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He seems to have been decent for a while after their marriage which marriage was a mistake from the first I can see that now. I used to know Cynthia when she was a girl she was the daughter of Lodan Ratchford, and her mother had peculiar and, to my mind, wrong ideas of social position and money. Well, poor Cynthia is paying the penalty now.
Thought was not quicker than the leaping forward of Colonel Ashley. Out from the shadows he sprang, to whirl back the man who, with blazing eyes and murderous hate written on his face, confronted Cynthia Ratchford. "What what's this?" snarled the man, struggling to retain his balance. "What's this? Who the devil are you, to come between me and my "
Grafton held up a protesting hand. "The truth is, I'll not need your services in helping me to recover the diamond cross for Mrs. Larch or Miss Ratchford, as she calls herself since the separation. You can drop that case, Colonel." "Drop it?" "Yes, the diamond cross has been recovered. I just had a letter from Cyn from Miss Ratchford, saying she has the cross."
"In the first place, I want you to sign a paper. I have it with me, also a fountain pen. I've a flashlight to let you read what you sign, in case it gets too dark." "Do you mean a receipt for the diamonds?" "Not exactly, Cynthia, I " "Miss Ratchford, if you please!" she exclaimed. "Miss Ratchford to you, always, after this!" "Oh, very well! Now look here! I'm done with soft words and foolishness!"
Some time after his arrival in Pennsylvania he married Elizabeth Ratchford, whose father emigrated from England shortly after McLean left Ireland. Three of his daughters, Jane, Margaret and Agnes, were born in that State.
"I'll tell you as soon as I've seen Miss Ratchford. Good-bye!" and he was gone. For a moment the colonel remained motionless in the middle of the room. Then a queer look came over his face as he murmured: "Now I wonder whether he's telling the truth or lying! Is the diamond cross in her possession, or did Grafton say that so I'd drop the case and leave him out of it? I wonder.
And it will be, so I hear, once more the oldtime and respectable resort it once was. As for Miss Ratchford, she has gone to friends in California, and there, I understand, Mr. Grafton will shortly follow. They are to be married in about a year. Mr. Grafton is going to sell out his business. He told me he would not press the charge against Spotty for stealing the imitation diamond cross.
"Even that funny Spotty was 'eliminated', as our dear old fisherman calls it, when he explained about the diamond cross. And as for Mr. Grafton, though he was mixed up in the jewel part of the mystery, he was only acting to help Miss Ratchford, as she wants to be called. Poor girl, she's had a hard time, too! I hope she finds as much happiness as " "As who?" asked Darcy, as Amy hesitated.
And it was this man, rich, it was said, handsome certainly, that Cynthia Ratchford had married. There had been other lovers whom she might have wedded, it was rumored, and more than one had remarked: "Why did she take him?" To this was the answer whispered: "Money!" And, in a way, it was true.
"Well, Kettridge can wait," he murmured, as he carefully put away the watch, thinking, with a sigh of regret, of poor little Chet. The dog was a friendly animal and had made many friends in the hotel. "And so Miss Ratchford to use her maiden name has the diamond cross back again," mused the colonel.
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