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d with the haughty denial he so well remembered.
"Hush! Only my precious dead ever called me so. You must not dare!"
Something she read in the face that leaned toward her, filled her with vague dread, and despite her efforts, she trembled visibly.
"Mr. Dunbar, I am very weary; tired--oh! how tired, body and soul."
"You dismiss me? Recollect I was warned that this would be the last interview accorded me, and I beg your indulgence. If you knew all, if you could imagine one-half the sorrow you have caused me, you would consider our accounts as satisfactorily balanced as your settlement with the Darringtons. Whether you have ruined my life, or are destined to purify and exalt it, remains to be determined. To see you as you are, is almost beyond my powers of endurance, and for my own sake--mark you--to ease my own heart, I shall redouble my efforts to have you liberated. There is one speedy process, the discovery of the man whom, thus far, you have shielded so effectually; and next week I begin the hunt in earnest by going West."
He saw her fingers clutch each other, and the artery in her throat throb quickly.
"How many victims are required to appease the manes of Gen'l Darrington? Be satisfied with having sacrificed me, and waste no more time in search that can bring neither recompense to you, nor consolation to me. If I can bear my fate, you, sir, have no right to interfere."
"Then, like the selfish man I am, I usurp the right. What damnable infatuation can bind you to that miserable poltroon, who skulks in safety, knowing that the penalty of his evil deeds falls on you? One explanation has suggested itself: it haunts me like a fiend, and only you can exorcise it. Are you married to that brute, and is it loyalty that nerves you? For God's sake do not trifle, tell me the truth."
He leaned across the table, caught her hands. She shook off his touch, and her eyes were ablaze.
"Are you insane? How dare you cherish such a suspicion? The bare conjecture is an