Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1900-07-16
CHAPTER XXXV.

stairs, it occurred to Lord Fielden that
it might not be safe after all to leave
Gertrude with Lola de Ferras; she was
so violent that she was quite capable
of doing her bodily harm But he
contented himself by pacing up and
down beneath the window, where he
| would be within call of Gertrude if
she had any cause for alarm.
AS soon as the door closed behind
Lord and Lady Fielder, Gertrude went
up to Miss de Ferras.
! .Let me speak to you," she said
"You repulsed me yesterday; you will
not do SO today. They tell me that
you loved my father very dearly, SO
dearly that your life was ruined for
his sake. If that be the case, you must
/ love me. for am Sir Karl's daughter"
you are also the daughter of Dol
ores, who stole him from me" was the
sullen reply. "But for her, he wouIl
have been NINE"
"That is all past" said Gertrude. Il
do not know what your life has been,
/ but no one could have been more I'M
i
sweet and true, so thoughtful and
/ good, so well fitted to adorn a high
position; yet, since my fathers dis
appearance, she has been buried alive.
Dear mamma, I have never seen her
enjoy one moments happiness! Have
you no pity for one whose life has
been wrecked through your instrument
! tality?"
II have none for Dolores. She took
from me the only treasure on earth
for which / longed. Even now the
mention of her name maddens me.
have no pity for my rival, the white
rose. hate Dolores. Do not name
her to me again
Then if you have no pity for mann
ma, have you none for me? You loved
Sir Karl. am his daughter; and,
strange to say, although you have been
our most bitter enemy, I cannot help
liking you and feeling a kind of SYM
pathy for you because you loved my
father"
For the first time. the defiant express
sion on Lola de Ferras's white face
softened, and her pale lips quivered
piteously. How long was it since any
human voice had spoken kindly to
her?
"You loved my father" went on the
pleading voice. They say that am
like him, that I have his eyes and
hair, and that my voice resembles his.
Look at me, and tell me if it be true?'
Lola de Ferras was seated in a low
rocking chair by the window. Gertrude
went up to her, touched with sudden
emotion, and knelt down by her side.
Look at me, she repeated, ''and tell
me if l have my fathers eyes.
The pale face bent over her, the
pride and hardness dying out of it as
the unhappy woman met the clear,
honest gaze of the sweet, loving eyes.
Gertrude went on
II was little child when my father
left US, but I feel the deepest and
most passionate love for him. | wish
that I could remember him. that | had
his kissing me, of sitting on his knee;
if would soften my pain. cannot
even go to his grave and sob out all
my grief and longing there. I love
mamma most dearly, but the deepest
love of my heart is for my father. All
these years" she continued, feeling
that her companions interest in her
was aroused, Il have honestly believed
him dead; but suddenly, and quite &C
. cidentally, I have discovered that
death is not the cloud which over
shadows us, but shame. My mother,
who had kept the story from US, was
compelled, through our meetings with
Lady Fielder, to tell us the truth, but,
while my mother, my sister, my
friends, and the whole together be-
lieved my father guilty, judged and
condemned him, voice cried ever
louder and louder in my heart, that he
was innocent, and that I must clear
his name. 1t was as though by night
and by day he called to me, Gertrude,
my daughter, for long years all men
have traduced me-; come and prove
me innocent to the world Of the
crime with which I am charged. Think
you, who loved him, that in all the
wide world no one believed in his in
nocence but l. I stand alone to do bat
tie for him, and there is no one but
you who can help me. Mamma has
told me everything you wrote to
my father and begged him to see you,
and how he went out to meet you.
After that night he was neither seen
nor heard of again; every one says
and believes that he went away with
you. l alone refuse to believe it,
why do you refuse to believe it?'
asked the elder woman in a low voice.
Because l have faith in him.
have looked for hours together at his
photograph. His face is not that of d
man who would be disloyal. People
may say what they like; I do not be-
lieve that my father went away with
| Won Then a letter came from Won