rned away. How I
endured all I was called to witness that morning, I know not; but
my strength seemed superhuman. The ceremony was performed in
church, and after our return to the house, Mr. Carlyle asserted and
claimed the right to kiss the bridesmaids. There were four, and I was
the last whom he approached. I was standing in the shadow of the
window-curtain, which I had clutched for support, and, as he came
close to me, our eyes met for the first time that day, and I can
never, never forget the pleading mournfulness, the passionate
tenderness, the despair, that filled his. I waved him from me, but
he seized my hand, and pressed his hot lips lingeringly to mine.
Then he whispered, 'My only love, my own Edith, do not judge till you
hear your wretched Maurice. Meet me in the hot-house when Evelyn
goes to change her dress, and I will explain this awful, this
accursed necessity.' A few moments later he stood with his bride at
the head of the table in the breakfast-room, while I was placed
close to Evelyn, and the mirror opposite reflected the group. I know
now it was sinful, but, oh! how could I help it? As I looked at
the reflection in the glass, and compared my face with that of the
bride, I felt my poor wicked heart throb with triumph at the
thought that my superior beauty could not soon be forgotten,--that,
though her husband, he was still my lover. Dr. Grey, do not despise me
for my weakness, as I should have despised him for his perfidy; and
remember that a woman cannot in a moment renounce allegiance to a man
who is the one love of her life. They forced me to drink some wine
that fired my brain and made me reckless, and an hour after, when
Maurice came up and offered his arm, inviting me to promenade for a
few minutes in the hot-house, I yielded and accompanied him. He told
me a tale of dishonorable financial transactions, into which he had
been betrayed solely by the hope of obtaining money that would enable
him to hasten our union; but the utter failure of the scheme
threatened him with disgrace, possibly with imprisonment, and the
only mode of preserving his name from infamy, was to possess
himself of Evelyn's large fortune. Just as he clasped me in his
arms, and vehemently declared his deathless affection for me,--his
contempt and hatred of his poor childish bride,--I heard a strange
sound that was neither a wail nor a laugh, a sound unlike any other
that ever smote my ears, and looking up, I saw Evelyn standing