“She must be a very silly woman if she did, for grandpapa’s money would have restored old Bonnycastle to its original splendor. But perhaps she thought Cecil would be sure to marry an heiress. Won’t she be furious when he brings home Judge Camden’s disinherited granddaughter as his bride!” said Amber, determined to torture her cousin all she could in a sly way.
She was succeeding well, for Violet burst into low, nervous sobbing, hiding her lovely face in her little white hands.
“Pshaw, Violet, do not cry like a baby. I was only teasing you, and if I did not approve of the marriage, I certainly would not have proposed the elopement,” Amber cried, reprovingly, and added:
“Do you know it is but two hours now until we start? You had better lie down and get a little sleep, Violet, so as to look fresh and pretty for the wedding. I will leave you now; and, remember, I will be back in two hours for you; you must be ready in your traveling dress and hat, and we will slip away without any one knowing.”
She went away, and Violet lay down as she was bidden, but sleep refused to visit her eyes.
Amber’s artful innuendoes had made her cousin ten times more unhappy than before. The shadow of a lowering sorrow, heavy but inexplicable, hovered with black vulture-like wings over her heart, filling it with a nameless terror. Frightened and despondent, she rose and knelt down to pray instead of sleep, asking her heavenly Father to be good to her and Cecil.
CHAPTER XXI.
AMBER’S REVENGE.
In the little Washington chapel an anxious group waited for Cecil Grant’s appearance. They were Violet and Amber, together with the Reverend Wesley Christian and his young wife.
The hour of seven had passed, and the early autumn twilight was casting weird shadows within the chapel, with its stained-glass windows. It had grown so dark that they could scarcely see each other’s faces.
But Amber had stipulated that there should be no light to lure passers-by to enter. She did not wish to be recognized by any one lest her grandfather should find out her share in the elopement.