It was well for Daisy Brooks he little dreamed of the great barrier which lay between them, shutting him out completely from all thoughts of love in Daisy's romantic heart. CHAPTER XII. "Please go away," sobbed Daisy. "Leave me to myself, and I will get up." "Very well," said Stanwick, involuntarily raising her little white hands courteously to his lips; "and remember, I warn you, for your own sake, not to dispute the assertion I have made--that you are my wife." "Why?" asked Daisy, wistfully. "They will forgive me when I tell them how it all came about." "You do not know women's ways," he replied. "They would hand you over at once to the authorities; you would bring disgrace and ruin upon your own head, and bitter shame to John Brooks's heart. I know him well enough to believe he would never forgive you. On the other hand, when you feel well enough to depart, you can simply say you are going away with your husband. No one will think of detaining you; you will be free as the wind to go where you will. It will cost you but a few words. Remember, there are occasions when it is necessary to prevaricate in order to prevent greater evils--this is one of them." Daisy could not dispute this specious logic, and she suffered herself to be persuaded against her will and better judgment. She was dreadfully homesick, poor little soul! and to go back to Allendale, to Rex, was the one wish of her heart. But would he clasp her in his arms if a shadow of disgrace blotted her fair name? She would go back to him and kneel at his feet, and tell him why she had left Mme. Whitney's. She certainly meant to tell him of all that followed, and, with her little, warm cheek pressed close to his, ask him if she had done right. At that moment the door of an adjoining room opened, and Lester observed the three ladies standing in a row in the door-way. He knew that three pairs of eyes were regarding him intently through as many pairs of blue glasses. "Good-bye, my little wife," he said, raising his voice for their benefit; "I'm off now. I shall see you again to-morrow;" and, before Daisy had the least idea of his intentions, he had pressed a kiss upon her rosy lips and was gone. The three ladies quickly advanced to the couch upon which Daisy reclined. "We are very glad to find you are so much better this morning," they exclaimed, all in a breath. "Your husband has been almost demented about you, my dear." They wondered why the white face on the pillow turned so pink, then faded to a dead white, and why the tear-drops started to her beautiful blue eyes. "I was telling my sisters," pursued one of the ladies, softly, "you were so young to be married--hardly more than a child. How old are you, my dear--not more than sixteen, I suppose?" "Sixteen and a few months," answered Daisy. "How long have you been married, my dear?" questioned another of the sisters.