like to him,
beautiful creatures, and he takes the first that comes easy, without
thinking if she loves him, or if he might not soon love another better
than her. From the first I inclined to you most, but you were so
backward and shy that I thought you didn't want me to bother 'ee, and so
I went to Joanna.'

'Don't say any more, Mr. Jolliffe, don't!' said she, choking. 'You are
going to marry Joanna next month, and it is wrong to--to--'

'O, Emily, my darling!' he cried, and clasped her little figure in his
arms before she was aware.

Joanna, behind the curtain, turned pale, tried to withdraw her eyes, but
could not.

'It is only you I love as a man ought to love the woman he is going to
marry; and I know this from what Joanna has said, that she will willingly
let me off! She wants to marry higher I know, and only said "Yes" to me
out of kindness. A fine, tall girl like her isn't the sort for a plain
sailor's wife: you be the best suited for that.'

He kissed her and kissed her again, her flexible form quivering in the
agitation of his embrace.

'I wonder--are you sure--Joanna is going to break off with you? O, are
you sure? Because--'

'I know she would not wish to make us miserable. She will release me.'

'O, I hope--I hope she will! Don't stay any longer, Captain Jolliffe!'

He lingered, however, till a customer came for a penny stick of sealing-
wax, and then he withdrew.

Green envy had overspread Joanna at the scene. She looked about for a
way of escape. To get out without Emily's knowledge of her visit was
indispensable. She crept from the parlour into the passage, and thence
to the front door of the house, where she let herself noiselessly into
the street.

The sight of that caress had reversed all her resolutions. She could not
let Shadrach go. Reaching home she burnt the letter, and told her mother
that if Captain Jolliffe called she was too unwell to see him.

Shadrach, however, did not call. He sent her a note expressing in simple
language the state of his feelings; and asked to be allowed to take
advantage of the hints she had given him that her affection, too, was
little more than friendly, by cancelling the engagement.

Looking out upon the harbour and the island beyond he waited and waited
in his lodgings for an answer that did not come. The suspense grew to be
so intolerable that after dark he went up the High Street. He could not
resist calling at Joanna's to learn his