solved to be revenged on him. Now I--I met my enemy
in fair fight; I did not lie in ambush for him."

But from the darkness of his countenance it was plain that the young
man's conscience was not deceived by the specious plea that he had set
up for himself. Beneath her drooping eyelids Florence watched him
narrowly. She read him in his weakness, his bitterness of spirit, more
clearly than he could read himself. Suddenly she sat up and leaned
forward so that she could touch him with one of her soft cold hands--her
hands were always cold.

"Hubert," she said, with a gentle inflection of her voice which took him
by surprise, "I am perhaps not as bad as you think me, dear. I do not
want to quarrel with you--you are my only friend. You have saved me from
worse than death. I will not be ungrateful. I will do exactly as you
wish."

He looked bewildered, almost dismayed.

"Do you mean it, Florence?" he asked doubtingly.

"I do indeed. And, in return, oh, Hubert, will you set my mind at
rest by promising me one thing? You will give me another chance to
retrieve my wasted, ruined life, will you not? You will never tell
to another what you and I know alone? You will still shield
me--from--from--disgrace, Hubert--for our mother's sake?"

The tears trembled on her lashes; she slipped down from her low chair
and knelt by his side, clasping her hands over his half-reluctant
fingers, appealing to him with voice and look alike; and, in an evil
hour for himself, he promised at any cost to shield her from the
consequences of her folly and his sin.

CHAPTER V.

"Oh, you two are here together!" There was a note of surprise in Miss
Vane's voice as she turned the corner of a great group of
foliage-plants, and came upon brother and sister at the open library
window. "I could not tell what had become of either of you. If you have
finished your conversation"--with a sharp glance from Florence's wet
eyelashes to Hubert's pale agitated face--"I have work for both of you.
Florence, Enid has been alone all the morning; do take the child for a
walk and let her have a little fresh air! And I want you to go for a
stroll with me, Hubert; the General is sleeping quietly, and I have two
or three things to consult you about before I go up to Marion."

The sudden gleam in Florence's eyes, quickly as it was concealed, did
not escape Miss Leonora's notice as she moved away.

"What's the matter with Flossy?" she asked abruptly, stopping to