Page:Orczy--the gates of Kamt.djvu/252

 it, and Sawnie Girlie was the last man in the world ever to break down, even before me. His word was a fetish to him. He had given it to a woman and demanded hers in return, and he meant to carry to the end the burden which his own hands had placed upon his life. There was no doubt that he was eating his heart out with longing and with love for the beautiful girl who could be nothing to him, and I could do nothing to help or save him. Outwardly he was cheerful, even enthusiastic at times, but to my ears and eyes, rendered acute by my affection for him, there was always a false ring in his laugh, a jarring discord in his enthusiasm.

He seemed to have aged all of a sudden, and on the temples, for the first time, to-day, I had noticed a few streaks of grey.

When the shades of evening began to draw in round the poetic retreat where Hugh was to spend the last night of his bachelorhood, I at last reluctantly decided to go.

"When do you suppose we shall meet again, Girlie?"

"Ah! that I don't know. The marriage ceremony is an hour after midnight to-morrow; I go straight to the temple from here, and it appears that it is against all etiquette that I should wander outside this garden of Eden until then. Perhaps you can find your way as far as my loneliness, some time during the day."

But I was doubtful.

"I can try. What happens after the wedding ceremony?"

"Another strange custom, Mark, old chap," replied Hugh, with a smile. "All those present in the temple during the ceremony, including the bride, retire, leaving the unfortunate bridegroom alone: he is supposed