ay be an adventuress; you know nothing about her," she
objected. "Surely, you cannot love a woman you do not esteem?"

"Esteem!" I repeated. "I never thought whether I esteemed Olivia, but I
am satisfied I love her. You may be quite sure she is no adventuress. An
adventuress would not hide herself in Tardif's out-of-the-world
cottage."

"A girl without friends and without a name!" she sighed; "a runaway from
her family and home! It does not look well, Martin."

I could answer nothing, and it would be of little use to try. I saw when
my mother's prejudices could blind her. To love any one not of our own
caste was a fatal error in her eyes.

"Does Julia know all this?" she asked.

"She has not heard a word about Olivia," I answered. "As soon as I told
her I loved some one else better than her, she bade me begone out of her
sight. She has not an amiable temper."

"But she is an upright, conscientious, religious woman," she said,
somewhat angrily. "She would never have run away from her friends; and
we know all about her. I cannot think what your father will say, Martin.
It has given him more pleasure and satisfaction than any thing that has
happened for years. If this marriage is broken off, it upsets every
thing."

Of course it would upset every thing; there was the mischief of it. The
convulsion would be so great, that I felt ready to marry Julia in order
to avoid it, supposing she would marry me. That was the question, and it
rested solely with her. I would almost rather face the long, slow
weariness of an unsuitable marriage than encounter the immediate results
of the breaking off of our engagement just on the eve of its
consummation. I was a coward, no doubt, but events had hurried me on too
rapidly for me to stand still and consider the cost.

"O Martin, Martin!" wailed my poor mother, breaking down again suddenly.
"I had so set my heart upon this! I did so long to see you in a home of
your own! And Julia was so generous, never looking as if all the money
was hers, and you without a penny! What is to become of you now, my boy?
I wish I had been dead and in my grave before this had happened!"

"Hush, mother!" I said, kneeling down again beside her and kissing her
tenderly; "it is still in Julia's hands. If she will marry me, I shall
marry her."

"But then you will not be happy?" she said, with fresh sobs.

It was impossible for me to contradict that. I felt that no misery would
be equal to that of losing