innocence. I am sometimes afraid she will never
love me. Yet I have exerted myself to please her. Indeed, I could not
have exerted myself more. To-day I went twenty-five miles on horseback
to procure her a trifle she fancied.

Yours aff., THOMAS.

ENTRY IV.

All will not go as easily as Felix imagines. Eva Poindexter may be a
country girl, but she has her standards, too, and mere grace and
attainment are not sufficient to win her. Have I the other qualities she
demands? That remains to be seen. I have one she never dreams of. Will
its shadow so overwhelm the rest that her naturally pure spirit will
shrink from me just at the moment when I think her mine? I cannot tell,
and the doubt creates a hell within me. Something deeper, stronger, more
imperious than my revenge makes the winning of this girl's heart a
necessity to me. I have forgotten my purpose in this desire. I have
forgotten everything except that she is the one woman of my life, and
that I can never rest till her heart is wholly mine. Good God! Have I
become a slave where I hoped to be master? Have I, Thomas Cadwalader,
given my soul into the keeping of this innocent girl? I do not even stop
to inquire. To win her--that is all for which I now live.

* * * * *

LETTER V.

DEAR FELIX:

She may not care for me, but she is interested in no one else. Of this I
am assured by John Poindexter, who seems very desirous of aiding me in
my attempt to win his daughter's heart. Hard won, close bound. If she
ever comes to love me it will be with the force of a very strong nature.
The pale blonde has a heart.

Yours aff., THOMAS.

ENTRY V.

If it were passion only that I feel, I might have some hope of
restraining it. But it is something more, something deeper, something
which constrains me to look with her eyes, hear with her ears, and throb
with her heart. My soul, rather than my senses, is enthralled. I want to
win her, not for my own satisfaction, but to make her happy. I want to
prove to her that goodness exists in this world--I, who came here to
corrode and destroy; I, who am still pledged to do so. Ah, Felix, Felix,
you should have chosen an older man for your purpose, or remembered that
he who could be influenced as I was by family affections possesses a
heart too soft for such infamy.

* * * * *

ENTRY VI.

The name of Evelyn is never mentioned in this house. Sometimes I think
that h