“She will win his heart from me, and then I shall die of despair,” she moaned; but when she gazed on her opal ring she saw the beautiful jewel glowing with dazzling hues of rainbow light, and knew that Cecil’s heart was still her own, no matter what cruel story of treachery and desertion they had poured into his ears. “He loves me still, my darling!” she murmured, and took comfort in the thought, forgetting that she was bound by irrevocable ties to another, and that Cecil’s love could only be sorrow. But when she pleaded so piteously that she ought to write to Cecil, Lena Lavarre gently reminded her of the hideous truth that she was Harold Castello’s wife. “To write to your lost lover would only augment his misery,” she said. “Besides, your enemies will be watching for that very clew, and they would pounce upon you like merciless hawks. Be patient, dear, and wait a little while before you make a single move in this strange game you are playing with destiny. It seems to me that Heaven itself will interfere to save you from Harold Castello.” “Heaven did not interfere to save you, Lena,” Violet answered, bitterly. A heart-rending sigh heaved Lena’s breast, and she answered, sadly: “I did not deserve Heaven’s mercy, Violet, for I was a willful, disobedient daughter, and ignored the fifth commandment in my determination to please myself. So I was punished for my sin. But with you, dear, it is different. You are good and gentle, but you fell a victim to the wicked plots of your enemies without fault of your own, so I believe that God is watching to save you and restore you to happiness again.” “How can I ever be happy again, bound to that guilty wretch, Harold Castello?” cried hapless Violet, with the big tears raining from her blue eyes down upon her pale, lovely cheeks. “Trust in God and wait,” answered poor Lena, reverently, and after a moment’s thought, she added: “Who knows even yet but that I may be Castello’s lawful wife? In that case your own marriage would be a sham, and you would be free from your hateful bonds. I’ll tell you, Violet, that I have been trying to see his valet--the one that he said acted the parson in our marriage ceremony. I shall ask him if it is true, and thus settle the doubt forever.” All Violet’s hopes hinged on this doubt. She prayed night and day that the truth might be revealed, and Lena Lavarre proved to be Harold Castello’s legal wife. “Then I should be free again--oh, blissful thought!--and my undying love for Cecil would no longer be a sin! I should send for him to come to me here, and throwing myself into his dear arms, tell him how cruelly we both had been tricked and deceived. We would be married soon, and Amber’s wicked arts could never part us again!” she thought, hopefully. But this faint, lingering doubt, that in its uncertainty saved her from complete despair, was soon to be dissipated by the truth.