The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-06-09

jumping up from the table; 4 must see
him, and Speak of an angel, madam,
says 1; here he isp and sure enough, by
the funniest chance in the world, in
walked Mr.. Valentine into the patio at
that moment. l don't think he was over
pleased at the meeting; but it was too
late to get out of it, so he came up; and
noticed he only glanced at the lady, as
if she was some one he had never seen
before; then he gave me good day, and
took my hand. 1t was a bit awkward,
said, 1 suppose you will wish to con-
verse with your wife alone, sir; will
leave you My wifer says he; I was
not aware there was such personr Is
not this lady your wifey cried l. He
stared at her like Il man astonished, and
then at ME. L never saw her till this
moment said he. Come, sir said l, I
have just seen the certificate of her mar
riage with you oh, it's all mistake
put in the lady. 4 was never married
to this gentleman; never saw him;
am the wife of Mr.. Valentine Well,
and this gentleman is Mr.. Valentine
said L He may have the same name,
but he is another person altogether said
she. AS TO that, said l, you must settle
| it between you; Mr.. Valentines papers
are all correct, and there is only one
estate in England with the name that his
bears But l have proved, cried the
lady, that am the wife of the heir OF
that estate; and if this gentleman says
he is the heir, denounce him as an i'm
postorl'
cat that. looked at Mr.. Valentine.
He had kept his eyes on the lady all the
while, with sort of perplexed express
sion; but now he smiled very quietly,
and said he, 1 think l have heard of this
lady before. l wish to say nothing
against her. She seems to be in diem
ma from which there is no way of extri-
eating her. If she wishes to lay claim
to the estates, she can do so only by &C
l1nowledging me as her husband. But
| you have Just heard us both declare that
we have never seen each other before.
But she also declares me an impostoE.
| Suppose am; she must find the real man
before she can profit by the inheritance.
| If am not he, where is he? Grant, on
the other hand, that am he, and this lady
| is my wife; l still decline to touch q
penny of the hundred and fifty thousand
pounds; and what will not accept she
cannot share. That is logic and law
both, I believer"
upon my word, Henry Clifton" ejac-
ulated Mr.. Bob Stapleton at this junct-
ure, "this is about as peculiar yarn as
ever I listened tol It's as good as play,
and better too. When you get to New
York, do you go straight to manager
and offer to sell it to him; and if ne
don't give you good price for it I'm
Dutchman"
Good or bad" returned Mr.. Clifton,
''it happened just as tell it you. When
Mr.. Valentine said that, the lady seemed
staggered for moment; and then all at
once she called out: 4 see how it isl You
two have arranged this thing between
you! You are in conspiracy to cheat
mel You have plotted to get hold of
this property and share it between you.
and keep me outi But 1 will have
my rights in spite of youI I will
denounce both of you to the au-
thorities. For all know, you may havs
murdered my husband and taken his
papers. But you will not succeed; will
expose you, and you shall be punishedP
"Well, that made me a little angry,
and l told her that if she wanted to
charge me with conspiracy she had bet
ter set about it at once, and the sooner
the better, for l knew who would get
the worst of it. AS for Mr.. Valentine,
h. l,,sH 1, H,,E 4
very quietly, L am not murderer, ma
dam, and you will only waste your time
| in trying to prove me such. But l can
assure you that, if l am not your hus-
band-and / certainly am not-no such
person exists in the world. Neither can
you sustain the charge that am aiming
either in combination with Mr.. Clifton
or alone-to keep you out of this prop
erty. l told him a week ago, before you
arrived in Mexico. that l would have
nothing to do with it, and to that deter
mination shall adhere. The utmost you
can attempt to do is to show that am
not Mr.. Valentine, and that you are well
come to attempt. But l warn you before
hand that all the evidence is on my side,
and that you will fail. l advise you to
| go back whence you came, and to give
up any idea Of ever becoming great
English lady. Meanwhile, have the
honor to wish you good morning.
He bowed to her as polite and cool
as Fyou please. and walked out of the
patio and followed him. What in the
name of wonder does all this mean? I
asked him.
Really. Mr. Clifton said he, 4 can
give you no explanation. You have
heard the whole conversation, and you
must draw your own conclusions from
it, as l do mine. Ifyou believe that that
lady is the wife, or the widow, of the
Mr. Valentine who has inherited the es-
tate, you are at liberty to act in accord
ance with your conviction. The most
difficult thing will probably be to make
other people believe as you do.
That's all right, Mr.. Valentine, said
1, but there is one thing you can tell
me. You said Just now that you had
heard speak Of that lady before. and the
inference was that what you had heard
was not to her credit. Now what did
you mean by that?
"'Well, Mr.. Clifton said he, PERHAPS,
I may have heard of her before, or per-
haps / may be mistaken in thinking 1