y opposed to it."

The beautiful lips paled and trembled.

"I thought it was your mother," she said, gravely, "No, I shall not
forego my vengeance against her, although I know not when I may gain
it."

"You will forget all that," he said. "You are too noble to care for
vengeance."

"I am not too noble," she replied. "All that was best and noble in me
died on the day you forsook me. And now, Lord Chandos, listen to me.
Words of peace and pardon have passed between us. It has raised a heavy
funeral pall from my life; it has, perhaps, raised a black cloud from
yours. Lord Chandos, we must not meet again."

"You cannot be so cruel, Leone. Having found you, how can I lose you
again?"

"You must, it is imperative," she said slowly.

"But, Leone, why should we not be friends?" he said, gently.

She laughed a hard, scornful laugh that struck him in the face like the
sting of a sharp blade.

"Friends?" she repeated. "Could we who have been wedded lovers ever be
friends? You do not know what words mean if you think that."

He stood before her with a stern, white face.

"Leone," he cried, "are you really going to be cruel enough to send me
away out of your life again, I who have been mad with joy at finding
you?"

"If I were cruel," she said, slowly, "now I would take my vengeance. I
should say as you once left me so now I leave you, but I am not cruel,
and that is my reason. My reason is a good and pure one; we could never
remain friends, we love each other too much for that; we must live as
strangers now; and remember, it is your fault, not mine."

"I cannot submit to it," he cried.

But she looked at him with a face stern, resolute, fixed as his own.

"Remember, Lord Chandos," she said, "that I am my own mistress. I can
choose my friends and associates. I refuse to admit you among the
number."

"You cannot prevent me from coming to see you, Leone."

"No; but I can, and shall, refuse to see you when you come," she
replied; "and I shall do so."

"Oh, my love, my cruel, beautiful love," he cried.

The girl's face flushed with hot anger and indignation.

"Will you be silent?" she cried. "Shame on you, Lord Chandos, to use
such words. You have a beautiful and beloved wife at home to whom all
your love and fidelity belong. If you say one more such word to me I
will never see you again."

"But, Leone, it seems so very hard; you might let me call at times and
see you."

"No, I cannot, I cannot trust myself