Angela turned pale and trembled.

“What, do you not know, or are you tired of him?”

“Tired of him!  I shall never be tired of him; but he has gone.”

“Shall I tell you where to find him?”

“You would not if you could; you would deceive me again.”

“No, oddly enough, I shall not.  I have no longer any object in doing so.  When I was bent upon marrying you to George Caresfoot, I lashed myself into hating you; now I hate you no longer, I respect you—­ indeed, I have done so all along.”

“Then, why did you work me such a bitter wrong?”

“Because I was forced to.  Believe me or not as you will, I am not going to tell you the story—­at any rate, not now.  I can only repeat that I was forced to.”

“Where is Arthur?”

“In Madeira.  Do you remember once telling me that you had only to lift your hand—­so—­ah!  I forgot, I cannot lift mine—­to draw him back to you, that no other woman in the world could keep him from you if you chose to bid him come?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Then, if you wish to get him back, you had better exercise your power, for he has gone to another woman.”

“Who is she?  What is she like?”

“She is a young widow—­a Mrs. Carr.  She is desperately in love with him—­very beautiful and very rich.”

“Beautiful!  How do you mean?  Tell me exactly what she is like.”

“She has brown eyes, brown hair, a lovely complexion, and a perfect figure.”

Angela glanced rapidly at her own reflection in the glass and sighed.

“Then I fear that I shall have no chance against her—­none!”

“You are a fool! if you were alone in the same room with her, nobody would see her for looking at you.”

Angela sighed again, this time from relief.

“But there is worse than that; very possibly he has married her.”

“Ah! then it is all over!”

“Why?  If he loves you as much as you think, you can bring him back to you, married or unmarried.”

“Perhaps.  Yes, I think I could; but I would not.”

“Why?  If he loves you and you love him, you have a right to him.  Among all the shams and fictions that we call laws, there is only one true—­ the law of Nature, by virtue of which you belong to each other.”

“No, there is a higher law—­the law of duty, by means of which we try to curb the impulses of Nature.  The woman who has won him has a right to consideration.”

“Then, to gratify a foolish prejudice, you are prepared to lose him forever?”

“No, Lady Bellamy; if I thought that I was to lose him for ever, I might be tempted to do what is wrong in order to be with him for a time; but I do not think that.  I only lose him for a time that I may gain him for ever.  In this world he is separated from me, in the worlds to come my rights will assert themselves, and we shall be together, and never part any more.”