say! You would say that I led you on--that I
gave you to believe that I loved you. That is what you would say, and
it would be the truth. I made up my mind to lead you on; I gave you to
understand that I cared for you. But I confess to you now that I did so
because I hoped to save her. You see it was a plot on my part--the plot
of one woman anxious to save her sister from destruction. I succeeded.
Thank God for that--thank God for that!"

"You succeeded--you succeeded indeed." He spoke slowly and in a low
tone, his eyes fixed upon her burning face. "Yes, you led me on--you led
me from earth to heaven. You saved her--you saved me. That is why I am
here to-day."

"Oh, it is not here you should be, Mr. Courtland." She had turned
quickly away from him with a gesture of impatience and had walked to the
other end of the room. There was more than a suspicion of indignation in
her voice. "You should be with the woman whom you loved; the woman
who showed you how she loved you; the woman who was ready to give up
everything--honor--husband--God--for you. Go to her--to her--when the
numbness has passed away from her, and there is no barrier between you
and her. That is all I have to say to you, Mr. Courtland."

"Is it indeed all, Phyllis?" he said. "But you will let me speak to you.
You will let me ask if Ella alone was ready to sacrifice herself? You
say that you led me to love you in order to save her. How did you lead
me on? By giving me to understand that you were not indifferent to
me--that you had some love for me. Let me ask you if you were acting a
lie at that time?"

"I wanted to save her."

"And you succeeded. Were you acting a lie?"

She was silent.

"You were willing to save her?" he continued. "How did you mean to save
her? Were you prepared to go to the length of marrying me when I had
been led on to that point by you? Answer me, Phyllis."

"I will not answer you, Mr. Courtland--you have no right to ask me to
answer you. One terrible moment had changed all the conditions under
which we were living. If she had been free,--as she is now,--do you
fancy for a moment that I should have come between you--that I should
have tried to lead you away from her? Well, then, surely you must see
as clearly as I do at the present moment that now our relative positions
are the same as they would have been some months ago, if Ella had been
free--if she could have loved you without being guilty of a crime? Oh,
Mr. Courtland d