The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1907-08-01
5 DOOMED. I
i BY WILLARD MACKENZIE 81
Is a4a g
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
BY WILLARD MACKENZIE
- -

tientiy. whenever you put on that tone,
| fancy you mean mischief
What Is 1t you want Of meT he ask
ed.
You have a paper which win secure
Sir Launce Penrhyddyn the mortgage
money when it falls due. want that
paper"
Mr.. wylie laughed, and slowly rubbed
his hands together as though enjoying =
joke. "A modest request, certainly, he
said. "In the first place, bow do you
know that the letter is genuine"
THAT / have ascertained for myself
1 called upon Messrs. Groom and Fry to
ask whether they were instructed to pay
over to Sir Launce a certain sum OF
money upon a certain date. OF course, rs
| expected. they declined to furnish me
with positive information but their man
ner convinced me that some such com
munication had passed. Hand me over
that paper, and I will sign a bond max
ing over to you one-half the sum that
may inheri. under Mrs. Grierson's will
"a sum that it is more than probable
you may never touch" he sneered-
"A sum which it is more than proba-
BILE I shall touch before the bells ring
this year out. Oh, l know everything
l know that Constance Grierson wants
not month to her twentieth birthday,
and that there is not the slightest chance
of her fulfilling the condition under which
she is to inherit the property"
Mr.. Wylie looked amazed then bent
his brows and gnawed his nails again.
During the last few minutes he had been
revolving in his mind desperate plan,
but as yet it was only half formed.
"If what you say be true" he said,
slowly, 1--WE are both equally interested
in the girls forfeiture of her fortune.
Have you any love for Constance Grier-
SON"
81 hate her." she cried, vehemently
"and more than ever since l heard Ar
thur praise her beauty, and say that he
could have loved her had it not been
for"
81 suppose that it is quite a settled
thing that you are to be the future Lady
Penrhyddyn?" he said, observing her sud
den break Help me, then, in a plan
which, if successful, will be equally to
your advantage as to mine; and that pa
per shall be yours within sufficient time
to save Penrhyddyn."
What is the plan?" she asked, looking
steadily into his face.
1T has come to my knowledge that
Constance, alarmed, doubtless, at the near
approach of the fatal day, is about to
sands of pounds"
"But can she do SOP" inquired Mrs
Castleton.
Yes, with the concurrence of her
guardian, who is so violently opposed &c
the will by which she is hampered that
he would do anything to nuilify its pro
visions. I find that there is no provision
in the will against such a contingency
Unless l could prove that the principal
of the fortune was being reduced, l am
powerless to check such expenditure
without the coalition of my fellow trus-
tee. There are many people for the for
tune to be divided among, and its dimi-
mutton by some twenty or thirty thousand
pounds will materially diminish your
share and mine"
And how do you propose to prevent
this?"
1T can easily be done by our united
efforts And. remember, the price of your
assistance is the salvation of the Penrhyd-
dyn estates. Refuse, and they are lost,
and you will never be Lady Penrhyddyn.
Which is it to be? Draw close, and
listen"
She drew close to him, and he, bending
forward. began to speak In low. earnest
,h 81 L.
anxious attention.
A quarter of an hour afterwards, Mrs.
Castleton passed through the outer offices,
with a grave and preoccupied expression
upon her face.
Could she, at that moment, have trans
ported herself into the little closet in
the private office and have watched the
expression of Wylie's countenance, she
might have considered twice before she
committed herself to his proposals He
was leaning back in his chair, convulsed
with inward laughter. "She herself will
prevent Constance from saving Penrhyd-
dyn The twenty or thirty thousand that
we have plotted against her having is the
very sum she intends devotiug to that pur-
pose This is delicious ~
Such were the thoughts then passing
through his brain.
The die was cast, and Mrs Castleton
was Mrs. Arthur Penrhyddyn.
BY advice of Sir Launce, whose health
was greatly improving, Arthur had re-
turned to London a few days after that
lady. His course lay clearly before him,
and he pursued it without hesitation or
one thought of retreat.
One dark, foggy November morning
they were married by license, with only
Mrs. Freeman for q witness. 1t was a
cold, cherries wedding, and the clergy
man shivered in the raw atmosphere as
he offered the usual good wishes.
As they came out. funeral was slowly
passing down the road.
The poor young lady was married in
this church only 8 month ago" said the
sexton, with that love of garnishing hap
Ply events by opposite and doleful anec-
dotes which characterizes the vulgar.
Eleonore shuddered, as she could feel
her husband press her arm more closely
to his side as he hurried her into the
brougham. Passing his arm round her
waist, and drawing her towards him, he
said: 1--WE must think no more of omens