darling wished--privately and quietly. On the same day--my
wedding-day--I took her home. I cannot tell how great was my
happiness--no one could realize it. Believe me, Lord Mountdean, that she
herself is as pure as a saint, that I know no other woman at once so
meek and so lofty, so noble and so humble. Looking at her, one feels how
true and sweet a woman's soul can be. Yet--oh, that I should live to say
it!--on my wedding-day I discovered something--it was no fault of hers,
I swear--that parted us. Loving her blindly, madly, with my whole heart
and soul, I was still compelled to leave her. She is my wife in name
only, and can never be more to me, yet, you understand, without any
fault of hers."

"What a strange story!" said the earl, thoughtfully. "But this barrier,
this obstacle--can it never be removed?"

"No," answered Lord Arleigh, "never!"

"I assure you of my deepest sympathy," said the earl. "It is a strange
history."

"Yes, and a sad fate," sighed Lord Arleigh. "You cannot understand my
story entirely. Wanting a full explanation, you might fairly ask me why
I married with this drawback. I did not know of it, but my wife believed
I did. We were both most cruelly deceived, it does not matter now. She
is condemned to a loveless, joyless life; so am I. With a wife beautiful
loving, young, I must lead a most solitary existence--I must see my name
die out for want of heirs--I must see my race almost extinct, my life
passed in repining and misery, my heart broken, my days without
sunshine. I repeat that it is a sad fate."