insisted at last, tenderly, that she had made mountains out of
mole-hills. But he found her obstinate.

"I must not break my promise," she insisted. "Happiness could never come
to us."

And, white and wistful in the face of his flaming arguments, she held to
her determination until he left her.

He had turned away wrathfully, and had reached the top of the winding
stairway, when he heard her sobbing.

He came back swiftly, and gathered her in his arms.

"You're mine," he said, holding her close. "You know that, Betty."

She drew back from him. "Please," she begged, and so he let her go, and
made his way blindly out of the room.

Miss Matthews sleeping feverishly, became aware above the sighing of
the wind of an intermittent sound of woe.

She sat up and listened, put one foot out of bed, then the other, and
throwing on her old gray wrapper, wavered toward the threshold of the
door between the two rooms.

By the flickering light of the candle which burned on Bettina's desk she
could see the little shaking white figure on the floor.

"Betty child," she said in a hoarse whisper, "dear child--what's the
matter?"

"Oh," Bettina sat up and pushed her hair back from her tear-wet face,
"oh, I've waked you up. I think I just forgot that there was any one in
the whole wide world except myself----"

The expression on her tragic face told keen Miss Matthews that there was
some deep trouble which needed help.

"You come right into my room," she said. "I don't dare stay up another
minute. But I couldn't sleep if I tried, with a storm coming, and you
can tell me all about it----"

But when she was settled luxuriously once more among her pillows, and
with Betty curled up at the foot of the bed, an awkward silence fell
between them.

At last Betty said, "Justin Ford was here. He's in love with
me--Letty--but I sent him away----"

"Why did you send him away?"

"Because--because I'm not going to marry him, Letty----"

"Why not----"

"There's some one else. Some one who gave me these--Letty----"

She lifted her left hand with its burden of sparkling jewels.

"Who on earth?" Miss Matthews demanded.

"Anthony."

"Anthony _Blake_?"

"Yes."

Miss Matthews dropped back limply.

"You'll have to tell me from the beginning," she said, faintly. "I can't
quite grasp it----"

And Bettina told--of her loneliness, of Anthony's wonderful offer, and
of her glad acceptance of it.

"Well, your mother would have been