"I shall be--soon. The courts will certainly grant me a divorce from that dreadful woman. But then, Kathleen, my freedom will avail me nothing if you are lost to me! Oh, my own love--my darling! be brave, and break through the fetters that bind you to this man you do not love! Wait for me?" Oh, the passionate pleading in his voice and eyes! how they thrilled her soul. She wished to herself that she had never seen poor Teddy, whom she had so rashly promised to marry. "Oh, I must not listen to you!" she sobbed. "Please, Ralph, do not speak to me so; do not look at me! I can not bear your eyes!" and she hid her own with a trembling hand. There was silence for a moment, but Ralph could not give it up. It seemed to him that he was pleading for more than life. "Kathleen, don't be angry, dear; but I can not give it up so easily," he began. "If I thought you did not love me, if I believed you cared for Teddy Darrell, I would not say another word. But--if--I--were--free--you--would love me again, would you not, my dear one?" Kathleen had been fighting down the weakness of her loving heart. She looked at him with sad, hopeless eyes. "Spare me!" she sighed. "Oh, Ralph, we must not count on what has been or what may be. I am promised to another, and I can not break my vow. Think of the suffering I should bring to Teddy's noble heart." "He would soon forget you," Ralph Chainey urged. "Then you may soon forget me, too," she replied. "But, Kathleen, my darling, it is so different. I love only you, while your Teddy has had scores of loves. Think, if you marry him, his fickle heart may soon tire of you; then how wretched you would be!" "I do not believe that Teddy is fickle. If I thought so, I would beg him to release me from my promise. But he loves me truly, in spite of his past, and so I must be true to him," sadly replied Kathleen. "And your marriage day is set?" he asked, gloomily. "It is only two weeks from now," she replied; then her courage failed her; she burst into tears, and sobbed miserably against his shoulder. Ralph tried to soothe her, whispering: "If he knew you cared like this--for--me--he would not want to marry you. No true lover would accept the hand without the heart." "He must never know--for--I--I--shall learn to love him by and by. Mrs. Stone says so; they all say so," she whispered. "They are driving you into a--a--a wretched future with their silly advice!" cried the young man, violently, despair goading him to desperation. He pushed her from him and rose to his feet. "I have been deluding myself," he said, bitterly. "I thought you loved me. I was mistaken, I see. I will never humble myself to you again, proud Kathleen. From this moment to my life's end, we are strangers. Farewell!" and with a stately bow he was gone. Kathleen sprung to her feet with wild despair at her loss. "Oh, Ralph! come back!" she cried, faintly; but he was beyond the reach of her voice.