said. He came up to her and put his
arms round her. "Charlotte, what is it? You are in trouble? Tell me."

Ah! how sweet it was to feel the pressure of his arms, to lay her head
on his breast. She was silent for quite a minute, saying to herself, "It
is for the last time."

"You are in great trouble, Charlotte? Charlotte, what is it?" questioned
her lover.

"Yes, I am in great trouble," she said then, raising her head and
looking at him. Her eyes were clear and frank and open as of old, and
yet at that moment she meant to deceive him; she would not tell him the
real reason which induced her to break off her engagement. She would
shelter her father in the eyes of the man she loved, at any cost.

"You are in great trouble," he repeated, seeing that she paused.

"Yes, John--for myself--for my father--for--for you. Dear John, we
cannot be married on the twentieth, we must part."

"Charlotte!" he stepped back a pace or two in his astonishment, and her
arms fell heavily to her sides. "Charlotte!" he repeated; he had failed
to understand her. He gave a short laugh.

She began to tremble when she heard him laugh, and seeing a chair near,
she sunk into it. "Yes, John, we must part," she repeated.

He went down on his knees then by her side, and looked into her face.
"My poor darling, you are really not well; you are in trouble, and don't
know what you are saying. Tell me all your trouble, Charlotte, but don't
mind those other words. It is impossible that you and I can part. Have
we not plighted our troth before God? We cannot take that back.
Therefore we cannot part."

"In heart we may be one, but outwardly we must part," she repeated, and
then she began to cry feebly, for she was all unstrung. Hinton's words
were too much for her.

"Tell me all," he said then, very tenderly.

"John, a dark thing was kept from me, but I have discovered it. My
father is dying. How can I marry on the twentieth, when my father is
dying?"

Hinton instantly felt a sense of relief. Was this all the meaning of
this great trouble? This objection meant, at the most, postponement,
scarcely that, when Charlotte knew all.

"How did you learn that about your father?" he said.

"I went to see some poor people yesterday, and they told me; but that
was not enough. To-day I visited the great doctor. My father has seen
Sir George Anderson; he told me all. My father is a dying man. John, can
you ask me to marry when my father is dying?"

"I cou