CHAPTER XXVII.
IN A TRAP.
All Gilbert Warrington’s speeches were apparently wasted upon Violet’s ears. She stood leaning against the trunk of the tree listening in stolid silence to his words. She knew that there was no hope of escape for her. All alone with him in the forest at that hour, how could she hope to get away from him? A little bird caught in a wire trap might just as reasonably expect to get free from its prison as this poor child, caught in the snare of the relentless villain before her, bent upon carrying out his own wicked designs.
All this flashed through Violet’s brain as she stood there pale and trembling, facing Gilbert Warrington, her girlish heart quailing from the thought of what might be before her.
“You had better come with me, Violet,” he said, persuasively, laying his hand upon her arm as he spoke. “I will take you to New Orleans to-night. Once there, we can be married, and you will then be at liberty to go where you wish. I swear that I only want your money. Give me the right to control it, and I will relinquish all claim upon you. Your mother’s will leaves you the sole heir to the Arleigh fortune when you reach your majority, or should you marry before that time. Now you understand me?”
“I do. You are the vilest villain unhung!” she answered, fearlessly.
“Ah-h! Well, that is as you like. Your opinion can not injure me, my dear. All I want is the money, and that I mean to have!”
“I will give it to you, every dollar of it, except what is necessary to provide for my own living, only let me go in peace.”
“Quite sensible, my dear Violet. Well, then, I propose that you go with me to New Orleans this very night. No time like the present. You shall be treated with the respect due a lady. I will take you to the St. Charles Hotel, and I will call for you in the morning with all necessary arrangements for our marriage completed, after which you will be at liberty to go where you like.”