And between their clasped hands it lay,—­the bit of orange ribbon that had handselled all their happiness.

“It is the promise of everything I can give thee, my loved one,” whispered Katherine.

“It is the luck of Richard Hyde.  Dearest wife, thou hast given me my life back again.”

[Illustration:  Chapter heading]

XV.

          “Wise men ne’er sit and wail their woes,
          But presently prevent the ways to wail.”

It was a hot August afternoon; and the garden at Hyde Manor was full of scent in all its shady places,—­hot lavender, seductive carnation, the secretive intoxication of the large white lilies, and mingling with them the warm smell of ripe fruits from the raspberry hedges, and the apricots and plums turning gold and purple upon the southern walls.

Hyde sat at an open window, breathing the balmy air, and basking in the light and heat, which really came to him with “healing on their wings.”  He was pale and wasted from his long sickness; but there was speculation and purpose in his face, and he had evidently cast away the mental apathy of the invalid.  As he sat thus, a servant entered and said a few words which made him turn with a glad, expectant manner to the open door; and, as he did so, a man of near sixty years of age passed through it—­a handsome, lordly-looking man, who had that striking personal resemblance to Hyde which affectionate brothers often have to one another.

“Faith, William, you are welcome home!  I am most glad to see you.”

“Sit still, Dick.  You sad rascal, you’ve been playing with cold steel again, I hear!  Can’t you let it alone, at your age?”

“Why, then, it was my business, as you know, sir.  My dear William, how delighted I am to see you!”

“’Tis twelve years since we met, Dick.  You have been in America; I have been everywhere.  I confess, too, I am amazed to hear of your marriage.  And Hyde Manor is a miracle.  I expected to find it mouldy and mossy—­a haunt for frogs and fever.  On the contrary, it is a place of perfect beauty.”

“And it was all my Katherine’s doing.”

“I hear that she is Dutch; and, beyond a doubt, her people have a genius that develops in low lands.”

“She is my angel.  I am unworthy of her goodness and beauty.”

“Why, then, Dick, I never saw you before in such a proper mood; and I may as well tell you, while you are in it, that I have also found a treasure past belief of the same kind.  In fact, Dick, I am married, and have two sons.”

There was a moment’s profound silence, and an inexplicable shadow passed rapidly over Hyde’s face; but it was fleeting as a thought, and, ere the pause became strained and painful, he turned to his brother and said, “I am glad, William.  With all my heart, I am glad.”

“Indeed, Dick, when Emily Capel died, I was sincere in my purpose never to marry; and I looked upon you always as the future earl, until one night in Rome, in a moment, the thing was altered.”