promise all that
she can possibly ask; but the selfishness must first be
incontrovertibly established."

He had never been dearer to her than at that moment, when his brilliant
eyes seemed to search her soul and magnetize her; yet she did not
falter and the aching of her heart was a goad to her will.

"You merely shower lesser sugar-plums, intending they shall surfeit.
Lennox, you know how often I have longed to make the journey to Greece,
Asia Minor and Egypt; you remember I have repeatedly expressed the
wish? You--"

"Pardon me, sweetheart, but this is the first time I ever heard it."
"You forget. At last the consummation unfolds itself as smoothly as the
fourth act of a melodrama. My friend and schoolmate, Alma Cutting, of
New York, invites a small party of ladies and gentlemen to accompany
her in a cruise through the Levant, on her father's new and elegant
steam yacht 'Cleopatra'. I have pressing letters from Alma and Mr.
Cutting, kindly urging me to join them in New York by the first of May,
at which time they expect to start on a preliminary cruise through the
North and Baltic seas; drifting southward so as to reach Sicily and
Malta as soon as cool weather permits. Do you wonder that so charming
and picturesque a tour tempts me sorely?"

Unconsciously she had hurried her enunciation, but imperturbable as the
bronze he resembled, Mr. Dunbar listened; merely passing his left arm
around her, drawing her resisting form closer to him, holding her
firmly.

"I am waiting for the selfish aspect of this scheme, else I should
answer at once, the coveted sugar-plum is yours, and we will make the
tour whenever you like, with the minor difference of mere details; we
will go in our own yacht."

She caught her breath, and for an instant the world swam in a burst of
dazzling light. Beyond the reach of the usurper's witchery, was it not
possible that she might regain the alienated heart? Love chanted, it
is worth the trial; take him away, win him back. Pride sternly set foot
upon this spark of hope, with cruel insistence answering: his love has
never been yours; defrauded of the diamond, will you accept and
patiently wear paste? The quick revulsion was tantalizing as would
have been the vanishing of the ram from Abraham's gladdened sight; the
swift withdrawal of Diana's stag into the miraculous cloud at Aulis.

"That would be too severe a tax upon your good nature and indulgence,
and involves a sacrifice of your prof