own?"

"I think not, to-night, thank you. I will call to-morrow. Give Margie my
best love, and tell her how sorry I am that she is ill."

Alexandrine promised, and Mr. Trevlyn bowed himself out. She put her hand
to her forehead, which seemed almost bursting with the strange weight
there.

"Guilty or not guilty," she muttered, "what does it matter to me? I love
him, and that is enough?"

PART III.

The long night passed away, as all nights, however long and dark they may
be, will pass away.

Margie had not slept. She had paced her chamber until long after
midnight, utterly disregarding Alexandrine, who had knocked repeatedly
at her door, and at last, overcome by weariness, she had sunk down in
a chair by the open window, and sat there, gazing blankly out into the
night, with its purple heavens, and its glory of sparkling stars.

Nothing could have tempted Margie to have credited such a story of her
lover, had it not been for the overwhelming evidence of her own senses.
Ever since the night of Paul Linmere's assassination, she had at times
been tortured with agonizing doubts. From the first she had been morally
sure whose lips had touched her hand that night in the graveyard; she
knew that no other presence than that of Archer Trevlyn had the power to
influence her as she had been influenced. She knew that he had been
there, though she had not seen him; and for what purpose had he been
there? It was a question she had asked herself a thousand times!

There could be no doubt any longer. She was forced to that conclusion at
last; her heart sinking like lead in her bosom as she came to acknowledge
it. In a moment of terrible temptation, Arch Trevlyn had stained his
hands with blood! And for her sake!

There was a violent warfare in her heart. Her love for Archer Trevlyn had
not sprung up in a day; its growth had been slow, and it had taken deep
root. Oh, how hard it was to give up the blissful dream! She thought of
his early life--how it had been full of temptation--how his noble nature
had been warped and perverted by the evil influences that had surrounded
him, and for a while the temptation was strong upon her soul to forgive
him everything--to ignore all the past, and take him into her life as
though the fearful story she had just listened to had been untold. Marry
a murderer!

"Oh, God!" she cried in horror, as the whole extent of the truth burst
upon her: "Oh, my God, pity and aid me!"

She sank d