y; and then
she made some pretext for leaving the room.

Maurice found her waiting for him when he came downstairs. As he took
her in his arms and asked her why she looked so pale and strange, she
clung to him almost convulsively and implored him to save her. Maurice
was as pale as she, long before she had finished; the crisis had come,
and he must either lose her or tempt his fate.

Again he tried to reason with her, to be true to himself and her; but
Nea would not give him up or let him tell her father. She would marry
Maurice at once if he wished it; yes, perhaps that would be the wisest
plan. Her father would never give his consent, but when it was too
late to prevent it he might be induced to forgive their marriage. It
was very wrong, she knew, but it would be the only way to free her
from Lord Bertie. Her father would be terribly angry, but his anger
would not last; she was his only child, and he had never denied her
anything.

Poor Nea! there was something pathetic in her blindness and perfect
faith in her father; even Maurice felt his misgivings silenced as he
listened to her innocent talk; and again the angels wept over
Maurice's deeper fall, and Nea's unholy victory.

They had planned it all; in three weeks' time they were to be married.
Mr. Huntingdon could not leave before then. On the day before that
fixed for the journey the bond was to be sealed and signed between
them, so that no power of man could part them. Mr. Huntingdon might
storm ever so loudly, his anger would break against an adamantine
fate. "Those whom God has joined together no man can put
asunder"--words of sacred terror and responsibility.

The next three weeks were very troubled ones to Maurice; his brief
interviews with Nea were followed by hours of bitter misgivings. But
Nea was childishly excited and happy; every day her love for Maurice
increased and deepened. The shadow of his moral weakness could not
hide his many virtues. She gloried in the thought of being his wife.
Oh, yes, her father would be good to them; perhaps, after all, they
would go to Pau, but Maurice and not Lord Bertie would be with them.

Nea never hesitated, never repented, though Maurice's face grew thin
and haggard with anxiety as the days went by.

They were to be married in one of the old city churches; and afterward
Maurice was to take her to his lodgings in Ampton Street; and they
were to write a letter to Mr. Huntingdon. Maurice must help her write
it,