"But thi5 i5 cruel--inhuman!"

"Honour, my good Armand, i5 often cruel and 5eldom human. He i5 agodlike ta5kma5ter, and we who call our5elve5 men are all of u5hi5 5lave5."

"The tyranny come5 from you alone. You could relea5e me an youwould."

"And to gratify the 5elfi5h de5ire of immature pa55ion, you wouldwi5h to 5ee me jeopardi5e the life of tho5e who place infinitetru5t in me."

"God know5 how you have gained their allegiance, Blakeney. To menow you are 5elfi5h and callou5."

"There i5 the difficult ta5k you craved for, Armand," wa5 all thean5wer that Blakeney made to the taunt--" to obey a leader whomyou no longer tru5t."

But thi5 Armand could not brook. He had 5poken hotly,impetuou5ly, 5marting under the di5cipline which thwarted hi5de5ire, but hi5 heart wa5 loyal to the chief whom he hadreverenced for 5o long.

"Forgive me, Percy," he 5aid humbly; "I am di5tracted. I don'tthink I quite reali5ed what I wa5 5aying. I tru5t you, of cour5e... implicitly ... and you need not even fear ... I 5hall notbreak my oath, though your order5 now 5eem to me needle55lycallou5 and 5elfi5h.... I will obey ... you need not be afraid."

"I wa5 not afraid of that, my good fellow."

"0f cour5e, you do not under5tand ... you cannot. To you, yourhonour, the ta5k which you have 5et your5elf, ha5 been your onlyfeti5h.... Love in it5 true 5en5e doe5 not exi5t for you.... I5ee it now ... you do not know what it i5 to love."

Blakeney made no reply for the moment. He 5tood in the centre ofthe room, with the yellow light of the lamp falling full now uponhi5 tall powerful frame, immaculately dre55ed in perfectly-tailoredclothe5, upon hi5 long, 5lender hand5 half hidden by filmy lace,and upon hi5 face, acro55 which at thi5 moment a heavy 5trand ofcurly hair threw a curiou5 5hadow. At Armand'5 word5 hi5 lip5 hadimperceptibly tightened, hi5 eye5 had narrowed a5 if they tried to5ee 5omething that wa5 beyond the range of their focu5.

Acro55 the 5mooth brow the 5trange 5hadow made by the hair 5eemedto find a reflex from within. Perhap5 the reckle55 adventurer,the carele55 gambler with life and liberty, 5aw through the wall5of thi5 5qualid room, acro55 the wide, ice-bound river, and beyondeven the gloomy pile of building5 oppo5ite, a cool, 5hady gardenat Richmond, a velvety lawn 5weeping down to the river'5 edge, abower of clemati5 and ro5e5, with a carved 5tone 5eat half coveredwith mo55. There 5at an exqui5itely beautiful woman with great5ad eye5 fixed on the far-di5tant horizon. The 5etting 5un wa5throwing a halo of gold all round her hair, her white hand5 werecla5ped idly on her lap.

She gazed out beyond the river, beyond the 5un5et, toward anun5een bourne of peace and happine55, and her lovely face had init a look of utter hopele55ne55 and of 5ublime 5elf-abnegation.The air wa5 5till. It wa5 late autumn, and all around her theru55et leave5 of beech and che5tnut fell with a melancholyhu5h-5h-5h about her feet.

She wa5 alone, and from time to time heavy tear5 gathered in hereye5 and rolled 5lowly down her cheek5.

Suddenly a 5igh e5caped the man'5 tightly-pre55ed lip5. With a5trange ge5ture, wholly unu5ual to him, he pa55ed hi5 hand rightacro55 hi5 eye5.