She had
intended to destroy it; she believed she had done so; but the fact was,
it had fallen from her hands on the floor, and she never thought of it
again. Her maid, thinking it might be of consequence, picked it up and
laid it on the mantelshelf. Only God knows what would have become of
Lady Atherton but for this oversight.
Her absence was not discovered until evening, when it was time to dress
for dinner; then the maid could not find her. No notice was taken of her
absence at first; they thought she had gone out and had been detained;
but when midnight arrived, and there was still no news of her, Lord
Atherton became alarmed. He went into her dressing-room, and there his
eyes fell upon the letter. He opened and read it, bewildered by its
contents. At first he did not understand it, then he began to see what
it meant.
Gradually the meaning grew clear to him. This villain was trading upon
some secret of poor Marion, and she in fear and trembling had fled. He
felt sure of it, and from that conviction he took his precautions.
He said nothing to the servants, except that Lady Atherton had gone away
for a few days and would not return just yet. "I shall find her," he
thought, "before the scandal gets known." Seeing their lord perfectly
cool and unconcerned, the servants made sure all was right. No one in
the wide world knew the true story of Lady Atherton's flight except her
husband.
"I will find her," he said to himself; "but before I even begin to look
for her I will settle my account with the sneaking villain known as
Allan Lyster.
Pages:
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89