Chapter 28: Parting

⁠​​​‌​​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌‌‌⁠Several minutes have passed—to the duke a world of happiness—to the countess of misery. The duke bent over the beautiful trembling form to clasp her in his arms for the first time.

"Have I won you at last—my long-sought love?" he exclaimed, rapturously. "Do you now perceive what your dispensations of Providence mean? The shrewdness and persistence of a single man who knows what he wants, has baffle