Mrs.Burton, after providing all that was needful, had retired quickly to rest.

She did not think it "good manners" to intrude upon her ladyship.
All night Madaline watched the stars, and during the course of that night the best part of her died--youth, love, hope, happiness.

Strange thoughts came to her--thoughts that she could hardly control.

Why was she so cruelly punished?
What had she done?
She had read of wicked lives that had met with terrible endings.

She had read of sinful men and wicked women whose crimes, even in this world, had been most bitterly punished.