A few hours later Constance, refreshed by slumber, was on her way to Lincoln Chambers. She walked as though on wings, for she knew in her heart that her lover would not fail her. Arriving a little before the appointed time, she dismissed the children to school, and, smiling at fate, waited for what was to be. At the stroke of the trysting hour she heard his knock. She bade him enter, and as their eyes met he folded her in his arms. "Gordon!" "Constance!" "I have surrendered." She looked up into his face, bewitching in her happiness. [Illustration: "I have surrendered."] "Thank God for that!" "But I come to you conscience free, Gordon," she said, drawing back her radiant face so that he must hear her avowal before his title was complete. "I would not have you think that I have compromised or juggled with myself. If I believed that I should be a whit less pure and spiritual a woman by becoming your wife, I would never have sent for you, dearly as I love you." "And I would not have had you, darling. The love which is conscious of a stain is a menace to the world." THE END * * * * * BY THE SAME AUTHOR The Undercurrent. Unleavened Bread. Search-Light Letters. The Art of Living. The Bachelor's Christmas, and Other Stories. With 21 full-page illustrations. Reflections of a Married Man. The Opinions of a Philosopher. Illustrated. Face to Face. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Undercurrent, by Robert Grant