CHAPTER XII.


An agreement had been made between them that some little time should
elapse before Allan put his long-cherished scheme into execution.
Nothing, Adelaide assured him, could have answered his purpose better
than Marion's marriage with the wealthy Lord Atherton.

"You will be able to get what you like from her, Allan. I am told she
worships her husband. Those letters will be worth a fortune, after all.
Now see what it is to have a clever sister."

They allowed her, poor child, some short dream of happiness; she was
lulled into perfect security when the blow fell. As Lady Atherton of
Leigh her position was second to none. Her husband owned half the
county; she was queen of the whole of it. She was beloved, popular and
admired; her husband worshiped her; her friends held her in highest
honor and esteem. To Lord and Lady Ridsdale she had grown dear as a
child of their own. She was at the height of human felicity; there was
nothing on earth left for her to desire. Sometimes, when she heard of
the misery resulting from very unequal or loveless marriages, she would
raise her beautiful face to heaven and thank God that she had been
preserved from the snares of her youth. She heard quite accidentally
from some one, who had been purchasing a picture, that Allan Lyster was
abroad, and she decided, in her own most generous mind, that when he
returned he should have an order that would please him. But he did not
return, and from her old friend, Adelaide, she had heard no single word
since her marriage.

There were great rejoicings when her little son and heir was born; the