"My dear child, no one could do more than you have done. You repented of your fault, and atoned for it in the best way you were able."
But the lovely face only grew more sad.
"I was so willful, so proud, so scornful. I did not deserve a happy life. I am trying to forget all the romance and the love, all the poetry of my youth, and to live only for my duty."
"But Sir Vane will come back," said Miss Hastings.
"I do not know—all hope seemed to die in my heart when he went away. But let us talk of you and your future without reference to mine."
Miss Hastings was married, and after she had gone away Pauline Darrell was left alone with her inheritance at last.