was all a lie. Yet he longs to see her once again.

But to Viva he must write without further delay. Her letter
unquestionably frees him, and does it with a brusqueness that might
excuse a man for accepting the situation without a word. If the
engagement has ever been irksome to him it is now at an end, and he is
in no wise responsible. Giving him no opportunity for denial, she has
accused him of breach of faith and cast him off. Wounded pride, did he
love her deeply, might now impel him to be silent. A sense of indignity
and wrong might drive many a man to turn away at such a juncture, and
leave to the future the unravelling of the plot. There are moments, it
must be confessed, when Major Abbot is so stung by the letter that he is
half disposed to take it as final, and let her bear the consequences of
discovery of the fraud; but they are quickly followed by others in which
he is heartily ashamed of himself for such a thought. Right or wrong,
Viva Winthrop is a woman who has given her life into his hands; a woman
who has been reared in every luxury only to be denied the one luxury a
woman holds most precious of all. He has not been a devoted lover any
more than he has been disloyal; and now that trouble has come to her,
and she is deceived, perhaps endangered, Major Abbot quietly decides
that the only obvious course for a gentleman to follow is to crush his
pride under foot and to act and think for her. And this, after several
attempts, is what he finally writes her:

"Your letter came last night, dear Viva, and I have thought long
over it before answering. It is all my fault that this constraint
has hung over your letters. I have seen it for months, and yet made
no effort until lately to have it explained. Long ago, had I done
so, you would probably have given me the reason, and I could have
assured you of the error into which you were led. Now it seems
that you and I are not the only ones involved.

"Neither to Miss Warren nor any other girl have I written since our
engagement; but her father has been to see me, and tell me that
many letters purporting to come from me have been received, and I
have hardly time to recover from that surprise when your indignant
charge is added. Taken together, the two point very strongly to a
piece of villainy. You could never have believed this of me, Viva,
without proofs; and I feel sure that letters must have been