He ran his thin fingers through his tangled hair, and with a voice husky
with emotion answered:

"I will tell you. Some years ago, when a young man, haughty and
passionate, I had the misfortune to love a girl whose youth and beauty
proved my bane, and in a moment of recklessness I married her. In her
nature were mingled the qualities of the serpent and the dove. She was my
inferior, and I could not own her outwardly nor inwardly as my wife; but,
unhappily for the peace of both, I could not rid myself of her. I gave
her money, but it availed not; she was ignorant, and persisted in
following me." Here the man looked around with a nervous air, as if he
expected to see the unwelcome face peering at him through the shadows.

"To avoid her," he continued, "I secretly purchased this dwelling, remote
from the place of her abode. There I lived for a brief time, happy; a new
life with loftier purposes dawned upon me; I formed another attachment--a
higher and more noble one.

"One evening as I was walking upon the balcony thinking of my new-found
joys, a figure came creeping up through the shrubbery towards me. To my
amazement it proved to be the girl who claimed me.

"When I saw her, rage entered my heart, and I felt as if I could
annihilate her. But, suppressing all show of feeling, I went with her
into the house, and appointed her this room for the night. A demoniac
idea had presented itself to my mind; it came unsought, but under the
excitement of the moment it seemed like a good angel of deliverance.

"To further this idea, I lay down beside her. Presently she fell into a