all the conversation which he had overheard in the first part of the
evening, never once thinking how desolate was the heart which beat beneath
the calm manner and gay laugh of him who listened to their thoughtless
raillery.

At length the party drew to a close. Dr. Lacey was among the first that
left. He longed to be alone with his troubled thoughts. Mechanically
bidding Mabel "Good night," he ran down the marble steps, and stepping
into his carriage, ordered Claib, the coachman, to drive home as soon as
possible. There was no particular necessity for this command, for Claib
had been fretting for the last hour about "White folks settin' up all
night and keepin' niggers awake. Darned if he didn't run the horses home
like Satan, and sleep over next day, too."

With such a driver the horses sped swiftly over the smooth road and in a
very few minutes Dr. Lacey was at home, alone in his room. Then the full
tide of his sorrow burst forth. He did not weep. He would scorn to do
that. But could one have seen him as he hurriedly paced the apartment, he
would have said, his was a sorrow which could not vent itself in tears.
Occasionally he would whisper to himself, "My Fanny false!--she whom I
believed so truthful, so loving, so innocent! And she loves another--one,
too, whom it were almost a sin to love. Fool, that I did not see it
before, for what but love could have drawn such devotion to him on his
deathbed? And yet she assured me that I was the first, the only one, she
had ever loved; and I believed it, and gave her the entire affection of my
heart."

Then came a reaction. Resentment toward Fanny for thus deceiving him
mingling with his grief. But he had loved her too deeply, too truly, to
cherish an unkind feeling toward her long. Throwing himself upon the sofa,
and burying his face in his hands, he went back in fancy through all the
many happy hours he had spent in her society. While doing this sleep
descended upon him and in his dreams he saw again his darling Fanny, not
false and faithless as he had feared, but arrayed in a spotless bridal
robe. She stood by his side as his own wedded wife. Was that dream ever
realized? We shall see.

CHAPTER XII

THE LETTER THAT WAS NOT DELIVERED

The next morning, Rondeau waited for a long time for his master's usual
orders that he should go to the post office, but no such commands came,
and as Dr. Lacey had not been