rriss's death seemed to her, it was upon Bennett, and not upon her,
that its responsibility must be laid. She had done what she could. Of
that she was assured. But, first and above all things, Lloyd was a
woman, and her love for Bennett was a very different matter.

When, during that never-to-be-forgotten scene in the breakfast-room of
the doctor's house, she had warned Bennett that if he persisted in his
insane resolution he would stamp out her affection for him, Lloyd had
only half believed what she said. But when at last it dawned upon her
that she had spoken wiser than she knew, that this was actually true,
and that now, no matter how she might desire it, she could not love him
any longer, it seemed as though her heart must break. It was precisely
as though Bennett himself, the Bennett she had known, had been blotted
out of existence. It was much worse than if Bennett had merely died.
Even then he would have still existed for her, somewhere. As it was, the
man she had known simply ceased to be, irrevocably, finally, and the
warmth of her love dwindled and grew cold, because now there was nothing
left for it to feed upon.

Never until then had Lloyd realised how much he had been to her; how he
had not only played so large a part in her life, but how he had become a
very part of her life itself. Her love for him had been like the air,
like the sunlight; was delicately knitted and intertwined into all the
innumerable intricacies of her life and character. Literally, not an
hour had ever passed that, directly or indirectly, he had not occupied
her thoughts. He had been her inspiration; he had made her want to be
brave and strong and determined, and it was because of him that the
greater things of the world interested her. She had chosen a work to be
done because he had set her an example. So only that she preserved her
womanliness, she, too, wanted to count, to help on, to have her place in
the world's progress. In reality all her ambitions and hopes had been
looking toward one end only, that she might be his equal; that he might
find in her a companion and a confidante; one who could share his
enthusiasms and understand his vast projects and great aims.

And how had he treated her when at last opportunity had been given her
to play her part, to be courageous and strong, to prevail against great
odds, while he stood by to see? He had ignored and misunderstood, and
tossed aside as childish and absurd that which she had