Not so with Stella, however, for with the first great rush of joy on knowing that she was so beloved, her very identity, past, present and future, seemed lost in his. A glorious panorama of heavenly sights and entrancing music burst upon her vision.
Self was lost in the whirlpool of future joys and duties, and the only object that stood clear before her eyes was the form of her heart's beloved, and to him she clung with all the fond abandon of her simple trusting nature.
Body and soul she gave herself to her lover, as woman can only give herself once in the period of her existence, and in deeply reverential spirit, Sir Frederic received the precious gift and cherished it forever.
It was Mrs. Sinclair's voice at the door that at last recalled the lovers to a vague consideration of things earthly.
The eyes of an indifferent observer could hardly have misunderstood the situation, and Mrs. Sinclair only glanced into Stella's face and in another second her darling was in her arms and both were laughing and crying in true woman fashion.
Our bodies are only an instrument clever By which the soul works out a phase of existence-- Each member responds when the soul moves the lever Unless overcome by abnormal resistance.
Ever since the morning that Lady Van Tyne confided her belief in Maurice Sinclair's Satanic individuality to her family physician, the remorseful Dr. Seward was imbued with an undying curiosity to learn more of this human phenomenon. But the abduction of Stella, coming so suddenly upon them, made it almost impossible to indulge his interest in that direction.
Naturally he would not care to mention the subject to the grief tortured mother, and as to Lady Van Tyne, her excitement rendered her totally incoherent whenever the subject was broached. Another reason for sensitiveness on the part of Dr. Seward, when in the presence of Mrs. Sinclair, may have lain in the knowledge of his guilty secret, the unburdening of which, would have been to press the dregs of shame to Lady Van Tyne's lips and pierce the devoted mourner of Archibald Sinclair where her love and faith were tenderest. Thus it was not until after the restoration of Stella to her foster mother's arms that the impatient physician learned ought of the young man in whom he had taken so unaccountable an interest.