On the Brink of a Chasm: A record of plot and passionMeade, L. T.
General
On the Brink of a Chasm: A record of plot and passion
Meade, L. T.
Conspiracies -- Fiction; Husband and wife -- Fiction; Inheritance and succession -- Fiction; Mesmerism -- Fiction; Revenge -- Fiction
“Say yes, then, my darling. Surely you won’t refuse?”
“Not I. I long for you. I do believe you are the only one who can put me
right, and your feeling that there is nothing in it gives me a momentary
sensation of comfort, but remember I have not told you _why_ I suspect.”
“You shall some day—when we are married, but not now. You are
prejudiced; you hate Dr. Tarbot—surely not more than I hate him—but that
he should stoop to such a horrible crime—no, Dick, no. Turn your thought
away from it. It is wrong.”
“When shall we be married?” he asked.
“Whenever you like—next week, the week after, whenever you please.”
“The sooner the better,” answered Pelham.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE WRONG MEDICINE.
The wedding took place in a fortnight. The marriage was solemnized at
St. James’s, Fore Street. This was the church which Barbara and her
mother attended on Sundays. Seeing the church open, one or two
spectators dropped in. They got quietly into seats, and waited while the
service went on. They noticed the firm upright figure of the bride, her
clear voice. They noticed the bridegroom also—his tall, erect frame, his
gallant bearing. But as the bride and bridegroom left the church
together more than one person noticed the shadow on his face.
“What does it mean?” they said. “This is a true love marriage; we have
heard the particulars, and the bridegroom has just come into enormous
wealth. What does it mean? He does not look a happy man.”
Amongst the spectators were two whose eyes Barbara encountered with an
obvious start. Seated in a pew which opened into the center aisle was
Dr. Tarbot. He gave both Pelham and Barbara a keen, bright glance. In a
distant part of the church Tarbot’s wife also witnessed the ceremony. On
this occasion she preferred not to sit with her husband. Tarbot had no
idea that she was in the church, but Pelham and Barbara noticed her.
Barbara felt a queer thrill of fear as she glanced for an instant at the
light blue eyes.
From the church the pair went straight to Dover, crossed to Calais,
spent one night in Paris, and then went on to Switzerland. It was late
autumn now, and Switzerland was in all the glory of its autumn coloring.
After the first two or three days Barbara determined to cast aside the
fear which haunted her—the fear with regard to her husband’s sanity—for
she never for a moment gave the least credence to there being any truth
in his suspicions, and began to enjoy herself. She was with the man she
loved, her best dreams were realized—she was Dick’s forever.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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