d not hesitate a moment; she boldly opened the door and went
in; and the first thing she beheld was Nina, just as she had left the
other room, now lying prone on the bed, her face buried in the pillow,
while in vain she tried to control the violence of her grief.

"Nina!" she cried, in alarm.

Nina sprang up--she thrust out both trembling hands, as if wildly
seeking for help, and Estelle was not slow to seize them.

"Nina, what is it?" she exclaimed, frightened by the haggard face and
streaming eyes.

"Estelle!--Estelle!" said Nina, in a low voice that simply tore the
heart of this faithful friend of hers. "It is nothing! It is
only that my life is broken--my life is broken--and I have no
mother--_Poverina!_--she would have said to me--"

Her sobs choked her speech; she withdrew her trembling hands; she threw
herself again on the bed, face downward, and burst into a wild fit of
weeping. Estelle knew not what to do; she was terrified.

"Nina, what has happened?" she cried again.

"It is nothing!--it is nothing!--it is nothing!" she said, between her
passionate sobs. "I have made a mistake; I am punished--O God, can you
not kill me!--I do not wish to live--"

"Nina!" said Estelle, and the girl bent down and put her cheek close to
her friend's, and she tenderly placed both her hands on the masses of
beautiful blue-black hair. "Nina--tell me!"

In time the violent sobbing ceased, or partially ceased; Nina rose, but
she clung to Estelle's hand and kissed it passionately.

"You have been so kind, so affectionate to me, Estelle! To-morrow you
will know--perhaps. I will leave you a letter. I am going away. If you
forget me--well, that is right; if you do not forget me, do not think
bad of--of poor Nina!"

"I don't know what you mean, Nina," said Estelle, who was herself
whimpering by this time; "but I won't let you go away. No, I will not.
You do not know what you say. It is madness--to-morrow morning you will
reflect--to-morrow morning you will tell me, and rely on me as a
friend."

"Yes, to-morrow morning all will be right, Estelle," Nina said, again
kissing the hand that she clung to. "Pardon me that I have kept you
up--and disturbed you. Go away to your bed, Estelle--to-morrow morning
all will be right!"

Very reluctantly Estelle was at length persuaded to leave; and as she
left she turned off the gas in the sitting-room. A few minutes
thereafter Nina, still dressed as she had come home from the theatre,
en