The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-06-02

What do you moany she cried out. Jus
, what tell you, said /, and then / wen
on and gave her the story of my visit 4
. him
"Wcn, that seemed to floor her. a
first; che kept making ordinations. an,
saying things half to herself, and bitin.
.cr hps' It was plain she didn't know
what t. make Of it any more than / did
4 must sec himv she cried out at last
, jumping up from the table; I must see
MINIS and Speak Of an angel, madam,
says j; here he isV and sure enough, by
81 thc funniest chance in tho world. in
walked Mr.. Valentine into the patio al
that moment / don't think he was over.
pleased at the meeting; but it was toe
iate TO get out Of it, so no camo up; and
| noticed he only glanced at tho lady, as
II sho was some ono no had never seen
oeioro' then he gave mo good day, and
TOOK my hand. 1t was bit awkward.
/ said, i suppose you will wish TO con-
verse with your wife alone, sir; will
ieayc you My wifer says he; 4 was
not aware there was such a persong Is
Il , l..
s.@rcd 80 her like q man astonished, and
then ct me. L never saw her till this
moment said he. Come, sir said l, 1
have just seen the certificate Of her mar
fiagc with YOU oh, it's all a mistake
put m the lady. i was never married
10 this genueman; l never saw him;
am the wife Of Alr. Valentine We'll,
and this gentleman is Mr.. Valentine
caid l. He may have the same name,
bat he IS another person altogether said
Sic. AS 10 that, said I, you must settle
Il between you; Mr.. Valentines papers
2t3 az correct, and there Is only one
.-.ale IL England with the name that his
bears. But | have proved, cried the
lady that am the wife Of the heir Of
that estate, and if this gentleman says
hc is the heir, denounce him as an i'm
postorr
AT that, looked at Mr.. Valentine.
TIE had kept his eyes on the lady all the
while with a sort Of perploxcd express
sion but now he smiled very quietly,
and said me, 4 think have heard of this
lady before. | wish to say nothing
against her She seems to be in dilem-
ma from which there is no way Of extri-
eating her. If she wishes to lay claim
90 the estates, she can do so only by ac-
kn0wlcdging me as her husband. But
you have just heard us both declare that
we have never seen each other before
bat She also declares me an impostor. /
Suppose | am; she must find the real man /
before she can profit by the Inheritance. |
II am not ne, where is he? Grant, on |
thcother hand, that am he, and this lady /
is my wife; still decline to touch n
penny Of the hundred and fifty thousand
pounds; and what will not accept she
cannot share. That is logic and law
both, / believer"
pom my word, Henry Clifton" ejac-
ulated Mr. Bob Staplcton at this junct-
urc "this is about as peculiar q yarn as
over ! listened to! It's as good as a play
and better to). When you get to New
York. do you 90 straight to manager
and offer to sell j: to him; and if he
don't give you q good price for it I'm a
Good or bad" returned Mr.. Clifton,
'it happened just as tell it you When
'lr Valentine SAID that, the lady seemed
staggered for a moment; and then all at
once She called out: 4 sec how il isl You
wo have arranged this thing between
ou. You are in a conspiracy to cheat
ncl You have plotted TO get hold Of
bis property and share it between you,
ud keep me outl But l will have
my rights in spite Of you! l will
cnounce both Of you 10 the au- :
horities. For all know, you may have 7,
my husband and taken his ,,
apers. But you will not succeed; ! will
xpose you, and you shall be punishedF ,
"Wcll, that made me a little angry,
nd l told her that if she wanted to =
barge me with conspiracy she had bet =
r. set about it at once, and the sooner :
he better, for l knew who would get !.
he worst Of it. AS for Mr.. Valentine, =
@ didn't lose his temper, but he said y
cry quietly. i am not a murderer, ma Il
am, and you will only waste your time b
trying to prove me such. But l can :,
sure you that, if l am not your hus- ;,
lnd-and l certainly am not-no such
.rson exists in the world. Neither can
ia sustain the charge that l am aiming a.
either in combination with Mr.. Clifton :"
alone-to keep you out Of this prop -.
ty. ! told him a week ago, before you .. .;
rived in Mexico that l would have ~ ~
thing to do with it, and to that deter -
nation shall adhere. The utmost you
a attempt 10 do is to show that l am
o Mr. Valentine, and that you are well .,
me TO attempt. But warn you before Oh i
nd that all the evidence is on my side, VI
4 that you will fail advise you to s''
back whence you came, and to give 80
any idea Of ever becoming great "
glish lady. Meanwhile, l have the Oh
nor to wish you good morningg "
lie bowed to her as polite and cool Ci
you please, and walked out of the ~
10 and followed him. what in the Vi
me Of wonder does all this mean? l pa
.ed him. "a
Really, Mr. Clifton, said he, 4 can s"'
o you no explanation. You have P''
rd tho whole conversation, and you "''
50 draw your own conclusions from va
rs do mine. Ifyou believe that that -" "a,
y is the ife or the widow, Of the S'O
Valentine who has inherited the es- ~
=, you are at liberty to act in accord -. ."'
G with your conviction. The most VIC
cult thing will probably DO to make a','
.r people believe as you do '''
That's all right. Mr. Valentine. said ..
,ut there is ono thing you can tell ..
You said just now that you had :,
ri speak OF that lady before, and the ..
renee was that what you had heard ~, .
not 10 her credit. Now what did '". -
mean by that :,
wei. Mr. Clifton said he, perhaps ,.,.,
" have heard Of her before, or per. Ju''
/ may be mistaken in thinking W.,
but don't sec why the inference ~. -.
drawn is necessarily bad one At al ..
rs. she has never done me any harm.