these delicious
scents, and dream and dream in this caressing air. She hated the
thought of London. The world had no real call for her. She wondered
at her submission to the will of a woman who had not the least
comprehension of her nature. On Nevis would she stay, live her own
life, find happiness in beauty and solitude, since the highest
happiness was not for her; and at this point she heard a step in the
jungle.

She sprang to her feet startled, but even before the heavy leaves
parted she knew that it was Warner. When he stood before her he lifted
his hat politely and dropped it on the ground, and although he did not
smile he certainly was sober.

The relief, the reaction, was so great that the blood rushed to Anne's
brow, the tears to her eyes. She made no attempt to speak at once and
he looked at her in silence. Perhaps it was the mountain solitude that
gave his spirit greater freedom; perhaps it was merely the effect of
the beneficial regime of the past two months; there might be another
reason less easy of analysis; but she had never seen him so assured,
so well, so much a man of his own world. His shoulders were quite
straight, his carriage was quite erect, there was colour in his face
and his eyes were bright. Nor did the haunted, tormented expression
she had so often seen look out at her. These were the eyes of a man
who had returned to his place among men. He looked young, buoyant.

She spoke finally. "I--we all thought--you disappeared so
abruptly--_what_ am I saying?"

"You believed that I had returned to the pit out of which you--you
alone, mind you--had dragged me. You might have known me better."

"You should not put such a burden on me. You have character
enough----"

"Oh yes, I had character enough, but doubtless you noticed when you
first met me that I had ceased to exercise it. I went to the dogs
quite deliberately, and, with my enfeebled will and frame, I should
have stayed there, had not you magnetised me into your presence, where
I was forced to behave if I would remain. Later, for reasons both
prosaic and sentimental, I remained without effort. I have never had
any real love of spirits, although I loved their effect well enough."

"You must have loved that oth--that woman very much."

"She made a fool of me. There is always a time in a man's life when he
can be made a complete ass of if the woman with the will to make an
ass of him happens along coincidently. I fancied myself sated wit