e; it was nothing that <i>she</i> was parted
forever from the man she adored.

"I will not part them," she said, in a hollow tone; "<i>but</i>--"

"Well?" inquired Mrs. Farnum, with a painful thrill, as she paused on the
word, with a threatening intonation.

"A day of reckoning will surely come for him," Virgie answered, firmly;
"for, if this child lives, she will one day make her appearance at
Heathdale and claim her heritage. There may be other children, but she
will have the first right there. Tell your Lady Linton this--tell her that
'that girl,' of whom she wrote so slightingly and heartlessly, will live
to educate her child for her position as the mistress of her 'proud
ancestral home;' tell her to warn her brother that the day of retribution
will not fail to overtake him."

Virgie was regally beautiful as she stood there before her enemy and
pronounced this stern prophecy. There was not an atom of color in her
face, but her figure was drawn proudly erect, a sort of majesty in every
graceful curve, while there was a resolute, inflexible purpose in every
line of her beautiful features, and her eyes burned with a steady,
relentless fire which told that, if she lived, she would accomplish her
vow, let the cost be what it would.

Mrs. Farnum, woman of the world though she was, felt cowed and abashed
before her, and when, without waiting for a reply, the wronged wife turned
from her and walked, with a firm, unfaltering step, into her chamber,
shutting the door after her, she slunk away to her own room, feeling like
the guilty thing she was, and trembling for the future if it should ever
be discovered what part she had played in the plot to ruin Virginia
Heath's happiness.

She was dismayed by the young mother's last words. At first she felt
triumphant when she had spoken of her intention of obtaining a divorce,
for such a measure would simplify matters greatly; it would relieve Lady
Linton from the disagreeable task of trying to persuade her brother to
adopt such a course, and thus he would be free, without any effort of his
own, to wed whom he chose, and she had reckoned upon Sadie being the
favored one.

But she had not taken into consideration the fact that Virgie's child
would have a claim upon Heathdale; no divorce would affect her right
there, if the legality of Sir William's marriage to Virgie could be
proved, and thus endless trouble, to say nothing of the scandal the story
would create, might ensue.