Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-28

should never have interfered. And yet
| Flavio managed to convey to me the i'm
| preston that you were the last woman
| In the world who ought to have the
| custody of a child. I committed an IL
! legal act at the earnest request of my old
| friend. 1 ran a great risk, but 1t seemed
to me that / was justified in what l did
Il see you are now" the countess said
| thoughtfully. For many, many y airs
no doubt you have rejoiced in the fact
that you saved Vera from life of mis- .ry
and unhappfness. You never expected to
see or hear from me again. You looked
upon the child as your own. And now,
| to certain extent, I must justify my
self. l stand in your eyes as a deeply
wronged and injured woman. and yet you
might say to yourself that as mother ]
have been lacking in my duties. I tell
you for long time after the death of my
| husband my mind trembled on the Dor
derline between reason and insanity.
was afraid to see my child. l was fear
| full lest l should find in her some trace
of her father and. If had done so, l be-
! lieve that I should have taken her life.
But. gradually. as the years went on and
l grew older. a longing to see my child
came over me that amounted almost to a
passion. ! left my retreat in the noun
tains and came into the world again. 1t
was at this time that I met Silva once
more, and for three years he was looking
for my child. 1 need not tell you. Lord
Ravenspur. how he got on the track
Lord Ravenspur shivered and nodded in
reply.
Il would have prevented that If l
could" the countess went on quickly. Il
wanted TO violence. But / knew that
Silva would go his own way. 1 knew
that nobody could check his fanaticism.
In his eyes you were marked down for
slaughter. You had violated the dignity
and honor Of the family, and therefore
| you must be removed. Let me be quite
| cand.d-I think l hated you almost as
much as Silva did. You had robbed me
of my child at the instgation Of my cruel
| husband. Not unnaturally 1 regarded you
| as being little or no better than Count
Flav1o. All the same, as / said before. l
| wanted no violence. That was one of the
| reasons why did not come to your house
| and claim my child. l felt sure that you
| would defy me and place Vera somewhere
beyond my reach"
Most undoubtedly I should" Raven
spur said candidly. You see, 1 did not
| know then that you were capable
"Of looking after my daughter" the
countess interrupted. And from your
point of view your actions would have
been justified. AS soon as the danger
threatened seriously you made arrange
ments to get away from England until
Vera was Of age and capable of acting
| for herself. But Silva found out"
"One moment" Vera cried eagerly
Was your servant, Silva. in Park lane
disguised as blind organ-grinder?"
Il understand so.' the countess went
on. AT any rate, Silva managed things
in his usual able manner He contrved
to get Vera away from Lady Ringmar's
party and bring her down here. l dare
say you will think that this was all very
melodramatic and unnecessary, but, as
pointed out to you before, l wanted no
violence. l thought when Silva's plan
was successful that / should be able to
persuade him to forego the rest of his
vengeance. / thought that once l had my
daughter back in my own hands l could
take her out of the country and get Silva
to accompany me. Then you, Lord
Ravenspur, would have been safe. But
in certain matters Silva Is quite as in
sane as my husband was. 1t was In vain
that 1 appealed to him. He had made his
vow and he was going to carry it out 1t
Is only fitting that he should have brought
so just a punishment upon his own
shoulders.
And yet there IS something magnifi-
cent in a vengeance like his" Ravenspur
| said, thoughtfully. Now that everything
| is cleared up how simple it seems. There
is only one thing that puzzles me. and
| that is your connection with my unfortu-
nate FRIEND. Louis Delahay. 1t seems a
remarkable thing that both your sisters
should have known Delahay. How did
1t come about?"
THAT 1 have Just been explaining at