“The worst has happened!”
“Oh, papa, I have you still—so it cannot be the worst,” she sobbed.
“Oh, my darling, how can I break the cruel truth to you? No, Miss Winton, do not go; you must hear it also. Eva, a fiend in human form, jealous of your happiness, has dealt you a cruel blow in the dark. The slanderer’s poisoned tongue has breathed into Reginald Hamilton’s ears the story of your blighted past and bitter misfortunes. He chooses to believe the worst, to break his word, to repudiate you! There will be no wedding to-morrow!”
CHAPTER XXXVII.
HOW EVA BORE THE BLOW.
None could tell how the ubiquitous reporters on the great morning dailies got the news of the broken marriage that night. But the next morning they announced it under various glaring headlines.
No names were given, but a slightly garbled version of the story was presented, so that “all who run may read.”
The young girl who had been the heroine of the terrible Hallowe’en tragedy, and afterward the temporary inmate of a madhouse, was represented as having deceived the scion of one of New York’s best families into an engagement that would have speedily culminated in marriage but for a fortunate happening in his favor.
A cousin of the heroine, coming to the city, and learning of the affair just in time to stop it, had written the bridegroom a long letter with all the facts, and referring him to the bride and her father for confirmation. On their admitting the truth he had renounced her with indignation, and the wedding was off, and the fair lady disconsolate.
Perhaps Mrs. Putnam and Patty could have told who furnished the reporters with their facts, but they remained quiet and enjoyed the sensation.