The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-10-26
JAIL RIGHTS RESERVEDl
CHAPTER XVI.

Not until daylight broke did Constance
Co-bvn close an eve. She had been boxing
forward to her triumph, to the discontinue
of her enemy, to overwhelming him with
..>,rn and contempt. Everything succeeded
according to her expectations; she had
taken him completely by surprise, one by
one she had formulated her charges, and
had told him that she regarded him as the
meanest villain on earth. What had been
the RESULT He had told her that her
charges we're false, false from first to last.
ua had denied that he was aware of her
identity, or that he even knew she was on
hoard. He had declared, too, that Constance
Corbvn was the last woman in the world he
would marry.
Could all this be true, or was it but a
niece of acting in keeping with all she
she previously thought of hima She tried
to persuade herself that it was SO, but failed
altogether. AS he had spoken, an absolute
conviction had seized her that ne was speak
inc the truth, and that there had been
some terrible mistake. 1.-THE happiness of
INV life has been at stake, and l have lost"
Surely be could not have been lying for,
taken by surprise as he must have been,
accused of treachery, of a crime, of deceit
and baseness-and this at a moment when
he mist have expected favorable reply to
the words of love he had spoken-was it
noss;ble he could have rallied 80 soon, and,
while congratulating her upon her victory,
have crushed her bsueath feeling that she
had com mitted a terrible error, an error
which involved her happiness as well as
his
Then her thoughts turned to the words,
had ne known that Constance Corbyn was
49, el,iv to hau a1
her as the pests; sac was the last OF all
bmen in the world he would marry.
I "What does ne meanW she repeated to
herself scores Of times. "What have done
II that be should speak so of me! Does he
\ think me so ulmaidenly for thus coming
forward to struggle for my rights, for thus
/ striving to clear the memory of my dead
lnother!n And thus the long hours of the
night passed, until exhaustion at last closed
| her eyes.
She did not wake until nearly noon. An
nette was sitting beside her, working, with
| look of grave concern in her face. The
events of the past evening came in rush
| upon the girl
What is it, ma petite? what has hap
pened! tell your old nurse"
Constance held out her arms. Annette
threw herself on her knees beside the berth
ana took her in her arms, and as the girl
burst into passion of tears, soothed and
caressed her, as she had done In the trou-
bles Of her childhood.
Tell me all about it, dear" she said at
last. as the sobs gradually ceased. ut is
about Mr.. Brown, that goes without saying.
Tell me ALL Constance; you know l am
never hard with you. Have you made a
mistake, have you found out that you de-
ceived yourself when you said that you did
not care for himp
Il will tell you, Annette You must
know that found out the first hour after
we came on board that this Mr. Brown was
Philip Cltheroe.n
Are you losing your senses, ma petite ~
81 Annette exclaimed in more anxiety than
q surprise.
81 did not tell your Constance went on.
without needing the interruption, because
III knew that you would not approve of my
# plan, that you would keep him at distance,
# and that he would soon see that we knew
|# him."
III Then she went on to tell all particulars,
I'll how she Enew him by sight, how she had
II played ner part throughout and how, when
II Philip Clitheroe had told her of his love she
had poured out her indignation and scorn
upon him.
And you did rightly" Annette said,
earnestly. " see not that you have ANYTHING
TO reproaoh yourself with. This coquin
deserved all that you said to him. | would
nave said as much and more had | known
who he was"
Yes, Annette but was wrong all the
Time. He did not know, he had no idea that
MISS Coroyn was on board
bah" Annette said, with disdain. 'vou
DeneVo that story? 1 thought you wiser.
child. VI course knave will lie when he
is found outn
VIII tell you what he said, nurse, and
you snail Judge for yourself" and she re-
b bHl without the change of word what
imp mp CHIheroe had said, for every word
seemed ournt into her brain.
IA, Wen, we shall see, child" Annette said.
ou' we DO not fret over it, The matter
VIM come right in time, these things always
une rlgat in time, and you see he &C.
no"!euged that it was natural you should
ave tnonght as you did. He will see that
, IN are not to blame in the matter, aud
rtn nave no harsh feelings toward you. If
ND 10y Inc ne says Is true he may be worthy
va ~ honorable gen leman."
Constance SHOOK her head.
l nave wronged him I have wronged
iuI oeyond forgiveness" she said. 81 have
;oi0d nim and led him on and then spurned
9 ~ nave called him a traitor, thief,
. III mean villain. Let us say no more
o ,I ~ 1t is done, and it is irremediable."
M ennette was too wise to attempt to argue.
ut she had her own opinions. She had in
course OF her life seen many quarrels
Ts@eeh young men and young women, and
new that if they cared for each other the
o9 9'le us We're generally made up in the
~. mat Philip Chtheroe did care fo-
ou sl ace she had been convinced after
H. r,i nrst week of their voyage. AS to the
i MS feelings she had been altogether at
ny ba, out she thought it probable that
o on'eVer Constance might have previously
Is11 OF him, her strong conviction that
or Iau treated him with cruel Injustice
T sl tell immensely in his favor
-thiineo0e had been too wise woman ever
nut 70 Constance that she thought the
ISes S.4on OF the Corbyn estates could be
ustter settled by an arrangement be-
~ ee !. tne claimants than in a law court:
~ one Idea had often occurred to her and
Sow seemed to her more than ever that
"a o would be the satisfactory conclusion of
Instance did not leave her cabin until
evening, but she insisted upon Annette
s5 up On deck for time to enjoy the
new 5 minutes after she had taken her
~ rnihp Clitheroe came up. and liftinq
Ia, as usual, said:
an 10y Sa l say word to you, madame and
~ .v sae GOWN IN the chair beside her.