How she ever got through her own explanations she did not know, then she heard him speaking.
"Yes, Mrs. Barkley, we had given you up for lost with the others on that fated ship. And I cannot express my regret at the sorrow you have returned to meet."
"I--sorrow--why?" She stared at him wonderingly.
He looked surprised, then understood. Claire listened silently to his brief, sincere sympathy as he told her how her husband had died during the winter of pneumonia.
"It has been nearly six months now," he finished, "and, of course, I am very sorry for you. If I can do anything to help you, don't hesitate to call on me, please."
She heard her own voice change. Stifled, she fled up-stairs.
Her grief was sincere, unshaded by any selfish thought that it made her own course easier or more justifiable in the eyes of society. To her, Howard Barkley's death changed nothing save that the man whom she had once loved sincerely was now no more.
But the living remained, and to the call of the living her life was henceforth joyfully dedicated.
[Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the original edition have been corrected.]
In Chapter V, "tenements she had visted in her charity work" was changed to "tenements she had visited in her charity work".
In Chapter VII, a missing quotation mark was added after "What, indeed, is moral law?"
In Chapter IX, "disdiscover what she was" was changed to "discover what she was".
In Chapter X, "Disliking him as he did" was changed to "Disliking him as she did".
In Chapter XI, "as abnormal as her depondency had been before" was changed to "as abnormal as her despondency had been before".
In Chapter XVIII, "I promise to an emotionless judge" was changed to "I promise to be an emotionless judge", and "harded and harder to wait" was changed to "harder and harder to wait".
In Chapter XX, "clearly defined discusion" was changed to "clearly defined discussion", and "the overwelming appreciation of beauty in nature" was changed to "the overwhelming appreciation of beauty in nature".
[Transcriber's Note: The following summary originally appeared at the beginning of the serial's second installment.]
When the City of Panama foundered off the coast of Chile, Lawrence Gordon suddenly realized he had been left, in the frenzy of the disaster, alone on the deck.