"He does know, but I doubt if he will ever reveal his knowledge; certainly not to you. He has not told me all, even in the hour when he thought himself dying. I am convinced of that. It is not because he dislikes you, Lieutenant Brant, but because he knew his partial revealment of the truth was a duty he owed us both."
There was a long, painful pause between them, during which neither ventured to look directly at the other.
"You leave me so completely in the dark," he said, finally; "is there no possibility that this mysterious obstacle can ever be removed?"
"None. It is beyond earthly power--there lies between us the shadow of a dead man."
He stared at her as if doubting her sanity.
"No, it is not Gillis. I have told you this much so that you might comprehend how impossible it is for us to change our fate. It is irrevocably fixed. Please do not question me any more; cannot you see how I am suffering? I beseech your pity; I beg you not to prolong this useless interview. I cannot bear it!"
Brant rose to his feet, and stood looking down upon her bowed head, her slender figure shaken by sobs. Whatever it might prove to be, this mysterious shadow of a dead man, there could be no doubting what it now meant to her. His eyes were filled with a love unutterable.
"Naida, as you have asked it, I will go; but I go better, stronger, because I have heard your lips say you love me. I am going now, my sweetheart, but if I live, I shall come again. I know nothing of what you mean about a dead man being between us, but I shall know when I come back, for, dead or alive, no man shall remain between me and the girl I love."
"This--this is different," she sobbed, "different; it is beyond your power."
"I shall never believe so until I have faced it for myself, nor will I even say good-bye, for, under God, I am coming back to you."
He turned slowly, and walked away. As his hand touched the latch of the door he paused and looked longingly back.
She rose silently and crossed over to him, her hands held out, her eyes uplifted to his own. Neither spoke as he drew her gently to him, and their lips met.
A moment they stood thus face to face, reading the great lesson of eternity within the depths of each other's eyes. Then slowly, gently, she released herself from the clasp of his strong arms.