t merit.

Juliet did not love Godfrey, but his conversation amused her, and
helped to divert her mind from brooding over unpleasant thoughts. She
received him with kindness, for his situation claimed her sympathy, and
she did all in her power to reconcile him to the change which had taken
place in his circumstances. Godfrey was not insensible to the difference
in her manner, when addressing him, to what it had been formerly, and he
attributed that to a growing attachment which was but the result of
pity. Without giving him the least encouragement to entertain hopes she
never meant to realize, Juliet, with all the romance of her nature, had
formed the happy scheme of being able to convert the young infidel from
the paths of doubt and error, and animating him with an earnest zeal to
obtain a better heritage than the one he had lost.

Young enthusiasts are fond of making proselytes, and Juliet was not
aware that she was treading upon dangerous ground, with a very subtle
companion. Untouched by the sacred truths she sought to impress upon his
mind, and which indeed were very distasteful to him, Godfrey, in order
to insinuate himself into the good graces of his fair instructress,
seemingly lent a willing ear to her admonitions, and pretended to be
deeply sensible of their importance.

Since he had arrived at an age to think for himself, he had rejected the
Bible, and never troubled himself to peruse its pages. Juliet proposed
that they should read it together, and an hour every afternoon was
chosen for that purpose. Godfrey, in order to lengthen these interviews,
started objections at every line, in his apparent anxiety to arrive at a
knowledge of the truth.

With all the zeal of a youthful and self-elected teacher, Juliet found a
peculiar pleasure in trying to clear up the disputed points; in removing
his doubts and strengthening his faith; and, when at length he artfully
seemed to yield to her arguments, the glow that brightened her cheeks,
and proclaimed the innocent joy of her heart, gave to her lovely
countenance a thousand additional charms.

One evening their lecture had been protracted to an unusual length; and
Juliet concluded from the silence of her pupil, that he was at last
convinced of the truth of her arguments. She closed the sacred volume,
and awaited her companion's answer, but he remained buried in profound
thought.

"Mr. Godfrey, do you still believe in the non-existence of a Deity?"

"Forgive me,