"I like the way you say that," said the countess. "But don't leave her."

He nodded as if he understood, and gradually made his way toward the

group among which Luce and Nell were sitting. As he approached, Lady

Luce looked up with a smile.

"I have been telling Miss Lorton that if there is one thing I adore upon

earth, it is a romantic engagement, and that I quite envy her, and you,

too, Lord Angleford! A glamour of romance will surround you for the rest

of your lives. As I have often said to Archie, life without sentiment

would not be worth having. By the way, Miss Lorton, you know Sir Archie

Walbrooke?"

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Nell had scarcely been listening, for she had been wondering whether she

could now rise and leave Lady Luce; but at the name of Sir Archie

Walbrooke, she turned with a sudden start, and the color rose to her

face. Lady Luce looked at her sweetly; then, as if she had suddenly

remembered something, exclaimed, in a low voice: "Oh, I beg your pardon! I quite forgot. How stupid of me!" Then she

laughed softly and looked from Nell to Drake. "But of course you've told

Lord Angleford? It is always the best way."

The color slowly left Nell's face; a look of pain, of doubt, even of

dread, came into her eyes. Drake glanced from one woman to the other.

"What is it Nell must have told me, Lady Luce?" he asked easily.

Lady Luce hesitated, seemed as if in doubt for a moment, and smiled in

an embarrassed fashion.

"Have you told him?" she asked Nell, in a low, but perfectly audible

voice.

Nell rose, then sank down again. She saw in an instant the trap which

Lady Luce had set for her; and it seemed to her a trap from which she

could not escape. It was evident that Lady Luce had become informed of

the scene that had taken place between Sir Archie, Lord Wolfer, and Nell

in the library at Wolfer House, and that Lady Luce intended to denounce

her in the drawing-room before Drake and the large party gathered

together in her honor.

For one single instant there rose in her heart a keen regret that she

had not told Drake; but it was only for an instant; for Nell's nature

was a noble one, and she knew that at no time and under no circumstances

whatever could she have sacrificed her friend, even to save her life's

happiness--and Drake's.

That chilly morning in the dim library she had taken her friend's folly

and sin upon her own shoulders, scarcely counting, scarcely seeing the

cost, certainly not foreseeing this terrible price which she would have

to pay for it. And now--now that the terrible moment had come when

Drake--she cared little for any other--would hear her accused of that

which a pure woman counts the worst of crimes, she would not be able to

rise, and, with uplifted head, exclaim: "I am innocent!"




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