Afterward, when the storm-rains of despair beat on her defenseless head, and her heart ached on amid fiercest tortures, Molly looked back on this hour, the beginning of it all, with a great wonder at her weakness and cowardice. Why had she yielded even for an hour to this madness? Why had she let her love make her a craven and a coward?
She laid all the blame upon herself in wonder and sorrow and repentance, too ignorant and unversed in the mysteries of life and nature to comprehend that it was not so much her honesty that had been at fault as that through her love her will-power had been dominated by the magnetic force of her lover. For grand, handsome, noble Cecil Laurens, although unconscious of his power, was possessed of a strong magnetism that subtly influenced all with whom he came in contact, and doubly attracted the susceptible girl whom he loved. She did not realize the power of this magnetic will any more than Cecil himself did, yet certainly it was more than half to blame for poor Molly Trueheart’s treachery.
CHAPTER XV.
All in a minute, as it seemed, he was putting on her first finger the splendid solitaire diamond from his own hand.
“Will you wear this for an engagement ring, or shall I buy you a new one?” he asked.
“I prefer this because you have worn it,” she answered, frankly, and blushing very much, at which Cecil was delighted.
To herself she said, sadly:
“That is the truth, but there is another reason still for my preference. I must not put him to the expense of a new ring, for this will do for the few days that I shall be able to keep up the farce of an engagement.”
She sat silent, twisting the costly gem uneasily about her finger, when suddenly she saw coming toward her across the lawn Mrs. Barry, attended by Agnes Walker, her maid.
The sight roused Molly from the dream of bliss into which she was falling. She pulled the ring from her finger.