her glorious
beauty, and yet know that her love and her soul were dead in their chill
pride to me----"

He paused again, and leaned against the window, his chest heaving, and
hot tears standing in his haughty eyes, wrung from the very anguish of
his soul. The pride that had never before bent to any human thing, was
now cast in the dust before a woman who never did, and probably never
would, love him in return.

V.

THE DUEL, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.

The contemptible young puppy, for whom Telfer considered the honor of a
ball from his pistol a great deal too good in the morning, sent
Heavysides, of the 40th, a chum of his found up at the Bad, to claim
"satisfaction," the valor produced in him by Sillery over night having
been kept up since by copious draughts of cognac and Seltzer. Having
signified to Heavysides that the Major would do Mr. Snobley the favor of
shooting him in the retired valley of Koenigshoehle at sunrise the next
day, I went to tell Telfer, who had a hearty laugh at the young fellow's
challenge.

"I'd give him something to shoot me through the heart," said he,
bitterly, "but I don't suppose he will. He's practised at pigeons, not
at men, probably. I won't hurt him much, but a little lesson will do him
good. Mind nobody in the house gets wind of the affair. Though I make a
fool of myself in her defence, there is no need that she or others
should know it. But if the boy should do for me, tell her, Vane--tell
her," said the Major, shading his eyes with his hand, "that I have
learnt to love her as I never dreamt I should love any woman, and that I
do not blame her for the just lesson she has read me for the rudeness
and the unjust prejudice I indulged in so long towards her. She
retaliated fairly upon me, and God forbid that she should have one hour
of her life embittered through remorse for me."

His voice sank into a whisper as he spoke; then, with an effort, he
forced himself into calmness, and went to play billiards with Marc. This
was the man who, three months before, had told me with such contemptuous
decision that "we need never fall in love unless it's convenient; and
as to caring for a girl who doesn't care for us, that was a weakness
with which he couldn't sympathize at all!"

Late that night, Telfer and I, coming down the stairs, met the
Tressillian going up them to her room. The Major stopped her, and held
out his hand, with a softened light in his eyes. "Will you not bid me
good