His dark, handsome face grew pale, his hands trembled, his lips quivered like a woman’s.  He was about to speak, when Madaline sprang forward and clasped her arms around his neck.

“Oh, my darling,” she cried, “it is true—­quite true!  You need not be afraid to kiss me and to love me now—­you need not be afraid to call me your wife—­you need not be ashamed of me any longer.  Oh, my darling, believe me, I am not a thief’s daughter.  My father is here—­an honorable man, you see, not a convict.  Norman, you may love me now; you need not be ashamed of me.  Oh, my love, my love, I was dying, but this will make me well!”

Her golden head drooped on to his breast, the clinging arms tightened their hold of him.  The earl advanced to them.

“It is all true, Arleigh,” he said.  “You look bewildered, but you need not hesitate to believe it.  Later on I will tell you the story myself, and we will satisfy all doubts.  Now be kind to her; she has suffered enough.  Remember, I do not blame you, nor does she.  Believing what you did, you acted for the best.  We can only thank Heaven that the mystery is solved; and you can take a fair and noble maiden, who will bring honor to your race, to your home.”

“My love,” said Madaline, “it seems to me a happy dream.”  When Lord Arleigh looked around again the earl had vanished and he was alone with his fair young wife.

* * * * *

Half an hour afterward Lord Arleigh and his wife stood together under the great cedar on the lawn.  They had left the pretty drawing-room, with its cool shade and rich fragrance, and Lord Arleigh stood holding his wife’s hand in his.

“You can really forgive me, Madaline?” he said.  “You owe me no ill-will for all that I have made you suffer?”

She smiled as she looked at him.

“No,” she replied.  “How could there be ill-will between you and me?  You did right—­in your place I should have acted as you did.”

He caressed the fair, sweet face.

“Thank you, my darling,” he said.  “How thin you are!” he added.  “How you have worn yourself away with fretting!  What must I do to bring the roses back to this sweet face, and the light that I remember so well to the dear eyes?”

She looked up at him, her whole soul in her eyes.

“You have but one thing to do, and that is—­love me,” she said; “and then I shall be the happiest wife in all the world.  If a choice were offered me of all the good gifts of this world, mine would be my husband’s love.”

Lord Arleigh looked thoughtfully at her.  The sunshine glistened through the green boughs, and touched her graceful golden head as with an aureole of glory.

“I am beginning to think,” he said, “that all that happens is for the best.  We shall be wiser and better all our lives for having suffered.”

“I think so too,” observed Madaline.

“And my darling,” he said, “I am quite sure of another thing.  There are many good gifts in the world—­wealth, fame, rank, glory—­but the best gift of all is that which comes straight from Heaven—­the love of a pure, good wife.”