Mrs. Arnold and her daughter were rolling homeward in their luxurious carriage from the masquerade ball at Colonel Carlyle's chateau, and the elder lady's remark was uttered in a tone of trepidation and terror.
But Felise leaning back in her corner among the silken cushions in the picturesque costume of a fortune-teller, only laughed[Pg 103] at her terror—a low and fiendish laugh that expressed unqualified satisfaction.
"Ma mere, was Leslie Dane's resurrection a great surprise to you?" she inquired, with a covert sneer.
"A great surprise, and a terrible shock to me, too," the lady answered. "Of course, after believing him dead so long, it is very inconvenient to have him come to life again—as inconvenient for Colonel Carlyle and his wife as for us."
And again Felise laughed mockingly, as if she found only the sweetest pleasure in her mother's words.
"Felise, I cannot understand you," exclaimed Mrs. Arnold, anxiously. "Surely you forget the peril we are in from this man's resurrection from the grave where we thought him lying. I thought you would be as much surprised and frightened at this dreadful contretemps as I am."
"I have known that Leslie Dane was living all these three years," answered Miss Herbert, as coolly as before.
"Then the paper you showed to me and to Bonnibel must have been a forgery!'
"It was. I had the notice of Leslie Dane's death inserted myself."
The carriage paused at their hotel, and they were handed out.
Mrs. Arnold followed her daughter to her own apartments.
"Send your maid away, Felise. I must talk to you a little," she said.
Felise had a French maid now instead of Janet, who had resolutely declined to cross the ocean with her.
"Finette, you may go for awhile," she said. "I will ring when I need you."
The maid courtesied and went away.
Felise motioned her mother to a chair, and sank into another herself. Mrs. Arnold seated herself and looked at her daughter searchingly.
Mrs. Arnold took up the conversation where it had been dropped when they left the carriage.
"You say you forged the notice of Leslie Dane's death in the newspaper," she said. "Of course you had some object in doing that, Felise."
"Yes, of course," with another wicked laugh. "It was to further the revenge of which I have had so sweet a taste to-night."
"So what has happened to-night is only what you have intended and desired all along?"
Felise bowed with the grace of a duchess.
"Exactly," she answered, with a triumphant smile. "I have been planning and scheming over two years to bring about the consummation of to-night."
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