_through you_ would be
revealed to _me_; but the time for such revelation is passed; God has
willed it otherwise. Brother,' her voice sank to a solemn cadence; I
hear the low tones _now_, as I heard them _then:_ 'I am the better and
purer for your affection; you have led me, by what process I know not,
from the sensuous and the earthly, to the spiritual and the holy, and
there is no epithet applied to mortals, reverently endearing enough to
be coupled with your name. I would that my words were as eloquent as my
feelings, that you might know what immeasurable gratitude I vainly
strive to compress in the brief words: I thank you.'

She wept, and I laid my hand on the bowed head in mute and speechless
blessing.

'O Father!' I cried, in my voiceless anguish, 'Omnipotent and good! is
there nothing that can open her eyes even now, and give me the being
thine own holy laws have made my own?' No! no! The wild hope that
prompted the useless prayer died within my heart as I breathed it.
Jealous of the brief interest that could draw his betrothed's attention
from himself but for a moment, _he_, the boy lover, now entered, and
there were no longer gentle looks nor solemn words. He loved her best in
her moods of artless gayety, and she hurriedly brushed her tears away,
and hastened to be merry. Brief as had been the glimpse she had given me
of her inner nature, the knowledge proved my comforter in this my time
of trial, and I thanked God for it humbly and gratefully.

I then had really led her from the earthly to the spiritual and holy.
Her heart had unawares entertained an angel visitant; mine had
unconsciously performed an angel's ministry; I, next to God and his
messengers, had power to satisfy the deepest wants of her nature. Oh,
solitary drop of consolation! The love cherished by her, and her heart's
mistaken choice, was only of this _earth_; there was no element of
spirituality to render it _immortal_. It was doomed to die with the
passion that gave it birth, and from the grave there should be no
resurrection.

Blessed be God forever!... Lo! The rustic church is trimmed with
evergreen, and lighted for the marriage service. Curious lookers on are
there; and with that perverse desire to test the might of their
endurance, common with those who suffer, I too, am there, though I know
that her image, as she stands at the altar, where I shall see her for
the last time, through the days and nights of anguish sure to follow
_this_