Chapter 41

Stephen caught the hand that half unconsciously the girl held out to him, and pressed it hard. "If you will go back to your hotel now," he said to Margot, in a quiet voice, "I will call on you there almost at once, and we can settle our business affairs. I promise that you shall be satisfied."

Margot looked at them both for a few seconds, without speaking. "I'll go, and send a telegram to Montreal which will make somebody there happier than any other man in Canada," she answered. "And I'll expect you in an hour."

When she had gone, they forgot her.

"Do you really mean, when you say we--_we_ shall be happy poor, that you'll marry me in spite of all?" Stephen asked.

"Oh, yes, if you want me still," Victoria said.

"Does a man want Heaven!" He took her in his arms and held her close, closer than he had held her the night at Toudja, when he had thought that death might soon part them. "You've brought me up out of the depths."

"Not I," the girl said. "Your star."

"Your star. You gave me half yours."

"Now I give it to you all," she told him. "And all myself, too. Oh, isn't it wonderful to be so happy--in the light of our star--and to know that the others we love will be happy, too--my Saidee, and your Mr. Caird----"

"Yes," Stephen answered. "But just at this moment I can't think much about any one except ourselves, not even your sister and my best friend. You fill the universe for me."

"It's filled with love--and it _is_ love," said Victoria. "The music is sweeter for us, though, because we know it's sweet for others. I _couldn't_ let her spoil your life, Stephen."

"My life!" he echoed. "I didn't know what life was or might be till this moment. Now I know."

"Now we both know," she finished.

THE END

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Page and line numbers in these notes refer to the original printed text.

Obvious punctuation corrections have been applied silently where applicable.

As much as possible, the original spelling in the book has been preserved. The authors commonly use different hyphenation for several words throughout (for example, "note-book" on page 283, line 9, as opposed to "notebook" on page 285, line 16). There are mixes of English, American, and French spelling. The spelling of some names that appear only once or twice is ambiguous (for example, "Cheikh" on page 55, line 27, and "Cheik" on page 143, line 5). In cases like these, the text has been left as in the printed version.

The following appear to be typographical errors and have been corrected in this text.

Page 40, line 20: "Christo" (Cristo).

Page 62, line 1: "dribge" (bridge).

Page 77, line 4: "hautes" (hauts).

Page 92, line 20: "filagree" (filigree).

Page 99, line 9: "ècole" (école).

Page 184, line 8: "khol" (kohl).

Page 217, line 1: "Michèlet" (Michélet).

Page 235, line 16: "Neville's" (Nevill's).

Page 235, line 34: "Neville" (Nevill).

Page 425, line 26: "massage" (message).

Page 430, line 11: "usuper" (usurper).