And you have blessings manifold,
Renown and power, and friends and gold,
They build a wall between us twain
That may not be thrown down again,
Alas! for I, the long time through,
Have loved you better than you knew.”
It was no more pleasant for him than for her that they should meet again, and he also was glad that to-morrow would be the last day of it. His sister would be able to travel then, and they would start for Florida.
Since the maid’s sickness Mrs. Bowles had not come to see Mrs. Flint any more. The occupants of the grand mansion and the lofty cottage did not know they had each planned for a flitting the same day, by the same train, and to the same destination.
They could not have believed that the grim fates would have so mocked them, but yet, when Mrs. Varian and her maid swept to their seats in the train that Thursday, Everard Dawn and his party had already arrived, and he had arranged the still weak invalid very comfortably with the load of shawls and cushions carried by Rachel Dane.
Mrs. Varian, ignoring the passengers with her usual queenly air, sunk to her seat in blissful unconsciousness, and buried herself in her novel. Not for two hours did she discover the identity of her traveling companions, because at first she did not vouchsafe them even one curious glance.