I shall at least try to make you
happier, though it may be in a different way. You have always been more
a friend and a fond companion than a slave to me, and now, now--" Della
paused, as if it were impossible for her to speak the words she would,
then added, after a moment's pause, "Minny, never let this dreadful
secret go farther, place a seal upon your lips, and let it die with you
for my sake. And, if you will stay, Minny, rather than to go and be free
and happy in your own way, I will do everything for you, love you, care
for you, all--only never, never let this dreadful truth be known."

"Never, Miss, so help me Heaven! Only let me stay with you, and be what
I have ever been to you, and I will be content. Try, dear Miss, to
forget all that's passed to-day, and let us stand together in the old
light."

"No, Minny, I can never forget it. The old light can never shine on me
again; but I will try always to remember it as I should; and now, Minn,
finish, undressing me; or rather, teach me to undress myself."

"I claim this as my privilege, Miss, and never want you to learn how."

Della smiled, and patted Minny's cheek. There had a change come over her
in the last few hours, such as she never thought to experience. It
seemed as if she had become more of a woman in that short space than she
had ever thought she would become. Her judgment and heart, too, seemed
suddenly to have expanded; and she felt more respect for herself than
she had ever done before. She had always been one who thought for
herself, notwithstanding there were so many to think for her; and, with
a spirit above all affectation, she looked at things in a plain,
common-sense, and true light. When the first shock was over in regard to
her relationship to Minny, she had struggled with her natural feelings
of wounded pride, till the matter stood before her as it was. Her father
was not one to win his child's affections, and Della had always feared
more than loved him; but of one so cold and stern she had never in all
her life thought this. But now that she knew it, she almost wondered how
it was she had never suspected as much before. Few girls, in Della's
position, would have talked with a slave as she talked to Minny--would
ever have thought of placing matters in so strong a light before her;
but Della was guileless and innocent at heart, with a child-spirit in
some things, yet more than woman's strength in others. She never thought
Minny could take ad