nresistingly
on his part from his face, and pressed it to her own. While she
gazed fondly upon the pale; wan countenance which it had concealed,
it seemed, alas! to dawn slowly upon her that this confused heap
of material was but an indication of ideas equally disturbed, and
energies as broken. To whom had she wedded herself? To a man whose
whole soul was absorbed in one idea, and that an idea which evidently
separated him from her, which created a gulf between them, that not
fame, nor power, nor boundless wealth, could ever fill up, for that
gulf is fathomless--the gulf of ambition, for which ambition barters,
as in this instance, its enjoyment--manhood too often its truth--and
old age its repose. Yes, she had linked her destiny to such a man,
and now she felt the full import of the vow she had made, of the
pledge she had taken. She had done so wittingly, knowingly, with
consideration; but not until that moment had the full force of her
position burst upon her.

"Dumiger," she again whispered in the small, still voice of love;
bending her lips to his hand at the same time,--"Dumiger!"

There was silence, for he slept.

But slowly, as though by a secret sympathy, he awoke to consciousness:
he looked wildly around the room, and then turned a keen, earnest gaze
on the form near him.

"Marguerite, my love," he said gently, and then he put his arm around
her waist, and pressed his lips to hers, "you promised me, Marguerite,
that you would let me toil through this night."

"So I did, Dumiger," she replied; "but I felt nervous and wretched; I
could not sleep: besides, look out, the night is already passed, it is
quite morning, and very chilly too," she said, as she drew her shawl
closer round her bosom.

"Yes, you will catch cold, my darling. Leave me."

"And you, Dumiger, will you remain here, poring over these volumes,
and torturing your brains? I am sure, that you will succeed far more
easily (for I never doubt your success, but lament the price you will
have to pay for it), you will succeed far better by giving yourself
more rest, and working by day instead of night; your cheek is quite
pale. Dumiger: now, in your boyhood, you have lines marked on your
forehead which in others are the result of pain and toil. Your eyes
have lost--"

She was about to add, "their brightness," when as though a sudden ray
of light had flashed through them, they gleamed with even more than
their wonted intelligence.

"Marguerite,