LightNovesOnl.com

The Sign of Silence Part 23

The Sign of Silence - LightNovelsOnl.com

You're reading novel online at LightNovelsOnl.com. Please use the follow button to get notifications about your favorite novels and its latest chapters so you can come back anytime and won't miss anything.

"Because it would be betraying his secret--eh?" I remarked with bitterness. "And, yet, in the same breath you have told me you hate him.

Surely, this att.i.tude of yours is an unusual one--is it not? You cannot hate him and strive to s.h.i.+eld him at the same moment!"

She paused for a second before replying. Then she said:

"I admit that my att.i.tude towards your friend is a somewhat strange one, but there are reasons--strong, personal reasons of my own--which prevent me revealing to you the whole of what is a strange and ghastly story.

Surely it will suffice you to know that I did not conceal all knowledge of your friend and call upon him in secret all of my own free will. No, Teddy, I loved you--and I still love you, dear--far too well for that."

"I trusted you, Phrida, but you deceived me," I replied, with a poignant bitterness in my heart.

"Under compulsion. Because----" and she paused with a look of terror in her eyes.

"Because what?" I asked slowly, placing my hand tenderly upon her shoulder.

She shrank from contact with me.

"No. I--I can't tell you. It--it's all too terrible, too horrible!" she whispered hoa.r.s.ely, covering her white face with her hands. "I loved you, but, alas! all my happiness, all the joy of which I have so long dreamed, has slipped away from me because of the one false step--my one foolish action--of which I have so long repented."

"Tell me, Phrida," I urged, in deep earnestness, bending down to her.

"Confide in me."

"No," she replied, with an air of determination. "It is my own affair. I have acted foolishly and must bear the consequences."

"But surely you will not sacrifice our love rather than tell me the truth!" I cried.

Hot tears welled in her eyes, and I felt her frail form tremble beneath my touch.

"Alas! I am compelled," she faltered.

"Then you refuse to tell me--you refuse to explain why this man whom I believed to be my friend, and to whom I have rendered many services, has held you in his thraldom?" I exclaimed bitterly.

CHAPTER XIV.

REVEALS A FURTHER DECEPTION.

My love paused. She remained silent for a long time. Then, with her head bowed, she faltered:

"Yes. I--I am compelled to refuse."

"Why compelled?" I demanded.

"I--I cannot tell you," she whispered hoa.r.s.ely. "I dare not."

"Dare not? Is your secret so terrible, then?"

"Yes. It is all a mystery. I do not know the truth myself," she replied.

"I only know that I--that I love you, and that now, because that woman has spoken, I have lost you and am left to face the world--the police--alone!"

"Have I not told you, dearest, that I will do my best to protect and defend you if you will only reveal the truth to me," I said.

"But I can't."

"You still wish to s.h.i.+eld this blackguard who has held you in secret in his hands?" I cried in anger.

"No, I don't," she cried in despair. "I tell you, Teddy, now--even if this is the last time we ever meet--that I love you and you alone. I have fallen the victim of a clever and dastardly plot, believe me, or believe me not. What I tell you is the truth."

"I do believe you," I replied fervently. "But if you love me, Phrida, as you declare, you will surely reveal to me the perfidy of this man I have trusted!"

"I--I can't now," she said in a voice of excuse. "It is impossible. But you may know some day."

"You knew that I visited him on that fatal night. Answer me?"

She hesitated. Then presently, in a low tone, replied--

"Yes, Teddy, I knew. Ah!" she went on, her face white and haggard. "You cannot know the torture I have undergone--fearing that you might be aware of my presence there. Each time I met you I feared to look you in the face."

"Because your secret is a guilty one--eh?"

"I fell into a trap, and I cannot extricate myself," she declared hoa.r.s.ely. "Now that the police know, there is only one way out for me,"

she added, in a tone of blank despair. "I cannot face it--no--I--now that I have lost your love, dear. I care for naught more. My enemies will hound me to my death!"

And she burst into a torrent of bitter tears.

"No, no," I answered her, placing my hand tenderly upon her shoulder.

"Reveal the truth to me, and I will protect you and s.h.i.+eld you from them.

At present, though the police are in possession of your finger-prints, as being those of a person who had entered the flat on that night, they have no knowledge of your ident.i.ty, therefore, dear, have no fear."

"Ah! but I am in peril!" she cried, and I felt her shudder beneath my touch. "That woman--ah!--she may tell the police!"

"What woman?"

"Mrs. Petre, the woman who has already betrayed me to you."

"Then she knows--she knows your secret?" I gasped.

She bent her head slowly in the affirmative.

I saw in her eyes a look of terror and despair, such as I had never before seen in the eyes of any person before--a haunted, agonised expression that caused my heart to go out in sympathy for her--for even though she might be guilty--guilty of that crime of vengeance, yet, after all, she was mine and she possessed my heart.

"Is there no way of closing that woman's lips?" I asked very slowly.

She was silent, for, apparently, the suggestion had not before occurred to her. Of a sudden, she looked up into my face earnestly, and asked:

"Tell me, Teddy. Will you promise me--promise not to prejudge me?"

"I do not prejudge you at all, dearest," I declared with a smile. "My annoyance is due to your refusal to reveal to me anything concerning the man who has falsely posed as my friend."

Click Like and comment to support us!

RECENTLY UPDATED NOVELS

About The Sign of Silence Part 23 novel

You're reading The Sign of Silence by Author(s): William Le Queux. This novel has been translated and updated at LightNovelsOnl.com and has already 508 views. And it would be great if you choose to read and follow your favorite novel on our website. We promise you that we'll bring you the latest novels, a novel list updates everyday and free. LightNovelsOnl.com is a very smart website for reading novels online, friendly on mobile. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or just simply leave your comment so we'll know how to make you happy.