-no, you must not say that. If I have been a blind fool, it is no
fault of yours, and I have no one to thank but myself for the misery
that has come upon me. Elizabeth"--oh, how sad his voice was! it
thrilled her to hear it--"before I leave you, let me wish you every
happiness--you and Mr. Carlyon too;" and then he rose to his feet.

"Must you go?" she pleaded.

"Yes, I must go," he returned hurriedly; "will you excuse me to your
sister?" Then Elizabeth stretched out her hand to him in silence, and
he saw that she could not trust herself to speak.

"You must not be too sorry for me," he said rather brokenly; "I am not
the only man who has been denied his heart's desire;" and he turned
away and plunged into the little fir wood. Elizabeth sat listening to
his retreating footsteps. The tears were running down her cheeks. She
was still weeping when Dinah rejoined her.

"Have I been long?" she observed cheerfully. "That tiresome Mrs.
Carrick called about the mothers' meetings. Where is Mr. Herrick?"
Then, as she caught sight of Elizabeth's face, "Oh, my dear Betty, what
is it?--what has gone wrong?--and on your birthday too!"--Elizabeth
wept afresh.

"Hush, don't ask me--not now. David will be here directly, and he must
not see me like this. You were right, Die, you saw how it was, and I
would not believe you--I did not want to believe you. Now let me go
away and recover myself." But Dinah held her fast.

"You shall go in a moment, dear; but just tell me one thing--did Mr.
Herrick ask you to be his wife?"

"Not exactly--I would not let him go as far as that; but, Die, he loves
me so, and he is so unhappy." Then Dinah sighed, and her hand dropped
from her sister's arm.

"You had better go," she returned. "I see Mullins crossing the bridge.
If David comes I will make an excuse for your absence;" and Elizabeth
nodded and turned away. Dinah's heart was very heavy as she stood
looking down upon the Pool. It is the looker-on who sees most of the
game, and weeks ago she had vainly tried to open Elizabeth's eyes to a
sense of her danger.

"He has never said a word to me that the whole world might not hear--I
don't believe he ever will," Elizabeth had replied obstinately; but
Dinah knew that she was wilfully deceiving herself--that her intuition
was truer than her words, and that in Malcolm Herrick's presence she
was always on guard, as if she feared an invasion of her woman's
kingdom.

Dinah could have wept too in her g