She threw open the door, and hurried half-way down the stairs before she remembered the one terrible obstacle in her way--the Divorce.
Slowly and sadly she submitted, and went back to her room.
There was no disguising it; the two who had once been husband and wife were parted irrevocably--by the wife's own act.

Let him repent ever so sincerely, let him be ever so ready to return, would the woman whose faith Herbert Linley had betrayed take him back?
The Divorce, the merciless Divorce, answered:--No! She paused, thinking of the marriage that was now a marriage no more.
The toilet-table was close to her; she looked absently at her haggard face in the glass.

What a lost wretch she saw! The generous impulses which other women were free to feel were forbidden luxuries to her.

She was ashamed of her wickedness; she was eager to sacrifice herself, for the good of the once-dear friend whom she had wronged.

Useless longings! Too late! too late! She regretted it bitterly.