purity and wisdom, and
yet something that is not good or pure clings to him, which he has never
been able to shake loose. I perceive it in his melancholy glance; I
catch its accents in his uneven tones; it rises upon me from his most
thoughtful words, and makes his taking of a vow fearfully and warningly
significant. Yet how much he is honored by his fellow-men, and with what
reliance they look up to him for guidance and support. If I only knew
the secrets of his heart!" thought she.

It was a trembling scale that hung balancing in that young girl's hand
that night. On one side, frankness, cheerfulness, manly worth, honest
devotion, and a home with every adjunct of peace and prosperity; on the
other, love, gratitude, longing, admiration, and a dark shadow
enveloping all, called doubt. The scale would not adjust itself. It tore
her heart to turn from Mr. Sylvester, it troubled her conscience to
dismiss the thought of Mr. Ensign. The question was yet undecided when
she rose and began putting away her ornaments for the night.

What was there on her dressing-table that made her pause with such a
start, and cast that look of half beseeching inquiry at her own image in
the glass? Only another envelope with her name written upon it. But the
way in which she took it in her hand, and the half guilty air with which
she stole back with it to the fire, would have satisfied any looker-on I
imagine, that conscience or no conscience, debate or no debate, the
writer of these lines had gained a hold upon her heart, which no other
could dispute.

It was a compactly written note and ran thus:

"A man is not always responsible for what he does in moments of
great suspense or agitation. But if, upon reflection, he finds
that he has spoken harshly or acted unwisely, it is his duty to
remedy his fault; and therefore it is that I write you this
little note. Paula, I love you; not as I once did, with a
fatherly longing and a protective delight, but passionately,
yearningly, and entirely, with the whole force of my somewhat
disappointed life; as a man loves for whom the world has
dissolved leaving but one creature in it, and that a woman. I
showed you this too plainly to-night. I have no right to
startle or intimidate your sweet soul into any relation that
might hereafter curb or dissatisfy you; if you can love me
freely, with no back-lookings to any younger lover left behind,