The Portland daily press., 1898-01-03
Chapter XI Confined.

need scarcely say that the news he has
given me was a great shock. Before l
proceed any further give me leave 10 in.
quire, Miss Marston, whether you are
aware of the relations which exist be-
tween Mir. Rawdon and myeelf?'
81 am aware that ne WAS engaged to be
married to you" answered Marian. "But
only since yesterday afternoon have
learnt this. You must recolIect that
down to that time Mr. Rawdon's memory
was all blank, and he had consequently
quite forgotten your existence until the
sight of your face and the sound OF your
voice brought him back his powers Of
recalling"
Eyes; that is true,'' said Clara, pen
siyely. "Such an excuse must be an I'M
answerable argument in justification of
you both.
Forgive me,'' exclaimed Mrs. Murray,
Hbut may l inquire what is the nature of
the relations you speak of between Mr..
Rawdon and YOURSELF
g l am engaged to be married to him :"
answered the girl; land he was on his
way out here to bring me to England as
his wife when the wreck of the ship he
was q passenger in brought about the
strange disaster which befel him.
The widows eyes grew round with as
tonishmehe.
you never told me this, Marian, :"
said she.
''I only learnt it myself yesterday,
aunt she answered.
But do you know. Miss Lambert, that
my niece is also engaged to Alr. Raw
don2''
''He has just told me as much, and
that is what I have come to see Miss
Marston about
81 do not think there can be any blame
attaching either TO him or to her. con-
tinued Mrs Murray. 1.-THE whole thing
has been brought about by poor Mr.. Raw
&c ooti
whilst he was without his memory
ooh, do not blame either" said
Clara, quickly, "What has happened has
been done in all Innocence, although I
must admit that think both Cecil and
Miss Marston would have done well to
consider far more than they did the proba-
bilty of his being already married or en-
gagged.
'fDid not Cecil tell you that we became
engaged subject to the condition that he
should prove to be a free man when his
identity had been established"
Yes; he did say something to me
about that But, of course, it stands to
reason that he could not have definitely
pledged himself to marry you at time
when, for aught either of you could tell,
he might still have wife living, with
out adding the condition You have just
mentioned. 1 presume I may take it,
Miss Marston, that such condition rs
was understood between you would ex-
tend to a case of engagement, although
Won might never have contemplated the
possibility of this existing when you
made your agreements"
why answered Marian, rather puz-
zled by the clever reasoning of this regu-
lar little female lawyer, to whom all her
self possession had now returned, and not
quite knowing how to deal with such
Logic as she found herself confronted
with, F'to tell you the plain truth Miss
Lam @nort WA 6roo a06 Of h0 v1r-r~l.u
billy of Cecil proving to be engaged
not married, but merely engaged-noth-
ing was said about it,
But" cried the other, f'surely you
would not consent to be betrothed to a
man who was already engagedg'
~ must beg you to bear in mind that
my niece became engaged to Mr.. Rawdon
at a period when both were in ignorance
of your existence" said Mrs. Murray,
who felt it her duty to act motherIy
part towards Marian by making some
little demonstration of supporting her.
Granted. But suppose now that in
stead of being engaged to Mr.. Rawdon
I had been married to him at the time
when Miss Marston agreed to pledge her.
self to him, what then would have been
her position when I came upon the
sceneP" said Clara, rounding briskly
upon the widow.
'tWhy, there would have been no other
draw" answered Mrs. Murray, shutting
in her seat.
exactly SO. And that is what have
now come here to ask her to do. A con-
ditional engagement such as this is must
undoubtedly cease TO hold good when the
terms upon which it was made prove to
be FALSE
But who says the terms have proved
falsep' demanded Marian, in whom jeel-
ousy was now BEGINNING to rise like
mounting passion. pray remember,
Miss Lambert, that the condition upon
which you are dwelling SO much was
simply to the effect that if Mr.. Rawdon
was not already married man, I should
become his wife. Well, he IS not mar
ried man, and therefore l must say that
| tail to see what right you have to make
your request that should withdraw"
At this speech the pale cheeks of Miss
Lambert became flushed with sudden
anger. She controlled her temper admir-
ably, however, and said without any al
teration in the tone of her voice: II had
hoped you would not drive me into APP
pealing to your sense of right; but since
you choose so deliberately to ignore my
claims, not indeed as wife, but as "a
we'll a sweetheart, I must ask you
whether you consider it very honorable to
refu'e to relinquish man who has pleged
himself to you, at q period when he was
really in no fit condition of mind to do
should discover himself to be single when
he was in position to make enquiries
whether you consider it very honorable, /
say. to refuse to withdraw on finding
that you have become betrothed to a man
who was engaged at the time. and &C
tually on his way out to marry the girl
whom a rare and ex raordinary misfor-
tune had caused him to forget?'
Her eyes sparkled. and her fine figure
seemed to swell with righteous indigna-
ion as she spoke Marian kept her gaze
bent upon the carpet whilst she listened,
hut her aunt looked 7Yonderingly at Clara
and she was clearly impressed by the
girls appeal delivered as it was in
voice, the rich volume Of which was
heightened by her sense of the justice Of
her demand.
Pause OF some few moments followed
is speech then Marian looked up and
d:
Does Cecil know that you have come
to see me?''
I told him I was coming. He wished
company me, but preferred seeing
alone -