Ethelyn's Mistake

"I will leave her to herself," he thought, "trusting that what has

passed will deter her from any further improprieties."

Something like this he said to her when, in the gray dawn, he stood

before her, equipped for his journey; but Ethelyn did not respond, and

with her cold, dead silence weighing more upon him than bitter

reproaches would have done, Richard left her and took his way through

the chill, snowy morning to the depot, little dreaming as he went of

when and how he and Ethelyn would meet again.