a generous, impulsive moment, she might sacrifice herself. That
night she stayed with me, and both Walter and papa called; and I saw in
an instant, that in her generous pity, she was going to do a work that
could never be undone. Poor Walter was nearly beside himself with joy
and encouragement. She sang for him, and oh, how many times have I gone
back to that night, when you have been singing to me, with your mother's
voice, dear. She promised to ride with him next day, and as papa watched
them, he said to me in great relief: 'She loves him, and they will be
happy;' and I could only say 'I hope so, truly,' and pray that I might
be forgiven for what I had done; for I knew she did not love him.

"In a few days, she came rushing to me in a perfect passion of stormy,
bitter tears, and frightened me greatly with her fierce vehemence. She
declared that she hated him, that she could not endure the sight of him,
and yet, not half an hour before, she had promised to marry him, and
now, if I did not say something to comfort her, she would do something
dreadful, sure. I was perfectly at a loss what to say or do, and
trembled for the end of it all, but I knew the only way to quiet her
would be to appeal to her pity and tenderness, so I talked and talked
for a great while about him, how he loved her, how the disappointment
now would surely kill him, how happy we would be as sisters when
married, and how we would all go to Europe if papa inherited uncle
Congreve's estate; and so finally won her over to a more pleasing view
of the case. In the weeks that followed, I had the same thing to do
many, many times, and found it more difficult to accomplish each time.
She was wildly rebellious, and in an unguarded moment, let fall her
passion for stage life, and then confided to me all her former plans,
hopes, and aspirations. She had been in correspondence with members of
the profession and had many secret plans laid for carrying out her
ideas. She showed me several letters from Clarence Clare, then a famous
actor, and I did not dream, could not even realize then, how far matters
had gone. She was to have joined his troupe when he reached Staunton,
left her home and gone out into the world under an assumed name, to
taste and know its bitterness, when it was all too late. I was in an
agony of fear, and besought her to give it up and think, before she lost
herself to home and friends, but she told me I need not worry, she had
written to him th