"Yes, he was very sorry for his sins," replied Ronald. "He regretted his sin against you the most of all."
After a moment he added, gently:
"His dearest wish, Lina, was that you and I might be re-united."
She put up her hands as if she could not bear the words.
"He was full of life and strength," she said. "Why did he die? What killed him, Ronald?"
"You will not be shocked if I tell you?" he said, hesitatingly.
"I wish to know," she answered.
"He was in the theater the night you were burned," he answered in a low voice. "He tried to save your life, dear. He leaped from the upper tier into the parquette—fell, and was almost trampled to death beneath the feet of the maddened multitude. He died a slow and painful death from internal injuries."
"He died for me," Jaquelina cried in a voice of pain, and the tears fell from her eyes for the man who had wrecked her life and given his own so freely at last for her sake.
Ronald wiped those tears away, and when she could speak she said, looking gravely at him: