How delighted she would have been
to meet you! I shall certainly write and tell her what a splendidly
romantic time we had together. You look so much like Myrtle I wonder I
failed to recognize you at once."
She was rattling on without affording me the slightest opportunity to
slip in a word explanatory, when her glance chanced to fall upon some
one who was approaching us through the throng.
"Oh, by the way, Colonel, there is another of Myrtle's old schoolmates
present to-night--a most intimate friend, indeed, who would never
forgive me if I permitted you to go without meeting her."
She drew me back hastily.
"Edith," she said, touching the sleeve of a young woman who was slowly
passing, "Edith, wait just a moment, dear; this is Colonel Curran--
Myrtle Curran's brother, you know. Colonel Curran, Mrs. Brennan."
CHAPTER XVI
THE WOMAN I LOVED
THE crucial moment had arrived, and I think my heart actually stopped
beating as I stood gazing helplessly into her face. I saw her eyes open
wide in astonished recognition, and then a deep flush swept over throat
and cheek. For the instant I believed she would not speak, or that she
would give way to her excitement and betray everything. I durst give no
signal of warning, for there existed no tie between us to warrant my
expecting any consideration from her. It was an instant so tense that
her silence seemed like a blow.
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