, that he was far handsomer than before. The features had
gained an expression of dignity and elevation from habits of command,
and there was a lofty pride in his look which became him well, the more
as it was now tempered with a gentle courtesy of manner which showed
itself in every word and every gesture towards her. A slight, scarcely
perceptible baldness, at the very top of the forehead, served to give
height to his head, and add to the thoughtful character of his look. His
dress, too, was peculiar, and probably set off to advantage his striking
features and handsome figure. He wore a richly embroidered pelisse,
fastened by a shawl at the waist, and on his head, rather jauntily set,
a scarlet fez stitched in gold, and ornamented with a star of diamonds
and emeralds.

"You are right," said he, with a winning but very melancholy smile.
"These last two years have aged me greatly. I have gone through a great
deal in them. Come," added he, as he seated himself at her side, and
took her hand in his, "come, tell me what have you heard of me? Be
frank; tell me everything."

"Nothing--absolutely nothing," said she.

"Do you mean that no one mentioned me?"

"We saw no one. Our life has been one of complete unbroken solitude."

"Well, but your letters; people surely wrote about me?"

"No," said she in some awkwardness, for she felt as though there was
something offensive in this oblivion, and was eager to lay it to the
charge of their isolation.

"Remember what I have told you about our mode of life."

"You read the newspapers, though! You might have come upon my name in
them!"

"We read none. We ceased to take them. We gave ourselves up to the
little cares and occupations of our home, and we really grew to forget
that there was a world outside us."

Had she been a shrewd reader of expression, she could not fail to have
noticed the intense relief her words gave him. He looked like one who
hears the blessed words Not Guilty! after hours of dread anxiety for his
fate. "And am I to believe," asked he, in a voice tremulous with joy,
"that from the hour I said farewell, to this day, that I have been to
you as one dead and buried and forgotten?"

"I don't think we forgot you; but we rigidly observed our pledge to you,
and never spoke of you."

"What is there on earth so precious as the trustfulness of true
friendship?" burst he in, with a marked enthusiasm. "I have had what the
world calls great successes, and I swear