part on bad
terms. He is not the first I have refused to make rich."

There was a tone of haughty assumption in the way he spoke these words
that astonished Sybella, who gazed at him without speaking.

"Are you happy here?" asked he, abruptly.

"Yes,--that is, I have been so up to this--"

"In short, until I had robbed you of an illusion," said he, interrupting
her. "Ah, how many a pang do these 'awakenings' cost us in life!"
muttered he, half to himself. "Every one has his ambitions of one
sort or other, and fancies his goal the true one; but, his faith once
disturbed, how hard it is to address himself earnestly to another
creed!"

"If it be duty," broke she in, "and if we have the consciousness of an
honest breast and a right intention--"

"That is to say, if we gain a verdict in the court where we ourselves
sit as judge," said he, with a suddenness that surprised her. "I, for
instance, have my own sense of what is right and just; am I quite sure
it is _yours?_ I see certain anomalies in our social condition, great
hardships, heavy wrongs; if I address myself to correct them, am I so
certain that others will concur with me? The battle of life, like every
other conflict, is one in which to sustain the true cause one must do
many a cruel thing. It is only at last, when success has crowned all
your efforts, that the world condescends to say you have done well."

"You, of all men, can afford to await this judgment patiently."

"Why do you say that of _me?_" asked he, eagerly.

"Because, so long as I can remember, I have seen your name associated
with objects of charity and benevolence; and not these alone, but with
every great enterprise that might stimulate the efforts and develop the
resources of the country."

"Some might say that personal objects alone influenced me," said he, in
a low voice.

"How poor and narrow-minded would be such a judgment!" replied she,
warmly. "There is an earnestness in high purpose no self-seeking could
ever counterfeit."

"That is true,--quite true," said he; "but are you so certain that the
world makes the distinction? Does not the vulgar estimate confound the
philanthropist with the speculator? I say this with sorrow." said he,
painfully, "for I myself am the victim of this very injustice." He
paused for a few seconds, and then rising, he said, "Let us stroll along
the river-side; we have both worked enough for the day." She arose at
once, and followed him. "It is ever an u