a
moment Dowson's heart failed him and he stood staring at her with a
sudden horrible conviction that in luring her from her home and husband
he was doing a wicked and heartless action. In that illuminating moment
he could almost have found the strength to give her up, to undo, as far
as he might, this thing which he had done. And then common sense came to
his aid. It was not the experiences of this night which had thinned the
rounded curve of the girl's cheek, had brought the hopeless droop to the
soft lips, the despair to the once-laughing eyes. It was rather the
happenings of the months preceding this night, the months of her married
life; and once again love and desire swept away scruples; and Leonard
was ready to fight the whole world for possession of the woman he loved.

But somehow he could not stay in the room with that pathetic, appealing
little figure. He racked his brains for an excuse to leave her for a
moment or two; and suddenly the idea he sought came to him in a flash.

He had omitted to wire to Paris for rooms in the quiet little hotel he
had selected for their stay; and although it was not a matter of vital
necessity to do so, it would perhaps be just as well to make sure of
them, so that there need be no troublesome delay on arrival. There was a
post-office a hundred yards away, and he would only be gone for a few
moments. He did not venture to approach Toni, but speaking from the door
explained that he had forgotten to engage rooms in Paris, and if she
would excuse him for a minute or two he would rectify the omission. She
agreed gently, giving him a tired little smile; and he wasted no time in
departing on his errand.

When the door had closed behind him, Toni came to herself with a long,
slow shiver. Somehow until this moment she had not really understood all
that her flight implied. She had been so intent upon Owen's welfare,
that save for a few moments in the garden at Greenriver her own had been
forgotten; and although she had accepted Leonard Dowson's proposal with
an almost startling readiness, she had done so in the manner of one who,
drowning, clutches at a straw.

She had known, of course, that there would be a price to pay; but she
had not realized until this second how great that price would be.
Somehow the very nature of Leonard's errand had brought the whole
position home to her with almost overwhelming force; and suddenly Toni
knew that she could not go on with the adventure she h