"Hush!"
"No, I won't hush. I know what I am talking about. She was a devil and I owe her a grudge yet, and mean some day to pay it back, good and strong."
"How did she offend you?"
"Some day I may tell you."
"Why not now?"
"I ain't quite ready."
"Will you tell me where you knew her first?"
"I knew her first when she was a baby, and I knew her father, too."
Scott was puzzled. He looked steadily at Meg as she continued:
"Yes, and I knew her mother, too."
"Who was her mother?"
"Oh, a rich, proud man like you would blush to know your mother-in-law."
"Meg," said Scott, "I do not believe you know anything about my wife."
"Oh, yes, I do, and some day I can convince you. Do you remember of a letter that an old woman gave you, one day, when you was leaving your office?"
"Yes, but it was not you."
"Never mind."
"Can you tell what the letter contained?"
"Yes, your fortune."
"That was only a piece of nonsense."
"Don't you see I know."
"Tell me how you know."
"Perhaps I won't; unless you pay me well for it."
"That I have promised to do if you give me the required information."
"Come one week from to-day and I will tell you the whole story. I can't to-day," she said, looking at Crisp.
Scott returned to his office, where he found a letter from Paul. He read the contents with seeming satisfaction.
"Bless the boy," he said, "he is true to the last. I wish every heart in the world was as honest as that of my boy Paul. He is coming back.
How I shall enjoy his presence once more. He must have changed by this time. But he is Paul still and always will be; nothing can change him.
If he ever comes back, I shall never let him go again," and this he wrote to Paul, "that he never need think of leaving him again; that his salary should be raised to any sum which he might name."
When Scott reached his home he found Guy and June in the family parlor, engaged in a very earnest conversation.
"You are just the one to settle this argument of ours," Guy said.
"What is it?" Scott asked.
"It is in regard to having a home of our own. Please tell us what you think of it," said Guy.
"If you leave it to me," said Scott, "it will take very little time to come to a conclusion. Certainly it is your right to act your own pleasure in the matter, and perhaps every person enjoys himself best in his own home, but unless you really object, it is my desire that you and June remain with us for the present, at least, for I do not see how we can live without her."
Guy would not be selfish enough, he said, to take her away, and so it was decided that June should still remain at home.
Spring came and brought the wedding, which was an elaborate affair, because June's friends, both real and pretended, were numerous, and it was quite natural that Mr. Horton, of the publishing house of Horton & Co., should be married in grand style. The wedding gifts were costly and numerous, and among them all the one that June prized most was a beautifully bound book of poems by "Auralia," and on the fly-leaf was written, in a bold, beautiful hand, the words, "From Paul." There were no elaborate wishes for her of a cloudless life in the uncertain future, but June knew that Paul wished in his heart it might be so.
Scott had called on Meg and found her dangerously ill. He spared neither time nor money to procure the best of medical aid and the greatest comforts that she needed to restore her to health. He waited patiently to see her pass through a severe sickness of many weeks, and it was with a feeling of relief that he learned of her convalescence.
Not until early summer did he have the satisfaction of hearing her say that she would soon be able to talk to him. She dared not refuse to answer his questions, and even if she were compelled to frame a falsehood, she would not refuse to hold an interview, especially when there was money at stake.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
A GAME OF HEARTS.
Miss Elsworth had returned to Roxbury. She had an amount of work which would keep her busy for a number of weeks, and then she expected to pass the remainder of the summer in traveling, partly for business and partly for pleasure. She always visited the family of Mr. Graves as soon as she returned, and she was much pleased to find Bessie improving in health and appearance. "I think you are getting well, Bessie," she said as Bessie sprang toward her.
Bessie smiled as she whispered:
"Why, Miss Robin, I'm not sick, but you just come with me," she said, taking Blanche's hand and trying to draw her toward the door.
"Wait until I am ready to go home, and then you may go with me, and tell me all you wish."
Bessie waited very impatiently and as soon as Blanche was ready to leave the house, she clapped her hands joyously.
"Now I will tell you all about it," she said, as they walked away together, "but you must not be scared, will you?"
"No, I guess not."
"Well, you know Ross?"
"Yes."
"But you haven't seen him yet since you came?"