morning air was laden. As yet he did not suspect that he had fallen in
love. I wonder why we use the term "fallen" in this connection, as
though the acquirement of this chief passion of the human heart were a
descent, rather than an elevation of the soul, as it surely is. For
one must be on a higher plane, from that moment when he abandons
himself as the first consideration of his thoughts, and begins to
sacrifice his own desires, that he may add to the pleasures of
another.

The first meeting between Agnes and Leon was one to which the former
looked forward with anticipated embarrassment, while Leon scarcely
thought of it at all, until the moment came. But when they did meet,
all was reversed. The girl was self-possession personified, while Leon
never before found words so tardily arriving to meet the demands of
conversation. He went to his own room that night, and wondered what
had come to him, that he should have been so disturbed in the presence
of one for whom hitherto he had had rather a tolerance, because of her
intellectuality, than any feeling of personal inferiority such as now
occupied his thoughts. How could he be less than she? Was he not a
man, while she--she was only a woman? Only a woman! Ah! Therein lies
the mysterious secret of man's undoing; of his lifelong slavery, that
the wants of woman shall be supplied. Yet women prate of women's
rights, deploring the fact that they are less than those, who,
analysis would show, are but their slaves.

From this time on, the bud of love in the hearts of these two young
people advanced steadily towards maturity, and, before very long,
Agnes was living in a secret elysium of her own creation. She no
longer questioned her own feelings. She freely admitted to herself
that all her future happiness depended upon obtaining and enjoying
Leon's love. But she had come to be very sure of the fulfilment of her
heart's desire, since Leon's visits became more and more frequent, and
his books and science apparently lost their power to allure him away
from her side. The situation was very entertaining to her, who was so
fond of analyzing and studying the intricate problems of life; and, to
such as she, what could be happier occupation than probing the heart
of him to whom she had intrusted her own? She thought she saw so
plainly that he loved her, that it puzzled her to tell why it was that
as yet he himself was not aware of this fact. But at last the
awakening came.

One pl