thought I loved you enough to give you up--and I might
have succeeded if you hadn't written to me.

Oh, Hugh dearest, I nearly fainted when I saw your
letter. I hardly dared open it--I just looked and looked
at your beloved handwriting. I cried when I did read it.
I thought of the letters you used to write to me--and
this one was so different--so cold and impersonal. It
hurt me dreadfully.

I said that I wouldn't answer it--I swore that I
wouldn't. And then I read your old letters--I've kept
every one of them--and looked at your picture--and
to-night you just seemed to be here--I could see your
sweet smile and feel your dear arms around me--and Hugh,
my darling, I had to write--I _had_ to.

My pride is all gone. I can't think any more. You are
all that matters. Oh, Hugh dearest, I love you so damned
hard.

CYNTHIA.

Two hours after the letter arrived it was followed by a telegram:

Don't pay any attention to my letter. I was crazy when I
wrote it.

Hugh had sense enough to pay no attention to the telegram; he tossed it
into the fireplace and reread the letter. What could he do? What
_should_ he do? He was torn by doubt and confusion. He looked at her
picture, and all his old longing for her returned. But he had learned to
distrust that longing. He had got along for a year without her; he had
almost ceased thinking of her when Norry brought her back to his mind.
He had to answer her letter. What could he say? He paced the floor of
his room, ran his hands through his hair, pounded his forehead; but no
solution came. He took a long walk into the country and came back more
confused than ever. He was flattered by her letter, moved by it; he
tried to persuade himself that he loved her as she loved him--and he
could not do it. His passion for her was no longer overpowering, and no
amount of thinking could make it so. In the end he temporized. His
letter was brief.

Dear Cynthia:

There is no need, I guess, to tell you that your letter
swept me clean off my feet. I am still dizzy with
confusion. I don't know what to say, and I have decided
that it is best for me not to say anything until I know
my own mind. I couldn't be fair either to you or myself
otherwise. And I want to be fai