“If I only dared!” he growled. But then he reflected that any use of the document would probably “land him behind the bars.”
He dissembled his rage, as he returned late that night to the separate apartments he now used at the Savoy.
In the hall, as he lay in a wakeful unrest, he heard two servants chattering. “The old Senator is here all the while; I guess he is the real head of the family.”
And then the disgraced husband remembered Alida Hathorn’s parting malediction: “I leave it to the future to punish you.”
He arose and sought the brandy bottle with uncertain steps. For he realized at last that whatever game the Senator and his wife were playing, he was counted only a mere pawn. And, the game of Life was going against him now!
His power had departed from him, and before he showed his distorted face next day on Wall Street his line of private stocks was sold out “under the rule,” and he was really a beggar—stripped of all his ill-gotten gains, when he returned that night to face his wife, who, richly dressed for an evening’s outing, passed by him with a silent sneer. Truly a marriage à la mode. He was at bay now!
Vreeland turned into his own room with a muttered curse, and after a vicious pull at the brandy bottle, rushed out upon the streets to wander aimlessly in the throngs of the night.
For he was chased out by the maddening thoughts brought to his half-crazed mind by a chance glance at the Evening Journal.
“A social note” of interest heralded the fact that “Mr. and Mrs. James Potter had returned from Europe, and that the hospitable VanSittart mansion on Fifth Avenue would soon be opened to society once more, as well as the beautiful old colonial manor house of Oakhurst. This union of two old families has united hearts as well as millions,” etc.
“By God! I will not live in New York to have her laugh at my downfall!” swore Vreeland, as he raced along with his coat opened to the chill autumn air. The menace of her curse came back: “I leave it to the future to punish you!” And at last, he was a broken and ruined man—a human wreck.