"Then," said Florence, arising, "I will not hesitate. I shrink from
poverty, for I have been reared in luxury, but I will sooner live in
a hovel--"

"Or a tenement house," interjected Curtis, with a sneer.

"Yes, or a tenement house, than become the wife of one I loathe."

"Girl, you shall bitterly repent that word!" said Curtis, stung to
fury.

She did not reply, but, pale and sorrowful, glided from the room to
weep bitter tears in the seclusion of her chamber.




Chapter II.
A Stranger Visitor.


Curtis Waring followed the retreating form of his cousin with a
sardonic smile.

"She is in the toils! She cannot escape me!" he muttered. "But"--and
here his brow darkened--"it vexes me to see how she repels my
advances, as if I were some loathsome thing! If only she would return
my love--for I do love her, cold as she is--I should be happy. Can
there be a rival? But no! we live so quietly that she has met no one