for he had told her so at the moment when Drake had seen them
walking together in the garden.

And as she sat and held his hand, she tried to force her mind from
dwelling on Drake, and to remember the devotion of the stricken man
beside her.

Though he had confessed his love, he had asked for nothing in return. He
had said that he knew that his passion was hopeless, but that he could
not help loving her, that he must continue to do so while life lasted.

"I will never speak of it again," he had said. "You need not be afraid.
I don't know why I told you now; it slipped out before I knew----No,
don't be afraid. All I ask is that you should still look upon me as a
friend, that you will still let me be near you as often as is possible.
It is too much to ask? If so, I will go away--somewhere, and cease to
trouble you with the sight of me!"

And Nell, with tears in her eyes--as Drake had seen--had given him her
hand in silence, for a moment or two, and then, almost inaudibly, had
answered:

"I am sorry--sorry! Oh, why did you tell me? No, no; forgive me! But you
must not go. I--I could not afford to lose your--friendship!"

"That you shall not do!" he had said, very quietly, and with a brave
smile. "Please remember that I said I knew there was no hope for me. How
could there be? How could it be possible for you--you!--to care for me?
But a weed may dare to love the sun, Miss Lorton, though it is only a
weed and not a stately flower. I ought not to have told you; but that
little success of mine, and the prospect it has opened out, must have
turned my head. But you have forgiven me, have you not? and you will try
and forget that I was mad enough to show you my heart?"

He had not waited for her to respond, but had left her at once, and, so
that she should not think him quite heartbroken, had hummed an air as he
went.

And now that he lay here 'twixt life and death, Nell's heart ached for
him, and she longed, with a longing beyond all words, that she could
have returned the love he bore her.

But alas, alas! she had no love to give. Drake had stolen it long ago,
there at Shorne Mills; and though he had flung it from him, it could not
come back to her.

Even as she sat, with Falconer's hand in hers, she could not keep her
mind from dwelling on Drake, though the failure of her attempt to do so
covered her with shame. She had been in his arms again, had heard his
voice, and the glamour of his presence and his touch wer