him when it did
come.

"If I had any pride left I should hate you for humbling it in that manner,
Braden," she said, little red spots appearing on her cheeks. "I am not
asking for your pity."

"I did not mean to--" he cried impulsively. For an instant he threw all
restraint aside. The craving mastered him. He sprang forward.

She closed her eyes quickly, and held her breath.

He was almost at her side when he stopped short. Then she heard the rush
of his feet and, the next instant, the banging of the hall door. He was
gone! She opened her eyes slowly, and stared dully, hazily before her. For
a long time she sat as one unconscious. The shock of realisation left her
without the strength or the desire to move. Comprehension was slow in
coming to her in the shock of disappointment. She could not realise that
she was not in his arms. He had leaped forward to clasp her, she had felt
his outstretched arms encircling her,--it was hard to believe that she sat
there alone and that the ecstasy was not real.

Tears filled her eyes. She did not attempt to wipe them away. She could
only stare, unblinking, at the closed door. Sobs were in her throat; she
was first cold, then hot as with a fever.

Slowly her breath began to come again, and with it the sobs. Her body
relaxed, she closed her eyes again and let her head fall back against the
chair, and for many minutes she remained motionless, still with the
weakness of one who has passed through a great crisis.... Long
afterward,--she did not know how long it was,--she laid her arms upon the
window-sill at her side and buried her face on them. The sobs died away
and the tears ceased flowing. Then she raised her eyes and stared down
into the hot, crowded street far below. She looked upon sordid, cheap,
ugly things down there, and she had been looking at paradise such a little
while ago.

Suddenly she sprang to her feet. Her tall, glorious figure was extended to
its full height, and her face was transformed with the light of
exaltation.

A key grated noisily in the hall door. The next instant it swung violently
open and her brother George strode in upon her,--big, clear-eyed, happy-
faced and eager.

"Hello!" he cried, stopping short. "I popped in early to-day. Matter of
great importance to talk over with my heir. Wait a second, Anne. I'll be
back--I say, what's the matter? You look posi-_tive_-ly as if you were on
the point of bursting into grand opera. Going to sing?"

"I'm