But he must not frighten her, he must not drive her away from him by

revealing the intensity of his passion.

So his voice was calm, and so low that it was little more than a

whisper, as he said: "I have come in search of you; I have something to say that I hope, I

pray, you will hear. Won't you sit down again?" and he motioned to the

place where she had been seated.

But Nell shook her head and remained standing, her hands clasped loosely

before her, her eyes downcast.

"What is it, Lord Angleford?" she said, in a voice as low as his. "I--I

want to go back to the lodge."

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"Wait a few minutes," he said imploringly. "I will not keep you long. I

have just left the lodge. He--Mr. Falconer--is all right; he will not

mind--will not miss you for a few minutes. And I must speak to you. All

my happiness, my future, depends on it--upon you!"

"Ah, let me go!" she said, almost inaudibly; for at every word he spoke

her heart went out to him, and she was tempted to forget that he was no

longer her lover, but the betrothed of Lady Lucille. Whatever he said,

she must not forget that!

"No; it is I who will go, when I have spoken, and if you tell me," he

said gravely. "When you sent me away last time I went--I obeyed you. I

promise to do so now if you send me away again. Nell--ah! I must call

you so. It is the name I think of you by, the name that is engraven on

my heart! Nell, I want to ask you if there is no hope of my recovering

my lost happiness. Do you remember when I told you that I loved you,

there at Shorne Mills? I told you I was not worthy of you. Even then I

was deceiving you."

She drew nearer to the tree, and put her hand against it for support.

"I was masquerading as Drake Vernon. I concealed my real name and rank;

but I had no base motive in doing so. I was sick of the world, and weary

of it and myself, and I longed to escape the maddening notoriety which

harassed me. And then, when I thought--ah, no! I won't say thought, for;

I know that then, then, Nell, you loved me!"

Her lips quivered, but she kept the tears back bravely.

"Then it seemed so precious a thing to know that you should have loved

me for myself alone, that you were not going to marry me for my rank and

position, as many another girl would have done, that I was tempted to

play the farce to the end. It was folly, but the gods punish folly more

surely and quickly than they punish crime. The night that you

discovered I had deceived you, I had resolved to tell you the truth and

beg your forgiveness. But it was too late. Most of our good resolutions

come too late, Nell. You had learned that I had deceived you; you had

learned that I was not worthy to win and hold the love of a pure and

innocent girl, and you sent me away."




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