sorrowfully, "My wickedness does not deserve this angel-comforter. Why
did you withhold this blessed consolation when the world smiled brightly
on me?"

"To bestow it when the world had cast you off," said she; "to think of
you at your best, when it had made your name a by-word and reproach."

He pressed his lips tenderly to the white, upturned brow, and drew her
to a seat. A half-hour passed in low, earnest conversation, when the
grating of the iron key aroused them, and Louise had only time to draw
her veil over her features when the jailer entered. "I am ready to
follow you," she said, advancing toward him.

He held the heavy door asunder, and, with one lingering glance on the
form of the prisoner, she went forth and followed her guide through the
dark passages, and down the steep flights of stairs. He unlocked the
street-door, and she stepped lightly forth beneath the light of the
stars.

CHAPTER XLIX.

"They loved;--and were beloved. O happiness.
I have said all that can be said of bliss
In saying that they loved. The young heart has
Such store of wealth in its own fresh, wild pulse,
And it is love that works the mind, and brings
Its treasure to the light. I did love once,
Loved as youth, woman, genius loves; though now
My heart is chilled and seared, and taught to wear
The falsest of false things--a mask of smiles;
Yet every pulse throbs at the memory
Of that which has been."

Summer showered her wealth of roses over the gardens and grassy paths of
Wimbledon. Day after day the sound of the busy hammer rang out on the
scented air, and crowds of workmen were seen at eventide hurrying to
their separate places of abode. Great teams, loaded with fancy and
ornamental wood and iron work, labored through the streets, and "Summer
Home" was rising from its ruins in all its former magnificence and
splendor.

Major Howard decided he could not use the confiscated wealth of the
pretended Col. Malcome for a better purpose than to rebuild the mansion
his wickedness had destroyed.

Florence was delighted at the prospect of regaining the beautiful home
she had lost; for, elegant and luxurious as was her present abode, she
was disquieted by too frequent remembrance of the terrible scenes she
had witnessed beneath its roof. Still, the Howards were for the most
part very happy. E