, had been invited by George Brand to dine with him on this
evening--Humphreys having to start for Wolverhampton next day--and the
three were just sitting down when Lord Evelyn called in, uninvited, and
asked if he might have a plate placed for him. Humphreys was anxious
that their host should set out with him for the North in the morning;
but Brand would not promise. He was obviously thinking of other things.
He was at once restless, preoccupied, and silent.

"I hope, my lord, you have come to put our friend here in better
spirits," said Humphreys, blushing a little as he ventured to call one
of the Brands of Darlington his friend.

"What is the matter?"

At this moment Waters appeared at the door with a letter in his hand.
Brand instantly rose, went forward to him and took the letter, and
retired into an adjoining room. Without looking, he know from whom it
had come.

His hand was shaking as he opened the envelope; but the words that met
his eyes were calm.

"My dear friend,--Your letter has given me joy and pain. Joy that you
still adhere to your noble resolve; that you have found gladness in your
life; that you will work on to the end, whatever the fruit of the work
may be. But this other thought of yours--that only distresses me; it
clouds the future with uncertainty and doubt, where there should only be
clear faith. My dear friend, I must ask you to put away that thought.
Let the _feu sacre_ of the regenerator, the liberator, have full
possession of you. How I should blame myself if I were to distract you
from the aims to which you have devoted your life. I have no one to
advise me; but this I know is _right_. You will, I think, not
misunderstand me--you will not think it unmaidenly of me--if I confess
to you that I have written these words with some pain, some touch of
regret that all is not possible to you that you may desire. But for one
soul on devotion. Do I express myself clearly?--you know English is not
my native tongue. If we may not go through life together, in the sense
that you mean, we need not be far apart; and you will know, as you go
forward in the path of a noble duty, that there is not any one who
regards you and the work you will do with a greater pride and affection
than your friend,

NATALIE."

What could it all mean? he asked himself. This was not the letter of a
woman who loved another man; she would have been more explicit; she
would have given sufficient reason for her refusal.