ht Morgana's hand and kissed it fondly--"His wife!
It is the only way I can be his slave-woman! Let me marry him while he
knows nothing, so that I may have the right to wait upon him and care
for him! He shall never know! For--if he comes to himself again--please
God he will!--as soon as that happens I will go away at once. He will
never know!--he shall never learn who it is that has cared for him! You
see? I shall never be really his wife--nor he my husband--only in name.
And then--when he comes out of the darkness--when he is strong and well
once more, he will go to YOU!--you whom he loves--"

Morgana silenced her by a gesture which was at once commanding and
sweetly austere.

"Dear girl, he never loved me!" she said, gently--"He has always loved
himself. Yes!--you know that as well as I do! Once--I fancied I loved
HIM--but now I know my way of love is not his. Let us say no more of
it! You wish to be his wife? Do you think what that means? He will
never know he is your husband--never recognise you,--your life will be
sacrificed to a helpless creature whose brain is gone--who will be
unconscious of your care and utterly irresponsive. Oh, sweet, TOO
loving Manella!--you must not pledge the best years of your youth and
beauty to such a destiny!"

Manella's dark eyes flashed with passionate ardour and enthusiasm.

"I must--I must!" she said--"It is the work God gives me to do! Do you
not see how it is with me? It is my one love--the best of my
heart!--the pulse of my life! Youth and beauty!--what are they without
him? Ill or well, he is all I care for, and if I may not care for him I
will die! It is quite easy to die--to make an end!--but if there is any
youth or beauty to spend, it will be better to spend it on love than in
death! My white angel, listen and be patient with me! You ARE patient
but still be more so!--you know there will be none in the world to care
for him!--ah!--when he was well and strong he said that love would
weary him--he did not think he would ever be helpless and ill!--ah,
no!--but a broken brain is put away--out of sight--to be forgotten like
a broken toy! He was at work on some wonderful invention--some great
secret!--it will never be known now--not a soul will ever ask what has
become of it or of him! The world does not care what becomes of
anyone--it has no sympathy. Only those who love greatly have any pity!"

She clasped her hands and lifted them in an attitude of prayer, laying
them ag