, upturned face,
and across the white coverlet.

"Margharita!"

She turned round quickly. He was sitting up in bed, and the sunbeam was
traveling up toward him.

"Are you awake? Did I disturb you?" she asked tenderly.

He shook his head.

"I have been awake, thinking. I remember being taken ill. I remember
everything. Tell me. I must know. Did you--did you mean--everything you
said? You pitied me, and my story made you sad. I would not hold you to
your word."

She drew herself up; she was pale no longer; the color burned in her
cheeks.

"I am a Marioni!" she answered proudly. "Every word I said seems to me
now too weak. That is the only change."

He held out his hands; she grasped them fondly.

"Margharita, she came here!" he whispered.

"What, here? Here in this room?"

He nodded.

"It was two days before you came. I was sitting alone in the twilight.
The door opened. I thought I was dreaming. It was she, as beautiful as
ever, richly dressed, happy, comely. She came to pity, to sue for
pardon. I let her talk, and then, when I had gathered strength, I stood
up and cursed her. I thrust her away; I cursed her with the fiercest and
crudest words which my lips could utter. It drove the warm color from
her cheeks, and the light from her eyes. I cursed her till her heart
shook with fear. She staggered out of the room a stricken woman. I----"

"Tell me her name."

"It was Adrienne Cartuccio. It is now Lady Maurice."

"The Lady St. Maurice! She was my mother's friend then?"

"Yes."

Margharita's eyes were bright, and her voice trembled.

"Listen!" she cried. "When my mother was dying she gave me a letter. If
ever you need a friend or help," she whispered, "go to Lady St. Maurice.
This letter is to her. She will help you for my sake. Uncle, fate is on
our side. Just before I came to you I wrote to Lady St. Maurice. I told
her that I was unhappy in my life, and I wished for a situation as a
governess. I sent her my mother's letter."

"And she replied?"

"Yes. She offered me a home. If I wished I could teach her little girl."

Her voice was trembling, and her eyes, dry and brilliant, were fixed
upon his. He was sitting upright in bed, leaning a little forward toward
her, and the sunbeam which had stolen in through the parted curtains
fell upon his white corpse-like face. A strange look was in his eyes;
his fingers clutched the bedclothes nervously.

"You will--go?" he asked hoarsely. "You will go to L