which she had discovered in the royal
mirror--enough to convince him that she knew the truth, and could,
indeed, prove it.

"Now," she continued, as she concluded this recital, "do you think that
I will allow you to conquer me? You have been guilty of a dastardly act.
Mrs. Montague has shown herself to be lacking in humanity, honor, and
every womanly sentiment; but I will not be crushed; even though you have
sought to compromise me in this dreadful way I will not yield to you.
Your wife I am not, and no writing me as such upon steamer and hotel
registers can ever make me so. You may proclaim from one end of New York
to the other that I eloped with you from New Orleans, but it will not
serve your purpose, and the one for whom I care most will never lose
faith in me. And, Louis Hamblin, hear me; the moment I find myself again
among English-speaking people, both you and Mrs. Montague shall suffer
for this outrage to the extent of the law. I will not spare you."

"That all sounds very brave, no doubt," Louis Hamblin sneered, but
inwardly deeply chagrined by her dauntless words and bearing, "but you
are in my power, Miss Montague, and I shall take measures to keep you so
until I tame that haughty spirit somewhat. You will be only too glad to
marry me yet, for I have gone too far in this matter to be balked now.
When you leave Havana you will go as Mrs. Louis Hamblin, or you will
never go."

"I would rather never go than as your wife, and I will defy you until I
die!" was the spirited retort, and the man before her knew that she meant
it.

He wondered at her strength of purpose and at her courage. Many girls,
finding themselves in such a woeful strait, would have been entirely
overcome--would have begged and pleaded in abject fear or weakly yielded
to circumstances, and married him, but Mona only seemed to gather courage
as difficulties closed around her.

She looked very lovely, too. She had lost a little flesh and color during
her illness on shipboard, and her face was more delicate in its outlines
than usual. She would have been very pale but for the spot of vivid
scarlet that glowed on each cheek, and which was but the outward sign of
the inextinguishable spirit that burned within her. Her eyes gleamed with
a relentless fire and her slight but perfect form was erect and resolute
in its bearing.

Louis Hamblin for the moment felt himself powerless to combat with such
mental strength, and ignoring entirely what she h