love for
another."

"But he did care for me. I want to tell you. I want you to see that I
am not quite so bad--he did care for me very much, and I sent him away."

"You refused him?"

"Not just that. At first, you know, I thought everything could be made
to come right in time--and then mamma told me all that terrible story
about her marriage, and about the constant fear she was in; and then--I
could not tell that to him--so I said he must go away. And he did; but
he told me perhaps in a year I should change my mind. And the year is
not over yet."

Maurice was silent. He would not, if he could help it, say one word of
evil to Lucia about this man whom she still loved; and at first he could
not trust himself to speak.

"How did you know?" she asked.

And he understood instinctively what she meant, and told her shortly
when and where he had seen Percy, and what he had heard from the
solicitor.

"It is the same lady, then," she said, "that I remember hearing of."

"Yes, no doubt. I recollect some story being told of him and her, even
in Cacouna."

Lucia sighed heavily. She had now got over the difficulty of speaking on
the subject to Maurice. She knew so well that he was trustworthy, and
for the rest, was he not just the same as a brother?

"He might have waited a year," she murmured. "You cannot imagine how
happy I have been lately, thinking I must see him soon!"

"Cannot I?" Maurice cried desperately. "Listen to me, Lucia! I, too,
have been happy lately. I have been living on a false hope. I have been
deceived, and placed all my trust in a shadow. Don't you think we ought
to be able to feel for each other?"

His vehemence and the bitterness of his tone terrified her. She laid her
little trembling hand on his appealingly.

"What do you mean?" she whispered.

But he had controlled himself instantly. He took hold of her hand and
put it to his lips.

"I mean nothing," he said, "at least nothing I can tell you about at
present. Are you feeling strong enough to meet Mrs. Costello? You must
not frighten her, you know, as you did me."

"Did I frighten you? I am so sorry and ashamed--only, you know--Yes, I
can behave well now."

He saw that she could. Her self-command had entirely returned now. Her
grieving would be silent or kept for solitude henceforward. They had
already passed the barrier, and in a minute would stop at the door.

"I am not coming in with you," Maurice said, "I must go on now; but I
sh