"Who is he talking about, Hugh? Does he mean me? My head throbs so, I
don't quite understand," 'Lina said, piteously, while Hugh held the poor
aching head against his bosom, crushing the orange blossoms, and
whispering softly: "He means Adah."
"Yes, Adah," the convict rejoined. "John Richards fancied Adah Gordon,
as she was called, but loved his pride and position more. I'll do you
justice, though, young man, I believe at one time you really and truly
loved my child, and but for your mother's letters might have married her
honorably. But you were afraid of that mother. Your pride was stronger
than your love; and as I was determined that you should have my
daughter, I proposed a mock marriage."
"Monster! You, her father, planned that fiendish act!" and Alice's blue
eyes flashed indignantly upon him, while Hugh, forgetting that the idea
was not new to him, walked up before the "monster," as if to lay him at
his feet.
"Listen, while I explain, and you will see the monster had an object,"
returned the stranger, speaking to Alice, instead of Hugh. "There were
several reasons why I wished Adah to marry Dr. Richards, and as one of
them concerns this scar upon my forehead, I will tell you here its
history. You, madam," addressing himself to Anna, "have probably heard
how your greatgrandfather died."
"It happened almost a century of years ago, when there was not the
difference of position between the proud Richards line and the humble
Murdocks that there is now. Your greatgrandfather and mine were friends,
boon companions, but one fatal night, when more wine than usual had been
drunk, there arose a fearful quarrel between the two, and with a knife
snatched from a sideboard standing near, Murdock gave his comrade a blow
which resulted in his death. Sobered at once, and nearly beside himself
with terror, he rushed frantically to the chamber of his sleeping wife,
and laying his blood-wet hands upon her brow, screamed for her to rise,
which she did immediately, nearly fainting, it is said, when by the
light of the lamp her husband bore, she saw the bloody print upon her
forehead. Three months afterward my grandfather was born, and over his
left temple was the hated mark which has clung to us ever since, and
which a noted clairvoyant predicted would never disappear until the
feudal parties came together, and a Murdock wedding with a Richards. The
offspring of such union would be without taint or blemish, he said, and
I am told, sir, your boy is fair as alabaster."
Dr. Richards, to whom this appeal was made, only stared blankly at him,
like one who hears in a dream, but 'Lina, catching at everything
pertaining to the doctor, said, quickly: "His boy! Where is his boy? Oh, what does it all mean?"