Ah, how she thanked Heaven that she was free, how utterly wretched she would have been for her whole life long had she been beguiled into marrying him! She loved Lord Atherton with her whole heart, her womanly nature did him full homage.

She appreciated his noble qualities, she was happy in his love as it was possible for a woman to be.
Yet, after he had asked her to be his wife, there came over her a great longing to tell him the story of her engagement to Allan Lyster.
"He ought to know it," she said, "though all is at end now; he ought to know it, there should be no secrets between us." But she dare not tell him.

One thing that restrained her was the promise she had given never to mention it, but the reason above all others was she knew his fastidious sense of honor so well that she was afraid he would not love her when he knew how lightly she had once before given her love.
So she committed that greatest of all errors, she engaged herself to marry Lord Atherton without telling him of her acquaintance with the young artist.

Then she was so happy for a time that she forgot the whole matter; she was so happy that she ceased to remember there had ever been anything deserving blame in her life.
The season over, they returned to Thorpe Castle, and Lord Atherton soon followed to pay them a long visit.

He told them quite frankly that it was perfectly useless to delay the wedding, that he could not live out of Marion's presence, therefore the sooner the arrangements were made the better.
That was perhaps the happiest time in Marion's life.