orrent so intense no
human will could have restrained it.

Almost before he was aware of it, his arms were about her, straining her
to his madly beating heart, his passionate kisses falling thrillingly
upon her beautiful hair and the sweet, tender lips, while he cried,
hoarsely:

"You shall never say that again, beautiful Bernardine! _I_ love
you--yes, I love you with all my heart and soul! Oh, darling! answer
me--do you care for me?"

The girl recoiled from him with a low, wailing sob. The words of the
fashionably attired young girl who had called upon her so mysteriously
on that never-to-be-forgotten day, and taunted her with--"He is
deceiving you, girl! Doctor Gardiner may talk to you of love, but he
will never--never speak to you of marriage. Mark my words!"--were
ringing like a death-knell in her ears.

"Oh, Bernardine!" he cried, throwing prudence to the winds, forgetting
in that moment everything save his mad love for her--"oh, my darling!
you are _not_ alone in the world! _I_ love you! Marry me, Bernardine,
and save me from the future spreading out darkly before me--marry me
within the hour--_now_! Don't refuse me. We are near a church now. The
rector lives next door. We will alight here, and in five minutes you
will be all my own to comfort, to care for, to protect and idolize, to
worship as I would an angel from Heaven!"

He scarcely waited for her to consent. He stopped the coach, and fairly
lifted her from the vehicle in his strong arms.

"Oh, Doctor Gardiner, is it for the best?" she cried, clinging to him
with death-cold hands. "Are you _sure_ you want me?"

The answer that he gave her, as he bent his fair, handsome head, must
have satisfied her. Loving him as she did, how could she say him nay?

They entered the parsonage, and when they emerged from it, ten minutes
later, Bernardine was Jay Gardiner's wedded wife.

And that was the beginning of the tragedy.

"I shall not take you to the scene of the fire just now, my darling," he
decided. "The sight would be too much for you. In a day or two, when you
have become more reconciled to your great loss, I will take you there."

"You know best, Doctor Gardiner," she sobbed, as they re-entered the
vehicle. "I will do whatever you think is best."

"Where to, sir?" asked the driver, touching his cap.

"We will go to Central Park," he answered; then turning to Bernardine,
he added: "When we reach there, we will alight and dismiss this man. We
will s