Nevertheless, it seemed as though with gentle taps and pushes Fate were urging them together--forcing her towards Roger so that she might escape from forbidden love and the desperate fear and pain of it. And then she saw him coming--it seemed almost as though her thought had drawn him--coming with swift feet over the grassy slopes of the park, too eager to follow the winding carriage-way, while the fallow-deer bounded lightly aside at the sound of his footsteps, halting at a safe distance to regard the intruder with big, timorous, velvety eyes. Nan paused in the middle of the rose-garden, where a stone sundial stood--grey and weather-beaten, its warning motto half obliterated by the tender touches of the years: "Time flies. Remember that each breath But wafts thy erring spirit nearer death." Rather nervously, while she waited for Trenby to join her, she traced the ancient lettering with a slim forefinger. He crossed the lawn rapidly, pausing beside her, and without looking up she read aloud the grim couplet graven round the dial. "That's a nice cheery motto," commented Trenby lightly. "They must have been a lugubrious lot in the good old days!" "They weren't so afraid of facing the truth as we are," Nan made answer musingly. "I wonder why we always try to shut our eyes against the fact of death? . . . It's there waiting for us round the corner all the time." "But there's life and love to come first," flashed out Roger. Nan looked at him thoughtfully. "Not for everyone," she said. Then suddenly: "Why are you here to-day, Roger? I told you to come on Monday." "I know you did. But I couldn't wait. It was horrible, Nan, just getting a few words over the 'phone twice a day to say how you were. I had to see for myself." His eyes sought her throat where the lash of the hunting-crop had wealed it. The mark had almost disappeared. With a sudden, passionate movement he caught her in his arms and pressed his lips against the faint scar. "Nan!" he said hoarsely. "Nan, say 'yes'! Say it quickly!" She drew away from him, freeing herself from the clasp of his arms. "I'm not sure it is 'yes.' You must hear what I have to say first. You wouldn't listen the other day. But to-day, Roger, you must--you _must_." "You're not going to take back your promise?" he demanded jealously. "It wasn't quite a promise, was it?" she said gently. "But it's for you to decide--when you know everything." "Then I'll decide now," he answered quickly. "I want you--Nan, how I want you! I don't care anything at all about the past--I don't want to know anything--" "But you must know"--steadily. "Perhaps when you know--you won't want me." "I shall always want you." Followed a pause. Then Nan, with an effort, said quietly: "Do you want to marry a woman who has no love to give you?" He drew a step nearer. "I'll teach you how to love," he said unevenly. "I'll make you love me--love me as I love you."