The Washington herald., 1919-09-12
The Woman in White
By WILKIE COLLINS
hu Alic- EnY pits Mem D

Condensation by Alice Fox
1t was a close and sultry night
early in August. And ]. Walter
HartrIg ght. master OF drawing. apeo
IS. was walking from Hampstead 10
London. In "Dc moment every drop
OF blood IN my body was brought to
a strE by he touch of a hand iaii
gently on my shoulder. There, in
the middle Of the hIEhrOad. stood a
woman dressed from head to foot in
white garments She asked me the
way to London. ! told her; and we
parted.
Ten minutes later carriage pass
ed me and few yards beyond stop
ped near d policeman. 4 man put
his head from the window and ask
ed Have you seen a woman pass
this way-a woman in white? SIZE
has escaped fOm my asylum" At
A shake Of the polICeman's head. the
carriage drove rapidly on.
The next day I was at Limmeridye
House. Cumberland in the service
OF Frederick FairIie. esq. was
there to instruct his two young
nieces in the art OF painting. |
found Marian HalCOmbe to be dark
and ugly, but intelligent. Laura
FairlIe. her half-sister. was light.
pretty and dependant They were
devoted to each other. and before
my engagement was up. I admired
the one and loved the other.
Ny feelings were the cause OF my
leaving Limmeridge House. Marial
HA.combe bI bIought to me a reaIiza-
tlon OF my own heart You must
leave" she said. not because you
are only a teacher Of drawing. but
be married
A few days before I left Cumber-
land. while walking alone in the eve
ming. I was confronted by the same
face which had first looked into mine
on the London highroad by night
But I was startled less by its sudden
temperance than by my immediate
recognition of an ominous likeness
between this fugitive from the asy-
lum and my fair pupil at Limmeridge
House. Still greater was my Conster-
nation when the woman admitted
having come 10, the neighborhood for
the sole purpose Of thwartinE the
proposed marriage OF Laura Fairlie.
I left LImmeridze House. and soon
after embarked on an expedition 10
Central America. The same year
Laura FairlIe became the bride OF
Sir PerCival CLYDE. Bart. and with
her sister went to live at Blackwater
Park her husbands country estate
Count FOsCO. an audaCiOus and domi-
neering Italian and his wife were
guests Of the household But all was
not as harmonious as an English
country party should be Lady Clyde
and her sister. as insepara Bile and
COnhdinE as ever. felt A perCeptible
COOlnsss rising between them and the
TWO gentlemen. Coolness turned to
suspicion and soon to fear.
Then il was that Lady Clyde met
the Woman in White. The mysterious
person stole nOiseIessly up to her in
the twilight one evening and whis-
pered If you knew your husbands s
secret, he would be afraid OF you. He
would not dare use you as he ha :
before it was too late" But before
the secret was told there were foot
steps in the distance and the woman
moved steHlthiIy away
SIR PerCIval learned Of the brief in
tervIew. and was afraid Of his wife
He demanded. begged. threatened her
TO tell him all she knew. What had
been a battle Of wits between the two
sisters and the two men became a
struggle OF strategy, and the women
lost the fsht. Lady Clyde was de-
Coyed into leaving Blackwater Park
for Count Fosco's London home, Less
than two weeks later a tombstone
IN Cumberland bore this inscription
Sacred TO the memory of Laura
Lady Clyde"
On my return from Central America
the same year. I heard OF the death.
and immedIa teIy visited the grave. As
] approached It. two women came to-
wards me One was Marian Hal
Combe; the other was yelled, but
when she raised this covering from
her face. there. looking at me, was
Laura Lady Clyde She was RaIe.
nervous and depressed-more perfect
than ever in her resemblance to the
. WouanSin White.
Marion Balcombe told me what she
knew. She had found her sister i'm an
asylum. and in the grave at our feet
was her mysterious double. Sir Per
civals boldness and Count Fosco' 5
Cleverness had succeeded in exchang-
ing the destinies OF the two women.
The circumstances had netted these
two gentlemen some 10000 POUNDS.
derived from the estate OF LADY
Clyde
The fortune was gone beyond re-
call. but Lady Glyde's true Identity
might yet be established in the face
Of such evidence as her death csrtir