It mattered nothing to him that the dead girl was the daughter of the
man whom he had befriended, and who had used his generosity only as a
means by which to betray him; it mattered nothing that his grief might
even now be misconstrued by the tongues of the uncharitable. He knelt in
the deepest humility by the dead girl's side, deeming his life all
unworthy to have been saved at such a cost; and while he implored the
pardon of the great Creator for the follies of his past life he called
on the Almighty to hear the vows which he now made--that for the future
his steps would be in wiser paths.
When he arose from his knees his face had lost all its old languid
self-possession; there was a graver, more earnest light in his eyes, and
as his lips pressed the hand of the dead girl they muttered a farewell
vow, which was never to be forgotten from that hour till his last.
Lady Constance, bravely overcoming her own pain and horror at the double
tragedy--for Jasper's body had been recovered and brought back to the
house an hour after the death of Jessica--had retired with poor,
remorseful Ada to her own rooms, where she did her best to soothe and
comfort the unhappy woman.
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