CHAPTER XXXVII.

Leonie had returned from her visit to the Chandlers.

Her eyes showed traces of weeping, and her countenance contained the radiant glow of a saint that has received the gift of righteousness through suffering.

Mr. and Mrs. Pryor, and the Misses Pryor, together with Lynde and Edith Pyne, were in the library awaiting her, and as she entered she was warmly greeted, and a comfortable chair placed for her.

"You look tired and worn, dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Pryor, with motherly kindness. "I think it would be much better for you to go up-stairs and take a much-needed rest, than allow yourself to be tormented by these careless young people."

"I had rather remain, if you will allow me," returned Leonie, meekly. "I don't think I could rest, and I should not like to be alone. This is ever so much better, where I can feel what kind friends and true the Lord has sent me in my loneliness."

"And Leonard Chandler!" cut in Mr. Pryor, unable to curb his curiosity. "What did he say?"

"I cannot tell you how deeply he feels it all!" exclaimed Leonie, sadly. "I think, had he been her father, his grief could not have been greater. He feels that to a great extent he is blamable for what has occurred. Mrs. Chandler is almost in hysteria. She was under the care of the physician when I left. Evelyn's conduct is all the more remarkable to me, when I think of the loving tenderness that must have been hers in the home of her adoption. My heart has ached until it has seemed almost breaking. Mr. Chandler has asked my permission to have the body removed at once to his house, and buried from there."

"And you gave it?"

"Certainly; what right had I compared with theirs, even had I chosen to press my claim? They were so kind to me! Why, it seemed almost as though they were accepting me in her stead. When I was leaving Mrs. Chandler clasped her arms about my neck, and with tears streaming over her face said: 'You must fill her place, dear. Remember that I shall have no daughter now. My heart and home will both be empty. You must fill the vacancy that her death has left!' I don't know what I have done that so many friends should be given me, just at the time when I fancied myself most alone!"

"It is very nice of the Chandlers, indeed!" cried Mr. Pryor, dryly. "I don't doubt in the least but that it would be charming for them to have you take their daughter's place, but there are others who have a 'pryor' claim, eh, Lucretia?"

He smiled over his little joke, and Mrs. Pryor nodded her head approvingly.

"Do you realize, girls," she said, sweetly, "that it is less than an hour until dinner? Remember your father's horror of a cold dinner, and take yourselves away to dress at once!"

There was a general movement in obedience to the command, but as Leonie was about to follow them, she felt a hand placed very gently upon her arm.

"Won't you wait a minute, please?" Lynde asked, half timidly. "I shall detain you only a few seconds."

She tried to prevent the crimson from rushing over her face as she felt it doing, but the effort was without avail.

The others passed from the room as though they had not observed the aside.

"There were a few questions that I wanted to ask you about the--funeral," Lynde stammered, when they were alone and the door had been closed. "I thought, perhaps, you might not care to have it talked of before the others. Will Mr. and Mrs. Chandler attend to everything, or do you do it?"

"They wished it all to be just as though none of this horrible recent past had taken place. They believe with me that she has been insane for years."

"That is all, then. And, Leonie, something must be done about that will very soon. When can you give me an hour to speak of that?"

"Oh, Lynde, why do you torture me with that old question? You know that I will never have anything to do with it. But there is one thing that I wish you would do. Where is the necessity for prosecuting that poor man, Luis Kingsley? Surely losing all his fortune is punishment enough for what he has done."

He looked at her curiously a moment, and said:

"But I must do it if that will is admitted to probate. There is just one way that he can be saved, and that is for you to make your claim to the money, and prove it valid. Otherwise he must suffer."

He knew that she was not sufficiently a lawyer to know whether he was telling the truth or not, and he also knew that, under the circumstances, the point he had made was a strong one.

She gazed at him a moment; then her lips began to tremble, and her eyes filled with tears.

She turned away from him hastily, but not before he had seen, and the sight was too much for him.

A man can never endure to see a woman in tears, and most particularly not a woman whom he loves.

One quick step forward, an extension of the arms, and she was taken to his breast.

"I know that I am a criminal to tell you of my love while that poor girl lies dead in that dreadful place!" he exclaimed, contritely. "But what am I to do? The temptation has overpowered me. After all, she never loved me, and she knew that I did not love her, therefore the circumstances cannot be the same. Leonie, darling, I do not ask if you will be my wife, because I know you will! You have never endeavored to conceal from me that you love me, and through all the wretched past that has been my single consolation. Tell me that I have not been wrong, sweetheart!"

She was weeping softly, but they were tears of relief.

"Why did you wish to distress me about the will when you knew that it would be compromised in that way?" she asked, a little smile rippling through the tears. "Oh, Lynde, it has been such weary, hopeless waiting. I cannot realize that there are really no barriers between us now. There was a time when I would rather have died than have you know the shame that rested upon my mother's name, but after all the fault was not hers, and it would seem to me now that concealment meant shame upon her memory. Tell me that you do not despise me for it, dear?"

He laughed a little, holding her all the closer.

"Do I look as though I despised you for anything, or could despise you for anything under God's heaven?" he asked tenderly. "My darling, you have come to me through grief and suffering, but you are mine at last, thank Heaven, and all the more precious because of the waiting and the misery."

She lifted her face and allowed him to kiss her after the weary restraint of months.

In that kiss, they seemed to live again through the weary, hideous time that had intervened since their meeting, and it was with a thankfulness to God that neither of them could have expressed that they realized it was over and done with forever.

"If Dad could only know how happy I am in spite of all the sorrow I have known!" muttered Leonie. "Dear old Dad, if he could only have lived to see his little girl as she is now! But surely up there with God he knows it all, and the joy with my mother is as great as mine!"

She gazed up at her young, handsome lover fondly.

"I hope we will not be punished for our happiness, Lynde," she said slowly. "It seems dreadful when one thinks of----"

She hesitated, and he closed her lips with a caress.

"There can be no wrong in the love that God has given, my dearest!" he whispered. "Why should we try to conceal what our whole hearts are crying aloud?"

She made no attempt to answer him, but allowed him to comfort her, now that the long wait was ended.

She had made no move to leave when Mr. Pryor entered.

"Have you two effected your compromise yet?" he questioned dryly.

Leonie colored guiltily.

"We have, sir!" returned Lynde, with manly quiet and dignity. "Under the circumstances that exist, we wish the matter to remain our secret for the present, or rather that of the family. Perhaps we have been premature, but----"

"Nonsense. You would have been foolish not to have taken advantage of the opportunity that God made for you especially. I congratulate you both with all my heart. I have never had anything make me happier, and I am sure all the rest of the family will join me."

* * * * *

There is little remaining to be told.

Luis Kingsley was not prosecuted for the felonious concealment of a will. He was released from prison, and shortly after disappeared from the country. No one knew where he went, and presumably no one cared enough to inquire. He was as utterly dead to Lynde and Leonie as though the grave were between them.

Ben Mauprat was sentenced to two years in the penitentiary for assault with intent to kill, with a charge of complicity in a robbery hanging over his head upon his release. But the chances are that he will never be prosecuted upon that charge.

Leonie entered her claim to the estate simply to prove the legality of her mother's marriage, and won the case, against the man who was to become her husband shortly afterward.

It occasioned considerable merriment among Lynde's friends, but there were none of them who did not envy him the "romance of the thing," as they termed it.

They are very happy, Lynde and Leonie. They are regular visitors at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Chandler, where Leonie is petted and made much of, while the home of the Pryors will be hers until after her nuptials shall have been celebrated.

And so the story ends as does all life, with the reward of virtue and the punishment of vice.

"Every man's life is a fairy-tale written by God's fingers."

[THE END.]

Transcriber's Notes:

Italics are represented using _underscores_.

Added table of contents.

The address transcribed from the front cover may be incomplete (probably missing a street number) because damage to the original copy has rendered it nearly indecipherable.

This story was serialized in _The New York Family Story Paper_ beginning on March 1, 1890. It was later reissued as a stand-alone booklet. This transcription is based almost entirely on the later booklet publication, but the original serial has been referred to in a few places to confirm words lost due to damage to the booklet copy.

The original serial publication of the story was attributed to Wenona Gilman.

Page 4, removed unnecessary quote after "Godfrey Cuyler seized the girl by the shoulder." Corrected typo "tighly" in "fingers tightly laced." Corrected typo "Godfred" in last sentence of chapter II. Added missing quote after "I have come to you for your advice." Changed ? to ! after "hang a detective!"

Page 6, removed duplicate "and" before "stepping to the side."

Page 9, corrected typo "brillancy" in "terrible brilliancy." Corrected typo "adressed" in "addressed to himself."

Page 10, corrected "Payne" to "Pyne" in "Good-morning, Mr. Pyne."

Page 11, corrected typo "an" for "and" in "and again looked calmly." Corrected typo "accidently" in "accidentally performed." Corrected typo "Chicage" to "Chicago."

Page 12, added missing quote after "It is 'Edith's cousin,' I suppose." Corrected "gate" to "gait."

Page 13, changed ! to ? in "What is it that you know of Miss Evelyn Chandler?"

Page 14, corrected "Evelyn to Chandler" to "to Evelyn Chandler."

Page 15, corrected typo "yo" for "you" in "What do you mean?" Corrected typo "Mauprat" in "Mauprat turned sullenly." Added hyphen to "Carry her up-stairs" for consistency. Corrected typo "iminent" to "imminent."

Page 16, corrected single to double quote after "Go for the doctor, quick!"

Page 17, retained unusual spelling "sploched" from original.

Page 18, corrected "braclets" to "bracelets."

Page 20, corrected "he" to "her" in "in silence beside her." Corrected ! to ? in "Is she dead?"

Page 21, removed extra period before question mark in "think that you can get me out to-night?" Corrected "hansome" to "hansom." Corrected typo "palor" in "pallor overspread." Removed unnecessary quote after "and go to that house."

Page 23, corrected "hed" to "had" in "had left the box with the papers."

Page 24, added missing quote after "Now, is that satisfactory?"

Page 25, corrected typo "interrrupted" in "Miss Chandler had interrupted." Corrected single to double quote after "You are sure?" Corrected typo "thives" in "should be among thieves." Corrected typo "seargeant" in "those of the sergeant."

Page 26, corrected "see" to "she" in "she had so grossly deceived." Removed unnecessary quote after "as Leonie Cuyler Pyne----"

Page 28, removed hyphen from "court-room" ("dingy courtroom") for consistency.

Page 30, corrected "supression" to "suppression." Added missing quote before "You know what I mean." Changed "was" to "were" before "a few whispered words." Changed "Liz'" to "Liz's" in "Liz's sake" and "Liz's bosom."

Page 31, corrected comma to period after "certainly prove fatal."

Page 32, added missing quote before ""It seems dreadful when one thinks."