h had comforted the
last days of his much-regretted friends. He prayed that Heaven would
bless her, and reward her self-denying efforts, and closed with saying,
"You are all that is left to me, Gertrude. If I loved you before, my
heart is now bound to you by ties stronger than those of earth; my
hopes, my labours, my prayers, are all for you. God grant that we may
some day meet again!"

For an hour Gertrude sat lost in meditation; her thoughts went back to
her home at Uncle True's, and the days when she and Willie passed so
many happy hours in close companionship, little dreaming of the long
separation so soon to ensue. She was startled at last from her reverie
by the voices of Mrs. Graham's visitors, who were now taking leave.

Mrs. Bruce and her son lingered a little, until the carriages had left
with the guests for the city, and, as they were making their farewells
on the door-step, beneath Gertrude's window, she heard Mrs. Graham say,
"Remember, Mr. Bruce, we dine at two; and, Miss Fanny, we shall hope to
see you also."

Mr. Bruce's attentions to her had that day been marked; and the
professions of admiration he had whispered in her ear had been still
more so. Both these attentions and this admiration were unsought and
undesired; neither were they flattering to the high-minded girl, who was
superior to coquetry, and whose self-respect was wounded by the assured
manner in which Mr. Bruce made his advances. As a youth of seventeen,
she had marked him as indolent and ill-bred. Her sense of justice,
however, would have obliterated this recollection, had his character and
manner been changed on the renewal of their acquaintance, some years
after. But this was not the case, for outward polish could not cloud
Gertrude's discernment; and she perceived that his old characteristics
remained, rendered more glaring by ill-concealed vanity. As a boy, he
had stared at Gertrude from impudence, and inquired her name out of idle
curiosity; as a youthful coxcomb he had resolved to flirt with her,
because his time hung heavy on his hands. But, to his surprise, he found
the country girl quite insensible to the flattery and notice which many
a city belle had coveted; and that when he tried raillery, he usually
proved the disconcerted party.

It was something new to Mr. Bruce to find any lady thus indifferent to
his merits; and proved such an awakening to his ambition, that he
resolved to recommend himself to Gertrude, and consequent