Perhaps not , for it may never have been mine . I know that Esterbrook Elliott will be true to the letter of his vows to me , no matter what it may cost him . But I want no pallid shadow of the love that belongs to another . The hour of abdication is at hand , I fear . And what will be left for throneless Vashti then ? '' Esterbrook Elliott , walking home through the mocking calm of the night , fought a hard battle with himself . He was face to face with the truth at last -- the bitter knowledge that he had never loved Marian Lesley , save with a fond , brotherly affection , and that he did love Magdalen Crawford with a passion that threatened to sweep before it every vestige of his honour and loyalty . He had seen her but three times -- and his throbbing heart lay in the hollow of her cold white hand . He shut his eyes and groaned . What madness . What unutterable folly ! He was not free -- he was bound to another by every cord of honour and self-respect . And , even were he free , Magdalen Crawford would be no fit wife for him -- in the eyes of the world , at least . A girl from the Cove -- a girl with little education and no social standing -- aye ! but he loved her . He groaned again and again in his misery . Afar down the slope the bay waters lay like an inky strip and the distant , murmurous plaint of the sea came out of the stillness of the night ; the lights at the Cove glimmered faintly . In the week that followed he went to the Cove every day . Sometimes he did not see Magdalen ; at other times he did . But at the end of the week he had conquered in the bitter , heart-crushing struggle with himself .
If he had weakly given way to the first mad sweep of a new passion , the strength of his manhood reasserted itself XXXXX last .
In at by down for from like of that to