'I am going far away,' said he, while hot tears rolled over the cheeks of both girls, and his own too; 'and when we meet again, if ever—if ever, Ellinor—we shall both be old and cold perhaps—old in experience, and—thank God—cold in heart—old and cold, and feeling none of the bitterness of an hour like this!'
A few days after the public prints announced the departure of the Hussars for India, and the sisters thought sadly that, too probably, never would they see or hear of Robert Wodrow again.
CHAPTER VIII.
MRS. DEROUBIGNE.
The advent of Sleath, and perhaps the influence she had upon the life of Robert Wodrow, had a crushing effect upon the overwrought nervous system of Ellinor. She was again ill—ailing with something mental rather than bodily—and many little comforts were necessary for her, thus taxing Mary's slender exchequer sorely, and adding to her anxieties.
Colville had passed out of the life of the latter, but not quite out of her thoughts. He was going to India—she had heard him say so.
Perhaps he was already gone. So far as the newspapers were concerned, she had seen no notice of his marriage to Blanche Galloway, an engagement with whom he had so distinctly disavowed.
For a moment vanity whispered to Mary's heart, was he going far away that he might forget herself?
In this idea she was, perhaps, nearer the truth than she knew. Her first and only love affair—if such it really was—had been a dream, and she thought,
'Life and the world and mine own self are changed
For a dream's sake.'