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"CRUEL AS THE GRAVE." 191her — must save him, in spite of himself, thoughshe longed, in the cruel pangs of her woman'sanguish, to have done yvith it — to hay^e found thatnothingnessin yvhich she had come to believe asthe " end all," ancl had learned to look to as hersovereign good.She had reached such a conclusion, in hermeditations, on the night of the great storm atHomburg; she had determined on a course to beadopted for Routh's sake. She would discard fear,ancl show him that he must relinquish the desperategame he was playing. She would proveto him that fate had been too strong for him; thatin Mrs. Ireton P. Bembridge the fatality yvhichwas destined to destroy him existed; that heracquaintance with Arthur Felton, and her knowledgeof Arthur Felton's affairs, into yvhose extentRouth had no possible pretext for inquiry, mustnecessarily- establish the missing link. She yvouldhide from him her ownsufferings;she yvould keepdown her jealousy and her love; she yvould appealto him for himself; she would plead withhim only his own danger, only the tremendousrisk he was involving himself in. Thenshe must