I had been. My chief
solace, when not studying, was at the instrument; and here with my
pupils did I spend hour after hour, reveling not alone in the written
music, but improvising according to my will. These pieces pleased me
best, for here I could pour out my anguished feelings, the mournful,
withering wail of my despair.

"How long this might have lasted I can not say; but my heavenly
Father, against whom my heart, without knowing it, rebelled so
grievously, was pleased to deal mercifully with me, and sent me in my
withering, deadening grief a great and precious gift. You have often
asked me about this miniature, Maggie," and she unclasped a bracelet
from her arm. It was richly chased, and contained the likeness of a
noble-looking man in the prime of manhood.

"It was my husband, my noble, generous husband," and she pressed her
lips to the dumb semblance.

"Harris Levick was an inmate of the same boardinghouse with me, but
for a long time we were as perfect strangers. He pitied me at first;
and not repulsed by the manner in which his advances were met, he
persevered until my heart gave way, and I learned first to regard him
as a friend, a brother, and after that to love him with all the
devotion of one whose love flowed in but one channel to one object.
Once more I entered society because he wished it, and again sunshine
rested in my heart and on my life.

"Months passed; we were married, and I left my labors at the seminary
to preside over a home simple in all its furnishing, for Harris was
not wealthy, but oh, what a paradise it was to me! We had books,
flowers, and music. We had young hearts full of love for each other
and hope for the future, and for one short year I forgot all the
bitterness of the past; and when love's signet ring was clasped with
one sweet pearl I felt that God was good to me, and thought I was
grateful for his blessings. Four years with rare delight swept over
me, and when God touched my treasures I found that my heart was as
proud and as bitter as ever.

"Harris was a lawyer, with fine talent and a steadily increasing
practice. For a young man he was said to excel, and all looked forward
to a brilliant future for him. How many times we talked over the home
we should possess in a few years, planning its surroundings and its
adornments with almost satisfaction, hardly thinking that change might
mar the programme; and still would Harris often close this dreaming
by, 'If God wills,' and