"He is much better, miss," said the nurse; "and he asked me to say that

he should be glad if you and his lordship would go up to him."

Drake nodded, and he followed Nell up the stairs.

Falconer was sitting up, leaning back against a pile of pillows; and he

greeted them with a smile--the half-sad, half-patiently cynical smile of

the old days in Beaumont Buildings--the smile which served as a mask to

hide the tenderness of a noble nature.

Nell came into the room shyly, with the sadness of the self-reproach

which was born of the knowledge that her happiness had been gained at

the cost of this man who loved her with a love as great as Drake's; but

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Drake came up to the bed boldly, and held out his hand.

"We have come--to thank you, Falconer," he said, in the tone with which

one man acknowledges his debt to another. "No, not to thank you, for

that's impossible. Some things are beyond thanks, and this that you have

done is one of them. You have brought happiness where there was nothing

but misery and despair. Some day I will tell you the story of our

separation; but that must wait. Now I can only try and express my

gratitude----"

He stammered and broke down; for with Falconer's eloquent eyes upon him,

he realized the extent of the man's self-sacrifice, and it seemed to him

that any attempt to express his own gratitude was worse than absolute

silence. Can you thank a man for the gift of your life?

Falconer looked from one to the other, the half-sad smile lighting up

his wan face.

"I know," he said simply. And indeed he knew how he should feel if he

were in the place of this lucky man, this favored of the gods. "I know.

There is no need to say anything. You are happy?"

His eyes rested on Nell. She slipped to her knees beside the bed and

took his hand; but she could not speak; the tears filled her eyes, and

she gazed up at him through a mist.

"Ah! what can I say?" she murmured.

He smiled down at her with infinite tenderness.

"You have said enough," he said simply, "and I am answered. Do you think

it is nothing to me, your happiness? It is everything--life itself!"

His dark eyes glowed. "There is no moment since I knew you that I would

not have laid down this wretched life of mine, if by so doing I could

have made you happy at a much less cost."




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