The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1914-10-15

| lulHlHeuL. Only you yOuTSelI can save
him. Say the word that will avail, and
I will see to It that the vital evidence
is missing, that he remains unscathed
Marry met"
'Never!" l cried. 81 loathe you and
despise you"
Il am unfortunately aware Of that,
he answered. Nevertheless, you shall
have the completest liberty. Until
win your love shall never molest you.
You will be free to come and to go
| only ask you to go through the form
of the ceremony with me-"
You may plead forever" l an
swered, "but you will waste your
breath. do not believe a word of
your concoction of falsehoods, and, II
did, would not marry you"
Not to save Clichy"
"How-how-?" | stammered.
Marry me and, on the day of the
ceremony-as soon as the union has
been pronounced-I will present your
grandfather with full and free re-
lease"
you will induce your father to fore
go his revenge?" l cried. you lack
the power monsieur. Not for a thou
sand worlds would he be baked now,
after these years of scheming."
He must" answered Leopold. 81
have him in my power. He knows 1t;
that is why he made terms with me-"
"How?"
Because hold your bonds" he an
swered. You know their value now"
They are his; have sold them"
Anne" said by prosecutor, I'VE are
wasting words. Can never convince
you? Listen! Give me your solemn
promise to marry me and, on the morn
ing Of the ceremony will restore Gil
chy to your grandfather. And the chew
alier shall go free"
"Wait-wait!" l cried desperately,
trying to pierce the tangled net Of
cunning that surrounded me. Give
me until tomorrow to make my de-
cision."
Suddenly he seized my hand.
20, Anne, be WISE" he cried. Il love
you; l worship you; you are the one
woman l have loved out of all who
have come into my life. You can re-
deem me with your goodness. Marry
me and l swear to heaven that l will
adore you, will be your slave. l will
consecrate my life to you. love you
Anne"
And falling at my feet, he poured
forth more impassioned plea to me.
1t was impossible to mistake the sin
cerity of his passion; l could not hul
recognize that in this, at least, he was
not base. turned away and left him
kneeling in the path.
In the hallway l met Charles. l
feared that he would see my agitated
face, but his own was so distressed
that / feared that the greatest of sor-
rows must have come to him.
"The comte!" gasped; and then l
noticed that In one hand he held a
can of kerosene.
my monoplane," he answered wild
ly. Il am going to burn her, Anne.
She shall never fall into his clutches,
she who bore US aloft that splendid
day"
Il took the can from him. wait
until tomorrow, Charles" l whispered.
Much may happen by then"
left him standing irresolute and
went up to my room and sat down in
a chair. l did not weep. My brain
was in whirl, and thousand
thoughts and doubts oppressed me.
threats, his infamous sugges-
tions as to the honor Of my fiance, the
imminent loss Of Clichy-all this pre-
sented aspects and l strove dimly to
pierce to the heart of the problem
which confronted me.
If l married Magniff, Clichy would
at least be saved. That seemed the
chief consideration. My happiness
that of Charles, even, was nothing
to the preservation of the
old home that had withstood SO many
Other women, braver
than l, had sacrificed themselves in
the past for Chateau Clichy. Then
why not /, even though l should kill
myself afterwards?
Then, in the midst OF these cogita-
tions there flashed into my mind, in
the most incongruous way, the men,
ory of Mr.. Spratt.
Angrily sought to free myself from
this recollection. What had this lit !
tie Winnipeg teacher to do with my
present troubles? He was the last,
the very last and least thought that |
should come to me. But my mind wan
dered, and again seemed to see him |
bidding me a timid farewell upon the |
platform. my great work, |
Miss Ives" he painted. offering me the |
code. THE work Of many years. Take |
1t; you will need 1t in France" His |
odious little rabbit-like face rose up so |
plainly in my minds eye that seemed |
to visualize him In the room, and |
pressed my fingers hard upon my eye
lids in a fruitless effort to dismiss him.
/ rose at last, still miserably uncer-
tain. My suitcase lay packed upon |
the bureau and, opening 1t idly,
caught sight of that wretched gift of |
Mr.. Spratt to me. raised it; an en-
velope fell from beneath the paper |
cover. / opened it-and recoiled with |
q suppressed scream.
Five bank-notes, of the value of one
hundred pounds apiece, fluttered upon |