him, she flew to him and fell on her knees by his side. Raising his
heavy head in her arms she held it against her bosom. She did not know
that her lips touched his, she was seeking only to learn if he breathed.
When his eyes opened blankly, she kissed them till they closed again,
because she could not bear to see the dreadful blankness that was in
them. When he moaned she fell to rocking gently back and forth, holding
his head closer against her breast, and presently began to croon softly.
She never once thought of calling for help; it was to her as if there
had been no one but themselves in the whole world. And presently his
faintness passed away, and when his arms, so weakly raised, went round
her, she did not try to escape. After a little he found strength to
speak a part of all that was in his heart, and she told him what she
could of all that was in hers. And both spoke as a great love speaks
when it first turns slowly back from facing death.

XXII

"A COMET'S GLARE FORETOLD THIS SAD EVENT"

When the barriers had thus been broken down, she had spoken of the
breach between William and herself. There had not been a bitter word or
a harsh thought in all that she said. It had been merely a mutual
mistake; they had both mistaken the affection which grows out of
familiar association, for the love that instantly draws a man and a
woman together, though they may never before have seen one another, and
holds them forever, away from all the rest of the world.

"I know the difference now," she said several days later, with a deeper
tint in her cheeks and a brighter light in her blue eyes. "And I am sure
that William does, too. It's plain enough that he will be glad to be
free, but he cannot say so, because he is a gentleman. Don't you see?
For that very reason, just because he is so high-minded, I am all the
more bound to do what is right. You do see, don't you?"

He was sitting up for the first time that day, his chair was by the
window and she was sewing beside him.

"I see what you think is right," Paul said smilingly. "And he certainly
should be told at once. But perhaps I might--"

"Oh, no! I must tell him myself. That would only be treating him with
due respect. And William thinks a great deal of respect--much more than
he does of love. But I can't get a chance to speak to him. He is always
coming and going of late, and all the family are present when I do see
him. You must wait; you must not say a word