Marion Marlowe's Triumph, or, In Spite of Her Enemies — page 28: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

26 cotic, for Vera’s words or manner had in no wise deceived him. He bent lower over the fair face and lis- tened to her breathing. She was helpless— she was beautiful—yet he stood silently star- ing down upon her. Suddenly a thought of Vera Villette flashed over his brain. Com- pared with the sweet face before him, the Spanish girl’s dark face seemed as ugly as a demon’s. He began loathing himself for consenting to this thing. He wondered if it was too late to save her now from being discovered, or had Rita done her part in the dastardly proceeding? He glanced at the door, expecting to see Ed Gordon's face appear, but as yet he was undisturbed. Rita was giving him far more time than he needed. | Another glance at Marion’s face concluded his reflections. ' He was a fiend and a knave! a coward! Just once more he bent over to listen to Marion’s breathing, and for the space of a second he was tempted to kiss her. Then the memory of Vera Villette’s kisses came surging through his brain. He turned on his heel like a madman and rushed from the apartment. | But that last act of bending over the un- conscious girl had been fatal to his resolu- tion, for not only Ed Gordon, but Mr. Tem- ple had witnessed it from the door, which Rita had opened so cautiously that Hale had not even heard it. Vera Villett’s plan had been carried to its climax. Marion’s fair name was tarnished. It remained to be seen how deeply she was injured. . A rascal and CHAPTER XV. THE TRIUMPH. When the rehearsal was called the next day Marion Marlowe was not there, nor had she been seen at Mrs. Denison’s boarding-house since leaving it the evening previous. Vera Vilette was excited and ill at ease, and made so many blurders that the stage manager exhatfsted his full vocabulary of epithets upon her, a, The one topic of conversation behind the scenes was Miss Marlowe's disappearance, and it was soon plain that the whole company knew that she was last seen at “Rita's.” | Sneers and vulgar remarks followed this announcement, especially when tt was learned that Ned Hale had been her companion, To he seen at “Rita’s” was in itself a dlis- erace, but to he lost for twenty-four hours in MY QUEEN. Sd the oblivion which her house afforded was enough to ruin any one’s reputation. Fg Ned Hale himseli was absent from the re- — hearsal, and this significant fact was com- — mented upon freely. No one but Vera and Nona knew how the young girl had been lured to the place where she had last been seen, or how absolutely innocent she was ir the matter. 4 as Neither Mr. Gordon nor his manager had anything to say. They were both sullen ana ~ seemingly under restraint with each other. At the very last scene Miss Lemadrid col- lapsed. A doctor was summoned, and she was ordered to stop work immediately. Then _ followed hours of anxiety for Mr. Temple. Marion Marlovve was his sole dependence. © Without her there would be no performance. — An hour later, if any one could have seen — him, they would have noticed a change in his) face. From feeling vexed and anxious, he suddenly became almost hilarious. . = | Not a member of the company expected a o- performance that evening, but when they ar- rived at the theatre they found it iighted as usual. . a - Furthermore, Marion Marlowe was in — Miss Lemadrid’s dressing-room getting ready for her role as the “star” performer of the evening. ‘ She was deathly pale and painfully re- served, but she conducted herself just as _ charmingly as ever. ui 4 If she knew the truth of Vera’s treachery, she did not reveal it, but prepared for the evening in her customary quiet manner. There were sneers and slurs cast at her — from every direction; even Ed Gordon's ~ hasty glances showed the scorn that he felt | for her. ’ Fy Just once during the first act Marion lost her self-possession, but it was over in an in- stant, not a soul had noticed it. fe | She had stiddenly come face to face with Ned Hale in his workman’s costume, and a | shudder passed over her, for it was the last proof of her suspicions against Vera. | The young girl was never more beautiful — ‘a her life, and her appearance before the footlights fairly electrified the audience. Refore the evening was over she had won a magnificent victory. There was curtain eall after curtain call, and the applause at the finish was spontaneous and deafening. Fyven Fd Gordon had held his breath be- fore her impassioned utterances, but, catching the fire of her spirit, he responded nobly, Through her he, too, had achieved a victory, ‘++ would have been impossible to have stum-_ bled in the path of such a meteor. Vet at the close of the performance Marion EorneR EEL eOm