It had been as remote from the present and her own experience as lives of adventure in strange and foreign lands.

She had awakened at last to find that it was like her vital breath.

By some law of her nature she had given, not merely her thoughts and affection, but her very self to another.
To her dismay it made no difference that he had not sought the gift and was not even aware of it.

Circumstances over which she had no control had brought her into close companionship with Graydon Muir.
She had seen him almost daily for years; she knew him with the intimacy of a sister, yet without the safeguard of a natural tie; and from his genial kindness she had drawn almost all the life she had ever possessed.

With an unconsciousness akin to that of a plant which takes root and thrives upon finding a soil adapted to it, her love had been developed by his strong, sunny nature.