For now that he was close to her he could see that she was trembling nervously; that her calmness was merely an outward thing, and that under it nerves writhed and a frightened heart was beating thick and fast.
Was even the fancied moment in Paradise to be denied him then?
That such a woman could not, all in a moment--could not by just one act of heroism on his part--be won over and lured into complete forgetfulness of such a past as his, he realized to the fullest extent.

Always he had been conscious of that; but even so ...

Ah, well, the meanest may hope, the lowest may at least look up; and even saints and angels were not above saying, "Well done!" to a soul that had struggled, to a sinner that had done his best.
"I managed it, you see, Miss Lorne," he said, in a slightly lowered voice, while the baron busied himself in looking for his cheque-book and Athalie bustled about in quest of ink and a pen.

"It wasn't an easy night's work, and I'm a bit fagged out.

So, as I leave in the morning, it will be good-bye as well as good-night." She moved for the first time.