He had written to her once or twice, and, upon learning of his plans, wrote again, telling her the date of his sailing, giving, also, his London address, and begging her to write him immediately.
But John Hubbard had already intercepted all letters written by the lovers, and this shared the same fate as the others; and thus Allison did not know of Gerald’s departure until her guardian informed her of the fact.
Thus as weeks passed, after his arrival in London, and Gerald received no word from his betrothed, he began to grow very unhappy and anxious about her.
He sent letter after letter to her, only to have them fall into the hands of that arch-plotter, who did not hesitate to open and read them, then chuckle exultantly over the success of his scheme and the misery of his hated rival.
Finally, becoming almost distracted over this mysterious silence, our hero began to suspect that his correspondence was intercepted, and he realized that he must find some other way of communicating with Allison.
Accordingly, he wrote to one of the clerks in the New York office, telling him something of his trouble, and asking him to find some means of conveying the enclosed letter to Miss Brewster, and secure a reply to it, if possible.
But before he could get a response to this appeal, Mr. Lyttleton was obliged to make a trip to Berlin, to obtain some important data, and here they were detained two or three weeks.
Thus Gerald’s wild grief may be imagined when, upon his return to London, he found awaiting him a letter containing the announcement of Allison’s tragic death, and which, together with accompanying New York papers, gave a full account of the sad event, and of the subsequent litigation in connection with the Brewster estate, the result of which was the transfer of everything into the hands of the acknowledged widow and daughter of the late banker.
The latest paper announcing the marriage of John Hubbard to “the beautiful Miss Anna Brewster,” had not been forwarded; thus Gerald could not know that his old enemy was now virtually the possessor of the great fortune that had been willed to Allison.
Gerald was so prostrated by the terrible shock consequent upon this blighting news that he lay ill for nearly a fortnight at his hotel, and narrowly escaped having brain fever. When he was finally able to resume his business, he looked like the ghost of his former self; he seemed to be bereft of all courage and desire for life, and it was only by the persistent exercise of all the will-power he possessed that he was enabled to fulfill his duty to his employer.