"No--yes! I don't know if I love him, but I have always felt as if I belonged to him, and must wait till he came back. You would think me mad if you knew the whole story. I sometimes think I am mad myself, but I feel as if I should be betraying a trust if I married another man." Will Gerard sat very still for a moment. Then: "Tell me about it!" he said hoarsely. "Tell me! I ought to know. Perhaps I shall understand." "I don't understand myself," said Betty sadly. "I have tried not to care for you, but I do care in spite of trying. When I thought of you going away, my heart stood still, but the other thing has gone on so long; it has been part of my life, and even for your sake I can't forget it. If I could be sure that he was well and happy, and had found someone else to love him, then to be your wife would be the greatest happiness in the world; but until I hear, I feel--_bound_! We only met once. That sounds mad enough, doesn't it? And I know nothing of him but his Christian name. It was an evening more than six years ago; we had been at a concert at the Albert Hall, and when we came out there was a black fog, and I lost Miles, and met this man, who brought me home instead. He was in great trouble--I found it out from something he said--in such terrible trouble that he had lost all hope, and made up his mind to commit suicide. That was the first time that I had ever been brought face to face with real trouble, and it changed my whole life. Think of it! I was coming back to my happy home from an afternoon's pleasure, and he--was going to the river..." Will Gerard had been sitting listening to her with his head buried in his hands, but at the sound of that last word he raised his face, and turned towards her with a sudden, passionate gesture. "And you came to him like a good angel in the midst of the darkness-- came to him without a face or a name,--just as a girl's sweet voice bidding him take courage, and sending him out to a fresh battle! And all these years you have treasured him in your faithful heart, and waited for his return; and he has waited too, Betty, and worked hard-- worked for you with the thought of you before him! And now that he can repay his debts and look the world in the face once more, he comes to you for his reward. Betty, Betty, a man may have more names than one-- is my face quite strange to you? Have you never seen it before--in a half light like this, lit by a flickering flame? Betty, _look_! What do you see?" She gave a little gasp of incredulity--rapture--relief, and held out her hands towards him. "Ralph, Ralph! It is you--you have come home!" So the long dream was fulfilled, and the fairy prince threw off his disguise, and showed himself in the shape of the struggler who had bravely redeemed a past offence. In loving one, she could love both. Past and present united in bestowing a perfect happiness. Betty held Ralph's hands in her own, and looked deep into his eyes. THE END.