ther powers.
Liver of a diviner life,
He turns a vacant gaze
Toward the theater of strife,
Where we consume our days.
--R. M. MILNES.

On that Monday morning Alden Lytton left Blue Cliff Hall with his heart
full of joy and thankfulness.

He was the accepted lover of Emma Cavendish. And he was so somewhat to
his own amazement, for he had not intended to propose to her so soon.

She was a very wealthy heiress, and he was a poor young lawyer, just
about to begin the battle of life.

They were both still very young and could afford to wait a few years.
And, ardently as he loved her, he wished to see his way clearly to fame
and fortune by his profession before presuming to ask the beautiful
heiress to share his life.

But the impulse of an ardent passion may, in some unguarded hour,
overturn the firmest resolution of wisdom.

This was so in the case of Alden Lytton.

Up to Saturday, the last day but one of his stay at Blue Cliff Hall, the
lovers were not engaged.

Rumor, in proclaiming their engagement, had been, as she often is,
beforehand with the facts.

But on that Saturday evening, after tea, Alden Lytton found himself
walking with Emma Cavendish up and down the long front piazza.

It was a lovely summer night. There was no moon, but the innumerable
stars were shining with intense brilliancy from the clear blue-black
night sky; the earth sent up an aroma from countless fragrant flowers
and spicy shrubs; the dew lay fresh upon all; and the chirp of myriads
of little insects of the night almost rivaled the songs of birds during
the day. And so the night was filled with the sparkling light of stars,
the fresh coolness of dew, the rich perfume of vegetation and the low
music of insect life.

The near mountains, like walls of Eden, shut in the beautiful scene.

Alden Lytton and Emma Cavendish sauntered slowly up and down the long
piazza feeling the divine influence of the hour and scene, without
thinking much about either.

Indeed, they thought only of each other.

They were conscious that this was to be their last walk together for
many months, perhaps for years.

Something to this effect Alden murmured.

He received no reply, but he felt a tear drop upon his hand.

Then he lost his self-control. The strong love swelling in his soul
burst forth into utterance, and with impassioned tones and eloquent,
though broken words, he told her of his most presuming and a