ling as if her heart had been ruthlessly
trampled upon and all the life and hope crushed out of it.

Chapter XVII.

The Last Drop in a Bitter Cup.

"The girl has more spirit than I gave her credit for," Mrs. Farnum
muttered to herself, as she entered her own rooms after leaving Virgie.
"If she persists in her purpose of securing proofs and going to Heathdale
to claim her position, of course it will upset everything. However, she
will not be able to do that at present; she must first take a long
journey, and meantime Miriam will, no doubt, think of some way to prevent
a <i>denouement</i>. Doubtless the girl will write once more and charge Sir
William with his perfidy--she is not one to bear tamely such a wrong; but
Miriam will be on the watch, and if the little upstart gets no reply, her
pride will probably assert itself, and we shall have no more trouble with
her, for a while at least. Meantime Sir William may be prevailed upon to
get a divorce, and then the way will be clear once more for Sadie.

"How fortunate," she added, going on with her soliloquy, "that Will Heath
and Margie were married just at this time!--she swallowed that story
whole. Well, I must confess it was calculated to stagger any one, though I
was almost afraid she had heard something before about the facts; but it
seems she had not."

* * * * *

The truth regarding the news that Mrs. Farnum had received from Lady
Linton, and which the latter had so cunningly utilized to further her
scheme to separate her brother and his wife, was this:

Sir William Heath had a cousin who bore the same name as himself, though
without the title, of course.

He was three years older than the young baronet, and had been named for
his uncle, with the hope that he would be received as the heir in case no
son was born to the elder Sir William. But this was not to be.

From childhood the boy had been attached to his little, neighbor and
playmate, Margaret Stanhope, and they had been engaged for years, as Mrs.
Farnum told Virgie.

But being the son of a younger son, he had had to struggle somewhat for
his education and position in life, and it was only a few months previous
to Sir William's return from America that he had succeeded in securing a
situation as private secretary to a nobleman, and thus felt that at last
he had a right to marry the sweet girl whom he had so long and so fondly
loved, and make a home for himself.