hat,
even--hoping;--hoping that some day, in some degree, you may care for me
again."

She stopped. She could say no more. And she could only hear her own
shuddering breaths.

Then Augustine moved. He pushed back his chair and rose. She waited to
hear him leave the room, and leave her, to her doom, in silence.

But he was standing still.

Then he came near to her. And now she waited for the words that would be
worse than silence.

But at first there were no words. He had fallen on his knees before
her; he had put his arms around her; he was pressing his head
against her breast while, trembling as she trembled, he
said:--"Mother--Mother--Mother."

All barriers had fallen at the cry. It was the cry of the exile, the
banished thing, returning to its home. He pressed against the heart to
which she had never herself dared to draw him.

But, incredulous, she parted her hands and looked down at him; and still
she did not dare enfold him.

"Augustine--do you understand?--Do you still love me?--"

"Oh Mother," he gasped,--"what have I been to you that you can ask me!"

"You can forgive me?" Amabel said, weeping, and hiding her face against
his hair.

They were locked in each other's arms.

And, his head upon her breast, as if it were her own heart that spoke to
her, he said:--"I will atone to you.--I will make up to you--for
everything.--You shall be glad that I was born."

End of Project Gutenberg's Amabel Channice, by Anne Douglas Sedgwick

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMABEL CHANNICE ***

***** This file should be named 28631.txt or 28631.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/6/3/28631/

Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Jennie Gottschalk and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
(This file was produced from images generously made
available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT