g that the day depended upon Madeleine, and
if the latter remained single, she would do the same.

Maurice decided that, as soon as his father had recovered sufficiently
to travel, it would be advisable for the whole party to take up their
abode in Charleston. Many and sharp were the pangs he suffered at the
thought of leaving a city which Madeleine's presence rendered so dear;
but he would be worthier of her esteem, and his own self-respect, if he
resolutely and steadfastly pursued the course he had marked out for
himself before she was restored to him. To prepare the mind of his
grandmother, and to learn Bertha's opinion of the proposed change, were
subjects of importance which demanded immediate attention. He spoke to
his cousin first, seizing an opportunity when the countess chanced to be
absent.

Bertha looked amazed, and asked, "How can you leave Madeleine?"

"When I think of it, I feel as though I could not; and yet I must. I
cannot linger here in idleness. Madeleine herself would be the first one
to bid me go."

"I dare say!" answered Bertha, pettishly.

"But you, Bertha," continued Maurice, "how will you leave one who has a
dearer claim upon you, than I, alas! will ever have upon Madeleine? How
will you be reconciled to part from M. de Bois?"

"I answer as you do, that I _must_."

"But you, Bertha, have an alternative; Gaston, if he could induce you to
remain,--induce you to give him a wife,--would be enraptured."

"I suppose so," returned Bertha, with charming demureness; "but that is
out of the question. Wherever my aunt goes, I will go."

"But how long is this to last, Bertha?"

"Nobody knows, except Madeleine, perhaps. I shall not be married until
she is."

That very suggestion sent such a shuddering thrill through the veins of
Maurice, that he cried out,--

"Bertha! for the love of Heaven! never mention such a possibility again!
When the time comes, if come it must, I trust I shall behave like a man,
but I have not the courage now to contemplate a shock so terrible. The
very suggestion distracts me. I shall never cease to love
Madeleine,--never! Were she the wife of another man, I should be forced
to fly from her forever, that I might not profane her purity by even a
shadow of that love; yet I should love her all the same! My love is
interwound with my whole being; the drawing of my breath, the flowing of
my blood are not more absolute necessities of my existence; my love for
Madeleine is li