Year: 1873

CT know It but - her beautiful
lips were very close to his ear now, and
those marvellous arms OF hers were
wreathing his neck " there is one
bracelet, Victor, that you will not give
me. mean an opal bracelet, which
you keep up stairs in that great, old
| fashioned cabinet Shall L tell you
why you will not give me this! Z. =.


g I am amazed, Letitia. You well
know it is because" .s


Because you loved Florence better
in the old days than you love me now.
Don't deny it. I know it, Victor.


She turned away from him and bu-
ried her face in her hands. ems 90


Victor Buchanan's face was very pale,
as he presently said: .--r


Surely, Letitia, you have not Tor
gotten how Florence on her dying
bed"


She interrupted him in tremulous
tones at this point, revealing her face
again, which looked agitated and pain
wrung. Criticised as mere skillful
acting, her behavior certainly deserved
praise.


You have forgotten nothing about
Florence. You will never forget. Oh,
no, Victor, I cannot believe that you
love me as l wish to be loved until I
receive this proof of it.


"You mean that must let you wear
the opal bracelet to-night2''


Yes" -t.


The monosyllable was pleadingly
spoken, as with childish, impulsive
gesture she placed both hands upon
his arm, and let the dark flory of her
questioning eyes fall upon his face.


He met the look with one that was
restless, anxious, uneasy.-the sort of
glance by which man says, with all
the distinctness of fspoken words "Do
not lmplore me, or must yield !"


"Consent, Victor-please consent.
only ask the favor of you for this sin
gle time. Afterward, [ will return the
bracelet to the cabinet, and let it
remain there as long as you choose.
Consider, it will be like sealing our
love with a new and beautiful seal ~


She could hardly disguise the smile
of feminine triumph that rose to her
lips, when, after a moment of hesita-
ton, he murmured:


"You know, Letitia, that can re-
fuse you nothing. Get the bracelet
since you are bent upon wearing it.


Leaving an eagerly given kiss upon
the lips, she hurried up stairs as fast
as her voluminous draperies would
permit.


"Victory Victory !" voice was
whispering in her ears. He loves
you as though Florence had never
been. He is all your own while life
lasts; and even in heaven, after this
proof of his devotion, Florence would
hardly dare to claim himln


Meanwhile Victor passed into his
dressing-room, and began pacing the
floor with impatient steps. He was
acting faithlessly, treacherously, to
the dead. He was insulting poor Flor
ence's memory. He had even dealt
his own self respect and almost mortal
blow. And yet


At this point his Ineditations were
sharply broken by the sound of some
falling body on the floor directly above
his chamber. He paused in the centre
of the floor, and turned white, as
strange presentiment of unknown evil
flashed like lightning through his
mind.


An instant he was standing at the
foot OF the staircase, up which his wife
had hurried, and was calling, ''Letitia!
Letit1al" Ill somewhat unsteady tones.


No answer. Rapidly, and impelled by
a now growing sense of alarm, he as
cended the steps,


A quick passage through the bril-
liantly lighted upper hall brought him
to the room into which he knew that
his wife had recently entered. Il


A low cry left his lips as he beheld
the form of Letitia, prone in front of
massive old-fashioned cabinet, one of
whose drawers was wide open.


'Letitia, for Gods sake, what has
happened 2" He was kneeling at her
side now, and had placed one of her
hands between both of his own. But
while IN the act of doing this, some
thing had dropped with faint sound
from his wife's effortless fingers. tt
was the opal bracelet. A second cry,
far louder than the first, left his white
lips. With trembling hands he raised
the beautiful fallen head, and saw upon
one OF its pearly, blue-veined temples
a deep purple mark, as of some heavy
blow. Then he felt for her heart. and
presently knew that it had ceased to
beat.


Had the dead Florence dealt ven
geance from beyond her grave


Victor Buchanan believes so to this
day, though friend after friend has
tried to persuade him of the folly of so
believing, and pointed to one of the |
sharp oaken abutments at the foot of
the cabinet, saying that his wife in
turning to close the cabinet drawer,
had tripped and struck her head in fall |
ing.


He will not believe this explanation.
His friends call him a monomaniac.
Does he deserve the name 2