The Unbidden Guest OR, BETWEEN TWO PASSIONS BY Mrs. ALEX. McVEIGH MILLER AUTHOR OF “What Was She to Him?” “The Man She Hated,” “All for Love,” “The Fatal Kiss,” “Pretty Madcap Lucy,” “Let Us Kiss and Part,” and numerous other books published in the NEW EAGLE Series. [Illustration] STREET & SMITH CORPORATION PUBLISHERS 79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York Copyright 1900 and 1901 By Norman L. Munro The Unbidden Guest THE UNBIDDEN GUEST. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. THE GIPSY’S CURSE. CHAPTER II. I LOVED YOU BEST OF ALL. CHAPTER III. LELIA’S INGRATITUDE. CHAPTER IV. JEALOUSY AS CRUEL AS THE GRAVE. CHAPTER V. POOR, UNLOVED GIPSY, THE WAIF. CHAPTER VI. IN DEADLY PERIL. CHAPTER VII. A WORTHY RESOLVE. CHAPTER VIII. A QUARTER OF TWELVE. CHAPTER IX. SHE STARED DEATH IN THE FACE. CHAPTER X. AN ANGEL UNAWARES. CHAPTER XI. THE UNBIDDEN GUEST. CHAPTER XII. “HERE IS YOUR RING.” CHAPTER XIII. A RASH PROMISE. CHAPTER XIV. A CRY IN THE NIGHT. CHAPTER XV. A STRUGGLE FOR A RING. CHAPTER XVI. A TERRIBLE DISCOVERY. CHAPTER XVII. A LETTER FROM LAURIE. CHAPTER XVIII. OFF WITH THE OLD LOVE. CHAPTER XIX. HE COULD NEVER FORGET HER NOW. CHAPTER XX. NEVER MORE HER LOVER. CHAPTER XXI. IF IT COSTS MY HEART’S BLOOD. CHAPTER XXII. HOUNDED TO HIS FATE. CHAPTER XXIII. TWO RINGS. CHAPTER XXIV. HAUNTED. CHAPTER XXV. THE MASK OF A GUILTY SOUL. CHAPTER XXVI. THE PALL OF DEATH. CHAPTER XXVII. A FORGOTTEN BRIDE. CHAPTER XXVIII. A GIPSY PROPHECY. CHAPTER XXIX. THE HEIRESS. CHAPTER XXX. STARTLING NEWS. CHAPTER XXXI. THE DEAD ALIVE. CHAPTER XXXII. GIPSY’S PARENTAGE. CHAPTER XXXIII. YOU HAVE TRIUMPHED. CHAPTER XXXIV. THE VENGEANCE OF HEAVEN. CHAPTER XXXV. AS IN A DREAM. CHAPTER XXXVI. THE PARTING OF THE WAYS. CHAPTER XXXVII. SHE BETRAYED HERSELF. CHAPTER XXXVIII. WAS IT A VICTORY? CHAPTER XXXIX. ONLY A DREAM! CHAPTER XL. THE PROOFS OF HER GUILT. CHAPTER XLI. IN EXILE. CHAPTER XLII. WITH THE FLIGHT OF TIME. CHAPTER XLIII. THE AMERICAN BEAUTY. CHAPTER XLIV. THE NIGHTINGALE’S STORY. CHAPTER I. THE GIPSY’S CURSE. “Heigh-ho! I wish I were a boy, then I would run away from The Crags and see the beautiful world that lies hidden beyond these tall mountains!” It was the voice of a pretty young girl, poised on tiptoe on the very verge of a lofty cliff, gazing down eagerly at the scene far below, the silvery Greenbrier River, the gleaming line of serpentine railway, and the winding road that curved around the jagged cliffs up to the heights where stood The Crags, a picturesque old stone mansion. Here several generations of the aristocratic Willoughbys had lived and died, and the present owner and incumbent was Miss Cyrilla Willoughby, a spinster of sixty years, with literary tastes, who spent her time preparing for publication the memoirs of her distinguished race. And the girl? Oh, a mere nobody! A sort of protégée of Miss Willoughby.