“I have great news, my darling girl. I have just heard that father arrived home unexpectedly last evening, and although it seems strange and rather discouraging that he has not sent word down to me, still I shall do my duty by going up to call on him, and if he has forgiven me I shall bring him down to call on his new daughter. If he should be angry I will soon return alone!” And with a stifled sigh of keen anxiety, he embraced his trembling bride and hurried away. Left alone, she threw herself down nervously to rest on her couch, quite frightened at the idea of meeting the great, rich senator, her husband’s father. She need not have been so nervous and uneasy had she but known. Hours slipped away, and Charley did not return, and her suspense grew almost unbearable. Mrs. Cline came in at last with such a pale, indignant face that the nervous young bride nearly fainted with dread. “Something dreadful must have happened to make you look so strange,” she cried uneasily, adding: “I fear you have had bad news for me.” Her heart nearly stopped its beating when Mrs. Cline answered angrily: “Bad! I should say so, but try to hear it the best you can, dear young lady, for that high and mighty man, your husband’s father, has had Mr. Charley arrested and clapped in jail on a charge of insanity!” CHAPTER XXVI. BRIBING A BRIDE. Mrs. Cline’s startling announcement was like a bolt of lightning falling from a clear sky. The young bride uttered one horrified cry, then fell back in her chair, half fainting, her big, frightened brown eyes staring wildly at Mrs. Cline, who, in a very tempest of excitement, continued to rage. “Never heard of such high-handed villainy in my life, never! No wonder you look so white and scared, my dear young lady! Here, drink this wine to nerve you while I tell you the rest.” She pressed the glass to Berry’s lips and forced her to swallow a few mouthfuls, then began again: “Try to bear it the best you can, for it can’t be kept from you, all this bad news, and you must keep your wits about you to plan something to do for your husband. Yes, cry all you want to, it’ll relieve your heart; and this outrage is enough to make the very angels weep! The servants at Bonair tell a terrible tale about the fuss between the father and son! They say there was an awful scene between them when Mr. Charley went in this morning. The senator was in a tearing-down rage, and would not listen to a word of excuse for his marriage, but cursed and abused him, and finally turned him out of doors, disinherited. And the worst of it was that he had already caused a warrant to be got, arresting him for insanity, and the officers took him just as he was leaving his father’s house, all broke up with sorrow and despair.” “Ah, Heaven! my poor husband!” moaned Berenice, heartbroken and bewildered.