To lose him this heiress would be just the kind of revenge most pleasing to Queenie Trevalyn, who realized all too well his love of wealth and luxury.
No; Jess must never reach New York and hear the story of how John Dinsmore had been Queenie’s admirer, and all the rest she had to tell, for no doubt, out of pique, Jess would not take him then, believing him one and the same John Dinsmore, of course.
No; he would meet Lawyer Abbot and Jess ere they reached New York, manage somehow to get the lawyer out of the way, and then marry Jess then and there, whether she would or no, and by fair means or foul.
But once again fate checkmated him. By a change in the railroad schedule, which took effect on the day she started north, Raymond Challoner missed Lawyer Abbot and Jess, and consequently they went on to New York one train in advance of him.
He raved and cursed like a madman when he reached the junction where he expected to meet them and found this to be the case. He would have to go by a train which reached New York some seven hours later, there was no help for it, and he was therefore obliged to make the best of the matter after his chagrin had worn itself out.
As the lightning express bore him along, he contented himself with laying out his plans.
Of course it would never do for him to go to the home of Queenie Trevalyn calling himself John Dinsmore, as he inquired for Jess—never in the world. He must wait and watch for the first opportunity of seeing Jess alone, and then, well, then he would carry out his deep-laid plan of marrying the girl ere she ever had the opportunity of returning to the house.
He bethought himself that the best, and the safest place for him to go, in the meantime, was his Uncle Brown’s.
“Not that the old curmudgeon will be glad to see me; more than likely he will shut the door in my face; but I’ll swallow down that insult, or any more that he may offer, to see if it is possible to patch up a truce with him and get into his good graces again. I am sure that he has cut me off without a shilling, as he notified me that he would do. Still, while there’s life there’s hope, as the old saying goes.”
Upon reaching New York Raymond Challoner suited the action to the resolve, and made his way to his uncle’s home at once. He took a cab until he reached within half a block of his destination, then dismissed the vehicle, knowing that it would never do for his miserly old uncle to behold him indulging in the luxury of riding.