done wrong. I never felt humiliation when I was with him. When he
grew tired of me he could not help it; he never did try to resist any
whim or passion. But better, stronger men cannot hold the wavering
will-o'-the-wisp they call 'love'; and once it flickers out, it cannot
be relighted. No, I have no one to blame; I can only resign myself to
the bitterest, cruelest fate that can befall a woman--to be loved and
eagerly sought, won, and adored for a brief hour, then thrown carelessly
aside--a mere plaything, unworthy of serious thought. Ah, I have
forgotten my resolution not to talk of myself to you. It is a weakness;
but your kind eyes melt my heart. Now I will close it up--I will think
only of the task I have set myself, to make a little fortune for you, a
reputation for my own establishment--not a very grand ambition, but it
does to keep the machine going; and I am growing stronger every day,
with a strange force that surprises myself. I fear nothing and no one. I
think my affection for you, dear, is the only thing which keeps me
human. Now tell me, are you still comfortable with Mrs. Needham?"

The tears stood in Katherine's eyes as she listened to this stern wail
of a bruised spirit, but with instinctive wisdom she refrained from
uttering fruitless expressions of sympathy. She would not encourage
Rachel to dwell on the hateful subject; she only replied by pressing her
friend's hand in silence, and she began to speak of Mrs. Ormonde's
visit, and succeeded in making Rachel laugh at the little woman's
description of the means she adopted of reducing Colonel Ormonde to
reason.

"Real generosity and unselfishness is very rare," said Rachel. "The
meanness and narrowness of men are amazing--and of women too; but
somehow one expects more from the strength of a man."

"When men are good they are very good," said Kate, reflectively. "But
the only two I have seen much of are not pleasant specimens--my uncle,
John Liddell, and Colonel Ormonde. Then against them I must balance
Bertie Payne, who is good enough for two."

"He is indeed! I owe him a debt I can never repay, for he brought you to
me. I wish you could reward him as he would wish."

"I am not sure that he has any wishes on the subject," said Katherine,
her color rising. "He thinks I am too ungodly to be eligible for the
helpmeet of a true believer. Ah, indeed I am not half good enough for
such a man!"

CHAPTER XXIX.

DE BURGH AGAIN.

That Rachel Trant