exie is already won."

"Mr. Sherwood, you are not in earnest; you are saying this to try me," and
Hugh turned an appealing face to the one that lay back on the pillows.

"Have pity, Mr. Sherwood; I have suffered enough."

"Hugh, my dear fellow, I was hoping you had got over this, and not hearing
from you for so long I believed you had. But it is true. You are too late,
for Dexie is the promised wife of another."

"She is not yet married, then?" and his face recovered from the despairing
look.

"Not yet, but as much lost to you as though she were. How is it that you
did not take my last letter to heart and seek a wife abroad? I told you
that Dexie had not changed towards you, though I did all I could to
influence her in your favor. But she has won the heart of a good man, Hugh;
he is everything I could wish for, even in Dexie's husband."

"But I love her so!" The words were low, but seemed wrung from his very
soul, and he turned away toward the window, but without seeing anything of
the prospect beyond.

"Can I see her?" he asked, at last. "Let me hear from her own lips that she
loves another, and, if she really does, I will surely know it. If I find
it is so, I will go away and not trouble her any more. Give me this one
more chance, Mr. Sherwood."

"It will be of no use, Hugh. I may as well tell you so at once; but I will
try and persuade her to see you, though she sent me word just now that she
would not come in while you were here. It is fair enough that you should
hear the truth from her own lips, but I know the interview will be painful
to you both," and Mr. Sherwood pulled the bell-cord that hung above him.

"Tell Dexie I wish to see her here for a few minutes," he said, as Jarvis
answered the summons.

"She has gone out, Mr. Sherwood, and she left word that she would not be
back till tea-time," and she glanced at the foreign-looking gentleman who
made himself so very much at home.

"Very well, that will do," and Jarvis left the room.

"You see how it is, Hugh; she has run out on purpose to get clear of you."

"But that is no sign that I need despair," and there was a happier look in
his eyes than there had been since he heard she was lost to him.

"Ask me to stay, Mr. Sherwood, for I cannot go away till I see her. I must
learn the truth from herself before I leave the house," and the
well-remembered impetuosity of old was visible in his words.

"Certainly, Hugh; stay, of course, but I fear you will