r herself announced her willingness to make public the nature
and extent of her benefactions. It was this desire to avoid publicity that
appealed most strongly to Thorpe. As for poor Simmy,--he could not
understand it at all.

Grimly, Anne's lover refused to interfere with her plans. He went about
his work from that day on, however, with a feverish eagerness and zest,
and an exaltation that frequently lifted him to a sort of glory that he
could neither define nor deny. There were moments when he slipped far back
into the depths, and cursed himself for rejoicing in the sacrifice she was
apparently so willing to make. And at such times he found that he had to
resist an impulse that was almost overwhelming in its force: the impulse
to rush down to her and cry out that the sacrifice was not necessary!

Mrs. Tresslyn came to see him shortly after Anne's return to the city. She
was humble. When she was announced, he prepared himself for a bitter
scene. But she was not bitter, she was not furious; on the contrary, she
was gentler than he had ever known her to be.

"If you do not take her now, Braden," she said in the course of their
brief interview, "I do not know what will become of her. I blame myself
for everything, of course. It was I who allowed her to go into that
unhappy business of getting Mr. Thorpe's money, and I _am_ to blame. I
should have allowed her to marry you in the beginning. I should not have
been deceived by the cleverness of your amiable grandfather. But, you see
I counted on something better than this for her. I thought,--and she
thought as well,--that she could one day have both you and the money. It is
a pretty hard thing to say, isn't it? I saw her to-day. She is quite
happy,--really it seems to me she was radiantly happy this morning. Simmy
has arranged for the first instalment of five hundred thousand dollars to
be paid over to-morrow. She herself has selected the securities that are
to make up this initial payment. They are the best of the lot, Simmy tells
me. In a few months she will be penniless. I don't know what is to become
of her, Braden, if you do not take her when all this absurd business is
over. You love her and she loves you. Both of you should hate me, but
Anne, for one, does not. She is sorrier for me than she is for herself. Of
course, you are to understand one thing, Braden." She lifted her chin
proudly. "She may return to me at any time. My home is hers. She shall
never want for any