aunt; and only returned here two
days since, to be present at her sister's marriage. Well, sir," he
continued, addressing Mr. Streatfield, "granting what you say, granting
that we all mentioned my absent daughter to you, as we are accustomed to
mention her among ourselves, simply as 'Clara,' you have still not
excused your conduct in my eyes. Remarkable as the resemblance is
between the sisters, more remarkable even, I am willing to admit, than
the resemblance usually is between twins, there is yet a difference,
which, slight, indescribable though it may be, is nevertheless
discernible to all their relations and to all their friends. How is it
that you, who represent yourself as so vividly impressed by your first
sight of my daughter Clara, did not discover the error when you were
introduced to her sister Jane, as the lady who had so much attracted
you."

"You forget, sir," rejoined Mr. Streatfield, "that I have never beheld
the sisters together until to-day. Though both were in the balcony when
I first looked up at it, it was Miss Clara Langley alone who attracted
my attention. Had I only received the smallest hint that the absent
sister of Miss Jane Langley was her _twin-sister_, I would have seen
her, at any sacrifice, before making my proposals. For it is my duty to
confess to you, Mr. Langley (with the candor which is your undoubted
due), that when I was first introduced to your daughter Jane, I felt an
unaccountable impression that she was the same as, and yet different
from, the lady whom I had seen in the balcony. Soon, however, this
impression wore off. Under the circumstances, could I regard it as any
thing but a mere caprice, a lover's wayward fancy? I dismissed it from
my mind; it ceased to affect me, until to-day, when I first discovered
that it was a warning which I had most unhappily disregarded; that a
terrible error had been committed, for which no one of us was to blame,
but which was fraught with misery, undeserved misery, to us all!"

"These, Mr. Streatfield, are explanations which may satisfy _you_," said
Mr. Langley, in a milder tone, "but they cannot satisfy _me_; they will
not satisfy the world. You have repudiated, in the most public and most
abrupt manner, an engagement, in the fulfilment of which the honor and
the happiness of my family are concerned. You have given me reasons for
your conduct, it is true; but will those reasons restore to my daughter
the tranquillity which she has lost, per