s it may seem, seeing that you had heard it already, it
is not a week yet since it was settled; and had I written to you, I
could only have addressed my letter to you here."

"I wasn't thinking about that. I didn't specially want you to write
to me. What difference would it make?"

"But I should have felt that I owed it to your kindness and
your--regard for me."

"My regard! What's the use of regard?"

"You are not going to quarrel with me, Will,
because--because--because--. If you had really been my brother, as
you once said you would be, you could not but have approved of what
I have done."

"But I am not your brother."

"Oh, Will; that sounds so cruel!"

"I am not your brother, and I have no right to approve or
disapprove."

"I will not say that I could make my engagement with Captain Aylmer
dependent on your approval. It would not be fair to him to do so, and
it would put me into a false position."

"Have I asked you to make any such absurd sacrifice?"

"Listen to me, Will. I say that I could not do that. But, short of
that, there is nothing I would not do to satisfy you. I think so much
of your judgment and goodness, and so very much of your affection; I
love you so dearly, that--. Oh, Will, say a kind word to me!"

"A kind word; yes, but what sort of kindness?"

"You must know that Captain Aylmer--"

"Don't talk to me of Captain Aylmer. Have I said anything against
him? Have I ventured to make any objection? Of course, I know his
superiority to myself. I know that he is a man of the world, and that
I am not; that he is educated, and that I am ignorant; that he has a
position, and that I have none; that he has much to offer, and that I
have nothing. Of course, I see the difference; but that does not make
me comfortable."

"Will, I had learned to love him before I had ever seen you."

"Why didn't you tell me so, that I might have known there was no
hope, and have gone away utterly,--out of the kingdom? If it was all
settled then, why didn't you tell me, and save me from breaking my
heart with false hopes?"

"Nothing was settled then. I hardly knew my own mind; but yet I loved
him. There; cannot you understand it? Have I not told you enough?"

"Yes, I understand it."

"And do you blame me?"

He paused awhile before he answered her. "No; I do not blame you. I
suppose I must blame no one but myself. But you should bear with me.
I was so happy, and now I am so wretched."

There was nothing th