The rope which bound her had snapped thus suddenly for the simple reason that Carshaw had promised never to come again, and was very strict, as she knew, in keeping his pledged word. Therefore, until the moment when her distraught eyes took in the fact of his presence, she had not the faintest hope or thought of seeing him for many a day to come, if ever. Seeing him all at once in the midst of her desert of despair, her reason swooned, all fixed principles capsized, and instinct swept her triumphantly, as the whirlwind bears a feather, to his ready embrace. He, for his part, had broken his promise because he could not help it. He had to come--so he came. His dismissal had been too sudden to be credible, to find room in his brain. It continued to have something of the character of a dream, and he was here now to convince himself that the dream was true. Moreover, in her manner of sending him away, in some of her words, there had been something unreal and unconvincing, with broken hints of love, even as she denied love, which haunted and puzzled his memory. If he had made a thousand promises he would still have to return to her. "Well," said he, his face alight for joy as she moaned on his breast, "what is it all about? You unreliable little half of a nerve, Winnie!" "I can't help it; kiss me--only once!" panted Winifred, with tears streaming down her up-turned face. Carshaw needed no bidding. Kiss her once! Well, a man should smile. "What is it all about?" he demanded, when Winifred was quite breathless. "Am I loved, then?" Her forehead was on his shoulder, and she did not answer. "It seems so," he whispered. "Silence is said to mean consent. But why, then, was I not loved the day before yesterday?" Still Winifred dared not answer. The frenzy was passing, the moral nature re-arising, stronger than ever, claiming its own. She had promised and failed! What she did was not well for him. "Tell me," he urged, with a lover's eagerness. "You'll have to, some time, you know." "You promised not to come. You promised definitely," said Winifred, disengaging herself from him. "Could I help coming?" cried he. "I was in the greatest bewilderment and misery!" "So you will always come, even if you promise not to?" "But I won't promise not to! Where is the need now? You love me, I love you!"