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144 her resolves, and she really avoided all difficulty by speaking the truth.

"I do not," continued she, "talk about my uncle's displeasure, or the obstacles which it would entail—I talk to you of myself. I own I am changed—I cannot help it; nature never intended me for a heroine of a romance. I despise poverty—I dislike trouble—I enjoy the luxury which surrounds me—I delight in the homage—and I look to my future husband for more settled wealth and more assured rank. Of all that I most prize, you can offer me nothing; and I confess love to be insufficient for my happiness. You and Francesca will ever be to me my dear and my early friends. You"

"Say no more as a last grace!" interrupted Guido, passionately—"I ask it at your hands. I see it—I feel it all,—your place, and my own folly. May the holy Madonna keep you from—from ever suspecting the pain of knowing that in one little moment life can lose every hope."

He sprung so rapidly down the opposite path, that Marie almost asked, had she really seen him? But she heard the quick steps passing along the gravel-walk; she listened to their echo with anxiety, even tenderness; all became silent, and her heart filled with sorrow for the anguish she