. In his heart he was glad that
Alexander had been set free by others, and need therefore never feel
himself under heavy obligations to Paul. It was not in the strong man's
nature to wish to revenge himself upon his brother because the latter
had been the favored child and the favorite son. Nor, if he had
contemplated any kind of vengeance, would he have chosen the Christian
method of heaping coals of fire upon his head. He merely thought of
Alexander as he would have thought of any other man not his relation at
all, and he did not wish to appear in the light of his liberator. It was
enough for Paul that he had been found at last, and that his own
reputation was now free from stain. Nothing prevented him any longer
from marrying Hermione, and he looked forward to the consummation of all
his hopes in the immediate future.

The day closed in a great rejoicing. John Carvel insisted that we should
all dine with him that night; and our numbers being now swelled by the
addition of Alexander Patoff and Gregorios Balsamides, we were a large
party,--ten at table. I shall never forget the genuine happiness which
was on every face. The conversation flowed brilliantly, and every one
felt as though a weight had been lifted from his or her spirits.
Alexander Patoff was of course the most prominent person, and as he
turned his beautiful eyes from one to the other of us, and told us his
story with many episodes and comments, I think we all fell under his
fascination, and understood the intense love his mother felt for him. He
had indeed a woman's beauty with a man's energy, when his energy was
roused at all; and though the feminine element at first seemed out of
place in him, it gave him that singular faculty of charming when he
pleased, and that brilliancy which no manly beauty can ever have.

It was late when we got home, and I went to bed with a profound
conviction that Paul Patoff's troubles had come to a happy end, and that
he would probably be married to Hermione in the course of the summer. If
things had ended thus, my story would end here, and perhaps it would be
complete. Unfortunately, events rarely take place as we expect that they
will, still more rarely as we hope that they may; and it is generally
when our hopes coincide with our expectations, and we feel most sure of
ourselves, that fate overtakes us with the most cruel disappointments.
Paul Patoff had not yet reached the quiet haven of his hopes, and I have
not reached