“It must be like a heaven upon earth,” she said to herself, and then quite suddenly she recalled some words her mother had said to her one day: “No one will ever wish to marry you, my poor Aline. No man would take you with such a stain upon your life as that hideous mystery you guard so jealously.” Was it true? Would no one ever love her as Dr. Anthony loved her sister Effie? Would nothing so beautiful as love ever come into her life? She sighed unconsciously, and with the sigh she lifted her eyes--she never could have told you why--lifted them, and at a little distance met a pair of eyes gazing straight into her own with a strange, magnetic fire--Oran Delaney’s! She did not know what had caused her to look up at that moment, and she knew just as little why she blushed when she met that intent gaze--a blush that burned her pure face like fire. CHAPTER XXXIV. Mr. Lane felt rather proud than otherwise as he walked up the aisle of the church with Aline Rodney by his side. Her exquisite beauty filled him with admiration, and he had already decided in his mind that she was as pure and innocent as she was fair. He did not care in the least for the opinion of censorious Chester. If Aline had been a princess, he could not have shown her more deferential respect than that which he now accorded her. He had the greatest admiration for her, mingled with pity and sympathy. He said to himself that he would help her out of her trouble if he could, and he honestly believed, that the surest way to do that would be to find out the secret she held and make it public. He had been vexed with her before he saw her--vexed because she had so baffled investigation and curiosity. He had determined then, out of pure vexation, to track her down. Since they had met, his feeling had changed. He was none the less determined to ferret out her secret, but now he was actuated by pity and sympathy combined with a belief in her innocence. He decided that he would say nothing to Dr. Anthony or the Rodneys. He would pursue his investigations alone. They should hear and know nothing until success had crowned his efforts. He studied the fair face keenly whenever he had an opportunity of doing so. Its varying expression, the lights and shadows that shone in the dark-blue eyes, had an actual fascination for him. He watched her as closely as if he expected to find on her lovely, mobile face the key to the mystery that shadowed her life. Standing a little apart from her while the marriage ceremony progressed between her sister and Dr. Anthony, he kept his eyes fixed on her face and saw the new softness that came upon it as she listened to the beautiful words of the service. He saw the dark, curling lashes flutter upward a moment and remain fixed, he saw the blush stealing over her face, dyeing even the whiteness of her low brow in its radiant glow. He followed the direction of her eyes, and saw the apparent cause.