And all the time he was the noblest, purest, most devoted--' She stopped.

Her voice had passed beyond her control.

Elsmere was startled by the feeling she showed.

Evidently he had touched one of the few sore places in this pure heart.

It was as though her memory of her father had in it elements of almost intolerable pathos, as though the child's brooding love and loyalty were in perpetual protest, even now after this lapse of years, against the verdict which an over-scrupulous, despondent soul had pronounced upon itself.