ated Monsieur Trudaine, this is almost too much
to credit!"

Lomaque's eyes grew weaker than ever, and winked incessantly as he
uttered this apostrophe. At the end, he threw up his hands again, and
blinked inquiringly all round him, in mute appeal to universal nature.

"When, in the course of time, matters were further advanced," continued
Trudaine, without paying any attention to the interruption; "when the
offer of marriage was made, and when I knew that Rose had in her own
heart accepted it, I objected, and I did not conceal my objections--"

"Heavens!" interposed Lomaque again, clasping his hands this time with
a look of bewilderment; "what objections, what possible objections to
a man young and well-bred, with an immense fortune and an uncompromised
character? I have heard of these objections; I know they have made bad
blood; and I ask myself again and again, what can they be?"

"God knows I have often tried to dismiss them from my mind as fanciful
and absurd," said Trudaine, "and I have always failed. It is impossible,
in your presence, that I can describe in detail what my own impressions
have been, from the first, of the master whom you serve. Let it be
enough if I confide to you that I cannot, even now, persuade myself of
the sincerity of his attachment to my sister, and that I feel--in
spite of myself, in spite of my earnest desire to put the most implicit
confidence in Rose's choice--a distrust of his character and temper,
which now, on the eve of the marriage, amounts to positive terror. Long
secret suffering, doubt, and suspense, wring this confession from me,
Monsieur Lomaque, almost unawares, in defiance of caution, in defiance
of all the conventionalities of society. You have lived for years under
the same roof with this man; you have seen him in his most unguarded and
private moments. I tempt you to betray no confidence--I only ask you if
you can make me happy by telling me that I have been doing your master
grievous injustice by my opinion of him? I ask you to take my hand,
and tell me if you can, in all honor, that my sister is not risking the
happiness of her whole life by giving herself in marriage to Danville
to-morrow!"

He held out his hand while he spoke. By some strange chance, Lomaque
happened just at that moment to be looking away toward those beauties of
Nature which he admired so greatly. "Really, Monsieur Trudaine, really
such an appeal from you, at such a time, amazes me." Having got