The Masked Bridal Part 53

When Roy took Edith back to Mrs. Morrell's he expressed his admiration and sympathy in the highest terms for the generous-hearted invalid.

"When we make a home for ourselves, darling, let us invite him to share it, and we will try to make his last days his happiest days.

What do you say to the plan, sweet?" he queried, as he bent to look into the beautiful face beside him.

Edith flushed painfully at his question and hesitated to reply.

"What is it, love?" he urged, forgetting for the moment the resolve he had made earlier in the day.

"Of course, Roy, I would be glad to do anything in the world for one who was so devoted to mamma, and who, for her sake, has been so considerate for my future; but--"

"Well, what is this dreadful 'but'?" was the smiling query.

"I am afraid that you are too sanguine regarding our prospects,"

returned the fair girl, gravely. "I am somehow impressed that we shall meet with difficulties that you do not antic.i.p.ate in the way of your happiness."

"Do not be faint-hearted, dear," said her lover, tenderly, although a shade of anxiety swept over his face as he spoke. "I am going immediately to look up that woman with whom Giulia Fiorini told you she boarded, and ascertain what evidence she can give me to sustain my theory regarding Correlli's relations with the girl."

He left Edith at Mrs. Morrell's door, and then hastened away upon his errand.

He easily found the street and number which Edith had given him, and, to his joy, the name of the woman he sought was on the door.

A portly matron, richly dressed, but with a very shrewd face, answered his ring, and greeted him with suave politeness.

"Yes, she remembered Giulia Fiorini," she remarked, in answer to his inquiry. "She was a pretty Italian girl who had run away from her own country, wasn't she? Would the gentleman kindly walk in? and she would willingly respond to any further questions he might wish to ask."

Roy followed her into a handsomely-furnished parlor, that was separated from another by elegant portieres, which, however, were closely drawn, thus concealing the room beyond.

"Yes," madam continued, "the girl had a child--a boy--a fine little fellow, whom she called Ino, and she did remember that a gentleman visited them occasionally--the girl's brother, cousin, or some other relation, she believed"--with a look of perplexity that would lead one to infer that such visits had been so rare she found it difficult to place the gentleman at all.

"No, she did not even know his name, and she had never heard him admit that the girl was his wife--certainly not!--nor the child call him father or papa. There had always been something mysterious about Giulia, but she had appeared to have plenty of money, and had paid her well, and thus she had not concerned herself about her private affairs."

Roy's heart grew cold and heavy within him as he listened to these suave and evasive replies to his every question.

It was evident to him that she had already received instructions what to say in the event of such a visit, and was paid liberally to carry them out.

He spent nearly an hour with her trying to make her contradict or commit herself in some way, but she never once made a mistake; her answers were very pat and to the point, and he knew no more when he arose to leave than he had known when he entered the house.

He was very heavy-hearted--indeed, a feeling of despair began to settle down upon him; for, unless he could prove that Emil Correlli had taken Giulia Fiorini to that house, and lived with her there as her husband, he felt that he had very little to hope for regarding his future with Edith.

Madam ushered him out as courteously as she had invited him in, regretting exceedingly that she could not give him all the information he desired, and hoped that the matter was not so important as to cause him any especial annoyance.

She even inquired if he knew where Giulia was at that time, remarking that she "had been invariably sweet-tempered and lady-like, and she should always feel an interest in her, in spite of a certain air of mystery that seemed to envelop her."

But the moment the door closed after her visitor madam's keen, black eyes began to glitter and a shrewd smile played about her cunning mouth.

A little gurgling laugh of triumph broke from her red lips as she returned to the parlor, when the portieres between it and the room were swept aside, and Emil Correlli himself walked into her presence.

CHAPTER x.x.xIV.

AN UNEXPECTED MEETING RESULTS IN A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY.

"Well done, madam! you managed to pull the wool over his eyes in very good shape," the man remarked, a look of evil triumph sweeping over his face.

"Certainly, Mr. Correlli," the woman returned, in a tone of serene satisfaction. "Only give me my price, and I am ready to make anybody believe that black is white, every time; and now I'll take that five hundred, if you please," she concluded, as she extended her fat hand for the plump fee for which she had been so zealously working.

"You shall have it--you shall have it; I will write you a check for it immediately," said Monsieur Correlli. "But--you are sure there is no one in the house who knows anything about the facts of the case?" he added, inquiringly, after a moment of thought.

"Yes, I am sure; I haven't a single servant now that was with me when the girl was here."

"Have you any idea where they went after leaving you?" asked the man, with evident uneasiness.

"Lor', no; you needn't have the slightest fear of their turning up,"

responded his companion, with a light laugh. "That lawyer might as well try to hunt for a needle in a hay-mow as to seek them as witnesses against you; while, as for the lodgers who were here at the time, not one of them knew anything about your affairs. By the way,"

she added, curiously, "what has become of the girl?"

"She followed me to Boston, and is there now, doubtless."

"Would she be likely to know anything about the laws of New York regarding marriage?"

"No, indeed; she is a perfect ignoramus as far as any knowledge of the customs of this country is concerned."

"That is lucky for you; but, if you know where she can be found, I would advise you to send her back to Italy with all possible dispatch.

She is liable to make trouble for you if she learns the truth, for"--madam here shot a sly look at her companion--"a man can't live a year or two with a woman here in New York, allowing her to believe herself his wife, and her child to call him 'papa'--paying all her bills, without giving her a pretty strong claim upon him. However, mum's the word with me, provided I get my pay for it," she concluded, with a knowing wink.

Emil Correlli frowned at her coa.r.s.e familiarity and the indirect threat implied in her last words; but, simply remarking that he "would draw that check," he returned to the room whence he had come, while his companion turned to a window, chuckling softly to herself.

Presently he reappeared and slipped into her hand a check for five hundred dollars.

"Now, in case this matter should come to court, I shall rely upon you to swear that the girl's story is false and the lawyer's charge simply a romance of his imagination," he remarked.

"You may depend on me, sir--I will not fail you," madam responded, as, with a complacent look, she neatly folded the check and deposited it in her purse.

Emil Correlli had arrived in New York very early the same morning, and, not caring to have his presence there known, he had sought a room in the house of the woman with whom Giulia had boarded for nearly two years.

Having partaken of a light breakfast, he went out again to seek the policeman to whom he had telegraphed to detain Edith.

He readily found him, when he learned all that we already know of the man's efforts to obey Correlli's orders.

"That was the girl, in spite of the lawyer's interference. You should have never let her go," he angrily exclaimed, when the officer had described Edith and told his story.

"But I couldn't, sir--I had no authority--no warrant--and I should have got myself into trouble," the man objected, adding: "The lawyer was a shrewd one and had a high and mighty way with him that made a fellow go into his boots and fight shy of him."

Monsieur Correlli knew that the man was right, and saw that he must make the best of the situation; so, taking possession of Roy's card, and making his way directly to Broadway, he prowled about the vicinity of his office to see what he could discover.