f men by your actions, and have, with your own energies, acquired
wealth enough to make you a fair match in that respect for his daughter.
Make no allusion to the past; he is proud, and terribly sensitive on
that point, and might suspect you of making claims to equality because
of it."

Hepworth smiled as he stood before her in the moonlight, and she saw it.
Wide travel and experience among men had led him to think that, after
all, the highest level of humanity did not always range with hereditary
titles; but he only said, very calmly:

"Lord Hope cannot accuse me justly of aspiring where he is concerned."

Rachael felt the hot crimson leap to her face. Did Hepworth dare to
equal himself with Lord Hope, the one great idol of her own perverted
life? She answered, angrily, forgetting that the sinner was her only
brother:

"Lord Hope need have no fear that any man living will so aspire."

"Poor foolish girl!" said Hepworth, feeling the flash of her black eyes,
and touched with pity, rather than anger, by her quick resentment. "Do
not let us quarrel about Hope. If he makes you happy, I have nothing to
say against him."

"Happy! happy!"

Rachael shrank back in her seat, uttering these two words in a voice so
full of pathetic sorrow, that it brought the pain of coming tears into
Hepworth's eyes. He was glad to turn the subject.

"Then you are not willing that I should go away?"

"It would almost kill me to lose you again, Hepworth."

The young man felt that she spoke the truth; the very tones of her voice
thrilled him with a tender conviction.

"I will write to Hope," he said; "it must end in that or absence. It
shall not be my fault, Rachael, if I ever go far away from you again."

Lady Hope took her brother's hand between hers.

"That is kind, and I really think the only wise thing to be done," she
said. "Hope knows that you were born a gentleman."

"And having married into the family himself, can hardly say that it is
not good enough for his daughter. This is answer enough for all
objections of that kind. In fact, Rachael, I begin to think we can make
out a tolerable claim. Now that we have decided on the letter, I will
write it at once, here, if you will let me order more lights."

Hepworth rang the bell as he spoke, and directly wax candles were
burning on the ebony desk at which Lady Hope was accustomed to write.

Having made up his mind, Closs was not the man to hesitate in doing the
thing he had res