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295 that you love me, and I will cast everything which offends you away for ever. Oh, Helen, would you cruelly destroy me? Darling, darling, save me from destruction!"

'"Be sensible, be true, be a brave man; arise from your knees," she replied calmly; "be wise, and forsake the meanness of worldly idolatry in every shape. The happiness of a lifetime should not be bartered for the pleasures of an hour, or the lightness of a fugitive passion. Prove to me in a year from this time that you are capable of being changed, and I will then say, 'Julius, I love you, and will be your wife.'"

'I rose to fold her to my breast, but she fled from the room. At the door she encountered Reginald, who was gliding in in his usual cat-like style. I marked both of them. She was blushing like a rose; he assumed the appearance of a dead man just risen from the grave. The demon of jealousy entered into my soul.

'"Julius," he said, speaking as if something was choking him, "a gentleman is in the office waiting to speak with you, and there is a guard of soldiers in the street."

'In the office, seated in my father's chair, I found a noble-looking gentleman of middle age. He appeared to be suffering from partial, if not total, blindness, and he shaded his eyes from the light. He did not move or speak when I entered, but seemed to be lost in some splendid day-dream, for a seraphic smile was playing around his lips, and I thought it necessary to announce my presence by saying: "You wish to see me, sir?"

'"Yes," he replied with dignity, "I wish to see Mr. Winbourne, the head of this house. I am informed that he is ill."

"My father, sir, has been confined to his room for several weeks. I represent him in this business."

'"Are you his only son?"