Her lips trembled a little at his words, but she made no response.
"Good-bye," he said sadly, and turned from her.
She listened to his firm footsteps as they traversed the floor; then came the click of the lock in the catch, the sound of the opening and shutting door, and then again the echo of his footsteps down the long stone passage.
Then all was still. The tinted sun-rays paled and faded, then vanished altogether; and Miss Hildreth, bowing her head upon her clasped hands, burst into a passionate storm of tears.
CHAPTER XIV.
"FORGIVE HER."
A week later the daily papers chronicled two events.
The first was contained in a short paragraph, supplemented by a long leader, stating that evidence having been received from Russia, confirming the arrest of the real criminal, Adèle Lamien, or Lallovich, the conspiracy against Miss Hildreth had fallen to the ground, and she had been released from her very unpleasant and unjust position. Miss Hildreth, on leaving Ludlow Street Jail, had immediately retired to her country place in the White Mountains.
The second item was even more briefly worded, though commented on exhaustively in a still longer leader, and ran to the following effect. That Count Vladimir Mellikoff, having failed signally in his efforts to traduce and incriminate a certain young lady, prominent in New York circles for her wealth, beauty, and amiable qualities, had sailed on the previous Saturday for Havre, en route for St. Petersburg.