seemed the very epitome of all the lovers of all the
world but a few hours before, contemplate, far less
permit, a separation of years? Poor Concha groped
toward the great unacceptable fact of life the whole,
lit by love its chief incident; and had a fleeting
vision of the waste lands in the lives of women oc-
cupied only with matrimony. But she dropped her
lashes upon this unalluring vision, and as she did so,
inevitably she began to excuse the man.

None knew better than she every side of the great
question that was shaking not only her life but Cali-
fornia itself. Appeal from the dictum of state and
clergy would be a mere waste of time. The only
alternative was flight. That would mean the wreck
of Rezanov's avowed purposes in coming to this
quarter of New Spain, and perhaps of others she
dimly suspected. It would mean the very acme of
misery for his Sitkans, and an indefensible blow to
the Company. It might even prove the fatal mistake
in his career, for which his enemies were ever on the
alert. He was not communicative about himself
except when he had an object in view, but he had
told her something of his life, and his officers and
Langsdorff had told more. He was no silly cabal-
lero warbling and thrumming at her grating when
she longed for sleep, but a man in his forties whose
passions were in the leash of a remarkably acute
and ambitious brain. She even thrilled with pride
in his strength, for she knew how he loved her; and