sign of affection had passed between them; and the probability was that she would never set her eyes upon him again.  And yet that face rose up between her and this man who was pleading at her side.  Many women, likely enough, have seen some such vision from the past and have disregarded it, only to find too late that that which is thrust aside is not necessarily hidden; for alas! those faces of our departed youth have an uncanny trick of rising from the tomb of our forgetfulness.  But Augusta was not of the great order of opportunists.  Because a thing might be convenient, it did not, according to the dictates of her moral sense, follow that it was lawful.  Therefore, she was a woman to be respected.  For a woman who, except under most exceptional circumstances, gives her instincts the lie in order to pander to her convenience or her desire for wealth and social ease, is not altogether a woman to be respected.

In a very few seconds she had made up her mind.

“I am very much obliged to you, Mr. Tombey,” she said; “you have done me a great honour, the greatest honour man can do to a woman; but I cannot marry you.”

“Are you sure?” gasped the unfortunate Tombey, for his hopes had been high.  “Is there no hope for me?  Perhaps there is somebody else!”

“There is nobody else, Mr. Tombey; and, I am sorry to say, you don’t know how much it pains me to say it, I cannot hold out any prospect that I shall change my mind.”

He dropped his head upon his hands for a minute, and then lifted it again.

“Very well,” he said slowly; “it can’t be helped.  I never loved any woman before, and I never shall again.  It is a pity “—­(with a hard, little laugh)—­“that so much first-class affection should be wasted.  But, there you are; it is all part and parcel of the pleasant experiences which make up our lives.  Good-bye, Miss Smithers; at least, good-bye as a friend!”

“We can still be friends,” she faltered.

“Oh, no,” he answered, with another laugh; “that is an exploded notion.  Friendship of that nature is not very safe under any circumstances, certainly not under these.  The relationship is antagonistic to the facts of life, and the friends, or one or other of them, will drift either into indifference and dislike, or—­something warmer.  You are a novelist, Miss Smithers; perhaps some day you will write a book to explain why people fall in love where their affection is not wanted, and what purpose their distress can possibly serve.  And now, once more, good bye!” and he lifted her hand to his lips and gently kissed it, and then, with a bow, turned and went.

From all of which it will be clearly seen that Mr. Tombey was decidedly a young man above the average, and one who took punishment very well.  Augusta looked after him, and sighed deeply, and even wiped away a tear.  Then she turned and walked aft, to where Lady Holmhurst was sitting enjoying the balmy southern air, through which the great ship was rushing with outspread sails like some huge white bird, and chatting to the captain.  As she came up, the captain made his bow and departed, saying that he had something to see to, and for a minute Lady Holmhurst and Augusta were left alone.