Moreover, Norman, when you made me your wife, did you not promise to love and to cherish, to protect me and make me happy until I died ?" "Yes," he replied, briefly.
"Then how are you keeping that promise--a promise made in the sight of Heaven ?" Lord Arleigh looked down at the fair, pure face, a strange light glowing in his own.
"My dear Madaline," he said, "you must not overlook what the honor of my race demands.

I have my own ideas of what is due to my ancestors; and I cannot think that I have sinned by broken vows.

I vowed to love you--so I do, my darling, ten thousand times better than anything else on earth.
I vowed to be true and faithful to you--so I am, for I would not ever look at another woman's face.

I vowed to protect you and to shield you--so I do, my darling; I have surrounded you with luxury and ease." What could she reply--what urge or plead?
"So, in the eyes of Heaven, my wife, I cannot think I am wronging you." "Then," she said, humbly, "my coming here, my pleading, is in vain." "Not in vain, my darling.

Even the sight of you for a few minutes has been like a glimpse of Elysium." "And I must return," she said, "as I came--with my love thrown back, my prayers unanswered, my sorrow redoubled." She hid her face in her hands and wept aloud.