"I will do it!" he breathed hoarsely. "But, good God, what a royal heart I have trampled beneath my feet!"
* * * * * * *
Three weeks later John Hungerford left the Grenoble apartments, a comparatively well man.
Meantime, having, through Helen's energetic efforts, obtained the necessary materials, he had labored industriously, and with a constantly growing interest, at his easel, gaining flesh and strength each day, while something seemed to be burning within him that he had never been conscious of before.
What was it? he wondered, with almost a feeling of awe—this ever-increasing energy of purpose, this resistless zeal, that was pushing him forward and lifting him above anything he had ever aspired to in the years long gone by?
Was it the soul of the great artist, in embryo, that at last was really beginning to expand in its effort to burst its long-imprisoning shackles and plume its wings for a lofty flight?
Mrs. Everleigh came to see him every few days, and her talks with him opened up broader vistas of life and its obligations, and imbued him with higher ideals and desires. She insisted upon his going out every day, and frequently sent her car to take him out of the city for an invigorating drive in the country.
All this—the cheerful thought, the better purpose and outlook, together with the kind attentions of those interested in him—could not fail to develop faith and hope, with better physical conditions, also, and his improvement was rapid.
During this time he had completed two very attractive paintings, which, through the influence of his physician, were placed in a leading art store, and sold at a fair valuation—enough to enable him to begin business for himself, in a couple of inexpensive rooms in another part of the city, which, however, he intended only to be a stepping-stone to something better.
On the morning of his departure for his modest studio he did not look like the same man who, bowed and broken, had come to Helen's door a few weeks previous. His form was erect, and had taken on a good coat of flesh; his eyes were clear and bright; his face, tinged with the glow of health, was full of hope, and his bearing characterized by a quiet dignity, and also by an unaccustomed energy that bespoke a definite purpose for the future.