.
And there, side by side, Elaine Willoughby and Conyers wandered away over to the summer-house, where the first roses were breathing out their promise of summer’s royal richness upon the fresh crystalline air. Neither seemed willing to break the silence of their hushed hearts.
“You sent for me, Elaine?” said the man, who hardly dared to trust the sound of his own voice. It seemed to him so strange and hollow.
His hostess turned her splendid eyes toward him, and their hands met in silence.
“I did not, Hugh,” she softly said. “But as I will be away for some years, I thank God that you are here! For, I have a sacred duty to perform.
“I know not what may happen.
“Sara has just told me that she will not go to Europe with me. All seems so changed! Endicott is growing old. I have no other friend, and I am solicitous about Romaine’s future. I did intend to ask you to act for me in some very grave matters, but you have lately avoided me—strangely, cruelly.”
The voice was broken now, and Hugh Conyers hastened to man his last works.
He knew now how love had sealed her proud, womanly lips, for her heart was beating with his own.
“How could I come to you? If Sara had only saved me this last sorrow! When I heard from Endicott that you were to marry Alynton, I at once accepted an engagement for five years to represent the Clarion in Europe.