luck at the
gambling-tables, as we had fixed to go to
Monte Carlo together. Well, to make
long story short, we settled between us
that she was to 60 to Scotland and en-
deavor to get G1, 900 from you as little
extra hush-money; and she was quite
sure you would never find out the differ
ence between us. / wrote the letters, but
Il : Il
suspected of numbering. So, you see, I
am not ghost, after all.
AS she paused, Biddulph started to his
feet, went up to her, and, seizing her by
the hand, drew her beneath the bright
lamp-light.
'Let me look at you," he said hoarsely,
gazing gloomily at her face. 'How do L
know you are not lying now, as you have
lied all your life? There were two of you,
YOU say-two devils. How do know
which you are?"
81 am Natalie" said the woman. moving
uneasily.
"You look changed. I begin to doubt
I shall see you both face to face-the liv-
ing and the dead. Then 1 shall know"
"You won't drag the poor woman out of
her grave, surely, will you? Oh, James,
spare me this!'
"Have you spared me?" he answered, in
a hollow voice. "Do you know what you
have done? Tomorrow"
A groan broke from his white lips as he
uttered the last word, and his expression
was so terrible that it moved even the wo-
mans callous heart to some sort of pity.
"Don't make such row about i" she
said. "Get married tomorrow, as you
intended, and I'll not say single word.
I'll go away early in the morning if you'll
give me check for $4,000, and no one
shall ever know I've been here, except
that old man of yours, and you can bribe
him, too"
Biddulph flung back her hand, as she
said this, which he had been still holding
in his fierce grip, and once more sank
down on a chair, and again covered his
face with his hand.
A temptation, powerful, horrible, had
rushed into his heart Should he take
her at her word ?-pay her, and let her go
away. whoever she might be? Her face
seemed changed to him-older, harder,
but still the same face; the face that had
been the black bane of his life, and had
now come to snatch the cup of joy from
his lips.
Should he do this2 Again he looked up.
The woman had turned her back to him,
and was warming her feet at the fire, as
he remembered at this moment seeing
Natalie do when she had been in his room
before. But how did he know this was
Natalie? This hideous doubt-this like
ness, which the woman admitted was so
strong, made the difference to him be-
tween misery and Joy, between happiness
and unutterable shamel
And Nora? At this moment Biddulph's s