softly away and left
him.

In their own room she found Meryl had sent the maid away, and was
waiting for her in the dark, standing in the window with her form
dimly outlined against a moonlit sky.

She went up to her at once and slipped her arm through that of the
silent figure. Meryl pressed it, but for a moment or two did not
speak. Diana did not speak either; for once in her life she had
nothing to say.

At last Meryl said, as if answering some thought deep in her own mind,
"William told me to-night that there was someone else he loved. Di
darling, I think there is only one woman it could be."

And still Diana was silent.

"I gathered also that something had been said between you and him;
something that resulted in ... what has happened to-night...."

"But you are not angry?..." Diana whispered.

"O no. Every moment now I see more clearly what I ought to have seen
before. I am afraid I have only been foolish, and ... and ... I wanted
so to do what seemed the best," with a little break in her voice.

"Of course you did; we all know that," said Diana loyally. "But I saw
the mistake quickest, and I couldn't just sit still and do nothing; I
am not made that way."

Meryl pressed her arm affectionately.

"Di," she whispered, "I want it all to come right as quickly as
possible. I won't ask you any questions. Of course, I know it is you
William cares for, and it seems so perfectly natural now that it
should be. If you care for him, don't delay anything on my account. It
would make me glad to hear that you were engaged to him to-morrow."

Diana pressed the hand in hers. She felt strangely bashful with Meryl
to-night; unable to say anything at all. In her heart she was a little
shy with herself too. When she started out with a more or less light
spirit to change the course of two lives, she had hardly realised how
great a mountain she would be moving.

"Do you love him, Di?..." Meryl asked her softly.

"Yes," and Diana felt a little breathless as she made the admission.

"God bless you! I'm very glad." And Meryl took the girl's face in her
two hands and kissed her.

Then they went quietly to bed, and Diana knew she had said no word of
Carew's coming because she was afraid to.

XXXI

THE SOLUTION IS SEALED

It was a rather sobered Diana who rode out the next morning to meet
William van Hert, and when she saw him she felt suddenly conscious of
herself in a way she had never done before and hoped s