He had written occasionally since his blindness, but it was not a frequent thing, and his fingers closed awkwardly about the pen she placed in his hand. Feeling curious to know the meaning of all this, he felt for the paper and then said to her,
"I am ready for you to dictate."
But dictation was no part of Nina"s intentions. The lines traced upon that sheet would contain a secret which Richard must not know; and with a merry laugh, as she thought how she would cheat him, she replied,
"No, SIR. Only Miggie and I can read what you write. Nina will guide your hand and trace the words."
Dipping the pen afresh into the ink, she bade him take it, and grasping his fingers, guided them while they wrote as follows;
"I, THE BLIND MAN, RICHARD HARRINGTON,--
"That last was my name," interrupted Richard, who was rewarded by a slight pull of the hair, as Nina said,
"Hush, be quiet."
A great blot now came after the "Harrington," and wiping it up with the unresisting Richard"s coat sleeve, Nina continued:
"--DO HEREBY SOLEMNLY--"
She was not sure whether "swear" or "declare" would be the more proper word, and she questioned Richard, who decided upon "swear"
as the stronger of the two, and she went on:
"--SWEAR THAT THE MARRIAGE OF--
"As true as you live you can"t SEE?" she asked, looking curiously into the sightless eyes.
"No; I can"t see," was the response, and satisfied that she was safe, Nina made him write,
"--ARTHUR ST. CLAIRE AND NINA BERNARD, PERFORMED AT MY HOUSE, IN MY PRESENCE, AND BY ME--"
Nina didn"t know what, but remembering a phrase she had often heard used, and thinking it might be just what was needed, she said,
"Does "NULL AND VOID" mean "SCRATCHED OUT?""
"Yes," he answered, smiling in spite of himself, and Nina added with immense capitals,
"--NULL AND VOID," to what she had already written.
"I reckon it will be better to have your name," she said, and the cramped fingers were compelled to add: "RICHARD HARRINGTON, COLLINGWOOD, November 25th 18--"
"There!" and Nina glanced with an unusual amount of satisfaction at the wonderful hieroglyphics which covered nearly an entire page of foolscap, so large were the letters and so far apart the words.
"That"ll cure her, sure," and folding it up, she hastened back to Edith"s chamber.
Old Rachel watched that night, but Nina had no difficulty in coaxing her from the room, telling her she needed sleep, and Miggie was so much more quiet when alone with her. Rachel knew this was true, and after an hour or so withdrew to another apartment, leaving Edith alone with Nina. For a time Edith slept quietly, notwithstanding that Nina rattled the spoons and upset a chair hoping thus to wake her.
Meanwhile Richard"s curiosity had been thoroughly roused with regard to the SCRATCHING OUT, and knowing Victor was still up, he summoned him to his presence, repeating to him what had just occurred and saying, "If you find that paper read it. It is surely right for me to know what I have written."
"Certainly," returned Victor, bowing himself from the room.
Rightly guessing that Nina would read it aloud to Edith, he resolved to be within hearing distance, and when he heard Rachel leave the chamber he drew near the door, left ajar for the purpose of admitting fresher air. From his position he saw that Edith was asleep, while Nina, with the paper clasped tightly in her hand, sat watching her. Once the latter thought she heard a suspicious sound, and stealing to the door she looked up and down the hall where a lamp was burning, showing that it was empty.
"It must have been the wind," she said, resuming her seat by the bedside, while Victor Dupres, gliding from the closet where he had taken refuge, stood again at his former post, waiting for that deep slumber to end.
"Nina, are you here?" came at last from the pale lips, and the bright, black eyes unclosed looking wistfully about the room.
Silent and motionless Victor stood, while Nina, bending over Edith, answered, "Yes, Miggie, I am here, and I"ve brought you something to make you well. HE wrote it--Richard did--just now, in the library. Can you see if I bring the lamp?" and thrusting the paper into Edith"s hands she held the lamp close to her eyes.
"You havn"t strength, have you?" she continued, as Edith paid no heed. "Let me do it for you," and taking the crumpled sheet, she read in tones distinct and dear:
"I, THE BLIND MAN, RICHARD HARRINGTON, DO HEREBY SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT THE MARRIAGE OF ARTHUR ST. CLAIRE AND NINA BERNARD, PERFORMED AT MY HOUSE, IN MY PRESENCE, AND BY ME, IS NULL AND VOID. RICHARD HARRINGTON, COLLINGWOOD, NOVEMBER 5TH, 18--"
Slowly a faint color deepened on Edith"s cheek, a soft l.u.s.tre was kindled in her eye, and the great tears dropped from her long lashes. Her intellect was too much clouded for her to reason clearly upon anything, and she did not, for a moment, doubt the validity of what she heard. Richard could annul the marriage if he would, she was sure, and now that he had done so, the bitterness of death was past,--the dark river forded, and she was saved. Nina had steered the foundering bark into a calm, quiet sea, and exulting in her good work, she held Edith"s head upon her bosom, and whispered to her of the joyous future when she would live with Arthur.
As a child listens to an exciting tale only comprehends in part, so Edith listened to Nina, a smile playing about her mouth and dancing in her eyes, which at last, as the low voice ceased, closed languidly as did the soft blue orbs above them, and when the grey dawn stole into the room it found them sleeping in each other"s arms,--the n.o.ble-hearted Nina who had virtually given up her husband and the broken-hearted Edith who had accepted him.
They made a beautiful tableau, and Victor for a time stood watching them, wiping the moisture from his own eyes, and muttering to himself, "Poor Edith, I understand it now, and pity you so much. But your secret is safe. Not for worlds would I betray that blessed angel, Nina." Then, crossing the hall with a cautious tread, he entered his own apartment and sat down to THINK.
Victor Dupres knew WHAT HAD BEEN SCRATCHED OUT!
CHAPTER XXIII.
PARTING.
It was late the next morning, ere Nina and Edith awoke from that long sleep, which proved so refreshing to the latter, stilling her throbbing pulse, cooling her feverish brow, and subduing the wild look of her eyes, which had in them the clear light of reason.
Edith was better. She would live, the physician said, feeling a glow of gratified vanity as he thought how that last dose of medicine, given as an experiment, and about which he had been so doubtful, had really saved her life. She would have died without it, he knew, just as Mrs. Matson, who inclined to h.o.m.oeopathic principles, knew her patient would have died if she had not slily thrown it in the fire, subst.i.tuting in its stead sweetened water and pills of bread.
Victor and Nina, too, had their theory with regard to the real cause of Edith"s convalescence, but each kept his own counsel, Victor saying to Richard when questioned as to whether he had read the paper or not,
"No, Miss Nina keeps it clutched tightly in her hand, as if suspecting my design."
In the course of the day, however, Nina relaxed her vigilance, and Victor, who was sent up stairs with wood, saw the important doc.u.ment lying upon the hearth rug, where Nina had unconsciously dropped it.
"It"s safer with me," he thought, and picking it up, he carried it to his own apartment, locking it in his trunk where he knew no curious eyes would ever find it.
In her delight at Edith"s visible improvement, Nina forgot the paper for a day or two, and when at last she did remember it, making anxious inquiries for it, Mrs. Matson, who was not the greatest stickler for the truth, pacified her by saying she had burned up a quant.i.ty of waste papers scattered on the floor, and presumed this was among them. As Nina cared for nothing save to keep the SCRATCHING OUT from every one except those whom it directly concerned, she dismissed the subject from her mind, and devoted herself with fresh energy to Edith, who daily grew better.
She had not seen Arthur since that night in the Deering Woods, neither did she wish to see him. She did not love him now, she said; the shock had been so great as to destroy the root of her affections, and no excuse he could offer her would in the least palliate his sin. Edith was very harsh, very severe toward Arthur.
She should never go to Gra.s.sy Spring again, she thought; never look upon his face unless he came to Collingwood, which she hoped he would not do, for an interview could only be painful to them both. She should tell him how deceived she was in him, and Edith"s cheeks grew red, and her eyes unusually bright, as she mentally framed the speech she should make to Arthur St. Claire, if ever they did meet. Her excitement was increasing, when Nina came in, and tossing bonnet and shawl on the floor, threw herself upon the foot of the bed, and began to cry, exclaiming between each sob,
"Nina can"t go! Nina won"t go, and leave you here alone! I told him so the vile boy, but he wouldn"t listen, and Soph is packing my trunks. Oh, Miggie, Miggie! how can I go without you? I shall tear again, and be as bad as ever."
"What do you mean?" asked Edith, "Where are you going, and why?"
Drying her tears, Nina, in her peculiar way, related how "Arthur wouldn"t believe it was scratched out; Richard couldn"t do such a thing, he said; n.o.body could do it, but a divorce, and Arthur wouldn"t submit to that. He loves me better, than he used to do,"
she said; "and he talked a heap about how he"d fix up Sunny Bank.