He bowed his head silently and went away , looking back not once , else he might have seen her kneeling on the damp sand weeping noiselessly and passionately . * * * * * Marian Lesley looked at his pale , determined face the next evening and read it like an open book . She had grown paler herself ; there were purple shadows under the sweet violet eyes that might have hinted of her own sleepless nights . She greeted him calmly , holding out a steady , white hand of welcome . She saw the traces of the struggle through which he had passed and knew that he had come off victor . The knowledge made her task a little harder . It would have been easier to let slip the straining cable than to cast it from her when it lay unresistingly in her hand . For an instant her heart thrilled with an unutterably sweet hope . Might he not forget in time ? Need she snap in twain the weakened bond between them after all ? Perhaps she might win back her lost sceptre , yet if -- Womanly pride throttled the struggling hope . No divided allegiance , no hollow semblance of queenship for her ! Her opportunity came when Esterbrook asked with grave earnestness if their marriage might not be hastened a little -- could he not have his bride in August ? For a fleeting second Marian closed her eyes and the slender hands , lying among the laces in her lap , clasped each other convulsively . Then she said quietly , `` Sometimes I have thought , Esterbrook , that it might be better -- if we were never married at all . '' Esterbrook turned a startled face upon her . `` Not married at all ! Marian , what do you mean ? '' `` Just what I say . I do not think we are as well suited to each other after all as we have fancied .
We have loved each other XXXXX brother and sister might -- that is all .
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