"Will you forgive me, Mr. Wayne?"

He looked up and saw that she had been weeping. The haughty curl of the
lip and proud look from the eye were all gone, and her expression was of
humility and sorrow. She held out her hand to him with an air almost of
entreaty. He raised it respectfully to his lips, and with the low,
musical voice, sadder than ever before, he said:

"I am sorry that you should grieve about anything. There is nothing to
forgive. Let us forget it."

"Oh, Mr. Wayne, how unkind I have been, and how cruelly I have wronged
you!"

She pressed his hand between both her palms for a moment, and looked
into his face, as if studying to read if some trace of resentment were
not visible. But the blue eyes looked down kindly and mournfully upon
her, and bursting into tears, she turned from him, and hurriedly left
the room.




CHAPTER III.


The incident related in the preceding chapter seemed to have effected a
marked change in the demeanor of Oriana toward her brother's guest. She
realized with painful force the wrong that her thoughtlessness, more
than her malice, had inflicted on a noble character, and it required all