ght, and a quiet voice said:

"Miss Darrell, I am so glad to find you here, and alone!"

Looking up, she saw Aubrey Langton standing by her side. Aubrey's fair,
handsome face was flushed, and there was the fragrance of the wine-cup
about him, for the gallant captain's courage had failed him, and he had
to fortify himself.

He had seen Miss Darrell go into the conservatory, and he understood her
well enough to be sure that she had gone thither in search of quiet.
Here was his opportunity. He had been saying to himself all day that he
must watch for his opportunity. Here it was; yet his courage failed him,
and his heart sank; he would have given anything to any one who would
have undertaken the task that lay before him. There was so much at
stake--not only love, but wealth, fortune, even freedom--there was so
much to be won or lost, that he was frightened.

However, as he said to himself, it had to be done. He went back to the
dining-room and poured out for himself a tumbler of the baronet's
generous old wine, which made his heart glow, and diffused warmth
through his whole frame, and then he went on his difficult errand. He
walked quietly through the conservatory, and saw Pauline standing at the
doors.

He was not an artist, he had nothing of the poet about him, but the
solemn beauty of that picture did touch him--the soft, sweet moonlight,
the sheaves of white lilies, the nest of daphnes, and that most
beautiful face raised to the starry sky.

He stood for some minutes in silence; a dim perception of his own
unworthiness came over him. Pauline looked as though she stood in a
charmed circle, which he almost feared to enter.

Then he went up to her and spoke. She was startled; she had been so
completely absorbed in her dreams, and he was the last person on earth
with whom she could identify them.

"I hope I have not startled you," he said. "I am so glad to find you
here, Miss Darrell. There is something I wish to say to you."

Perhaps that beautiful, calm night-scene had softened her; she turned to
him with a smile more gentle than he had ever seen on her face before.

"You want to tell me something--I am ready to listen, Captain Langton.
What is it?"

He came nearer to her. The sweet, subtle perfume from the flowers at her
breast reached him, the proud face that had always looked proudly on
him, was near his own.

He came one step nearer still, and then Pauline drew back with a haughty
gesture that seemed