Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-01-14
CHAPTER XIV.
Ietta Still Speaks.

darkening room.
l felt a curious shock.
Where is the person who summoned
me to this house l demanded, indig-
nantly.
She stands before you! That was
Il little ruse Of mine. Your brother is
at present under a 'prodigious ban OF
excommunication.' 1t would be scarce
~ prudent for him to venture again to
the Tempest. He wrote the letter you
received at my dictation-I knew it
would bring you, and was anxious for
an interview"
She was dressed in some rich fabric
that swept Pegs bare floor in shim-
mering folds. Her yellow, babyish hair
clustered about her face in little rings
and tendrils-it was the same blonde,
angelic face that had brought shame
and grief to Tempest Island six years
before.
Our late meeting in the Hall garden
was not altogether satisfactory" she
continued, with an airy toss Of her
golden head. ION that occasion you
put the poor gypsy basEet-seller to to-
tai rout, and proved yourself to be a
rival whom it is not safe to despise.
Well, / drove you from the island six
years ago-see how time and fate have
avenged you, Jetta Ravenel! 1 am
now the outcast, and you the power
behind the throne-the shrine at which
Prince Lucifer kneels. One can al
ways find revenge for most things in
this world, notice, If one has pa
tience to wait"
I tried to keep an unmoved front.
Gabriel has been guilty of an un-
worthy trick" l said: but l will not
blame him. for he is in your tolls.
You have changed his whole nature
you have ruined his future prospects
what more would you do? Where is
he now hiding? Since you have forced
this meeting upon me, 1 demand my
unhappy brother at your hands,"
She burst into a mocking laugh.
Il am not Gabriel's keeper. Have /
ruined his prospects? All, it is plain
that Hawkstone who can be delightful
when he is in love, conceals the truth
from you. and unwittingly leaves to
me the pleasure of revealing It! Per-
haps you may understand some things
better when tell you that your BROTH
er is a-thief! that he robbed George
Sutton in his Newport house few
weeks ago, and then attacked him saw
agely and left him for dead. Where is
he hiding? In dens and caves, l pre-
sumo, as all criminals hide from JUS
tice. The chief business Of his life now
is to evade the officers of the law"
I did not faint or cry out did not
lose my head. looked her full in her
fair, malicious face, and said, calmly:
1T is a falsehood!"
IF you really believed that" she an
swered, you would not grow so pale!
OF course, Gabriels insane passion for
me is at the bottom of his crime. He
loves me so much-absurd boy!-that
he would cheerfully murder any one
who stood between us-rob any one, to
supply me with diamonds and other
trifes. Miss Ravenel, you have struck
at me through Basil Hawkstone-I can
wound you with your own weapons
through your brother Gabriel. I al
ways hated you furiously, you know"
II fail to see how that fact justifies
you in destroying Gabriel" I gasped.
Are you a woman or fiend that you
would make him sin and suffer simply
because he is my brother"
The wicked laugh bubbled over
Veras lips again, as she went on.
In the battle betwiXt you and me
shall neither give nor expect quarter.
/ mean to destroy you and yours with
out mercy. You have taken from me
my husband-the father Of my child.
Don't say that the law had already
separated us-but for you l should
have won him back, sooner or later
Great Heaven!" passionately clasping
a pair of lily hands heavy with jew
els-"I always meant to win him back!
am Bees mother-I am Basil Hawk
stones wife! I love him still-lOve
him madly, passionately. and what
right have you to step betwiXt those
whom God hath joined"
| stood and looked at her. stunned.
overwhelmed, and at that moment the
airy structure Of happiness which l
had built in the last few days collapsed
and went down in utter ruin.
You dare to love my husband"
hissed Vera 1T is a criminal, unholy
love! cry out against it! In month
you will marry him and go abroad
to Egypt-to some Eden that he will
find for his new Eve? You cannot go
so far that my vengeance will not pur-
sue you-the vengeance Of a wronged,
outraged, heart broken woman!"
l fell back a step, and passed my
hand across my eyes-I seemed scathed
by lightning.
Have you nothing to say" sneered
my enemy. Can you make no defense?
Had you known the secret history of
the Hawkstones, you might have hes
itated before you set yourself to be-
witch my husband"
She swept up to the mantel, and
lighted a candle. Then she called out,
suddenly and sharply: "Peg-Peg Pat
toni"
The brown woman appeared in the
door
Take the light, Peg" commanded
mademoiselle. "and we will follow you
You have something to show Miss
Ravenel-a little story to tell her"
Peg took the candle in one hand, and
made a motion to me with the other
Mechanically 1 obeyed the beckoning
fingers. and stepped out into long
passage There. door that l had
not perceived, opened to Pegs touch
She drew me forward into an apart
ment, the luxurious appointments OF
which might have surprised me at any
other time, and Mademoiselle Zephyr
followed us. From the ceiling lamp
was suspended, and below it, on a pile