en, when mind and brain alike were overdone, when the strained nerves
gave way, when the fever of fear and suspense rose to its height, she
thought of flight. That was the only recourse left to her--flight! Then
she would escape the terrors of death and the horror of life. Flight was
the only resource left to her. The poor, bewildered mind, groping so
darkly, fixed on this one idea. She would not kill herself. That would
deprive her of all hope in another world. She dare not live her present
life, but flight would save her.

People would only think she was mad for running away, and surely when
Allan Lyster saw what he had done he would relent and persecute her no
more.

She was not herself when she stole so quietly from home and went
disguised to the station. She was half delirious with fear and dread;
her brain whirled, her heart beat, every moment she dreaded to see Allan
Lyster pursuing her. Her only idea was to get away from him, safe in
some refuge where he could not find her.

She little dreamed that in the hurry of her flight she had dropped Allan
Lyster's letter--the letter in which he threatened to tell her
husband--the letter which drove her mad, and sent her from home. She had
intended to destroy it; she believed she had done so; but the fact was,
it had fallen from her hands on the floor, and she never thought of it
again. Her maid, thinking it might be of consequence, picked it up and
laid it on the mantelshelf. Only God knows what would have become of
Lady Atherton but for this oversight.

Her absence was not discovered until evening, when it was time to dress
for dinner; then the maid could not find her. No notice was taken of her
absence at first; they thought she had gone out and had been detained;
but when midnight arrived, and there was still no news of her, Lord
Atherton became alarmed. He went into her dressing-room, and there his
eyes fell upon the letter. He opened and read it, bewildered by its
contents. At first he did not understand it, then he began to see what
it meant.

Gradually the meaning grew clear to him. This villain was trading upon
some secret of poor Marion, and she in fear and trembling had fled. He
felt sure of it, and from that conviction he took his precautions.

He said nothing to the servants, except that Lady Atherton had gone away
for a few days and would not return just yet. "I shall find her," he
thought, "before the scandal gets known." Seeing their lord perfectly