we might not meet more nearly! I wonder I did not die
during that quarter of an hour. I turned and looked at my brother; his
eyes were fixed upon the stage, and he was as curiously unmoved as if
the world were still steady and firm beneath my feet.

I did not look at Edward again; I feared to betray him; and the green
curtain fell, and my brother said, if I did not mind being left alone
for a few minutes, he would go. He left me, and Edward came to me, and
once more I saw him, and once more I heard his voice. He stayed only one
moment, only long enough to make an appointment with me for the next
morning, and then he left the theatre. The people around us thought
probably that he was a casual acquaintance, if indeed they thought about
it at all; and when my brother came back, he found me looking listless
and bored, and apologized for having been detained.

I had--and still have, thank God!--a friend in whom I trusted; to her I
had recourse, and it was by her help that I was enabled to keep my
appointment. Only those who have known the pain of such a parting can
ever hope to know the joy of such a meeting. I would like to make the
rest of this as short as possible. Edward had run the blockade to see
me; he had been to Washington, had stayed there three days, had heard of
my absence, obtained my address, and followed me to New York; he had
waited until twilight, when he had come to look at the house where I was
staying; as he was walking slowly on the opposite side of the street, he
had seen me come out with my brother, and had followed us to the
theatre. He had trusted to his long beard and the cropping of his curly
head as the most effectual disguise, and so far no one had recognized
him. The only people who had known of his being in Washington were the
friends with whom he stayed, the tailor who had sold him his clothes,
who had a son with Stuart's cavalry, and the girl, my old school friend,
who had given him my address, whom he went to see in the dusk hours of
the afternoon, and who had hospitably received him in the coal
cellar--which struck me, at the moment, as an infallible method of
arousing suspicion. He wanted me to return with him, or to marry him
and follow him by flag of truce; he was sure Providence had made his way
smooth on purpose to effect our union. His arguments were perhaps not
very logical, but they almost convinced me of what I wished to believe.
I was willing to bear the anger of my family, but co