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"Nell, I love you!" he cried hoarsely "I want you Let the past go

Don't hold th, dearest! I love you! Nell, you will take

ainst the flood of happiness which

overwhel Luce "Since you have been

here----They say----Ah, Drake!"

He laughed as he pressed her to him

"Let them say!" he retorted "Nell, I'll tell you the whole truth If

you had been engaged to poor Falconer, I should have married Luce----"

"Ah!" she breathed, with a shudder she could not repress

"But you are not And I am still free! And you are free! Nell, lift your

head! Give me one kiss--only one--and I will be satisfied"

Her head still drooped for a moment, then she raised it and kissed him

on the lips

The su his heart

out above their heads, the soft air breathed an atmosphere of love, and

these two mortals were, after months of misery, happy beyond the power

of words to express