ping now. Therese would not
leave her there alone in the house--of that he was sure. And he
pictured Therese at this moment seated at his fire-side. He would find
her there when he entered. His heart beat tumultuously at the thought.
It was a very weak moment with him, possibly, one in which his
unnerved condition stood for some account. But he felt that when he
saw her there, waiting for him, he would cast himself at her feet and
kiss them. He would crush her white hands against his bosom. He would
bury his face in her silken hair. She should know how strong his love
was, and he would hold her in his arms till she yield back tenderness
to his own. But--Therese met him on the steps. As he was mounting
them, she was descending; wrapped in her long cloak, her pretty head
covered by the dark hood.

"Oh, are you going?" he asked.

She heard the note of entreaty in his voice.

"Yes," she answered, "I shouldn't have left her before you came; but I
knew you were here; I heard your horse's tread a moment ago. She's
asleep. Good night. Take courage and have a brave heart," she said,
pressing his hand a moment in both hers, and was gone.

The room was as he had pictured it; order restored and the fire
blazing brightly. On the table was a pot of hot tea and a tempting
little supper laid. But he pushed it all aside and buried his face
down upon the table into his folded arms, groaning aloud. Physical
suffering; thwarted love, and at the same time a feeling of
self-condemnation, made him wish that life were ended for him.

Fanny awoke close upon morning, not knowing what had aroused her. She
was for a little while all bewildered and unable to collect herself.
She soon learned the cause of her disturbance. Hosmer was tossing
about and his outstretched arm lay across her face, where it had
evidently been flung with some violence. She took his hand to move it
away, and it burned her like a coal of fire. As she touched him he
started and began to talk incoherently. He evidently fancied himself
dictating a letter to some insurance company, in no pleased terms--of
which Fanny caught but snatches. Then:

"That's too much, Mrs. Lafirme; too much--too much--Don't let Gregoire
burn--take him from the fire, some one. Thirty day's credit--shipment
made on tenth," he rambled on at intervals in his troubled sleep.

Fanny trembled with apprehension as she heard him. Surely he has brain
fever she thought, and she laid her hand gently on his