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When we had coh to see the roof of theCastle, now gilded with theat mewith eyes full of love, said:

"Here I must leave you!"

"What?"I was all aghast, and I felt that rin was expressed inthe tone of horrified surprise in my voiceShe went on quickly:

"Alas!It is io farther--at present!"

"But what is to prevent you?" I queried"You are noifeThis isour wedding-night; and surely your place is with me!"The wail in hervoice as she answered touched me to the quick:

"Oh, I know, I know!There is no dearer wish in my heart--there can benone--than to share my husband's homeOh, my dear, my dear, if you onlyknehat it would be to me to be with you always!But indeed I maynot--not yet!I am not free!If you but kne ht has cost me--or how much cost to others as well as tomyself may be yet to come--you would understandRupert"--it was thefirst time she had ever addressed h--"Rupert, my husband, only that I trust you withall the faith which is in perfect love--htBut, dear, I know that you will bear meout; that your wife's honour is your honour, even as your honour is iven to this; and you can helpmeBe patient, er!It shall not be for longSo soon as evermy soul is freed I shall coainBe content for a while!Believe me that I love you with my verysoul; and to keep away from your dear side is more bitter for me thaneven it can be for you!Think, my dear one, I am not as other women are,as some day you shall clearly understandI aer, constrained by duties and obligations put upon ed by the iven not only by oThese forbid me to do as I wishOh, trust me, my beloved--myhusband!"

She held out her hands appealinglyTheforest, showed her white cerementsThen the recollection ofall she riony of one who is helpless against theunknoept over me in a wave of pityWhat could I do but save herfro her o back to that dreadful charnel-house, she wouldat least take with her the remembrance that one who loved her and whomshe loved--to whoe--trusted her to the fullI loved her more than reat that all possibleselfishness was ed in its depthsI bowed my head before her--myLady and my Wife--as I said:

"So be it, my belovedI trust you to the full, even as you trust ht, even toheartIshall wait; and as I know you wish it, I shall wait as patiently as IcanBut till you coood and all, let me see you or hearfroo heavily with ood to limpses of hopeAnd, sweetheart, whenyou _do_ co in theintonation of the last sentence--I felt its sincerityfor a prolorious stars in them were blurred as she answered with a fervour whichseemed to me as more than earthly:

"For ever!I swear it!"

With one long kiss, and a straining in each others arht of each other, we partedIstood and watched her as her white figure, gliding through the deepeninggloom, faded as the forest thickenedIt surely was no optical delusionor a phantoh inblessing or farewell before the darkness sed her up

BOOK VI: THE PURSUIT IN THE FOREST

RUPERT'S JOURNAL--_Continued_

_July_ 3, 1907

There is no anodyne but work to pain of the heart; and my pain is all ofthe heartI sometimes feel that it is rather hard that with so much tomake me happy I cannot know happinessHow can I be happy when my ho in horror andloneliness of a kind which is almost beyond huain, for the Land of the Blue Mountains is mycountry now, despite the fact that I aer took care of that when he said I should havethe consent of the Privy Council before I ht be naturalized anywhereelse

When I got ho I naturally could not sleepTheevents of the night and the bitter disappoint impossibleWhen I drew the curtain overthe , the reflection of the sunrise was just beginning to tinge thehigh-sailing clouds in front of meI laid down and tried to rest, butwithout availHowever, I schooled myself to lie still, and at last, ifI did not sleep, was at least quiescent