The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-05-11
CHAPTER XLlV.
Continued.

OF any possible result Of the deception
/ was about TO practice, but of the
long sleep into which l must &C. as
into tomb. But The Portuguese was
with me. and she cnmforted me: and
when finally felt TIE shadows creep
ing over my CONSCIOUSNESS, l remember
that she whispered i'll 4 certain harsh
yet persuasive manner: He is hand
some, signorina; and if he awakes
you. as the Fairy Prince Gid the Sleep
ing Beauty, gou need not feel alarmed
as if he were an ogre That made NE
smile, and so I fell asleep as child
might. Then she went away, and her
sister, Annetta, took her place. because
the Portuguese herself was known to
Mr.. Degraw. Annetta was not bright,
and so was not fully taken into their
confidence; but she understood what
she had to 10. and how TO do it. Tie
rest l was expected to manage my
self.
"Meanwhiie n fearful mistake had
been made. e. chance, which I can
only regard now as the workings OF
Providence. the Portuguese had been
led to confound the dsposcr Of Mr..
Delancys fortune with the Hamilton
Degraw whose name was in the hall
way of q certain building that she
sometimes passed. Her reason was not
poor one. She had seen Mr.. Degraw.
of Cleveland, come out of that build
Ing one day, and, being too ignorant
to know that the artist who worked
and roomed there was an old resident
of New York. took it for granted that
this was his place of work. and the spot
where he was to be found.
"She gave Montelli the same impress
sion, and as they did not wish to arouse
suspicion by betraying their interest
in this man, they were neither of them
undeceived as to the matter till after
the note had been delivered which
fured you to this spot. And so. my be-
loved, it was upon your face that my
eyes opened when I at last awokc
out Of my sleep; upon you who held
in your first look an instant key to my
heart, and made me feel, before /
had fully realized all that my sensa-
tions meant, that l had lent myself
TO q scheme Of which I was already
heartily ashamed, ard which, for some
reason could rot explain, 1 should
find it difficult 10 carry through in
peace and serenity.
But / had learned my lesson we'll
and tried to acGuit myself according
to its teachings. Believing you to be
the man who controlled the great
amount Of money destined for the for
tunate Jenny Rogers who should most
deeply interest and please you, I told
you the story of my life, artfully con-
cealing my real name. for fear of
awakening your suspicion before ! had
attained my end.
1.-THE result was encoura ging. You
eviRced not only interest, but admira-
ton, and while l recoiled from my
own duplicity, I naturally felt that
elation of spirit which inevitable fol-
lows upon the success Of any under
taking. But, alas! you were curious
as well as interested. You wondered
as well as admired. and was forced
into deeper deception in order to eX-
plain tho surroundings by which we
had attempted to make an impression
upon you. AS this had been foreSeen
and consequently provided for, I did
not find any difficulty in its perform
hot 1onrr,1r
conscience rebelled. TO utter any
thing that was not absolutely true was
rapidly becoming uncomfortable to me,
but tie necessity of the moment was
upon me, and ! went through with my
role without fincEing. Turning TO
Annetta, ! appeared to question her.
and she to answer me, and when
thought this miserable farce had gone
on long enough, repeated to you the
invented tale which had been put into
my mouth by the willy Portuguese.
BY this hoped TO explain the circum-
stances that had aroused your curios-
ity, and dispel forever whatever doubt
might have been awakened in your
mind in reference to Montelli and his
connection with myst.f. And Sue
ceeded; you know how l succeeded.
But a thunderbolt awaited me-
Just as renewed peace was settling
over me. and l began to realize the
sweetness Of hope, Montelli burst into
the room and showed me by q word
and look that something had gone seri-
ously wrong, Confused and alarmed,
I awaited his explanation, and you can
imagine my horror and surprise when
Annetta approached and whispered in
my ear: a mistake has been made;
this is not the right mani
"Sot the right man! And ! had al
most exchanged with you looks Of ar-
probation and love. Shocked if not
frightened, ! was conscious of but one
thought. and that was to be rid of ycur
presence
my heart had been stirred and my
conscience awakened, but fear made
me forget all this, and l promised 10
see you the next day, if you would only
leave me then. You went, and, with
you, whatever girlishness had remained
in me- Henceforth, was woman.
Il dismissed you, but not with an
Intentional falsehood. I really hoped
to see You again. and. if left to myself,
-, would doubtless have done so. But,
after you had gone, Monteli and the
Portuguese came in and soon made me
see that, if we still hoped to succeed
in the undertaking we had formed, l
must escape the consequences of our
egregious mistake, by sudden and