dvantage of your kind permission,
and will also say farewell."

I kissed Aunt Dorothy's cheek, took my leave, and sought Cecil, from whom
I obtained a passport to France. Then I asked Dawson to fetch my horse.

I longed to see Madge before I left Haddon, but I knew that my desire
could not be gratified; so I determined to stop at Rowsley and send back a
letter to her which Dawson undertook to deliver. In my letter I would ask
Madge's permission to return for her from France and to take her home
with me as my wife. After I had despatched my letter I would wait at The
Peacock for an answer.

Sore at heart, I bade good-by to Dawson, mounted my horse, and turned his
head toward the Dove-cote Gate. As I rode under Dorothy's window she was
sitting there. The casement was open, for the day was mild, although the
season was little past midwinter. I heard her call to Madge, and then she
called to me:--

"Farewell, Malcolm! Forgive me for what I said to you in the dungeon. I
was wrong, as usual. Forgive me, and God bless you. Farewell!"

While Dorothy was speaking, and before I replied, Madge came to the open
casement and called:--

"Wait for me, Malcolm, I am going down to you."

Great joy is a wonderful purifier, and Madge's cry finished the work of
the past few months and made a good man of me, who all my life before had
known little else than evil.

Soon Madge's horse was led by a groom to the mounting block, and in a few
minutes she emerged gropingly from the great door of Entrance Tower.
Dorothy was again a prisoner in her rooms and could not come down to bid
me farewell. Madge mounted, and the groom led her horse to me and placed
the reins in my hands.

"Is it you, Malcolm?" asked Madge.

"Yes," I responded, in a voice husky with emotion. "I cannot thank you
enough for coming to say farewell. You have forgiven me?"

"Yes," responded Madge, almost in tears, "but I have not come to say
farewell."

I did not understand her meaning.

"Are you going to ride part of the way with me--perhaps to Rowsley?" I
asked, hardly daring to hope for so much.

"To France, Malcolm, if you wish to take me," she responded murmuringly.

For a little time I could not feel the happiness that had come upon me in
so great a flood. But when I had collected my scattered senses, I said:--

"I thank God that He has turned your heart again to me. May I feel His
righteous anger if ever I give you cause to regret the step you are
taking