“You play a deep game,” said the girl bitterly. “Why would you do it?” “Because,” said Donnegan faintly. “I love you.” Her hand had been on the knob of the door; now she twitched it open and was gone; and the last that Donnegan saw was the width of the startled eyes. “As if I were a leper,” muttered Donnegan. “By heaven, she looked at me as if I were unclean!” But once outside the door, the girl stood with both hands pressed to her face, stunned. When she dropped them, they folded against her breast, and her face tipped up. Even by starlight, had Donnegan been there to look, he would have seen the divinity which comes in the face of a woman when she loves. CHAPTER 26 Had he been there to see, even in the darkness he would have known, and he could have crossed the distance between their lives with a single step, and taken her into his heart.
