odd fellow, not
like other men; my very failings have not been the same as other men's.
For instance--before heaven it is true--you are the first woman whom I
ever kissed, as I swear to you that you shall be the last. Then, what
else am I? A failure in the very work that I have chosen, and the heir
to a bankrupt property! Oh! it is not fair; I have no right to ask you!"

"I think it quite fair, and here I am the judge, Morris." Then, sentence
by sentence, she went on, not all at once, but with breaks and pauses.

"You asked me just now if I loved you, and I told you--Yes. But you did
not ask me when I began to love you. I will tell you all the same. I
can't remember a time when I didn't; no, not since I was a little girl.
It was you who grew away from me, not me from you, when you took to
studying mysticism and aerophones, and were repelled by all women,
myself included."

"I know, I know," he said. "Don't remind me of my dead follies. Some
things are born in the blood."

"Quite so, and they remain in the bone. I understand. Morris, unless you
maltreat me wilfully--which I am sure you would never do--I shall always
understand."

"What are you afraid of?" he asked in a shaken voice. "I feel that you
are afraid."

"Oh, one or two things; that you might overwork yourself, for instance.
Or, lest you should find that after all you are more human than you
imagine, and be taken possession of by some strange Stella coming out of
nowhere."

"What do you mean, and why do you use that name?" he said amazed.

"What I say, dear. As for that name, I heard it accidentally at table
to-night, and it came to my lips--of itself. It seemed to typify what I
meant, and to suggest a wandering star--such as men like you are fond of
following."

"Upon my honour," said Morris, "I will do none of these things."

"If you can help it, you will do none of them. I know it well enough. I
hope and believe that there will never be a shadow between us while we
live. But, Morris, I take you, risks and all, because it has been my
chance to love you and nobody else. Otherwise, I should think twice; but
love doesn't stop at risks."

"What have I done to deserve this?" groaned Morris.

"I cannot see. I should very much like to know," replied Mary, with a
touch of her old humour.

It was at this moment that Colonel Monk, happening to come round the
corner of the house, walking on the grass, and followed by Mr. Porson,
saw a sight which interes