hunting expeditions at Ben
Lone; but I had no opportunity of judging for myself; and, moreover,
I always discouraged such conversation among my comrades. But there, that
is quite enough of the unhappy girl. I mentioned her arrest not as a most
important fact only, but in order to warn you not to let our dear Salome
get a sight of the daily papers, until you have looked over them, and
assured yourself that they contain no reference to this arrest."

"I see the wisdom of your warning, and I will endeavor to be guided by
it; but it may be difficult to do so. My very sequestration of the papers
may excite Salome's suspicions."

"Then lose them; tear them; but do not let her see any part of them which
may contain any reference to this girl. I thank Heaven that to-morrow I
shall be able to take her out of the country and guard her peace and
safety with my own head and hand. I shall take care also to keep her away
until the trial and conviction of the criminals shall be over and done
with, so that she may not be in any way harassed or distressed by the
proceedings."

"Yes, that will be very wise. If she were in England or Scotland during
the time of the trial, she might be subpoenaed as a witness for the
prosecution. She was the first, poor child, to discover the dead body of
her father, you know," said Lady Belgrade.

"I do not forget that circumstance, or what distress it may yet cause
her," replied the young duke.

And very soon after he took leave and went away.

Lady Belgrade's task in keeping the day's papers from the sight of Salome
Levison was easier than she had anticipated.

Salome, deeply interested and absorbed in the final preparations for her
marriage, did not even think of the newspapers, much less ask for them.

The bridal day dawned, once more, for the heiress of Lone.

Salome, with her attendant, was up early. The young girl, since her
departure from Lone Castle, the scene of her father's murder, and her
arrival at Elmhurst House, and occupations with her wedding preparations,
had wonderfully recovered her health and spirits.

Yet on this, her bridal day, she arose with a heavy heart. A vague dread
of impending evil weighed upon her spirits.

This occasion might well have brought back vividly cruelly to her memory,
that fatal bridal morn when, going to invoke her father's presence and
blessing on her marriage, she found him lying stiff and stark in the
crimson pool of his own curdled blood. She ha