nt of any other estranged him, or was the
teaching of the society in which she moved the reason? Poor fellow! how
unfairly had she treated him,----even to that very last incident of
their last meeting!--and now they were to meet no more! No, death itself
could not more effectually separate them than did space and destiny.
Even this she felt to be better, far better, than the chances of renewed
intimacy in the world. Lady Hester had not told her why she had never
divulged her secret; still less to what end she revealed it now, when
the knowledge must be only misery. The mention of Norwood, and the vague
half-threat connected with his name, gave her but little uneasiness,
since her mind had but space for one absorbing thought,--George loved
her! There was the sum of every reflection; and all the world around
her, in its splendor or its brilliancy, the tortuous paths of political
intrigue, the quiet byways of home-affection, the present and the
future, were all as nothing when weighed against this one thought.

If her first impression had been to blame Lady Hester for revealing the
secret, her second was to thank her with her whole heart. She remembered
D'Esmonde, too, and the reasonings by which he accompanied the delivery
of the letter; and she felt that this consciousness was a blessing
of which no vicissitude could rob her,--that come what might of
disappointment or sorrow in life, here, at least, in her heart of
hearts, was one hoarded treasure to compensate for all. If there were
but one to whom she could confide her secret, with whom she could talk
over her sorrow, she thought that she would be contented. To Nelly she
dared not; to Frank she could not speak of it; what, then, of Nina?
Alas! it was no longer a secret to _her!_ Nina had seen the picture,
and although nothing in her manner betrayed the slightest consciousness,
Kate knew her too well not to feel herself in her power.

Nina's demeanor, however, exhibited nothing of insolent triumph; on the
contrary, her manner was gentle, even to submissiveness, and something
almost affectionate seemed to mingle with the feeling in which she
fulfilled her duties. Kate remarked this, and only needed the courage to
take advantage of it At first the very idea of Nina's consciousness
was torture; but day by day this terror grew weaker, till at last she
actually wished that the moment of explanation was over, and that she
could pour out all her griefs before her. "She may hav