CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE MAN OF SHADOWS The dome was a great blot against the stars when, shortly after eight o'clock that evening, Sylvia entered the capitol.
All night, in the room she had occupied on that far day of her first visit to Mrs.Owen, Sylvia had pondered.

It is not for us to know what passed in that still chamber between her and her friend; but it was the way of both women to meet the truth squarely.

They discussed facts impersonally, dispassionately, and what Sylvia had assumed, her old friend could not controvert.

Not what others had done, not what others might do, but what course Sylvia should follow--this was the crux of the situation.
"I must think it out; I must think it out," Sylvia kept repeating.

At last Mrs.Owen left her lying dressed on the bed, and all night Sylvia lay there in the dark.