Seated at the table in the cabin of the _Sea Spume_, Marie faced the ruin of her hopes. Indeed, she faced more. For, as she had descended from the bridge, one of the divers met her and commanded her, by an authority she could not dispute, to report at once to the Inner Circle of the Brotherhood, to explain the causes of her failure. Well she knew what such an order meant, and for the first time in her life she shrank from the ordeal. At that moment Caruth came upon her. Never, even in her brief period of exaltation of a few hours before, had she appealed to him as in this time of abasement. Stricken by the realization of what had been and what must be, she yet held her head proudly erect, though its poise suggested, not triumph, but the grand air with which nobles rode in the tumbrels to the guillotine. Her violet eyes were deep as ever, but in their depths lay a pathetic softness, as of a child grieving over some disappointment which it was too young to understand. When Caruth, with throbbing heart, strode forward and took her in his arms, she melted all at once upon his shoulder. Gently he stroked her dark hair. “There, there, sweetheart,” he murmured. “Cheer up! Everything isn’t lost! We’ll live to triumph yet.” But the girl sobbed on hopelessly, her slender form shaking with emotion, until Caruth grew frightened. “It’s all right, sweetheart,” he murmured again. “Don’t take it so hard. It isn’t worth it, after all. Come, dear, cheer up! There are other things in the world besides plots and plotting. Marry me at the first port we touch. Then, later, we can help your cause all you like.” Gently the girl freed herself and stood alone. On her fair skin the color deepened from neck to temples; her wet eyes glistened. A lock of hair had escaped and trailed down over her forehead; she put it back mechanically. “No,” she said gently. “No, it can never be.” “Never!” Once more Caruth caught her in his arms. “Never!” he shouted. “By Heaven! I swear it shall be!” Hotly he showered kisses upon her hair, her face, her lips. She did not resist. For the moment she could not. A sense of intoxication numbed her faculties. “Oh!” she breathed. “I did not know that it was so sweet--so sweet!” “Yes, dear; it is sweet. And it will continue sweet through all the years to come. Can you not see those years, dear one? Each with its own peculiar happiness, yet each the same--for we shall be the same. Yes, it is sweet, Marie.” Slowly the girl raised her face, and the tragedy in her eyes appalled him. There was love in them, love unutterable, but there was misery, too, misery, hopeless, unspeakable. “I thank God!” she said slowly. “I thank him for this moment. Whatever comes, I thank him that he has given me to know the love of a good man. See what it has done for me. A little while ago I was afraid, afraid, afraid. But now I fear no longer. I do not care what happens now.” “And you will marry me at the first port?”