nds, who will not think the worse of you for being
less splendidly lodged; and surely it does not require a palace to be
happy with Mary--" "I could be happy with her," cried he convulsively,
"in a hovel! *"

"Believe me, my friend," said I, stepping up, and grasping him warmly by
the hand, "she can be the same with you. Ay, more: it will be a source
of pride and triumph to her--it will call forth all the latent energies
and fervent sympathies of her nature; for she will rejoice to prove that
she loves you for yourself. There is in every true woman's heart a spark
of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of
prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour
of adversity." I finished by persuading him to go home and unburden his
sad heart to his wife.

I must confess, notwithstanding all I have said, I felt some little
solicitude for the result. Who can calculate on the fortitude of one
whose whole life has been a round of pleasures? Her gay spirits might
revolt at the dark downward path of low humility, suddenly pointed out
before her, and might cling to the sunny regions in which they had
hitherto reveled.

In short, I could not meet Leslie next morning without trepidation. He
had made the disclosure.

"And how did she bear it?"

"Like an Angel! It seemed rather to be a relief to her mind, for she
threw her arms around my neck, and asked if this was all that had lately
made me unhappy."

Some days afterwards, he called upon me in the evening. He had disposed
of his dwelling-house, and taken a small cottage in the country, a few
miles from town. He had been busy all day in sending out furniture. The
new establishment required few articles, and those of the simplest kind.
All the splendid furniture of his late residence had been sold,
excepting his wife's harp. That, he said was too closely associated with
the idea of herself; it belonged to the little story of their loves; for
some of the sweetest moments of their courtship were those when he had
leaned over that instrument, and listened to the melting tones of her
voice. I could not but smile at this instance of romantic gallantry in a
doting husband.

He was now going out to the cottage, where his wife had been all day
superintending its arrangement. My feelings had become strongly
interested in the progress of this family story, and as it was a fine
evening, I offered to accompany him.

He was wearied with the fatigue