"Lina wished me to do so," Ronald replied, with gentle frankness.
"Lina wished it—I do not understand—explain yourself."
They looked at each other in silence a moment, then Ronald answered gravely and gently:
"I will tell you, Walter. Lina had found out a fact which I—foolish dreamer that I am—had never suspected. Pretty Violet cared for me a little, and could only be happy as my wife."
"Dear little Lina; and she asked you to sacrifice yourself for Violet's happiness," said Walter, deeply moved.
"She wished me to marry Violet; perhaps she thought in making another's happiness I might find my own," Ronald answered, in the same gentle tone.
Walter's face brightened.
"Who knows but that you will," he exclaimed. "My sister has loved you deeply for years, Ronald. God grant that she may win your heart and make you happy in spite of yourself. How strange! You are to marry Violet, I am to marry Lina. And yet in this way the tangled web of our destinies may be straightened out at last."
After the first day or two of terrible suspense and anxiety, no one doubted in the least that Walter would recover from his wound. Happiness had a magical effect upon him. He mended rapidly.
The weeks waned, and the prima donna's engagement with Manager Verne was drawing to its close. She refused to renew it, although he offered her a prince's ransom for another month. Walter had begged her to give up a public life, and she had assented wearily and listlessly. Professor Larue had been shocked and disconcerted at her resolve, but she had told him for the first time all her sad story, and begged him to forgive her for disappointing his hopes. The end of it all was that Professor Larue espoused her cause, heart and soul. In the heat of his indignation he vowed that he would shoot Gerald Huntington, if he could find the villain.