My brain is clearer now . I see my duty and I mean to do it at any cost . I dare not trust myself to say more . Magdalen , I have much for which to ask your forgiveness . '' `` There is nothing to forgive , '' she said steadily . `` I have been as much to blame as you . If I had been as resolute as I ought to have been -- if I had sent you away the second time as I did the first -- this would not have come to pass . I have been weak too , and I deserve to atone for my weakness by suffering . There is only one path open to us . Esterbrook , good-bye . '' Her voice quivered with an uncontrollable spasm of pain , but the misty , mournful eyes did not swerve from his . The man stepped forward and caught her in his arms . `` Magdalen , good-bye , my darling . Kiss me once -- only once -- before I go . '' She loosened his arms and stepped back proudly . `` No ! No man kisses my lips unless he is to be my husband . Good-bye , dear . '' 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 XXXXX her own sleepless nights .
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