Very distressing were the thoughts of the young baronet, who had so suddenly returned to his home and been stricken with illness.
He had been sick at Alexandria when he received the doc.u.ment notifying him that Virgie was seeking a divorce.
He was absolutely paralyzed as he read it, and saw by the date that it would be utterly impossible for him to reach America in time to stay the proceedings.
He could not even reach England in season to cable for that purpose, and he was so overcome by the knowledge and his own helplessness, as to render him unable to travel for a couple of weeks longer.
One thing gave him some satisfaction. He at least knew that Virgie was in San Francisco, and that she must have been residing in the State for some time to allow her the right to apply for the divorce there. She must have been there even while he was there searching for her, and it seemed terribly cruel to him that he should have missed her.
But he resolved that he would find her yet, if she lived. Poor darling!
what a bitter lot had been hers during this last year, believing what she must of him. It should not go on, however; he would seek her and vindicate himself; he would prove to her that he had never wavered in his truth to her in spite of all the evidence against him. He would prove his love for her, and he would win her again, even though the dread decree had been p.r.o.nounced, bring her back with him to Heathdale, and they would be happy yet.
And his child--the precious little one whom he had never seen--his heart cried out for her with an uncontrollable yearning--his baby! his miniature Virgie!
Thus, as we already know, he went directly to Heathdale where he arrived on the very evening that Lady Linton had received the papers announcing that his wife had secured a decree of divorce.
He was very wretched in spite of his sister"s hearty welcome and efforts to render him comfortable; and during her absence from the room to see that something unusually nice should be prepared for him, anxious, bitter thoughts crowded his mind, and he rebelled against the arbitrary weariness and la.s.situde that bound him, as with chains of iron, and compelled him to rest.
Gradually, however, his glance began to wander over the familiar room, lingering now upon some picture, now upon some rare article of virtu, each endeared by peculiar a.s.sociations, until at length it rested upon the table and that doc.u.ment, which his sister had dropped and forgotten in her surprise at his appearance.
Its likeness to the one he had previously received startled him.
He arose and went forward to examine it. Its postmark told him at once whence it had come.
A deathly paleness overspread his face; a horrible numbness fell upon his heart.
With trembling hands he tore it open, and one glance was sufficient to tell him the nature of its contents.
It was the one bitter blow too much, even though he had half-expected it, and, with a despairing cry that would have melted the hardest heart, "Lost! lost! Virgie, my love! my love!" he fell p.r.o.ne upon the floor, clutching that fatal paper in his grasp.
Long weeks of watching and anxiety followed--weeks during which Lady Linton began to fear that she was paying dearly for her plotting and treachery, even though her son might become the master of Heathdale in the event of her brother"s death.
But he did not die. His const.i.tution was naturally rugged, and by the end of winter, after many alternations of hope and fear, he slowly began to rally.
As soon as he was able to be dressed and sit up he began to talk of going again to America.
Of course Sir Herbert Randal vetoed such a proposition at once.
"You are not to stir outside the grounds of Heathdale for three months at least," he said, decidedly.
"But I must, Sir Herbert. You have no idea how much is at stake," the sick man pleaded.
"You must not. I cannot help how much there is at stake," returned the physician, firmly. "I have had hard work to get you up, even so far, from this nervous prostration and the least excitement or imprudence will cause a dangerous relapse."
And so, with despair at his heart, Sir William was obliged to submit.
He tried to write to Virgie, intending to send the letter to her through the lawyer whom she had employed and whose name had appeared in connection with the papers he had received, but he could not; he found that his brain was too weak to permit of the framing of even a sentence, and he knew that he could never plead his cause successfully in such a state.
He shrank from asking any one else to write for him; his sister he knew was not in sympathy with him, and he would not confide in her.
When his mind had become strong enough to realize what was going on about him, he had one day asked Lady Linton to bring him both doc.u.ments that had come to him from America.
She obeyed him, making no comment, though her manner betrayed that she knew well enough their character.
He told her to lock them in a certain drawer which no one was ever allowed to open save himself.
She did so in his presence, and earnestly hoped, as the key clicked upon them, that that episode in her brother"s life was buried for all time.
But she was not long in finding that she was to be disappointed
As summer advanced Sir William gained more rapidly and by August he was p.r.o.nounced comparatively well, although he was still but the ghost of his former self.
Then he announced his determination of again crossing the Atlantic, and Lady Linton"s heart failed her. Would he never relinquish his chase after that miserable girl?
She earnestly pleaded that he would not leave home again.
"I must," he replied, sternly. "I must find my wife."
"Your wife!" she retorted, losing all patience; "you have no wife."
"Be still, Miriam," he commanded, growing frightfully pale. "I see that you know what has occurred, and though the law may have succeeded in breaking the tie between us, yet in my heart I claim Virgie as my wife just as truly to-day as she ever was. I will search the world over for her; if I find her the law will give her to me again, for I believe that she is still true to me, whatever she may think of me; if I do not find her, I shall live and die cherishing her image alone."
Lady Linton knew that he meant what he said.
"That will be bad for Sadie"s hopes," she thought; "but doubtless Percy will be the gainer, unless he succeeds in finding that girl. I never believed his pride would let him go chasing after her like this."
The last of August found him again on the ocean.
The voyage proved beneficial, and he was in much better health and strength when he landed in New York than when he left England.
He proceeded directly to San Francisco as fast as steam and wheels could take him, determined to seek out Mr. Templeton, Virgie"s lawyer, who, he believed, would tell him where she could be found.
But a terrible disappointment awaited him there.
Mr. Templeton had retired from business at the beginning of summer, and, with his family, had gone abroad for an indefinite period.
He could not even obtain his address, and was thus prevented from communicating with him by letter.
Then he began another wearisome search. Day after day he haunted the streets of the city. He inquired, he advertised, and used every method he could think of to ascertain where his darling was, but without avail, for, as we know, she had gone into the country on little Virgie"s account, while Mr. Knight was away on a trip to British Columbia, or he might have seen Sir William"s advertis.e.m.e.nts, and helped him in the matter so near, his heart.
About the middle of October he decided to go once more to her old home among the mountains of Nevada, hoping to learn something of her there.
But, of course, he did not, and he finally came to the conclusion that she must have left California after obtaining her divorce. At least he thought she would leave San Francisco, for he knew that there were unpleasant a.s.sociations connected with her past life there, and he did not believe she would like to make her home in that city, where disagreeable rumors might still exist. But, still resolving to find her at any cost, he turned his face in another direction, and began anew his wanderings up and down the land.
Three weary years he spent thus, following every clew, but all to no purpose. Then, saddened and disheartened he was compelled to give up the chase and return to Heathdale, for his estate demanded his personal attention.
Mrs. Farnum and her daughter were full of hope, after learning that the decree of divorce had been granted, that the beauty and belle would at last succeed in securing the prize she had so long coveted.
Every art was made use of to captivate the wealthy baronet, but it was evident that his heart was irrevocably fixed--that he had no intention of ever marrying again. Finally the disappointed girl gave her hand to a rich, but aged and feeble lord, and tried to satisfy her heart and ambition with the golden husks thus achieved.