ine, to leave without telling you again
that I love you better than life, and that I am innocent of the wrong
you were so ready to believe. Some day ask John; tell him that I have
broken my word; he will tell you how truth was made a lie. I realize
now that I ought to have stood my ground. I ought to have nailed the
lie then. But my proofs were not such as would do away with all
doubts. And besides, when I saw that you had believed without giving
me the benefit of a doubt, I was angry. And so I left you, refusing to
speak one way or the other. John will tell you. And if my cause is
still in your thought and you care to write, mail your letter to my
bankers. They will forward it. And if I should have the happiness to
be wanted, even if I am at the ends of the world, I shall come to you.

He did not sign it, but he read it over carefully. There was nothing
to cut, nothing to add. He folded it, then laid his head on his
extended arms. A door opened and closed, but his ear was dull. Then
everything became still. Scientists have not yet fully explained what
it is that discovers to us a presence in the room, a presence that we
have neither seen nor heard enter. So it was with Warrington. There
was no train of collected thought in his mind, nothing but stray
snatches of this day and of that the picture of a smile, a turn in the
road, the sound of a voice. And all at once he became conscious that
something was compelling him to raise his head. He did so slowly.

A woman was standing within a dozen feet of the desk.

"Patty!" he cried, leaping to his feet bewildered.

Patty did not move. Alas, she had left all her great bravery at the
threshold. What would he think of her?

"Patty!" he repeated. "You are here?"

"Yes." All the blood in her body seemed to congest in her throat.
"Are--is it true that you are going to Japan?" If he came a step
nearer she was positive that she would fall.

"Yes, Patty; it is as true as I love you. But let us not speak of
that," sadly.

"Yes, yes! Let us speak of it!" a wild despair in her voice and
gesture. "Let us speak of it, since I do nothing but think of it,
think of it, think of it! Oh! I am utterly shameless, but I can not
fight any longer. I have no longer any pride. I should despise you,
but I do not. I should hate you, but I can not ... No, no! Stay where
you are."

"Patty, do you love me?" There was a note in his voice as vibrant as
the second string of a cello.

"Yes."

"D