Page:Vance--The trey o hearts.djvu/302

264 What, undeed [sic], had become of that wild thing, Judith Trine of yesterday? Surely she had little enough in common with this Judith of to-day, in whose heart was no more room for envy, hatred, malice, or any uncharitableness, so full was it of love which, though focussed upon the person of one man, none the less embraced all the world—even her sister and successful rival.

And this was the work of Love!

She sighed, but sighed softly, that she might not disturb her sister; and in this very act of consideration emphasized the vastness of the change that had come over her. For a week ago to have roused Rose needlessly would have afforded Judith malicious delight: while to-day Judith was not only thoughtful of her sister's minor comforts, but stood prepared to sacrifice herself, to break her own heart with her own two hands, that Rose's happiness might be assured.

Now the chain of memories was complete. She recalled every incident that had marked the growth of this great love she had for Alan Law, from that first day, not yet a month old, when he had escaped the fiery death-trap she had set for him and repaid her only by risking his life anew to save her from destruction, down to this very morning, when the stream from a hydraulic nozzle had swept over the brink of a precipice the two desperate men bent upon compassing the death of her beloved.