He drew himself up under the blow with such simple and manly
dignity that her eyes dropped for the moment. "There is another,
then?" he said, sadly.

"There is no one I care for better than you. No! Do not be
foolish. Let me go. I tell you that because you can be nothing to
me--you understand, to ME. To my sister Amita, yes."

The young soldier raised his head coldly. "I have pressed you
hard, Miss Saltonstall--too hard, I know, for a man who has already
had his answer; but I did not deserve this. Good-by."

"Stop," she said, gently. "I meant not to hurt you, Captain
Carroll. If I had, it is not thus I would have done. I need not
have met you here. Would you have loved me the less if I had
avoided this meeting?"

He could not reply. In the depths of his miserable heart, he knew
that he would have loved her the same.

"Come," she said, laying her hand softly on his arm, "do not be
angry with me for putting you back only five days to where you were
when you first entered our house. Five days is not much of
happiness or sorrow to forget, is it, Carroll--Captain Carroll?"
Her voice died away in a faint sigh. "Do not be angry with me, if--
knowing you could be nothing more--I wanted you to love my sister,
and my sister to love you. We should have been good friends--such
good friends."