rned--even while she dreaded--to see him. But Burke had decreed
that she must wait till the morning, and she had found already that
what Burke decreed usually came to pass. Besides, she knew that
she was worn out and wholly unfit for any further strain.

Very thankfully she sank down at last upon the bed in the bare
guest-room. Her weariness was such that she thought that she must
sleep, yet for hours she lay wide awake, listening to the rain
streaming down and pondering--pondering the future. Her romance
was ended. She saw that very clearly. Whatever came of her
meeting with Guy, it would not be--it could not be--the
consummation to which she had looked forward so confidently during
the past five years. Guy had failed her. She faced the fact with
all her courage. The Guy she had loved and trusted did not exist
any longer, if he ever had existed. Life had changed for her. The
path she had followed had ended suddenly. She must needs turn back
and seek another. But whither to turn she knew not. It seemed
that there was no place left for her anywhere.

Slowly the long hours dragged away. She thought the night would
never pass. Her knee gave her a good deal of pain, and she
relinquished all hope of sleep. Her thoughts began to circle about
Burke Ranger in a worried, confused fashion. She felt she would
know him better when she had seen Guy. At present the likeness
between them alternately bewildered her or hurt her poignantly.
She could not close her mind to the memory of having taken him for
Guy. He was the sort of man--only less polished--that she had
believed Guy would become. She tried to picture him as he must
have been when younger, but she could see only Guy. And again the
bitter longing, the aching disappointment, tore her soul.

Towards morning she dozed, but physical discomfort and torturing
anxiety went with her unceasingly, depriving her of any real
repose. She was vaguely aware of movements in the house long
before a low knock at the door called her back to full
consciousness.

She started up on her elbows. "Come in! I am awake."

Burke Ranger presented himself. "I was afraid Mary Ann might give
you a shock if she woke you suddenly," he said. "Can I come in?"

"Please do!" she said.

The sight of his tanned face and keen eyes came as a great relief
to her strained and weary senses. She held out a welcoming hand,
dismissing convention as superfluous.

He came to her side