But the eyes did not unclose, nor the lips he kissed so passionately kiss him back again, and without knowing to whom he spoke, or stopping to think _who_ was standing by him, he said, so sadly: “Gertie is dead.” There was a rain of tears upon his face as he spoke, and a look of anguish in his eyes, but he met with no answering sympathy from the motionless figure near him. It was _Alice_, who stood there drenched to the skin, the fluting and the starch all out of her dress, the crimp all out of her hair, and the fire of a hundred volcanoes in the eyes which gazed so pitilessly upon the unconscious Gertie, while a smile of bitter scorn curled her lips and intense anger sounded in her voice as she said: “Godfrey Schuyler, from this moment our paths diverge. I can have no faith in one who deliberately thrusts aside his promised wife to save the life of another. You did _this_, Godfrey Schuyler, when you knew I was drowning, and I hate you for it, and give you back your freedom with your ring.” Alice’s temper had increased with every word she uttered, and snatching off the superb diamond selected by herself at Tiffany’s, she threw it toward Godfrey, who, stunned and bewildered, did not at first realize what she was saying, or what she meant by it. A faint recollection he had of being clutched by somebody in the water and freeing himself from the grasp, but he did not know it was Alice, who, when she realized that he was putting her from him, felt that all hope was gone, until Julia’s voice called out: “Cling to the boat, Alice; cling to the boat, as I am doing.” The next she knew she was clinging to the boat to which she and Julia held until aid came from two boatmen who had been near them on the river when the accident occurred, and who took them safely to the shore, which Robert had reached before them with Emma at his side! Julia had been deserted, too, and though Robert had not put her from him, he had made no effort to save her, but had grasped her sister’s arm and said, in her hearing: “Don’t be afraid, Emma, darling, the shore is very near; keep your head above the water and I will not let you drown.” But for the name _Emma_, Julia might have fancied he made a mistake, but that settled it beyond a doubt; and a pain like the cut of a knife ran through her heart as she held to the side of the boat, and saw her sister borne away by one whom she had appropriated to herself so long. Once safe upon the land she went to the spot where Robert stood wringing the water from her sister’s dress, and then, overcome with nervousness, and terror, and bitter disappointment, she uttered a low cry and fell half fainting upon the sand. Ordinarily, Alice would have stopped to help her, but her interest was centred in that other group, farther up the river, and making her way thither, she reached it in time to hear Godfrey’s words: “Open your eyes once more and hear me tell how much I love you!”