heir hands clasped closely, and the eyes of both were wet, but even
on the brink of death the lips of the younger man were sealed. The
+silence of one-and-twenty years remained unbroken. +It was not a
foolish reticence that restrained him--but simply that he could not find
words to voice the memories that grew more and more sacred with the
passing of the years.

And at evening, when the family had gathered about him, the old man lay
with his son's hand in his, but his eyes looked beyond and rested on the
face of the Boy, who seemed the renewal of hit son's youth, when life
was one glad song! And thus he passed to the Great Beyond.

And his son was Sir Paul Verdayne, the last of his race.

That night, the young baronet and the Boy sat alone over their cigars.
The Boy spoke at some length of his extensive Austrian visit. The
Princess Elodie would make him a good wife, he said. She was of good
sturdy stock, healthy, strong--and, well, a little heavy and dull,
perhaps, but one couldn't expect everything! At least, her honor would
never be called into question. He would always feel sure that his name
was safe with her! He was glad he went to Austria. There were political
complications that he had not understood before which made the marriage
an absolute necessity for the salvation of his country's position among
the kingdoms of the world, and he was more resigned to it now. Yes,
indeed, he was far more resigned. The princess wasn't by any means
impossible--not a half bad sort--and--yes, he was resigned! He said it
over and over, but without convincing Sir Paul--or deceiving himself!

As for the elder man, he said but little. He had been wondering
throughout that dinner-hour whether he could ever really make Isabella
his wife. The Boy thought of Isabella, too, and was anxious to know
whether his Father Paul was going to be happy at last. He had been very
curious to see the woman who could play so cruel a part toward the man
he loved. If he had been Verdayne, he thought, he would never forgive
her--never! Still, if Father Paul loved the woman--as he certainly must
to have remained single for her sake so long--it put a different face on
the matter, and of course it was Verdayne's affair, not his! The Boy had
been disappointed in Isabella's appearance and attractions--she was not
at all the woman he had imagined his Father Paul would love--but of
course she was older now, and age changes some women, and, and--well, he
only ho