ot the
beating of that baleful heart, which now, filled with quenchless
hate, throbbed vehemently and rapidly in the fury of the hour.

Unconscious of all else, and oblivious of the outer world--and why?
They loved. Enough. Each knew the love of the other, though no words
had spoken it.

"Oh, my friend!" suddenly exclaimed Lord Chetwynde, in a voice which
was low and deep and full of passion--a voice which was his own, and
no longer a whisper--"Oh, my friend! my beloved! forgive my words;
forgive my wildness, my passion; forgive my love. It is agony to me
when I know that I must lose you. Soon we must part; I must go, my
beloved! my own! I must go to the other end of the earth, and never,
never, never more can we hope to meet again. How can I give you up?
There is a gulf between us that divides you from me. How can I live
without you?"

These words poured forth from him in passionate impetuosity--burning
words they were, and the lady whose hand he clasped seemed to quiver
and tremble in sympathy with their meaning. He clung to her hand.
Every moment deprived him more and more of that self-restraint and
that profound consideration for her which he had so long maintained.
Never before had he so forgotten himself as to speak words like
these. But now separation was near, and she was alone with him, and
the hour and the opportunity were his.

"I can not give you up. My life without you is intolerable," he
groaned. "God knows how I have struggled against this. You know how
faithfully I have kept a guard over my words and acts. But now my
longing overmasters me. My future is like hell without you. Oh, love!
oh, Ella! listen to me! Can you give me up? Will you be willing to
do wrong for my sake? _Will you come with me_?"

A deep silence followed, broken by a sob from the lady.

"You are mine! you are mine!" he cried. "Do not let me go away into
desolation and despair. Come with me. We will fly to India. We will
be happy there through life. We will forget all the miseries that we
have known in the great joy that we will have in one another's
presence. Say that you will. See! I give up every thing; I throw all
considerations to the winds. I trample even on _honor_ and _duty_ for
your sake. Come with me!"

He paused, breathless from the terrible emotion that had now
overpowered him. The lady trembled. She tried to withdraw her hand,
but he clung to it. She staggered to her feet, and stood trembling.

"Oh!" she faltered