A PERILOUS SECRET BY CHARLES READE AUTHOR OF "HARD CASH" "PUT YOURSELF IN HIS PLACE" "GRIFFITH GAUNT" "IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND" ETC., ETC. 1884 CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE POOR MAN'S CHILD CHAPTER II. THE RICH MAN'S CHILD CHAPTER III. THE TWO FATHERS CHAPTER IV. AN OLD SERVANT CHAPTER V. MARY'S PERIL CHAPTER VI. SHARP PRACTICE CHAPTER VII. THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE CHAPTER VIII. THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE CHAPTER IX. LOVERS PARTED CHAPTER X. THE GORDIAN KNOT CHAPTER XI. THE KNOT CUT.--ANOTHER TIED CHAPTER XII. THE CLANDESTINE MARRIAGE CHAPTER XIII. THE SERPENT LET LOOSE CHAPTER XIV. THE SERPENT CHAPTER XV. THE SECRET IN DANGER CHAPTER XVI. REMINISCENCES.--THE FALSE ACCUSER.--THE SECRET EXPLODED CHAPTER XVII. LOVERS' QUARRELS CHAPTER XVIII. APOLOGIES CHAPTER XIX. A WOMAN OUTWITS TWO MEN CHAPTER XX. CALAMITY CHAPTER XXI. BURIED ALIVE CHAPTER XXII. REMORSE CHAPTER XXIII. BURIED ALIVE.--THE THREE DEADLY PERILS CHAPTER XXIV. STRANGE COMPLICATIONS CHAPTER XXV. RETRIBUTION CHAPTER XXVI. STRANGE TURNS CHAPTER XXVII. CURTAIN A PERILOUS SECRET. CHAPTER I. THE POOR MAN'S CHILD. Two worn travellers, a young man and a fair girl about four years old, sat on the towing-path by the side of the Trent. The young man had his coat off, by which you might infer it was very hot; but no, it was a keen October day, and an east wind sweeping down the river. The coat was wrapped tightly round the little girl, so that only her fair face with blue eyes and golden hair peeped out; and the young father sat in his shirt sleeves, looking down on her with a loving but anxious look. Her mother, his wife, had died of consumption, and he was in mortal terror lest biting winds and scanty food should wither this sweet flower too, his one remaining joy. William Hope was a man full of talent; self-educated, and wonderfully quick at learning anything: he was a linguist, a mechanic, a mineralogist, a draughtsman, an inventor. Item, a bit of a farrier, and half a surgeon; could play the fiddle and the guitar; could draw and paint and drive a four-in-hand. Almost the only thing he could not do was to make money and keep it. Versatility seldom pays. But, to tell the truth, luck was against him; and although in a long life every deserving man seems to get a chance, yet Fortune does baffle some meritorious men for a limited time. Generally, we think, good fortune and ill fortune succeed each other rapidly, like red cards and black; but to some ill luck comes in great long slices; and if they don't drink or despair, by-and-by good luck comes continuously, and everything turns to gold with him who has waited and deserved.