Now, lying alone in the soundless deep of the night, she went over that
scene, and the one through which she had just passed. "He's a dear,
good fellow, and I love him--but not like that." And the thought that it
was all over between them, and the decision irrevocably made, was at
once a pain and a pleasure. The promise, slight as it was, had been a
burden. "Now I am absolutely free," she said, in swift, exultant
rebound.