"Myra, darling--don't!" she cried.

"I was thinking was it possible that, after all, he could repent," said
Myra in low, measured tones. "Whether, knowing all, he shrank from me
at the moment when a few words would have made it irrevocable."

"But why--why, darling?" cried Edie in alarm.

"You cannot grasp it as he would. I--married, and under such
circumstances. Love is blind, Edie, and he, poor fellow, may have been
blinded in his love--his old love for me. But what if the veil dropped
away from his eyes at last, and he could not, he dared not face it--the
sacrifice for him! Edie, it was that, and I forgive him, for I loved
him with all my heart."

Startled by her cousin's looks and words, Edie now caught her hands and
stood over her, speaking impetuously, almost angrily.

"For shame!" she cried. "Malcolm Stratton would never have acted like
that. O Myra; how could you think it of him? So manly and open and
frank in everything. Oh, no, no, no; it could not be that."

Myra turned to her quickly and clung to the hands which grasped hers, as
if sinking in her despair, and clutching at one more chance for life.

"Say--say that again," she whispered huskily.

"I'll say it a hundred times, but there is no need. Malcolm could not
treat you like this of his own freewill. He must be--he is ill, and
that is all."

"If I could only think so," said Myra as if to herself. "If I could
only believe it was that; but no, no," she wailed now, breaking down
utterly, and snatching away her hands to cover her convulsed face; "the
truth has been too strong at last, and he has gone."

"Myra!" cried Edie. "Hush! You shall not give way like this. How can
you be so weak? It is madness. If he had treated you so shamefully,
and turned away, you could not--you should not, take it to heart. Where
is your woman's pride? To give way, believing such an infamy, is
dreadful. But I tell you it isn't--it can't be true. There, there, be
calm, my darling. Be patient till they come back. He has studied too
hard lately--that's it. I've noticed how pale and worried he looked at
times, and with this excitement--you heard what Percy said--he has
broken down. There, that's the truth. He's ill, and will soon be
better, and all will come right, Myra! my darling coz. Don't turn like
that. Oh--help! help! help!"

She thrust her cousin back so that her head rested on the lounge, for a
deathly look had come over the beautiful fa