and
the white face itself showed features that were faultlessly
beautiful. Why should he turn away from so beautiful a woman, who had
so fully proved her love and her devotion? She felt that after this
conspicuous example of her love he could never again bring forward
against her those old charges of deceit which he had once uttered.
These, at least, were dead forever. All the letters which she had
written from the very first, on to that last letter of which he had
spoken so bitterly--all were now amply atoned for by the devotion of
the last few weeks--a devotion that shrank not from suffering, nor
even from death itself. Why then did he not reciprocate? Why was it
that he held himself aloof in such a manner from her caresses? Why
was it that when her voice grew tremulous from the deep love of her
heart she found no response, but only saw a certain embarrassment in
his looks? There must be some cause for this. If he had been
heart-whole, she thought, he must have yielded. There is something in
the way. There is some other love. Yes, that is it, she concluded; it
is what I saw before. He loves another!

At length, one day, Lord Chetwynde began to speak to her more
directly about his plans. He had made up his mind to make them known
to her, and so he availed himself of the first opportunity.

"I must soon take my departure, Lady Chetwynde," said he, as he
plunged at once into the midst of affairs. "I have made up my mind to
go to Italy next week. As I intend to return to India I shall not go
back to England again. All my business affairs are in the hands of my
solicitors, and they will arrange all that I wish to be done."

By this Lord Chetwynde meant that his solicitors would arrange with
Hilda those money-matters of which he had once spoken. He had too
much consideration for her to make any direct allusion to them now,
but wished, nevertheless, that she should understand his words in
this way.

And in this way she did understand them. Her comprehension and
apprehension were full and complete. By his tone and his look more
than by his words she perceived that she had gained nothing by all
her devotion. He had not meant to inflict actual suffering on her by
these words. He had simply used them because he thought that it was
best to acquaint her with his resolve in the most direct way, and, as
he had tried for a long time to find some delicate way of doing this
without success, he had at length, in desperation, adopt