life I made it my chief
business to forget you, and all the pain connected with our
acquaintance; and having succeeded in doing that, it seems a pity
that we should disturb the stagnant waters of that dead lake which
men call the past.'

'Would to God that we had never met again!' she said.

'I can quite echo that aspiration, if we are likely to have many
such scenes as this.'

'Cruel--cruel!' she muttered. 'O Angus, I have been so patient! I
have clung to hope in the face of despair. When my husband died I
fancied your old love would reawaken. How can such things die? I
thought it was to me you would come back--to me, whom you once loved
so passionately--not to that girl. You came back to her, and still I
was patient. I set myself against her, to win back your love. Yes,
Angus, I hoped to do that till very lately. And then I began to see
that it was all useless. She is younger and handsomer than I.'

'She is better than you, Augusta. It was not her beauty that won me,
but something nobler and rarer than beauty: it was her perfect
nature. The more faulty we are ourselves, the more fondly we cling
to a good woman. But I don't want to say hard things, Augusta. Pray
let us put all this folly aside at once and for ever. You took your
course in the past, and it has landed you in a very prosperous
position. Let me take mine in the present, and let us be friends, if
possible.'

'You know that it is not possible. We must be all the world to each
other, or the bitterest enemies.'

'I shall never be your enemy, Mrs. Darrell.'

'But I am yours; yes, I am yours from this night, and hers. You
think I can look on tamely, and see you devoted to that girl! I have
only been playing a part. I thought it was in my power to win you
back.'

All this was said with a kind of passionate recklessness, as if the
speaker, having suddenly thrown off her mask, scarcely cared how
utterly she degraded herself.

'Good-night, Mrs. Darrell. You will think of these things more
wisely to-morrow. Let us be civil to each other, at least, while
circumstances bring us together; and for God's sake be kind to your
stepdaughter! Do not think of her as a rival; my love for you had
died long before I saw her. You need bear no malice against her on
that account. Good-night.'

'Good-night.'

I heard the drawing-room door open and shut, and knew that he was
gone. I walked on past the open windows, not caring if Mrs. Darrell
saw me. It might be bette