The expression of William's face never changed. He opened his arms and approached her, intending to draw her to him, but something in her eyes stopped him before he reached her; they stood there looking at one another fixedly and neither spoke. She pointed her finger significantly toward the door. This position, which William made no move to change, became unbearable, and she exclaimed sharply: "If you have any of the instincts of a gentleman, you will not wait to be again asked to leave my presence."

Every word she uttered made a visible change in William's look and manner; all the gladness fled from his face, and he seemed to strengthen and expand, while his eyes glowed like orbs of fire. "I have always understood that the customs and usages of the best society permitted a gentleman to remain in the presence and home of his wife."

"William, go--I beg of you--don't look at me that way.--I feel faint and dizzy."

"Then my arms are your proper resting place. See--I will forgive your sharp words. I know you are not well. There, rest against me.--You won't kiss me? You struggle to get away, but just now you nestled close to me as you used to do. Be still. I have power; you shall be strong again."

"Mistress, Augustus is home and insists upon seeing you. Shall I let him in?"

"No--I will be out very soon."

When the servant spoke, William released Clarissa, but his eyes did not leave her face. When she had gone, he strode to her, and grasping her arm in no gentle manner, said: "Who is Augustus? Why don't you answer me? Another of your innumerable lovers, I suppose. Well, there have been a few kisses since he left that did not go to him. They were as warm and tender as any you ever gave him, and you may a.s.sure him, with my compliments, that they are not the last I shall have either. A fool's paradise is better than none. You belong to me by every law of G.o.d or man, and no one shall ever again come between us, for I have the power to slowly kill him.--Do you realize what that means? I will put him or any other person out of my way as I would kill a viper. You need not turn pale--I mean it. Your beloved Augustus shall die. I swear it."

"William, take that back."

"Oh, you plead for him, do you? I register a solemn vow to Heaven--"

"William! You shall not say it--It is too horrible.--Say that you do not mean it.--See, my arms are around you.--Do not speak."

"Do not speak? I do not need to. My thought has power to blast him, soul and body. Now--this very day. You need not cling to me. I will not share your embraces with him.--He shall die.--I am not the first man who has murdered for the sake of a woman. The sight of you has crazed me. I swear--"

"Mother, Dinah said I might bring you these flowers. May I come in?"

At that word "mother," uttered by a voice in the distance, which kept coming nearer, accompanied by the barking of a dog and the sound of wheels, William stopped abruptly and looked at Clarissa, with severely questioning eyes. Her face lit up at the sound of the voice, then her whole body shivered and shook, threatening to prevent her standing, and her hand went to her heart while she struggled for breath.

"Mother dear, may I come?"

The voice and dog stopped, for the boy would not enter till he was bidden. William's eyes did not leave her face. He said coldly: "Why do you not answer? It is evidently you who are addressed."

No wonder she trembled as she looked at him. She made a visible effort and said, "What is it, dear? I will come presently."

"But, mamma, I want you to wear these, they are so pretty. Just let me put them in your dress, and I will go back to Dinah."

By this time, William's eyes blazed, and his voice was calm as he said, "Bid him enter." Clarissa seemed under a spell as she said with a vacant expression, "Come, Augustus."

The words had scarcely left her lips, when the voice began, the dog barked, and a young boy, guiding a wheeled chair, came into the room. He was a remarkably handsome child, probably about twelve years old, a cripple. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes glowing, and he looked more like an animated picture than a real boy. Being the personification of refinement and beauty, he needed only a robust body to appear a miniature G.o.d.

One glance at the boy, a sudden start, and a complete change took place in William's countenance. All the anger and jealousy and uncontrollable rage faded away, and so kindly a light came into his eyes it attracted the boy's attention. Rolling his chair to his mother's side, he put his arm around her, and rising to his feet, with the other hand he placed in her dress a bunch of tuberoses, and gave her a loving kiss. Then he quickly sat down in his chair, bowed to William, and said "Come, Rex,"

at the same time starting for the door.

"Will you not speak to me, or give me a flower, or at least tell me your name?" said William.

"Yes, sir. My name is Augustus Earle, and I will buy flowers with all my money and bring them to you,--I won't even buy a picture or anything if you will just cure my mamma. Dinah said you were a doctor, come to cure her, and we are going to have a jolly time when she gets strong again."

"Your father must be very proud of you; such a bright boy as you are."

"I have no father. Didn't mamma tell you? No? Papa is dead, and Aunt Dinah and Rex and I take care of mamma. Aunt Dinah says I look like my father and have his temper, but you must not think he was a bad man, for mamma says he was grand and good and n.o.ble. I would like to be like my father when I am a man, only of course he could walk and I can not without crutches. But I don't care, only sometimes. Have you any little boys or girls?"

"Yes; I have one boy."

"I suppose he can walk and run and jump and swim. You just wait, I like you--I am going to send your little boy a present, for you are going to cure mamma, I know. How old is your little boy?"

"He is twelve years old."

"Just the same age I am. How do you suppose he would like a horse? Do you think he would rather have a dog? Oh, I don't mean a truly one--only one I draw. You tell him, when you give it to him, Augustus Earle, a boy who can't run and walk like him, drew it, and sends his love with it.--I will not be gone long."

After Augustus had left, neither spoke for some time; not till the clatter of his chair was lost, then William said, and his voice was low and gentle:

"Clarissa, why did you not tell me of this years ago?" She made no reply. "Why did you let me remain ignorant that I was a father?--Won't you speak?"

"He does not belong to you."

"Clarissa, you don't realize the significance of what you say. That is my son--I know it, and it is useless to deny it. Why you should try to I cannot understand.--What is the cause of his lameness? I may be able to cure him, and make him so he can walk. He is a handsome boy."

"I say you shall not cure him;--I have cared for him so long, and--"

"Here I am, Dr. Baxter, I think I will send both of these, then he will be sure to be pleased. I am so glad you are going to eat with us--Aunt Dinah has put an extra plate, and made me promise to be on my best behavior. You see, Aunt Dinah forgets that I am not a baby because I cannot walk, but I can play and sing and draw better than boys that can play games. I have a boat--I will go fetch it. Do you know, Rex has learned to swim and sail it for me, and I sit and watch it. It is a good boat, for a fisherman told me so. Rex, go and get my boat. Now Doctor, you just see if he does not fetch it. He knows what I want, for he takes care of me.--There is Aunt Dinah calling. I have to go and let her fuss over me. She rubs my face and hands, and combs my hair just as they do a baby's, and if I get angry and wash myself, she says I am not clean.--If I do not go, she will come for me, and rub soap and water into my mouth and eyes and say, 'You are the perfect acting image of your father, you are.' I will be ready by the time supper is; I am so glad you are going to stay. I will show you my drawings, and sing for you too. Mamma says I sing splendidly.--There's Dinah again.--We will have a jolly time, and you can tell me all about your little boy."

Various expressions had chased one another over William's face while the boy was talking, and anyone watching his countenance would hardly have believed it capable of expressing any but the kindliest of emotions, and solicitude for others. Tears were in his eyes, and his voice trembled as he thanked Augustus for the drawings he had given him, and as he started to wheel himself away, William stooped to kiss him; but, as though she had the power to divine his thoughts, Clarissa, who had remained silent during the boy's last entrance, moved quickly between them, herself kissing his animated face, and pushed his chair toward the door, saying: "Dinah will be cross with you--go quickly.--Remain in your room until I call you--I wish to talk with the Doctor, alone."

"All right, mamma; do not be long--I want to hear all about his little boy."

Clarissa watched him until he had pa.s.sed from sight into another room, then turned, like an avalanche, upon William. The intensity of her feelings seemed to lend her strength.

"If there was ever one faint spark of interest--I will not desecrate the name of love by calling any feelings you may have entertained toward me by that t.i.tle, but if you have ever had even a pa.s.sing interest, I implore you by the remembrance of it, to leave my home immediately, and so long as my child and I may live, never bring your unwelcome presence to us again. Go.--You don't move? Whatever other feelings I may have had for you, I always give you the credit of possessing the ordinary courtesy of a gentleman.--You will compel me to resort to very rude measures, and as I am not very strong, and this interview is not only taxing my patience, but my strength--"

"Why should I go, Clarissa? Heretofore, there has been only one loved object in my life; now I find another, unexpectedly, it is true, but none the less dear. Where these two are, there I wish ever to be. You both need me and I need both of you."

"You are mistaken. We do not need you, and love is a sentiment unknown to your soul. Do not longer parley with words. Go--or I shall lose what little respect I still have for you--"

"I cannot leave you ill."

"Who has made me so? I know you have. I know very little about the science that has made your name ill.u.s.trious, but I know enough of it to know your power lies in the concentration of thought. Have I not been pursued by your image and influence, sleeping or waking, ever since the day I entered your house? Do not flatter yourself this image has been welcome, for it has been far from it, and I have had but one means of banishing it.

"It has been this continual struggle to throw off this unwelcome influence that has shattered my nervous system. I am gaining upon the power to throw it off, however. I thought, one while, I would surely die, as at times my heart would cease beating, and everything begin to turn black. You would have succeeded in your nefarious scheme, but for the remembrance of my helpless boy, who has no one but me to depend upon. I cannot and will not leave him alone.--

"Nights, when I have felt your evil power so strong, I could almost see you before me; I would rise and go to Augustus, and, kneeling beside his bed, I would pray for the powers of good to give me strength to live and care for my blessed child. These prayers have been answered; I no longer fear either your image, your influence, or your actual presence.

"A mother's love has strength to overcome every evil for her child's sake. I defy you and your boasted power. I did wrong to ask you not to try it upon Augustus; the power of my love will counteract any influence you can send him. Will you leave us now?"

"I make all due allowance for your condition, and rather than cause you more suffering, I will go immediately, leaving you by yourself to think it over and reflect if you have not been a little harsh to me. Think over the early days of our marriage; how happy we were. Can you recall one act of mine that was not an expression of my loving solicitude for you? Had I one thought beyond you and our home?

"Since you went away, I have lived the isolated life of a student. No woman's smile has caused me a moment's thought. I have been as true a husband to you as in those happy days so long ago. The misery and suffering have made me old before my time, but I am clean in every thought so far as women are concerned.

"Isn't that proof of some love? I see by your face you do not believe me, but I will prove it to you.--Come home with me.--James and Nancy are with me, and always have been. You will believe them, even though you doubt me. They know my life. We will nurse you back to health--possibly I can do much for my son--"

"Stop. I told you before that Augustus was not your son."