"What do you mean?"
"You have renewed your engagement with Mr. Belford?"
"Yes—of course I have. He—he is to be my husband——"
"On Wednesday."
"Yes. How did you know it?"
Instead of replying he turned to a drawer and drew forth a long ribbon of white paper. Holding it to the light, near the window, he began to read the words printed in dots and lines upon it.
"Here is your own confession. Here are all the messages you sent me from the parlor, when you broke your engagement with him——"
"Oh, Elmer! Did you save that? Destroy it—destroy it at once. If he should find it, he would never forgive me."
"You need not fear. I shall not destroy it, and it shall never cause you any trouble."
She had risen in her excitement, and stood upon her feet. Suddenly she flushed a rosy red, and a strange light shone in her eyes. The sun had sunk behind the hills, and it had grown dark. As the shadows gathered in the room a strange, mystic light fell on the wall before her. A picture—dim, ghostly, gigantic, and surpassingly beautiful—met her astonished eyes. She gazed at it with a beating heart, awed into silence by its mystery and its unearthly aspect. What was it? What did it mean? By what magic art had he conjured up this vision? She stood with parted lips gazing at it, while her bosom rose and fell with her rapid, excited breathing. Suddenly she threw her arms above her head, and with a cry fell back upon the chair.