And Laurel Vane! She kept a wakeful vigil, too. Her eyes were not so bright as they should have been next morning, her cheeks and lips were not so rosy, but her beauty was as marked as ever, and Count Fitz John was very loath to follow the angry, disappointed widow back to New York that day.
"I not only found an Eden but an Eve!" he said to Maud, rather disconsolately.
"You need not vex your heart over her, for she has found her Adam in St. Leon Le Roy," she answered, bitterly.
When they were gone, St. Leon sought his mother.
"Congratulate me," he said. "The desire of your heart will be granted. I am about to marry."
Her handsome, proud old face did not look as bright as he had expected.
"You have chosen Maud Merivale again?" she said, and then he understood the shadow on her face and the tone of regret in her voice.
"You are still prejudiced against Maud!" he said, quietly.
"I have never forgiven her for the slight she put upon my son!" she answered, gravely.
Laurel's slim young figure went flitting past the open door at that moment. He called to her, drew the small hand through his arm, and led her up to his mother.