atched us both. I felt that watch upon us, though I had
till then shunned his looks; now, as I turned my eyes from Fanny's, that
look came full upon me,--soft, compassionate, benignant. Suddenly, and
with an unutterable expression of nobleness, the marquis turned to Lady
Ellinor and said: "Pardon me for telling you an old story. A friend of
mine--a man of my own years--had the temerity to hope that he might
one day or other win the affections of a lady young enough to be his
daughter, and whom circumstances and his own heart led him to prefer
from all her sex. My friend had many rivals; and you will not wonder,
for you have seen the lady. Among them was a young gentleman who for
months had been an inmate of the same house (hush, Lady Ellinor! you
will hear me out; the interest of my story is to come), who respected
the sanctity of the house he had entered, and had left it when he felt
he loved, for he was poor, and the lady rich. Some time after, this
gentleman saved the lady from a great danger, and was then on the eve of
leaving England (hush! again, hush!). My friend was present when these
two young persons met, before the probable absence of many years, and
so was the mother of the lady to whose hand he still hoped one day
to aspire. He saw that his young rival wished to say, 'Farewell!' and
without a witness; that farewell was all that his honor and his reason
could suffer him to say. My friend saw that the lady felt the natural
gratitude for a great service, and the natural pity for a generous and
unfortunate affection; for so, Lady Ellinor, he only interpreted the sob
that reached his ear! What think you my friend did? Your high mind at
once conjectures. He said to himself: 'If I am ever to be blest with the
heart which, in spite of disparity of years, I yet hope to win, let
me show how entire is the trust that I place in its integrity and
innocence; let the romance of first youth be closed, the farewell of
pure hearts be spoken, unembittered by the idle jealousies of one mean
suspicion.' With that thought, which you, Lady Ellinor, will never
stoop to blame, he placed his hand on that of the noble mother, drew her
gently towards the door, and calmly confident of the result, left these
two young natures to the unwitnessed impulse of maiden honor and manly
duty."

All this was said and done with a grace and earnestness that thrilled
the listeners; word and action suited to each with so inimitable a
harmony that the