t she forgot everything in this one great thought. Leicester
was still alive, that she still loved him, and that she had never loved
any one else. She had only cared about the stranger because her heart
knew it was he.

Then she realised that he had gone, and with that realisation a great
blackness fell upon her life. In spite of all he had told her, she loved
him still. She might be angry at the revenge of which he had told her,
her anger was lost in her longing for him. Nevertheless he had gone, and
left her desolate.

Where was he now? she wondered. He had meant what he said when he had
told her that he was leaving her for ever. He believed that she scorned
him now as she had scorned him years before, and he would not wait to be
driven away, as he had been driven then. He had gone away, and she would
never see him again. If he only knew!--oh, if he only knew!

The room was oppressive; she could scarcely breathe. She went to the
casement window and opened it wide. The sweet pure air of the summer
night was wafted to her, and there, lying beneath the moon's rays, was
one of the loveliest sights in England. But she thought not of it; her
heart was torn at the thought that she had bidden good-bye to the only
man she had ever loved or could love.

Slowly she dragged her feet to her own bedroom, and tried to face the
thought of the future. She had lived the past six years without him, and
she must face the prospect of living her whole life without him. He did
not know of her love, and he never would, except she told him, and that
she could never do, for she knew he would never come to her again.

For a long time she sat alone, and faced what seemed to her inevitable
darkness, then suddenly she started to her feet. It was her pride which
caused her to drive him away six years before, and it was still pride
that kept her from letting him know the truth now. She was allowing a
poor and unworthy vanity to stand between her and happiness.

A few minutes later she was on her way to the Manor Farm. There had been
a battle between love and pride, and love had won. She believed that not
only her happiness, but his was at stake. She almost flew across the
park, so eager was she to reach him. Pride was gone, the fear of what
the world might think, if the world knew, was gone. She only knew that
she loved, and that she would, if needs be, plead for forgiveness.

Crossing the bridge which spanned the river, she made her way up th