jesse devereaux had never spent a more unpleasant half hour in his life than during mrs. clarke's visit. he admired and esteemed the gentle lady very much, and it pained him to tell her that he no longer loved her daughter, and was glad of his release.
yet he did so kindly and courteously, though he was well aware that no gentleness could really soften the blow to her love and pride.
"i have been betrothed to your daughter only two weeks, dear madam, but in that short time i have discovered traits in her character that could never harmonize with mine. we have both been spoiled by indulgent parents; both are willful and headstrong. such natures do best wedded to gentle, yielding ones. it is best for our future happiness that we should separate, although i should have kept faith with roma, had she not yielded to her hasty temper and broken the engagement," he said.
she looked at his pale, handsome face as he[pg 83] rested on the sofa, and decided that he was only holding out for pride's sake. surely he must love beautiful roma still—he could not hate her so soon.
"roma is not headstrong, as you think; only hasty and impulsive," she faltered. "see how she has humbled herself to you in the depths of her love. why, i left her weeping most bitterly over her fault, and praying for your forgiveness. how can i go back and tell her you refuse it; that you scorn her love?"
she was frightened, indeed, to return from an unsuccessful mission to roma. there were tears in her imploring eyes as she gazed at him.
"i do not refuse her my forgiveness; i accord it to her freely," he replied. "neither do i scorn her love, but i do not believe it can be very deep, else she could not have been so angry with me last night. and i am free to confess that my love was not of the strongest, either, for i realize now that i am glad of my freedom, if you will pardon me for my frankness, dear lady."
how could she pardon aught that must wound her daughter vitally? an angry flush rose into her cheek, her blue eyes flashed.
[pg 84]
"you are cruelly frank!" she cried; and he answered:
"i lament the painful necessity, but circumstances leave me no alternative, mrs. clarke. i feel that i entered into an engagement too hastily, and that its sudden rupture is a relief. i tender my friendship to your daughter with profound gratitude for her kindness, but i can never again be her lover."
in the face of such frankness she sat dumb. what was there to say that could move him?
her heart sank at the thought of roma's disappointment. she rose unsteadily to her feet, blinded by angry tears.
"i may still retain your friendship?" he pleaded, but her lip curled in scorn.
"no, you are cruel and unjust to roma. i despise you!" she answered, in wrath, as she stumbled from the room, wondering at his heartlessness.
she would not have wondered so much if she could have known that roma had never really filled his heart, but that the glamour of her fascinations and her open preference had somehow drawn him into a proposal that had brought him no happiness, save a sort of pride in winning the[pg 85] beautiful belle and heiress from many competitors. all the while he did not really love her; it was just his pride and vanity that were flattered.
there had come a sudden, painful awakening that fateful day, when rescuing liane lester's veil. he had looked deep into those shy, lovely eyes of hers, and felt his heart leap wildly, quickened by a glance into new life.
roma's eyes had never thrilled him that way; he had never wondered at her great beauty; he had never longed to take her in his arms and clasp her to his heart at first sight. this was love—real love, such as he had never felt for the proud beauty he had rashly promised to marry.
in that first hour of his meeting with liane, he cursed himself for his madness in proposing to roma.
yet, he was the soul of honor. he did not even contemplate retreating from his position as roma's affianced husband. he only felt that he must avoid the fatal beauty of liane, lest he go mad with despair at his cruel fate.
then had followed the meeting with her again, that night when he had so fortunately saved her from the insults of a stranger and the brutality of her old grandmother. how proud and glad he[pg 86] had been to defend her, even at the pain of a broken arm; how he had loved her in that moment, longed to shelter her on his breast from the assaults of the cruel world.
he could never forget that moment when, overcome by gratitude, the girl had bent and kissed his hand, sending mad thrills of love through his trembling frame.
had he been free, he would have poured out his full heart to her that moment, and the tender stars would have looked down on a scene of the purest love, where two hearts acknowledged each other's sway in ecstasy.
but he was bound in the cruel fetters of another's love, from which he could not in honor get free. his heart must break in silence.
he had to hurry away from her abruptly to hide the love he must not confess.
in his sorrow and suffering that night, judge what happiness came to him with roma's angry letter, sent by special messenger, restoring his ring and his freedom!
his heart sang p?ans of joy as he let his thoughts cling lovingly to liane, realizing that now he might woo and win the shy, sweet maiden for his own.
[pg 87]
very early in the morning he penned his note to roma, making it purposely curt and cold, that she might not attempt a reconciliation.
he felt so grateful to her that he was not at all angry, and thanked her in his heart for her summary rejection.
the unpleasant interview with mrs. clarke over, he dismissed the whole matter from his mind, and gave all his thoughts to liane, chafing at the delay that must ensue from his forced confinement to his room.
"you must let me get out of here as soon as possible, doctor. i have something very important to do!" he cried eagerly.
"love-making, eh?" bantered the doctor, thinking of roma. "all right, my dear fellow. i shall have you walking about in a few days, i trust; but i warn you it will be a long while before you can do any but left-handed hugging!"
"pshaw!" exclaimed his patient; but he colored up to his brows. he was indeed thinking of how impassionedly he would make love to liane when he saw her again.
"i shall ask her to marry me on the spot!" he decided joyfully, "and—i hope i'm not vain—but i don't believe she will say no. we must be married[pg 88] very soon, so i can take her away from her wretched surroundings. that old grandmother can be pensioned off. she shall never see liane again after she is my wife. of course, the world will say i've made a mésalliance, but i'm rich enough to please myself, and my darling is beautiful enough to wear a crown."
the doctor found him the most impatient patient in the world. he never complained of the pain in his arm, though it was excruciating. he only chafed at his confinement.
"i want to get out," he said. "doctor, you know i'm one of the judges at the beauty show to-morrow night."
"i'm going to let you go with your arm in a sling. hang it all, i wouldn't miss it myself for anything! say, there's more than one beauty in stonecliff, but it goes without saying that you judges will award the prize to miss clarke, eh?" cried the jocose physician.
