klin--Well, there is evidence to prove
that he was not insensible to her charms either; that, in spite of her
engagement to his brother and the attitude which honor bade him hold
towards his prospective sister-in-law, he lost his head for a short
time at least, and under her seductions I do not doubt, for she was a
double-faced woman according to general repute, went so far as to
express his passion in a letter of which I heard much before I was so
fortunate as to obtain a sight of it. This was three years ago, and I
think Miss Stapleton would have been willing to have broken with Howard
and married Franklin if the latter had had the courage to meet his
brother's reproaches. But he evidently was deficient in this quality.
His very letter, which is a warm one, but which holds out no hope to her
of any closer bond between them than that offered by her prospective
union with his brother, shows that he still retained some sense of
honor, and as he presently left Four Corners and did not appear again
where they were till just before their marriage, it is probable that all
would have gone well if the woman had shared this sentiment with him.
But she was made up of mean materials, and while willing to marry Howard
for what he could give her or what she thought he could give her, she
yet cherished an implacable grudge against Franklin for his weakness, as
she called it, in not following the dictates of his heart. Being sly as
well as passionate, she hid her feelings from every one but a venial,
though apparently devoted confidante, a young girl named----"

"Oliver," I finished in my own mind.

But the name he mentioned was quite different.

"Pigot," he said, looking at the filigree basket he held in his hand as
if he picked this word out from one of its many interstices. "She was
French, and after once finding her, I had but little difficulty in
learning all she had to tell. She had been Miss Harrison's maid, but
she was not above serving Miss Stapleton in many secret and dishonorable
ways. As a consequence, she could give me the details of an interview
which that lady had held with Franklin Van Burnam on the evening of her
wedding. It took place in Mr. Harrison's garden, and was supposed to be
a secret one, but the woman who arranged the meeting was not the person
to keep away from it when it occurred, and consequently I have been
enabled to learn with more or less accuracy what took place between
them. It was not to Miss St