ng against his
face.

It was an awkward and a most moving position. John was only a man, and
the spectacle of this strange woman, to whom he had lately grown so much
attached, plunged into intense emotion, awakened, apparently, by anxiety
about his fate, stirred him very deeply--as it would have stirred
anybody. Indeed, it struck some chord in him for which he could not
quite account, and its echoes charmed and yet frightened him. What did
it mean?

"Jess, dear Jess, pray stop; I can't bear to see you cry so," he said at
last.

She lifted her head from his shoulder and stood looking at him, her hand
resting on the edge of the table behind her. Her face was wet with tears
and looked like a dew-washed lily, and her beautiful eyes were alight
with a flame that he had never seen in the eyes of woman before. She
said nothing, but her whole face was more eloquent than any words, for
there are times when the features can convey a message in that language
of their own which is more suitable than any tongue we talk. There
she stood, her breast heaving with emotion as the sea heaves when the
fierceness of the storm has passed--a very incarnation of the intensest
love of woman. And as she stood something seemed to pass before her eyes
and blind her; a spirit took possession of her that absorbed all her
doubts and fears, and she gave way to a force that was of her and yet
compelled her, as, when the wind blows, the sails compel a ship. Then,
for the first time, where her love was concerned, she put out all her
strength. She knew, and had always known, that she could master him, and
force him to regard her as she regarded him, did she but choose. How
she knew it she could not say, but it was so. Now she yielded to an
unconquerable impulse and chose. She said nothing, she did not even
move, she only looked at him.

"Why were you in such a fright about me?" he stammered.

She did not answer, but kept her eyes upon his face, and it seemed to
John as though power flowed from them; for, while she looked, he felt
the change come. Everything melted away before the almost spiritual
intensity of her gaze. Bessie, honour, his engagement--all were
forgotten; the smouldering embers broke into flame, and he knew that he
loved this woman as he had never loved any living creature before--that
he loved her even as she loved him. Strong man as he was, he shook like
a leaf before her.

"Jess," he said hoarsely, "God forgive me! I love you!" a