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In the quiet recess of a window, shadowed by the crimson curtains, sat a fair young girl, and a man, young and handsome, but upon whose countenance the traces of dissipation and of passion were deeply marked. Miranda Ayleff was a Virginian, the cousin and quondam playmate of Oriana Weems, like her an orphan, and a ward of Beverly. Her companion was Philip Searle.
She laughed again, while he paced the room with angry strides. "'Twas he, then, that betrayed me. The villain! I'll have his life for that, as I'm a sinner." "Your a great sinner; Philip Searle. Sit down, now, and be quiet. Where's the girl?" "What girl?" "Miranda Ayleff. The girl you've ruined; the girl you've put in my place, and that I've come to drive out of it. Where is she?"
Philip's lip curled beneath the black moustache with a smile of triumphant malice. "Keep it safe in your pocket for a few hours, my gamecock, and my heiress to a beggar-girl, I'll have stone walls between you and me." The evening was somewhat advanced, but Arthur determined at once to seek an interview with Miss Ayleff.
Ruin and death cannot come too soon when you forsake me." Miranda remained silent, but, through the gloom of the recess, he could see the glistening of a tear upon her cheek. The hall-bell rang, and the servant brought in a card for Miss Ayleff. Following it, Arthur Wayne was ushered into the room. She rose to receive him, somewhat surprised at a visit from a stranger.
Pursely, that Miranda Ayleff, of whom we spoke together, and to whom I presume you have already delivered my communication, is receiving the visits of one Philip Searle, to whom, some two years since, she was much attached. Entre nous, Arthur, I can tell you, the man is a scoundrel of the deepest dye. Not only a drunkard and a gambler, but dishonest, and unfit for any decent girl's society.
However, he refreshed himself with a cup of tea, and prepared to call upon Miss Ayleff. It was but seven o'clock, a somewhat early hour for a morning visit, but the occasion was one for little ceremony. As he was on the point of leaving his room, there was a peremptory knock at the door, and, upon his invitation to walk in, a stranger entered.
Toward dusk this evening, a carriage drove up, and when challenged, a pass was presented, with orders to assist the bearer, Miranda Ayleff, beyond the lines. I remembered the name, and stepping to the carriage door, beheld two females, one of whom was bending over her companion, and holding a vial, a restorative, I suppose, to her lips. "'She has fainted, sir, said the woman, 'and is very ill.
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