o the Wendover
parsonage to stay with Alden Lytton, and the other two, Joseph Brent and
Electra, should remain at Blue Cliffs, in attendance upon Emma.

"Emma is not a queen, that she should require ladies and gentlemen in
waiting; but she will be very much comforted by the presence of her dear
friends, Joseph and Electra," said the young wife, with a sad smile, as
she arose to return to her guests.

Later in the evening Laura and Electra were informed about the state of
affairs.

Their amazement was unmeasured and unutterable.

But they at once set down the criminal conspiracy of Mary Grey against
Mr. and Mrs. Lytton to its right motive--malignant hatred and revenge
for scorned love.

The two young brides most willingly gave up their tours and consented to
stay at home with their friends during the time of the trial.

The next morning, therefore, Mr. Lyle took his young wife and returned
with her to the Wendover parsonage, where he comforted the soul of Alden
Lytton by reporting to him all that had passed between himself and Emma.

"She keeps up bravely, heroically. She is worthy to be a hero's wife!"
said the minister, warmly.

"She is--she is! She comes of a heroic race; therefore the deeper guilt
of those who seek to bring dishonor upon her!" groaned Alden Lytton.

Then Mr. Lyle said:

"Her feminine intuition discovered what we men, with all our logic,
would never have learned--that is to say, who it was that personated
_you_ at that false marriage."

"Indeed! Who was it?"

"Craven Kyte," answered Mr. Lyle.

And then he told Alden Lytton all that had been said between himself and
Emma on that subject.

"I feel sure that her suspicions are correct," he added.

"I think it highly probable that they are. Now there are two or three
things that must be done this morning. First, those advertisements for
the missing man must be written out and distributed all over the
country. Secondly, a messenger must be dispatched to Philadelphia to
question the people at the Blank House as to whether any of them entered
my room and saw me sleeping there during the hours of eleven a. m. and
one p. m., on the fifteenth of September of last year, when I was said
to have married that woman. And also to search the registers of that
date of all the hotels in the city for the name of Craven Kyte."

"To get up evidence for the defense?"

"Certainly; to get up evidence for the defense."

"Have you thought of employing cou