g! Darrell buried
his face in his hands and groaned aloud. So it was only a mockery, a
dream. He recalled Kate's words: "I hardly dare go to sleep for fear I
will wake up and find it all a dream," and self-reproach and remorse
added their bitterness to his agony. What right had he to bring that
bright young life under the cloud overhanging his own, to wreck her
happiness by contact with his own misfortune! What would it be for her
when she came to know the truth, as she must know it; and how was he to
tell her? In his anguish he groaned,--

"God pity us both and be merciful to her!"

For more than an hour he walked the room; then kneeling by the bed, just
as a pale, silvery streak appeared along the eastern horizon, he
cried,--

"O God, leave me not in darkness; give me some clew to the vanished
past, that I may know whether or not I have the right to this most
precious of all thine earthly gifts!"

And, burying his face, he strove as never before to pierce the darkness
enveloping his brain. Long he knelt there, his hands clinching the
bedclothes convulsively, even the muscles of his body tense and rigid
under the terrible mental strain he was undergoing, while at times his
powerful frame shook with agony.

The silvery radiance crept upward over the deep blue dome; the stars
dwindled to glimmering points of light, then faded one by one; a roseate
flush tinged the eastern sky, growing and deepening, and the first
golden rays were shooting upward from a sea of crimson flame as Darrell
rose from his knees. He walked to the window, but even the sunlight
seemed to mock him--there was no light for him, no rift in the cloud
darkening his path, and with a heavy sigh he turned away. The struggle
was not yet over; this was to be a day of battle with himself, and he
nerved himself for the coming ordeal.

After a cold bath he dressed and descended to the breakfast-room. It was
still early, but Mr. Underwood was already at the table and Mrs. Dean
entered a moment later from the kitchen, where she had been giving
directions for breakfast for Kate and her guests. Both were shocked at
Darrell's haggard face and heavy eyes, but by a forced cheerfulness he
succeeded in diverting the scrutiny of the one and the anxious
solicitude of the other. Mr. Underwood returned to his paper and his
sister and Darrell had the conversation to themselves.

"Last night's dissipation proved too much for me," Darrell said,
playfully, in reply to s