Chapter-14 The Strength of Love

Chapter 14

LOVE IS HEAVEN

by Mrs. ALEX. McVEIGH MILLER

Inside the drawing-room, now that the last act of the entertainment was over, all was joyous confusion, people flitting about in merry converse, while over all rose low strains of music, now sad, now joyous, each finding an echo in some tender heart.

But Daisie Bell was too beautiful not to be missed, even in that brilliant throng, even had not Royall Sherwood impatiently questioned his cousin as to her absence.

“She has gone upstairs to remove the wedding veil that she was so reluctant to don, and will return presently,” answered Mrs. Fleming; but though Royall loitered near the stairway for half an hour, she did not come.

Half an hour of the keenest impatience and longing for him, of the most exquisite joy for Dallas and Daisie.

Between the two lovers there had been full explanations of everything, and renewed trust and confidence.

[Pg 102]

As they lingered there in the moonlight beneath the fragrant rose vine, with the voice of the sea blending in their ears with the lilt of merry music, their hands entwined, their hearts in unison, there came to them a foretaste of heaven, if ’tis true, as poets tell us, that——

Love is heaven, and heaven is love.

“And you will give up your fine, rich lover for me, my Daisie—for me, with love in a cottage?” cried Dallas fondly.

“Can you doubt it?” she whispered back, blushing beneath the kiss with which he rewarded her devotion.

“You will be my own sweet bride! Oh, what joy—what bliss! How—how have I deserved such a boon from Heaven!” he cried, remembering his agony just now, when he believed she was giving herself away to his rival. “Oh, Daisie,” he continued, “you shall never repent your sweet trust in me! I will make your life a dream of love and happiness. You say Royall Sherwood told you that my life was clouded with mystery, and that all mystery hid dishonor. Well, all shall[Pg 103] be explained to you, and you shall know better, my precious love!”

But at that moment they heard a light, grating laugh, and saw before them Mrs. Fleming leaning on Royall Sherwood’s arm.

Royall had grown so impatient of Daisie’s long absence that he had insisted on having Mrs. Fleming find out the cause.

So the unsuspecting lady called Letty Green, who was flirting with Cullen at the end of the hall, and demanded to know what Miss Bell was doing upstairs so long.

Letty tossed her pert brown head, and replied that Miss Bell hadn’t gone upstairs at all.

“Didn’t she go with you to remove her veil, girl?” cried Royall impatiently.

“No, sir; she sent me upstairs to take it, and went to meet her beau,” returned the saucy maid.

“What do you mean, Letty? Explain yourself, without any more trifling!” exclaimed her mistress, in a tone of sudden, sharp anxiety.

Perhaps Letty had a grudge against her mistress, and knew that she could pay it off now, for she proceeded to recount, with sly enjoyment, her rencontre with Dallas Bain.

[Pg 104]

“He actually thought at first that ’twas a real marriage, and I almost feared the man would drop dead at my feet, he was so upset,” she cried. “But when I explained all to him—oh, what a change! His eyes just flashed with joy, and he crammed my hands full of money, saying: ‘I never loved any girl in my life but Daisie Bell, and I want you to slip in there and get her to come out here and see me, won’t you?’”

Letty thought her mistress would drop down dead, too, she clung so tightly to Royall Sherwood, and turned so deathly white, while she muttered, in impotent wrath:

“How dared you do it?”

Royall Sherwood went quite white, too, but he uttered no word; and Letty, with an air of innocence, tossed her head, twittering:

“La, ma’am, did I do anything wrong? If so, I’m sure I beg pardon.”

“You should have come to me first,” muttered Mrs. Fleming angrily; and the girl answered, with mock humility:

“I didn’t know it, I’m sure. I didn’t know you had a claim on him.”

“Silence, girl!” cried Royall, interpreting her[Pg 105] mood; and he drew Mrs. Fleming aside into a deserted anteroom to discuss the situation.

“Get me some wine, Royall; this is a terrible shock to my nerves!” she panted.

She drank, and the ruby liquid coursed through her veins like fire, inspiring her with new courage.

A low, hateful laugh trilled over her lips as she cried:

“How very, very fortunate that he did not come ten minutes earlier!”

“How very fortunate!” echoed Royall; but his blond face was ashy pale, and dismay lurked in his eyes.

She held the half-drained glass to his lips, saying wildly:

“Drink! it will give you courage. We must go and face them with the truth!”

“No; I must keep a clear head,” he answered, in a shaking voice, pushing her hand aside, and adding: “This is a terrible complication that one shrinks from meeting.”

“Courage!” she answered gayly, slipping her hand through his arm, and leading him, half unwillingly, down the hall toward the door that opened on the balcony.

[Pg 106]

“I—I—hadn’t you better break it to her first alone? I dread a scene,” he muttered tremblingly.

“Pshaw! don’t be a coward, Royall. You know your rôle. Just stick to it like a man, and all will be well. Her fate is sealed, and their anger cannot change it, however they rage. Come;” and, drawing him with her, the crafty schemer confronted the happy lovers on the moonlit balcony.

Her low, grating laugh startled them from a happy dream, and they sprang apart in confusion as she cried:

“Daisie, we have been searching for you everywhere! And here you are hiding from us like this, forgetting that your flirting days are over now! Why—Mr. Bain!” this in tones of profound surprise.

Dallas, quickly recovering himself, bowed profoundly, and responded:

“Yes, Mrs. Fleming, I am back again—just now returned—and meant to go in presently to greet you. Good evening, Mr. Sherwood. We are well met, all of us, for I wish to ask your congratulations on my engagement to Miss Bell.”

He saw quite plainly, despite their seeming[Pg 107] nonchalance, that the announcement would not wait, hence his haste.

Royall Sherwood gave a start of dramatic surprise; his cousin groaned:

“Good heavens!”

Daisie, shrinking into the shadow of the vines, waited for her lover to explain the situation.

He resumed sarcastically:

“You seem surprised, Mrs. Fleming, and yet you should not be. You knew quite well that I was Miss Bell’s lover, though I was foolish enough to be frightened off that day when you came to her house and found us together. Well, I repented my haste, returned to-night, and sought an explanation. All is satisfactory, and we will soon be married.”

“’Sh-h!” almost hissed Royall Sherwood, while Mrs. Fleming added:

“This is terrible—terrible!”

“Why is it terrible, madam?” demanded Daisie, with sudden fire; and as the little widow looked at the handsome, spirited couple before her, she longed to strike them dead at her feet because of their love for each other.

But at least she had an awful dart for their[Pg 108] hearts—an arrow tipped with deadly poison—so, throwing a baleful glance at both, she answered venomously:

“It is terrible, Daisie Bell, because, through my fault, a great mistake has been made. The marriage to-night was not sham, but real, and you are legally the wife of my Cousin Royall!”

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter