The Illegal Marriage

This issue of The Select Series (No. 61, October 1, 1890) contains "The Illegal Marriage; Or, Cecy Morgan's Trial" by Hon. Evelyn Ashby, a melodramatic serial set in Georgia. Colonel William Stannard, a wealthy Houston County planter, languishes in unrequited love for Cecy Morgan, who is betrothed to Alfred Guerry. That same evening, Cecy kneels in prayer, tormented by doubts about her engagement. A mysterious summons arrives at Stannard's house before dawn—someone urgently requests a doctor at Morgan's place. Riding over, Stannard glimpses two men hiding behind a fallen tree near the woods, whom he suspects are Guerry and old Abner Hawks. Upon reaching Morgan's house at daybreak amid barking hounds and a gathering storm, he discovers some unspecified emergency. The narrative combines romantic angst with elements of Gothic atmosphere and provincial Southern intrigue.