loyd Grandon turns into the broad avenue, unseen by
either.

"Well, I have done it," Eugene begins. "If I am miserable for life it
will be your fault."

The treacherous wind carries back the last, and Floyd hears it
distinctly in one of those electric moods that could translate a quiver
in the air.

They are too far away for her answer.

"You will _not_ be miserable," she says, firmly. "No man could be
miserable with Pauline Murray, if he did his duty and tried, _tried_
with his very soul to the uttermost. And you will, you will."

Eugene Grandon has an insincere nature, while hers is like crystal. He
is extremely fond of sympathy from women, and her urgent tone makes him
seem a sort of hero to himself. If he must endeavor earnestly, there is
something to be overcome, and that is his love for her. The pendulum
vibrates back to it.

"I shall try, of course," he says. Violet St. Vincent, with her
fortune, is no light loss, but he does not distinguish between her and
the fortune. "It was the best thing to do," he continues, "though I had
half a mind to throw up everything and go away."

She feels she should have admired and approved this course, but Pauline
would have been wretched. She does not dream that in this early stage
another lover would have comforted Pauline. She is so simple, so
absolutely truthful, that her youthful discernment is quite at fault.

"You must let yourself be happy," she says, and then she remembers how
she has let herself be happy and the bitter awakening. But in this case
there is nothing to break a confidence once established.

"And what are you going to do?" he asks, suddenly.

It is like a great wave and almost takes her off her feet.

"You must not think of me, nor watch me, nor anything"; and an
observant man would note the strain of agony in her voice. "It was very
good in your brother to take care of me as he did. Mr. Sherburne said
to-day that not one man in a hundred would have brought the matter to
such a successful issue. And you know if everything had been lost, why,
I should have been a burthen on him. Think of _us_ having nothing at
all! What could you do?"

He shrugs his shoulders in the dark, and he knows he should not want
her or any other woman in poverty.

"I shall have a pleasant life," she continues. "I can do a great deal
for Cecil; and I can copy and translate, and Mr. Grandon is so fond of
music. I know we shall be happy when this business no longer perple