CHAPTER IV.
FOND LOVE TO HATRED TURNED.
Despite the severe shock which caused Faynie to swoon, herunconsciousness lasted but a few moments, then, dazed and bewildered,her blue eyes opened slowly, and she realized with horror too great forwords that she was whirling swiftly over the snowy road, still in thecompany of the two men, her lover and his companion.
They were talking together in low, guarded tones. She could not help buthear every word distinctly, and they fell upon her ears with horror sointense she wondered that she lived through it from moment to moment.
It was Lester Armstrong who was speaking at that moment, and she wasobliged to clutch her hands tightly together to keep from screamingaloud as she heard him say to his companion:
"I have always been a free lance among the pretty girls, drifting aboutmuch after the fashion of the bee wherever my fancy listed, and it willbe more than irksome to yoke myself in the matrimonial harness to thisgirl. She is not of the kind--face, figure, temperament, anything--thatis calculated to arouse my admiration. I detest your baby-facedcreatures of her stamp, but she's heiress to a million, and I haveconcluded to swallow the gilded pill.
"There's one thing I assure you of, before she is married to me afortnight I'll break that cursed temper of hers, if I have to break herneck or her heart, or both, to do it. She shall find that I'm her lordand master from this hour henceforth, and my word is law."
"I'd advise you not to rush the scheme for getting that big sum of moneyuntil you have gained her confidence a little. More flies can be caughtwith molasses than vinegar, you know."
"I shall have little patience with her," declared her lover. "I detestedher the first instant my eyes rested upon her, and I am positive thefeeling will grow upon me with every passing hour, instead ofdiminishing."
"It is easy enough to guess the reason for that," laughed the other."You are in love with the queenly Gertrude, who has already more adorersthan she can count. It is common report that you are the beauty'sfavorite, however, and if you weren't both so confoundedly poor, you'dmake a first-class couple. As it is, of course it's not to be thoughtof."
"Except in one way," cut in the other in a sharp, dry, hard voice. "Ifthis girl whom I marry to-night were to die suddenly on the weddingtrip, for instance, I would come in for her fortune; then, when theexcitement blew over, I could go to Gertrude and say--"
The sentence was never finished, for at that moment the door of thevehicle was suddenly wrenched open, and with a piercing cry Fayniesprang out into the raging storm and the inky blackness of the night.
A terrible imprecation broke from the lips of the handsome scoundrel byher side.
"I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut that that little fool tricked us byfeigning unconsciousness, and has heard every word we uttered. Ofcourse, it's to be regretted, but that doesn't change my plans aparticle. I'll be the husband of the willful little heiress in an hour'stime, or my name isn't--"
"Lester Armstrong," put in the other, laconically.
The coach was instantly stopped, and both men made a flying leap intothe huge snowdrift that banked both sides of the country road, callingback to the driver to light a lantern, if he had been careful enough tobring one with him, and hand it to them in double-quick order.
The search lasted for fully half an hour. Had the ground suddenly openedand swallowed her? they asked each other, with imprecations both loudand furious.
To have a fortune of a cool million so near his clutches, and suddenlylose it, was more than the villain could endure calmly. He was frenzied.His rage at the girl slipping so cleverly, so audaciously, through hisfingers knew no bounds, and he made no attempt to stifle the fierceexclamations that sprang to his lips of what he should do when he oncefound her.
When Faynie had jumped from the vehicle she lay for an instant halfstunned upon the cold, frozen ground where she had fallen. It had takenthe coach a minute to stop, but that minute had carried it several rodsbeyond the spot where she lay. She saw by the uncertain glimmer of thecarriage lamp the two forms spring out into the darkness and come backin search of her, and a piteous cry of unutterable fear rose to herblanched lips from the very depths of her panting, terror-strickenheart.
She tried to spring to her feet and fly, but the depth to which she sankwith every step exhausted her quickly, and she sank down among the whitedrifts awaiting her doom like a wounded bird in the brush whom thecruel sportsmen are nearing with their hounds.
She raised her lovely young face to the dark night sky, calling upon Godand the angels to protect her, to save her from the man she had lovedwith all the passionate strength of her heart up to that hour, and whomshe hated and feared now a thousandfold more than she had ever lovedhim.
All in a few moments of time her idol had fallen from its high pedestalof manly honor and lay in ruins at her feet.
How could she ever have believed Lester Armstrong noble, good and true,a king among men? Where was the tenderness in voice and manner that hadwon her heart from her, and his oft-repeated assurance that he cared forher for herself alone; that he wished to Heaven she were no heiress, butas poor as himself, that he might show her the power of his great love?An hour ago--only an hour ago--yet it seemed the length of a lifetime inthe shadowy past, she had crept out of the house to meet her lover atthe trysting place, her heart beating with love for him, sobbing out toHeaven to send her true love quickly back to her.
As she had closed the door of the great mansion noiselessly behind her,she realized that she was putting wealth and luxury away from herdeliberately and choosing a life of rigid economy with the lover whoseearnings were, alas, so much smaller than even the pin money she hadbeen accustomed to.
But with love to brighten the way, she felt that she could endure anyhardship with noble Lester Armstrong, who loved her so dearly anddevotedly.
After a time, perhaps, her father would forgive her for this step, andtake her back to his home and heart, and welcome Lester, too. She hadread of such things.
The night air blew bitterly cold against her face as she stepped bravelyforth, but she did not waver.
The great hall clock chimed the hour of ten, and her heart beat faster,for she said to herself that her lover was nearing the trysting placeand she had not much time to spare.
"Good-by, papa," she murmured, turning for an instant and looking up athis lighted window. "Good-by, my stepmamma," she whispered. "You havealways hated me and wished me out of the way. I am going now, and youwill rejoice. Good-by, Claire," she added, as her eyes wandered upwardto the little lighted window in the western wing. "You never hated me.You always loved me as though we had indeed been sisters. Good-by, kindold family servants. You will all miss me, I know, but I am going tohappiness and love. What fate could be better?"
She waited some moments at the trysting place ere she heard the sound ofcrunching wheels on the snow. A moment later she heard the welcome voicesaying: "Faynie, where are you?" The next instant she was folded in apair of strong, masculine arms.
But as the owner of them touched her lips with his own Faynie hadstarted back with a terrible feeling of faintness rushing over her. Forthe first time her lover's breath was strong with the odor of brandy.
And the voice, which was always so gentle, kind and endearing, wasmuttering something about "the cursed darkness of the night."
No wonder the girl's soul revolted, and that she changed her mindsuddenly about the elopement, which was to make or mar her young life.And what she heard after he forced her into the coach only added to theterror which had grown into her heart against him, and when she madethat flying leap from the coach, her one cry to Heaven was that shemight escape the man whom she had but so lately madly adored, but whomshe now so thoroughly abhorred.
Mischievous Maid Faynie Page 4
