ou should not taunt me with being
childish, for if you were as unhappy as I have been for the last three
weeks, you too would want some friend."

"We all want a friend, do we not?"

"All of us that have anything good in our natures."

"Well, you have Caroline Helstone."

"Yes. And you have Mr. Hall."

"Yes. Mrs. Pryor is a wise, good woman. She can counsel you when you
need counsel."

"For your part, you have your brother Robert."

"For any right-hand defections, there is the Rev. Matthewson Helstone,
M.A., to lean upon; for any left-hand fallings-off there is Hiram Yorke,
Esq. Both elders pay you homage."

"I never saw Mrs. Yorke so motherly to any young man as she is to you. I
don't know how you have won her heart, but she is more tender to you
than she is to her own sons. You have, besides, your sister Hortense."

"It appears we are both well provided."

"It appears so."

"How thankful we ought to be!"

"Yes."

"How contented!"

"Yes."

"For my part, I am almost contented just now, and very thankful.
Gratitude is a divine emotion. It fills the heart, but not to bursting;
it warms it, but not to fever. I like to taste leisurely of bliss.
Devoured in haste, I do not know its flavour."

Still leaning on the back of Miss Keeldar's chair, Moore watched the
rapid motion of her fingers, as the green and purple garland grew
beneath them. After a prolonged pause, he again asked, "Is the shadow
_quite_ gone?"

"Wholly. As I _was_ two hours since, and as I _am_ now, are two
different states of existence. I believe, Mr. Moore, griefs and fears
nursed in silence grow like Titan infants."

"You will cherish such feelings no more in silence?"

"Not if I dare speak."

"In using the word '_dare_,' to whom do you allude?"

"To you."

"How is it applicable to me?"

"On account of your austerity and shyness."

"Why am I austere and shy?"

"Because you are proud."

"Why am I proud?"

"I should like to know. Will you be good enough to tell me?"

"Perhaps, because I am poor, for one reason. Poverty and pride often go
together."

"That is such a nice reason. I should be charmed to discover another
that would pair with it. Mate that turtle, Mr. Moore."

"Immediately. What do you think of marrying to sober Poverty many-tinted
Caprice?"

"Are you capricious?"

"_You_ are."

"A libel. I am steady as a rock, fixed as the polar star."

"I look out at some early hour of the day, and see a fine, perf