e evening. She
has been waiting till those two precious confederates, her father and
Arnault, did their worst, so that she could go over to the winning
side. You are of course your own master, but permit me, as your
brother, affectionately and solemnly to warn you. Stella Wildmere
will never bring you a day's happiness or peace. She loves herself
infinitely more than you, her father, or any one else. Be true to me,
and you shall share my fortunes. If you follow some insane notion of
being true to her, you will soon find you have been false to yourself.
Again I warn you. Speak to no one of all this, and give no sign of
your knowledge. HENRY."

Graydon read this twice, then crushed the paper in his hand as he
muttered, "Fool, dupe, idiot! Now at last I understand her game and
allusions. She was made to fear that Henry was about to fail, and
she would not accept me until satisfied on this point. Great God! my
infatuation for her has been inciting Arnault in these critical times
to break my brother down, and her father has been aiding and abetting,
in order that I might be removed out of the way. She was so false
herself that she suspected her own father, also Arnault, of deceiving
her, and so kept putting me off, that she might learn the truth of
their predictions or the result of their efforts. How clear it all
becomes, now that I have the key! Well, I should be worse than a
heathen if I did not thank God for such an escape."

CHAPTER XXXII

MADGE IS MATTER-OF-FACT

"Well, I have come back to civilization and all its miseries," thought
Graydon. "I was among scenes that know not Wildmeres or Arnaults. 'Oh,
my prophetic soul!' I felt that there was something wrong, in spite of
her superb acting. Sweet Madge, dear sister Madge, as you ever will be
to me, the more I think of it the more clearly I see that you are the
one who first began to shatter my delusion. Since that morning when
I brought you home from your long vigil, and you revealed to me your
true, brave heart Stella Wildmere has never seemed the same, and the
revolt of my nature has been growing ever since."

His wish now was to avoid seeing every one until he had met his
brother. While the thought of his escape was uppermost in his mind,
he was consumed with anxiety to learn the result of Henry's efforts in
town. His commercial instincts were also very strong, and the thought
of what might happen fairly made him tremble.

He slipped down a back st