He withdrew a little from her embrace.

"Beatrice," he reminded her, "there is another tragedy beyond the one
with which Dane threatens us. I do not wish to marry you."

She suddenly blazed up.

"Because--?"

"Not because of any reason in the world," he interrupted, "except that I
love Elizabeth Dalstan."

"Does she want to marry you?"

He was suddenly an altered person. Some of his confidence seemed to
desert him. He shook his head doubtfully.

"I am not sure. Sometimes I think that she would. Sometimes I fancy that
it is only a great kindness of heart, an immense sympathy, a kind of
protective sympathy, which has made her so good to me."

She looked at herself steadily for a moment in the mirror. Then she
pulled down her veil.

"Philip," she said, "we find out the truth when we are up against things
like this. I used to think I could live alone. I can't. Whatever you may
think of me, I was fond of Douglas. It wasn't only for the sake of the
money and the comfort. He was kind, and in his way he understood. And
then, you know, misery didn't agree with you. You were often, even in
those few hours we spent together, very hard and cold. Anyway," she