Like a wraith of mist afloat in the night she stole into the darkened room and settled slowly and noiselessly beside him. He tried to struggle to his feet in protest, but she clung to him, her fingers clutching his arm, her sobs choking her. "Don't--don't go! I must talk to you--nobody else understands--nobody----" "But you must not stay here! Think what----" "No! Please--please--I can't go; you must listen! I couldn't sleep. Help me! Tell me what I must do! Oh, Adam, please--please! I shall die if I have to keep on as I have done." She slipped from the low cushion and lay crouching at his feet, her arms and face resting on his knees; her wonderful hair, like spun gold, falling about him, its faint perfume stirring his senses. Then, with indrawn, stifling sobs she laid bare her innermost secrets; all her heartaches, misunderstandings, hidden sorrows, and last that unnamed pain which no human touch but his could heal. Only once, as she crouched beside him, did he try to stop the flow of her whispered talk; she pleading piteously while he held her from him, he looking into her eyes as if he were afraid to read their meaning. When she had ended he lifted her to her feet, smoothed the dishevelled hair from her face, and kissed her on the forehead: "Go now," he said in a broken voice, as he led her to the door. "Go, and let me think it over." * * * * * With the breaking of the dawn he rose from the lounge where he had lain all night with staring eyes, took the portrait from the easel, held it for a brief instant to the gray light, touched it reverently with his lips, turned it to the wall, and then, with noiseless steps, descended to his bedroom. Gathering his few belongings together he crept downstairs so as to wake no one, pushed open the front door, crossed the porch and made his way to the stable, where he saddled his mare. Then he rode slowly past the lilacs and out of the gate. When he reached the top of the hill and looked back, the rising sun was gilding the chimneys and quaint dormers of Derwood Manor. Only the closed shutters of Olivia's room were in shadow. "It's the only way," he said with a sigh, and turned his horse's head towards the North. III