Sick to the very bottom of his heart, he bowed ever so slightly to the tense figure on the step and strode away in the shadows.
So! Thus ended his one love.
For this he had kept himself from the common lot of the factors in their lonely posts; for this he had never looked with aught save friendly compassion upon the maids of the settlements, the half breed girls of the wilderness, the wild daughters of the forest.
Waiting for this one princess in his small kingdom, he had thrown himself on the out-bearing tide of love only to be stranded on some barren beach, to see her taken from him by some reckless courtier not fit to touch a woman's hand!
Thus they turned apart, these two meant for each other from the beginning, and in each love worked its will of pain.
Maren on the step stared dry-eyed into the night, uncomprehending, unrebelling, and McElroy strode ahead, blind with sudden anguish, scarce knowing which way his steps tended.
And, like a ghoul behind a stone, a small dark face peeped keenly from a corner.
Francette was watching her leaven work.