emporary home?"

"Of course. So much better to do without, especially in this weather!"

"I assure you we have not been uncomfortable until, perhaps, to-night."

"May I ask the amount, Miss Douglas, of your present income?"

"I do not think you ought to ask," said the poverty-stricken young
mistress, bravely.

"But I do ask. And you--will answer."

"It has been, although not large, sufficient for our needs," replied
Anne, who, in spite of her desire to hide the truth from him, was yet
unable to put the statement into the present tense; but she hoped that
he would not notice it.

On the contrary, however, Dexter answered instantly: "Has been? Then it
is not now?"

"I have recently lost my place in a church choir; but I hope soon to
obtain another position."

"And in the mean time you live on--hope? Forgive me if I seem
inquisitive and even harsh, Miss Douglas; but you do not realize how all
this impresses me. The last time I saw you you were richly dressed, a
favorite in a luxurious circle, the reputed heiress of a large fortune.
Little more than a year passes, and I meet you in the street at
twilight, alone and desolate; I come to your home, and find it cold and
empty; I look at you, and note your dress. You can offer me nothing,
hardly a fire. It hurts me, Anne--hurts me deeply--to think that all
this time I have had every luxury, while _you_ have suffered."

"No, not suffered," she replied. But her voice trembled. This strong
assertive kindness touched her lonely heart keenly.

"Then if you have not suffered as yet--and I am thankful to hear you say
it--you will suffer; or rather you might have suffered if I had not met
you in time. But never again, Anne--never again. Why, my child, do you
not remember that I begged you to be my wife? Shall she who, if she had
willed it, would now have been so near and dear to me, be left to
encounter toil and privation, while _I_ have abundance? Never,
Anne--never!"

He left his place, took her hand, and held it in his warm grasp. There
was nothing save friendly earnestness in his eyes as they met her upward
look, and seeing this, she felt herself leaning as it were in spirit
upon him: she had indeed need of aid. He smiled, and comprehended all
without another word.

"I must go on the ten-o'clock train," he said, cheerfully, coming back
to daily life again. "And before I go, in some way or another, that good
Irish goblin of yours must manufacture a supper for me; from