s could not make or mar the happiness of a lifetime. She
would not believe it.

"Courage until to-morrow," she said, "and my triumph will be complete.
I will have won Rex." The little ormolu clock on the mantel chimed the
hour of five. "Heavens!" she cried to herself, "Rex has been gone over
two hours. I feel my heart must be bursting."

No one noticed Pluma's anxiety. One moment hushed and laughing, the
queen of mirth and revelry, then pale and silent, with shadowed eyes,
furtively glancing down the broad, pebbled path that led to the
entrance gate.

Yet, despite her bravery, Pluma's face and lips turned white when she
heard the confusion of her lover's arrival.

Perhaps Pluma had never suffered more suspense in all her life than
was crowded into those few moments.

Had he seen Lester Stanwick? Had he come to denounce her for her
treachery, in his proud, clear voice, and declare the marriage broken
off?

She dared not step forward to greet him, lest the piercing glance of
his eyes would cause her to fall fainting at his feet.

"A guilty conscience needs no accuser." Most truly the words were
exemplified in her case. Yet not one pang of remorse swept across her
proud heart when she thought of the young girl whose life she had so
skillfully blighted.

What was the love of Daisy Brooks, an unsophisticated child of nature,
only the overseer's niece, compared to her own mighty, absorbing
passion?

The proud, haughty heiress could not understand how Rex, polished,
courteous and refined, could have stooped to such a reckless folly. He
would thank her in years to come for sparing him from such a fate.
These were the thoughts she sought to console herself with.

She stood near the door when he entered, but he did not see her; a
death-like pallor swept over her face, her dark eyes had a wild,
perplexing look.

She was waiting in terrible suspense for Rex to call upon her name;
ask where she was, or speak some word in which she could read her
sentence of happiness or despair in the tone of his voice.

She could not even catch the expression of his face; it was turned
from her. She watched him so eagerly she hardly dared draw her
breath.

Rex walked quickly through the room, stopping to chat with this one or
that one a moment; still, his face was not turned for a single instant
toward the spot where she stood.

Was he looking for her? She could not tell. Presently he walked toward
the conservatory, and a moment