deep and true. Ah, how much easier it would have been had we borne the
sorrow together, instead of suffering alone; and it was my fault that
we did not! Grace, I need your pardon to-night far more than ever you
needed my help and sympathy; and I know, now, how great that was."

He held out his arms pleadingly towards her: "Grace, try and forgive
me!"

If he had humiliated her in any other way than by telling her he would
desert her, her deeply wounded pride could not have held out, and she
surely must have found refuge in his arms. But her humiliation had
been so very deep, and her mood was now such that every nerve was
quivering with indignation; so, subduing the pleading of her heart,
she sprang away from the outstretched arms. As she faced him the angry
color again stole into her cheeks, and she exclaimed, in a suppressed
voice: "There are things, Harold, that a woman cannot forgive and
retain her self-respect. Even had I been as fickle as you thought,
that would not have been sufficient reason for you to make up your
mind to desert me; and in deserting me, place me in a position for the
world to suspect, wag its head at, and gossip over. You knew it would
do this, and yet it did not alter your decision to throw me over. And
now, after having renounced me, you ask me to forget and fly back to
your arms." She laughed bitterly, her manner growing cynical once
more. "No, no, Harold," she continued, "there can be no kissing, no
making up and being good between us; the knife has cut too deep. I
prefer facing the world, as you have decided, rather than trying to
live down this humiliation with you, and being in constant dread of
your threatening to desert me again, should any misunderstanding arise
in the future."