Slowly she rose to meet me with a majestic but rather tragic air, and
without a word stretched forth her hand.
"Why, Muriel!" I cried gladly. "You're the very last person I
expected!"
"I suppose so," she said, adding in a low, strained voice, "Close the
door. I have come to speak with you."
I obeyed her; then, returning to her side, stood eager for her words.
The enigmatical influence of Aline was upon her, for I saw that to her
dark, brilliant eyes there had already returned that love-light which
once had shone upon me, and noticed how her sweet, well-remembered voice
trembled with an excitement which she strove vainly to conceal. Her
dress was of grey stuff, plainly made as always, but her black hat with
a touch of blue in it suited her well, and as she sat before me in the
chair wherein the mysterious Temptress had sat, she seemed extremely
graceful and more handsome than ever.
"You have, I suppose, almost forgotten me during this long separation,
haven't you?" she faltered with abruptness, after some hesitation.
Apparently she had carefully prepared some little diplomatic speech, but
in the excitement of the moment all recollection of it had passed from
her mind.
"Forgotten you, Muriel!" I echoed, gazing earnestly into her soft,
beautiful eyes. "When we last met, did I not tell you that I should
never forget?"
Her breast heaved and fell; her countenance grew troubled.
"Surely it is you who have forgotten me?" I said, with a touch of
bitter reproach. "You have cast me aside in preference for another.
Tell me what I have done that you should treat me thus?"
"Nothing!" she responded nervously, her grave eyes downcast.
"Then, why cannot you love me, Muriel?" I demanded, bending towards her
in desperation.
"I--I'm foolish to have come here," she said, in sudden desperation,
rising from her chair.
"Why foolish?" I asked. "Even though you may love another you are
always welcome to my rooms as of old. I bear you no ill-will, Muriel,"
I said, not, however, without bitterness.
A silence fell. Again she sighed deeply, and then at last raising her
fair face to mine, she exclaimed in an eager, trembling tone--
"Forgive me, Clifton! Forgive me! I have come here to-night to ask you
to have pity upon me. I know how I have wronged you, but I have come to
tell you that I still love you--to ask whether you consider me still
worthy of your love?"
"Of course, darling!" I cried, springing forward, instantly placing my
arm about her neck and imprinting a fond kiss upon her white brow. "Of
course I love you," I repeated, enthusiastic in my newly-found
contentment. "Since you have gone out of my life I have been sad and
lonely indeed; and when I knew that you loved another all desire for
life left me. I--"
"But I love you, Clifton," she cried, interrupting. "It was but a
foolish passing fancy on my part to prefer that man to you who have
always been my friend, who have always been so kind and so thoughtful on
my behalf. I wronged you deeply, and have since repented it."
"The knowledge that you still love me, dearest, is sufficient. It gives
me the completest satisfaction; it renders me the most happy man in all
the world," and still retaining her hand I pressed it warmly to my lips.
"Then you forgive me?" she asked, with a seriousness that at such a
moment struck me as curious.
"Forgive you? Certainly!" I answered. "This estrangement has tested
the affection of both of us. We now know that it is impossible for us
to live apart."
"Ah, yes!" she answered. "You are quite right. I cannot live without
you. It is impossible. I have tried and have failed."
"Then in future you are mine, darling," I cried, in joyous ecstasy.
"Let the past remain as a warning to us both. Not only were you
inconstant, but I was also; therefore on my part there is nothing to
forgive. Let happiness now be ours because we have both discovered that
only in each other can we find that perfect love which to the pure and
upright is as life itself."
For me the face of the world had changed in those moments. A new and
brighter life had come to me.
"Yes," she answered in a low tone, which showed plainly how affected she
was. And raising her full, ready lips to mine, she kissed me
passionately, adding: "You are generous, indeed, Clifton. I feared and
dreaded always that you had cast me aside as fickle and unworthy a
thought."
"No, no!" I said, my arm around her protectingly. "Think no more of
that. Don't let us remember the past, dearest, but look to a brighter
future--a future when you will always be with me, my companion, my
helpmate, my wife!"
There were tears in her dark eyes, tears of boundless joy and abundant
happiness. She had come there half expecting a rebuff, yet had found me
ready and eager to forgive; therefore, in a few moments her emotion
overcame her, and she hid her tear-stained face in her hands.
The prophecy of the Woman of Evil had been fulfilled. Yet at what cost
had I gained this felicity? At the cost of a guilty silence--a silence
that shielded her from the exposure of some mysterious, unknown guilt.
Such thoughts I endeavoured to cast from me in the dreamy happiness of
those felicitous moments. Yet as I held Muriel in my arms and kissed
her pale, tear-stained cheeks, I could not help reflecting upon the veil
of mystery which surrounded the woman whose inexplicable influence had
caused my love to return to me. In my sudden happiness there still
remained the dregs of bitterness--the strange death of the man who had
been my most intimate friend, and the demoniacal power possessed by the
woman to whom I had unconditionally bound myself in return for Muriel's
love.
The words I uttered caused her to hesitate, to hold her breath, and look
up at me with those dark, brilliant eyes which had so long ago held me
beneath their spell. Again her hand trembled, again tears rose in her
eyes, but at last, when I had repeated my sentence, she faltered a
response.
It was but a single word, but it caused my heart to bound for joy, and
in an instant raised me to the seventh heaven of delight. Her response
from that moment bound us in closer relationship than before.
She had given me her promise to become my wife.