"You look tired, my dear. This excitement has wearied you. Go now to your room," Mrs. Winans said, kissing her a tender good-night. "You must rest and sleep."
"I am very tired," Ethel answered listlessly, as she turned away, crushing between her teeth some words that sounded like, "I should like to sleep—forever!"
[CHAPTER XL.]
ETHEL'S VICTORY.
"The fairest hope is the one which faded,
The brightest leaf is the leaf that fell;
The song that leaped from the lips of sirens
Dies away in an old sea-shell.
Clear and pure is the west wind's murmur
That croons in the branches all day long;
But the songs unsung are the sweetest music,
And the dreams that die are the soul of song."
—Ernest McGaffey.
The family slept late next morning after the fatigues and griefs of last night, and Ethel did not join her parents at breakfast. But an hour later her maid came to the library with a message. Would her parents see her in her boudoir for a few minutes?
An angry frown came to Senator Winans' brow.