so passionately--not to that girl. You came back to her, and still I
was patient. I set myself against her, to win back your love. Yes,
Angus, I hoped to do that till very lately. And then I began to see
that it was all useless. She is younger and handsomer than I.'

'She is better than you, Augusta. It was not her beauty that won me,
but something nobler and rarer than beauty: it was her perfect
nature. The more faulty we are ourselves, the more fondly we cling
to a good woman. But I don't want to say hard things, Augusta. Pray
let us put all this folly aside at once and for ever. You took your
course in the past, and it has landed you in a very prosperous
position. Let me take mine in the present, and let us be friends, if
possible.'

'You know that it is not possible. We must be all the world to each
other, or the bitterest enemies.'

'I shall never be your enemy, Mrs. Darrell.'

'But I am yours; yes, I am yours from this night, and hers. You
think I can look on tamely, and see you devoted to that girl! I have
only been playing a part. I thought it was in my power to win you
back.'

All this was said with a kind of passionate recklessness, as if the
speaker, having suddenly thrown off her mask, scarcely cared how
utterly she degraded herself.

'Good-night, Mrs. Darrell. You will think of these things more
wisely to-morrow. Let us be civil to each other, at least, while